What do You Spend on Food in a Week?

Thargor · 04-01-2012 9:10pm #1

I spend about a tenner a day so 70 a week on food, is this normal? I want to start boosting my savings and a few people have said a tenner a day is quite high, I only have to feed myself, I never share the cooking with others and the 70 includes 2-3 takeaways/pub dinners a week.

**Timbuk2** · 04-01-2012 9:13pm

Cut down on the takeaways / pub dinners, change to Lidl/Aldi if you don't already shop there and consider cooking in bulk, e.g. making enough for multiple dinners at once and freezing, if you have the space - you'll be able to shop for just one person for a lot cheaper than €70 a week.

summerskin · 04-01-2012 9:13pm

Thargor wrote: »

I spend about a tenner a day so 70 a week on food, is this normal? I want to start boosting my savings and a few people have said a tenner a day is quite high, I only have to feed myself, I never share the cooking with others and the 70 includes 2-3 takeaways/pub dinners a week.

150-200 per week for a family of 4. If money is tight we can do it for 100-120 at a pinch but it means sacrificing on things, I may even have to buy aldi beer. For shame.(actually love aldi beer, it's other things we cut down on)

Logical Fallacy · 04-01-2012 9:20pm

Thargor wrote: »

I spend about a tenner a day so 70 a week on food, is this normal? I want to start boosting my savings and a few people have said a tenner a day is quite high, I only have to feed myself, I never share the cooking with others and the 70 includes 2-3 takeaways/pub dinners a week.

2 to 3 takesaways/pub dinners is probably the guts of 30 quid, maybe 40 if you have an auld pint with them.

cson · 04-01-2012 9:22pm

ntlbell did a very extensive research into this and created quite a good menu for someone on welfare as to the cheapest they could eat for a week. Must have a search and see if I can dig it out.

Off the top of my head, you should easily be able to eat very very well on €40 for one person, that even includes one steak dinner! If you wanted to do a bare bones job then I'd say €25-30 could be done.

Me, I like my food so I tend not to skimp on certain items so its usually about €50 for me for a week.

CamperMan · 04-01-2012 9:22pm

€40 a week for 2 people, and that includes the odd bottle of wine, fresh meat, dairy produce, fruit & veg

:D:D:D

but then we are in Germany, if we bought the same in Ireland, it would be at least €110

AnonoBoy · 04-01-2012 9:24pm

I used to manage 30-40 a week back in the day when I was poverty stricken.

Of course calling around to friend's houses around tea-time always helped.

"Would you like a bit?"
- Ah sure why not? Since I'm here like!

cson · 04-01-2012 9:25pm

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

2 to 3 takesaways/pub dinners is probably the guts of 30 quid, maybe 40 if you have an auld pint with them.

Not necessarily if you know where to go; you could pick up a carvery dinner in Diceys on Harcourt St for €6.25 and there's any amount of places doing Pizza/Meal Deals for €5.

That being said; you should avoid. Once every fortnight is grand but 2/3 times a week is overkill.

drunky monkey · 04-01-2012 9:36pm

jesus !! i spend 50 average a week on lunches !! including 2 coffees a day !! i am planning a trip to aldi and bring my lunch to work !! ps i get paid very little just lazy ha !! other than that my mam cut the shopping bill down to say 12o a week for 4 of us !! 7 yummy dinners a week just no real treats in the fridge i guess !! dont miss them though and better for the waste line !!

Kevin Duffy · 04-01-2012 9:41pm

I probably spend the same as you OP, but I am working hard to put on muscle at the moment and eating like a Viking to do it. Today I ate a roast chicken for lunch :eek:

I'd say you could get down to under €50 pw with very little effort and still have a fairly good diet, under €40 if you get organised and cut a few corners.

