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He said the only superior product is anything from M&S, its by far the best quality.
I know it's 25 years ago.... but I worked a summer job for Northern Foods where they made M&S pre prepared foods. The quality of ingredients was outstanding and they used to let staff purchase extra each month. Salmon, sirloin steak, perfect veg, etc. 100% frozen coming in but no corner cutting.
£100 ish per week for 2 adults. That includes cleaning stuff and household supplies but not booze as that’s bought separately.
It’s gone up in lockdown but not by much.
Our monthly bill for family of 4 household stuff which includes food shopping, petrol/diesel, toiletries, B&Q stuff and maybe the odd family meal if we go out for lunch or dinner comes to anywhere between about £1000 and £1400 a month depending on how frivolous we might have been that month. The weekly supermarket shop will be around £80 a week normally, now maybe about £100 a week during lockdown and 2 hungry teenagers.Maybe a couple of quick Tesco express drop-ins a week for mild and bread for a fiver or so a time. Not big at home drinkers so doesn't include much routine alcohol. I tend to hit the pub once a week with mates (in the good old days) so that's about £20 per week but that comes out of my own pocket.
One of the biggest changes for me was switching from Sainsbury's to Aldi. At Sinsbury's the weekly shop was coming in about about £150 - £180. Same shop at Alid £80. Huge saving. OK miss some of the usual brands which were switched out for Aldi brands, but Aldi is good gear...the German's don't mess around with quality. Occasionally I'll slip into Sainsburys or Tesco to stock up on the branded stuff I like (Heinz ketchup, proper HP sauce, Colemans Mustard).
At Sinsbury’s the weekly shop was coming in about about £150 – £180. Same shop at Alid £80. Huge saving
Roughly £3500 savings a year from switching supermarket! 😮
My food bill for one is £30 a week including toiletries and household cleaning supplies. I can food shop for £20 and in the past have managed on £15. No meat or alcohol though so that helps massively.
Wow, I didn't realise we were spending so little compared to some!
I just had a quick look at my online banking, and maybe £30 a week at the supermarket was underestimating it s but. Last 3 were £45, £38, and £41.
So adjusted up to more like £300 a month.
Having the veg and meat boxes from local suppliers makes a big difference - cheaper and better quality, easier to see what you have in stock too.
We've been shielding over lockdown so just the one delivered shop a week (so food + household products) which has been ~£40-60 for two of us (Asda have been the only supermarket to offer us a fixed weekly slot so they won out), no meat or booze though. Before lockdown it was more, popping to the shop to pick something up usually wound up also picking up snacks or a couple of beers etc... Also no going to the seafood stall which was an easy way to spend a tenner on a meal and no takeaways which is a big saving although definitely missed.
for family of 3 ( the boy is 9), the supermarket bill (so food + alcohol + cleaning products) has averaged about £140 per week during lockdown. This is from sainsburys
Its usually around £110 per week during more normal times when we're not all at home all day. but we'd then be spending more on canteen lunches/sandwiches etc etc
have found out that things like dishwasher tablets, toilet rolls and kefir milk things are insanely expensive though lately
All the essentials covered here! 😉
Two adults, two teenagers, main weekly shop at Aldi, Occado once a fortnight, £12 local bakery delivery a week, occasional milk run to village shop, - probably £5-600 a month. Don't drink much, don't get takeaways often.
Pre lockdown maybe another £1-200 for cafe treats, pub once a month, chippy tea to fit round kids activities.
Our bills always seem to have been lower than friends with similar families. We also seem to generate less waste listening to them moaning about bin collections.
Would be dull if we were all the same.
Boys eat like horse
Trust me as a father of teenage girls it’s teenager in general.
I think food prices have been steadily increasing over the last 6-12 months. Family of 4 here including 2 teenagers who eat like horses and our Aldi bill used to be £80 a week absolute maximum. I don't think we're buying much more at the moment, but our weekly shop is consistently £140+ for the last few months and was £160 this week! We cook from scratch every day and always had a packed lunch at work, so no real difference during lockdown either.
^ Food prices have nearly doubled in 6-12 months?
£200 a week 2 adults and 2 preschoolers. That includes cleaning stuff, healthcare, and alcohol. It's gone up a bit because we switched to Morrison's home delivery from a physical Aldi shop + and Sainsbury's top-up. Our Aldi is small and very busy, it just didn't feel safe as distancing is impossible.
90% of meals cooked from scratch but plenty of snacks and alcohol push it up. Also switched to eco cleaning products (Ecover and Method) which a 3x more expensive than the Aldi chemical filled alternatives.
Compared with friends we always seemed to spend more but in normal times they wouldn't count the £15 a day they would spend on lunches and coffee.
