Is this living hand to mouth and unsustainable?

[honourthethreat]

I've pasted actual 4 weeks' food shopping below, purchased for 2 people in March; teenager and adult. Budget is £70 per week but I've been advised this is unreasonable, their cupboards are bare, they are living hand to mouth, cannot stay within budget and do not have enough to eat.

Note: There is no alcohol purchased and cleaning products have a different budget so this is for food only. I'd like your opinions please whilst I consider if an increase to budget is justified. Thanks in advance.

06 03 - £89 incl. takeaway
Protein: Chicken thighs, bacon, minced beef, smoked salmon, chicken tikka, cooked chicken slices, sushi, pizza & dip, x2Fridge raiders, x2 beef pasties, x2 chicken bake, x2 tikka slice, doner kebab & chips takeaway.
Dairy: 6L milk, x2 butter, cheese, mayonnaise, x12 fromage frais, milkshake.
Carbs: x2 large loaves, garlic bread, wraps, rocky biscuits, choc biscuits, Jaffa cakes, x12 crisps.
Fruit/veg: Onions, potatoes, coriander, stir-fry mixed veg, peppers, spring onions, cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, coleslaw, apples, avocado, clementines, apple juice.
Other: Stir-fry sauce, mineral water, Large L’or coffee.

13.03 - £75
Protein: x2 pizza, fish fillets, beef mince, 1kg chicken breast, cooked chicken slices, x2 chicken bake.
Dairy: 8L milk, cheese, oat milk, yoghurt, soured cream.
Carbs: Large loaf, garlic bread, cereal bars, x 2 cheese pasties, x2 pasta types, rice, pasta sauce, tortilla wraps, x6 crisps, Jammie dodgers, lettuce, peppers.
Fruit/ veg: Mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, kidney beans, coleslaw, spring onions, broccoli, cauliflower,1kg carrots, cucumber, apples, bananas, grapes, tropical juice.
Other: Volvic water, hot chocolate, Large L’or coffee, 2L Pepsi, X4 Mars bars.

20.03 - £79
Protein: x4 burgers, diced steak, beef mince, medium chicken, salmon fillets, 1kg chicken legs, 1kg chicken thighs, smoked salmon, cooked sliced chicken, x2 tikka slices.
Carbs: x12 crisps, spaghetti, x2 cheese/onion slices.
Dairy: 4L milk, large tub butter, eggs, x6 yoghurts.
Fruit/veg: Plum tomatoes, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, stir fry meal deal, clementines, bananas, grapes, apple juice.
Other: x2 large coffee, vegetable oil, BBQ sauce, x4 Twix, x9 toffee crisp, x5 peanut butter cups, 2L mineral water.

27.03 - £71
Protein: Chicken kebabs, x2 pizza, beef meatballs, chicken breasts, salmon fillets, beef mince, x2 packs cooked sliced meat, medium chicken.
Carbs: Yorkshire puds, biscuits, Naan, garlic bread, flatbread, fries, noodles, rice sachets, x3 biscuits, cereal, x6 crisps, Lge loaf.
Dairy: 6L milk, cheese, yogurt.
Fruit/veg: Veg medley, chopped tomatoes, coleslaw, peppers, cauliflower, cucumber, lettuce, mushroom, onions, carrots, potatoes, kidney beans, bananas, apples, clementines, grapes, cherries, tropical fruit juice.
Other: Chocolate, 2L mineral water, Large L’or coffee, Bolognese sauce, pasta sauce, curry sauce, stir fry sauce, squash, salad cream, ketchup.

From the website I linked earlier. Eye opening isn't it ?

It’s the £7 jar and yes, I thought a lot of milk would be needed for that much coffee.

They need to deworm.

Sorry, just to add that apart from a beige lunch that he makes himself, all other meals are very healthy and cooked from scratch for my son with fresh ingredients.

Many opinions would not be relevant if the situation isn’t explained.

It does include 20 quid for eating out, which I wasn't taking account of. But even 50 quid a week for one man seems high to me. Thanks for the post.

I think there is too much meat and the meat chosen is expensive eg buying chicken bake, chicken tikka, cooked chicken instead of one chicken and then using the leftovers. Not expecting it to be a Mumsnet chicken but it would work out cheaper.