Thargor · 04-01-2012 9:52pm

I end up throwing out so much food if I try to be frugal though, like I tried to switch to sandwiches at work as an experiment but how many slices of ham do you get out of the pack before it goes disgusting? 2 or 3 and the rest in the bin along with 3/4 of a loaf of bread and half a pack of cheese spread and everything else I bought really.

livinsane · 04-01-2012 9:53pm

Id say work lunches and cafe coffee/tea are the main budget buster when it comes to food. I almost always try to bring in leftovers from last nights dinner (spuds/curry/stew).

Saved a lot of money lately by buying a butchered lamb from a farmer. Seems like we have a never ending supply of chops the last few months.

Also do a bit of fishing so free food there.

Grew some of my own veg last year (had a tiny yield but hoping to do better this year!).

I try to find the cheapest alternatives when shopping but will never scrimp on Supervalu luxury coleslaw and Ballymaloe relish.

If you have the time to cook, there are some great cheap foods out there.

mackg · 04-01-2012 10:13pm

Eatinng healthy before Christmas for €70. Used eat for €28 a week when I was broke.

rain on · 04-01-2012 10:23pm

Maybe about €5 a day Monday to Friday. Then on weekends I don't want to think about how much I spend - €25 at least on brunch for myself and my other half one of the days, probably another €20 on lunches and snacks and at least the same again on dinners. I love eating out and food in general.

woodchuck · 04-01-2012 10:26pm

Thargor wrote: »

I end up throwing out so much food if I try to be frugal though, like I tried to switch to sandwiches at work as an experiment but how many slices of ham do you get out of the pack before it goes disgusting? 2 or 3 and the rest in the bin along with 3/4 of a loaf of bread and half a pack of cheese spread and everything else I bought really.

I discovered recently that freezing and defrosting sliced ham works well! So I get a bigger value pack and divide it into plastic bags for freezing depending on how many slices I tend to use in a week and just defrost one at the beginning of each week.

You could get a half pan of bread instead of a full pan... not much difference in the price, but at least you'd feel less wasteful if you don't use it all (or you could feed it to the birds or something).

Hard cheeses or even easy singles (cheaper, but not as nice!) keep better than cheese spreads.

Minstrel27 · 04-01-2012 10:27pm

€20 per week on average

fat__tony · 04-01-2012 10:31pm

About $110-130 per week.

That includes grocery shopping, eating out, everything really.

Jess16 · 04-01-2012 10:34pm

Generally approx €70/€80, which seems much too high after reading this but I like to eat a good variety of high quality foods and that figure often includes a bottle or two of Pinot Noir

Saila · 04-01-2012 10:38pm

bout 3 fiddy

wolfpawnat · 04-01-2012 10:39pm

Food alone, I spend around 70-80 a week, then toiletries, etc on top of that. My son is a toddler who eats a good bit, I cook everything we eat (there are 3 of us here) from scratch, so ingredients can add up.

I shop around though, Chicken fillets are cheapest in Dunnes, Tortilla Wraps are cheap in Aldi, can't beat Tesco then for the kiddy snacks

It pays to shop around. I save myself a fortune that way.

maxfresh · 04-01-2012 10:40pm

I'd say about 50e a week ,sometimes could be 60 if i get a couple of takeaways

Intensive Care Bear · 04-01-2012 10:57pm

I spend about £50 a week just on breakfast/lunch and probably another £50 on dinners, way too much by the looks of things.

Biggins · 04-01-2012 10:58pm

summerskin wrote: »

150-200 per week for a family of 4.

Dito approx.

Mr Benevolent · 04-01-2012 11:09pm

About €5-8 on lunches, on dinners it's probably €30. I have €291 to do me until the 27th including €120 on petrol. Just sold my guitar to get €50. Boohoo!

saa · 04-01-2012 11:12pm

I have to get organised though, I spend 50 every 2 weeks and 10 to top up in spar for some basics,
I don't have a car which stops me from stocking up or shopping around.
I do freeze bread, I've heard thats bad but I would make loads of sambos and freeze them. And would love to buy more fruit and veg!