Dropped down to £200 a month for past couple of years for me and the wife swapping from Ocado to Aldi. Cost £320 before. Don’t drink so no alcohol but includes dishwasher tablets, detergent/softener etc which tends to come from Sainsbury’s or Morrisons
It’s the £30 a time M&S food hall top up shops that sometimes catch me out. Easy to do it a couple of times a week, especially if just passing.
Top up shop FFS what have I become? ☹️
Roughly £3500 savings a year from switching supermarket! 😮
Yep. Transformed our monthly budget. To be honest alot of that was cutting out alot of bad shopping habits and wasteful shopping due to the sheer range of different stuff the big supermarkets have. At Aldi it's just the essentials and not much to choose from in terms of brand options, so no chance for impulse buy's...apart from the Aladdin's cave that is the central isle...but most of that is cheap tat so doesn't cost much.
~£40 a week for two of us, I eat very little meat at home and grab meaty sandwich meal deals at work while better half is vegan, neither of us drink booze.
I'm sure we could reduce that by shopping at Lidl or Aldi instead of Sainsbury's, but the cheaper stores aren't in easy walking distance of home (~35 Vs ~5 mins) and we've not had a car for 8.5 years.
Top up shop FFS what have I become? ☹️
Consumer?
It (consumerism) doesn’t have to be derogatory, and at least you are self-aware (that your habits are changing)
1.
the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers.
"the growth of consumerism has led to many organizations improving their service to the customer"
2.
DEROGATORY
the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.
"many people are becoming increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of consumerism"
Yep, I had a bit of a shocker on the food front last time... Just over £260 for the weekly shop in Sainsbury's.
It's clearly not just expensive items but volume. Had to load the band about four times and had an absolute nightmare packing. Had 3 or four bags clipped on the front and sides of the trolley with krabs.
Family of four.
What concerns me more is the fact that it's probably a whole load more out of lockdown when I spend 160 in the canteen, then kids school meals, takeaways etc.
Nuts.
Having banking apps or online tools really does open your eyes to your spending!
Our monthly shopping food/household goods & alcohol was £550 for 2 of us in 2018
2019 down to £430 as almost exclusively Aldi.
So far for 2020 its down to £360 but its only me now.
Like FunkyDunc I have been working more hours than ever so once Aldi was open after 8pm I did tend to rush in and grab stuff with no thought to a meal plan, being on call every 4th week does help cut the cost as no booze.
Currently running at £650 a month for the four of us including additional booze and Jaffa Cakes.
£160 for for of us plus maybe £30 top up. My son has diary and soy allergies so some alternatives are Expensive although Mrs K makes our own cakes.
it went up in lockdown as 2 x school meals were had at home plus all the nibbling they do, and also accounts for my 10000 cals a week above norm cycling habit.
About £600pm on average since lockdown, 2 parents, kids 5 and 3. That includes household stuff, dishwasher tablets, cleaning stuff etc. A few Ocado deliveries and a couple of top up shops in between (kids still get through a lot of milk) plus Indian shop for bulk rice, atta, pulses and things like mangoes.
Not buying meat helps a lot, that stuff is really pricey.
.My next door neighbour runs a large bakery and supplies to all the supermarkets. He says aldi and lidl work on around 18% Mark up and the others work on between 50 and 100% Mark up.
Most of the time it’s the same food just packaged differently
Yup. I did a summer job in a food factory. It did a lot of the top of the range supermarket stuff. You'd be on the apple pie machine, and run off 2,000 Farmhouse Classic for Tesco Finest. Then change the pastry crimper and do 3,500 Orchard Traditional for Sainsbury's Specially Selected or whatever. Then change the pastry crimper again...
The ingredients didn't change a bit.
Incidentally there was an awful lot of my sweat in those pies, because agency staff didn't get the proper baker's coats, we had to wear these plastic bin bag things and it was seriously hot in there!
For our family of four it’s about £800 a month. Kids are 5 & 10. That includes a bottle of wine every night. I have been economising on the wine recently £5 bottles are fine.
Our kids waste food too. If you let them they would live on sugary snacks and eat no meals. Not easy to get them to eat healthy.
for family of 3 ( the boy is 9), the supermarket bill (so food + alcohol + cleaning products) has averaged about £140 per week during lockdown. This is from sainsburys
My boy is 9 too and we are about the same, maybe a little less. Was 140 this week but only 100 last week.
Fascinated by the Aldi spend reduction people see. Is this due to buying less ready made crap and trinkets or a genuine like for like reduction?
How is the social distancing working in Aldi, are they only allowing a certain number in? I don't have one near me, sometimes stock up on basics but in normal times there's a queue to park so concerned a visit could be an utter pita and leave me in tears.
