Is £100 a week really seen as a lot to spend on food a week?

[sweetkitty]

Honestly was looking at "that" thread and the OP was being slated for spending £100 on food.

I have nowhere near that amount of income but still spend £95 a week on an online shop and top up during the week fruit etc of about £10, I am always looking for ways of reducing it.

I have me, DP, DD1 4, DD2 3 and DD3 4 months so one in night nappies, one in full nappies, oh 3 cats that need food and cat litter a week.

I use Tesco own label wherever possible including nappies and wipes
I have stopped buying Organic chicken (£9 for a chicken) but buy one £3.79 chicken but it does DP and the DDs 2 dinners
I'm veggie
I BF so no formula
I buy all own label cleaning products and use sparingly
we buy 20 pints of milk a week and 4 loaves of bread thats about £10 in itself
DP takes sandwiches to work so already saves money that way
fruit is a big one for eg we each have a banana a day thats 28 bananas a week!!
I usually have to back through the Tesco order and take things off so that it stays at £95 and the cupboards are empty on the day before Tesco arrives

So I guess I'm asking AIBU in thinking thats not really a lot for 5 people?

I spend around £50 a week on myself, dp, ds1 (almost4) ds2 (1yr)

yours does seem quite high... although we don't have any pets, and we use cloth nappies so don't have that going out.

I do think you could probably get it down lower if you wanted to though

I don't think it is alot really.

I spend £60 and have to stick to that and so regularly have to leave things off. If I actually got everything we need then it would be around £75 i think.

Thats for 1 adult and 3 children.

Oh and 1 cat.

I was having a discussion with DH about this - we spend about £100 a week and I really can't think of anything we buy that we could cut down on! We must be doing something wrong.

We have nowhere near that income either. Nowhere near half that income.

No I don't think it's a lot. To be honest I think posters on here often get slated unfairly about how much they spend.

I have been meal planning for over a year now, and my weekly spend has been cut dramatically. Some weeks I can spend less than £100 (there are 4 of us and 2 cats) but sometimes it's £140-150, depending on what I have to buy. Some household things are really expensive.

I buy a lot of own label stuff and a fair degree of Sainsbury's Basics. I rarely buy expensive meat and we eat more vegetarian meals these days too.

But I always buy at least 6 bottles of wine, so that is a fair proportion of my weekly shop. And I'm not changing that!

We are 2 adults and 1 toddler and we are budget quite tightly.
We spend 70 per week, so, no, 100 is not ott at all for a family of your size.

Don't buy the cheap chicken though!

I think it depends how much meat/eggs you eat
We spend a lot on food, way over £100 a week

I don't think it's a huge amount. We spend about £80-90 per week for all groceries in our house and there's currently only three of us. We have cut back other outgoings but nice home-cooked food is important to us. We buy v little pre-prepared stuff, but do buy organic meat & dairy produce.

There are 4 of us - me, dp, ds1 (5.7) and ds2 (2.9). Our Tesco shopping costs on average £60 pw. That's both ds's in night time pull ups, 16 pints of milk, 2 loaves of bread. I buy own label and value for almost everything. At the moment I'm trying to eke everything out to get 8 days rather than 7 - it seems to be working.

I guess I look at it all coming in today and thought this doesn't even look like £95 worth, the only "treat" on there was a packet of Kitkats for me, theres no booze on there either.

Nappies are £7 for a big pack but that lasts DD3 2 weeks, DD2 only has one pull up a night.

DD1 loves strawberries but they are £3 a pack right now, it's depressing when you just do fruit and veg and it's £20.

Even reducing it £10 a week would be a massive saving.

I think it's fine- as I said on that thread- providing you can afford it.

We don't buy consumer items really- the only thing we splash out on is food. There are only 3 of us (until January) but DD and DH eat tons. I am sure when I'm bfing next year our food bills will go up again.
We menu plan so we don't waste any food, but buy good quality food which is almost all organic, and yes- it is expensive, fruit, meat, dairy products and veg especially.
We don't buy alcohol, and we eat out fairly regularly too, though that is on top of grocery bill. It does include lunches too though.

I do include toiletries and cleaning/washing stuff in that grocery bill.

Yes- we could cut back if we needed to- DH and I are perfectly used to spending only a small proportion of that on groceries. However it takes time and availability to get all the best bargains, and reduced food items etc- I am in work at the times food is reduced, I don't have time to visit 5 different supermarkets to get the best offers etc. We both work full-time, and would rather spend time not in work with our DD, not traipsing around shops.

I spend about the same - also a family of five - no nappies anymore but growing preteens with bottomless pit appetites. I think I could spend less, but it would be hard to do without the family feeling a bit rationed. I meal plan carefully, don't waste food, cook everything from scratch and am careful about what I buy - a lot of value brands. Fruit is our downfall too, we eat a lot of it.

