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Can 2 eat well for 50 euro/week ?

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  • 14-09-2010 12:28am
    #1
    four18
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 460 ✭✭


    Mods move this if you think its suited better in another forum..........

    After looking on the net and from my own experience, I think 2 people could eat really well on 50 euro per week. I would like this thread to be ongoing with tips and suggestions etc, because things are not getting any easier (for some) out there. So here goes...........

    Here’s the scenario: your personal recession is REALLY biting, you are broke, broke, broke, the kitchen shelves are looking bare and it’s a whole 7 days till the next,Dole,/Welfare payment lands.
    After allowing for absolute essentials like petrol or fares, rent or mortgage and a couple of drinks on Friday night, you have just €50 and some small change left. Between two of you.
    So, can you feed two people for a week for around €50? And I mean feed two people well - not on cheapo pizza and stodge.
    Can it be done?
    I’m not at all sure that it can, but I think that with input and perhaps a little judicious shopping elsewhere I can just about do it. And next week I’m giving it a go.
    I’ve set some ground rules for myself. The meals must be varied and there must not be excessive effort or time involved - it must be practical for people who work and who don’t have all day to spend cooking. There has to be the odd treat. The food must taste nice and be vaguely nutritionally sound (I’m not going to actually count micrograms of vitamins).
    I’ll do the main shopping on Saturday, post the my list here, and then from Sunday to the following Saturday I’ll post each day on how it’s going.
    Care to join me? Might be fun and practical too so now ye have it. Suggestions welcome and we will see how it goes !


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    #2
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    Can 2 eat well for 50 euro/week ?

    Yes, of course they can.


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    #3
    high heels
    Registered Users Posts: 306 ✭✭high heels


    send to the food section!!!!!


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    #4
    recylingbin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,001 ✭✭✭recylingbin


    Can't you eat cake ffs?

    /Marie Antoinette


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    #5
    TPD
    Registered Users Posts: 7,814 ✭✭✭TPD


    One or two of them butchers jumbo meat selections for €10 each, a big bag of rice for a fiver, bag of spuds for a few euro, fruit/vegetables from aldi, 80c for a few portions, hopefully you'd have some spices in (if not, splash out the first week and save money later), maybe some noodles or pasta too. Should have enough left over for milk/bread during the week.


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    #6
    oppenheimer1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,084 ✭✭✭oppenheimer1


    It can be done if you are happy eating mainly vegetarian. Its good cuts of meat that are expensive.


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    #7
    dr.bollocko
    Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 35,943 Mod ✭✭✭✭dr.bollocko


    Moved from AH. Should be able to get some decent help in here OP.
    Cut out a lot of processed food as the mark up on it is ridiculous. Spend most of your money on proteins like minced beef, tinned fish, chicken thighs, multi-packs of chops and the like. Get some good quality eggs too. Good luck with it!


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    #8
    amacachi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23,316 ✭✭✭✭amacachi


    Hit Tesco about an hour to half an hour before they close on a Saturday night, can't speak for all of them but one here in town has great prices of a Saturday evening, the amount of meat one of my mates used to get for a tenner was disgusting!
    After that a good bag of spuds, a couple of dozen eggs and a couple of trips to Lidl/Aldi for loads of fresh fruit and veg and breakfast materials and you'll easily get through the week on 50 quid.
    If I were living away from my parents I'd be far healthier living off 25-30 quid a week for than if I had mo money.


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    #9
    EverEvolving
    Registered Users Posts: 1,272 ✭✭✭EverEvolving


    Depends where you shop. I would recommend shopping on a Tuesday or Wednesday as that is when shops like Dunnes and Tesco have products reduced, at the weekend they keep the prices hiked as they have more convenience shoppers in. Check all the prices and offers on-line before hand and check the fliers that come through for special offers in places.

    I shop quite comfortably (for two) on €50-60 a week, every week, this doesn't include alcohol though.


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    #10
    four18
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 460 ✭✭four18


    dr.bollocko wrote: »
    Moved from AH. Should be able to get some decent help in here OP.
    Cut out a lot of processed food as the mark up on it is ridiculous. Spend most of your money on proteins like minced beef, tinned fish, chicken thighs, multi-packs of chops and the like. Get some good quality eggs too. Good luck with it!

    Thanks give it a try anyway !


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    #11
    El_Dangeroso
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 5,620 ✭✭✭El_Dangeroso


    Spend your vegetable money on local vegetables, they are much cheaper and more nutritious than the imported stuff.

    Stews are your friend, endless variety (goulash, chilli etc.), rarely more than 3 euros a portion and leftovers can be frozen.

    The main thing is to avoid processed food and waste, that's where most people waste food money.


