am I living in a dream world? (food shopping)

[Beaney192]

Hi ladies just after a bit of advice please. I have always done food shop fortnightly and spent about 120 for oh myself and lo (22 months) but it seems im running out of food so quickly now and having to do lots of top ups.

Do you think I would be better of doing a weekly shop. Would this be cheaper? Im just starting mat leave so any ideas would be great.

What is a sensible amount to spend weekly?
Thank you for any help.

 

[lozzy21]

We spend £50 a week for the 3 of us

 

[pipsbabybean]

I was thinking this yesterday, I've been doin it weekly n still needing top ups, I asked hubby if he's feeding the neighbours!
I dunno where it goes ..

 

[Varenne]

We spend £70-80 a week for two of us. I do have a gluten intolerance which ups the price a bit!

I think you probably do need to spend a bit more! I like weekly shopping because fruit/veg doesn't spoil as much.

It does depend a bit on where you live. When we visit family up north it's like some kind of magical food paradise. They have markets where you can pick up 10 portions of decent fruit for about £3.50!

 

[fairygirl]

We have a tight budget of £50 a week for everything, doing ok and even managed to throw some beers in last week. Also get a freezer pack from the butcher every 2-3months for £50. We were spending at least £75 a week before we cut down. Nappies are from Aldi, toilet roll from HomeBargains, wipes from Wilkos and laundry stuff wherever it is on special plus the odd trip to a pound shop.

 

[lovelylaura]

We spend about £50 a week but that doesn't include nappys wipes or formula x

 

[smileyfaces]

I can spend over £100 a week some weeks! Usually around £80 a week though and that is for 2 adults and the kids. Not including nappies wipes and milk.

 

[tina3747]

We spend £150 per week... I'm usually quite careful with what I buy as well so these threads always astound me when other families spend so much less...
How are you all doing it!!!?

 

[vhal_x]

We spend usually £20 a week for me OH and LO most weeks. Some weeks it's higher though, due to nappies, wipes, and general freezer/cupboard stock-up xx

 

[smileyfaces]

We spend usually £20 a week for me OH and LO most weeks. Some weeks it's higher though, due to nappies, wipes, and general freezer/cupboard stock-up xx

£20 a week?! How?? Id love some tips lol!

 

[vhal_x]

Because I'm a cheapskate Nah, I just stock up on basics and do my best to conjure up meals out of them. (So pasta, rice, sauces, chicken, potatoes, etc). Sometimes it goes horribly wrong though. I do stock up my freezer and cupboard every couple of weeks so that if I do run out on my cheaper weeks, or if something I attempt to make is horrible, we have backup food xx

 

[vhal_x]

Recently OH has taken a fancy for a little dish I make, it is pretty cheap too for the amount it is. I buy a bag of potatoes (£2) 2 tins of beans (£1 odds) and a tin of premium haggis (£1.60 ish).

I clean, peel and chop some of the potatoes (less than half, so plenty leftover for later in the week) and boil them (so I can mash them), cook the haggis in one pot and beans in another.

Once everything is ready, I mash the potatoes on a plate and mix a dollop of butter through it.

I have large glass dishes, and smaller ones, so depending on if it's just me and OH, we'll take a small dish each, if it's all three of us, we share the big dish.

I put the haggis into the dish(es) and pat it down with a spoon, filling the entire bottom of the dish. Then I pour the beans over and spread them over the same way (not putting too much in though). Finally I spread the mashed potato over the top (this is a bit difficult though as the beans just make the mash not spread well haha), et voila! A nice dish, and very filling. There's usually a fair bit leftover from my portion (we split it equally between me and OH, or if it's all three, I share mine with LO) so OH will usually eat that too.

xx

 

[vhal_x]

I also noticed on another thread people mentioning alcohol in their food shop, but we don't drink very often (rarely, usually only if OH gets a bonus from work, which is basically never ) so that keeps our shopping budget down too xx

 

[Jaysmummy]

I'm with you smileyfaces I get astounded by how little some people can do their shopping on.

