What are families honestly spending on their weekly food shop?

[Catty21]

cost of weekly food shop - Our food shop cost is crippling me. Our weekly food shop is £300 for 2 adults , 14 year old and a cat. My husband thinks that’s normal and is just the cost of living when I know my friends are paying half that. His response is well they are not being honest and they are actually paying more.

I can’t continue paying £300 a week, it’s insane I know . I’ve tried talking to him that it’s too much and he’s blaming me stressing over it on “ time of the month” as usual.

My question is , honestly what are families spending on their food shop weekly.

2 adults, 1 6 year old - all of us quite big appetites I’d say.

Average around £100 - £120 a week I’d say. I do notice it creeps up very easily and, whilst we are lucky not to be on a very tight budget and I’m happy to spend more on food we enjoy, I also don’t want it to keep drifting upwards so I’m trying to be a bit more mindful.

I do cook mostly from scratch but there are some snacks/ crisps in there, and whilst I make my own bread about half the time sometimes I just want the convenience of a shop bought loaf.

That doesn’t include alcohol, we don’t drink much at home (do enjoy it when out though).

Does include cleaning stuff and some basic toiletries.

I spend what you do

When we had 3 adults, a cat and dog until recently, it would have been around £120 a week. Now its just two adults and a dog

I dont have a set budget, I do have a set wage and the grocery shop comes from that so the less I spend there, the more I have for other things ( PT on NMW )

Last couple of weeks its been between 40 and 60 quid, and it will change again as I run down the serious stocks of cleaning supplies here as Ive changed to an eco brand so whilst Ive paid a big first order , it won't be a weekly buy moving forward

I cook from scratch. Everything really - apart from bread as we rarely eat it . But yep mayo, yoghurt, pasta sauces, curry pastes - its made here. I make meat stretch as far as possible and yes a chicken will feed two of us 4 times, - sorry all you rubber chicken disbelievers :) And nothing gets thrown away . Tonight we had left over beef , which we had yesterday ( reduced half price ) as a roast, I put it through the meat slicer today, used the small amounts of left over cooked veg added to more spuds and make bubble and squeak , and there is still beef left - enough for 4 rounds of sandwiches

Alcohol - we both drink - and host here - is a separate budget - £35 a week usually - but that's it, that's our socialising budget

DH takes left overs for lunches or sandwiches , I eat at home but both of us usually only eat twice a day, not because we cant afford to , but because of the hours we work , neither of us eating mornings, it would be 11am the earliest Id eat, maybe later, so its not too long to wait for dinner

My luxury buy is coffee beans - I pay a fortune - but worth every penny when it's just one decent coffee a day. DH likes his snacks with his lunch , he gets one six pack of crisps and a pack of single wrapped biscuits or chocolate bars

However I have the time to know where the best value is and have the time to cook from scratch. 30 years ago, we we both worked long hours in London, with long commutes, our food bill would have easily hit the £150 mark , buying ready meals and home delivery most nights

1 adult, 1 child here. Usually 1 big delivery at ~£150 a month then top up at Lidl for fresh stuff ~£30 the other 3/4 weeks. Perhaps £20/30 at the butcher & £10/15 home & bargain a month on top. But I batch cook a lot so rotate what we buy depending where we're up to. There's usually a more expensive delivery every 3/4 months. I use quite a bit of frozen veg to save waste unless we have people over for a roast etc & tend to stick with a pineapple/melon plus apples fruit wise for longevity. Love berries but either try and get them yellow sticker or on offer
ETA: DD gets early years school lunches & I wfh mostly so use what we have.

Hmm I’ve just checked my online receipts and we spend between £115 and £220 a week - usually around £160. But we also get a weekly veg box which is about £20, and sometimes order pet food separately. I don’t usually do a top up shop - I’ve got a pretty good system now so that I don’t need to 👌

2 adults, 3 primary school aged children.

We host a lot (often end up feeding friends). DH buys work lunches out every other day, I never buy lunch out, DD1 has a packed lunch and we very rarely eat out, so I think our shop is pretty frugal.

2 adults, 1 teen, 1 kid. For everything including top ups probably around €250 a week

We spend about £300 a month for 2 adults that mainly work from home and 2 fussy cats.

