How much do you spend on food?

[ZER0]

A bit random I know; but I'm just going through my finances with the wife, and it must class as idle banter.

We're spending roughly £180 a week on food. For 3 adults and 2 small kids.

Is this normal, or are we being really extravagant? (We mainly shop at Sainsburys)

[DarrenSV650S]

Usually about £40 a week just for me at asda. Sainsburys are super expensive here

[maviczap]

Sounds about right

My wife shops a M&S! I shop at Morrisons, which balances things out

2 adults, one teenager & one 9 year old.

We don't eat extravagantly.

[Specialone]

I think that is a lot tbh, probably could shave £80 off that quite easily.

Me and the wife spend about £280 a month from asda including delivery and treats like beers etc

As we've got an Aldi and morrisons virtually over the road, we also buy some from them too, Aldi have some great deals and good quality too.

[SIII]

£90 a week internet food shop plus maybe £20 locally, butchers etc.

2 adults, 1 teenager and 1 child.

[andrewsmith]

Its about 80 a week here for 3 adults

[Littlepeahead]

Do you mean food or groceries, such as loo roll, laundry supplies, tin foil, wine, plus all the other stuff you end up buying at Sainsbury like batteries, stationery, knickers/tights etc

I spend £70 to £90 a week in Sainsbury on two of us and two huge fur balls then another £15 in Tesco Metro on my lunches. But that big shop includes cat food, birthday cards, the occasional book, a new cheap landline phone yesterday for a tenner, because they sell so much stuff the actual food part of my shop is only half of it.

[timwilky]

I must spend at least £300/week on "groceries" : 3-4 adults, (Mummy's little soldier comes back for his breakfast, picks up his packed lunch and back for dinner)

Most of my shopping is Asda I cannot be arsed travelling further than my nearest supermarket.

[ZER0]

Our shop includs stuff like toilet roll, shampoo, deodorant etc. maybe a bottle of wine, but I don't really drink so not loads of beers.

Shops are bad though; bought lunch from Tesco the other day. Work mate bought 6 choc cookies for £1, and I bought a small pot of pineapple for £2! No wonder people are getting bigger.

We have meat or fish each day, have lots of fruit and my wife cooks everything from scratch, so lots of different ingredients to buy and not a single jar of sauce in the house. That probably costs us a bit more.

Looks like we're not far off the 'normal' cost of living. May see if we can make some savings though, maybe try the weekly market for fruit and veg and the local butcher for the meat. Life is expensive isn't it!

Thanks for your replies.

[maviczap]

It is when you see what food costs in Europe.

I think our average spend in the UK is one of the highest in Europe on a like for like basis.

If you've got an Aldi or Lidl nearby then try there, as the quality is good as most other supermarkets for fruit & veg.

Their own brand stuff is pretty good too.

Its no surprise that these two are taking a bigger share of the supermarket business, places like Sainsbury's and Tesco are more expensive.

My local Lidl now has a bakery on site, and the bread rolls & stuff like that are lovely. i don't think its freshly made, just cooked from ready made stuff, but it's nicer than the pre packaged stuff

[Red Herring]

Nothing, I just go to the fridge or larder and it's there. If it's not I moan and it's generally there next day......

Obviously my wife doesn't think it costs anything to run her car either...:)


ps: I've just checked with the boss, seems I'm mistaken as she actually spends about £100 a week to feed me and our two adult children.... but she drives a diesel Skoda so that just about sums up her shopping style.

[keith_d]

About £150/month at the supermarket, but that doesn't include restaurants and pubs which probably account for another £100/month.

[JamesMio]

Normally do an Aldi/Lidl/Cash n Carry run every couple of months to stock up on stuff like tins, bog roll, washing powder etc - i.e. all the stuff that doesn't go off.
Then top it up with a Tesco/Morrisions run for the break, milk fruit & veg stuff with a nip into the local farm shop for meat as & when needed.

It's a bit of a faff, but works out much, much cheaper than when we used to get everything from Tesco/ASDA and the quality of the things you'd notice it on (i.e. meat/veg) is much better too.

Anything from £30-50 a week for two of us, plus 2 cats, way less than the £80 ish we used to chuck into ASDA.

