How much does your weekly shop cost?

Adiboo

With the way the economy is at the moment, I haven't been spending too much money doing the weekly shop; maybe €50 or so.

But lately, for some reason or another, money has been getting extra tight for me. I added up how much I have to live for the week, after ESB & Eircom bills, I'll have a pretty heafty sum of €17 to my name for the aul' shopping.

Question is, how much money do ye find yourselves spending on the weekly essentials?

Xavi6

About $110 (about €60) a week between two of us. Cost of living is a lot cheaper over here.

iMax

€100 - €130 for two adults & one three year old. hard to get it lower (was €150 - €170)

jaffa20

50euro / week on 2 adults. It's easily done. LIDL ftw!

sunnyside

jaffa20 wrote: »

50euro / week on 2 adults. It's easily done. LIDL ftw!

Really? Lidl isn't that cheap. I perfer to take advantage of the half price branded products in Super Valu and Spar.

For me it's €60 for household bills a week and food around €50, just for one person. I've seen people posting here about a €20 food shop. I wish I could reduce my food costs too but I like nice food.

Adiboo

sunnyside wrote: »

I've seen people posting here about a €20 food shop. I wish I could reduce my food costs too but I like nice food.

I know how you feel. I do enjoy brand name food.

I hate having to live off of cheap noodles and tinned food. Seems like I'll have to for the foreseeable future though.

sunnyside

Adiboo wrote: »

But lately, for some reason or another, money has been getting extra tight for me. I added up how much I have to live for the week, after ESB & Eircom bills, I'll have a pretty heafty sum of €17 to my name for the aul' shopping.

Is this €17 before or after food shopping?

Adiboo wrote: »

I know how you feel. I do enjoy brand name food.

I hate having to live off of cheap noodles and tinned food. Seems like I'll have to for the foreseeable future though.

The "no money to buy food" diet is one of the most effective ever:)

I have had to cut back on coffee shops and lunches out.

[-0-]

About €40.

Kai

About €120 - €160. 2 Adults and a five year old child. Bought in SuperQuinn for the most part with Fruit and Veg bought in a proper fruit and veg shop.

Abi

sunnyside wrote: »

I wish I could reduce my food costs too but I like nice food.

Can you give examples?

It is recommended that you buy from the out line of the shop to eat healthily. The basics of this being veg, fruit, dairy, meats, grains. And these arent hugely expensive.

I spend aprox €80 on a weekly shop this way, but there would be the likes of washing powder, shampoo, tooth paste etc. included in there too.

Adiboo

sunnyside wrote: »

Is this €17 before or after food shopping?

Before the shopping unfortunately

My name is URL

I spend roughly 60 euro p/w on shopping

That's just for 1 person

Gonna have to cut back a bit too now with less work on

bicardi19

used to spend about 300 euro a week in supervalue every week. thats for 2 adults and 4 kids. Now spend £150 in enniskillen. Thats including alcohol and all the stuff you need for the week.

nice1franko

about 125 a week for two.

tend to hit supervalu a good bit just cos it's local even tho we know it's a bit of a rip.

going to have to wisen up a bit and just get a bi-weekly shop or something

hobochris

there's two of us, it costs about €130 for 2-3 weeks. a big freezer helps.

kingtut

sunnyside wrote: »

I have had to cut back on coffee shops

This statement put shivers up my spine I really hope I never have to do this...

*invites sunnyside out for a day of coffee shop enjoyment - all at my expense maybe*

sunnyside

Abigayle wrote: »

Can you give examples?

I don't understandExamples of what. I buy the Spar eurosaver offers and a lot of the weekly half price offers from SuperValu.

Adiboo wrote: »

Before the shopping unfortunately

Oh dear, pasta, pasta sauce, tins of beans, loaf of bread, milk, cereal, Tesco own brand biscuits or chocolate. Can you cut back on anything else? Do you drink/smoke? That is very little to be living on.

Wurly

It costs me around 50 euros just for myself.

But I bring in my own lunches and coffee so that money covers all food for the week.

I might eat out once or twice during the week too.. But nowhere expensive.

sunnyside

kingtut wrote: »

This statement put shivers up my spine I really hope I never have to do this...

*invites sunnyside out for a day of coffee shop enjoyment - all at my expense maybe*

Don't worry, I still have my coffee, just not every day:)

destroyer

200 to 250 euro for 2 adults and 4 kids under 7 . LIDL and ASDA ftw

Eat out most Sunday's which costs anything from 50 to 150
euro depending on how extravagant I feel.!

