Page 6 | Sick to death of grocery costs (1k/ month)

Icannotbudget · 2024-04-26T21:46:31+00:00

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.

itsme7 · 27/04/2024 08:19

I use an app called cherrypick for meal planning and shopping. You can select to shop from Asda, Tesco or Sainsburys. It has filters so you can easily select recipes that are high protein, veggie, easy to batch cook, ready in less than 30 mins etc etc. I’ve always struggled with meal planning and honestly it has changed my life.

SomethingFun · 27/04/2024 08:21

I spend a similar amount shopping for four at Waitrose and avoiding upf - I wonder if Aldi is actually a cheaper option anymore if you are buying specific things.

And yes stuff shouldn’t necessarily be cheaper, wages haven’t kept up with rising everything else. It’s not easy to keep to a budget these days.

GoodnightAdeline · 27/04/2024 08:21

rzb · 27/04/2024 08:17

They do need protein. Adding cheaper and often more sustainable sources of protein such as beans, lentils, nuts and nut butters, choosing oats over cornflakes, adding seeds, drinking milk rather than fruit juice, etc. can contribute to their protein needs and may also pay dividends for their overall health due to the higher fibre content of many of these foods compared to a diet rich in red meat.

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Agreed. Red meat is ok in moderation but really bad for your health if eaten every night.

rzb · 27/04/2024 08:28

Threewordseightletters · 27/04/2024 08:09

"I take your point but if you want any kind of standard of animal welfare and for farmers to run financially viable businesses, then products like butter aren't going to be cheap"

My point was not that products should be cheaper or that farmers do not deserve a good price for produce that can be sustainable and ethically sound. My point was that wages have depreciated to a point where other countries would be up in arms about how employees are treated. My salary for the job I did 20 years ago, adjusted for inflation, would now be 75k. That role now pays about 55k. The salary for that role has been eroded by almost a third in 20 years but people accept this and say and do nothing.
Erosion of salaries is a major cause of the COL.

Yes. Perhaps if we stop referring to this as the Cost of Living crisis, and start calling it the poverty crisis, the conversation around it would more critically consider the wider causes. Years of falling food prices (in real terms), in part due to greater industrialisation of food production and food product manufacture, have masked the stagnation of wages and their huge falls in real terms. We should all be hopping mad that it's so hard / impossible for families with two adults working full time to be able to feed their families healthy and sustainable food whilst also heating their home and keeping everyone clothed and clean. The massive increases in wealth and income inequality over the last few decades need to be reversed.

penjil · 27/04/2024 08:30

TeenLifeMum · 26/04/2024 22:52

I struggle to keep the weekly shop under £250.

😱😱😱

BigAnne · 27/04/2024 08:30

ouch44 · 27/04/2024 00:08

We have 2 teenagers and a dog and we spend nowhere near that. However we are lucky in that they are all happy to eat the same thing and not too fussy.

The food I feed my dog is wheat free. cost about £55 for 12 kg which lasts us about 6 weeks. It's always recommended by breeders and people who work their dogs . Millie's Wolfheart we order straight from them

www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/dog-food/60-meat-fish-recipes/riverside-mix

A friend of mines DC is Neurodivergent and has ARFid and other sensory issues. They are able to claim PIP which really helps towards the cost of food and clothes. They can tell the difference if it's not the brand they will eat! Could you look into this? It's a lot of hard work to complete but been worth it.

This is a genuine question. How do ND kids cope in poor families/countries?

TheseLegsDefinitelyUsedToBeLonger · 27/04/2024 08:32

itsme7 · 27/04/2024 08:19

I use an app called cherrypick for meal planning and shopping. You can select to shop from Asda, Tesco or Sainsburys. It has filters so you can easily select recipes that are high protein, veggie, easy to batch cook, ready in less than 30 mins etc etc. I’ve always struggled with meal planning and honestly it has changed my life.

Ooh I’ve not heard of this… will take a look. Thank you! 😊

Riverlee · 27/04/2024 08:39

TokyoSushi · 27/04/2024 08:09

I read your title and thought 'woah, that's a lot' then added ours up and it's about £180 per week, so not miles behind you.

I thought the same, but when I included dog food, Costco spend (for household stuff etc) etc, wasn’t that much different.

GoodnightAdeline · 27/04/2024 08:42

rzb · 27/04/2024 08:28

Yes. Perhaps if we stop referring to this as the Cost of Living crisis, and start calling it the poverty crisis, the conversation around it would more critically consider the wider causes. Years of falling food prices (in real terms), in part due to greater industrialisation of food production and food product manufacture, have masked the stagnation of wages and their huge falls in real terms. We should all be hopping mad that it's so hard / impossible for families with two adults working full time to be able to feed their families healthy and sustainable food whilst also heating their home and keeping everyone clothed and clean. The massive increases in wealth and income inequality over the last few decades need to be reversed.

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There’s ’not being able to feed your families healthily’ then being baffled that it’s expensive to feed your family red meat and premium butter every night of the week.

GoodnightAdeline · 27/04/2024 08:44

I have a brother and remember the ENORMOUS quantities of food he put away as a teen but if he had demanded my parents made him bolognese or chilli every night of the week they would’ve laughed. He stuffed himself with scrambled eggs, peanut butter on toast, baked beans and milk as I remember it. Significantly cheaper and can’t have done any harm as he’s now 6’4!

eggplant16 · 27/04/2024 08:53

BigAnne · 27/04/2024 08:30

This is a genuine question. How do ND kids cope in poor families/countries?

