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.....

Mine has gone up and I live alone and am still working!

I'm putting it down to having not much else to look forward to, so at the end of the working day a piece of cake, or a G&T where I wouldn't usually bother, are slipping in.

See also - weight creeping up; needing new clothes in lockdown.

Yes mines gone up.
I eat for free at work 5 days a week, DD at other family members at least 3 days a week (adult portions) and don't do things like buying a coffee or eating out regularly enough to see a saving. Walk to work so no savings there either.
But now 2 of us eating 3 meals a day 7 days a week. More electric being used and will be more gas now weather has turned.
Spending more anyway as there's been shortages of stuff, so for instance I've needed to buy more expensive bread or toilet roll because the cheap stuff I'd normally buy is gone. Small local shop that a lot more people are using I think because nearest supermarket is 2 bus rides away and for those that don't drive like me it's a nightmare. No online delivery slots no matter when you try. Normally go with a friend or family member when they go or get a delivery.
Also furloughed so lost 20% will manage though.
Local shop getting back to normal now though, they prioritises deliveries for certain things I think at the start because that's what they were running out of.

Our bills are higher.

There’s less food on special offers. We’ve also been buying more branded food than usual because a number of the own-brand things we usually buy aren’t available.

Our spend in April was 560 quid for two adults, a preteen and a young child who doesn't eat much but is very fussy.

We could afford it as our income hasn't changed but I don't want to spend that amount on food. We had tesco deliveries so it was easy to add things to the shopping like magazines, toys etc too.

This month (our month begins on the 25th when H gets paid) we are limiting it strictly to 80-90 a week and I go through what's in the fridge and freezer instead of leaving it to H who does most of the cooking but is not good at managing the food.

Food bill - yes very high

Yep. Only two adults here. Normally spend around £40 per week. Now averaging £90

Supermarket bill has gone up from about £120 to £180 but everything has gone down, so we're spending less overall....no eating out, work lunches & coffees, kids activities, petrol, leisure activities at the weekend, missing 2 holidays etc.

Loads of threads but if you cook from scratch mostly, go to Aldi. It will be cheaper - not the choice compared to shopping in those shops and some things will be less good quality. But other things better or same for less. I guarantee you will knock a 3rd off. I moved about 8 years ago and still pay less per week than I did in Tesco at the time and my kids are older now so on adult portions.

Yes my husband is doing the shopping now and even though I give him a list he is spending double what I used to, £280 this week for family of 4 😬

Actually the twins (students) and I were saying the other day it is less because of one shopping trip a week rather than popping out and buying extra things which are not needed every day. They buy their food and cook it separately from me but I pay both bills.

what are people buying, cleaning wise, week in week out

Some people use non-food items at astonishing rates. Things I've read about on here:

the poster who was spending about thirty quid a month on kitchen roll.

Buying things like cling film and foil regularly - we have a roll of foil that we brought back from holiday nearly 2 years ago and is still going and I know that the cling film is older than that.

Thinking it is normal to use one shower gel per person per week.

The poster who lived by herself but used more than one toilet roll a day just for her.

People who add all sorts of stain removers to laundry, buy the big brands at full price from normal supermarkets instead of getting it at half the price from Wilko, Farm Foods or pound shops and then how much do you think the people who wash everything in sight after every use/wear spend on laundry detergent?

Etc etc.

Yep! 2 adults, we used to spend about £45 a week at Aldi (to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner for 7 days so it's not like we were eating out much) that's doubled at the moment! We're buying a bit more alcohol and mixers but I wouldnt say a lot!

We spend about £100 PW for 5 (2 adults, 3 children 16,12,11)

No idea how you do this unless:
a) you have tiny appetites and rarely snack
b) only buy the essentials

That’s less than £1 per person per meal, including non-food groceries
It's easy doable in our house although we are only 4 adults, 3 male and big eaters and female who loves food!

A big of porridge can last a couple of weeks and only costs about a quid.
Packets of chickpeas, haricot beans, lentils, cous cous, semolina etc are inexpensive and last for ages,same with pasta but can be the base of many meals. I tend to buy frozen peas and mixed bed and frozen chopped onions. Again really cheap and used nearly every meal.
I don't spend money on coffee pods, they are ridiculously expensive, we don't have cereals or things like crisps and biscuits in. We cut all that out about 15 years ago for health reason.
I do like to meal plan and have themes for a week or two. I'm using my middle eastern cook books at the moment and already have things like orange blossom water, Rose water and pomegranate molasses in. I make my own lebnah and flat bread and they cost next to nothing. All My herbs are grown and I have a fantastic on going spice collection.