Thanks!
How is the social distancing working in Aldi, are they only allowing a certain number in?
Better than the Tesco near me.
Only a certain number in. One ways that are enforced by staff.
Thanks @t_r probably best to give it a miss!
I have a delivery each weekend from Waitrose and limit this to £100. Todays was less than £90 as was last week.
This will include household items too such as bleach, washing up liquid and toilet rolls etc.
My wife will go into the local M&S or Morrisons at least twice a week though on top of the above and having checked my bank account I would say about £1k a month is about the the same here but that includes all household products, toiletries and the dreaded alcohol.
Takeaways are not in the above and we have 1 a week.
We through very little away and generally have enough food in the cupboards and freezers to be ready for the next apocalypse!
Ours is staggering, 2 adults, 4 cats, half a dozen Hedgehogs, £800 a month.
Prices have definitely gone up and we shop using smaller local super markets much more than before, so prices are always higher there, but they are a lot quieter if you go at unpopular times.
only myself in the house so under £30 week, if i remove my 1 can beer/day then under £25 for food.
£700-£800/month for a family of 4, all of us at home, all the time and a fairly active family. That includes everything food, toiletries, alcohol, cleaning products, medicine (2 have eczema and allergies, so special cream and Piriton, etc), baking stuff for education/fun, magazines for the kids and the occasional odd and sod.
We eat a LOT of fruit and veg and no being able to use the local sellers, just the super market is costing us a lot. Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, melon, peaches, etc are costing us £30 a week and this just covers breakfast. There’s then bananas, apples, oranges for snacks. This doesn’t even cover veg. Tomatoes, Kale, sweet potatoes, greens, rocket, peppers, avocado, nuts, etc can easily come to another £30-£35. Toiletries/medicine another £15-35 depending on the week. Dairy will be £20-£25. Pizza, bread, breakfast cakes (danish/brioche/croissant) £10. Chicken, £9. Pork/bacon £3-5. Fish, £5-6. Biscuits, crisps, ice cream, frozen stuff, tins of beans, soup tomatoes, pasta, etc, £20. Alcohol, £10-15. It soon mounts up!
Boys eat like horses
So do Zebras
We eat a LOT of fruit and veg and no being able to use the local sellers, just the super market is costing us a lot.
Are they not delivering or opening for one person at a time?
In our smallish town (pop. 4500ish) we have a greengrocer, 2 butchers, a fishmonger and a wholefood/fill your own containers store.
All of them have either been doing free delivery of set price boxes (£20 veg or £25 meat) or having reduced opening hours for one customer at a time.
Chatting to the GG bloke the other day and they've been doing a roaring trade.
Used to be about the same as you, family of 3. Since lockdown we’ve been a bit more organised (we rarely if ever have takeaways as we’ve got weird dietary demands !) and it’s about 600 a month plus booze which is, errr, anyway. On the booze front between Wine Soc, Fyne Ales and Bellfield we are well covered and all delivered to door which suits us. 1k sounds quite high, we don’t exactly eat cheap - decent meat mostly organic from butcher, fresh fish from fish van and veg box a week.
£1000 pound a week on food?
That's ridiculous.
2 of us here, at most we'd spend £60 a week. And we don't go short.
I would really struggle to spend £125 a week (pro-rata), I'd be 20 stone in no time.
Buy better, use cheaper shops, buy less.
A month, keep up
Two adults here, kids age 9 and 11 and we get through £450 a month. And that's during lockdown where I'm not away for work and eating on expenses.
I can't imagine spending double that. I'm not sure I could eat that much! Unless you are getting through shitloads of expensive wine or something.
I'd be interested to see a breakdown of £1k a month shop.
Must be an awful lot of expensive 'taste the difference' ready meals or meat and veg. Do you buy branded of everything, or own brand?
It's amazing the price difference between say Kellogg's cornflakes (something like £2-3?) and own brand Lidl cornflakes (under £1).
Adding in all the food and booze, and feeding 5 cats, and litter, then £800 to £1000 a month at the minute.
I'm the one doing the shopping, limiting just one of us to supermarket germs. I tend to shop for 3-4 days and batch cook where I can. I can't face doing a big shop working my way round the supermarket, so just do a 20 minute blitz.
I'm gobsmacked that a family spends £32 a day on food,what do you eat?!
family spends £32 a day on food
Only about £2.50 per person per meal family of four, easily done I think especially if you are doing convenience foods.
Edit: and doesn't avg family throw away a ton of food too?
I worked it out a year or two ago and we were spending £6/800 pcm at the supermarket. It’ll be more now as the kids are unfillable and are terrible for wasting food. Wouldn’t be surprised if our family of 4 is around £1000 but we are not really spending on anything else atm.