I'm I spending too much a month on shopping?

Lusignan

We've been deliberately cutting back on the amount of meat we eat and substituting more veg/cooking veggie options - it saves a heck of a lot of money. I made lasagne Thursday night which was basically veg with a bit of Quorn mince and took some into work - they couldn't tell it wasn't made with minced beef.

inkie

Depends how the OP is cooking, if it is buying 'meals' rather than ingredients, then yes, it will be easy to get through that amount. Look at OS boar/cooking from scratch/meal planning etc

emma_b_4

gosh we must be doing something wrong me spend btween £40 - 70 a WEEK and theres only 2 of us

looneyleo

I have a family of four 2 adults, 4yo and a 2yo. I'm still buying nappies and baby wipes and we have spent £300.00 pm for about 6 months now. We have reduced this from £400 pm. The £300.00 pm includes all toiletries, cleaners, food for EVERY meal in the month and we buy good quality food and veg, no rubbish. However, our biggest downfall is alcohol. We just drink too much and I figure this is adding £50.00 pm on wine to the food shop. I also think that my OH and I don't go out socialising so we tend to spend more on nice meals. So while some may gasp at £300 pm, we spend nothing on going out at all so it is all swings and roundabouts as they say. I think the main thing is that you decide on your budget for the type of food you want to eat and try to stick to it. You know in your own mind when you are being extravagant! Do try the home brands though...I haven't been disappointed yet apart from cheap tinned tuna - YUK!

Kit_Kat_Kate

I make my own food the only thing I buy frozen is ice cream. I do buy well known brand food not supermarket own so maybe try that!

Going to look on the oldstyle board, thanks.

Rachie_B

give the supermarkets own products a try kate, (standard not value etc although some value products are fine too !)

if you dont like them then go back to the branded but if you do then keep buying them

my sister insists on having everything branded then moans about how much her shopping comes to !

£300 a month does seems quite high seeing as your daughter is only 7 months old ! and that figure doesnt inc nappies / wipes !

we are a family of 4 ,sons are nearly 11 ( and he eats for wales ,hollow legs lol) and almost 5

we spend in the region of £200 per month .sometimes more sometimes less

def go over to the old style board its fab for hints,tips,advice ,recipes

and there may be ideas you hadnt thought of to help

Justie

food budgets are a very personal thing. If you can afford to spend £300 a month on food and groceries and you're happy with what you buy then it's totally justified to spend that much. We probably spend not far off that for just the two of us and a dog but then we don't, so far, have other major outgoings that make this impossible. When the baby is born I want to keep our spending at the same or less so that our overall spending doesn't go up and so I'll be doing more things OS (and not drinking is saving money already ). If you WANT to spend less then there are ways of doing it, like meal planning, looking at what you throw away, only buying what you need not being sucked in by BOGOFs etc. In general we spend far less on food these days than in generations past and the drive for cheaper food isn't always good (although I totally support the OS stance of making meals etc).

Rachie_B

its worth keeping a look out for BOGOFS if its products you use anyway though

i shop online, so always have a look through the special offers / BOGOFS sections on tesco.com

nats3006

mine is roughly about £200 a month with 2 children both in nappies thats shopping and household toiletries!
x

JULIE

our monthly bill comes in around 300, i try and get it in around 70 a week,

there are six of us....two in nappies and an 11 and 13yr old who eats for britain...DH used to moan like hell at the amount and expected it to be around 40 a week!!! gladly he's not so bad now that he's done a few more shopping trips himself recently,:j

we hardly buy branded stuff but i will say that in general prices in the shops have gone up and with both of our parents saying the same thing he's started to listen and he was shocked that his lot spent 100 a week on food for the two of them likewise my parents!! so he's shut up now tee hee:rotfl: