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Ok, apparently im an ogre and being unreasonable. We are a family of four and our food bill this month is about a grand. I appreciate we are in lockdown but it seems too much to me. My eldest left half of her tea and at 10.30 I said making nachos was a no go. Big argument follows. Am I being unreasonable or are we just spending too much. I'm fed up with seeing nice food going in the bin...
£30/week max all in for one adult me. Even lesser during lockdown.
If they are in their early teens then they might need more fuel.
Me think you can easily cut £400 of the bill if parents stick to £30/week while kids stick to £50/week.
Am I being unreasonable or are we just spending too much.
Nope. You are right for not wasting food.
Mine was reaching close to that some months, especially if leader needed to prepare for a birthday or dinner for parents and bbqs etc etc.. I got the hump about which meant I was an ahole and never to ration food in the house.. I think I'm still around 600 as we've changed some eating habits, still feels too high..
3 of us (10 month baby)
Single Aldi shop 200 quid per 14-17 days.
Other than that it's milk and bread at the local shop once every 4/5 days.
Find we are spending less due to no extra spending tempted. No coffees /sandwiches/etc etc
Family of 4 here (though the nearly 3yr old seems to eat bugger all!).
We get a £20 veg box from the local greengrocer each week, a £25 meat box every 2 weeks from the butcher, and probably spend £30 a week in Lidl on milk, bread, tins, snacks, etc.
So that's approx £250 a month. Plus the occasional curry (though not recently ☹️)
My dad supplies us with wine from France on a regular basis. Saves us quite a lot!
I analysed our expenditure over the last year to figure out what income I need from my private pension to top up state pension, so I did a pretty thorough job.
There are two of us, both retired, both with good appetites. Monthly spend is £450 food and drink. My financial adviser reckoned this was a sensible middle of the road figure. Note that includes wine not just food.
I would say you have two different issues. One is the amount you spend (which if it includes booze is probably not extravagant) and the other is food waste. They are not the same thing. Maybe your eldest would like to buy and prepare her own food?
Are we including alcohol? Hard to say for sure since.my shopping habits have changed to way fewer trips but I think the same shopping is costing more than pre.lock down.
My one person food bill per year is probably about less than £2.5k all in ... alcohol, fish & chips, junks, food gone to waste that I forgot to eat ...
Mines inclusive of alcohol.
Could probably nip 20 quid out for beer and wine.... (1 bottle red /1 white and 6 tins of beer)
We're currently spending about £200 per week. Family of five. That includes beer and wine (which is probably best part of £30).
One person me:
chicken £3.5 (3 to 4 meal)
Pork £5 (3 to 4 meal)
Milk £2 (last for than a week)
Veg £3 (last for more than a week until they rot ...)
Fruit £2 (sometime let it rot)
eggs £2 (always finish)
beer £5 (two to 3 bottles a week depending on discount)
Total : £22.50
£7.50 left for mis & junks ...
P/s: If I really want to go cheaper I can by going for frozen veg which think I will coz I am lazy and does not want rotten veg in the fridge. Think some peppers are slowly rotting in my fridge now ...
Between £80 to £100 per week for a family of 4. No booze, but does include toiletries. @ajantom I’m genuinely interested in what meals you’re cooking / meal plans you have to come in at £250 per month. Not much meat eaten in our house though, just chicken and bacon occasionally.
That seems slightly on the high side, unless your kids drink alcohol!
We are currently spending £500 a month for 2x 40-somethings. That includes meat delivered from the posh farm shop in town, beer from a local brewery, wine (mostly Aldi), and maybe £50 a month on takeaways.
In 'normal' times we wouldn't be getting deliveries from the farm shop or brewery, and wouldn't be spending so much on takeaways. But I'd be spending more at the work canteen and we'd be going out to restaurants once a month. So it'd probably be a similar ballpark.
EDIT - come to think of it, that's the full supermarket bill, so includes bog roll, shampoo, cling film, yak yak
£1000 per month for a family of four seems mental. My wife and i is about £150 a month with lockdown way less when we are both working.
