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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Original poster

How much is your weekly food bill? (Bl**dy dh!)

153 replies

AmandaP · 01/09/2006 15:21

Sorry but I'm mad now! We're a family of four (the kids are 9 and 7), and my husband has had a go at me for the weekly shop averaging about ?75. To me that doesn't seem that outrageous - the kids seem to have hollow legs, dh himself eats a vast amount, and whilst we don't live on beans on toast every day, we certainly don't eat lobster and caviar on a daily basis either. I try and buy organic fruit, veg and meat where possible, and we grow some of our own fruit and veg as well. We do live in a very expensive part of the south east and I guess food prices may differ?

I just thought I would take a straw poll and see how much, roughly, other MNers were spending on their food shopping.

(At the root of this, I suspect, is the fact that my husband has never forgiven me for having a breakdown and for no longer being able to be the breadwinner so that he has to work full-time... but that's going into real ranting territory and I'm not ready for that yet!!!)

OP posts:
Original poster
AmandaP · 01/09/2006 19:32

Thank you all SO much! I'm feeling a bit better now. It's not even as if I buy 'luxuries' - I buy own brand cheap or basic ranges stuff wherever possible - tinned toms, dried pasta, biscuits, flour etc; we don't often have ready meals or sauces out of jars etc.

To be honest, as I said in my original post, I think it's got more to do with other issues than just the finances. Having just watched a dvd of Pride & Prejudice while doing the ironing, I'm ready to chuck the marriage in and go get me some romance, love and devotion somewhere else! But I expect that feeling will pass!!! I should think even Mr Darcy would whinge about the shopping occasionally!

Thank you veryone

OP posts:
Original poster
AmandaP · 01/09/2006 19:33

that should read everyone

OP posts:
PeachyClairHasBadHair · 01/09/2006 19:57

I bet Mr Darcy was a roght whinger, especially if his breeches weren't ironed right

But your issues sound much deeper and anything that involves him sniping over resentment from the past, means either you talk, get counselling or seriously consider getting out. Sounds like a rather insidious form of bullying.

FWIW I was left at several months pg as the only breadwinner when Dh ahd a breakdown. And there is no way I resent him for that. I hated the situation, but it was hardly intentional.

Thomcat · 01/09/2006 20:07

Well I just 'popped' to Sainsburys as you do. I needed dinner for tonight, picked up veg for a roast on Sunday (already have the meat0, got some fruit, bit of cat food, nappies, wipes, milk, 6 bottles of wine, some chicken, and a few other staples - £92.43!

I was going to do the main shop for next week on Monday.

So no £75 for 4 isn't a lot.

We don't go out half as much these days, obviously, so over the weekend I splash out and buy the ingrediants to make something really nice and get a couple of bottles of decent wine in.

WideWebWitch · 01/09/2006 20:10

Atm, about £200 a week for 4 of us, me, dh, ds who is 8yo and dd, who is 2yo and has 3 meals a day at nursery. Come to that, ds has supper at after school club too. I buy mostly organic and we're in the SE too. So your dh should consider £75 highly reasonable imo.

WideWebWitch · 01/09/2006 20:11

lol at Mr Darcy being a right whinger!

acnebride · 01/09/2006 20:20

I'm doing my very best to cut down from 78 to 50 pw for dh, me and ds who is only 2.5. I think we might manage it this week but last two weeks i ended up around 65. milk bill 7.50 a week, about 20 on fruit, veg and meat and another 20 on tins, toiletries and household. That takes a lot of planning for me and i'm finding it quite tough. i do feel pretty spoiled brat being unable to get it down when we really need to, but 78 didn't feel like non-stop notes either.

did he do the shop when he was working part-time?

CountessDracula · 01/09/2006 20:21

£125 a week for 3 of us + dog (the dog eats cheapo mince and tuna and veggies, we eat all organic as far as possible)

CountessDracula · 01/09/2006 20:22

(in the supermarket that is, then there is the deli runs at weekends for fab cheese etc, plus wine and dh and I eat at work most of the time so there is another tenner plus a day)

Tell him that you don't spend enough!

Cappuccino · 01/09/2006 20:26

about £60- £65 for four of us

MrsFio · 01/09/2006 20:27

well ours was over £100 this week!

but the dog food for 2 dogs and rabbit stuff comes to about 15-20 a week

HyacinthB · 01/09/2006 20:29

You're doing an excellent job AmandaP.

