Food prices

Just interested in what others spend. We are a family of four, two of whom are teenagers who eat constantly. They snack on fruit- a net of clementines a day at least, about 8 apples, loads of fresh orange juice etc. I use my slow cooker a lot, and we don't buy ready meals but a lot of fruit and veg and pasta as daughter is a vegetarian. We also go through about 4pints of milk a day with cereal, coffee, etc.

We don't really eat red meat, but a lot of chicken and fish sometimes though its really expensive. I use our local butchers as they are good value and often have deals on. I worked out recently though we are spending nearly £200 a week on food- we also bake our own bread, primarily cos its nicer but it's no cheaper, we go through a loaf a day what with packed lunches for two and snacks. We add sunflower seeds etc to it, it's delicious. We get a take away pizza maybe once every two months, and don't eat out or do fast food.

I vary where I shop do most of it at morrisons or aldi sometimes but don't buy all in one place, just follow the deals. I'm gobsmacked at people who say they spend £100 a week on food for four adults, what are you making/eating every night? I make a big pot of lentil soup on a Saturday and that usually does lunch at the weekend along with a sandwich. Help!

[timwilky]

I spend at least £100/week for just the two of us. Sometimes we eat cheaply Monday was cottage pie, Tuesday Chilli, Last night we ate well chicken livers sauted with onion/chill/garlic and a splash of Maderia, served with salad (50p for the chicken livers). but followed by fillet steak, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus and two small potatoes. The cauli was about 50p and will do another meal, the broccoli about 80p and the asparagus a pound. The steak cost £8. So a bloody good meal for about £7 a head.

That is the biggest change in the wilky household. We used to eat out twice a week. Now it is about twice a month. We still eat far too well.

[dizzyblonde]

I don't think that's too bad Shona, by the time you factor in four adults worth of bog paper and toiletries etc.

When you 'cook' and by that I mean, interesting decent quality meals, not just pasta all the time with token random bits thrown in, it costs money. Pete's dad was a chef and had a restaurant, so Pete can be fussy at times, in his defense my culinary skills have grown because of having to feed a Greek who loves good food!
At the moment, I am very cautious what I spend, as we've been through a rough patch, I've used my imagination to make the money go further, but when finances are back to normal I spend between 100-150 maybe more. Quality food can be cheap, ie I bought three mackerel for £3.50 on Tuesday, spiced up with cumin and coriander, with a nice salad.

We don't eat out, but we do have fish and chips on a Friday night

I only shop at Asda, as its within walking distance. I love Morrison's fresh goods, but find them a wee bit expensive compared to Asda. I don't like Tesco or Sainsburys as they ate more expensive and their meat never looks fresh, sainsburys have a habit of leaving green looking stuff amongst their red meat, and its off putting. Tesco are untidy, although if I go to Oldham their Greek products are fabulous......Pete's treats

[Wideboy]

50-60 quid for two of us normally but if we buy booze its usually around 75-80 quid mark.


The only economy stuff we buy is bog roll, kitchen towel and tissues as to put it simply, you wouldn't take a note out your wallet, shuv it up you ar5e and then flush it down the toilet... I'm told I'm a cheap skate but it makes sense to me.

Economy frozen Veg is good aswell.

[widepants]

Damn it , you beat me to it . I was just going to put a thread up about the same.Because Im no longer working and a full time carer , Iwas without a proper income for about 3 months.I make a list of evening meals and lunches and try to stick to it ,normally only spend around £40 -£50 a week .But...how much do you lot spend just nipping down to the local shops.Plus I with Gav..cheap bumfluff is the way to go.

Edit....understand that girls may like a softer paper

[dirtydog]

£200???? bloody hell! We normally spend less than £100 a week and thats pretty much 5 adults, my 9yr old every wednesday for dinner and every other weekend a 3 yr old and a smelly dog (smelly bit isnt really relevant but he does really smell at the moment )

the two older kids (21 and 19) are only in for dinner a 3 or 4 times a week but that still leaves 3 adults, 2 kids and a dog to feed for the other nights.

We see who's in on what days then plan the weeks meals in advance.
A typical weeks meals would be something like
monday- chicken curry
tues- cottage pie
weds-pizza (normally because everyone is in and out a different times)
thurs- sausage casserole
fri- pie/fish/chicken and chips not from the chippy though
sat- fajitas
sun- roast

but obviously that would vary week to week but you get the jist.

but we also go through a fair bit of fruit, clementines, apples, bananas etc 4 pints of milk will normally last 2 days in our house

[Bibio]

i don't know how much i spend as i don't look. i buy the 3 for £10 deals in bulk then when i get home i divide them up into meal sized portions and stick it in the freezer. 1 pack of the mince will do 4 meals and the chicken breast 3 meals. TBH i mostly buy in bulk when offers are on such as juice and toiletries which could mean £200 in those but that will last 4+ months.

day to day stuffs like milk and bread i get at the coop.

i use the local butcher for one off meals such as liver or fillet then go to my local venison farm for that as the quality is much higher than asda. which reminds me i had better get a bit of young roe fillet booked for xmas.

i buy in bulk as i hate shopping at supermarkets so the less i go the happier it makes me.

[dizzyblonde]

Asda is my local shop. I walk there every day sometimes, especially at the moment. I don't make a list of weekly meals. I look through my cook books(because I can't remember ingredients) and decide, or think what we had last week. I might see fresh fish on offer and change my mind, or the eldest might suggest what he would like.

My freezer is empty.......apart from bacon and a bag of hash browns.

[Wideboy]

Originally Posted by widepants

Damn it , you beat me to it . I was just going to put a thread up about the same.Because Im no longer working and a full time carer , Iwas without a proper income for about 3 months.I make a list of evening meals and lunches and try to stick to it ,normally only spend around £40 -£50 a week .But...how much do you lot spend just nipping down to the local shops.Plus I with Gav..cheap bumfluff is the way to go.

Edit....understand that girls may like a softer paper

Usually costs us a bomb at the local shop as we don't have time to go to a big shop. Started using the farm shop round the corner as its cheaper on a lot of meats compared the the supermarket, not to mention better.

Went to the big Tesco in bursledon to try it last week and never again, all the food was crap and it was packed. Usually go to sainsburys as its 5 mins away and asda isn't to far. find that sainsburys has a better ale and cider selection than the others.


I try to avoid it all though, I fecking hate shopping, people stood around blocking isles and staring into space do my head in, move you turkey headed fool! (Thats the polite version)

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

My freezer is empty.......apart from bacon and a bag of hash browns.

Our freezer normally has a fair bit in, nothing useful though

it usually just has stuff like frozen pizzas, chips, frozen veg etc

Now and again the meal for the day gets changed and its a takeaway but it's just too expensive buying domoinos/pizza hut for everyone even with the deals they do