If you have teenagers, you already understand what August means for a food budget. The school gates close, the summer holidays begin, and from that moment forward the fridge is essentially a revolving door. You fill it. It empties. You fill it again. Repeat until September.
And yet — somehow — August turned out to be one of our better months.
We made a conscious decision as a family to keep things relatively low-key this summer. With our wedding in November, we’re being sensible about where the money goes, and to their absolute credit, the kids have been completely on board. There’s a family holiday on the horizon for next year, and they’re already excited to have a say in the wedding planning — which, frankly, is one of the loveliest things about this chapter we’re in right now.
No big summer blowout. No expensive week away. Just good food, good company, and a couple of tins of paint.
How Did We Do on the Food Budget?
Here are the numbers, as honest as always.
Our weekly shop figures for August were as follows:
- Week 32 (1st August): £134.70
- Week 33 (8th August): £167.56
- Week 34 (15th August): £135.32
- Week 35 (18th August): £60.95
Total main food shop: £498.53 Weekly average: £124.64
Worth noting — our brother-in-law stayed with us for the first week, so Week 32 was feeding six rather than five. Even with that, the weekly average came in well under our £150 target and comfortably under the revised £180 figure we’d been working to in July. That’s a meaningful step back in the right direction.
On top of the main shop, we spent £212.36 on treats and takeaways — averaging £53.16 per week — bringing our total August food spend to £710.89.
Considering it was the height of summer with four teenagers grazing their way through the house, that treats and takeaways figure is something I’m genuinely proud of. Home cooking carried the month, and the kitchen was busy in the best possible way.
How Do We Compare to the UK Average?
Back to our regular five this month. The UK average sits at around £44 per person, per week — roughly £220 per week or £880 per month for a family of five.
Our total August spend — including every treat, takeaway, and pit stop — came to £710.89, putting us a very healthy £169.11 under the national average.
During the school summer holidays. With teenagers. I’ll take that result every single day of the week.
Monthly Memories
August was, by design, a quieter one — and there’s something genuinely lovely about that, even if it wasn’t always the plan.
With the wedding savings firmly in focus, a big summer holiday wasn’t on the cards this year. So instead, we channelled the energy inward. The bathroom got a fresh coat of paint. Our son’s bedroom had a full redecoration. It’s the kind of thing that sounds unglamorous on paper but feels genuinely satisfying when it’s done — a home that feels a little more like us, completed as a family, without spending a fortune.
On the blog front, August was slower than I’d like to admit. The recipe refresh project continued, but progress was measured — some of the new photos and video content weren’t quite hitting the standard I want to put out, and I’d rather slow down and get it right than rush something that doesn’t represent the brand properly. Some might say I’m being hard on myself. Maybe. But the standard matters.
👉 There’s still plenty to keep you busy in the recipe section of the blog while the updates continue behind the scenes.
What’s Coming in September
September is where things get properly exciting again — and I mean that.
I’ll be launching a 60-day budget challenge, documented through a series of vlogs, showing exactly how we keep to our £150 per week family food budget in real time. No edited highlights, no convenient skipping of the awkward weeks — just an honest look at how a real family shops, cooks, and eats on a realistic budget.
Why £150 and not the £25 or £50 challenge you see everywhere else? Because those figures don’t reflect how most families actually live. This does. Follow along across all my social media channels and subscribe so you don’t miss a week.
On the recipe front, here’s what’s coming very soon:
- 🍓 Strawberry Crumble Bars
- 🫔 Fajita Style Traybake
- 🍗 Crispy KFC Chicken
- 🥟 Corned Beef Pasties
If there’s a budget-friendly recipe you’d love to see me tackle, drop it in the comments below. And what’s your go-to low-cost family meal? I’d love to feature reader suggestions in a future post.
See you in September. 👋
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