Has your weekly bill gone stratospheric ?

[ladybirdsarelovely33]

We are a family of four - 2 adults and 2 DC. Last week we paid £260
This does include household cleaning stuff but still....
Just shopping at Sainsbury's and a top up at the Co op.....

Husbands a key worker so he's still working 60+ hours a week

I've been on mat leave, though before lockdown I was out a lot but obviously I'm in the house more.

Our food bills are less! I've been cooking fresh meals that are lasting longer and as I'm doing the essential shops only I'm not just nipping out for things I fancy.

No going out means I'm saving so much more too. Weather has been nice so our heating bills are low.

I also think doing a neighbours shopping doesn’t help. As I’ve committed to shopping on a set day each week. Whereas usually some weeks I’ll think I can go a few day’s and schedule a click and collect or delivery for every 10 days or so rather than every 7. So over the course of the month I’ve done an extra shop. Then because I know I’ll have to wait another full week for my next shop I make sure I’ve got everything I could possibly need and so do a full shop. Where I could have gone another half a week and eaten what we have in.

Ours is £120 including cleaning stuff. Nappies and wipes.

Usually DD has a free school dinner. So we are giving DD an extra meal a day. Eating more snacks here too. Probably boredom but they eat plenty of fruit.

If you shop every 7 days. Think of 7 meals you will cook for tea. .

Example.

Sausage, mash and veg
Tuna pasta
Stir fry
Chicken burgers and chips
Spaghetti Bolognese
Pizza and chips
Jacket potatoes and salad
Sunday roast

Then think of lunch. Do you have soup, sandwiches?

Then you need sandwich fillings
Soup.
Beans
Bread
Crumpets/ wraps etc depending on your taste.

Snack wise.

We buy 4 different fruits each week
Yoghurts
Cheese strings
Chocolate and crisps

Orange juice, milk and sometimes coke and squash.

Toilet rolls and cleaning stuff (max of £12)

Toiletries are only once a month when we need toothpaste, shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath. Soap too.

Never go over £120

Also I buy extra freezer bits like frozen veg, chips, veggie burgers and fish fingers.

Yep, food shopping has definitely increased in price. We're a family of four (2 adults & 2 teenage boys)

Probably by £30 for the main shop and £30 in top ups. I'd say ours is due to:

12 meals a day at home
DH and kids eating 'proper' lunches instead of a sandwich every day
More snacking
Definitely more drinking and nice drinks - cocktails, etc.

I'm not too bothered at this stage as this is the only things we are spending money on. There's no petrol, no coffees out, no clothes shopping, etc.

What’s the reasoning behind the ‘no offers?’

To give people a chance at getting what they needed rather than one household getting, say, 6 items on a 3 for 2 detail, 6 households potentially would get one item. Same with limiting items - I shop with Asda and up to this week, you couldn't buy more than 3 of anything.

Yes ours has pretty much doubled! But it does make me realise how many times I used to nip to the shop to buy extras or go out for lunches etc and not count that as part of the weekly food bill. In reality we are probably not spending any more than we used to on food and drink it just seems so much more when all done in one go.

Also we buy cereal weekly 2 boxes usually

About £400 a week for 7 adults. We are all getting a bit fat!

We ar e two adults two dc (young) and we spend approx 90 to 100 euro (so about 75 ish) a week and good is more expensive in Ireland. I try to do a pasta meal twice a week to reduce food cost and I batch cook. It has gone up slightly due to us all being in all the time but I am saving money as no coffee trips or bringing dc out to places. I've actually saved a grand or two since this all started

It's definitely the lack of offers, the sudden lack of available supermarket own brands, and the expensive subs that is making the difference here. Branded stuff is so pointlessly expensive, especially when it's never on offer now. But the steep increase in the weekly bill here is insane, especially as we're only having to cater for an additional 5 lunches per week here and with young DC were barely eating out anyway.

No, ours is much less. We don't shop at the major supermarkets though - just a local fruit and vege store which sells the 'imperfect' produce the majors don't want.

Yep! I spent over £200 at Sainsbury’s this week! DS1 normally eats at nursery 4 days a week but now obviously feeding him. I am also buying more treat food because unit feels like we deserve it!

