Is it actually possible to eat healthily on 50 euros a week?

ted1 · 28-10-2014 12:12AM

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Got a pack of chicken tika for €4:50 last week and there was just enough in that for lunch for 1 day for me. It's cheaper to grab a chickfil roll in Spar.

What's a pack of chicken tika? Buy a whole chicken for 4 quid, cook your own spices

Lalealea · 28-10-2014 12:24AM

Yes. Easily. Big bag of rice, cooking oil. Mixed veg. One pan of bread. Box of cereal and soya milk. Margarine.

Doable if you have to. Not pleasant, but doable.

biko · 28-10-2014 12:28AM

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/healthy-one-pot

PizzamanIRL · 28-10-2014 12:28AM

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Got a pack of chicken tika for €4:50 last week and there was just enough in that for lunch for 1 day for me. It's cheaper to grab a chickfil roll in Spar.

Those sealed packets with about 8 pieces of chicken in them? That's daylight robbery. No wonder it costs you so much to eat.

Lalealea · 28-10-2014 12:30AM

I love cooking !

Frank O. Pinion · 28-10-2014 12:57AM

17 x chicken breasts - €9
5 x boxes of corn flakes - €7.17
1 x pack of rolos - €0.80
10 x litres of cooking oil - €4.50
4 x cucumbers - €3.96
7 x McDonalds Double Cheeseburgers - €14
€10 worth of ham or butter or something

Does anyone actually read those?

Lalealea · 28-10-2014 12:59AM

Frank O. Pinion wrote: »

17 x chicken breasts - €9
5 x boxes of corn flakes - €7.17
1 x pack of rolos - €0.80
10 x litres of cooking oil - €4.50
4 x cucumbers - €3.96
7 x McDonalds Double Cheeseburgers - €14
€10 worth of ham or butter or something

Does anyone actually read those?

Where can you get 10 litres of cooking oil for €4.50. That's a serious question?

Don't say Aldi or lidl cuz you can't. I know I shop there.

Sam Kade · 28-10-2014 01:00AM

Frank O. Pinion wrote: »

17 x chicken breasts - €9
5 x boxes of corn flakes - €7.17
1 x pack of rolos - €0.80
10 x litres of cooking oil - €4.50
4 x cucumbers - €3.96
7 x McDonalds Double Cheeseburgers - €14
€10 worth of ham or butter or something

Does anyone actually read those?

Where do you get 17 chicken breasts for €9?

Frank O. Pinion · 28-10-2014 01:06AM

Oh, some people do read them. Honestly...I made up some of the figures.

ALiasEX · 28-10-2014 01:11AM

The Strawman Argument wrote: »

I've been somewhat unintentionally following a vegetarian diet the last while without realising but it seems to be saving me a fortune so I might keep with it! As --LOS-- says up above, tins of beans cost absolutely nothing, so I wind up eating a heap of them whereas before I may have stretched some meat one portion more than I really should have done. The fact I've been largely eating things that are relatively new to me over the last while has made it easier for me to shift from additional bits and pieces that were either costing a lot or not adding much. There's also been a lot of improvising meals/soups/etc from which items are ridiculously cheap that week in Aldi/Lidl/Tesco and I'm pretty sure it's led to me eating more healthily than I ever have (w/e of one absolutely rotten improvised soup).

So, yeah, I guess it's very easy to eat healthily for well under 50 once you're willing to cook yourself and aren't sticking to some kind of extremely rigid routine with what you eat.

Beans are incomplete proteins! You need proteins from somewhere else as well to make it complete.

Or so I just read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/16/great-protein-sources_n_1347235.html

osarusan · 28-10-2014 01:25AM

I'd say that if I were single, I'd do it easily, without having to make any real effort to save.

moc moc a moc · 28-10-2014 01:38AM

Captain Chaos wrote: »

3,000 cals per day

Are you, perhaps, of the rotund persuasion?

bismuth · 28-10-2014 01:48AM

Captain Chaos wrote: »

There is feck all food there in fairness. I'd have 2 chicken breasts per meal. Have you seen the size of the average chicken breast in a butchers lately, they are tiny and supermarkets even worse.

For breakfest, lunch, dinner and tea for a week would be €80 minimum alone getting about 3,000 cals per day.

Got a pack of chicken tika for €4:50 last week and there was just enough in that for lunch for 1 day for me. It's cheaper to grab a chickfil roll in Spar.

Of course food is expensive if someone else cooks it for you. For 4.50 you can get drumsticks, peeled tomatoes, chickpeas and rice and make yourself a really nice curry with minimum effort.

When I was broke, i was spending <4 a day in a country with, on average, food (at least the one I buy) a bit pricier than in Ireland, and it was still healthy food. Could've been spending even less, but didn't need to. OK, I'm a girl and my daily calorie intake is 2/3 of yours, but fruit and vegetables and eggs and milk and grains and legumes aren't expensive.

Of course, you're entitled to your opinion, I just don't like it when people declare some absurd "minimums" because there's a lot of people on tight budgets and I think that it's better to say "yes, it's possible to eat healthy even for that amount of money" (and it is possible) that "don't even try to make an effort, no point, so just go and live on junk".

Tarzana2 · 28-10-2014 01:53AM

biko wrote: »

Focus on veg, fish and fruit and you should be able to do it.

I find meat works out cheaper than fish.

Either way, there's no "should be able to do it" about it, it is an ample amount to eat well on for a week.

Nomis21 · 28-10-2014 02:01AM

My tips to eat cheaply...

At most outdoor markets there is a stall selling out of date stamped products. Stuff like packet soups, spices and cereals etc are still good out of date and 10% of the normal price.

Most shops have a section with all the stuff that is on its last day of sale for 50% of usual prices and sometimes even for free if you catch them when its the end of the last day and they are throwing food away.

