Average cost of feeding a family of four?

[Deleted User] · 14/05/14 - 14:39

Hi all -

OK, I know it's a REALLY arbitrary question, but what do you think the general cost of food for a family of four for a month is? I KNOW it'll depend on a lot of factors, but I'm just interested to see what people think.

Reason I'm asking: my mate's ex-wife is claiming that £400 won't cover HALF of what she spends on food for two children, ages 11 and 14, over the course of a month. She is JUST referring to the cost of food - no other factors.

I have no experience in this - don't have kids - but I think that is high. I'd be interested in other people's opinions.

Many thanks.

CherryRose · 14/05/14 - 14:45

I'd say around a £100 per week to feed a family of four, minus dinner monies. Dinner money for secondary school is about £2.50 - £3 per day per child.

You could do it for less if you bought smart price brand or shopped at Aldi.

L_Silverwolf · 14/05/14 - 14:57

It depends a lot on the kids too. For instance, my 3 nephews are aged between 11 & 15, and are extremely sporty & active. Therefore they are like bottomless pits to feed. Even with careful shopping, food costs can be more expensive than you'd expect. £100 a week seems on the low side for kids like them. However, if your mate's kids are less active, then maybe £100 might be OK.

xNATILLYx · 14/05/14 - 15:04

When i was still lviving at home for us a family of four also it was about £70 a week. We took packed lunches to school so that is included.
My parents **** bumped that up massively

on top of that but we got a decent amount of food and drink for that.
So only £280 a month and both me & my dad have an appetite

Sounds like your mate's ex is trying to cheat him out of money. She has to be inflating that , i don't know if her kids have an appetite but at £400 a month just for them what are they eating

Even if you add a bit on for school lunches £400 is still ridiculous. You need someone in a family of say 6 to comment what they spend. If it is teh same or similar to £400 you can she she is either buying expensive stuff or making rubbish up.

Also i now live in a 2 person household and we spend £120 a month including the odd take away. If we had 2 kids it would only be double or so so again only £240 or so. Miles off £400.

[Deleted User] · 14/05/14 - 15:16

xNATILLYx wrote: »

Sounds like your mate's ex is trying to cheat him out of money. She has to be inflating that , i don't know if her kids have an appetite but at £400 a month just for them what are they eating
Even if you add a bit on for school lunches £400 is still ridiculous. You need someone in a family of say 6 to comment what they spend. If it is teh same or similar to £400 you can she she is either buying expensive stuff or making rubbish up.

Thanks, that's what I'm thinking too. I'm not sure she is deliberately trying to cheat him out of money (I'd like to hope not...); but I think she surely must be exaggerating? Also, it's not £400 - it's £800 - because she claimed that £400 won't cover HALF of what she spends on food for the kids! I'm sure she is just exaggerating and it's a gut reaction...

SaddlerSteve · 14/05/14 - 15:24

£400 sounds perfectly adequate.

Of course it all depends on exactly what she's buying and how she's budgeted.

If she's doing a proper supermarket shop for most things and occasionally topping it up by buying extra things like bread and milk when they're required then it should be enough.

However if a lot of food is being bought outside of the supermarket, such as takeaways, going out to eat etc. then of course it will be a lot more expensive.

[Deleted User] · 14/05/14 - 15:27

£400 sounds about right to me for an AVERAGE family and shopper.

Edit: That would be for all four people though, not just the kids.

SaddlerSteve · 14/05/14 - 15:28

Having re-read your OP and seen it says "ex-wife" then I'd say it's also possible she's exaggerating the costs to squeeze a little more money out of him.

Also, it begs the question that surely he should only be paying enough to cover half of the 2 childrens food costs as he shouldn't be supporting his ex-wife as well?

In any case £800 a month is taking the pee for just food!

RAINBOWGIRL22 · 14/05/14 - 15:40

£100 per child per week seems incredibly excessive (she is saying £400 doesn't even cover half right, which means she is claiming she spends £800 a month on feeding the kids?)

£400 seems much nearer the mark so your mate should be paying £200.

[Deleted User] · 14/05/14 - 15:46

Thank you for all the replies. It seems people are in agreement that she is way over-stating what she spends.

And, just to clarify - yes, she is claiming that she spends £800 for food for two kids over the course of a month, not £400...

[Deleted User] · 14/05/14 - 15:47

RAINBOWGIRL22 wrote: »

£100 per child per week seems incredibly excessive (she is saying £400 doesn't even cover half right, which means she is claiming she spends £800 a month on feeding the kids?)

£400 seems much nearer the mark so your mate should be paying £200.

Yup - she is claiming that she spends £400 PER CHILD per month. I agree it seems crazy...

