The weekly shop

One More Toy

What does your weekly shop look like?

I can barely cook the essentials, and end up spending a fortune on take out most weeks, trying to cut that down a good bit, id love to get some insight on what you guys spend in a normal week

Mr_Muffin

Learning to cook would save you money in the long run.

Try to cook one new meal a week and bam - in 10 years time you will be able to cook 520 different meals.

Mint Aero

About 50 euro per week. I eat exceptionally well. No ready cooked or processed tripe in my basket. I also take my groceries home in a brown paper bag. Nothing instills pride in your food more than the humble brown paper bag.

One More Toy

Mint Aero wrote: »

About 50 euro per week. I eat exceptionally well. No ready cooked or processed tripe in my basket. I also take my groceries home in a brown paper bag. Nothing instills pride in your food more than the humble brown paper bag.

50? im probably spending at least double that a week! :O

I got about 3 kg of chicken for 20 quid recently and 750g pork mince for 4 euro so all I'm spending at the moment is topping that up with a bit of veg and fruit and eggs and some nuts during the week
I make lunches as well so that's included

homemadecider

Around 70 or 80 euro is our average. That is food for breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks for 7 days (for 2 people).

downwesht

learn to cook the staples,potatoes ,rice ,pasta,Fry off some meat,chicken,porksteak,beef pieces.Add a sauce mix and some nice fresh bread and you have the basis of a hearty meal.Cheap and cheerful.Fresh fish is the simplest thing to cook.Ready meals are muck.Don't be over ambitious to start and you will be fine.

After hours answer.......get a girlfriend who can cook!

anncoates

We do a monthly mostly. Only stuff we do weekly is buying fresh veg, milk and making bread.

Can easily do a overall healthy monthly shop for a two adults and two kids for 250-300 quid if you can cook and plan it.

poppy6488

There's a FB page called " feed your family for about £20 a week", set up by a lady called Lorna. Amazing hints and tips, recipes and bargains. Worth a look.

Mint Aero

One More Toy wrote: »

50? im probably spending at least double that a week! :O

You would easily if you're buying take out and not cooking meals from scratch yourself. Start stocking up on essentials, spices, oysters, foie gras etc. Have a simple breakfast, bring a nice lunch to work with you wrapped lovingly in brown parchment paper.
Half my weekly spend is on meat, the rest is veg, carbohydrates, dairy and the like.

RedXIV

100-120 a week to feed 6, but I don't include my butcher bill of maybe 50 a month dedicated to just getting more protein!

P_1

About 15 on meat, about 3 on carbs, about 5 on veg with a few quid to top things up. Generally feed myself for around €30 a week.

Buona Fortuna

Will I ruin the thread by saying have a read here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1355

efb

I don't do a weekly shop- I found it too wasteful. I just buy stuff when I need it- so I what I fancy not what I thought I would last weekend

Justice4Adolf

I remember when shop was a noun.

efb

2shop
verb
: to visit places where goods are sold in order to look at and buy things
: to try to get a company to publish or produce (something)
: to give information about the secret or criminal activity of (someone) to an authority (such as the police)

eternal

Il Biglietto wrote: »

Where can you buy oysters ?

Fishmongers?

Paramite Pie

One More Toy wrote: »

50? im probably spending at least double that a week! :O

I'm a single guy and I spend 30 euro a week, sometimes 40. That includes junkfood for my sweetooth but not alcohol. It helps to have some decent freezer space to store all the meat/veg I buy. Occasionally I have enough food in the freezer that I don't need to shop that week (except milk).

Cooking yourself is the only way to save money on food.

If you don't enjoy cooking or don't have enough time, try some short cuts;

Mince meat cooks very quickly and requires no chopping.
Pasta/Noodles are the quickest carb to cook (chow mein noodles in Lidl cook in 1 min, quicker than "instant" noodles!)
Baby potatoes cook almost as quick
Chopping your veg in bigger pieces generally saves time if you like them that way.
Stir-fry veg like mangetout, green beans, sweetcorn, bamboo shoots don't need any chopping - just toss it into the pan.
On your day off, chop some onions/celery/veg/whatever and stick it in some tupperware in the freezer. When you come home from work on weekdays you'll be very grateful!!
Just stick a chicken breast in the oven (with whatever sauce you like) and roast it. Simmer spuds/veg on top. Go watch tv for 30mins. Dinner done.

