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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:
Tortington · 09/08/2007 00:19

what no tuna melt?

MrsTittleMouse · 09/08/2007 09:22

We try to stay below 50 quid a week. Sometimes we manage quite a bit below, if there's stuff in the cupboards that we can eat up and we don't buy any alcohol. That's the two of us, plus milk, nappies and jars of food for DD (DD is all organic, we only eat organic sometimes), plus household stuff and alot of our toiletries. We live in the South East and we're careful with money because I stay at home to look after DD. I don't think that 75 pounds for a family of 4 is extravagant though.

MrsTittleMouse · 09/08/2007 09:23

Would agree to get DH to do the shopping and see how well he does. Either he'll do a useless job (most likely) and you'll be vindicated, or he'll do a great job which means one less job for you.

harleyd · 09/08/2007 09:30

i try to keep mine below £100 (usually managing £99.98 or something)for my weekly shop in tesco. thats for 2 adults and 4 kids. i usually end up running to the local shop every other day for fresh bread/milk also

SpawnHorcrux · 09/08/2007 09:43

Ours crept up to about £100 p/w for two adults, a toddler and a baby. We've had to tighten our purse-strings recently, and I've got it down to about £75-£80 p/w. I'd be v hard pushed to make it cheaper then that though.

eleusis · 09/08/2007 09:45

Mine is about £140 per week for two parents, 2 kids (one still in nappies), and one live-in nanny. I have tried and treid to reduce this to no avail. I used to aim for under £100 a week but always blew the budget and was constantly fighting about who should live without what. So, I decided just to up the budget to £150 and live in peace.

saltire · 09/08/2007 09:45

Well I'm confused this week. Money is tight at the moment due to me not working, so i thought we would go to Lidl, as it would be cheaper. it was £100.36!. My normal weekly delivery from Asda or Tesco is usually between £50 -£70 incl delivery. mind you DS1 is going through his hollo0w legs stage at the tminute. Still in shock about Lidl bill though!

£75 sounds ok to me, get your DH to do the shopping see how he gets on

hatwoman · 09/08/2007 09:47

I reckon we spend about £100 a week at the supermarket. that doesn't include lunches for dh 4 times a week and for me 3 times a week. plus we have a milk man - about £7 a week

hatwoman · 09/08/2007 09:48

that's 2 adults, a 7 and a 5 year old, plus live out nanny eating lunch 3 times a week

mumfor1standfinaltime · 09/08/2007 09:51

Ours is around £40 a week for 2 adults and one 2 year old (just coming out of nappies), probably get one takeaway a week as well and dh gets free cooked meals at work for lunch so evening main meals are really just for me and ds.

mamasin · 09/08/2007 10:08

for me, dh and dd about 120 euro a week. but I find if you really pennypinch ie get the beans that are 10c cheaper, and have a menu in your head you'll save loads PLUS you get the satisfaction of being thrifty woman and canny cook!

TigerFeet · 09/08/2007 10:25

£10 at butchers
£5 at farm shop [ponce]
£30-40 at supermarket
approx £20 between dh and I on lunch/coffee at work (I do try to do pack ups but generally fail)

2 adults, dd aged 3 who mainly eats at nursery and cat.

I reckon we spend more on petrol every month than we do on food

maisemor · 09/08/2007 11:37

2 adults, a 5 year old (birthday yesterday) and a 3 year old. We spend between £70 and £100 a week.

scorpio1 · 09/08/2007 11:54

about 60-70 a week, including 1 pack of nappies, for the 4 of us.

i menu plan, and dont buy much rubbish.

EscapeFrom · 09/08/2007 11:55

Mine is roughly 40 / 50 a week - but just one adult and two little ones that don't eat much.

clayre · 09/08/2007 12:03

2 kids and 2 adults we're about £100, thats including nappies and wipes and we have a cat

EscapeFrom · 09/08/2007 12:06

yes I have a cat too.

BrownSuga · 09/08/2007 12:09

we're 2 adults, 1 small dog, and a parttime child, plus now new baby and spend between 100-130 weekly incl alcohol, but not nappies

MyTwopenceworth · 09/08/2007 12:17

currently about £40-50 a week at tesco, plus £20-30 at the market (fruit and veg), plus £80-100 at the farm on meat every 3 months or so.

plus £30 a week incidental - extra bread, milk, lottery, treats etc!!

sooo £80 - £120 a week ???? my maths is awful

That's 2 adults, 2 kids and a cat, plus lots of visits from relatives to cook for - food, drinks, household and toiletries.

We used to, at the very worst of our problems, manage on £25-30 a week. But it was horrible.

eleusis · 09/08/2007 12:28

I clearly need to spend less time eating and more time at the gym.

Quattrocento · 09/08/2007 12:34

Oh, Amanda, sorry about that!

We are a family of four too, and my DCs are exactly the same age as yours. In term time, the DCs do not eat their evening meals at home during the week. Even so our weekly shopping bill is almost exactly £100 pw.

This includes a lot of freshly squeezed juice. Seems to be the biggest single item in our shopping trolley.

Roseylea · 09/08/2007 12:39

Lunarmum I am into ethical / fair trade shopping too, so I have to balance ethics with economics so that I don't overspend. The Co-Op is good for FT stuff that is not too expensive. Also we eat non-meat meals a few times a week so that helps keep prices down a bit. One of our fave meals is yummy jacket potatoes with beans, home-made coleslaw and cheese! (mmmmmmmmmm......)

When I was a student at university I lived off £6 a week for food!

Quattrocento · 09/08/2007 12:41

Forgot to say that this does not include lunches for either of us or the DCs.

becklespeckle · 09/08/2007 12:41

I think £75 is good going for a family of 4! I spend at least £100 on the main shop plus fruit, bread and milk topups through the week too! (there are also 4 of us and we don't eat extravagantly or have loads of treats either).

I do always buy fresh ingredients, although not always organic, and I cook from scratch. Food is the one thing I will not economise on - it is the fuel we need to keep us healthy and well.

hecciesmum · 09/08/2007 13:06

AM overseas, but we spend 160 euro a week and that's not including any booze or anything for food and general groceries for 2 adults, a 4 year old and a 1 year old (still in nappies)....that works back to 112 pounds.

Personally I think you are doing amazingly if you manage to do the shope for 75 pounds a week. I knwo my parents who are just the 2 of them and live in the UK average about 90 a week