Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Weekly food shop.. how much?

234 replies

babyblueblush · 26/01/2022 12:02

How much do people spend on a weekly food shop?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Ambushedbycakeinmydreams · 29/01/2022 18:09

I have been keeping receipts and recording all our spending for the past six months. For 2 adults who shop mostly at Aldi / Lidl but also do some at Waitrose and Sainsburys - our bills come to £17 a day which averages out at £116 per week. The bills do not include
Alcohol
Cleaning products
Beauty / personal care.

The bills include food only and all sneaky trips to pick up extra bits and bobs. Yes I am dismayed that we seem to spend so, so much more than average esp as we use the discounters a lot. However we eat a lot of fish, meat, fresh fruit and vegetables and I guess fish is rather expensive.

NotaMary · 29/01/2022 18:18

We spend around £100 a week for Tesco shop for 2 adults. This includes cleaning stuff and toiletries and sometimes a couple of bottles of wine. There might be top ups, especially if family are coming.

Thesearmsofmine · 29/01/2022 18:19

@YooCoo I am one of the thriftier ones on here but I absolutely love hearing about what others buy so don’t feel like I would love to try a week or two with a massive budget, I think it would be fun although I’m still not sure I could bring myself to spend £9 on a single serving of soup!!

caringcarer · 29/01/2022 18:48

I used to spend about £140 each week for DH and I, 2 adult DS's and 1 DFS. Eldest son saved his deposit and bought house and moved out in October. Now we spend far less, about £90. Eldest son was fussy and had expensive taste but I have noticed since he is now buying his own things he had a cheap fabric softener after insisting on Lenor whilst at home and buying many other cheaper items too. I have pointed it out to younger son who days as long as he gets BE Fish fingers he is not fussed about other brands.

Normando91 · 29/01/2022 21:28

We usually do a two week shop with bread/milk top ups. Would be around £160 for the two weeks and that includes formula, nappies, baby wipes, cat food and litter as well as any toiletries/cleaning products we need- though I usually stock up on these with the spare change at the end of the month.
We’re a family of two adults, a 7 month old and 2 cats. I’m on maternity leave so we do try to cut back and freezer stock as much as we can but I imagine once I’m back working full time we will splurge and enjoy not having to live frugally for a while Grin

BarbaraofSeville · 30/01/2022 08:07

These threads always go the same way, and end up with a list of meaningless random numbers because everyone has different budgets, household size, priorities, dietary requirements and likes and dislikes.

The ONS publishes well researched actual average amounts for a family of 4, it's something around £100 pw and it is perfectly possible to provide a decent diet on that amount.

It's probably also possible to spend quite a bit less than that if you have access to a cheaper supermarket and eat cheaper food, ie seasonal or frozen fruit and vegetables, eggs, pulses, grains, less meat and/or cheaper cuts without lying or 'forgetting' about top up shops or takeaways and sadly, some people are limited by smaller budgets so that's all they can spend.

But if you're spending significantly more than average, that's also fine if you can afford it, but you should acknowledge that this is likely to include a lot of 'luxury' spend and it therefore doesn't mean that you couldn't reduce the spend if you wanted/needed to or that it's necessary to spend that amount to eat a decent diet.

Most people aren't spending nearly a tenner a week on fancy canned drinks, regular organic soups and chicken breasts or the oft quoted Mumsnet favourite of £3 a time tubs of blueberries for snacks to inhale daily.

spidersenses · 30/01/2022 09:08

£125 for two adults, one teen and two large cats! I'd say around £25 of that is on cat food.

YooCoo · 30/01/2022 09:29

I am similar to Thesearmsofmine in that I enjoy reading what others buy and having a brief insight into their lives even if statistically the individual £ amounts are meaningless.

Most people aren't spending nearly a tenner a week on fancy canned drinks, regular organic soups and chicken breasts or the oft quoted Mumsnet favourite of £3 a time tubs of blueberries for snacks to inhale daily.

Lest you doubt me, here is an artfully composed still life taken this morning of some of the aforementioned items, including the apparently oft quoted MN favourite £3 blueberry tub, captured in its wild habitat - the home of a MNer. The soup shown is £5 and not the £9 as DH ate that one. The defamed organic overpriced chicken fillets are also available for forensic photography. Smile

Weekly food shop.. how much?
PattyPan · 30/01/2022 11:14

I could afford to spend £9 on soup, but assuming I eat soup twice a week I’d rather spend £1 on soup and use that almost £900 a year to spend on holidays or something else.

Beginit · 31/01/2022 10:19

I shop economically, or so I thought but our spend is way higher than most here. We buy a lot of home brand and rarely if ever processed food. Genuinely surprised!

princesspeppax · 31/01/2022 10:41

£150 a week roughly, 2 adults, 3 kids, 1 cat & 1 dog, seems to be getting higher and higher with less to show for it!

Guacamole001 · 31/01/2022 15:27

Average c £90 me and 16 yr ds.

Asda online combined with weekly visit to Home Bargains.

Even started ordering frozen spinach instead of fresh spinach. As advised by Jack Monroe on tv today lol.

OddsNSodsBitsNBobs · 31/01/2022 21:38

£150 2 adults and 2 teens with adult appetites + 1 dog.

We don't watch what we spend but our main shop is in Aldi with a tesco top up midweek. This also includes cleaning products and toiletries.

BMWqueen · 31/01/2022 22:47

£100+ per week.. 2 adults and a 2 year old :-/ xx

hellcatspangle · 31/01/2022 23:12

About £60 for two, including toiletries/kitchen spray etc. No alcohol in there though.

YasK · 31/01/2022 23:29

We spend on average £150/160 between 2 adults every two weeks. First week we have everything, 2nd week we top up throughout the week on fresh veg and fruit and bits and bobs as necessary

cultkid · 03/02/2022 15:30

@BarbaraofSeville

These threads always go the same way, and end up with a list of meaningless random numbers because everyone has different budgets, household size, priorities, dietary requirements and likes and dislikes.

The ONS publishes well researched actual average amounts for a family of 4, it's something around £100 pw and it is perfectly possible to provide a decent diet on that amount.

It's probably also possible to spend quite a bit less than that if you have access to a cheaper supermarket and eat cheaper food, ie seasonal or frozen fruit and vegetables, eggs, pulses, grains, less meat and/or cheaper cuts without lying or 'forgetting' about top up shops or takeaways and sadly, some people are limited by smaller budgets so that's all they can spend.

But if you're spending significantly more than average, that's also fine if you can afford it, but you should acknowledge that this is likely to include a lot of 'luxury' spend and it therefore doesn't mean that you couldn't reduce the spend if you wanted/needed to or that it's necessary to spend that amount to eat a decent diet.

Most people aren't spending nearly a tenner a week on fancy canned drinks, regular organic soups and chicken breasts or the oft quoted Mumsnet favourite of £3 a time tubs of blueberries for snacks to inhale daily.

I literally spend more then £10 a week on fizzy drinks

Every week

Honestly I do

Ive spent over £30 on fruit this week for example too

redbigbananafeet · 03/02/2022 15:41

@PattyPan

How long is a piece of string? About £30-40 a week for us, two adults who don’t buy meat or alcohol and shop in Lidl.
You live of £3 a day?
redbigbananafeet · 03/02/2022 15:43

@Gingerkittykat

*The only poster I believe on this thread!

I spent £40 yesterday literally on just a 'few bits' - IN ALDI! The cheapest supermarket around.

No way are people only spending £50 a week. I think they're forgetting top up shops, or not including how much they spend on takeaways or something!

A decent shop for 4 people is easily minimum £150 - and that's in cheapo Aldi not Sainsburys or elsewhere*

It sounds like you live in a very privileged world that you don't believe someone spends less than £150 on groceries for a family of 4.

What did you pick up in your Aldi shop?

I currently spend around £50 a week for one adult and a teen from Asda click and collect and we eat well. This includes household goods and toileteries.

So you live off £3.57 a day including toiletries and household goods?
PattyPan · 03/02/2022 17:47

@redbigbananafeet yes? It’s not really hard. Today I had:
Breakfast - porridge (7p) with a banana (20p)
Lunch - a hummus salad sandwich (around 50p), a carrot (10p), a soya yoghurt (38p) and a bag of lentil crisps (13p)
Dinner is going to be lentil bolognese (around 75p) with wholemeal pasta (11p). So today I will have eaten around £2.30 worth.

PattyPan · 03/02/2022 17:59

And that’s not even trying to be frugal - obviously I could cut back on the crisps and branded yogurt, and make the bolognese cheaper by using less peppers.

redbigbananafeet · 03/02/2022 18:01

@PattyPan

And that’s not even trying to be frugal - obviously I could cut back on the crisps and branded yogurt, and make the bolognese cheaper by using less peppers.
Peppers I buy are 50p each!
redbigbananafeet · 03/02/2022 18:03

@PattyPan

And that’s not even trying to be frugal - obviously I could cut back on the crisps and branded yogurt, and make the bolognese cheaper by using less peppers.
50p a tin of tomatoes, tomato purée, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, lentils. It soon adds up.
PattyPan · 03/02/2022 18:04

@redbigbananafeet in Lidl it’s 89p for a pack of three

redbigbananafeet · 03/02/2022 18:05

@PattyPan

And that’s not even trying to be frugal - obviously I could cut back on the crisps and branded yogurt, and make the bolognese cheaper by using less peppers.
And cleaning and personal hygiene products used today?