Budgeting groceries for a family of four?

missbebe

Hi, I am sure this has been done to death but I have had a search and cant find anything that specifically answers my questions.

We are currently a family of four. Me, dh, ds who is 4 and dd who is 2. I am due to give birth anyday (last Tuesday actually but that is another story!:mad:)

At present we spend £200 a month on a 'big' food shop then £20-£30 a week on top ups. There is no way that we can continue this scale of spending and surely £300 a month on food is excessive?

I am desperate to cut down on our spending but really don't have a clue where to start. What do you think is a reasonable amount to spend on a family of four? I dont want to cut right back to the point of beans on toast for our evening meal.

We currently shop monthly and top up weekly on bread, milk, yoghurts, crisps and fruit. Do you think it could be beneficial for me to start shopping weekly instead?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:D

tiff

If you look on the Old Style forum you will find more threads on food budgeting and how to cut back.

Sparklyfairy

Hi yes if you pop to the Old Style board you'll see a sticky at the top with this month's challenge..take a look (there's LOADS of recipes) & others there in the same boat & they're very happy to help out if you need it!

timeou

Hi - I'm currently in the same boat - spend around £90 a week for a family of 4 (2 adults / 2 kids age 11 & 8) (plus an extra meal for MIL 3x a week)

I cannot seem to get this down without really going without. A typical weeks meal menu (we have toast / cereal for breakfast and a sandwich/crisps & cake for tea each day) is a follows

Sunday - Roast Chicken / Pork Steaks & all the veg
Monday - Reheated 'Sunday Lunch' leftovers as we all love it! (I make around enough for 10 dinners to include MIL too)
Tuesday - Curry made with the leftover chicken
Wednesay - Freezer type meal (Pie/Nuggets/Sausage & chips & frozen veg)
Thursday - Spag Bol (inc MIL)
Friday - Another Freezer type meal (chicken steak & pasta/sausage etc)
Saturday - Either a takeaway or a supermarket 'indian in a bag'

I meal plan and only buy exactly what we need for the week. Kids have packed lunches for school - DH and I also take them to work though I'll take a tin of soup & fruit and we dont buy fizzy pop/wine/beers. The only non food is toiletries / cleaning products and then I make sure to buy what on offer. Very few things in the way of luxuries maybe some biscuits, few cakes etc

The price of food has become astronomical - DH and I work full time so we dont have time to trawl the shops looking for bargains in each shop - we tend to use Asda as it cheaper...if you can call £90 a week cheap!!

dangerman7uk

This is really interesting - I'm new here. Where is the 'old style' forum? Has anyone for a link so that I don't have to do any work?

I'm spending almost exactly the same as missbebe and I too have a family of four with a knocked up lady-wife. Dropping my spend would be a godsend at the moment. My employer has put stops on overtime and pretty much any extra money I have been earning up until now. I'm earning about £200 - £300 less than I had been. They've also stopped any perks we used to have, like jumping on busses for free, so I'm spending £30ish a month more in fuel.

Help!

dangerman7uk

timeou wrote: »

Sunday - Roast Chicken / Pork Steaks & all the veg
Monday - Reheated 'Sunday Lunch' leftovers as we all love it! (I make around enough for 10 dinners to include MIL too)
Tuesday - Curry made with the leftover chicken
Wednesay - Freezer type meal (Pie/Nuggets/Sausage & chips & frozen veg)
Thursday - Spag Bol (inc MIL)
Friday - Another Freezer type meal (chicken steak & pasta/sausage etc)
Saturday - Either a takeaway or a supermarket 'indian in a bag'

I like this a lot. I might implement something like this. I especially like the use of leftovers. Do you make curry from powders and raw ingredients, or from a jar?

timeou

dangerman7uk wrote: »

I like this a lot. I might implement something like this. I especially like the use of leftovers. Do you make curry from powders and raw ingredients, or from a jar?

I use a jar - one of the supermarket own brands usually!

I pay around £7 for the large chicken and the pork loin steaks around £4 for 6, veg is pretty expensive too which seems a lot but when you think how far all that goes (3 days meals for 4/5) its very economical.

The spag bol on the Thursday can usually be stretched out a bit to make a meal for DH the following lunchtime if he's off. Also, If I've cooked a bit too much pasta I make it into a tuna/pasta/sweetcorn pot for DD's packed lunch in school the following day.

Its great as long as you can stay in the 'routine' of cooking, if for some reason I can't be there on the Sunday to cook ( we camp a few weekends over the summer) it throws the 'routine' out totally!

myrtleturtle

using coupons will help cut it down too
here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/45299010#Comment_45299010

heres old style saving thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

dangerman7uk

timeou wrote: »

Its great as long as you can stay in the 'routine' of cooking

That's what I got a wife for!

dangerman7uk

myrtleturtle wrote: »

using coupons will help cut it down too
here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/45299010#Comment_45299010

heres old style saving thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

Excellent, thanks!

Allegra

www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk is a good place to go for ideas to really pare it down as far as it will go.