How much is your weekly spend?

Bananaleaf

And how many are you buying for?

Searched for similar thread - couldn't find one.

We are 2 people and our average weekly spend is €50. We think this is pretty good. We eat well for this amount - a variety of meats and vegetables, some wholefoods too. It's usually €35 for main shop in LIDL and then about €15 in Supervalu or health store

Wondering what others spend on average

Dtp1979

Bananaleaf wrote: »

And how many are you buying for?

Searched for similar thread - couldn't find one.

We are 2 people and our average weekly spend is €50. We think this is pretty good. We eat well for this amount - a variety of meats and vegetables, some wholefoods too. It's usually €35 for main shop in LIDL and then about €15 in Supervalu or health store

Wondering what others spend on average

We spend 100 per week for 2.5 people

Windorah

Does that include all lunches too? We spend about €60 in LIDL every week.
Occasionally we might need to pick up a carton of milk or an ingredient I forgot but in general it's €60 all in. We stopped having takeaway coffee and himself (apparently!) no longer gets rolls and treats at work.
There is just two mouths in our house. I cook everything and make batches for lunches. We are pretty happy with our food budget. I really don't know how we could cut anywhere!

ejabrod

2 adults, 150/week including lunches.

Blacktie.

I'm so jealous of people who only spend 50 or 60 a week. I'm spending about 100-120 a week for one person.

Also I think I started a thread on this in the fitness forum a few months back.

newbee22

I spend around 65 a week for one person.....would love to spend less but I can't seem to! :eek:

Dtp1979

Blacktie. wrote: »

I'm so jealous of people who only spend 50 or 60 a week. I'm spending about 100-120 a week for one person.

Also I think I started a thread on this in the fitness forum a few months back.

Did u spend much less on your recent cut?

Blacktie.

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Did u spend much less on your recent cut?

Na maybe 20 euro less. With the bulk I've added in a tonne more starchy things and a good few extra snacks.

Windorah

Blacktie. wrote: »

I'm so jealous of people who only spend 50 or 60 a week. I'm spending about 100-120 a week for one person.

Also I think I started a thread on this in the fitness forum a few months back.

Are u planning all your meals? I find if I don't plan meals I end up with a load of wastage at the end of the week. Also I batch cook all my lunches at the weekend. It means I amn't tempted to just buy my lunch at work.

We shop in LIDL primarily but pick up the odd thing from Dunnes or Tesco.

It probably is almost as expensive to shop for one person as two but there is no reason you shouldn't be able to get your food shop down to around €60 with a bit of planning.

Blacktie.

Windorah wrote: »

Are u planning all your meals? I find if I don't plan meals I end up with a load of wastage at the end of the week. Also I batch cook all my lunches at the weekend. It means I amn't tempted to just buy my lunch at work.

We shop in LIDL primarily but pick up the odd thing from Dunnes or Tesco.

It probably is almost as expensive to shop for one person as two but there is no reason you shouldn't be able to get your food shop down to around €60 with a bit of planning.

Yeah I prep 3 days ahead at the weekend and then again on Wednesday. I actually don't remember the last time I bought my lunch in work.

I've started recording and categorising everything I buy to find out where the majority of my money is going and how I can reduce it. Seems to be fresh veg and meat so I'm looking into getting a chest freezer so I can bulk buy some meat hopefully cheaper. I rarely have much food to throw out at the end of the week.

I do most of my shopping in Tesco. Unfortunately there's no Lidl or Aldi that would be convenient for me.

Bananaleaf

Windorah wrote: »

Does that include all lunches too? We spend about €60 in LIDL every week.
Occasionally we might need to pick up a carton of milk or an ingredient I forgot but in general it's €60 all in. We stopped having takeaway coffee and himself (apparently!) no longer gets rolls and treats at work.
There is just two mouths in our house. I cook everything and make batches for lunches. We are pretty happy with our food budget. I really don't know how we could cut anywhere!

Yeah it includes everything - breakfasts, lunches, dinners and 3-4 small snacks each throughout the day.

It's an average of 50€ so some weeks it's a lot less (€27 was the lowest one week as we were trying out a veggie only week) and sometimes it can be a little more - maybe €55 or so. Only once was it ever €70 and that was because I was making a large family dinner and a cake too.

Absolutely everything is homemade at that price and there is zero waste, which takes that extra bit of planning. For example, if a bag of carrots are bought, there will be a couple of recipes that call for carrots. Usually I'll do a spaghetti bolognese, grate some carrot in a salad, make one of our snacks hummus with carrot sticks, throw a couple into the weekly soups.

