Food budget for month

[ElleLeopine]

Please can you tell me what you are spending on food for a month? There are 4 of us, and currently getting through £800 per month! I need to get this down, but no idea if this is normal or high.
I do a mix of cooking from scratch and some easy ready-made. And yes, there is wine in that!

With cleaning and toiletries maybe £100 a week.

Family of 4 (2 adults, 1 toddler and BF baby) £500 which includes cleaning products, nappies and sometimes a couple of takeaways. Doesn't include pet food and we don't really drink any alcohol. It was £700pm last year which was crazy so we've made the £500 budget and have managed to stick to it.

Family of 3, £680 a month on food shop: doesn’t include monthly home bargain cleaning costs approx £40 a month including washing tablets, dishwasher tablet.

So those of you who have managed to reduce your outgoings, what are your top tips?

Same here, four of us including two teenagers. We love smoothies and berries and cook with fresh ingredients and herbs twice a day, wine at the weekend etc so it all adds up but I'd like to get it down.

I’m sure that will decrease one the STBXH move out!

Does your DS contribute to the household financially?

Honestly I stopped buying what we didn't eat thar ended up going to waste. I meal Plan, only bought the stuff we needed not wanted/craved and always buy stuff on clubcard price. I also use my clubcard every visit because points rack up fast.

I shop fortnightly and spend maybe £150-£160.
There are 3 of us, one gluten free.
But DW works weird shifts so she only eats evening meals at home maybe 4 times a week.

@MintyCedric DS does contribute, but is not currently working, so it's not a huge amount. But he is very good with helping me out when I need DD picking up from school!

And re the STBXH, it's complicated, hence the wine consumption 🤣

I think I am one of the most frugal on here, but I doubt anyone wants to eat what we eat.😂 We eat mostly fresh Asian veggies and pulses, no processed or ready stuff except chocolate and crisps, no meat, no alcohol. Tonight's dinner probably cost £1 pp. We eat this way because we like it though, not because it's cheap. But I guess one way to reduce is to buy what's in season, and local. Also, I keep a store cupboard full of spices, herbs and condiments.

£400 pcm for 4 of us. Vegetarian , don’t drink much.

Around £700 pm, that is for between 6 and 9 of us depending who's home from uni and includes wine and pets but not takeaways/ eating out

I’ve cut down on cleaning and laundry things. No detergent with dark clothes unless it’s like rugby kit.

For cleaning I dilute disinfectant for wiping kitchen counters and bathroom. Same to mop floors.

Also, cut down on wine. Try to use more vegetables and beans/lentils to bulk meals.

I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that our budget needs to be £750-£800 per month.

I do a stock up shop that covers pet food, cat litter, cleaning products, laundry products and toiletries for our family of five. Around £120 - £150 and half of that is on the cat!

Then £150 per week on food. Lots of fresh fruit and stuff in there for the kids, and I am dieting so eat separate food too.

4 adults here, 3 men and myself, at least £200 per week. All meals, breakfasts, lunches and dinners mainly cooked from scratch, we spend about £50 each week on meat from the butchers, cheap meals we have jacket potatoes with cheese or sausages.

Oh and no alcohol for us, we don't drink.

3 of us, plus 2 cats, including cleaning stuff and toiletries, between £400 and £500 a month.

1 adult 2 teens. I shop everyday… average £20 per day - not inc alcohol.

There are 4 adults in my family and we spend around 600 pounds on food and household cleaning supplies and stuff. Alcohol is extra. We do not live in UK.

£1K a month family of five. Cook from scratch. Absolutely loads of fruit and veg. 1-2 bottles of wine a week

About £800 including wine and cat food. £700 without. If I'm careful.
Used to be able to do it for £500 easily so every month is a shock still!
5 people (adult sized teens).

Edit.
I do buy some convenience stuff like ready meals, sliced cheese and milk in single pints (90p each!) for DH to make his lunches and dinners as he lives in a lorry all week and only has a small fridge (hence 2x tiny single pints milks) and a heated lunchbox for warming meals. I try to do him a couple of homemade meals a week for reheating and he takes a couple of microwave meals. Then there's snacks and Monster and stuff to keep him going. But his night out allowance more than covers the extra food cost, if he stays away from Burger King etc!

We are spending about £600 a month, 2 adults, 2 teens including wine. I shop in Lidl, Aldi and M&S. I buy lots of yellow sticker items which go in my freezer.
If I do a roast, I do a lump of meat which can extend to another meal. We have a takeaway/restaurant dinner every fortnight.

We spend between £500 and £600 a month at the moment - never struggled to keep it to £500 until the last few months. That’s for 2 adults, 2 DCs (8 and 4) and one cat. Doesn’t include some lunches eaten away from home, or alcohol, or takeaways (not that we have many of those).

Things I find push the bill up very quickly include lots of convenience snacks (eg crisps), ice creams/lollies in summer, soft drinks (in summer/very occasionally), and an over-reliance on pre-prepared foods and ready meals during busy periods. These are the things I keep a close eye on if we’re having a tighter month than usual.

We alternate between Sainsburys for deliveries and Aldi, and I use a Nectar card and shop based on the offers. Aldi is noticeably cheaper but often not as well-stocked as Sainsburys and doesn’t always have what we want.

There are 4 of us - 2 adults and 2 teen DS 18 and 16 with healthy appetites so equivalent of 4 adults. We spend about £450 a month on groceries (including cleaning products etc) but that doesn't include eating out, takeaways or school lunches. We don't drink and we don't eat meat/fish every day. I have coeliac disease so full price bread based products are expensive. We eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg, I cook from scratch most of the time but we do use ready meals/easy teas occasionally. We also get regular deliveries of curry/biryani from DH family. DH does the shopping and prides himself on buying a lot from the reduced sections, we have 2 freezers to accommodate it all.

We spend around £400 a month, 2 adults, a toddler and a baby and this includes formula and nappies but not the takeaways.