Most of what I buy is

3= Quorn, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds put it in a tub with last nights
2 =pasta or in some bread bam lunch
2 =cereal bars, not so much anymore will make my own
2 =Cereal
1 =milk
4-6 =fruit and veg
1 =brown bread
2 =cheese
2 =rivita
1 =pesto
=22 I'm sure I might be under estimating but its about my weekly spend up to 30 ish.

And no I'm not vegetarian or a health freak I just can't afford meat or anything else.
I have cereal or toast in the morning, fruit and sambo lunch and pasta/sweet potato veg dinner.. it gets rather boring.. I must learn how to cook and buy more spices!
If I had more money I would buy more than a bag of bananas, apples and carrots/broc for fruit and veg (I do aldi super 6 as well)

ThePower11 · 04-01-2012 11:12pm

Nothing, my Mammy buys it all

craftypaddy · 04-01-2012 11:18pm

woodchuck wrote: »

I discovered recently that freezing and defrosting sliced ham works well! So I get a bigger value pack and divide it into plastic bags for freezing depending on how many slices I tend to use in a week and just defrost one at the beginning of each week.

You could get a half pan of bread instead of a full pan... not much difference in the price, but at least you'd feel less wasteful if you don't use it all (or you could feed it to the birds or something).

Hard cheeses or even easy singles (cheaper, but not as nice!) keep better than cheese spreads.

get the full pan and frreze

TerrorFirmer · 04-01-2012 11:20pm

Maybe 60 or so on shopping, and at least 20 buying snacks or takeaway....

westendgirlie · 05-01-2012 12:26am

saa wrote: »

I have to get organised though, I spend 50 every 2 weeks and 10 to top up in spar for some basics,
I don't have a car which stops me from stocking up or shopping around.
I do freeze bread, I've heard thats bad but I would make loads of sambos and freeze them. And would love to buy more fruit and veg!

Most of what I buy is

3= Quorn, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds put it in a tub with last nights
2 =pasta or in some bread bam lunch
2 =cereal bars, not so much anymore will make my own
2 =Cereal
1 =milk
4-6 =fruit and veg
1 =brown bread
2 =cheese
2 =rivita
1 =pesto
=22 I'm sure I might be under estimating but its about my weekly spend up to 30 ish.

And no I'm not vegetarian or a health freak I just can't afford meat or anything else.
I have cereal or toast in the morning, fruit and sambo lunch and pasta/sweet potato veg dinner.. it gets rather boring.. I must learn how to cook and buy more spices!
If I had more money I would buy more than a bag of bananas, apples and carrots/broc for fruit and veg (I do aldi super 6 as well)

You should try supervalu. €3 for 4 pork chops, €5 for 5 chicken breasts. They were selling whole chickens for €3 this week too.

I spend abou €100 - €150 per week on food & groceries

Celly Smunt · 05-01-2012 12:29am

lived on a fiver for a while.

koka noodles and water

woodchuck · 05-01-2012 12:41am

craftypaddy wrote: »

get the full pan and frreze

Yeah sometimes that works... but I find if it's left too long I can taste the freezer burn! Takes much longer to set in with meat.

Lia_lia · 05-01-2012 1:35am

When I'm in college about €20. Less if I want. At home nothing really. Unless I'm eating out...which is a rarity! There is always food at home and when I'm working I get free food.

Rockery Woman · 05-01-2012 2:12am

I spend about E80 per week on groceries, do the main shop in Aldi, Lidl, get a few bits in Dunnes (not much though).

This feeds (and washes - think shower gels, washing powders etc) me and my husband! :DWe have 2 big dogs (I buy the big bag of dogfood in Lidl and mix in the tinned stuff) 3 cats (again mix the dry food with tinned stuff).

I work shifts so tend to leave dinners in the microwave for my husband, I bring my own dinner to work in a food-jar (like a flask but shallow - great for stews and soups). The canteen in work isnt making much money the last few months, more people are bringing in their own (healthier, tastier) food.

We use 16 litres of milk every week though cos my husband drinks about 20 milky mugs of tea every day!:eek:

Micky Dolenz · 05-01-2012 2:14am

Eating is for the weak.