I cook or pack everything for the entire week on a Sunday afternoon and I will have bought it all on the Saturday. Having it in the fridge and ready to go elimintes the temptation to go to the shop or cafe for a quick fix.

I can't afford to buy organic/cornfed/anything 'deluxe' at this price though. I do always choose the extra lean minced beef though.

quickbeam

I spend less than €20 per week for one person.

That's about halved from before I started eating well - the difference being in all the alcohol and junk food that I'd previously bought and since cut out.

I'm also vegetarian, so no meat bought in either the before or after figures.

That doesn't include meals out though, but that's only done about once a fortnight at most.

Blacktie.

quickbeam wrote: »

I spend less than €20 per week for one person.

OMG HOW!? I honestly cannot see how it's possible to buy 21 meals for 20 euro! Even if you only have 2 meals a day that's like 1.50 a meal.

Alf Veedersane

Blacktie. wrote: »

OMG HOW!? I honestly cannot see how it's possible to buy 21 meals for 20 euro! Even if you only have 2 meals a day that's like 1.50 a meal.

I made more than a week's worth of stew at the weekend. It probably cost 12 for the ingredients. Good size portions. That's dinners sorted.

Oats for breakfast, Scrambled eggs on toast for lunches.

Doable.

JeffKenna

How do people manage their fruit...just had a packet of blueberries and strawberries as part of my lunch and that was 5 euro straight away...that seems to be the expensive part of my diet.

Blacktie.

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I made more than a week's worth of stew at the weekend. It probably cost 12 for the ingredients. Good size portions. That's dinners sorted.

Oats for breakfast, Scrambled eggs on toast for lunches.

Doable.

Damn I guess so! I need a bigger slow cooker.

quickbeam

Blacktie. wrote: »

OMG HOW!? I honestly cannot see how it's possible to buy 21 meals for 20 euro! Even if you only have 2 meals a day that's like 1.50 a meal.

Most of the food I buy is cheap:
Oats, nuts and seeds for a muesli breakfast - buy only once every two to three weeks (edited to say I worked this out now and it's about €0.67 per day).
Bread, cheese and salad leaves for a lunch - I think I worked out once that lunch costs me €0.47 per day
Dinner is made from things like frozen, tinned or fresh vegetables (all cheap - Lidl special offers are great), tinned beans (kidney beans, chickpeas, etc), lentils, wholemeal rice and pasta, couscous, etc.

I buy no processed foods or ready meals (very expensive). In general I go by the rule of nothing that needs ingredients listed (ie, foods in their most natural state as possible). Pretty much the only thing I buy that has ingredients listed is the bread.

Blueberries / strawberries, etc are expensive, but apples, bananas, oranges are usually cheap - again check out special offers in Lidl, rather than buying out of season produce.

stanley1989

20euro a week tops in aldi
if I'm boozing during the week it's often been 10 euro no joke
My mum spends 100 plus a week for her and my little sister I think it's madness but they eat well and are very healthy

Zillah

JeffKenna wrote: »

How do people manage their fruit...just had a packet of blueberries and strawberries as part of my lunch and that was 5 euro straight away...that seems to be the expensive part of my diet.

I do this. I get the bulk of my calories for pennies in places like Lidl, and then spend five times as much on a bunch of products like this. On one hand, it's an absurd about of money to be spending on what's essentially a single handful of berries, but on the other hand they are delicious and I can't grow my own, so...

danko82

omg, I am one man and I spending too much, like
-breakfast and lunch in canteen at work 200euro
-dinner out 100euro
-food in 200euro

so around 500euro for one person in a month.

I was thinking to prepare the food to bring with me at work.
I try to eat paleo as much as I can.

Smoked Tuna

I am going to have to add a cost column to my food spreadsheet, I am spending way too much. Will give an estimate.

anewme

Blacktie. wrote: »

I'm so jealous of people who only spend 50 or 60 a week. I'm spending about 100-120 a week for one person.

Ditto

Alf Veedersane

Nervous Wreck

Spent €65 today for the two of us. That'll sort lunches and dinners for the week. I spend around €1.20 a day on breakfast in work (3 boiled eggs) so total around €70. If on a bulk, it usually goes to about €100/week.

Blacktie. wrote: »

Yeah I prep 3 days ahead at the weekend and then again on Wednesday. I actually don't remember the last time I bought my lunch in work.