Family of 4 here - grocery bill is usually £100 - £150 per week (albeit from Waitrose)

Piffle · 01/09/2006 20:32

£100 here
dp not here mon am to friday pm.
DS is 12 and eats like a horse.
So me, ds and dd (4)
Plus dp at the weekends
Weekly organic veg box and eggs £16
monthly meat (free range etc) from farmers market £60 per month
other bits from Lidls/Tesco/Waitrose - we shop all over for other bits and bobs.

froot · 01/09/2006 20:37

Just nearly fainted at tesco ...my shop was £140 and the only meat was £8 worth of chicken thighs. We are 2 +2 .No toiletries but a few Xmas pressies (well it is september) but they only added up to about £20. Have just analysed the receit and seem to have spet a lot on cereal bars for the lunch boxes but the Ryvita ones have half the sugar of all the others .....but verrrrrrry pricey.

Original poster
AmandaP · 01/09/2006 20:47

That's just it, acnebride, not only did I work full-time, but I was very often away for 2/3 nights a week, did 75% of shopping, 100% washing/ironing, all the cleaning until I found a cleaner, plus when I got in from work, he would more or less hand the children over to me with a 'phew, glad you're back, you can look after the children now as I need a rest'!! The weekends were spent giving him the space he wanted to ride his mountainbike, motorbike etc etc while I caught up on chores and spent time with the children. The kids were 6 and 4 by the time I had the breakdown, and tbh I am slightly surprised it didn't happen sooner!

Peachy Clair - you're right, there are deeper issues but we have tried Relate and then a private counsellor. DH didn't find it useful, plus saw it as a waste of money so that was that. I have had oodles of individual and group therapy over the past three years and have a strong sense of self-worth (hoo-bl**dy-ray, first time in 42 years!) and am now much more relaxed, happier, etc than I ever was. This comes at a time when DH is working harder than ever before, feeling the responsibility, and takes it out on me by shouting, stomping around etc. Apparently it makes him 'feel better' to shout at me, so I should be happy for him. Oh and by the way, 'why don't we have much of a sex life?'!! As it is, the more he shouts the further away I am from him.

Thanks all for your help - I feel reassured now, and assuming I can cope with being shouted at, will ask him to come up with a weekly food plan and supporting shopping list as per some of your suggestions! Watch this space!

OP posts:
Crackle · 01/09/2006 20:50

As a little social experiment we decided not to go shopping for the entire school holidays. We cobbled together an inventory of the larder (that was the weekend that the telly broke) and made some meal plans. I nicked free delivery codes for Tesco off the internet and away we went.

Two greedy adults, a gannet-like 10yo boy and a fussy 7yo. No nappies, wipes, booze or fags. No organic veg, salad from the garden and veggie meals 3 times a week. Lush home baking.

We never spent more than £55 pw.

I may have made a rod for my own back.

Cappuccino · 01/09/2006 21:04

Crackle I did stop going to the supermarket more than once a month recently and I also found I spent less

stopped putting stuff in 'in case'

and shopping in town meant I didn't buy so much cos I didn't want to lug it back up the hill

but in the end what put the dampers on it was the lack of Ready Brek

tegan · 01/09/2006 21:15

We did £153.00 in Asda tonight and I know that I will need to go into town for the odd things in the week which in total will probably come to around £40.
Me- sahm
Dh- works nights sunday to thursday
DD1- 8.4 eats 3 times more than me
DD2- 2.4 eats at lease 2 times more than me.

milward · 01/09/2006 21:20

Good shopping amandaP - get your dh to get it next time so he understands the price of things

MegaLegs · 01/09/2006 21:24

Between £90.00 and £120.00. Always seem to run out of washing powder, cleaning stuff and toilettries in same week. There are 6 of us and a cat, although we have a garden full of veg and a shed full of chickens. Mostly spend on meat and packed lunch stuff for ds1 and 2.

olivia35 · 01/09/2006 21:29

We spend £150ish a fortnight on a 'big' shop (includes booze & some organic stuff, but no meat or nappies) & I 'top up' with fresh veg milk etc to the tune of maybe £20/week.

Definitely at least £100/week for 4 of us.

jodee · 01/09/2006 21:33

We are 2 adults 1 child, spent £92 today in Tescos, didn't even buy any wine! Bought quite a lot of cat food and my only indulgence was a piece of dolcelatte cheese!! (oh, forgot the deep fried camembert, but I do lurve cheese.)

kittywits · 01/09/2006 21:42

OMG this week it was £210. No luxuries in there either, well apart from a giant bar of wholenut choc

wrinklytum · 01/09/2006 21:54

About 100 squid a week for a family of four including nappies wipes and cleaning/washing products

Crackle · 01/09/2006 22:40

£210? For a week?

How many do you have to feed?[/faints dead away]