Last Angry Man

Since I got into cooking a bit and have started making (almost) every meal from scratch our weekly shopping bill is probably around €120 on average for 2 adults and a 1 year old. I am a bit of a Nazi when it comes to not using sauces from jars or eating anything pre-packaged (with the exception of oven chips - can't be dealing with a fryer) and as a result we have practically no waste and we are eating better than ever. We shop in both Lidl and Tesco for the day to day stuff and most meat comes from the butcher. I'd say it's harder to do this if you are single though. Easer to put the effort in when you are cooking for a few people but I'm starting to make batches of stuff to freeze and re-heat to take away the danger of take-away ordering due to lazyness. Going to get the garden sorted out soon and start growing some veg too.

Lobelia Overhill

I take €200 out for the housekeeping each week, Some weeks I'm left with €50 or so, others less. 3 adults.

helimachoptor

For myself the GF and her sister and the odd day her boyfriend comes over, Not sure about per week as we usually do a pretty big shop once a month in dunnes/tesco which can be expensive say 150 but then we would do say2/3 weekly shops on lidl/aldi altogether say 300 per month for 3 people.

Abi

sunnyside wrote: »

I don't understandExamples of what. I buy the Spar eurosaver offers and a lot of the weekly half price offers from SuperValu.

You said you enjoy 'nice food'. I was enquiring as to what that actually included.

NewFrockTuesday

About €60ish. I dont eat alot of meat and as a chef know how to make food last and how to use up leftovers. No drinking and dont smoke. Eat out about once a week with work - usually Thrsday night. Tidy

Mossy Monk

€30 - €40

Adiboo

sunnyside wrote: »

Oh dear, pasta, pasta sauce, tins of beans, loaf of bread, milk, cereal, Tesco own brand biscuits or chocolate. Can you cut back on anything else? Do you drink/smoke? That is very little to be living on.

Just got in from Dunnes. 2 loafs of bread, pasta + sauces, chicken fillets, sausages, 29c lemonade and a pack of Dunnes 99c ice lollies for a treat. All for a grand total of €16.46.

Think I did well enough

petes

I'm ridiculous. I kind of wing it one day to the next.

Have to start doing a weekly shop.

Adiboo

Insurgent wrote: »

I'm ridiculous. I kind of wing it one day to the next.

Have to start doing a weekly shop.

I was doing that up until recently myself. I've gotta try to keep to a shopping routine from now on.

petes

Adiboo wrote: »

I was doing that up until recently myself. I've gotta try to keep to a shopping routine from now on.

I'm going to start this weekend. Head in on Saturday and do a weekly shop.

I'd say €40 to €50 will be sufficient.

Adiboo

Insurgent wrote: »

I'm going to start this weekend. Head in on Saturday and do a weekly shop.

I'd say €40 to €50 will be sufficient.

Back when I wasn't budgeting like now, picking up whatever looked nice. I'd say I averaged around €55-60.

EdgarAllenPoo

In our house we've a bad habit of doing a daily shop which costs more in the end, usually about €40 a pop but that includes three packs of fags a day so the food comes to about €17 a day. So €280 a week in total or €119 on actual shopping each week.

petes

Adiboo wrote: »

Back when I wasn't budgeting like now, picking up whatever looked nice. I'd say I averaged around €55-60.

Balls, that's the way I shop!!

Adiboo

Just realised I forgot the shagging dog food! I'll have to scrape some pennies together and head to the Tesco self service machine!

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

iMax wrote: »

€100 - €130 for two adults & one three year old. hard to get it lower (was €150 - €170)

What the hell do you buy? There is no way you need to spend that much.

Clothes are not food btw

about 60 quid a week tops for two adults. That's when we splash out. We even get some luxury foods too

Rabies

About $40.
Eat out most days.

My fridge is pretty much empty.

I can get away with around 25 to 30euro(maybe less an odd time) on average per week but I'm home at weekends so I really only need food for dinner and lunches from monday to thursday. I spend about 50 to 60euro a week on petrol though and more than half of that is for traveling to/from home at weekends so that easily makes up for what I save by eating food at home during the weekend.

