Average cost of family grocery shopping

shell2001

Samizdat

You really need to cut back now before a little one comes along otherwise not only will you have all the joys and pains a baby brings but a huge change in lifestyle.

I dont know what your financial situation is, whether your wife works?? and is so will she be taking unpaid leave?? It really is a good idea to make changes now. The amount of money you are spending is mad, my budget for me, DH, a 4 year old and a 2 year old and its only £350 a month - that includes prescriptions, haircuts, food, cleaning stuff, nappies, lunch club for 4 year old. Maybe you need to print some of the budgets/posts on here and get her to read them.

fabianne

Me and my daughter are doing a comparitive quest for the food bill,last week we went to Iceland and spent £55 and got a lot-with plenty left in the freezer.
Today we went to Lidl and spent £100-but stoked all the cupboards,freezer,fresh fruit and veg,beer,wine and a new blanket for daughter's bed as she is chilly.I would say this is our 'stock up' week and the rest of the month we should just be able to buy fresh stuff.I find I am cooking more from scratch and eating a lot healthier.My BF is chipping in and he and his kids come for tea a few nights a week for home cooked meals,as he is so busy and can't cook(would burn a Pot Noodle)I may as well cook for 6 as 3 and his contribution is good.
Next week we hit Netto
and then try Aldi! although I used to get certain items from there anyway at times-their fresh flowers are good and the feta cheese in herby oil is lovely.

samizdat

shell2001 wrote:

Samizdat

You really need to cut back now before a little one comes along otherwise not only will you have all the joys and pains a baby brings but a huge change in lifestyle.

shell2001, Thank you for your comments. I agree entirely but there are limits to what I can do on my own. My wife does work but she is self-employed so all leave will definitely be unpaid! She would say the solution is that I earn more! I think this is the core issue - our expectations of our joint whole-of-life income differ quite markedly and it is a difficult issue to confront. On the one hand, there is huge uncertainty about the outcome; and, on the other hand, on a strictly rational analysis, the answer is probably that she married someone who cannot satisfy her consumption expectations. So it really comes down to the question of divorce or radical adjustment of expectations: this is a decision that it is tempting to defer, as I am sure you can imagine. Anyhow, best not to hijack this thread more than I have so far.

sairz

me oh and 4 kids under 6 spend about £30 on food per week
then theres about £15 on toiletries per week this is including nappies and wipes, then about £20 per week on the dreaded cigerettes
so £65 per week obviously when babys out of nappies(wont be for a while yet though) then i can save an additional £7 and when i can finaly quit my nasty habit my totaly weekly spend will be a magnifficent £37

sairz

whoops thought it sounded to good to be true myself !!forgot to add that baby's food cost me about £15 per week also

newlywed

I agree with the local shop theory. If you only need milk then you are more likely to only BUY milk if you go to a shop with not much other selection.

Also I have currently switched to carrying a basket round the supermarket instead of a trolley. It builds my muscles, tests my ability to balance things on the top without dropping them and when the basket is full then I just can't fit in that extra tub of icecream or that bottle of wine/fruit juice.

The other way I have cut down is buying squash instead of juice. Although it's got less additives, juice is expensive and with 2 kids it doesn't last five minutes!

The main thing that makes the shopping bill jump up is the crisps, cakes, biscuits, sweets etc. So now it's one pack of biscuits for the weekend and I bake the cakes. No crisps except occasionally. The kids haven't even complained either.

I also find that the slightly smaller and quieter Co-op and small Tesco is better than the huge supermarkets for me as I get stressed in the big busy supermarkets and end up chucking stuff in so that I don't have to go there again and end up overspending by loads!

Shopping bill has now gone down from £400 a month :eek: to about £210 for me, OH (and 2 kids on Fri eve, and all weekend).

donna-j_2

samizdat wrote:

shell2001, Thank you for your comments. I agree entirely but there are limits to what I can do on my own. My wife does work but she is self-employed so all leave will definitely be unpaid! She would say the solution is that I earn more! I think this is the core issue - our expectations of our joint whole-of-life income differ quite markedly and it is a difficult issue to confront. On the one hand, there is huge uncertainty about the outcome; and, on the other hand, on a strictly rational analysis, the answer is probably that she married someone who cannot satisfy her consumption expectations. So it really comes down to the question of divorce or radical adjustment of expectations: this is a decision that it is tempting to defer, as I am sure you can imagine. Anyhow, best not to hijack this thread more than I have so far.

Oh dear, definitely not a decision to defer when you are trying for a baby. Time for some straight-talking I think.

I was/am a bit the same. I like 'nice' things, but we are so broke now after having the bubster that I am mending my ways.

SammyD_2

Bear in mind that there are two things which make a huge difference to how much you spend - one is how much time you have, the second is what things you are prepared to cut out. There are people who say they spend £30 a week on groceries, but then you realise they dont buy any fruit or veg. That is fine if they want to do that, but I won't do that. So make sure you are comparing like for like.

When I was on maternity leave last year, and I did a proper menu plan with proper shopping lists and had lots of time, I spent about £45 per week - usually per month I got under £200 for two adults and one toddler. This included the odd treat, but otherwise all home-cooked meals with at least five portions of fruit and veg. At a squeeze I could have cut it back slightly, but not by much. That figure also includes cleaning products, toilet paper, toothpaste etc. and I shopped at Lidl for fruit and veg and Sainsburys for everything else.

lil_me

Trying to get it down from £600 per month inc cleaning products, toiletries and everything else for a family of 4. Don't buy alcohol etc.That does inc a massive amount of fresh fruit and veg which I am not willing to make cut backs on.

margaretclare

We're a pair of wrinklies, at present using TescoOnline plus the local bakery and fruit and veg shop. I also go to the monthly farmers' market but there are no more until March now.

We spend approx £60 a week with Tesco Online. Nice freshly-baked bread bought locally (they bake on the premises every night so it hasn't been trucked miles) approx £1, each loaf lasts us 2 or 3 days. Fruit and veg, maybe another £20. Doorstep milk, approx £12 a month.

Our one extravagance (well, mine really) is 12 tins of the cheapest dog-food, that's for the foxes. And bird-food which I buy as and when - they eat a lot in the summer when they're bringing off young. And we like a glass of sherry now and then - Croft Original.

We like nice cheese, which can be more expensive than best steak!!!

Margaret