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    #12
    Little Acorn
    Registered Users Posts: 1,531 ✭✭✭Little Acorn


    Here's a start:
    http://www.dunnesstores.ie/page.php?pid=509 [There's salmon at bottom of that page]
    You could buy any 6 types of meat meals, have enough meat to make meals for the week for just 18 euro, and still have 32 euro left to buy things like sauces, vegetables, rice/pasta/noodles/potatoes/or wraps, some breakfast cereal, eggs bread and soup etc., and all of these things can be bought at very affordable prices.
    Some offers on fruit & veg:
    http://www.dunnesstores.ie/page.php?pid=233

    Some affordable organic stuff:
    http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20106350.index

    I can't access Tesco's site but I'm sure they too have loads of great deals.

    Most local butcher's are doing great offers in recent times too, and also fruit & veg shops, and fishmongers. You just have to look around.

    You can make meals like curries, cottage pie, lasagne etc. that are cheap and last more than 1 day. Some affordable soups and sandwich fillings are grand for lunch. Eggs and store name cereals for breakfast. Check out the nutritional info on St. Bernard brand "wheat biscuits" exact same as weetabix, and may even have more fibre if I remember correctly.
    Actually, store brands have improved alot over the years, and if they have the same or better nutritional value[lower salt, higher fibre etc.] than the big name ones, then I've no problem spending half the price on them!

    The only thing I'm a bit fussy about is teabags and butter, as I have brands that I stick to with those 2 things.

    You should have no problem with this task OP!:)


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    #13
    Jessibelle
    Registered Users Posts: 1,760 ✭✭✭Jessibelle


    As this blog here has a very similar premise, it could be useful for ideas?


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    #14
    Adelie
    Registered Users Posts: 265 ✭✭Adelie


    The Irish Times have a nice article for students on eating cheaply, A crash course in healthy eating. It has some really good advice in there.


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    #15
    muldoocs
    Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭muldoocs


    get some dried chickpeas or mung beans and sprout them on the kitchen shelf - cheap nutritious and tasty. Theyre great for stir fries sandwiches anything really


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    #16
    squeakyduck
    Registered Users Posts: 2,766 ✭✭✭squeakyduck


    50e a week is loads for two to eat! I was a student up until recently but I spend about 50e a month on food from Lidl. Last month I spent 38 euro and most of it is still here, I made an effort to buy stuff to make meals and not just get ready made stuff.


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    #17
    PBilly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7 ✭PBilly


    I'll preface this by saying the €50 does NOT include alcohol, if you would like a nice glass of red or chilled white I have found it's better to abstain than go cheap. It ain't worth it ;)

    As has been mentioned, shop on Saturday evening if you're being good and staying in (previous posts re the discount sections in Tescos are very true) or Sunday morning before the post-mass madness descends. While the freshness will be veering to that of a cadaver, you will at least have a nice meal for much less on Sunday evening.

    Then basically your choice is between the afore-mentioned stews, casseroles, ghoulashes, chillis, curries, jambalayas, shepard's pie, steak and kidney pie, bouillabaise, coq au vin, French Onion Soup (or any kind of soup with a bread/cheese crust to bulk it up) and also batches of lasagne, baked ziti etc. Any one of the above dishes can easily be prepared for four days for two people for about €10-€15. Yes, your OH may hate you by day four, but it'll save you a fortune. Porridge in the morning goes a long way, and a light fish-based/stir-fried supper for each evening can be bought for about €15. This should come to about €30-€35, with a few quid left over for the extras such as yoghurts, chocolate, fruit, juice etc. and a decent dinner for Friday evening.

    Few other tips I find handy: make all your own sauces and freeze any excess, choose organic if it's only pennies more (e.g. garlic & onions), select the cheaper cuts of chicken and turkey (joints and whole fowl tend to be good value), boil the carcass for stock and freeze it, buy discounted whole fish and get the counter guys to fillet & skin it, use Chorizo/Salami as cheap meat additions to dishes if you're not calorie-conscious, buy frozen brocolli/spinach etc. to add to dishes in a hurry. Oh, and PS, don't bring OH shopping. As handy as the bag-carrying hands are, we really didn't need that Super-Target-Action-Anti-Wrinkle-Superhero-Weapon-of-Mass-Destruction-Cream nor the family sized bag of Minstrels/Pringles/Haribo. ;)

    Choose your Lidl/Aldi bargains carefully - a lot of generic brands have huge salt/sugar levels, and aside from the excellent value vegetable and fruit offerings once a week in Aldi a lot of the main items on your shopping list have been matched by Tescos/Dunnes and even sometimes when they're in a good mood, Superquinn.

    The above works for me, it's an interesting topic for current times, will be interesting to see how other households manage!