Per week, I spend £40-£50 on the main Aldi shop, maybe another £10-£20 on top up bits (fruit from the nice grocers, odds and ends from Tesco, etc) and I bulk order my cat food, treats and a calming plug ins from Zooplus each month when we get paid.

Just buying the supermarket own brands instead of the name brands could easily knock £30-40 off a big weekly shop. For example, I read somewhere recently that all the supermarket own brand weetabixes are made in the same factory as the "real" version. I certainly can't tell a difference anyway. I have to have Heinz salad cream, but ketchup and mayonnaise can be own brand. It's not even all bad quality. I discovered last week that Asda do their own peanut butter that's 100% peanut.
Pre-made snacks, and soft drinks, can also add loads to a shop.
Lots of bananas and apples.
Home cooked meals based around minced meat, chicken thighs, sausages, and the cheaper vegetables such as carrots, onions, cabbage, broccoli, tinned tomatoes, frozen peas.. don't be afraid of frozen veg, it can be really good quality these days and conserves nutrients better than fresh in some cases.
For example, our dinner menu for the next few days includes: spaghetti bolognese (homemade, of the tinned tomatoes and a dash of lea and perrins kind, not the "roasted vine-ripened cherry tomatoes and half a bottle of red wine" kind...), chicken casserole (homemade), Chicken fajitas (NEVER buy the rip-off Old El Paso kits. Just buy wraps from the bread aisle, then season the meat and veg yourself with paprika, cumin, powdered garlic etc. We get a tex-mex dip selection from the fridge aisle, although before kids I used to make my own guacamole and salsa... cba now though)
Then we'll have a fairly simple child-friendly chicken curry, toad in the hole with veg, then carbonara (homemade using eggs, bacon and parmesan cheese (grated off a block that lasts weeks, not pre-grated).

I use a cashback card that gives 3% cashback on my shopping.

Wow ours is £80 odd a week, 2 adults and a child, and that usually includes a batch cook of some description that does a dinner the next week. But it’s not for many lunch things as we are out the house during the week at work / nursery. We budget separately for cleaning and toilet roll etc (£20 odd a month) and that doesn’t include many luxuries such as alcohol or much chocolate etc. We buy that ourselves as and when we want it, on the go, to attempt to stop snacking in the house 🤣 Maybe that’s why it’s a fair bit lower than others.

Its hard to add up because although my weekly shop probably comes to £85 for one adult and two kids, that doesn't include all snacks/lunches and top-up bread & milk, especially in the school holidays.

I'm in Vancouver, Canada. If I'm really careful, I can get away with around $200/£132 p/week, but that is really stretching it. Two adults, 2 young children. Lots of fresh fruit&veg, dried pasta, a variety of bread products, chicken/salmon most days, eggs and milk are staples. Butter is outrageous as can only have lactose-free which is about $8 for just under 500g.

Some things that have helped me cut the budget-
Make more food than required and freeze a couple of portions before serving
Don't make 'individual' servings , like a kyiv each, or a portion of fish each. This is expensive, try a chicken traybake, or fish pie.
Lentils and beans are your friends.
Eat seasonally
Own brands
Snacks - dried fruit, tinned fish, boiled eggs, seasonal fruit, oat cakes bread sticks.
Cheap teas like baked potatoes, beans/cheese/eggson toast are great
Lots of veg - carrots, cabbage, turnips, leeks, courgettes, whatever is in season. Again, cool more than is needed and then make salads, soups etc from left overs.
We don't have fizzy drinks or juices
We buy ground coffee and use a cafetiere
Own brand cleaning products and toiletries
Buy yellow sticker bread etc for the freezer

We have a very varied diet, even when I'm making something like bolognese the ingredients change each time. Learning how to adapt recipes really helps.

1 adult, 2 teens and 2 cats: £150-200 per week.
That's including food for us, the cats and also most toiletries/cleaning supplies. Normally shopping at Sainsburys, but it's a similar amount to all other supermarkets. Lidl and Aldi actually seem to work out more expensive for us as we eat fresh meat and veg every day, as well as not being able to get everything I need.
I spend another £100 a month on amazon subscribe and save for other essentials we use throughout the month that I could otherwise buy from the supermarket (toilet roll, batteries, washing stuff etc). This also includes the fact that my children have very different food preferences (one is vegetarian) so often cooking 2 meals a night.
Lots of people I see that say they can feed a family of 4 for less than £100 eat a lot of frozen stuff. Cooking fresh meals, especially including meat, really pushes the price up.