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Thin ice here but I often wonder these kind of things.

Passthepickle · 27/04/2024 08:55

Six here and the same problem! All I have is solidarity

Winter42 · 27/04/2024 08:58

Would they know food was unbranded if they didn't see the packaging? I have all of our cereals, pastas etc decanted into containers. No one has moaned that we now have Aldi budget spaghetti instead.of dececco!

Anonemouse1 · 27/04/2024 08:58

I’ve got meal boxes and found weekly it’s cheaper. Basically that does dinner and leftovers. Using one called grubby as veggie and it has loads of different options. It’s made me cook different food and is quick. Generally spend 30mins in the kitchen. Then for weekly shop I just buy breakfast and lunch bits. Has really lessen household food waste and shopping costs.

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 27/04/2024 08:59

The boys need to eat more cheaply! Get them to eat porridge and stew more! And make you own bread, get a bread maker. Baked spuds etc…

rzb · 27/04/2024 09:03

GoodnightAdeline · 27/04/2024 08:42

There’s ’not being able to feed your families healthily’ then being baffled that it’s expensive to feed your family red meat and premium butter every night of the week.

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Agree, and there's a fair bit of both in the UK. Regardless of where on this particular spectrum the OP falls, I think it would be a remarkably healthy thing for the national conversation around 'cost of living' to recognise that there has been a huge increase in poverty in the UK.

wpalfhal · 27/04/2024 09:06

Family of 4, 2 boys (pre teen/teen), 1 cat and factoring in the cat food and household stuff which I do separately I would say we don't go over £800 a month, and that's being quite enthusiastic drinkers and meat eaters so £1000 does seem quite steep to me, though not ridiculous.

2024istheyearforme · 27/04/2024 09:07

yeah my grocery shop is 800 a month minimum, feels crazy and thats not eating anything super tasty, literally just some snacks for kids and some basic meals.

HesterPrincess · 27/04/2024 09:07

There's only DH and I at home - I'm a low carb veggie due to being diabetic, he's a very fussy meat eater and we spend £200 a week on food (that includes lunch to take to work). I also get extra in for the DC/grandkids as they all appear and raid the fridge over the weekend. Two dogs on grain free food and meat toppers = £120 a month. I also get a large Riverford box at £30. So our monthly spend is £1040 without adding on treat/top ups from M & S in the week. Bloody ridiculous when neither of us drink and I'm not ordering caviar/lobster.... it's just ordinary food.

BrendaSmall · 27/04/2024 09:10

mitogoshi · 26/04/2024 23:12

And try the Lidl fake lurpak, it's still the same

It’s definitely not!

I can tell the difference within 30 minutes of eating imitation Lurpak!

TheMuskratOfDestiny · 27/04/2024 09:15

Icannotbudget · 26/04/2024 23:09

Thank you all for replying.
Most quick and easy meals my youngest Son won’t eat. The ones he will are chilli con carne, bolognese done in a specific way and recently chicken wraps so we do have that each week (not me and because i honestly cannot face cooking two meals i get a ready meal). I buy plenty of fruits and yoghurts, fruit juice and bread, they will only accept lutpack butter! All the above plus pretty much all non food is Aldi.
its the other four days a week that blow the budget!

Why don't you eat the same meals? Instant saving there.

If they only eat lurpak then they go without butter.

You need to meal plan (with their input) and shop for the meals your cooking.

Thepartnersdesk · 27/04/2024 09:16

With batch cooking, it doesn't have to be the load of effort, 42 pans and 58 plastic tub kind.

Some of it is more about time (as in being around) than effort. Last week I bought a reduced chicken in Lidl (the easy in the bag kind) so shoved it in oven on Saturday. Then thought I could make a chicken and ham pie with the leftovers so shoved a gammon joint that was in fridge in the slow cooker.

Neither of these things required a lot of effort but they are the kind of things I don't have time to wait to cook after work.

You save money on bigger cuts of meat and they are usually the most time consuming element of a meal. Even just buying a whole chicken instead of three packs of chicken breast would save you money. Or slicing up the ham once it's out of the slow cooker and cooled.

I think you need to identify the most expensive areas of your shop and look at alternatives. Some may not be possible if it's a particular brand but others will definitely be the convenience element.

Solgrass · 27/04/2024 09:19

itsme7 · 27/04/2024 08:19

I use an app called cherrypick for meal planning and shopping. You can select to shop from Asda, Tesco or Sainsburys. It has filters so you can easily select recipes that are high protein, veggie, easy to batch cook, ready in less than 30 mins etc etc. I’ve always struggled with meal planning and honestly it has changed my life.

Just installed. Thanks for that tip

babyproblems · 27/04/2024 09:21

We spend circa €200 a week for three of us.. eat very well but no alcohol either. I can see why you’re spending 1k a month for 4 of you. V hard!!

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 27/04/2024 09:23

Why don't you eat the same meals? Instant saving there.

Because the OP is vegetarian. Discouraging fussiness is one thing. Making the rest of the family eat vegetarian is not really on.