I always spend more when I go to Tescos, even though everyone says its cheaper. I have 3 dc's 6 4 and 1.5. I try to cut out meat alot as it is often quite expensive, and I use washable nappies which saves wads of cash. I spend about 60-75 a week but thats at waitrose (tesco etc too far away). Also I always buy potatoes in a huge sack and shove them out in the shed - £8 a bag, they last for ages if you keep the light out, and jacket potatoes are a really cheap meal.

YANBU. I read that thread aswell. I dont think she should have been slated for spending a £100 a week.

I spent £82 on Tuesday and would need to shop again tomorrow if I wasn't going away tomorrow. I didn't buy nappies, only turkey strips for a stir fry and two bottles of wine which were around £6 each, the rest went on essentials. I do buy lots of fruit and veg which really bumps it up.

There is only dh and me and ds aged 2.

for us no, but there are 7 in our family, and DS2 still has pull-ups at night, and we have allergies needing free-from food (which is VERY expensive!)

thats prob on average what we spend.(three adults,ds 5 dd 1)

we rarely buy wine,gourmet foods.

on the whole i buy reduced meat and freeze it.

We always have veg heavy stew...that lasts two meals.

i dont see how i can reduce it really..not that we have to particularly.

fruit can be a bit of a sting

we are 5 kinc one in nappies and 1 in night nappies
i never spend 100 aweek
i think i woud faint

I don't think that's a lot at all! I was a bit at that as well!

I don't buy a lot of meat, but what I do buy is free range organic so that is a big chunk of money. I buy wine as well, and have two cats - they probably cost about £15 before we start buying for us.

Fruit and vegetables cost a lot - it's threads like this that make me realize that it's true when people say they can't afford to eat healthily.

For a couple of months I averaged out what we were spending, I wasn't trying to cut back massively but was fairly careful. It was around £80 for the 4 of us per week. This includes 1-2 meals per week from M&S, I justify this to myself that I work a lot of late shifts (am a nurse) and it was either "help" with cooking or get a cleaner instead!

When I have time I stock up at Aldi on basics. Tonight I have been to Sainsbo's and have cut back further (e.g. no Heinz soup or ketchup). I am getting more ruthless re brands. Also when I have time I make proper veg/lentil meals which are loads cheaper than meat dishes.

We have a budget of £100 a week for me, dh, ds1(3) and ds2(9months). But that also has to cover non-food items like nappies, washing powder, loo roll, etc etc. Sometimes we manage on a bit less, other times we have to dip into our 'emergency fund' (£10/week).
But we don't buy any alcohol, sweets, goodies out of it

flipping heck seeker, how much do your cats eat????

i am the same sk, there are 4 of us, a cat and a hamster, and I spend maybe 80-100 including top up shopping each week. Granted, we aren't living like paupers, I cook from scratch maybe 4 nights, the other dayys we may have fishcakes and chips and salad, or (from the chiller) pie and mash and veg. Like you I am veggie so find I am probably spending more in buying veggie and meat sausages for instance and then cooking all the meat ones and using them in sandwiches etc. Only meat I buy is maybe one meal a week, meatballs to go wioth pasta, steak (beloved by dh but occasional) or sausages

I only buy good quality meat but buy own brand everything else. I spend a fortune on fruit, and tend to buy fruit even when its out of season and expensive as i likethe dcs to get a good variety. The cat eats own brand, not posh stuff like Sheba!. Value cat litter (she only craps in it after all!) and own brand nappies and wipes.

dh works nights and takes quite a bit of food out with him as he has quite a physically demanding job. I buy a couple of ready meals, loads of sandwich stuff and salad, yogs, rice pudding, quiche etc for him to take.

ds also takes packed lunch and I try and vary it for him.

I don't take my lunch but grab a baked spudfor a quid from the uni canteen when I'm out.

I too am baffled as to how I can cut down, maybe the booze , 8 cans , 1 bottle of wine a week.

I'm sure I could save by shopping atdifferent discounters for the best bargains but I don't have time. I barely manage to fit in the weekly shop at Tesco/asda as it is.

It's not really cripping us but I would like to cut down. I remember when dh and I first moved in together, we used to spend 40 pounds a week, but 6 years two kids, some price hikes and a couple of pets later, things have inctreased year on year

Agree with Psychomum re the cost of "free from" food - dh is coeliac. Some cheaper brands are often unsuitable for his needs.

Aldi btw labels quite a lot of stuff gluten free in case that helps anyone on here.

I spend on aveage £50.00 a week, Me, DH and DS who is 3.5 (still in night nappies). Also buy additional 12pints milk and bread during the week.

i spend about £110 a week, though as it's tesco i have lighbulbs/toiletries etc