Homemade sauces are something to leave for another day. If your ordering takeaway, it seems like your problem is time. I'd focus on getting a decent chopping knife and getting used to using it! You'll get quicker and quicker at it. Although it could be worth looking up a recipe for your favourite takeaway.;)

lizzyman

Get a freezer, find a good butcher and learn easy one pot dishes that are impossible to screw up. A stew, risotto, shephards pie or lasagne etc. will keep you going for at least 4-5 days.

Mechanical Clocktail

It's very easy to slap some groceries together. Are you sure you're not comfort eating?

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Between 40 and 50 a week for two for just dinner and staples.

lizzyman

Mint Aero wrote: »

You would easily if you're buying take out and not cooking meals from scratch yourself. Start stocking up on essentials, spices, oysters, foie gras etc. Have a simple breakfast, bring a nice lunch to work with you wrapped lovingly in brown parchment paper.
Half my weekly spend is on meat, the rest is veg, carbohydrates, dairy and the like.

I'm pretty sure most people don't consider oysters and foie gras to be staples...

Sugar Free

75e on average for two. A good 50 of that though is chicken.

One More Toy

Mechanical Clocktail wrote: »

It's very easy to slap some groceries together. Are you sure you're not comfort eating?

Always

lulu1

It all depends who dose the shopping

If I go I could get away with 90e a week

It oh goes he will easily spend 140e a week

lulu1

lizzyman wrote: »

Get a freezer, find a good butcher and learn easy one pot dishes that are impossible to screw up. A stew, risotto, shephards pie or lasagne etc. will keep you going for at least 4-5 days.

but would you want to eat the same thing 4 or five days in a row

There would be some complaining in our house

lizzyman

lulu1 wrote: »

but would you want to eat the same thing 4 or five days in a row

There would be some complaining in our house

Quite happily yes. Especially with something like a stew, it gets better after a few days in the fridge as the flavours all mix together.

lizzyman

Sugar Free wrote: »

75e on average for two. A good 50 of that though is chicken.

€50 for a weeks worth of chicken? Would you not consider raising them yourself in the backyard if you're already spending roughly €2600 a year?

In Asia here. We don't do a weekly shop.. The girlfriend just heads to the market and gets whatever's needed that day. We sometimes get a meat delivery.. 100e-200e of Australian steak, sausages, bacon, knuckle, etc. for the freezer. That lasts a good while.

We mostly eat out or order though.. Eating out is cheaper if it's simple local food and ordering is lazy.

Sugar Free

lizzyman wrote: »

€50 for a weeks worth of chicken? Would you not consider raising them yourself in the backyard if you're already spending roughly €2600 a year?

I live in a city so it wouldn't be feasible really!
People would easily spend 2600E a year on alcohol (~50E for one night out a week) or takeaways so I consider this money well spent.

FWIW, occasionally I replace some of the chicken with steak, minced beef, lamb etc.

hairyslug

For us, a family of 5, our shopping costs about 120 a week, nearly all fresh fruit and veg and meat, aldi have a great pre packed veg bag, takes the hassle out of preparation

Buona Fortuna

This guy http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=94656790&postcount=1 shows how to make Doner Kebabs from basic ingredients (with pictures ).

I've made the recipe 6 or 7 times - its really good.

During the thread Padraig refers to a book that lets you copy other take away favs - cheaper and healthier.

Imagine having the lads, or even a lady, over and instead of the chipper you make something like this - you'll be the absolute dogz nutz

RhubarbCrumble

Average of around €60 a week for two of us. That includes pretty much everything. The majority of that is in Aldi, but there are a few bits that can't be got there that we pick up in Tesco.

We usually get a take away on a Friday or Saturday night, so include an extra tenner for that (generally split a Chinese main course between 2 with rice and chips. There's plenty in in)

Also OP, non food items tend to be the most expensive things to buy. Have a look in Mr Price/Dealz etc if you have any near you. They're very good for things like washing powder, shower gel etc, and generally cheaper that Tesco/Dunnes.

paulbok

RhubarbCrumble wrote: »

Average of around €60 a week for two of us. That includes pretty much everything. The majority of that is in Aldi, but there are a few bits that can't be got there that we pick up in Tesco.

We usually get a take away on a Friday or Saturday night, so include an extra tenner for that (generally split a Chinese main course between 2 with rice and chips. There's plenty in in)

Also OP, non food items tend to be the most expensive things to buy. Have a look in Mr Price/Dealz etc if you have any near you. They're very good for things like washing powder, shower gel etc, and generally cheaper that Tesco/Dunnes.