Darkbloom

Usually about £30 a week - and a lot of that's not even food. (That's for two of us).

banshee_bones

Im fairly bad myself, kinda winging it from day to day, either grabbing something in the local shop which isnt cheap or eating out with friends or making something out of whats in the cupboard.
Got loads in Lidl there during the week, brown bread,milk,ham,a plant!smoked salmon,pesto,toilet roll,vegetables,pizza etc and came in around 20 euro! Il def be going back there again! You would never get all that in dunnes for that price!

magconn

Family of 5, that is 2 adults, 3 kids (all out of nappies), 150 euro does veg meat etc, the lot. Tried Lidl & aldi but found i was picking up crap i didnt need. So i use tesco online home delivery for everything except meat and veg (supervalu have greatdeals on chicken etc and local veg man for well. veg . From tesco i get exactly what i want, delivered and most weeks i have free delivery, so no un-necessary crap in trolley and no kids throwing in sweets and junk either.
Hubby extremely happy! used to be round 250 mark

Recently got our own hens for eggs and some broilers chickens that will be our raw chicken very soon, so that will eliminate the super valu stop (apart from any vino trips that is)!!

Kimia

Freezers are a god send. Buy in bulk if you can. We do a monthly shop and spend about €100 for 2 people. I don't make huge dinners though in fairness, just light meals. Bread & milk and perishables aren't included.

Lobelia Overhill

Insurgent wrote: »

I'm ridiculous. I kind of wing it one day to the next.

Have to start doing a weekly shop.

I used to do a big weekly shop, but what with fussy eater old parents, and my bad back affecting whether I'm able to cook or not, I had to start ad libbing and buying day to day.

Highsider

About 75 euro a week. Two kids two adults. Get everything in lisburn once a month and have a big huge feck off freezer. That includes vegetables in the local grocer once a week. Refuse to shop down here again until the supermarkets stop ripping us off. (That includes Aldi and Lidl) You want to see how much cheaper aldi is in the UK than here.:mad:

Ginny

Household stuff, toiletries, washing power, shower gel, Pasta, noodles, sauces and alcohol are bought up north every 2 months at about £100 -£140.
Meat is bought monthly from butchers (meat for dinners and for lunches) about €50 a month.
Veg, fruit and bread bought in local supermarket at about €30 a week.
So all in all under €80 a week for 2 adults.

Aidric

About 80 a week for myself and the bird.

dontcallmecrazy

im so glad to see this thread, this is something i have been thinking about alot over the last few weeks, i just cant seem to get my food bill down but at the same time i never seem to have anything to eat in the house..

could somebody please post a quick example of what their 'cheapened' weekly shopping list would consist of because i seem to always be picking up the wrong stuff or something and never make it out of the shop with anything but enough for maybe one or two dinners but still manage to spend a small fortune, im so broke at the minute and this is really stressing me out!!!!

Paddy Samurai

Ok!,hang on while I work this out.Shopping essentials.....eh?.
Beer.....€30.00
Curries assorted(shop brand) frozen x 7.......€17.50
Toilet roll pack of 6...€3.00(like the soft ones for mopping up the curry)
More beer....€30.00
Cereals(shop brand).....€2.00
Milk.............€2.00
Condoms(pack of 3).....€5.00(Always buy good ones,so you can washout and reuse)
Beer......€30.00

Jayus!!.... I just added this up Its €119.50 per week.How do families manage on €130.00 per week?.I feel really guilty,I think I will have to cut back.Maybe I could manage on 5 curries per week?.

az2wp0sye65487

We normally do a monthly shop, have it down to a fine art at this stage. We're both paid monthly so the monthly shop is now viewed as another bill that has to be paid...

We spend between €200 & €300 on the monthly shop which will include the basics...

Pasta
Rice
Potatoes
Meat (chicken breasts / mince / steak / chicken kievs) etc. *
Tea
Coffee
Biscuits
Toiletries
Cleaning Stuff

Other things like fruit & veg and bread are bought more often throughout the month.

* We'd buy enough meat for meals for the month and then freeze most of it.

sunnyside

Abigayle wrote: »

You said you enjoy 'nice food'. I was enquiring as to what that actually included.

:)Things like olives, sun dried tomatoes, fresh pesto, smoked salmon, ben+jerrys or hagen daz ice cream, Barry's teabags, nespresso capsules for my coffee machine. Not very healthy I know but I do also buy the usual meat, vegetables. I prefer not to get the shops own brand for most things. That sounds expensive but something on that list always seems to be half price somewhere.

