Families of 3, what's your food spend?

[Lottie4]

Credit card bill has just come in and hubby isn't too pleased as it's more than expected. On reviewing purchases, the main things are approx. £110 a week on food and we eat out quite a lot with going away in the holidays and treating kids to lunch out (so in theory should have spend less on weekly food and not more). If I'm being good, I can stick to £55 a week (which includes cat food by the way) but feel we are having to go without healthy food options sometimes, ie cheap sausages bought in bulk rather than chicken.

Just wondering what others spend on food, so I can get a realistic feel of what budget I can realistically stick to.

[OurMrsReynolds]

You need to meal plan and stick to it like glue. I write ours on a Sunday and stick it on the fridge, the DDs like to know what we are having. I am a sad bugger and co-ordinate with the school lunch planner so they don't clash

This week is:

Homemade pizza
Scrambled egg on toast
Baked potatoes
Homemade chicken steaks in breadcrumbs
Macaroni cheese
Sausages & mash
Lasagne (from freezer)

Meatwise this week all I need are sausages and chicken steaks; I visit the butcher every fortnight and get the meat in, currently £12 for 1lb mince (chilli/lasagne/bolognaise), 500g diced beef (slow cooker usually), 2 large chicken breasts (slices up into steaks or diced for a curry), and 4 burgers. I bulk buy pasta/rice/cous-cous, shops own brand for most items (either Morrisons or Aldi) and I freeze bargains like 10p bread/rolls etc. I occasionally make a cake as well and we take that as an extra to work/school in our packed lunches

[UriGHOULer]

I'm a bit now. Our shopping bill is around 120 a week. Currently here there's 2 adults and 2 kids under 3. we do eat gluten free and loads of fruit and veg. We have an online delivery, but i find I'm out most days picking up fresh 'bits'.

[CatAndFiddle]

Minimalistmommi, I am also intetested in any tips/recipes you have. We are a vegetarian household, 2 adults and 1 breastfed baby. Total grocery spend Inc. cleaning products and cat food is £350/month.

[Dilidali]

Family of 3, £35-40 a week (on average). Lidl with Sainsbury's top up.

[Hamwidgeandcheps]

One adult and a 4 and 1 year old. About 40 a week but averaged over a month as some weeks it's 70 then nothing for 2 weeks. 3 packed lunches a week for all 3 of us. We only eat meat now and then. I think I don't cook enough

[Splatt34]

Me, DH, DD3 but big eater and DD 5months (nappies & formula). Last 3 months has been about £370. 3 months before that closer to £600. The change? Aldi. We are massive converts.

[Clarabumps]

We are a family of 5. Dp, Me and ds6,ds4, and dd1. We spend about £65 a week on food. That's including snacks,fruit juice and fruit and vegetables. We get £15 of meat from the butchers and the rest is from Aldis. And every month I spend £14 on nappies from sainsburys. I buy wipes in bulk from tesco £10 for 12 packs that lasts around 6-8 weeks. If I had a chest freezer then I'd buy in bulk at costco and make bigger batches but unfortunately I live in a teeny weeny house so it's just not an option. It can be done but you do need to only buy what you actually need and the lower branded stuff. I get a lot of my recipes from A girl called Jack Blog. She started me on this quest to be thrifty. My Dp had hardly any work for a few months and we were so poor. It's the best thing I've ever done. x

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

I don't know how you all do it.

Me, DH, dd(15), ds1 (14) and ds2 (10) and our food shop this week was £217.
We all take lunch to school/work. I buy a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. I don't buy ready meals or anything like that either.
Mind you, ds1 could eat for England and we go through 18 pints of milk a week.

[OurMrsReynolds]

Family of 4, 2 dds (5 & 9), includes packed lunches for 3 and probably 3/4 meals with meat (chicken/sausages/beef) - £50pw - we shop at Aldi and top up with Morrisons

[Bubbles1066]

Family of 4, to DCs. We spend £55-60 per week on food, drink, toiletries etc. We are veggie so lots of lentils and pulses instead of meat. I shop at Morrisons, Aldi and Iceland and buy the cheapest options in each. We never eat out due to cost.

[WyrdSista]

We have a family of 6, 4 kids, but DH is away from home on weekdays. We spend £30 a week.

[May09Bump]

wrong bloody thread - sorry twice!

[May09Bump]

support.easyjet.com/faq/en/request.do?view()=c%7B2eb7a020-ced8-11e2-ef6e-000000000000%7D

last paragraph reads to me that they carry them in hold for free

[May09Bump]

support.easyjet.com/faq/en/request.do?view()=c%7B2eb7a020-ced8-11e2-ef6e-000000000000%7D

last paragraph reads to me that they carry them in the hold for free.

[CremeEggThief]

Just me, DS (11) and our Dcat here, but we spend anywhere between £35 and £50 per week, mostly from Lidl and Tesco, with the odd few bits from Sainsburys. That includes all toiletries, cleaning and pet products, but we're also vegetarian (apart from DCat ).

[NightLark]

About £140, and that's being careful, I think!

2 adults, 3 DC, recently switched to Lidl. Spend about £75/week there on food, toiletries, cleaning products, plus a top up of about £30 in the week on milk, bread etc. DH and I both buy some lunches on work days, and one DC has school dinners which are another £10 a week, so that's about £140. Does include some wine. Was a lot more when we shopped at Ocado / Waitrose!

[colourmummy]

Just had a chat with a lady from hmrc (as you do) and asked her what the average spend is for 1 adult 1 child for food per week. She said £110. So there you go...

[Ragwort]

Grot - I thought you said you were shopping for DP, DS, dog and a horse

[Romily]

Cupcake I shop mainly is ASDA and every so often put in an order at approved foods. Meals are planned carefully and varied every week. We do have meat which is free range we just make sure it goes far.

[Grotbagstwin]

One big shop a month coming to £100, this includes cleaning stuff and meat then every other week £50. This is for myself, dp, ds and a dog. My dp eats like a horse

[jimijack]

No meat & no alcohol. Meat too expensive, can't afford alcohol.

[Ragwort]

Three of us (two adults and a teenage son) - I spend around £80-£100 a week; this includes all lunches as we work from home or take sandwiches. We drink a lot and eat very well, could cut down if I needed to. We rarely eat out as I think I cook a lot better than most restaurants for a quarter of the cost .

[jimijack]

Oh and farm foods do dirt cheap frozen veg, so some weeks I don't buy veg, I buy nappies instead and use frozen stuff up.

[jimijack]

2 adults, a 10 year old & a baby I spend £35-£45 per week.

Shop at Aldi, meal plan strictly.

Cook from scratch, double portion & freeze half & never waste any food.
Slow cooker is my friend.
Bread is bought cheaply & frozen, everyone has packed lunches.

We eat very healthily although not organic.

Every 6 weeks I buy cleaning products & bathroom type stuff, shampoo/toothpaste,that kinda stuff from homebargains/wilkisons.