How much do you spend on this?

[CrownMe]

How much is a reasonable monthly budget for a family of four (two adults and two children under five) for food (including meals at work), household items, and toiletries? Not-so-DH and I don't see eye-to-eye on expenditures. I'm curious to know what you spend on this and the size of your family.

Food budget is so frustrating.
I feel better seeing people on here spend similar amounts makes me feel less bad
As often in baffled how people spend less as doing everything i can dread to add up hours each month i spend shopping/meal planning and cooking.

In my head I would like the budget to be £600 per month but hardly ever gets close to that.
However we have 2 adults and teenage kids that eat adult portion and never stop snacking.
Age 17,13,12 and 5. So 6 people plus dog.
The dog in reality wet food/ dried food and treats around £30 buying cheapest sainsbury food as dog food really gone up.

Household

Well little one in pullups night still £4_5
Dishwasher/tabs/ rinse aid/ salt easily £10 plus.
Washing clothes another £10
Toilet roll we get through 1 roll a day so maybe£10 as husband won't buy the cheapest.
Sanitary products me plus 2 teenagers £10.
That's before add in shower gel/ hair/ deodorant/ cleaning sprays/ fly spray is 4 quid so easily another £10 means Household is £50.

I do track every single spend and add up each category end each month been doing this since 2020 and I can compare with previous 2 years and previous month.

So far and we only half way through month spent £626 on grocery/ pet/Household and the pay month started on 28th July.

Looking back I spent £795 August 2022 and £700 August 2021.
July I spent £890 which seems obscene but I did a lot of bulk buying last month.
Summer holidays always spend more

We used to be few years ago very loyal to aldi and lilds and did large monthly shop however realised with club card and price match plus increase in range / reductions in 2022 start of every month after pay day we did 1 big shop large tesco and bulk brought
Household
Squash/ cereal to last the month so like 20 bottles value squash and 20 boxes of cereal own brand so small boxes as 4 kids eating cereal breakfast and snacks is a lot.
At big tesco would bulk buy heavy items so sauces/tinned/pasta.
Because I bulk buy means some items I buy in July won't get eaten until August or Sept.
Buy some packed lunch stuff as term time I make 15 packed lunches per week half term twice a week when little one at holiday club at school all ks1 get free school dinners.
Sometimes me and husband take packed lunch to work or snacks.

Last December we switched to big sainsburys with our big monthly shop.
We don't get much meat in the big monthly.

I try to buy reduced meat locally at little tesco/ morrisions or aldi/ lilds
Eating more meat free meals.

We get discount at Iceland as eldest works there part time and say every 2 to 3 months we do Iceland shop.
Although I quite like farmfoods but it's long drive.
Also like home bargains some food bits especially packed lunch bits as things like mini cheeses/ biscuits/ fruit competitive not massively competitive on drinks.

Packed lunch price practically doubled as everything I put in it gone up.
Fruit carton drinks
Crisps
Choc / sweet treat
Sliced meat for sandwich
I try get on offer fruit

I just feel awful I spend so much as some months it's more than our mortgage and least 10k a year.
However things are going up and I now divide by number of weeks Seems better and averages at around £180 per week.

I do everything I can
I shop around several different supermarkets every month but I have so many walking distance and en route to school/ work.
I have lilds and aldi next to each other
Tesco express always had reduced meat and fish.
I try and buy as many reductions and freeze as we have 4 freezer.
I mostly buy reduced bread.
I meal plan. Mostly cook from scratch
Batch cook.

It not meals that are issue its snack and treats so tweaked how I record these days which maybe skews historical food budget comparison.

Buy Less snacks and record any choc/ booze from local shop under treats category.
My teenagers get pocket money and I expect them buy some of their own treats and snacks unless it's family day out then that's summer holiday budget.
Average monthly treats is £50 to £60.

I don't record meals out
Takeaways drinks at pub or coffee shop under food budget that's another category.
We try have Takeaway no more than twice a month.
If I buy meal deal on way to work I add it to this category.
I buy 1 coffee per week
We do meals out peoples birthday/ special occasions had a few of those recently

So far this month we spent £219.90 which is high and expect spend more as taking kids into town and husband birthday meal. Last month was only £125. June was £256.

Another new category as don't want skew food is is beauty/ medicines
So painkilkers/ hayfever tabs try and buy cheap generic ones.
My makeup/ skincare all gets separate category which again if you added it into groceries could equal £20 per month.

You could maybe save a little but not sure where you shop.
We don't buy organic or many premium brands.
We only buy branded when on good offer and then buy in bulk.

Some of those quantities you are buying are insane even for a large family

Dishwasher/tabs/ rinse aid/ salt easily £10 plus.
Washing clothes another £10
Squash/ cereal to last the month so like 20 bottles value squash and 20 boxes of cereal

That suggests your dishwasher goes on 3 times a day (or you're buying expensive tablets, don't, Lidl ones are fine)
Same for washing liquid
Twenty bottles of squash a month , that's nearly one a day.

Squash/ cereal to last the month so like 20 bottles value squash

You're getting through 2 bottles of squash every 3 days?? That seems mad even for school holidays when kids are home.

I know I'm going to sound very old saying this but if children have 3 proper meals a day most don't need snacks. My dc will happily snack if there are crisps, biscuits etc available, less so if it's carrots or apples.

Drinks here are tea, coffee, water and milk. Squash is an occasional treat. Water in lunchboxes too, no crisps, just 'main' (sandwich/ wrap/ pasta etc), salad, yogurt (from a big tub), fruit, small piece hm cake/ biscuit

Sorry should have clarified the squash
I have 4 kids plus 2 adults that drink squash even more so Im summer when it's hot cheaper them drink squash than water and only but fizzy drinks or juice as treats or packed lunches.
Half like orange half blackcurrant
I buy the small 750ml value bottles as 50p each so I would say 2 bottles = standard size bottle squash.
I buy 10 orange 10 blackcurrant so 20 bottles.
This usually lasts month sometimes bit longer.
May seem excessive but hate running out and forced buy more expensive squash locally because we run out.
20 bottles coats £10 ×30 days =33p a day.

Mine do drink milk but thats gone up and we get through 4_6 pints a day so squash is cheaper.

We only run 1 car so I try and avoid walking home with too many heavy items on top up shops.

Me and a hungry teenager here, £5-600 a month. No takeaways or wine in that. I don’t do takeaways and buy wine from majestic so separate, although I’m on a diet and not drinking very often.

We spend about 1000 a month.
3 adults and 1 teen who eats more than all of us haha.
A dog and a cat.

That doesn't incudes takeaways/meals out which I reckon £200.

But incudes alcohol, cleaning etc.

so Im summer when it's hot cheaper them drink squash than water

At £10 a month you could quite reasonably feel like it's worth it. But it's obviously not cheaper to buy squash to add to a glass of water than just drinking the water as is.