There is pretty minimal veg and the whole lists look like someone who can't cook well or meal plan.

😂😂

As pp said, if they are on their uppers they should cut out the salmon, and chicken slices, and most of the meat, and eat more veggie food. Also, coriander and avocados are nice to have, and they could cut out all the crisps, and replace with some popping corn. They should also cut out butter, they spent £4 on it one week. Have margarine on bread, or bake with lard. They should cut out the water, and many of the processed foods they are buying

Fwiw I spend consistently less than that on two adults, and one child, and that also includes cleaning products. I don't get takeaways

And I do not consider myself on my uppers!

Are they getting ready meals and sachet rice perhaps due to only having limited cooking facilities eg just a microwave or preferring it as it’s quicker / uses less electricity?

That’s insightful and a very generous budget. Not the same situation but thanks for taking the time. The shopping is not what I eat btw, which is mostly raw so I spent very little in comparison to my OP.

DS is at University we give him £450 pcm for his living expenses which includes but is not exclusively food. As I mentioned he is 19.

Lots of crap and unnecessary stuff on the list. You can buy a big bag of pasta for a few quid and make that last for a month, home brand jar sauces are less than £1 add some tinned tuna and cheese. Pasta bake. Roast a chicken and you can have that over a few days in wraps and with the pasta with some veggies on the side. Beans and jacket potatoes. Or even a big bag of rice and curry goes a long way.
Thats enough money they just aren’t utilising it properly.

They have a normal, domestic kitchen, I think it is a lack of knowledge or lack of cooking skills. They wouldn’t consider saving electricity because they don’t pay the bills.

Is there a meal plan to go with the purchased food as maybe they are lousy at planning meals. To me it looks like loads of food with some bad buys.

Ok so you are buying food for carers of vulnerable adults. The carers live in and you pay for the food? Something along those lines?

Why are you paying for the food is that a normal set up or is this some kind of family arrangement?

Along those lines but no vulnerable adults or carers living in and it’s not in my home nor are they related to me or each other.

I pay for everything; this is just one budget of many - the level is set and employees have flexibility on how they spend it. I don’t have the time or inclination to look forensically at receipts generally unless something is brought to my attention as this was.

According to the ONS, the average spent on food per person per week is £48 - £38 for a child, £44 for an average woman, £47 for a young, active woman, £57 for an average man, £71 (!!!) for a young, active male.

£35 per person seems like a tight budget to me. Or is it £70 per person? I am impressed if they managed to buy all that meat and things like sushi, takeaway kebabs, cherries, smoked salmon on £35 pp a week.

There was a thread recently where a poster was asking if they could manage on a £40 per week food budget. The thread was pretty much unanimous that it was possible but it would be a pretty boring diet ie porridge or toast for breakfast, no premium fruit (eg berries), no snack foods and meat only occasionally.

There is a facility in my town for children who are unable to be managed in mainstream school, a fair proportion of them are also young offenders or in long term care. They have a residential unit which is staffed and a school. The care staff shop, cook and eat with the kids. Is it something similar to this op?

Where does the food come from? What shop?

Similar but no offenders.

A variety, they can shop wherever they prefer. These receipts were a mix of Asda, Tesco, Aldi and Co-op. We also have local Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Morrisons, Waitrose and Iceland so choice aplenty.

OP, how ethical and unprofessional is it for you to put a client's food spending on here to be ripped apart by random people on the internet?

Has one person considered the person's autonomy? It means the family have the right to spend their money how they please and eat what they want.

Of course, it would be cheaper to go raw or cut out the kebab or eat baked potato and beans but it is their lives and not yours so none of you have any right to tell the OP how the family could do better.

(p.s. I also buy a large jar of l'or decaff every 10 days and drink more than a pint a milk a day in milky coffee and also buy microwave rice, just as well nobody is ripping my shopping list apart!)

This!
I can't afford to buy salmon and lots of chicken.
It's a once a week meal and the salmon is a treat

That is a shit load of protein for one week for two people. I don't even buy that much for 5 of us (2ad, 18, 13 and 10) and we are financially comfortable.