I’m not sure as but I can say it’s no where £1k per month as a family of 4, it’s probably around £450-500 and we eat good fresh food, plus by lots of treats.
A grand?! That's a big bill for four of you. Ours is £400 to £450 per month for four adults and we're eating well. There's no beer or wine in that because none of us really drink.
I’m not sure as but I can say it’s no where £1k per month as a family of 4, it’s probably around £450-500 and we eat good fresh food, plus by lots of treats.
£500/month for 4 in GeordieLand is definitely achievable with left over.
Family of 4 here and about £600 per month based on weekly Tesco deliveries. That probably includes about £50 on wine and beer.
Little known fact
trail rat stared in the 70's Walkers crisp advert "you'll no be having a sale"
😜@ Terry.
A grand!?
I can get carried away shopping, used to waste loads of stuff, and I could not even imagine physically being able to buy that much stuff.
Since lockdown my shopping habits and finances have become very simple. I do it once a week. Between £25 and £30 each time. And that's me not holding back, buying a lot of what I would call luxurious items.
@ajantom I’m genuinely interested in what meals you’re cooking / meal plans you have to come in at £250 per month. Not much meat eaten in our house though, just chicken and bacon occasionally.
The wife is great at meal plans!
Whole chicken will do 3 meals - roast, chicken pie, and then boiled for stock/chicken noodle soup.
Lots of slow cooker meals involving tinned tomato, beans and lentils + rice or couscous.
Big lasagnes, etc. that'll do a couple of days.
Last night we had a butter nut squash and pasta dish. Enough leftover for lunch today, and ingredients cost was under £4.
We try not to have any leftovers, and use everything in the fridge. Generally don't even fill one food waste bag/caddy a week.
Shopping at Lidl makes a big difference, a supermarket shop is nearly half the cost of say Sainsbury's.
£60ish per week for me and 18 yr old son. That includes his soft drinks but not my alcohol.
But I'll probably blow £20+ on a ruby tomorrow for me and the GF now that we can 'bubble' (not a euphemism) + beers on top of that.
4 of us, 2 teenage boys, 14 and 17, all at home in lockdown and food bill ex booze is about £800 plus a month. Boys eat like horses....
£200 - £250 a week. Family of 4. Waitrose is the nearest supermarket and the only one in walking distance. I suspect cheaper alternatives may be available.
£50 per week food for 2 x adults that includes things like foil, cleaning products, kitchen roll etc.
Since C19 began it’s been a bit differently organised, more like £100-£120 in three weeks for mass shop online delivery of ingredients and staples, but with some kind friends dropping the odd fresh ingredients round once or twice a week. so when that‘s settled up it will probably still be around £200 pm. Eggs are fetched by bike locally and so far they come out of the piggy bank, about £5 per month but it’s running low.
95% of meals I cook from scratch which keeps spending down and means can enjoy the odd bottle of beer/bag of chips.
About 600 per month for two adults, a six, and an eleven year old. But that’s the ‘Sainsburys’ budget so includes household goods like loo roll and cleaners as well as food, but no booze. I don’t drink any more, and the wife buys herself a bottle of wine once a week.
I’m with the OP though, in that I get pissed off when one of the kids leaves food and then asks for something else an hour later “because they’re hungry”. Default answer is “no”.
£500 to £600 per month. 3 of us at home plus dog and includes 4th daughters shop who lives by herself. That includes bee, gin and sweets.
Dont tend to through much away. Dont tend to buy any pre cooked meals.
Includes normal every day household stuff.
100 quid a week in Aldi, not often it's over that. 3 in the house, no drinkers, includes all our lunches for normal pre lockdown work week as well.
That includes extra bread n milk during week, top ups.
Same as Tracey, all ingredients, no pre made meals in there.
Oh for UK food prices, quality and availability....and Aldi...
Big weekly food shop for 2 adults and two preschoolers comes to approx £180-£200.
Good job there's no income tax!
