Weekly shop with 2 young kids (NOT adult children) - how much?

[LadyLouOf2]

Out of interest, how much do you spend on your weekly shop? My parents spend £40/week to cover them both (!) and I just don't know how they do it. In our house there is DH and I, 2.5 year old and a 6 month old so the kids aren't exactly big adult eaters. I spend anything between £70-110. And that's at Aldi or Lidl! Does that sound about right?!

If I count top up shops, alcohol, cleaning stuff, personal care etc we spend about £130- £140 a week. Two adults and three kids under 7.

We spend £345 a month on food (plus all toiletries, cleaning products etc and includes 1 takeaway).

That's for me, DH, 4yo and 2yo

I think we eat very well though we only eat meat once a week.

That's about the national average - source Eat Well for Less always says the average family of 4 spends just under £100 pw on food according to ONS. So you're in the right ballpark but obviously it depends on budget. It's fine if you can afford it, but there might be a little scope to cut back if you really need to, but no reason to think you have to.

But you'll get a range of answers from under £50 to over £200 pw with a side order of 'people who spend under £50 are either cooking from scratch with lots of seasonal veg or pulses from Aldi, Lidl or Asda or only eat frozen pizza and beige and chips' right through to 'I don't see how anyone can do it for much less than £200 pw, we spend more than £50 pw on fruit and veg alone, because good food is expensive, and that's what we prioritise'.

That's about the same as us. We are two adults, a
3.5 year old who doesn't eat much and a 2 year old who eats like a horse!

We shop at Aldi mainly, plus bits and pieces from Morrison's (stuff we can't get in Aldi) and local convenience store (top ups like milk, bread etc.).

That would include personal care stuff, cleaning stuff, odd items from the middle aisle etc. I don't really budget as such, we just buy what we need and don't go overboard.

We do spend approx £120pw on average (food only, cleaning and personal care stuff is separate).
However, we have one child with ASD so has his specific food/snacks, organic dairy and eggs, high quality meat from the butchers, covers absolutely all meals (takeaway is only a handful of times a year), DH likes certain branded items, etc.

Our kids are older (9 and 11), and I now rarely spend under 100. But equally I dont budget it, and it includes alcohol and cleaning stuff, along with the occasional clothing item.

Sounds very similar to me with two children 11 and 7!

2 adults and 3dc and I spent around £90 a week at the moment, There are ways I could cut it down a bit but atm that amount is affordable so I am ok with it.

2 adults, 2 pre-teen DC, about £90-£100 during lockdown due to all lunches etc being at home. Could cut it down I suppose but food’s one of our only pleasures right now!

I increased my monthly budget this time last year, and have generally managed to stick to that - €1,200 for 2 adults and 1 teen (not a hollow-legged male type).

2 adults, 2 preschoolers and we spend between £100 and £140. Per week.

Lately though we have slipped substantially in to lazy territory and have been having takeaway at least once a week... so potentially add another £20-£30 on to that. 🤦🏻‍♀️

We spend about 100pw sometimes less sometimes a smidge more. 2adults, 2lids under 9, 2 cats.

Do you meal plan? And freeze a portion of everything to use for lunch some days? Are you making most things from scratch (eg bolognese sauce)? How much do you bin?

Are nappies and toiletries in that?

We spend about £60/week in aldi for 2 adults and 2 small children (4&1). DH gets his lunches separately, so maybe another £20 for that.

We do £120 a week atm, when kids are at school it's £100 cause they have school dinners and don't snack constantly at school. we are 2 adults and a 12 and 7 year old. If the kids were younger maybe £80-90 a week. That includes all groceries, including cleaning.

Sounds pretty normal to me. We spend around £120-150 a week (2 adults, 2 dc are 5 and 7), that includes some flowers, booze, cleaning things but not takeaways. We shop at Aldi, Lidl, tesco, asda and morissons. I cook from scratch (mainly)and I don't feel like we skimp on food. We seem to get through absolutely loads of it though !

We do it for £70-85 per week. There is always some variance depending on if big purchases (£10 pack of loo rolls or £10 on cat food) are required that week. That’s Tesco.

We eat well but I’m careful. I’m not loyal to brands but go for the special offers. We have it delivered and that means I’m. It tempted so much by things I spot as I go round.

We have chocolate, 1 bottle of wine or beers per week, plus a ready meal for 4 for the weekend (usually costs about £8-£10 for that to include sides like poppadoms or naaans ...lots cheaper than takeaway) and things like biscuits and cake as treats. We have croissants for the weekend and plenty of fruit (but often things like grapes, apples, bananas rather than lots of berries ..perhaps 1 punnet when in season) and don’t buy the cheapest meat, but choose quality bacon and sausages and lowest fat mince which is a bit more expensive.

When I have filled my online trolley and see the total price, if it’s above £85 I look to go back and remove a few items to bring it down a bit.

I’m not someone bulking out with lentils but always put lots of veg in with any casserole type meal. A 750g (large) pack if extra lean mince, made into shepherds pie or lasagne, with lots of veg included, will make enough for 10 portions, so feed us 2.5 meals. A 800g pack of chicken will make us 8 portions so feed us 2 meals. I usually expect a pack of meat to provide 2 meals and not just 1. For lunches we eat nice bread, rolls, a range of cheeses (cheddar, mozarella and Brie) plus good quality ham or chorizo, with crudities or tomatoes, plus some crisps and fruit.

You could try online shopping....it’s easier to remove items before checking out that I. The shop. Or go round with a calculator and when you get beyond your limit, either stop or look in trolley to see what you can do without.

We're about £110 per week, for 2 adults and a 4 and 5 year old. That doesn't include alcohol. One child has allergies so we can't really follow the offers, we buy what we can eat each week and bonus if its on offer. Also oat milk is expensive, we're £15 per week on milk, vegan mayo is dearer, we can't just buy own brand for a lot of things.

We spend between £50-£70 a week for shopping (me, DH, DCs age 7 and 3). We get a takeaway every fortnight or so, usually costing £20-£25.

Definitely agree with pp about online shopping, as less tempted to order too much food etc so less likely to overspend.