I've started recording and categorising everything I buy to find out where the majority of my money is going and how I can reduce it. Seems to be fresh veg and meat so I'm looking into getting a chest freezer so I can bulk buy some meat hopefully cheaper. I rarely have much food to throw out at the end of the week.

I do most of my shopping in Tesco. Unfortunately there's no Lidl or Aldi that would be convenient for me.

We used to do our shop in Aldi but switched to Tesco. We were only saving about a fiver by going to Aldi and the food quality wasn't as good. It's totally grand like just slightly better for expiry dates in Tesco so worth an extra fiver.

RacoonQueen

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Spent €65 today for the two of us. That'll sort lunches and dinners for the week. I spend around €1.20 a day on breakfast in work (3 boiled eggs) so total around €70. If on a bulk, it usually goes to about €100/week.



We used to do our shop in Aldi but switched to Tesco. We were only saving about a fiver by going to Aldi and the food quality wasn't as good. It's totally grand like just slightly better for expiry dates in Tesco so worth an extra fiver.

I usually use Dunnes - most of the stuff I buy (fruit, veg) is much the same price in Dunnes and much better quality, the fruit anyway I find the veg in lifl and aldi to be mostly fine. Other things like toilet rolls, cleaning supplies etc are the same price as they are in Lidl and Aldi and you have the added bonus in Dunnes and Tesco of getting your clubcard points.

marialouise

Since the 26 September (when I moved into the place) I've spent 260 (kept all my receipts). Thought I was mad spending 90 a week for one person but relieved to see others in the same boat! This includes everything, I don't eat out of the house at all really, the odd soup here and there or maybe a dinner with friends for an event or something but I never buy snacks or meals out or on the go, so it's pretty inclusive. I eat a lot of meat, fish, free range eggs, non-dairy milk like almond milk so I know some of the stuff is expensive. I bulk-bought a lot of stuff when I moved in and have a freezer and cupboards full of stuff so I know the average weekly spend will decline over the coming weeks as I just have to top it up with fresh veg, milk and yoghurt. I also don't drink a lot or spend very much money other than my food bill (and supplements and gym membership etc) so if I choose to impulse buy a steak in the supermarket I always am happy to do so and feel much better treating myself to healthy supermarket foods than ready-made meals or takeaway!

Dixie Chick

I can never really tell as I bulk buy meat but I reckon it would be about 70 for two people including our work lunches. Cash out will be higher on the bulk buy weeks but I reckon €70 for two people

RacoonQueen

I bought this guy recently
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/18921/Lakeland-Egg-Cooker

Which has significantly cut down my breakfast costs - used to go out every day for lunch at ~10 a day + any breakfasts I bought + food I was buying at the weekend I was probably spending well over 100 a week for one small female (I was also eating far too much)

Smoked Tuna

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I bought this guy recently
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/18921/Lakeland-Egg-Cooker

Which has significantly cut down my breakfast costs - used to go out every day for lunch at ~10 a day + any breakfasts I bought + food I was buying at the weekend I was probably spending well over 100 a week for one small female (I was also eating far too much)

You eat alot of eggs every day?

Birdsong

JeffKenna wrote: »

How do people manage their fruit...just had a packet of blueberries and strawberries as part of my lunch and that was 5 euro straight away...that seems to be the expensive part of my diet.

Buy in season or frozen, you really shouldn't be buying berries this time of year. They are not Irish, so have been on a plane for hours & hours and are probably picked before ripe. Its not sustainable. Frozen fruit is excellent & extremely well priced.

I buy frozen blue berries, decant to a container & put natural yogurt in with them & by the time lunch comes I have a delicious snack with some seeds also. Way cheaper than the muller corners etc, and much more nutritious

anewme

marialouise wrote: »

Since the 26 September (when I moved into the place) I've spent 260 (kept all my receipts). Thought I was mad spending 90 a week for one person but relieved to see others in the same boat! This includes everything, I don't eat out of the house at all really, the odd soup here and there or maybe a dinner with friends for an event or something but I never buy snacks or meals out or on the go, so it's pretty inclusive. I eat a lot of meat, fish, free range eggs, non-dairy milk like almond milk so I know some of the stuff is expensive. I bulk-bought a lot of stuff when I moved in and have a freezer and cupboards full of stuff so I know the average weekly spend will decline over the coming weeks as I just have to top it up with fresh veg, milk and yoghurt. I also don't drink a lot or spend very much money other than my food bill (and supplements and gym membership etc) so if I choose to impulse buy a steak in the supermarket I always am happy to do so and feel much better treating myself to healthy supermarket foods than ready-made meals or takeaway!