[Deleted User] · 14/05/14 - 15:50

Shoobeedoowah wrote: »

Yup - she is claiming that she spends £400 PER CHILD per month. I agree it seems crazy...

Do they dine on lobster and caviar every day, or are they each 30 stone?

yeahbuddy · 14/05/14 - 15:57

Depends entirely on where you shop. There's four if us in our family and we noticed a dramatic difference between aldi/lidl and sainsburys.
Aldi/lidl-£100 including any wine
Sainsburys-£140/£160

So if you say she shops at the most exspensive place it would be about £500-£600, defiantly not £800 like she is saying. So surely your friend should be paying half as he shouldn't have to pay for the four people.

Janey_Bee · 14/05/14 - 16:15

Having personal experience of my partner's ex wife holding her hands out for as much as she can get, she sounds pretty typical. 800 is ridiculous. For the 2 of us it's about 200 quid a month. I'd say 400 at most.

soulboy77 · 14/05/14 - 16:24

My sister spends £500 a month on grub for 4 and she is far from frugal.

lea_uk · 14/05/14 - 16:27

Shoobeedoowah wrote: »

Yup - she is claiming that she spends £400 PER CHILD per month. I agree it seems crazy...

Either her kids eat loads or she's lying. There's four of us (all adults) and we pay about that a month for all 4 of us.

[Deleted User] · 14/05/14 - 16:29

Thanks again, folks. I agree, she's mistaken (my diplomatic version of saying she's lying!).

radcliffe95 · 14/05/14 - 16:30

There's a vast difference in price (and quality) between Waitrose and Aldi, so it all depends really.

Master Ozzy · 14/05/14 - 16:32

Household of three and we spend about £120 a week on food. So that's about £480 a month. However, that doesn't include popping into Tesco's during the week for the odd few bits too. I'd say that in total, in our house we spend about £520 a month on food for three of us.

Rae_Roo · 14/05/14 - 16:50

My god! She sounds like a chancer, and is totally trying to pull a fast one here!

If she could provide one month of receipts to prove it, I'd be suprised, like someone said earlier, are we talking lobsters and cavier!

Me and my OH spend about £100-120 week on groceries, but he is a fiend! And can pack a lot away... The only thing is if any of the kids have any special dietary requirments etc, I know since having to go gluten free with coeliacs disease our food bill did shoot up quite dramatically.. ie a loaf of bread at £3 and a 325g box of cereal £3.25, as examples, but if all is normal, I'd be wanting proof to justify her claims!

jips · 14/05/14 - 17:22

I am in a family of 5. 13,8,and 5 for the kids and they eat all the time.

We don't buy rubbish junk food like crisps and yogurts, and make meals from scratch with lots of vegetables etc.
They all have packed lunch, including the adults, and we rarely spend over £90 a week at Tesco, and that includes non food items like bathroom and cleaning stuff.

All depends on how you shop, how you cook and how much junk you let your kids have.

It is easy, and just requires planning your meals for the week and shopping to it.

SaddlerSteve · 14/05/14 - 17:42

At £800 per month (say 30 days to make it simple) that would be £26 per day. So she's saying each kid eats £13 of food a day. Which begs the question what are they eating?

Your mate needs to basically ask her to provide a receipt of exactly what she's claiming costs that much.

She's either spending a ridiculous amount on food for them.. possibly because she thinks he'll pay for it. Or she's spending half that amount and pocketing the rest herself. Either way he shouldn't be subsidising her. Paying his fair share for the kids yes, but not providing her with extra income for herself to use.

c4rv · 14/05/14 - 17:50

£800 a month for all the grocery shopping inc none food items may be OK if you are sticking to branded stuff, school dinner, etc. But from food only that is a lot.

TWS · 14/05/14 - 17:52

I would imagine the issue here is taking a snippet out of an entire conversation which probably involves how much maintenance she gets, well children aren't cheap to keep and food just being one aspect.

I cant imagine anyone claiming it takes £800 to feed a family of 4. £400 - £500 is most likely plus extra if you have meals out or take aways, maybe more again for school dinners for the week.

Patchbuncle · 14/05/14 - 20:16

Blimey, can I go round theirs for tea? We are a family of 4, kids healthy appetites and food mistly cooked from scratch. We shop in Aldi and Sainsburys, keep an eye on what we spend but not overly so - we come in at between £85 to £100 per week.

BlueEyedMrsP · 14/05/14 - 20:43

£400 for HALF of what she needs? Jesus, must be nice. We do a big shop at asda and Iceland once a month, buying store brands mostly, very few name brands, and that costs us about £150. We then spend around £20 - £25 a week on top of that for milk, bread, fresh fruit and veg. We have one takeaway a month and the kids and hubby take a packed lunch. I think she's taking the Mick, big time.

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Average cost of feeding a family of four?

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