£500 a month for 4 of us, with an 11 y/o and a 12y/o. No booze, a few sweets and all home cooked meals. I imagine thats going to increase when the kids hit angry teenage growing phase.
Around £600 per month for me and wife. We do't tend to eat much cheap stuff and ff we needed to cut down then could probably easily half it.
I don't really know, not much though, maybe £40 a week for the pair of us (no kids 😁 ) or something like that at either Aldi or Lidl, whichever we end up going to. We just buy decent ingredients and we're mostly veggie so that helps fetch the cost down. OH brews his own beer too.
Yes same as you OP approx £1k for 4 people.
Prices have definitely gone up in COVID but also buying habits have changed a little too
Pre covid 19 we shopped about and went to a combination or tesco, aldi and lidl, we bought aldi nappies which are excellent by the way.
Since c19 we've been buying everything form tesco and getting it delivered which now includes pampers nappies. Our bills has almost doubled and I'm nor convinced its any better. Aldi chocolate covered oat biscuits are 42p. Genuine version at tesco £1.50 and they taste the same to me.
My next door neighbour runs a large bakery and supplies to all the supermarkets. He says aldi and lidl work on around 18% Mark up and the others work on between 50 and 100% Mark up.
Most of the time it's the same food just packaged differently.
He said the only superior product is anything from M&S, its by far the best quality.
Hes recently been bringing me some tiger bread that is lovely, he asked me to guess the price, I thought £1.80 ish based on tesco. It's a £1 a loaf or £1.80 for 2 in Iceland. It would be £2 in tesco!
I know it's difficult at the moment with covid 19 to shop about but if your bill is £1000 a month why not try the aldi challenge? In 3 to 6 months it could buy you a new bike!
Hmm. This week our one big shop was £140. There will be another £25 today, top up the bread, milk, fruit & veg, and once a month £35 on a beer delivery. That's for four, one of whom is 89 and doesn't eat much. Less random spend than pre covid, but not using the market for veg now so it may be about the same. About £700 per month then. Getting it below £600 would be ok, son (and me) would have to accept less snacks, but under £500? That would be a struggle.
Two adults, 3yo and an almost 1yo, looking at £80-90 usually per week in Aldi. Plus a takeaway now and again.
I think once the boy is a little older he's going to eat us out of house and home.
Two adults and 2 kids 10/12. We are £700 to 800 a month so imagine you can trim a bit. My wife loves gin as well which I moan about the cost of extensively.
Approximately £500-£550 per month for 2 adults and 14 year old daughter, including wine, beer and gin.
We're spending about 600 a month at the moment, 2 adults and 2 kids. Usually don't spend that much on shopping but probably spend more with eating out.
2 adults 2 kids. About £800 per month.
Loads, loads and loads. Mostly for Gin and wine for the wife I think.
I have found out that things like dishwasher tablets, toilet rolls and kefir milk things are insanely expensive though lately
2 adults and a three year old in our household
£250-£300 a month shopping in Morrisons, that includes everything we need for the month, household cleaning stuff, body washes, loo roll etc... at end of the month there is still some food in the freezer/cupboards, we tend to buy a lot of meat and veg and always look for offers which helps save some money
If your spending 1k a month on four of you then id suspect your buying a lot of crisps & chocolate snack type junk food
Try telling the family that food shopping will be for meals only and that snacks/treats/booze etc.. will have to come out of their own money and then see how much you spend in a month
This is what my parents did when i was 18 and working, it taught me how expensive treats were and i realised how much junk i was actually eating when it cost me money
I know it’s difficult at the moment with covid 19 to shop about but if your bill is £1000 a month why not try the aldi challenge?
To be honest we both have been working full time + extended hours during COVID. So it’s been a mixture of Sainsbury’s (only people who do reliable home delivery where we live) and M&S food hall (convenience)
About £50-£60 per week for just me. I do like good red wine though, so if I didn't, my bill would be £15-£20 less. My food shop is pretty same as chewkw's without the chicken and pork but extra veg instead. If I didn't but as much soft fruit as I do, I could probs. knock another £5-£7 off as well!