I’m also finding there are still periodic shortages of stuff meaning you end up with a more expensive option than you’d go for otherwise, I bought a £4 jar of peanut butter this week because it was the only one they had. 2 free range whole chicken cost the best part of £25. I figure at least we’re saving on petrol!

I’ve been doing online shopping and spent a fortune each time. However I’ve had several days between shops where I have been improvising with tins and food from the freezer as I have run out of fresh food so it probably works out more or less the same.

TiredMum

I meal plan and always have. But am still spending a small fortune.

I suppose lack of nursery doesn’t help. We’d usually eat at our parents one or twice a week then we wouldn’t eat a meal at home following that as it would be a generous meal.

We’ve not had a big lunch and skipped a meal. Which we often do usually. Probably because we’re bored and mealtimes break the day up.

We’re usually out exercising in the evenings but I’m too dog tired from wfh with a toddler so as soon as DH gets in I’m back to work. Then i sit and snack with a gin later on.

Our habits have changed too. Plus I’ve gained 7lb so clearly I’m over indulging!

Mine seems to have increased massively but I reckon that before I never noticed what I was spending, esp on smaller "shops". Fortnightly Ocado is 170 plus meat from butchers and local supermarket shop. It been nearer 150 a week for the last few weeks but that is stopping this week!

That’s less than £1 per person per meal, including non-food groceries

And? I can think of lots of meals that cost well below £1 per serving, which leaves more than £1 for a main meal each day, and non food stuff will only add a pound or two per person per week.

I don't know how much our weekly shop has been affected because we don't count it or do a weekly shop, more rotate round shops once or twice a week and stock up stuff that we like or is good value from a particular shop, plus use Costco and get catfood from either Farm Foods or Zooplus.

I'd say it's slightly more but more than offset by no eating out, lunches or takeaways at all and I didn't buy any fuel for over five weeks, instead of filling up 2-3 times a week (I usually travel for work so get this fuel reimbursed).

What I do know is that we put all our day to day spending and some stuff like holidays or insuranc on a credit card that is paid off in full every month and the average bill during all of 2019 was £2100 per month.

The bill for the period mid March to mid April was £930 and that included a small car repair for DP and a biggish Costco shop.

its definitely the fact that all food is being purchased in one go rather than being spread out with school / work lunch, lunches out at weekend, takeaways. Buying a bit extra to avoid revisiting shops.

But surely the total food spend is the same, whether you split it into 5 shops or 1? Spending £100 once a week is the same as a weekly shop of £50, a top off shop of £20 and £30 worth of work and school lunches?

Someone earlier on said they never understand what people mean when they say they buy weekly ‘cleaning stuff’.

I’m the same...I don’t get it. I have a giant bottle of toilet bleach which cost about £2 2 months ago. I have a tub of pink paste (£1?) for the oven and hob and a big bottle of flash which does floors and surfaces (we dilute it into a spray bottle). I use vinegar on the windows.

These get bought every other month or less and probably work out at far less than £1 a week...what are people buying, cleaning wise, week in week out?

Overall though my non-food spending is down £500 this month as no clothes, no activities, no petrol, no household stuff.

Yep, gone from about £250 to £350 a week - we are a family of 6. I’m constantly buying, preparing, clearing away food. It would usually just be me at home for lunch during the week so 5 extra people to feed lunch mon-fri also buying extra snacks for the dc’s. They eat loads of fresh fruit.

Sick to death of it.

Yes, by about £60 a week. I'm finding veg is rubbish at the moment and almost past using when it arrives.

Ours is about £80 on average for two adults, but that also includes food for two cats and a dog, as well as toiletries, cat litter and dog treats.

It has gone up a little since I've been home but we're saving money overall as I'm no longer paying for fuel to get to work, nor am I spending £2-3 a day on Costa

Yes, mine has rocketed due to WFH and cooking fresh, good quality food - fuck, fresh fruit and vegetables cost a fortune

Our weekly shop has gone up but only because pre covid we would do a staples shop every weekend and supplement it through the week. We're are actually saving money based on not being able to eat out 2/3 times a week (not to mention the money I'd typically spend on lunch and coffee during the week at work). We're 2 adults and spend £100 a week now plus around £20 on animal bits.

We’ve gone up from £70ish to over £100. Not great and hope it doesn’t get much worse.