For me, OH, 3 kids and a cat we spend roughly £100 a week. We've recently stopped LO formula so hopefully that will help. We buy own brand nappies. Don't buy alcohol. I really don't know where we go wrong to be honest.

Xx

 

[marina294]

i try to stick to 60 a week but realistically anywhere from 70-90 depending on what we have run out of ie nappies,dishwasher stuff etc.
dinners can be around 30-40 of that the rest is OH lunch and snacks and drinks milk bread fruit etc if i try to cut down OH moans there is nothing to nibble on. i feel its too much for 2 and a toddler . i used to spend 100 every 2 weeks but seriously the price of food has rocketed especially meat! My DH doesnt class it as a meal unless it has meat in it and he has an appetite of 2 people most of the time as he is on his feet all day-i struggle to bring it down

 

[Tasha]

Recently OH has taken a fancy for a little dish I make, it is pretty cheap too for the amount it is. I buy a bag of potatoes (£2) 2 tins of beans (£1 odds) and a tin of premium haggis (£1.60 ish).

I clean, peel and chop some of the potatoes (less than half, so plenty leftover for later in the week) and boil them (so I can mash them), cook the haggis in one pot and beans in another.

Once everything is ready, I mash the potatoes on a plate and mix a dollop of butter through it.

I have large glass dishes, and smaller ones, so depending on if it's just me and OH, we'll take a small dish each, if it's all three of us, we share the big dish.

I put the haggis into the dish(es) and pat it down with a spoon, filling the entire bottom of the dish. Then I pour the beans over and spread them over the same way (not putting too much in though). Finally I spread the mashed potato over the top (this is a bit difficult though as the beans just make the mash not spread well haha), et voila! A nice dish, and very filling. There's usually a fair bit leftover from my portion (we split it equally between me and OH, or if it's all three, I share mine with LO) so OH will usually eat that too.

xx

I do similar to this with sausages from time to time, add in onion sometimes too

 

[Tasha]

I spend about £40 a day

 

[ellismum]

Meal planBing and writing a list and sticking to it. We mainly shop in Aldi, lidl and Farmfoods where fresh and VEG is often on offer as well has just the staples and no vast choices so it's less easy to add things in the trolley you don't actually need because its on offer.

Farmfoods do 2 loaves of Hovis for £1.50 and 2 4 pints of milk for £1.60. Aldi's have regular super 6 on fruit and VEG.

We spend on ave £45 a week and that includes a bottle of wine and some beers for the weekend.

 

[fairyflowers]

I must budget my money better i spend about 100 a week
Plus a mid week pop to the shops for fresh
Milk and bread n fruit

 

[aimee-lou]

I have a pad which I write on what I need to get non-food/ingredients wise so that I don't forget anything and end up going in and out of shops.

I shop once a week plus 2 trips to the corner shop for milk (we use about 2 pints a day but can't physically fit 14 pints of milk in my fridge and don't have a freezer lol), bread and other perishables.

I write a comprehensive meal plan, including breakfast, lunches, packed lunches, snacks, main meals, and desserts.

I then write a list based on that meal plan.

I cook in bulk so we'll often have the same meal 2 nights running, just presented differently. I also always have at least 2 meals in the freezer compartment in my fridge lol.

I cook most things from scratch - it's much much cheaper!

Doing this I have a budget for food of £50 a week, £7.50 for nappies and wipes and other essentials a week, and £2.50 a week on the dog (I buy dog food/biscuits every fortnight lol).

Sometimes (like once a month when I get my big payments in) i'll do a restock and spend my nappies budget for the month for example so I'm stocked up, or if tinned toms are on offer, I'll get a couple of packs to stock my cupboards up.

This is all obviously going to go up a bit soon (3rd on the way very soon lol) and I'll have to budget in £13 a week for formula plus an extra £7.50 a week for nappies and essentials for the new one, but the extra child benefit will cover some of that, and I also get healthy start vouchers which help with the cost of the formula.