The weekly food budget

Booooo

My DH said to me today I've over spent the budget

I look at the budget as being fluid

He looks at is being fixed

The way I look at is is an average. The weeks shop was £32 and pence. Today I had to go buy charcoal ( come on, this good weather and why not go over a tad) and whilst I was in Tesco , I picked up nearly £50 quids worth of fish and chicken for around £20

Now I say that's not this weeks budget because it will be spread out over a few months, hence my ' average food bill' stands

He says I'm cheating

Thoughts????

greentiger

you are right!

rach_k

If you really will spread the stuff you bought out over months, write out what will be eaten and when with prices and take that off the budget for those weeks, then you're both happy!

Tiddlywinks

Stop doing the shopping and tell him to crack on and take control of the budget himself... I bet he changes his mind pretty quickly .

harebellsinenfield

You have a big spend when you stock up, then little spends when you're topping up perishables that are difficult to store. Budgets are a guide, it's only cheating if you routinely spend "a little extra", then fudge the numbers. If you have the room to be flexible then food budgets should not be set in stone (in my opinion anyway).

Mind you I have this discussion with my partner on a regular basis. He views the budget as something to rigidly stick to, so if he's hit the £30 limit he'll go straight to the checkout even if we need something else. I view it as a tool help prevent unnecessary overspending, if I hit the budget I review whether what is in the trolley needs to be in there, and whether any further expenditure can be justified.

So obviously I agree with you, it's not an overspend so much as a calculated investment in bargain meats and summer fun which will all even out in the end.

kaz13

My monthly budget is £200, which I always put in cash in my purse every month and use that, but I also have an extra £100 put in the back of my purse, for either emergencies, or when I see a bargain - I should get- usually this extra money lasts most of the year.
Any money left from my food budget each month, goes into the other pot along with the original £100.

PasturesNew

Booooo wrote: »

My DH said to me today I've over spent the budget

I look at the budget as being fluid

He looks at is being fixed
..... had to go buy charcoal ( come on, this good weather and why not go over a tad) and whilst I was in Tesco , I picked up nearly £50 quids worth of fish and chicken for around £20

I think he's right. You're justifying it to yourself, but you've overspent - on things that'd be "nice to have", but aren't "essentials".

You've not changed, just found new ways to kid yourself

maisie_cat

How much have you spent on average over a 2 month period,? That's long enough to smooth out the bulk purchases. Charcoal isn't food, it's cooking fuel so I'm assuming his problem is the bulk buying of meat.
What you could do is do a freezer stock take every week and adjust for consumption rather than cash expenditure, the way that a normal business budget is adjusted.
As you now have all that meat in the freezer, I would work your through it to prove a point, buying only essentials and stock out items.
When the cupboards are bare, get him to do an online shopping basket, you can always print it.
I think a lot of men (my hubby included) think that milk magically appears along with the self refilling loo paper, shower gel, shampoo etc etc and have no idea how much it costs!

LameWolf

I can see both sides of the argument.

Yes, it's food that will be consumed over the next few months, so you (theoretically) won't need to spend so much in those months.

On the other hand, depending upon how tight money is, are you or is he going to have to go without something in order to finance the "extra" spend.

The way I do it is I have a set amount per month for food (monthly is easier than weekly for us); if I come in under budget (which I usually do) I can roll that extra over to the following month. Only for one month though; if I'm under budget 2 months in a row, the money left over from the first month goes into the Savings.

I'm not going to say a word about the charcoal - and BBQs. :cool:

Booooo

The daft thing is, is we aren't on a tight budget out of necessity, it's just something I like to keep as low as possible, whilst eating as well as possible

The YS splurge was because there was so many good bargains to be had on fish. We all know how expensive fish is, I love it. Now I'm not a pig, but I can easily eat a whole pack of bass or trout to myself, as can DH. I mean one fillet isn't enough to fill anyone . Yet to buy two packs at normal price would be around £8. Maybe not a lot but that's a 5th of a normal weekly spend. Picking them up for £1.20 a pack means we can enjoy a treat without busting the budget. Same with the chicken. I usually only buy thighs, then skin and bone them myself. Yesterday's haul were packs of 4/5 fillets, for less then a pack of thighs.

I wouldn't buy stuff like ready meals or cakes etc ys just because they were a bargain, because we don't like them and don't buy them full stop. But meat, fish and veg if it's reduced enough I will snap up

Spendless

If you eat fish and chicken anyway then I agree with you. Especially if this is the same sort of fish/chicken you usually eat OR if it works out cheaper or the same price as the fish/chicken you are able to buy within budget.