£250 a week on shipping. Is this nuts?

[Twobigsapphires]

The jury seems to be out amongst people I’ve spoken to (not many, basically my family). We are essentially now spending around £250 a week on the food shop (one main shop a week and one top up). Household consists of my and Dh, ds20, dd18 and ds16. Often ds1 gf will stay for dinner on a Sunday and one or two nights in the week. We have 2 dogs but Dh pays for their food separately.

shop covers park lunches for Dh and I plus ds1 and ds2. Dd I give an allowance too and she pays for lunch out of that. Also covers a couple of bottles a wine a week and household cleaning products and most essential toiletries (shower gel etc).

Dh thinks this is excessive, I think at £50 pp per week this is what it is. My dm said I should be aiming for £150 per week! Dsis says she spends around £150 per week on her food shop for her, Dh and two small dc (doesn’t include dinner money and her Dh buys lunch out each day).

what does the mums net verdict think?

Obviously should be shopping, not shipping!

So basically 5 adults? I do think £50 pp per week is a lot - that’s over £7 pp per day. If you can bring it down to £5 pp per day that’s £175 a week. That’s still a big shopping bill.

I don't think shopping for a family of parents and two small children is comparable to a family of five adults.
But I wouldn't be feeding the girlfriend three times a week.

I was spending that 5 years ago once I included all food. I've got better!

Well can you afford it?
Buying steak and salmon is more expensive than mince and fish fingers for example.

And toiletries can add up too... some shampoos cost 90p, others cost £10...

That works out as £13k per year! Sounds extortionate but the point is can you afford it or do you need to cut back?

Don't the kids have jobs so they can contribute? At 16+ I thought most people worked at least a few hours a week.

It's a lot but it doesn't sound ridiculous. You are a house of five adults: we are two adults, a pre-teen with food allergies and a cat, and I probably average £90 on the main shop (including toiletries and cleaning stuff) + £10 milk/bread top ups. We don't buy alcohol (well maybe a bottle every 3 months) so its comparable.

Are you already doing the usual recommended things like bulking out with lentils and beans to make meat go further, bulk buying offers, avoiding out of season expensive fruit, etc?

I dread DS having a teenage appetite!

For context, 3 in my family. We spend between £100 and £150 a week. So for 4 people, max £200.

We don’t eat a huge amount of meat though and rarely buy alcohol.

Yes, £7 pp per day, it also includes household cleaning products, loo roll etc.
ds1 does pay rent and will often eat as gf house a couple of times a week so swings and round abouts.

That’s what I spend for 4 adults, inc some nice wine, pet food, all household stuff. To me it’s reasonable- I buy organic where available and good quality food is worth spending on if you can afford it. So I wouldn’t worry about someone saying you should be spending X or Y. The only Qs are whether you can afford it and whether you feel you’re getting value.

Dd and I are vegetarian. We all eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg though. We aren’t financially struggling, but not loaded.

I aim to spend £40 per person per week, but it's getting harder. Most weeks we don't buy alcohol.

I worry about this at times because I see so many people spending less than I do, but then I think I'm happy with what I buy in terms of food quality. I shop around and have a delivery in the cheap slots to stop me buying on impulse, but I don't go to Aldi and Lidl because the DS used to have a lot of food allergies so it was easier to stick to shops where the food was always the same. If you can afford it and uou are happy with the quality, then don't worry. Ask DH to do the food shop and menu plan himself and see if he can do better for a month! If he can, you both win.

Personally I think it's fine we spend between £100-120pw and thats for 2 adults and a toddler who is in ft nursery.
I think it's fine it's not super thrifty but you aren't doing your weekly shop in Waitrose either.

You could look to switch to some frozen fruit or make some all vegetarian meals for everyone one or two days per week.

Off topic but plastic-bottled petro-chemical shower gel is so grim for the environment. Regular soap is cheaper, healthier and doesn't generate plastic waste.

Same here OP but 6 adults plus pets. Amount includes pet food, cleaning stuff, toiletries, and all meals planned for 7 days. No alcohol but a generous stock of chocolate, cakes and biscuits.

Edited to add: top ups are generally only bread or milk if we’ve run out.

The main shop is from Tesco and is around £150 and then I do a top up in Aldi at the weekend for about £100. Buy own brand most things, but do eat a lot of fruit and veg. Meals are a mix of high end organic meat, but also cheap freezer meals / pasta / jacket pot. So varies.
I guess I was wondering what the average is per person per week or per day as £50 pp a week doesn’t sound too much.
Ds1 pays £350 per month in rent, I put £250 of that towards the food bill. Dd is 18 and in college. She works part time but that’s her money to spend on social activities, clothes, saving for uni. Ds16 is in GCSE year so no job yet. I won’t make my kids contribute whilst they are in f/t education.

£50 per person a week is a lot!! My husband and I get Gousto £38 plus a shop of £30ish so £68 a week and Gousto is expensive so we could definitely do it for less if we wanted to.

In your shoes I’d be trying to reduce it down to £150 a week.

But Gousto is just main meals isn’t it? What about cereal, bread. Milk. Cheese, fruit, cleaning products etc?

It will be your."high end organic meat" cut it out/down.

How many cleaning products do you even need?

Washing up liquid, washing powder, bleach/disinfectant and....?

We have dh, me, dd 15 (very very tall), dd 12 and dd also 12. They basically eat like 5 adults and our food bill was always about 150 a week with maybe one week around 200 when I bought washing tablets and wine/gin. Now I struggle to keep it under 200 and am usually closer to 250. Part of our increase is dc eating more but the rest is cost of living increases.

But shampoo, packed lunch contents, toothpaste etc for 5 would be more than £30 🤷🏻‍♀️

How many cleaning products do we need? Washing up liquid, bleach, shower cleaner, anti bac spray, laundry detergent, dishwasher tablets etc etc. not to mention toiletries such as toothpaste, shower gel, razors, sun cream, hair gel etc. I would say non food items like this probably add up £5-10 a week. There are 5 adults in the house.