Sick to death of grocery costs (1k/ month)

[Icannotbudget]

Our grocery bill has slowly increased and is now around 1k per month. This is for two adults, two very active teenage boys, and two dogs. This includes everything you would get from a supermarket eg personal care and laundry/ cleaning stuff.
Both kids are neurodivergent one in particular is very fussy and would rather go hungry than eat ‘cheap’ food. The older one just seems to need constant protein.
I am vege and pretty unfussy but don’t like freezer food. No alcohol and i shop at Aldi as much as poss but do use other supermarkets too.
DH works long hours and Ive just gone back full time and really struggling its impossible to cook from scratch every night.
Not sure if I want sympathy or strategies to be honest, its crippling me and im feeling really down.

Perhaps you should show some maturity and understanding which seem a troubling concept to you.

Yet some on here think that your daughter should learn and have some decency.

Honestly my mind is blown with some of the responses on here.

Oh and one of her safe lunches, in fact the only packed lunch she will have is a wrap with butter. Which must be President spreadable. If she saw any other butter in the house then she would insist on watching me prepare the food to make sure she got the right one.
It's a control thing, to make her feel safe. I'm happy to oblige. Walk a mile in our shoes and then you too can have the nice butter.

No, she isn't just moaning. She has described that she is exhausted from the effort. She is fed up that despite this her shopping bill is high and her son's needs still not seemingly met.

You are both entitled to comment. Its sad though that it is without empathy. Mumsnet is meant to be supportive. If you aren't / can't / won't perhaps choose another thread to engage in.

How did she k ow what President butter was as a baby/toddler? Come on parents, you introduced the premium brands!

Are you cooking different meals for different people? That might be why you are tired and costs are high. Can you find some easy ways to get everyone eat the same thing? For example chickpeas and rice but add instapot beef in for the your sons? Bolognese but add only the tomato sauce for you?

Their ‘needs’ are being met, it’s just expensive because they’ve chosen expensive options.

Sometimes the most supportive thing you can do is give people a little shake because getting entrenched in entitlement and then disappointed you can’t have what you want because it’s unrealistic, isn’t good for anybody.

Nobody is entitled to eat premium and expensive food every single day. Op has had a lot of helpful suggestions about how to reduce her food bill, if she carries on making bolognese and chilli every day and buying extortionately priced Lurpak that’s up to her.

And why not? I could afford it. I still can.

@GoodnightAdeline I agree with you.

Just out of curiosity are you buying literal rice crispies from Kellogg's? Because I've been finding myself saving loads buying the supermarket "rice crackles" they are the same thing but cost 80p a box whereas kellogs cereal costs about £3.

@ColBoulter that's it, and certainly with teenagers, fair enough if they don't want a particular meal-they should then be prepared to take the responsibility for making themselves a dish that they will eat from what is available in the house.

I can totally understand OP. With 2 teenage boys and 2 dogs and 2 adults sounds like you can’t really keep it down much more. We need at least £150 a week just with one 5 year old. Hardly any luxuries either and I only buy something when it is on offer. Life is very expensive atm and yes we are being exploited it doesn’t have to be this way!

But it isn't.....we don't know how her son became fixated on lurpak. We simply know he is and won't accept a substitute easily. I have suggested decanting but it doesn't always work when ND is involved.

You don’t use detergent on towels? Sorry I don’t understand. Are you just rinsing them?

Get to grips with a freezer. It’s your friend. I freeze leftovers and can always find something in there, even when running low.
This week I found some sweetcorn and made sweetcorn fritters ( yum) served with tomato salsa, chicken thighs and salad. It took about 20 mins.
How old are the kids, they should be cooking one night a week if teenagers, it’s a great life skill.
I think you have probably mollycoddled them and are now reaping the rewards of their fussiness.

"I really don't understand how anyone can spend over £150 (excluding meals out) on food"

it's really very very easy - particularly if you like to eat a lot of fruit and fish!

Sending solidarity OP. My monthly shopping bill is now £1300 a month. Dc and I and dc 20, 18 and 16. Plus two dogs. Eldest does pay rent which takes contributes a few hundred off this total but still. I can relate to the whole food grind mantra. I do two online shops a week (Tesco). Sadly no advice other than just hold to the hope that one day when they have all moved out it will be much cheaper! Feeding teens is so expensive!

Have you tried a tasting session like they do on eat well for less? We did it for a few things and swapped to cheaper versions. Although they’re not all from the same supermarket

They might be - but they’re not still growing.

Can't read the whole thread as getting too annoyed with people who clearly do not know the struggles faced with (some) ND children and food. I do OP and I feel your pain .....

When DH was a child he would only consume a certain 'dairy brand' of milk, butter, and ice cream. So she bought the 'non-brand' of everything and decanted the milk into an empty 'brand' bottle, the ice cream into an empty 'brand' carton, and put the butter on the butter dish and 'accidentally' left an old crumpled 'brand' wrapper on the counter. He could never taste the difference and didn't know until he was a teen. She'd occasionally buy the brand to keep the 'fake packaging' looking fresh. You could try that for the Lurpack and see if it works.

Sometimes it's false economy. My dog is very sensitive and if he went on cheaper food, I'd be facing a very unwell dog and a huge vets bill. Many dogs are the same these days. Before I knew better, I used to feed a previous dog of mine any old dog food (garbage shite as it turned out but well marketed) and he ended up with diverticulitis and on a drip.

This seems like good advice which may be lost in the thread?

Really feel for you OP. Unfortunately, if you cannot continue then some sacrifices must be in order.

Is there anything that can be cut completely? And can you find suitable alternative/cheapie brands/options?

Can you batch cook, freeze, and use that the following week? (Yes it will make meals a bit boring, but tough!)