How much is your weekly shop?

[HalfStar]

We've been cutting back a lot lately and I feel like I'm getting control of our groceries bill (which includes all household cleaning stuff, toiletries, and a bottle of wine as well as food).

I read about families spending £50 a week in the UK and think that is really low. Since August our weekly shop for a family of 4 is coming in between 70-90 euro, often with the help of supermarket vouchers. (On a couple of occasions when we've had birthday parties or hosting visitors it's been more.)

Honestly I feel I'm doing well to get it down but it does require a fair bit of effort and eking things out over the week. Also a lot of being absolutely dogged about planning, batch cooking and freezing. Next year we'll have a new baby so will be paying for nappies again. I'm just wondering what other Irish Mnetters spend?

How big is your family OP? Does this include alcohol, toiletries and cleaning products? Sometimes I think when you see people spending very small amounts they are talking about food only rather than a full shop. €70-90 sounds pretty ok for Ireland.

Yes, as above includes 1 bottle of wine, all cleaning and toiletries. Family of 4. I think you're probably right that people sometimes list prices for food only - nevertheless the 'family shop' bills do seem a fair bit higher here than in UK. That may be about to change though!

Family of four here. This doesn't include alcohol but does include cleaning and some toiletries
At least £60 from Aldi. I very occasionally have to pop in a grab something else later on in the week

I would say £60 average is about right

I think that’s pretty good OP. I’ve shopped in Ireland in the past and been over the prices but things are rising fast here so that’s changed. However, the quality of fresh food available in Ireland is far better than the UK. The butchers, delis and bakeries are amazing.

2 adults and 1 child (and 2 cats) and we can be anything from €65 to €90 for the week. We usually cook from scratch so have a lot of meat and fresh veg. We don't tend to buy a lot of alcohol but we would need cat food every few weeks which pushes the price up, and DD still needs pull ups at night which also adds up.

I don't drink, it comes out at about 50 or 60. Inc toiletries and cleaning products. Family of 3, but dp has hollow legs.

That's interesting JustHope that you feel the fresh food is better here. Certainly there are nice butchers and delis around here. At the minute though the only reason I'm keeping the bills lower is by rigidly sticking to the one supermarket, using online shopping to control the numbers!

Anyone else in ROI?

qazxc, do you mind me asking is that 50 or 60 euro in Ireland and for how many?

Sorry, you said family of 3!

how do you do it?

We spend tons more but are disorganised and time poor (and soon cash poor at this rate)...have really noticed prices going up

HolyShet the honest answer to 'how do you do it' is with a lot of effort I'm actually glad to see your response because I do think most families in Ireland end up spending way more than in the UK and I'm trying to figure out if this is normal. Whenever I set foot in the supermarket I see families with massive trollies and I think the cost must end up being high for a lot of folk.

The way I've managed it is

1. by being absolutely ruthless about no top-up shops. I used to convince myself that we weren't spending much on groceries but we were, because we were popping in to pick up extra milk, cheese, oh and whatever looked nice . Now I know exactly how much milk and cheese and bread etc we go through each week and order accordingly.

1. Forcing myself to do a fair amount of boring batch cooking and freezing into individual portions to be used later. Meal planning along with this.

1. Being scabby about rations with the meat and fish. DH doesn't eat meat or fish but me and the kids do. However, our portions are small (1 darne of salmon split between the 2 kids, that kind of thing) and a lot of the meals are vegetarian. I feel this is OK since most of us probably eat too much meat and it's no harm to cut back.

1. Being okay with eating soup or eggs for dinner (DH and I).

1. Not needing to spend on nappies (or formula) right now, and the kids are still little enough (6 and 3) that they don't need massive portions.

1. Online shopping and using vouchers, and basically just sitting down like a saddo each week to write a list and order each thing, and making myself question and delete stuff as necessary if the tally climbs too high. It takes a good hour of planning each week if not more.

I do work part time so although I always feel busy I'm aware others have almost no time to do all the above!