Johro · 05-01-2012 3:09am

drunky monkey wrote: »

jesus !! i spend 50 average a week on lunches !! including 2 coffees a day !! i am planning a trip to aldi and bring my lunch to work !! ps i get paid very little just lazy ha !! other than that my mam cut the shopping bill down to say 12o a week for 4 of us !! 7 yummy dinners a week just no real treats in the fridge i guess !! dont miss them though and better for the waste line !!

You must spend at least another fifty on exclamation marks!!

kraggy · 05-01-2012 4:37am

Lia_lia wrote: »

When I'm in college about €20. Less if I want. At home nothing really. Unless I'm eating out...which is a rarity! There is always food at home and when I'm working I get free food.

What do you eat? Pasta with no sauce or something?!

I can't believe anyone can pay for 7 days food with just 20 euro. Even if you are only in college Monday to Friday and then go home at the weekend, that's 4 euro a day.

Azureus · 05-01-2012 8:16am

I spend way too much on food a week when Im cooking for two (tend to do fancier dinners and the bf eats way more than me) but he's living away from home for a few months and I cant believe how little I've spent just cooking for myself this week! I'd say about €25 and that's including two steak dinners and nice chicken dishes with no scrimping. A little goes a long way when you're just eating for one it seems :L

Gonna start trying to be more frugal and see what difference it makes each month. Not having a car to do a weekly shop and organise my meals is my main downfall-its hard to buy a weeks worth of food when youre lugging shopping bags on a 15 minute walk home!

HovaBaby · 05-01-2012 9:59am

€50-€60 a week for me.

Not including takeaways, which I might have once every 2 weeks.

emeraldstar · 05-01-2012 11:25am

Johro wrote: »

You must spend at least another fifty on exclamation marks!!

Maybe they're still drunk.

BraziliaNZ · 05-01-2012 12:50pm

I'd say about 5 sterling a day. Maybe 2.50 on lunch, and 2.50 on dinner. Dinner is usually fish and veg, lunch something similar or soup. So maybe 35 pounds a week, for one person. I only buy things I need to eat for my meals per day so that I don't snack for no reason. I can never understand why people on diets buy biscuits etc!
We have free breakfast stuff at work so I don't need to buy that but if I do I just buy a big bag of oats for nothing that lasts for ages.

denhaagenite · 05-01-2012 1:03pm

CamperMan wrote: »

€40 a week for 2 people, and that includes the odd bottle of wine, fresh meat, dairy produce, fruit & veg :D:D:D

but then we are in Germany, if we bought the same in Ireland, it would be at least €110

Spent some time in Germany and hubby used to live there, I would think that this is almost impossible unless you're eating crap or alot of stuff other than the weekly shop.

Daisy M · 05-01-2012 1:12pm

wolfpawnat wrote: »

Food alone, I spend around 70-80 a week, then toiletries, etc on top of that. My son is a toddler who eats a good bit, I cook everything we eat (there are 3 of us here) from scratch, so ingredients can add up.

I shop around though, Chicken fillets are cheapest in Dunnes, Tortilla Wraps are cheap in Aldi, can't beat Tesco then for the kiddy snacks It pays to shop around. I save myself a fortune that way.

Try a local butchers for chicken fillets you will get twice as much weight for the same price. It is usually between 1.60 to 1.75 for one fillet and they are huge at least twice the size of the ones in dunnes packs and are much nicer.
A nice homemade veg soup will only cost a couple of euro to make and will provide quiet a few portions which can be frozen and defrosted when needed.

BraziliaNZ · 05-01-2012 1:19pm

P.S. Iceland saves me a fortune for frozen fish fillets and frozen veg. I think they're planning on invading Ireland soon if they haven't done so already.

Lia_lia · 05-01-2012 2:11pm

kraggy wrote: »

What do you eat? Pasta with no sauce or something?!

I can't believe anyone can pay for 7 days food with just 20 euro. Even if you are only in college Monday to Friday and then go home at the weekend, that's 4 euro a day.

