How much a week are you spending on food?

[44christmaspuddingsinarow]

How much a week are you spending on food and how much more is this amount than last year?

I seems to be spending £50 per week around £10 more than this time last year.

Is it going to keep rising? Or will it stabilize now?

still aghast at 12-13 mouths to feed

probably close on 200 a week (tops) that to include school lunches coffees out etc

8 to feed although one is still on my tit

I can't buy extras throughout the week. I went to Sommerfield today for bread and came out with none...extortionate prices in there. Treats are rare, but I try to give the Dc's a little something^.

I'm London/Kent borders and I think prices are high.

£120 a week for 4 adult appetites, including 3 bottles of wine and all toiletries/cleaning stuff. Lucky enough to have an excellent farm shop and fishmongers which are much cheaper than supermarkets. Virtually given up on chicken unless there's an offer on and I'm unashamedly promiscous where supermarkets are concerned - register with all their delivery services and you get all sorts of discounts offered if you don't use them, usually £10 or £15 off a shop. Probably waste a bit on petrol and time with journeys but worth it for nice food. Doing the same as everyone else and meal planning and adding various beans to my meals.

solo - how do you do that?? there's only DS& I and we struggle on what we do. what are your top tips?

I found a fruit/veg wholesalers yesterday - am wondering if I was to go in about 4pm or 4.30 if they'd sell to me instead of binning it/I'd get it cheaper?

I can't quite work out £25 that's 3.60 a day.
been trying as we have been struggling to cut down
but even at a real squeeze and getting stuff discounted I reakon the best I could do is:
Pint of milk - 50p
porridge for 3 - 30p
half loaf of bread - 45p
filling for sarnies (say tuna -60p)
rice - 50p
lentils - 50p
2 pieces of fruit each - £1
3 pieces of veg - 60p (last thing on a sunday!)

already at £5 (which is impressive imo)
(then teabags/marg/...)

Oh solo let me know as we need all the help we can get!....

I used to spend about £70 a wk but its crept up and up and it can be sometimes more than £100 which pisses me off. It varies between £70-£100. I shop at Asda or Tesco. Asda is cheaper but Tesco nicer. However, ive found that if i do Tesco online shop i spend less cos less temptation to chuck everthing in. This week ive done my shopping online and spent £82 for family of 4(one is a baby)and a dog but that doesnt include nappies or wipes. I buy them from Boots usualy so i get my points.

My shopping includes beer, 2 bottles wine, organic meat(2 lots) and organic milk. I buy both own brand and branded stuff and value. I spend an extra tenner ish i suppose on nappies and 3 packets of wipes and probably another tenner or maybe more buying bread and milk salad etc during the week.

I could cut back much more i know i could.

I've just washed my first load using supersaver washing powder - and it has cleaned better than persil! Although, it doesn't appear to have any little blue specks of rinsing agent/aid in it...? Perhaps it doesn't matter? I seem to remember from our short time in Africa that it was possible to buy little pots of a blue rinsing agent for the laundry - is it sold in the UK too? (I have never seen it here so presumably not!)

Thank you for the frozen mince tip - I'll try that out next week!

At least £100 for our family of four, probably more most weeks..plus school dinners x 2.

We are a family of 5 and i spend £130 in the supermarket, 10 milkman, 10 school dinners and about £20 extra on fruit and veg from farm shop.

for anyone trying to squeeze beer in to the budget - home brew is a good solution

£100. for 2 schoolies and 2adults. Including milkman and packed lunches x4. It was £100 before, but I go a lot more for my money This is after swapping brands and cutting out luxuries....

And I have notcied things like Asda selling small bags of carrots for 'only' 50p. But I am sure the same amount used to sell for around 38p.

I did an online shop last night that was £125 and will probably buy another £50 odd of stuff so it's between £120 - £200 a week.

£16 for fruit/veg box. around £30 for everything else at supermarket (mostly eating vegetarian, so little meat/fish in this), organic where possible. Also got an M&S dinner yesterday, as it's a £10 meal weekend.

In total, £50-£60 a week, for 3. I could get that down a bit, though.

Enormous amounts, closer to WWW than most others.

Between £90 and £110 per week in Sainsbury's for 2 adults, 2 boys with bottomless stomachs and baby. This includes all alcohol (8 x beer and 2 x wine), nappies etc and does for all our meals inc 4 x pack lunches per week day. Extra £10 per week for veg box. Sometimes need to get extra bread or milk but not v often. Can only survive supermarket once per week!

I really don't have many extra tips tbh. If there are 2 for 1 offers and I wouldn't use it all so would be a waste, I get them and split the cost with my mum and dad, so we get it for half price each in effect. I never say no if any of the family is giving away things from their fridge that is past its best(veggies and fruit mainly)because I'll always use it. SIL gave me some bits from her freezer 'that they'll never use' ~ well, I will.
I think it's a good idea to shop with family too, so that if for instance you need toilet roll, you can buy say a 10 pack and split it between you both. I'm going to start going to the nearest market for fruit and veg. I always head for the reduced section in supermarkets. I buy and freeze bread and milk if it's on offer.
The £ shop is good for some things. Decent shower gel, hand wash etc. I decant half a large hand wash into two ~ one for the kitchen, one for the bathroom.
I don't buy wine anymore. Dp buys wine for us to drink when he's back here though, so it's usually there if I want a glass, but I'm not a big drinker anyway luckily. I love chocolate, but I've stopped buying it(and eating it obviously).
He generally buys the nappies for Dd, but I'll be glad when she's toilet trained.

There is no magic solution for this. Just need to be careful. My pride has gone out of the window sadly.

Solo - if I were you I'd be proud to make the money stretch as far as you do!

Have a question about veg / fruit boxes - aside from all the green reasons to get them, are they good value for money compared to a supermarket?

Thanks circlesquare, but the way I see it is if you don't have the money to spend ~ you can't spend it.

We spend £40-£60 at tesco and around £30 top-up for 2 adults 2kids, I don't economise with much value stuff I've tried but didn't like it apart from a few things, I always buy free-range organic meat, fish and eggs , and I hate sliced bread too so spend a fair bit at the bakers. Have always done this even when dd was little and we scrimped on dh's measley £10500 a year wage.

plenty of people would get into debt, solo, you should be proud.

I can't get into debt. I'd never get out. I don't use any of my credit cards and haven't for years. I cleared them completely when I was pg and they've stayed that way.

I will say though, that this is still the beginning and I don't know if I'll still be sane with it in January 09. We shall see