Family of 5, with three lads 15, 17, 18.
We spend £700 a month.
Our food waste is tiny - the boys are expected to eat what's provided. It's increased in lockdown as we are ordering online and fruit & veg is very hit and miss on best before and quality.
He said the only superior product is anything from M&S, its by far the best quality.
I know it's 25 years ago.... but I worked a summer job for Northern Foods where they made M&S pre prepared foods. The quality of ingredients was outstanding and they used to let staff purchase extra each month. Salmon, sirloin steak, perfect veg, etc. 100% frozen coming in but no corner cutting.
£100 ish per week for 2 adults. That includes cleaning stuff and household supplies but not booze as that’s bought separately.
It’s gone up in lockdown but not by much.
Our monthly bill for family of 4 household stuff which includes food shopping, petrol/diesel, toiletries, B&Q stuff and maybe the odd family meal if we go out for lunch or dinner comes to anywhere between about £1000 and £1400 a month depending on how frivolous we might have been that month. The weekly supermarket shop will be around £80 a week normally, now maybe about £100 a week during lockdown and 2 hungry teenagers.Maybe a couple of quick Tesco express drop-ins a week for mild and bread for a fiver or so a time. Not big at home drinkers so doesn't include much routine alcohol. I tend to hit the pub once a week with mates (in the good old days) so that's about £20 per week but that comes out of my own pocket.
One of the biggest changes for me was switching from Sainsbury's to Aldi. At Sinsbury's the weekly shop was coming in about about £150 - £180. Same shop at Alid £80. Huge saving. OK miss some of the usual brands which were switched out for Aldi brands, but Aldi is good gear...the German's don't mess around with quality. Occasionally I'll slip into Sainsburys or Tesco to stock up on the branded stuff I like (Heinz ketchup, proper HP sauce, Colemans Mustard).
At Sinsbury’s the weekly shop was coming in about about £150 – £180. Same shop at Alid £80. Huge saving
Roughly £3500 savings a year from switching supermarket! 😮
My food bill for one is £30 a week including toiletries and household cleaning supplies. I can food shop for £20 and in the past have managed on £15. No meat or alcohol though so that helps massively.
Wow, I didn't realise we were spending so little compared to some!
I just had a quick look at my online banking, and maybe £30 a week at the supermarket was underestimating it s but. Last 3 were £45, £38, and £41.
So adjusted up to more like £300 a month.
Having the veg and meat boxes from local suppliers makes a big difference - cheaper and better quality, easier to see what you have in stock too.
We've been shielding over lockdown so just the one delivered shop a week (so food + household products) which has been ~£40-60 for two of us (Asda have been the only supermarket to offer us a fixed weekly slot so they won out), no meat or booze though. Before lockdown it was more, popping to the shop to pick something up usually wound up also picking up snacks or a couple of beers etc... Also no going to the seafood stall which was an easy way to spend a tenner on a meal and no takeaways which is a big saving although definitely missed.
for family of 3 ( the boy is 9), the supermarket bill (so food + alcohol + cleaning products) has averaged about £140 per week during lockdown. This is from sainsburys
Its usually around £110 per week during more normal times when we're not all at home all day. but we'd then be spending more on canteen lunches/sandwiches etc etc
have found out that things like dishwasher tablets, toilet rolls and kefir milk things are insanely expensive though lately
All the essentials covered here! 😉
Two adults, two teenagers, main weekly shop at Aldi, Occado once a fortnight, £12 local bakery delivery a week, occasional milk run to village shop, - probably £5-600 a month. Don't drink much, don't get takeaways often.
Pre lockdown maybe another £1-200 for cafe treats, pub once a month, chippy tea to fit round kids activities.
Our bills always seem to have been lower than friends with similar families. We also seem to generate less waste listening to them moaning about bin collections.
Would be dull if we were all the same.