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    #18
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 23,339 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I wouldn't be inventive enough to do it, had 4 pork chops and a tin of peas last Saturday, that was 6 euro, I suppose add in a few potatoes and you have a dinner for 2 for €7 ish. I have my main meal at work at lunchtime and have soups, cold meats etc at home in the evening.

    I honestly don't know how folks manage to rare families these days.


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    #19
    foodaholic
    Registered Users Posts: 1,514 ✭✭✭foodaholic


    when strapped this is what i do
    Day 1 roast chicken ( i always go for free range - it is worth it) with spuds ect
    Day 2 spicy chicken noodles or any other dish from leftovers.
    Day 3 use carcass to make stock and make a risotto ( i make mushroom or butternut squash)
    ect ect.


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    #20
    PBilly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7 ✭PBilly


    foodaholic wrote: »
    when strapped this is what i do
    Day 1 roast chicken ( i always go for free range - it is worth it) with spuds ect
    Day 2 spicy chicken noodles or any other dish from leftovers.
    Day 3 use carcass to make stock and make a risotto ( i make mushroom or butternut squash)
    ect ect.


    - Really good use of one chicken foodaholic, hadn't thought of risotto!


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    #21
    Sapsorrow
    Registered Users Posts: 4,057 ✭✭✭Sapsorrow


    I got some good tips from my mum today on buying cheap meats. She was saying to find a good butcher and look for hocks of bacon (for stews and stock), breast of lamb (she said they used to live on this when times were hard in the 70s) and to try and get free bones for making a nutritious bone marrow stock as a base for cheap root veg stews. Locally grown veg from farmers markets are much cheaper than even lidl or aldi but judging by your blog that's not much use to you in particular. Buying less exotic fruits and veg (carrots, spuds, cabbage, swede, apples etc) and buying in bulk from growers to store from the winter is also more economical. Buying a few boxes of apples for the winter is a good idea if you have somehwere cool and dry to store them. Eggs would be an obvious cheap source of protein. I also foraged a few boxes of apples from a disused orchard recently, can't get better value than that! Growing your own veg is the other option, I have enough pumkins to last me the winter out in the dining room now. Leafy greens in particular are well worth growing and very easy and undemanding.


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    #22
    Kilglass Gaels
    Registered Users Posts: 13 ✭Kilglass Gaels


    Tesco and dunnes own brands , gr8t value, way cheaper than big brands!!:D


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    #23
    dollydishmop
    Registered Users Posts: 561 ✭✭✭dollydishmop


    Feed 2 for a week on €50....easy-peasy!

    Just did my shopping for the week this morning, and the food part of it came to under €50 without trying.

    As others have said, to keep it economical, yet varied, step away from the ready-meals, processed foods.

    This week we'll be scoffing pork chops (made more exciting with various things from the spice rack), chicken fillets (from whch we'll make at least one stir fry - the other's will be stuffed with cream cheese, then rolled in egg white & bread crumbs). The large pack of mince will make a huge spag bol, enough to feed us for 2 nights. And tonight, as a comfort food/treat, we've bangers & mash :D
    In addition to the meat, there's rice, pasta, spuds, salad vegetables. Breakfast cereal, a pack of bagels and some bacon for a saturday slobby bacon buttie brekkie. For lunches (hubby comes home for lunch), bread, cheese & ham, butter. + a yoghurt or piece of fruit.
    No scrimping on meal size or variety, and easily under €50...and not neccesarily using own-brand products either...eg my mayo *has* to be Hellmanns, his ketchup *has* to be Heinz...beans need to be Heinz too, and I can only drink filter coffee. Trust me, you don't need to scrimp for 2 of you to eat for €50/week...just shop smart :D

    The place where your €50/week budget will fall down, in my opinion, is with the non-food essentials. You've not stated whether this budget of €50/week covers these too...but I don't think its possible to eat well for week, on clean crockery (washing up liquid/detergent), wearing clean clothes (washing powder), whilst smelling nice & clean (deodorant, shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste) and keeping yourself clean in the bathroom (toilet roll, soap) etc...on €50 a week. I know these don't all need to be purchased weekly....but they do need to be considered, and will eat into tight budgets.

    I can do that for about €65-70/week, for two of us, and I reckon I'm pretty good for doing the weekly shop on a tight budget.