Adiboo wrote: »

Just got in from Dunnes. 2 loafs of bread, pasta + sauces, chicken fillets, sausages, 29c lemonade and a pack of Dunnes 99c ice lollies for a treat. All for a grand total of €16.46.

Think I did well enough

Impressive. Can you cut back on anything else to allow yourself a bit more money for food?

Insurgent wrote: »

I'm ridiculous. I kind of wing it one day to the next.

Have to start doing a weekly shop.

I used to do that but I got so tired of the daily trips to the supermarket. It's so inefficient.

dontcallmecrazy wrote: »

could somebody please post a quick example of what their 'cheapened' weekly shopping list would consist of because i seem to always be picking up the wrong stuff or something and never make it out of the shop with anything but enough for maybe one or two dinners but still manage to spend a small fortune, im so broke at the minute and this is really stressing me out!!!!

I don't have a specific list for you but I would suggest you get the weekly special offers leaflets from all the supermarkets especially SuperValu and buy whatever you can use from the half price/Buy one get one free offers. The Spar eurosavers are also excellent.

Iris Vast Mineralogist wrote: »

. We're both paid monthly so the monthly shop is now viewed as another bill that has to be paid...

.

It's really strange but before this recession when people did out a budget they never seemed to include food. It was always just Esb, gas, phone, etc but you are so right, food is a bill. I think we need somebody to start a cheap meals thread as a continuation of this.

JuJuBean

dontcallmecrazy wrote: »

im so glad to see this thread, this is something i have been thinking about alot over the last few weeks, i just cant seem to get my food bill down but at the same time i never seem to have anything to eat in the house..

could somebody please post a quick example of what their 'cheapened' weekly shopping list would consist of because i seem to always be picking up the wrong stuff or something and never make it out of the shop with anything but enough for maybe one or two dinners but still manage to spend a small fortune, im so broke at the minute and this is really stressing me out!!!!

I'm just back from Tesco, where I spent €127 and hopefully that will last the two of us for 1.5 to 2 weeks. I bought:
Meat and fish
1/2 price bag of frozen Aya fantail prawns (could use for stir fry or curry)
Round steak minced (shepherds pie or home made burgers)
2 chicken quarters (roast them on a bed of veg)
2 chicken breasts (serve in pitta bread with salad/ stir fry/ in a bap)
1 fillet steak
I pack sausages
1/2 price 4 salmon fillets
2 fresh cod fillets breaded
2 fresh haddock fillets breaded
Rashers (tesco finest)
2 x mussels in white wine sauce (going to have mussels and oven chips tonight )
Sliced turkey (for sandwiches)

Vegetables
Special offer on a pack with carrot/ parsnip/ turnip/ onion - 2 for two euros
2 kg new potatoes
2.5 kg kerr pink potatoes
fresh herbs (coriander and mint)
2 limes
2 lemons
Cabbage
Brocolli
Sugar snap peas
Red onion
Avocado
Cherry tomatoe/ lettuce/ half cucumber special offer
Plums
Scallions
Bananas
Strawberrys
Pak Choi
Turnip
3 x tomatoes
Oven chips

and I got a few other things like tin of beans, crisps, soy sauce, hoummous, yoghurt, honey etc.
Also bought dove shampoo and conditioner, Cif, cotton wool, toothpaste and toothbrush, comfort fabric conditioner, toilet roll.

There are plenty of ingredients above to make lots of different combinations of dinners. What's key for me is always having a supply of those pesky ingredients you always see in cookbooks and magazines so you can use what you have to whip up something impressive. I keep a good stock of dried herbs and spices, tomatoe puree, soy sauce, fish sauce, worscestershire sauce, garlic etc, and buy lemons, limes, avocados etc with every shop. I hate looking through a cook book and not being able to make anything because I don't have the basics.

By the way I have a 50/ 50 refrigerator/ freezer and I tend to freeze most of that meat/ fish and take it out the night before. Its also a great idea to buy a few bags of frozen veg so you are never stuck.

Hope this helps. I did actually get a lot of good healthy stuff for €127! I always count whether I have enough by going on how many meat/ fish I am getting by number of days I want it to cover, and then just tons of veg to accompany it. Simple!

Lizzykins

I'm sick of shopping AND cooking for 2 adults and 4 kids. Actually kids are nearly as big as adults. I spend 200 plus a week on food/toiletries. Aldi is great and I keep an eye out for the specials in the local Superquinn and SuperValu. Fed up of Tesco.

I'm another one who'd like to see a few tips on making nutritious meals for the family.