Boys eat like horse
Trust me as a father of teenage girls it’s teenager in general.
I think food prices have been steadily increasing over the last 6-12 months. Family of 4 here including 2 teenagers who eat like horses and our Aldi bill used to be £80 a week absolute maximum. I don't think we're buying much more at the moment, but our weekly shop is consistently £140+ for the last few months and was £160 this week! We cook from scratch every day and always had a packed lunch at work, so no real difference during lockdown either.
^ Food prices have nearly doubled in 6-12 months?
£200 a week 2 adults and 2 preschoolers. That includes cleaning stuff, healthcare, and alcohol. It's gone up a bit because we switched to Morrison's home delivery from a physical Aldi shop + and Sainsbury's top-up. Our Aldi is small and very busy, it just didn't feel safe as distancing is impossible.
90% of meals cooked from scratch but plenty of snacks and alcohol push it up. Also switched to eco cleaning products (Ecover and Method) which a 3x more expensive than the Aldi chemical filled alternatives.
Compared with friends we always seemed to spend more but in normal times they wouldn't count the £15 a day they would spend on lunches and coffee.
Dropped down to £200 a month for past couple of years for me and the wife swapping from Ocado to Aldi. Cost £320 before. Don’t drink so no alcohol but includes dishwasher tablets, detergent/softener etc which tends to come from Sainsbury’s or Morrisons
It’s the £30 a time M&S food hall top up shops that sometimes catch me out. Easy to do it a couple of times a week, especially if just passing.
Top up shop FFS what have I become? ☹️
Roughly £3500 savings a year from switching supermarket! 😮
Yep. Transformed our monthly budget. To be honest alot of that was cutting out alot of bad shopping habits and wasteful shopping due to the sheer range of different stuff the big supermarkets have. At Aldi it's just the essentials and not much to choose from in terms of brand options, so no chance for impulse buy's...apart from the Aladdin's cave that is the central isle...but most of that is cheap tat so doesn't cost much.
~£40 a week for two of us, I eat very little meat at home and grab meaty sandwich meal deals at work while better half is vegan, neither of us drink booze.
I'm sure we could reduce that by shopping at Lidl or Aldi instead of Sainsbury's, but the cheaper stores aren't in easy walking distance of home (~35 Vs ~5 mins) and we've not had a car for 8.5 years.
Top up shop FFS what have I become? ☹️
Consumer?
It (consumerism) doesn’t have to be derogatory, and at least you are self-aware (that your habits are changing)
1.
the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers.
"the growth of consumerism has led to many organizations improving their service to the customer"
2.
DEROGATORY
the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.
"many people are becoming increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of consumerism"
Yep, I had a bit of a shocker on the food front last time... Just over £260 for the weekly shop in Sainsbury's.
It's clearly not just expensive items but volume. Had to load the band about four times and had an absolute nightmare packing. Had 3 or four bags clipped on the front and sides of the trolley with krabs.
Family of four.
What concerns me more is the fact that it's probably a whole load more out of lockdown when I spend 160 in the canteen, then kids school meals, takeaways etc.
Nuts.
Having banking apps or online tools really does open your eyes to your spending!
Our monthly shopping food/household goods & alcohol was £550 for 2 of us in 2018
2019 down to £430 as almost exclusively Aldi.
So far for 2020 its down to £360 but its only me now.
Like FunkyDunc I have been working more hours than ever so once Aldi was open after 8pm I did tend to rush in and grab stuff with no thought to a meal plan, being on call every 4th week does help cut the cost as no booze.
Currently running at £650 a month for the four of us including additional booze and Jaffa Cakes.
£160 for for of us plus maybe £30 top up. My son has diary and soy allergies so some alternatives are Expensive although Mrs K makes our own cakes.
it went up in lockdown as 2 x school meals were had at home plus all the nibbling they do, and also accounts for my 10000 cals a week above norm cycling habit.