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    #24
    four18
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 460 ✭✭four18


    Lots of excellent replys here, Thanks all for taking the time to post such informative info:D Mark


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    #25
    superslimme
    Closed Accounts Posts: 63 ✭✭superslimme


    €50 will be a good food shop for two. I'm cooking my own food from scratch and it works out so much cheaper and saves loads more time. My food bill comes to no more than €80 per week. That's for a family of five (well, baby is only 4.5 months old, but he's on solids homemade of course). pm me what you and other half like to eat, what area you are in and I'll send you on a shopping list and recipies for a week. Tips on going shopping, this has really worked for me. We went from a double income to a LOW one income in our house hold for a long time and we had no choice but to cut back. my tips are as follows:
    1. Look, look, look ..........really have a look at the prices of your purchases, a lot of the larger retailers who often advertise as one price and when you get to the till you may not notice but you have been charged incorrectly.
    2. look again.........always look at the price per kgs, it should be listed by law under the price of the product. sometimes its not cheaper to buy a larger pack. We really noticed this on eggs, where 2, 6 pack of eggs worked out cheaper then one 12pack of eggs. Similarily with deals of buy a brand of one product and get another free, where if you choose and different brand it works out cheaper
    3. Don't nessarily buy pre packed fruit and veg, very often you pay extra for the convenice of being bagged for you.
    4. Have a "core" food list. There are items that you buy EVERY week, like onions, peppers, I use these in a lot of my recipies
    5. Buy meat from the butchers.....lots of deals to be had. If you buy 6 chicken breasts on a sat, freeze four (two per bag) for use during the week
    6. Freeze any food that you can and don't throw out leftovers (I never, ever used to keep anything and threw everything away.....now I find that there is no waste in our household
    7. Don't be afraid to go to different supermarkets for the best bargains. I shop in Lidl, Aldi and Tescos every week. I know exactly what I need in each of those shops.
    8. Bring a List ALWAYS
    9. Never shop before a meal, never ever shop when you are hungry!

    HTH:D


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    #26
    Catari Jaguar
    Registered Users Posts: 6,649 ✭✭✭Catari Jaguar


    Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs (grocer sells 24 eggs for €3) and 1/2 small tin of baked beans every morning. That's what, less than €2?

    Snack: Fruit from stalls/ grocers ie. plums, mandarin, banana, berries and that's probably €1 worth each day

    Lunch: Salad - lettuce, cucumber, peppers, tomato, chickpeas, sprouted seeds, tin of tuna or fallafel. €2 per day?

    Dinner: Frozen veg (€2 for 1 kg bag) with salmon steak (4 for €7 in Tesco)


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    #27
    silverharp
    Registered Users Posts: 17,849 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    one thing I've been meaning to do is buy a whole lamb (sliced and diced) from a farmer. All you need is to have freezer space ready and/or your parents :D , the per kilo price becomes very reasonable then

    on the to do list as well is to try the more unusual cuts. I've heard tongue is supposed to be very nice

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



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    #28
    superslimme
    Closed Accounts Posts: 63 ✭✭superslimme


    Well,
    I've had a few people asking me to give them shopping lists and shopping for less, so I've started a blog. Bear in mind though that it is to my taste and I don't eat a lot of red meat, nor do i do crisps or biscuits, but I've tried my best to put in substitutes. Note that in my recipes this week i expect that people have the following these items are used week after week so they are not a one meal wonder: Herbs- mixed herbs, dried chilli ( I use this quite a bit), cous cous - 50g at at time for burgers generally bought in a 250g packet so you get 5 burger lots out of it ), cumin, papirka, Marjoram,Tomato Purée. I've also put oats and readybrek on the shopping list, and really breakfast with either of these are great as they give a slow release of energy. so good luck............

    http://needtosaveyoyos.blogspot.com


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    #29
    Sapsorrow
    Registered Users Posts: 4,057 ✭✭✭Sapsorrow


    Blog post on the topic here might be of interest to some of ya's:

    http://foodfloraandfelines.blogspot.com/2010/10/food-for-two-for-fifty-euros.html


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    #30
    metamorphosis
    Registered Users Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭metamorphosis


    Sapsorrow wrote: »
    Blog post on the topic here might be of interest to some of ya's:

    http://foodfloraandfelines.blogspot.com/2010/10/food-for-two-for-fifty-euros.html

    Saw that a few hours ago through FB link - cheers. Good stuff. Best of luck Wednesday!


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    #31
    El_Dangeroso
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 5,620 ✭✭✭El_Dangeroso


    Sapsorrow wrote: »
    Blog post on the topic here might be of interest to some of ya's:

    http://foodfloraandfelines.blogspot.com/2010/10/food-for-two-for-fifty-euros.html

    Very good, I think you've inspired me to do a weekly shop from now on.

    Also on the bargain front, there's 6 frozen wild alaskan salmon fillets for 5.99 in Tesco at the moment. Wild fish usually has double the omega 3 of farmed. Keep a bag of frozen spinach and frozen cauli in the fridge and you always have a healthy meal that's quick to prepare.


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