Online shopping is really helpful when budgeting. Also less tempting to buy extras because they are on offer or because they look tempting or both

Family of 3, I try to buy as I need as I thought that I would reduce costs that way but now I have to pop to the supermarket more frequently there's more opportunity to spend!
If I buy a few bits in SuperValu/Tesco it would usually be about €20 a go, whereas you'd get a whole basket worth in aldi/Lidl for €30.
We mainly cook from scratch and bring packed lunches to work/childminder, so 2 adults, 1 toddler probably minimum €110 excluding nappies.

I'd be afraid to find out but it's well over €200+ a week and that's for 5 adults and a cat. I cook practically everything from scratch.

Two adults and two young DC. I spend about €85 rarely need to top up (try not to) only milk but that's it.

Tend to bulk buy mince and batch cook. Chilli, Shepards pie. Same with chickens. Eat a roast and make the rest into curries. Freeze.

Cleaning products - I use washing up liquid and a dash of bleach to clean. I bake fruit cakes for lunches. Shop at aldi.

We eat steak once a week usually. Balance out with s cheap pasta night.

Our family shop is generally a twenty euro deal from the butchers ( you know where you get to pick five items from a list).
I pick stuff that can be either used in batch cooking or divided up ( mince, diced beef, chicken fillets, pork and lamb chops this week).
For the rest I go to aldi, generally pick the fruit and veg from the special offers. For all the rest inc toiletries and cleaning stuff it's aldi own brand.
I think saving money is down to the mainly boring stuff ( ie planning meals, batch cooking and freezing, making a list and sticking to it,...)

We do a big shop once a month, i meal plan for the month so we but freezer stuff we need. That usually comes to £100 & includes any toilletries or washing stuff. Then every week I top up bread/milk/juice etc, usually about £15 a week. That's for 3 of us

There's 4 of us, and a whole pile animals. Tbh, I go across the border and do most of my shopping in the north. We spend about 50 but we get a 20 meat pack from the local butchers. We don't drink, but we buy pet food and lunches for the kids for school

€50 or €60 ! Your kids must all be small then?! I spend around €150 a week between Tesco, Aldi and the butcher and I'd be hard pressed to cut it down hugely but I could if I had to I guess . That's for myself , dh , and dc aged 18, 16 and 11. I cook mostly from scratch ie no jars or packets and don't buy anything extravagant. I spent a lot less when my kids were little because portions were so much smaller. I buy approx 12 to 14 litres of low fat milk a week because they all, esp my eldest, love milk, and usually go through 6 pans of bread. Teenage boys are hard to keep fed !

Just adding I don't drink and dh rarely does so my bill doesn't include any alcohol.

It's really interesting to hear all your replies. I can well imagine how much our grocery bill is going to skyrocket once the kids are older - with all the best will & batch cooking in the world, teenagers especially must bankrupt you. Sounds like you're doing really well to keep it at 150 Tyrion.

wobblywonderwoman sounds like we're along the same lines in terms of family members/ages and weekly bill. That's good. It does take a fair bit of organisation doesn't it. From freezing every last portion of everything you cook down to making sure you have enough stuff for packed lunches for the week and all that. On the upside, I throw out very little food so it's a good habit to be in.

Overall I think groceries cost so much more here than in UK, I really do. There's no Aldi or Lidl near to me and in a way that's easier as I'd be tempted to 'stock up' on everything ALL the time instead of just taking it slow and steady week by week! And DH has no control in places like that

I also recommend porridge in the mornings, I find it works out cheaper than toast and cereal. It also makes me feel fuller.
Looking at our fridge and cupboards we have no brands, all supermarket own.

Mil shops in dunnes, I think they have an offer of ten euro off if you spend fifty.

That's a great offer, I've seen it. I think it only runs at certain times. Supervalu here mostly and if you have the points, there's an offer for 11 euro off if you spend over 80. I think that's really helping to keep our costs down.

That's another thing I like about online shopping, so much easier to remember to use your voucher codes. I used to constantly forget to bring them into the supermarket.

That's a pity not to half either aldi or lidl near you halfstar

I'm just in good habits now - tend to just cook in bulk. I but a lot of stewing steak onions and carrots and make a very large pot of stew. So some weeks I only have to make four/five meals from scratch as we usually just have pasta one night and if dh I'd late back he is happy with soup and bread or goujons or something.