About £600pm on average since lockdown, 2 parents, kids 5 and 3. That includes household stuff, dishwasher tablets, cleaning stuff etc. A few Ocado deliveries and a couple of top up shops in between (kids still get through a lot of milk) plus Indian shop for bulk rice, atta, pulses and things like mangoes.
Not buying meat helps a lot, that stuff is really pricey.
.My next door neighbour runs a large bakery and supplies to all the supermarkets. He says aldi and lidl work on around 18% Mark up and the others work on between 50 and 100% Mark up.
Most of the time it’s the same food just packaged differently
Yup. I did a summer job in a food factory. It did a lot of the top of the range supermarket stuff. You'd be on the apple pie machine, and run off 2,000 Farmhouse Classic for Tesco Finest. Then change the pastry crimper and do 3,500 Orchard Traditional for Sainsbury's Specially Selected or whatever. Then change the pastry crimper again...
The ingredients didn't change a bit.
Incidentally there was an awful lot of my sweat in those pies, because agency staff didn't get the proper baker's coats, we had to wear these plastic bin bag things and it was seriously hot in there!
For our family of four it’s about £800 a month. Kids are 5 & 10. That includes a bottle of wine every night. I have been economising on the wine recently £5 bottles are fine.
Our kids waste food too. If you let them they would live on sugary snacks and eat no meals. Not easy to get them to eat healthy.
for family of 3 ( the boy is 9), the supermarket bill (so food + alcohol + cleaning products) has averaged about £140 per week during lockdown. This is from sainsburys
My boy is 9 too and we are about the same, maybe a little less. Was 140 this week but only 100 last week.
Fascinated by the Aldi spend reduction people see. Is this due to buying less ready made crap and trinkets or a genuine like for like reduction?
How is the social distancing working in Aldi, are they only allowing a certain number in? I don't have one near me, sometimes stock up on basics but in normal times there's a queue to park so concerned a visit could be an utter pita and leave me in tears.
Thanks!
How is the social distancing working in Aldi, are they only allowing a certain number in?
Better than the Tesco near me.
Only a certain number in. One ways that are enforced by staff.
Thanks @t_r probably best to give it a miss!
I have a delivery each weekend from Waitrose and limit this to £100. Todays was less than £90 as was last week.
This will include household items too such as bleach, washing up liquid and toilet rolls etc.
My wife will go into the local M&S or Morrisons at least twice a week though on top of the above and having checked my bank account I would say about £1k a month is about the the same here but that includes all household products, toiletries and the dreaded alcohol.
Takeaways are not in the above and we have 1 a week.
We through very little away and generally have enough food in the cupboards and freezers to be ready for the next apocalypse!
Ours is staggering, 2 adults, 4 cats, half a dozen Hedgehogs, £800 a month.
Prices have definitely gone up and we shop using smaller local super markets much more than before, so prices are always higher there, but they are a lot quieter if you go at unpopular times.
only myself in the house so under £30 week, if i remove my 1 can beer/day then under £25 for food.
£700-£800/month for a family of 4, all of us at home, all the time and a fairly active family. That includes everything food, toiletries, alcohol, cleaning products, medicine (2 have eczema and allergies, so special cream and Piriton, etc), baking stuff for education/fun, magazines for the kids and the occasional odd and sod.
We eat a LOT of fruit and veg and no being able to use the local sellers, just the super market is costing us a lot. Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, melon, peaches, etc are costing us £30 a week and this just covers breakfast. There’s then bananas, apples, oranges for snacks. This doesn’t even cover veg. Tomatoes, Kale, sweet potatoes, greens, rocket, peppers, avocado, nuts, etc can easily come to another £30-£35. Toiletries/medicine another £15-35 depending on the week. Dairy will be £20-£25. Pizza, bread, breakfast cakes (danish/brioche/croissant) £10. Chicken, £9. Pork/bacon £3-5. Fish, £5-6. Biscuits, crisps, ice cream, frozen stuff, tins of beans, soup tomatoes, pasta, etc, £20. Alcohol, £10-15. It soon mounts up!
Boys eat like horses
So do Zebras