Most other shops are.

Where do you shop OP? If it's those 2 highlighted or the local convenience Centra/Spar (not the bigger outlets), that's possibly why your bill is so high.
Aldi/Lidl have almost everything you will need for far less, although fruit & veg can be in short supply in the evenings and sometimes of bad quality.
Buy your fruit and veg 1st and depending on what is available, plan your meal around that.
Local butters usually have offers on a weekly supply of meat (might last for 2 depending on size of family) so make use of your freezer.
Local Asian shop for spices, DO NOT EVER buy them in the likes of Tesco, daylight robbery.

Make use of your freezer, not just for freezing ingredients. It's as easy to cook 4/6 portions of bolognaise or curry that it is for 2, freeze them and thaw out in the fridge the night before you want them. That way you don't have to eat the same dish a few evenings in a row.
Plan your weekly meals and you can use the same ingredients for lunch e.g. left over couscous and chicken breast in a salad. this helps prevent food waist.

tl;dr
Keeping food bills down can be done with a little planning and smart shopping.

Plan your meals before you go to the shops. Do it the other way around and you'll take ages to do the shopping, and end up with things you're not going to use. Plan your meals, write a list based on those meals, and get in and out of the shops much more quicklier!

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Two of us in the house and 2 dogs. Weekly, we would spend about 130 euro. That's food, dog food, cleaning stuff, detergent for laundry, toiletries.

RoboRat

Costs about €100/ €120 per week for a family of 3 including toiletries, detergents etc. I cook everything and once you get the hang of it, its quite easy... I actually enjoy it.

I tend to do most of the weeks cooking on Saturday, I will make some curries, casseroles, pasta dishes and put them in the freezer. I also make all the little mans dishes from scratch and put them into little portions that we can just take out the night before.

Making food is so simple and its better for you, tastier and much cheaper. Buy a slow cooker, cost less than €25 and just lob everything into it before work and its ready when you are home... its great for casseroles, stews, curries and very little effort involved. There are also some excellent packet mix for curries like Green saffron and their curries taste better than an Indian takeaway. If you like the taste of chinese takeaway curries, get some Bensons sauce.

Plan your meals before you go to the shops.

This is great advice, saves you time and a lot of money.

nc19

One More Toy wrote:

I can barely cook the essentials, and end up spending a fortune on take out most weeks, trying to cut that down a good bit, id love to get some insight on what you guys spend in a normal week

Around 100e for 2 adults and a child. This includes the makings of lunches for the week and any cleaning essentials or toiletries etc. All from Aldi btw.
Some weeks more, some weeks less.......

paulbok

Deleted User wrote: »

Plan your meals before you go to the shops. Do it the other way around and you'll take ages to do the shopping, and end up with things you're not going to use. Plan your meals, write a list based on those meals, and get in and out of the shops much more quicklier!

ideally yes, but if you go to the likes of Aldi, especially in the evenings when the availability of fruit & veg can be poor, you may not be able to get what you need.

paulbok

paulbok wrote: »

ideally yes, but if you go to the likes of Aldi, especially in the evenings when the availability of fruit & veg can be poor, you may not be able to get what you need.

Fair enough, I don't shop in either of them so can't comment on that, but buying the basics there and dropping into a fruit and veg shop and a butchers would still save time, waste, and probably money too.

I have tried Lidl and Aldi's fruit and veg (also Tesco) and I wouldn't be arsed eating it again, it tastes of nothing.

FloatingVoter

Agreed about the times when you hit Lidl / Aldi. I live next door to a Lidl (lucky me;)). If at all possible hit the store early in the morning 8.00 - 9.00. That way you'll beat the queues and the store is fully stocked. It's a pleasure walking empty aisles and being able to hear yourself think.
If you're doing a weekly shop, then early in the week and early in the morning.
...and avoid picking up a powerhose 'cos its 90% off only to get home and remember you don't have a back garden.

One More Toy

Thanks for all the replies!

Made out a meal plan for the week and then a shopping list, spent €54 in Aldi and I reckon Ill get 10 days or so out of it!

Fat Christy

Deleted User wrote: »

Plan your meals before you go to the shops. Do it the other way around and you'll take ages to do the shopping, and end up with things you're not going to use. Plan your meals, write a list based on those meals, and get in and out of the shops much more quicklier!

I do this, always.

Also keeps spending low.