How much do you spend on food shopping?

[sarahsquarepants]

Hi ladies,

Been looking at the finances, and trying to figure out whether we can cut back on food shopping. I'm trying to record everything we spend on food this month to give me an idea, but I have no idea what is a reasonable amount. In a normal month there's me, Adam and Sarah to feed. I know my shopping isn't the cheapest because we buy a lot of fresh fruit and veg etc, but at the same time I'm not someone who buys all the finest from the best shops.

So out of curiosity, how much on average each month does everyone spend on food shopping in a month? Not meals out, just eating at home, packed lunches etc.

[nubs]

I spend under £50 a week - do you meal plan? I find this helps

[sarahsquarepants]

That's impressive! Yes we do, we don't waste a lot of food at all. Could maybe use cheaper recipes of something? we don't use anything crazy though, we do eat big portions . Definitely not going to the greengrocer again. Bought 5 things today, cost £11.50!

[Schmushe]

Ours is £70 a week including toiletries and washing powder. We always look around cause washing powder is often on special.
The £70 includes a mini top up mid week so to probably £60 in tesco / asda and then £10 top up.
This includes packed lunches for all (4)

[Gina73]

Kris or Michelle - can you do my shopping please lol

[Schmushe]

Kris or Michelle - can you do my shopping please lol

How much do you spend Gina? I thought that was quite a lot for us 4 tbh.

[Gina73]

Ours is usually around the £100 mark last week was over £120

[Schmushe]

Omg!!! Do you know where your spending the bulk? Could it be nappies / baby food etc building the cost though? They're not cheap.

I add it up as I go round. That way I know the ball point cost.

[Gina73]

Nappies probably to add to it but dont buy them every week as tend to buy a big box as works out cheaper per nappy. Baby food - dont tend to buy much of this as Mason eats what we eat most the week only give him baby food if we are eating something he cant have. I dont buy ready meals as cook everything from scratch most the week, maybe a few frozen type meals like fish fingers for the kids. We dont go mad and spoil ourselves, maybe some icecreams or a bar of chocolate. Did find it cheaper when I bought locally and didnt do a weekly shop as obviously I only bought what I needed for that day.

[Schmushe]

How strange. I fin if Paul and the kids come I spend more. If its just me I go and get what I need and that's it. Paul often puts extras in or what he thinks are 'bargains'. Lol.
I did find as well that prices change depending on which day you go. Friday sat and sun the prices are more than a Thurs!! Odd!

[Gina73]

I do find if I go on my own it is cheaper, Steve is like Paul and likes the bargains (which of course are not). If it is something we need like I got 2 boxes of Huggies nappies at Asdas for £14 which saves us about £9 if we had bought them seperately. But to buy two and get the third free on something we dont use much off and end up throwing 2 away then that is not a bargain (but you try telling him that lol)

[Schmushe]

Haha. I know the feeling. Like we need to get 3 cans of tuna just because it saves 11p!!
Maybe you should shop without them? Make a list and stick to it regardless.
I found local shopping cost more cause of petrol and having to go to several shops to get what I needed.
Like Kris though, having meal plans helps.

[sarahsquarepants]

Most people I've asked with similar size families spend around £100 a week. I'm tracking every penny spent on food this month, then next month setting a target (to say knock £10 a week off) and looking for cheaper alternatives. I'll keep you posted girls and pass on any hints!

KJ x

[lea-marie]

We spent about £35 a week for 3 of us at the moment, and that generally includes a top up mid-week! But I'm really not sure how we do it exactly lol

We meal plan, so generally know what we've got available, and we don't buy value products really either. Sorry that's not very helpful!

[weezypops]

Ours is probably more like £100 a week though it's hard to say as I normally do one or two massive shops and then top-up shops from little Tesco throughout the month, but he massive shops will include things like clothes and other bits and bobs. I'm going to try to get back into the habit of doing a weekly shop though as it's easier, so I may come back to this thread! We normally buy a lot of fresh fruit and veg, and it includes lunches for all for most of the week too. I suppose I do tend to spend a bit more on things I really like, so would buy more expensive cheese rather than budget stuff, organic free-range eggs, nicer bits of meat from the butchers etc. and if we're buying wine would normally spend about £6 a bottle and maybe get a couple of bottles for the week.