Families of 4 – how much do you spend on groceries per month?

[ScarlettCrossbones]

Am realising that we're spending between £500-£600 per month in supermarkets, sometimes more, and just wondering if this is reasonable or at the top end? Definitely looking to reduce that if possible! We don't buy any ready meals or anything like that ... Thx x

thatsnotmymonster - I really dont know how you do it, must be difficult is it not.

We are probably double that for a family of 5.

Struggling financially atm, so obviously if it can be done for £85 maybe its about time I gave myself a strict budget and really tried to stick to it rather than my half-hearted approach.

I find alot seems to go on packed lunches. The dc's seem to snack on the stuff thats meant to go in their lunchboxes so I end up replacing stuff that should do all week, 2 or 3 times each week.

I am really a crap cook, so alot does go on ready-made sauces and dh is another who would probably go on strike if I dared serve up a meat-free meal.

Any hints would be greatly appreciated

Gosh, I was wondering how to reduce our weekly bill. There are 6 of us and we spend Around 100 a week. Really we need to spend less but I'm not sure how to get it down anymore.

3 children here and I reckon we spend well over £100/week on food. Maybe not £150 tho.

We don't drink either. I do buy a lot of organic meat etc tho.

Actually a project for new year could be to budget it down to about £100/week at most.

My figures don't include schoool lunches btw tho do incldue pack-ups for me and DH.

We spend probably £200 a month in supermarket and another £200 at farm shop on veg and all meat. Plus maybe another £50 to £100 on top ups and take aways. There's five of us. I think I'm going to use my week off this week to do some meal planning and get to grips with this housekeeping lark a bit!

My budget for 3 of us plus cat is 120 euros per week. I rarely manage it. Dd has school dinners and I don't buy much ready prepared stuff at all. Food seems to have got mega expensive recently. I try to batch cook, and make sandwiches for work.

Definately think that food prices have increased recently because I could get everything we needed for less than 70 quid and that seems to be a distant memory now.

Family of 4 (2 adults, 2 young children) we spend about £350-£400 per month on food.

This is bumped up for us however as I am vegetarian but ds1 has a nut allergy and ds2 has a dairy allergy so I can't just buy veggie for all. I buy meat for the boys, but will only buy organic as I don't agree with battery farming so I go to our local organic farm shop for meat.

Then, I don't buy veggie stuff with dairy for me as ds2 likes to pick things off my plate but the supermarkets are really bad for vegan so I buy most of my food from internet shops e.g. goodness direct.

oh for a simple life!

WOW I must be a tight ass lol because no way in the world would I spend that amount on shopping a month. I spend around £110 a month on a big shop

We spend to much,and we also have an allotment so it's pretty crap of us.
We used to spend £55 a week and now it's esculated to maybe £75-90 for 2 adults,1 teen and a 7 yr old.

I cook from stratch and no microwave meals or frozen meals are bought,feck knows where it's all going,we NEED to cut back.

Used to be £50 ish and over the last few months it has gone up to £65-70 a week.
Typical weeks meals:
(warning - i am not a great cook)

Monday - spagetti bolognese - with Quorn mince and homemade pasta sauce with veg

Tuesday - jacket potatoes with tinned mackeral and veg or fish

Wednesday - i teach this eve so DH makes dds eggs and pitta

Thursday - Salmon or prawns and pasta

Friday - Tuna and pasta - with homemade pasta sauce

Saturday - maybe spag bol again

Sunday - maybe chicken or prawn curry with rice and veg.

I am ashamed to say that we eat this - not in this order! - most weeks, bit boring but quite healthy and the pasta sauce is just tinned tomatoes and veg.

try looking here for some ideas

old style

I have gone from £700 pm to £500 pm for five of us.

There are 5 of us - me and DP, DS1, teen with hollow legs and 2 DC under 6. We spend £40-£50 per week.

We have only manageed this by planning what we are going to eat, checking what is in the cupboard before the shop, writing a list and most importantly - only DP goes to the supermarket. If I go it always costs £10-20 more.

We also switched to Aldi. DS1 eats huge amounts of cereal and we go through 4 pints of milk in a day quite easily. It's 99p for 4 proper pints of milk there compared with £1.50 for the not quite 4 pints in the other supermarket. Just that one change saved us about £14 per month.

Stuff like their washing powder is fine too, and 12 loo rolls for £2 and not nasty paper either!

Buckbuck - I'm amazed you are able to do this!

It is just me and dd (5) at the moment and I spend at least £50 a week. Eeek! Plus we both eat elsewhere Tuesday evenings.

I think I just like to eat expensive food, and I'm fussy so find it almost impossible to change. I can't bear the thought of eating something I don't really enjoy and thinking "wish I could be eating xxx instead". For example I made fajitas tonight

3 chicken breasts £3.50 - not fancy ones, just Sainsburys brand.

Tortilla Wraps - £1.50

Onion and 2 peppers - £2

That's £7 for one evening meal, I do 6 evening meals a week. Plus breakfasts, lunches, snacks, packed lunch healthy food like organix bars / packet dried fruit for dd and shampoo/toothpaste etc. I spend a small fortune in Sainsbos every week

wow Hando you ate three chicken breasts between you and a five year old - this coul dbe somewhere to cut back I reckon.

I made one biggish one do me and DH yesterday, also making chicken fajitas.

Was £400pm for me, DH, two toddlers and two cats. Includes all cleaning stuff, cat food, night nappies for DS (washables during the day), toiletries etc. We both work from home so includes all lunches too.

But from this month it's gone down to £350. I think this should be fine.

We cook from scratch every day, usually buy chicken or pork for a roast then casserole leftovers the next day and make a very bulked out casserole with pulses on day three.

Often have something like veggie burger and home-made wedges on a Friday night - cheap and cheerful!

We eat a lot of bread and potatoes as fillers so we can have less meat, eg bread in gravy after roast or casserole, garlic bread on the side of a pasta dish for a bit of variety, jackets with tuna and veg, homemade soup and warm, buttery rolls.

Healthy snacks for us are raisins, breadsticks, crackers and stuff - cheaper than cereal bars etc.

And we also buy whatever fruit is on offer and only buy cheap veg. Sainsbury's Basics big bag of frozen peas, lots of carrots, that sort of thing.

Would like to get it down further but can't see that happening as the kids get ever bigger and more hungry!

Ooh yes, spicy chicken and wedges is also a Friday night favourite here - pack of chicken legs or drumsticks around £2 plus a few potatoes. Sprinkle over a jar of seasoning and you're good to go!

Cereal is a very filling snack - big bag of oats lasts ages and Sainsbury's do 1% fat milk for £1 for 4 pints. Basics weetabix good too. DH has cereal every night - that way he doesn't need so much meat at dinner!

We do this - sausage casserole and mash with chick peas, kidney beans etc.

Pearl barley, lentils etc in casseroles, curries and soups.

Have started making dhal, although coconut milk expensive and I try to avoid supermarkets, only shopping online so not much choice there! Is is really cheaper in other aisles?

Ooh thank you!