[Mrs_giggles]

Lol im anything but jormal usually around £120 a month inc dog food etc thats two adults,

[shiftin_gear98]

2 adults, a 6 year old who eats as much as me, a four year old who eats sometimes and a baby. No pets, just small children..


£150 odd quid a week, includes everything, food beer lunches clothes, yep my designer stuff now says FF and George. Long gone are my YSL days...

[dizzyblonde]

Lidl FTW.


£75 -90 a week. Two and a half adults and a small chimp.


That total includes everything. Dog food, cat food, toiletries, bog paper etc.
This also includes the odd trip for milk and oddments from Asda.

[Bibio]

haven't a fekin clue, i seriously dont. i have a debit card in the kitchen that any household member can use to go to the shops. i check the balance every 2 days or so and top up as necessary. TBH it's never crossed my mind to think about it, we have to eat and what it costs is what it costs.

[dirtydog]

To me £180 sounds a lot.

In our house there are 4 adults, 5 year old (and an 11 year old comes for dinner a couple of days a week) and dog on average it cost us about £80-90 a week plus maybe £15 extra in the local shop for when we've run out of milk/bread/beer. That covers food, bog rolls, dog food etc.

Normally do online shopping then we don't end up spending on the special offers that we don't really need

[carelesschucca]

Normally do an Aldi/Lidl/Cash n Carry run every couple of months to stock up on stuff like tins, bog roll, washing powder etc - i.e. all the stuff that doesn't go off.
Then top it up with a Tesco/Morrisions run for the break, milk fruit & veg stuff with a nip into the local farm shop for meat as & when needed.

It's a bit of a faff, but works out much, much cheaper than when we used to get everything from Tesco/ASDA and the quality of the things you'd notice it on (i.e. meat/veg) is much better too.

Anything from £30-50 a week for two of us, plus 2 cats, way less than the £80 ish we used to chuck into ASDA.

Basically the same as James, we now don't do a weekly shop we pop into LIDL or ALDI when required. We've found we spend less and waste less which can only be a good thing. we don't have cats mind you.

[Littlepeahead]

Yeah it's the cats cost the money. Mine like Felix, but only certain flavours of As Good As It Looks, God forbid you buy the cheaper stuff, they won't touch it, then sometimes they get bored with that Felix so I have to get Whiskas for a week but there's only one type they like, Lick and Chew, not Bite and Chew! Then they have Purina One dry food, and Dreamies, or the Sainsbury own brand equivalent. Then they each have 2 slices of cooked chicken a day but they don't like the Asda stuff, they prefer Waitrose to Sainsbury and only off a plate if it's in a bowl it gets left. Then sometimes they have tuna, but only in spring water, not brine. And they will drink tap water from a bowl but if I have bottled water in a glass by the bed they drink that instead, often before I realise so I end up sharing it.

Not that they are in any way spoiled or pampered you understand.

[Phoenix22]

Mine are much the same, really fussy about the food you give them. Strangely they are quite happy to munch away on a bird or a mouse they have caught, feathers & fur and all.

My shopping bill is probably about £150 a week for 2 adults. I like eggs so we keep hen's but the eggs on a most basic calculation work out at about a fiver each!!!

[allantheboss]

I spend at least £100 on food for just myself every week. I eat at Subway most days, eat out a few times a week and eat healthily -lots and lots of meat, nuts, fresh fruit- which is very very expensive even if I buy in bulk.

[454697819]

We have two well fed adults - a two year old (in nappies) and a 4 month old (still in nappies) I reckon its about £4800 a year which is average £92 a week - week shop now at Tesco as I am sick of asda's home delivery -

we have the odd takeaway and I only buy lunch when I am out with work and then only if there is nothing to scrounge a lunch together from -

We cook from scratch nearly every nigh though to keep costs down.

[dizzyblonde]

I spend at least £100 on food for just myself every week. I eat at Subway most days, eat out a few times a week and eat healthily -lots and lots of meat, nuts, fresh fruit- which is very very expensive even if I buy in bulk.
:-s

Sounds like a great healthy diet

:smt073