Tarzana2 · 28-10-2014 02:22AM

challengemaster wrote: »

Most fruit is loaded with (natural) sugars, you'd be better off drinking a bottle of coke.

Hardly. Sugars aside, the fruit has fibre and nutrients.

El Horseboxo · 28-10-2014 02:22AM

20 chicken breasts - 20 euro
Kilo of minced beef - 7 euro
40 eggs - 6 euro
2 bags of oats - 2 euro
2 sweet potatoes - 2 euro
Weeks veg - 4 euro (easily done with Lidl, aldi)
Bag of rice - 1 euro
2 jars of peanut butter - 2 euro
4 liters of milk - 3 euro

Still 3 left over where you could pick up some stuff like sausages, cottage cheese, fruit, etc in reduced to clear sections. Maybe even a decent steak in rtc sections too.

mopey · 28-10-2014 02:34AM

50 a week to eat wouldnt do anymore than two people and that would be stretching it 1 dinner per day, thered be a fair amount of veg and fruit in that too you could easily live on 50 euros worth of fruit, the real wallet wrecker is cheese the price of cheese is shocking

as long as you avoid tesco/dunnes etc and break your grocery shopping up fruit and veg shop, butchers, fish mongers etc its easily done
youll get better food too 'fresh' in a supermarket has a good chance of being frozen a few times

also pro tip you can make some pretty nice desserts with couscous

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 28-10-2014 02:40AM

50 euro would be loads!! Stock up on fresh vegetables. You can make loads of different meals out of an assortment of fresh veg. Soup, curries, ratatouille, risotto, pasta bake. Pasta, rice, a few potatoes. Eggs, fruit, ingredients for sauces. It's all fine!

madmaggie · 28-10-2014 02:47AM

If you have the space, try growing some of your own. I had salad leaves, such as lettuce, rocket, mustard and mizuna all through last winter. Those little bags of leaves are a rip off. Lots of carrots and parsnips still in the ground, onions in storage, just need some chicken or stewing beef and lots of tasty casseroles to be had. Get some of the fruit trees and bushes when in stock in Aldi, even plant them in pots, fruit off the plant, lovely.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 28-10-2014 03:00AM

El Horseboxo wrote: »

20 chicken breasts - 20 euro
Kilo of minced beef - 7 euro
40 eggs - 6 euro
2 bags of oats - 2 euro
2 sweet potatoes - 2 euro
Weeks veg - 4 euro (easily done with Lidl, aldi)
Bag of rice - 1 euro
2 jars of peanut butter - 2 euro
4 liters of milk - 3 euro

Still 3 left over where you could pick up some stuff like sausages, cottage cheese, fruit, etc in reduced to clear sections. Maybe even a decent steak in rtc sections too.

Are you feeding an army?! :eek:

McChubbin · 28-10-2014 03:10AM

El Horseboxo wrote: »

20 chicken breasts - 20 euro
Kilo of minced beef - 7 euro
40 eggs - 6 euro
2 bags of oats - 2 euro
2 sweet potatoes - 2 euro
Weeks veg - 4 euro (easily done with Lidl, aldi)
Bag of rice - 1 euro
2 jars of peanut butter - 2 euro
4 liters of milk - 3 euro

Still 3 left over where you could pick up some stuff like sausages, cottage cheese, fruit, etc in reduced to clear sections. Maybe even a decent steak in rtc sections too.

Jaysus, I'd love to know where you do your shopping! :eek:

crybaby · 28-10-2014 03:50AM

challengemaster wrote: »

I think people focus far too much on fruit intake, buy loads then that always ends up being chucked in the bin anyway. Most fruit is loaded with (natural) sugars, you'd be better off drinking a bottle of coke.

And actually the potted herb plants are €1.49 each

never realized that coke was full of natural sugars

bismuth · 28-10-2014 03:58AM

"Naturalness" of sugars isn't important really. What is important is that fruit contains fiber, vitamins and minerals, and coke, obviously, does not.

Moderate amount of sugar won't harm a healthy person.

Tar.Aldarion · 28-10-2014 10:32AM

ALiasEX wrote: »

Beans are incomplete proteins! You need proteins from somewhere else as well to make it complete.

Or so I just read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/16/great-protein-sources_n_1347235.html

This is wrong, you don't need to combine proteins and there is essentially no plant food that isn't a complete protein anyway. They just have varying percentages of each. Very old common misconception.

Sugar Free · 28-10-2014 11:02AM

McChubbin wrote: »

Jaysus, I'd love to know where you do your shopping! :eek:

Pretty standard for anyone who trains regularly or who plays a sport and cares about the nutritional side of their performance.

Wossack · 28-10-2014 11:03AM

challengemaster wrote: »

I think people focus far too much on fruit intake, buy loads then that always ends up being chucked in the bin anyway. Most fruit is loaded with (natural) sugars, you'd be better off drinking a bottle of coke.

And actually the potted herb plants are €1.49 each

eating a whole thyme plant is a pain in the hole though - and then you've got the pot full of dirt to get rid of. Apples are much handier

Mrs Garth Brooks · 28-10-2014 11:04AM

ALiasEX wrote: »

Beans are incomplete proteins! You need proteins from somewhere else as well to make it complete.

Or so I just read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/16/great-protein-sources_n_1347235.html

I think I learnt this in school, years and years ago, I mean years ago.

Beans on toast makes it complete.

It's the cheapest and quickest option.

shalalala · 28-10-2014 11:06AM

Go to aldi. Get alot he nutrition and supplements you want and spend 25 max on one person

FairytaleGirl · 28-10-2014 11:07AM

This thread makes me wish I could cook

Is it actually possible to eat healthily on 50 euros a week?

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