How much should a family of 4 spend on food & utilities per month?

[cotanddot]

We live in Surrey.

Family of 4 - 2 adults, 1x 2 year old, 1x 6m old (on formula)

What would you say is an average budget for food per month for us?

There are loads of threads where MNs reveal their weekly/monthly costs but it's really all relative in so many ways that it's just an exercise in curiosity.

I think utilities vs food are separate issues and location is not always a factor.

The cost of utilities is determined by your property. What does it take to make it temperate/warm? What kind of heating do you have? What kind of cooker? What kind of insulation? How many jumpers are you willing to wear? Would you jump up and walk off your chill? There are so many variables. My gas & electric is £210/month. That's a lot but I have a big barn of a house. I'm lucky to be centre terrace and thus insulated on both sides. The water bill is separate and will be eyewatering. My house is expensive to run and we live in the sunny south just an hr outside of London where everything is more expensive.

A food budget is determined by what you can afford, what basics you must have. If everyone is happy to eat porridge for three meals a day indefinitely, your costs will be low. If occasionally you want a frozen pizza or some vegetables, your costs will be different. My weekly groceries for me and 2 DD are £150 + but we are finicky cats and eat lots of fresh/raw fruits and veg.

Surely that depends on your budget as much as anything else.

If you like steak or salmon most nights, your food bill will be much higher than if you eat veggie.

FWIW, 2 adults, 2 teens, and we are hitting about 900 a month - including alcohol, toiletries, cleaning materials and a cat. We don't need to skimp, so that is buying what we fancy, and does breakfast, lunch & dinner for us all. Probably one meal out or takeaway a month.

There is a recent thread saying a family with 2 primary school kids are aiming for £100 a week including petrol - so just over 400 a month, but less once the fuel component is removed.

You aren't looking at much more than 2 adults for food. Probably around £500 or £600 a month would be very comfortable. Less could be easily achieved.

For me food and utilities would be separate. As others have said both would depend on your property and preferences.
My utilities are cheap but that’s because we compromised on our housing it’s falling down.

This is our basic income with no overtime and budget and we manage well on this.

Me 3100
DP 4100
CB 280
Total 7480
Housing
Mortgage: 1900.
Insurances(life, house): 150
Total Housing: 2050
Utilities
Electricity 150
Waste collection: 30
Broadband & TV: 70
Mobile phones x3: 60
Total Utilities: 310
Food & Groceries
Groceries & household food: 500
Dining out / takeaways: 200
Total Food: 700
Transportation
Fuel: 250
Car insurance & tax: 150
Maintenance & NCT: 100
Public transport / Parking: 20
Total Transport: 520
Education & Kids
School books, uniforms, fees: 50
Activities, sports, clubs: 50
Pocket money/treats: 60
Total Kids & Education: 160
Entertainment & Lifestyle
Family outings, hobbies, gifts: 200
Subscriptions, books, etc.: 60
Miscellaneous expenses (haircuts,nails): 60
Personal spends: 200 x 2 = 400
Total Entertainment: 730
Savings & Miscellaneous
Emergency fund / Savings: 2,000
Holidays (monthly allocation): 500
Clothing: 200
Miscellaneous buffer: 300
Total Savings & Misc.: 3,000
TOTAL MONTHLY SPENDING: 7,480

Whatever is affordable to your household and fits in with your priorities and needs.

There are statistically robust national averages and many Mumsnetters spend two or three times this amount. Which is fine if they can afford it, but others will need to spend less, or choose to do so as otherwise they wouldn't have any money left for other things.

The programme Eat Well for Less used to feature people who spent £1000+ pm on food alone (and this was a couple of years ago) but 'couldn't afford' a holiday or to replace the car etc, so they'd be shown that they could spend less and free up money for other things, usually without a detriment in the nutritional quality or how enjoyable their diet was.