I'm the exact same. I think sometimes it's more expensive to eat well. I'm very concious about my meat and fish and always buy locally sourced and free range/organic. Treat myself to the odd steak too!!! Local butchers- not supermarket.

I believe there are corners cut in food production (how can a chicken be sold for 3 euro) without cutting corners? I Love my grub!!! And I'm lucky that I can afford it, so I've no qualms in paying for better and local produce.

marialouise

anewme wrote: »

I believe there are corners cut in food production (how can a chicken be sold for 3 euro) without cutting corners? I Love my grub!!! And I'm lucky that I can afford it, so I've no qualms in paying for better and local produce.

Yeah I'm studying abroad and in my particular area I'm happier to buy from a supermarket than the local butcher I have previously done it but the supermarket quality is excellent, I can buy local and can also buy Irish beef! A lot of the fruit and veg are also from this country or our neighbours so although it mightn't be local farmers like at home, it's not coming thousands of miles on a plane either so I'm happy to shop there. Could probably shop at Aldi too but that's more out of my way for probably saving 3 a week on vegetables or something, they don't stock a lot of the products I eat anyway and I hate having to do two shops I do think I'd save money if I bulked my meals out with pasta and rice like other students, it can be expensive eating a high-protein, non-processed food kind of lifestyle. I can afford it for now and am much happier to pay more to eat really well, and am continuously experimenting with meal prep ideas and combinations to save money and keep things interesting. Still a bit shocked seeing it since September though, interesting to see how it'll pan out because that really is a lot for one girl!

pwurple

Average grocery spend is 70 euro per week. Family of 5. Includes work/school lunches for 4 of the 5 of us. Lunch for the 5th is in a subsidised canteen, 3.50 per day.

We grow a lot of the fruit and veg, and top up with seasonal only. Doubt if anyone is interested in the minutia, but we grow and eat around 300 onions in a year.

We go out to a cafe or restaurant some Saturdays for lunch, that normally comes in at 50-60 euro... maybe twice a month.

Us Parents go out to dinner once a month without the smallies... can be anything from 50 to 150, depending on the place.

theteal

My weekly shop for the 2 of us has crept up a smidge to ~£40. I do find it funny hairpullingly frustrating that mrsTeal's version of the same shop is always £50-60.

The inlaws are over (babyTeal is about to drop!) and I did a good XL shop Sunday morning for £49 which included a kilo of chicken breasts, a 2.5 kilo whole chicken, "extra lean" mince (because she's worth it!), a couple of rump steaks and a few bottles of Drunkel Fester to toast the birth

Shinbin223

My weekly spend would vary between €30 and €35 which would include all breakfasts, lunches and two/three cooked dinners. My housemate and I share the cooking which is a god send. I am picky about where I buy meat and would go to supervalu or local butchers. Mostly, I buy fruit in Lidl/Supervalu.
I do take the time on a Sunday to see whats on offer in the various supermarkets and will plan meals around this. I have found that minced beef (less than 10% fat) can be the basis for so many dinners an we would be able to get four dinners out of the pack with sauces and what not added, bolognese/chilli and all can be made from scratch reasonably cheaply.
I would make soup most weekends and that does for lunches for the week. The odd week if there were offers on meat I would go over the €30 or €35 but I reap the benefits as it's lovely to know for the next week you have mince/chicken etc in the freezer and just need to buy veg or ingredients for sauces.

Alf Veedersane

anewme wrote: »

I believe there are corners cut in food production (how can a chicken be sold for 3 euro) without cutting corners?

Just on that, I think it was the head honcho at Manor Farm in Monaghan who was on that RTE show What Are You Eating? and he said that what their chickens cost to get to the supermarket was a fair bit more than what they were sold for but that supermarkets took a hit on chicken prices because they are one of the better loss leaders.

That's not to say that all cheaper chickens are in the same boat but not all cheap chickens are necessarily poor quality.

anewme

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Just on that, I think it was the head honcho at Manor Farm in Monaghan who was on that RTE show What Are You Eating? and he said that what their chickens cost to get to the supermarket was a fair bit more than what they were sold for but that supermarkets took a hit on chicken prices because they are one of the better loss leaders.

That's not to say that all cheaper chickens are in the same boat but not all cheap chickens are necessarily poor quality.

I bought chicken fillets before (not Manor Farm) and when it was cooking water stuff was coming out if it like oil. that was the end if me and chicken fillets.

Our local butchers sell chickens from nearby farms. There are about 16 euro but they taste great and no waste. Prefer to shop local and get 5 meals out if it and I know it's ethically sourced and produced so no complaints.

