How much do you spend on grocery shopping?

[Greatfun]

I only ask because we seem to over spend on our budget of £560 per month and I can't believe we actually need more than this. We have 2 DCS (1 and 3),me and DH. The kids and I are home all day so are eating 3 meals a day here. DS (aged 1) eats normal meals now rather than baby food and formula milk. By grocery shoppping I mean food, drink, cleaning stuff, washing powder,nappies, shampoo and shower gel etc. Kids clothes and shoes are separate. I was going to increase our budget to 660 which just sounds way too much to me. We shop at Tesco/Sainsbury so not Harrods!

6 people (3 adults 3 children) and a dog

£400 for EVERYTHING

I am obviously doing something very wrong. How do you do this?

We are a familly of 6 (dh, 10yo, 8yo, 5yo, 2yo, me). we shop in Morrissons and spend arround £400- a month on shopping that includes toiletteries, cleaning products and nappies.

Until just over a year ago we used to spend about a £100- less for exactly same type of shopping.

3 of us here (me, Dh and 7y DD)

Spend about £360-380 a month on Ocado shops, pus extras throughout week. Milk is paid for seperately as have a milkman. Overall will be well over £400 a month.

Family of 5. 2 adults, 6 year old, 5 year old and 3 year old.

£90 a week, including toiletries and cleaning products.

I plan my weekly meals as much as possible, and make my own pasta sauces as much as I can because this saves a fortune as I can bulk cook.

Meant to say, I could do it on a lot less, burt DH is a carnivore and is convinced that he is allergic to veg and pulses.

about £60 a week atm.

That's 2 adults, 2 kids, a cat.
food, household, toiletries.

We do buy potatoes from the farm - a big sack lasts a couple of months £5

and we buy meat and eggs from the farm. half a lamb is under £40, a tray of eggs for £3

I want to spend less (I have in the past! for a time I did it on £25 a week!) but reading this type of thread makes me realise we actually spend far less than most people!

And two cats too.

2 adults 2 primary age children 1 cat

I used to be able to get everything (ie inc wine/beer/cleaning stuff and toiletries) for £100 pw (at sainsburys)

Its now nearer £145
We do have meat/fish every day

So £628.33 PCM

If I budget the proper way and add in :

Christmas adds another £200
Extra's such as BBQ's (x4)and birthday parties (x4)add an extra £100 a time

That amounts to a REAL monthly budget of £711.66

(dh has recently had to take a sizeable paycut so this HAS to come down)

for Me, DP and DD aged 4. I done a shop yesterday which consisted of cleaning products, brought lots of meat and loads of stuff which filled the freezer which will last a while £75 - as i've now filled the freezers and brought cleaning stuff for the month, my shop will now go down to about £30 a week.

About £200 per week (more if dh goes shopping). Ocado order plus extras from Waitrose. Milk, newspapers, dog food not included in this figure.

2 adults, 2 children. All meals (excl. dh's lunch) are eaten at home.

Increased in recent months from 100 to around 140 for 2 adults , 2 children - 5 and 13.

OMG, we spend £50-60 per week for 2 adults, 2dc one primary one still in nappies, with coeliacs so a lot of expensive extras, 2 cats

£400 a month for everything, including milkman's bill and dc's packed lunches. That's for 2 adults and 3 school-age dc.

It's really not that hard -- I could do it for less if we had to, but below a certain level it does take more effort. Concentrate on prices for the items you buy a lot of, which in the frogpond are things like breakfast cereal, loo paper, cheese and yoghurts and the expensive items like meat, booze and washing powder.

I shop alternate weeks at Lidl and Morrisons, and the price difference on the products I've listed above between those shops and somewhere like Sainsburys (never mind Waitrose) is staggering.

Eg Lidl's own breakfast cereal (F&F or Shreddies for eg.) is between £1 and £1.49, whereas you can easily pay £2.50+ for an equivalent packet of Kellogs branded cereal. Ditto washing powder, loo paper, yoghurts etc etc.

Buy basic brand of everything unless it's proven to be disgusting (and Lidl's stuff is generally nicer than the Sainsbo's basic range ime).

You also need to plan your meals, make sure you use all left-overs and use ingredients like lentils, pasta and veg to bulk out the expensive ingredients, eg. stews rather than whole cuts of meat. Be aware of which products are expensive for the number of meals you get out of them, eg. chicken breasts are convenient, but v. v. expensive compared with buying a whole chicken. Ditto things like pre-grated cheese, or processed products like babybel.

for me dh 10yrold 4yrold and 20wk old we spend around £180 a week with nappies and milk,plus i will need extras in the week so that would be another £30. i do sainsburys 1 week and asda deliver the following week so i try to keep the asda shop a little cheaper.

Thesockmonster does your DC in primary have packed lunches or school meals?

packed lunches, cant do school meals because of the coeliacs.

2 adults, 3 eating children, baby and toddler in washable nappies, bfing. £100pw.

OH, the sockmonster, I misunderstood, I thought it was the little one with coeliacs. I just asked because a lot of my friends say they do spend less than me for their grocery shopping but I later realised all their DCS were having school lunch which they do not budjet as food expense. I would if my DCs where having school lunches.

My niece is coeliacs as well (on the continent) and I am at the prices of things she has to pay for things for her. Whenever we go I always take a few bits and bobs from here as it seems easier to access somehow.

Can't do school lunches? Why not?

• I ask because my 2 are gluten intolerant and so have to follow the same diet as coeliacs and we filled in a form sent by someone to do with school meals, got gp to confirm the medical need and a special meal is provided for them every day.

How do I do it? I shop online, make my own bread,get flour from a mill down south delivered, organic meat from a farm in Wales delivered, cook from scratch and adjust my "list" to accommodate BOGOF's. Bulk out casseroles/pies/meals with cheap, in season veg, cook double and freeze for quick meals on nights I can't be bothered, and get stuff from Costco.

Hecate, i have enquired and the teacher keeps saying they will do it, but then when i phone the provider they say that I need a hospital diagnosis which dd has not had and will not be having. I wonder if a letter from the gp wouild suffice, might try that agin then if that is the case.

Me, DH and 2 dd ( 3 and 4). Spend about £60-£70 a week. I try and work out what we are going to have before i go shopping. We don't eat much meat, Quorn instead. The last night or two before i go shopping we sometimes eat jacket potatoes and veg.

About £400 a month, which is pretty shocking considering it's just DH and me. DH also spends extra on lunches at Pret, etc. Don't know how to reduce costs - we are central London and nearest supermarkets are Waitrose and Sainsbury - wish there was a Lidl, Aldi, etc.