You don’t say where you do your food shop. I think that’s highly relevant. If you shop in M&S your food bill will be double every one else’s. If you shop in Lidl it will be less 🤷‍♀️

Me DH and dog. 70-80 at Aldi per week.

We meal plan and budget carefully.

one vegetarian meal,

2 budget meals
one freezer meal
3 Cooked from scratch meals

my diet isn’t well babalwnced at the moment as I am super busy but have 6 weeks off.

i eat a lot of the same thing gs for lunch and breakfast.

I popped to Tesco yesterday and need washing detergent and it was 7 compared to 1.79 at Aldi. It was worth stopping at Aldi

I did an instagram veggie pasta bake that was good. Budget meals are Spanish tortilla or jacket potatoes. Baguettes sandwiches go down well too.

I think it depends how you cook and shop. There is no magic wand

meal plan and plan n snacks. Budget carefully, batch cook and freeze. Reduce waste.

Yes that’s super higher, we’re a couple, 2 young children and 3 cats. We spend £120-£150 a week, we’re also vegetarians so don’t buy any meat for abit more context.

family of 3 plus 3 cats on prescription food.

Cats £100 per month

Humans £120- £150 per week.

That sounds like a hell of a lot of eye level shopping, brands, meat and alcohol.

We spend more like £400 a month, £500 is the highest. 2 adults, 2 under 10 so includes some convenience foods but not much meat.

That seems incredibly high. We are two adults, one 13 yr old, two cats, typically shop at Waitrose and spend roughly £130 per week.

We are about the same. Organic veg box is a large part of it. I'm on a carnivore diet for health reasons so there is a fair amount of butter and cheese in there, although i buy organic meat on yellow sticker to save some money. Make all our own bread with a big sack of organic flour bought online. We are two v tall adults and two v tall teens and we eat well...but it is also crippling me and I don't really know how to cut the bill and still eat food without poison on it, and which is vv low carb for me, and multiple allergen free for one of my family.

Also two hungry cats.

Our food shop is around £150 a week and then around £50 on a top up shop mid week but we have an allergy child whose food costs twice as much as usual. Two adults, DS7 & DD2 and a cat. We eat a lot of snacks, use a lot of branded products, have special foods to accomidate my youngest, both children home all day as my eldest is home educated.

£300 is loads but I think it depends what you like/live on. Ours tends to be £120 a week of purely food for 2 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog and 1 cat but then I use amazon subscriptions for household stuff, and we have a toilet paper subscription and we will do a top up shop for fruit and milk mid week. Even so with all our extras elsewhere I don't think it'll be more than £200 a week and we don't scrimp (e.g. the top up shop is waitrose because it's convenient on the school run, but still only £40 ish for some fruit).
I'd break it down. Is there something costing a lot specifically (e.g. meat, alcohol, snacks etc). I find alcohol adds a lot to a shop so we've basically cut it out most of the time as it's not healthy and we don't really miss it (won't work for some people). I also think meat is expensive and i try to be ethical which costs more, so now we have at least 2 veggie meals a week (sounds hard but actually easy if you do baked potatoes for 1 and then we will maybe do a paneer curry or omlette and chips, or egg/beans on toast etc) Are there specific brands that you can swap out or order elsewhere to discount. I find online supermarket shopping gives you time to assess and swap things or remove things more easily - so maybe try that to see if you can bring it down.
Summer holidays are a bit more stressful with having to feed the kids alllllll day but so far they seem happy with bagels or sandwiches for lunch so it's not breaking me!!

I live alone, abundantly spending a good £100 per week. Not just food but toiletries, tissues, bin liners etc, cleaning products. I also buy BOTTLED WATER daily. I shop Sainsbury's, pound land, the Range. IDont have Pets.I live well, eat well. thank the lord.Amen.

I set out trying to spend as little as possible. Prices have gone up and up.

I would not be happy with a £300 a week grocery bill.
I would not be happy spending that at all.

I always try to buy things on offer. And certainly plan what we are eating. I never used to and for years just went around. I don’t now.

I give the so and so’s as little of my money as I can. But still try to eat well. I treat shopping these days as a challenge. How little can I spend but still buy nice things !