Sam Kade

Blacktie. wrote: »

OMG HOW!? I honestly cannot see how it's possible to buy 21 meals for 20 euro! Even if you only have 2 meals a day that's like 1.50 a meal.

A bowl of porridge is around 7 cent

Sam Kade

pwurple wrote: »

Average grocery spend is 70 euro per week. Family of 5. Includes work/school lunches for 4 of the 5 of us. Lunch for the 5th is in a subsidised canteen, 3.50 per day.

We grow a lot of the fruit and veg, and top up with seasonal only. Doubt if anyone is interested in the minutia, but we grow and eat around 300 onions in a year.

We go out to a cafe or restaurant some Saturdays for lunch, that normally comes in at 50-60 euro... maybe twice a month.

Us Parents go out to dinner once a month without the smallies... can be anything from 50 to 150, depending on the place.

I can't ever get the fascination of going out for dinner even though I went through that phase until I realised is was the greatest waste of money. Why do you scrimp and save on the food budget then blow two weeks food bill on on going out for dinner?

marialouise

Sam Kade wrote: »

pwurple wrote: »

Average grocery spend is 70 euro per week. Family of 5. Includes work/school lunches for 4 of the 5 of us. Lunch for the 5th is in a subsidised canteen, 3.50 per day.

We grow a lot of the fruit and veg, and top up with seasonal only. Doubt if anyone is interested in the minutia, but we grow and eat around 300 onions in a year.

We go out to a cafe or restaurant some Saturdays for lunch, that normally comes in at 50-60 euro... maybe twice a month.

Us Parents go out to dinner once a month without the smallies... can be anything from 50 to 150, depending on the place.

I can't ever get the fascination of going out for dinner even though I went through that phase until I realised is was the greatest waste of money. Why do you scrimp and save on the food budget then blow two weeks food bill on on going out for dinner?

They didn't say they scrimped and saved on the food budget, they gave their account on what they spend.
Also it sounds like the dinner once a month might be some alone-time for Mum and Dad, and going out to a cafe is fun family time and you can leave someone else do the cooking and the wash up!
Going out for dinner isn't just wasting a load of money on food, you're paying for an experience, same as going drinking beer at home or in a pub, or going to a gig or listening to a CD. Also can be a nice way also to discover new foods and recipes (also for kids to try something they haven't), so leave them to it I'say

RacoonQueen

Smoked Tuna wrote: »

You eat alot of eggs every day?

Maybe 2 or 3 eggs most days - this stops me going out and getting breakfast in coffee shops or buying meats for have with bread for breakfast though. Cost of all that builds up - €3.50 for 12 eggs sorts the breakfasts for the week more or less - compared to €5 ish a day (or more) previously.

I don't eat cereals or toast so breakfast for me is either eggs, fruit salad(really freaking expensive) or cold meats + eggs or total junk from the coffee shops

anewme

I eat loads of eggs too....will start clucking at some point either that or sail down the river with the amount of fish I eat.

marialouise

anewme wrote: »

I eat loads of eggs too....will start clucking at some point either that or sail down the river with the amount of fish I eat.

Ah shtop I have actually googled like "eating too much of the same foods" in case I turn into a chicken... I know like tuna on a regular basis isn't ideal as there's a risk of mercury poisoning, but was wondering if there are any other foods that can eventually cause anything, but apparently there's not! So I am gonna continue my eggy breakfast, meaty lunches and fishy dinners until I get bored

pwurple

Sam Kade wrote: »

I can't ever get the fascination of going out for dinner even though I went through that phase until I realised is was the greatest waste of money. Why do you scrimp and save on the food budget then blow two weeks food bill on on going out for dinner?

I love food and cooking, Totally enjoy it. We are in no way scrimping on food btw, I just really like making things from scratch.

However, I cook every single meal in this house, including breakfasts and lunches, and things for the cupboard like relishes, pickles, jams, maramlade. Do my own bread and doughs, spice mixes, baking.... a lot of it from what we have grown with our own hands too.

One lunch out at the weekend to keep the kids behaviour in public up to scratch, and 1 meal out a month with spouse is nice for a bit of a change/break, some city culture, and relationship maintenance. There's food industry in both our families, so we have a huge interest in it. Food is one of the things we have in common.

Eating out is a source of inspiration and motivation too. If we didn't get out, I'd lose my kitchen mojo and probably end up lashing out frozen chips and sausages instead of moong dhal shorba.