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.

Whatever... who cares....

To answer your question. Two people can definitely cope on a £70 budget per week, I try to keep at £80 for a family of 4 and usually manage it although we do have a takeaway maybe once a fortnight.

Looking at what's being bought, I wonder whether there is wastage to be honest. Is all that meat being cooked or is too much being bought and then some thrown away as it's going out of date? It seems like a massive amount to me. Is it the adult or the teen complaining?

They are eating a lot of highly processed food and snacks so it doesn't seem like a particularly healthy diet. I also don't think that people who are struggling are buying a weekly takeaway.

Do they need help in creating a meal plan and cooking healthy meals from scratch?

I spend £50 per adult per week which includes all meals. But for this we eat really well - organic meat and dairy.

I used to work in a residential home with teenagers I can sort of imagine the scenario you are explaining.
Can I ask was it the teen or the member of staff who said they were living hand to mouth?
Maybe a bit more education on budgets etc would be useful? will the teen at some point be able to live independently? If so they could be in for a big shock if they have to control their own food budget.

£70 a week is more than enough for 2 people. It’s enough to include treats and branded items.

I think they are using 500g mince for one sitting, I’ve no idea about waste. A pp mentioned the quantity of butter compared to just one loaf of bread and no other ingredients for baking so it seems ill thought out. I’ve no doubt though that you are correct about noticing the difference over the past year.

Your point about future shocks in store resonates but that’s not a reason to cut back now; I’d rather they be able look back fondly with a new found appreciation if they later experience a different reality.

I love your user name 🩵

Are you perhaps running a brothel?

It’s the adults, although the teen would like 100% brands.

😂I didn’t realise people got wined and dined first in a brothel 😂

Are they care leavers?

I know one young woman who was given a generous allowance from social work (Scotland) when she was still in kinship care and then had a massive shock when she had to face the reality of leaving care and managing for herself on universal credit.

This was my thought . It reads like OP is a third party .

Eating smoked salmon and sushi on the breadline. It must be an artisan breadline, probably sourdough!

We're mainly two adults here at any one time. Our food budget is £50pw - I normally get a cheap bottle of wine within that and it includes cleaning items and some toiletries.

We're certainly not living hand to mouth, fridge contains two cheeses, plus parmesan, eggs, 12 yogurts, milk, spread, lots of tomatoes, half onion, peppers, grapes, orange juice, opened jars/containers (jams, ketchup, mayo, salad dressing, tartare sauce etc). I've got lots of store cupboard stuff (five boxes cereals, about 50 cans of tomatoes, pulses, tuna, mackeral, baked beans and peaches, bags pasta and rice, long lasting naan bread, about six jars of sauce, 3 large bags crisps, three boxes cereal bars and four packets of biscuits) Also, lurking are large and new potatoes, lots of onions and bananas. Loads of teabags, spare jar coffee. Freezer is full - peas, broccoli, sweetcorn, fish, some bread, left over portions frozen, sausages, veggie burgers, chicken fillets, some processed stuff, four ready meals.

Am doing a mini shop today, so will add bread, lettuce, maybe a cucumber, bananas, spread (as current one will run out soon) and look for any fruit or fish offers).

£70 for 2 people per week is £35pp/week.

Which works out a £5 to cover one persons food per day.

Its doable, but actually i agree its kind of low. My 2 dc will power through £5 worth of fruit and veg in a day, punnet of grapes is £2, cucumbers are reaching £1, bag of carrots is still cheap but tomatoes have shot up in price and I'm now consciously buying less soft fruit like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries. Bread has gone up, rice has gone up, bags of pasta have almost doubled. Stuff that used to always be on offer now no longer is. Meat used to be 3 for £10, is now 2 for £8.

Im fortunate in that we can cope with the increase in prices, and my budget has changed accordingly.

£5 per person per day isn't quite on the breadline, but its not massively extravagant either.

I really don't think £35 per week is enough for a (hollow legged) teen including snacks, fruit and treats but it is enough to provide 3 meals a day as subsistence for an adult while at work. Presumably, the adults have a salary and can buy their own snacks, treats and luxuries? Surely you don't need to be providing things like Fridge Raiders, Mars Bars and fizzy drinks or "snacking fruit" for the staff, just 3 meals and tea/coffee.

You have been a bit cryptic but surely the budget is to provide food and care the teenager? The money is for their benefit. Budget cuts (or keeping the budget at the same level when food prices are spiralling out of control) shouldn't mean that they lose out on a takeaway as a treat or being able to afford more expensive fruit types so they have a more varied diet just so the staff can have fancy coffee and branded biscuits.

I think either you need to come up with an appropriate budget for the teen and double it to be able to provide the same for staff or, if you can't up the budget, you need to split the budget into categories with more allocated to the teenager eg main meals; takeaways; staff drinks and biscuits; snacks, treats and drinks for the teenager; extra fruit for the teenager. You could also split the budget unevenly over the month to allow for buying bulk store cupboard/freezer items like rice, oats, pasta, frozen veg, large packs of meat that can be split and frozen etc.

Are the staff buying ready meals because they don't have time to cook from scratch (and wash up all the pans and utensils) every day? Or because it is (often) cheaper to buy UPFs than make your own?

A weekly budget means that you lose out on the economy of scale. Are they buying rice sachets and jars of pasta sauce because the weekly budget doesn't allow for buying a huge sack of rice or individual ingredients like herbs and spices that are expensive but last for a long time. Maybe you could move to a monthly budget and meal plan?

I don’t get the buying of water. Our tap water is the safest in the world and with bottled water there is the problem of more and more plastic bottles to dispose of! Let alone the cost!

Sushi on breadline? Interesting. Lots of meat etc., enough to keep them full.

I can’t drink the tap water in the UK. It tastes of bleach.

Have you tried putting it in a jug, the chlorine evaporates?

This isa huge amount of food and most definitely not hand to mouth. What 'someone' is thinking (and I suspect the teen) is there is not much 'snacks and junk' to just grab without thinking or actually putting things together on this list. A lot of teens are lazy eaters!!

What a confusing thread. I got half way through reading the OP's posts before I started getting a headache.

You've got too much meat and rubbish in that list!

Mineral water??
Pasties?
Chicken bakes?
Fridge raider's?