I do like a drink but had loads in as people bought me different flavoured gins for Christmas, my birthday, Mother's Day, and for thank you gifts so I've not had to buy any. I did inwardly sigh at one point when I got another bottle of Rhubrb and ginger gin but I'm thankful now!

I'm not being preachy or like some Earth mother, just explaining why I haven't noticed an increase in our shopping bill.

Yes. We're a family of 6 - 4 adults and 2 teenagers. Spending at least £200 per week. I'm baking more and we're all eating more fruit. Plus, with ds2 home from uni the alcohol bill has increased!

Gone up by at least 50%. Used to spend about £50 for 4 (2 adults, 2 toddlers) and now spending £75-100.
Doesn't include cleaning products or nappies (we use cloth) and we used to take our own lunches to work so pretty comparable in terms of number of meals we are making.
We've always meal planned, only difference is we are making slightly nicer food but that's more a case of food requiring more effort, not fancier ingredients.

There are no offers and some basic veg is 50% more in price. Also, not being able to shop around (was never loyal to a supermarket) is having a big impact.

How can it be so high? My mind is boggling.

We currently spend about £160 a week for three adults and that seems a lot to me. It includes a bottle of champagne plus gin and wine at the the weekend for 2 of us. We mainly shop at Tesco and Waitrose so not the budget supermarkets and we eat lots of meat, cheese and fruit all of which are pricy. Cleaning stuff probably contributes about £10 of that if you include washing powder and dishwasher tablets.

Yes ours has gone up by about £30 per week. I’m getting through more milk, cereal, teabags, coffee, sugar, biscuits, fruit etc. I’m doing a lot more baking with DD, so obviously buying more ingredients. Also buying arts and craft materials with my weekly shop to keep DD entertained once she’s finished her schoolwork.
Also I usually get my roots done every four weeks (very fast growing hair) so I’m having to buy hair dye as well, which isn’t as good as the salon so I’m doing it every two weeks instead.
So my weekly shop is more expensive but I’m saving in other areas.

We worked out yesterday we had spent £800 in one month on food/alcohol/cleaning products etc. Two adults, two older teenagers and a dog. Need to desperately reduce this, it's a huge concern to me.

Yep ours is ridiculous too. £260 this week for a family of six with a dog and a cat.
But we aren't eating out (obvs) or getting takeaways.
It's usually between £160 and £180 but I usually shop at Aldi and I'm now doing big Tesco. I just feel too close to people in Aldi the aisles are really narrow and it's a small store.

I'm in France our food shopping has gone up to 400 Euros a week . Two Adults two teens . It's absolutely crazy, but then not getting a take away or a meal out which we used to a lot before. So we are actually spending less. I'm so cheesed off with cooking every bloody evening .

Our weekly shop is around £200 now, I used to do a big weekly shop costing around £100-£120 but would also pop into a smaller local shop a couple of times a week for top ups.
DH used to have lunch out while at work most days and I had lunch out maybe once a week. We also used to eat out as a family around once a month so while we probably are spending more it’s not as much more as I would expect with 4 people having 3 meals a day here plus snacks.

Ours has gone up by about 25% I think but this is solely down to fewer offers available. I'm not buying anything extra as we both normally work from home anyway and only one child in school. When I do a usual Ocado shop I tend to save anything between £15 and £25 due to offers. Last time I shopped it was £4.
No offers in Tesco the other day either and the prices are extortionate in the smaller stores. I'm not sure what the thinking is there but if it's just profit-driven then it's a disgrace.

No, mine's gone down, due to not being able to go shopping every day. I was spending about £100/week on food for 2 adults, now it's about £70/week. We still have treats and food we like. I have to buy certain things for my daughter due to her being autistic.
I've also stopped buying alcohol , so saving a few quid there as well.

Food bill has definitely gone up. I didn’t realise how much we all ate outside of the home before.

Also I only want to do one shop a week so I am trying to make sure that we have everything. Bored teenagers wanting snacks is no fun!

Ours has gone up loads. It's partly because only one of us can go to the supermarket, so when the other requests stuff we don't know exactly what is wanted and err on the side of generous, which is nice for the person who didn't. Also now we have to wear masks to go into a shop (Germany, not UK) you get all flustered and lightheaded by the time you've got halfway round, so all the the usual supermarket tricks to make you feel fed up and disorientated in order to get you to crave junk food and buy more of that are extra effective. Ordering online is no good because you miss half the stuff off your order that way as well,plus they don't prove match for substitutions.