I don't eat meat. I usually buy pasta/rice/etc in bulk at the start of the year. All I really buy during the week is milk/eggs/cereal/bit of fruit and veg/juice.

And yeah that was only meant to be for 5 days a week...I work at weekends and get my food free there

Kitty-kitty · 05-01-2012 2:58pm

kraggy wrote: »

What do you eat? Pasta with no sauce or something?!

I can't believe anyone can pay for 7 days food with just 20 euro. Even if you are only in college Monday to Friday and then go home at the weekend, that's 4 euro a day.

I end up having to make that much stretch toward the end of the month (I get paid monthly) but it's not something I'd want to do all the time.

So we'll say (and I've taken price quotes from tesco because they're the only ones that have all the prices readily available on their website)

Pasta Bake:

Market Value Sausages (16) €1.39
Pasta (500g) €1.25
Bolognese pasta sauce (750g) €1.65
Value pasta sauce (440g) €0.65
Mushrooms (this week's aldi super 6) €0.49
Brocolli (this week's aldi super 6) €0.49

Dinner for the week: €5.92

Breakfast:

Tesco fruit and fibre (500g) €1.35
Milk (2l) €1 (tesco's own brand is €1.49 if this isn't available)

Breakfast for the week: €2.35

Lunch:

Tesco value sliced pan (800g) €0.65
Cooked ham (10 slices) €1.24
Cheese singles (10 slices) €1.15
Sliced tomato (this week's aldi super 6) €0.49
Kiwis (this week's aldi super 6) €0.49

Lunch for the week: €4.02

Okay, we're up to €12.29 for the week so far.

We've got 7ish euro to play with here.

Omelette ingredients
Eggs (x6) €1.09 or (x12) €1.85
Baked beans €0.25 - €0.65 (not own brand) (Lidl do the nicest)
Onions (1kg) market value (tesco) €0.92
Frozen spinach €1.30

Low fat sunshine fruit yoghurts (x6) €1.29
Spuds (aldi own brand crisps, taste exactly like taytoes) (x6) €0.99
Aldi brand lemonade €0.65 per bottle.

€6.49 total plus €12.29 = €18.78.

And let's just say we found a euro on the ground and went to the two euro shop and got 5 full sized chocolate bars for €2 because we're good to ourselves.

Bandana boy · 05-01-2012 3:12pm

Breakfast €2.50-3 per day €14 a week
Lunch €4-6 per day €25 a week

The rest is divided by 2 as shopping for two people
Butchers per week €30
Fruit and Veg per week €60
Weekly Shop €30

Dining out/take aways €30-100

€14+€25+€60+€65 =€174 a week

A fair bit to go to get down to the €40-50 a week brigade

yupyup7up · 05-01-2012 3:18pm

I bring cooked pasta to work, heat it in there and stir in sauce. - about €6/7 a week.
Box of cereal in work for the week - €3
buy McCambridge bread and laughing cow cheese spread (get 4 days out of it) for snacks - €3.50.
And a bottle of robinsons concentrate is about €2 and you'd get over a week out of that.
about €15 a week for lunches and that will MORE than fill you.

Food at home then, just look for the yellow price tags in tesco and you'll get dinners for the week for about €30

cloud493 · 05-01-2012 4:33pm

Hardly anything :P I treat myself to one take away a month, on a week I'l have

no breakfast cos I'm never hungry when I wake up
Maybe a 50c pack of noodles for lunch
Whatever was cheap in dunnes, 2 euro pizza, other wise nothing.

So... I dunno, maybe 17 euro a week.

I'd say a 100 a month, on a greedy month.

whatcartoget · 05-01-2012 4:36pm

€100 euro from Monday morning to Friday evening when I am at college and this doesn't include Alcohol/Socializing!

cloud493 · 05-01-2012 4:53pm

kraggy wrote: »

What do you eat? Pasta with no sauce or something?!

I can't believe anyone can pay for 7 days food with just 20 euro. Even if you are only in college Monday to Friday and then go home at the weekend, that's 4 euro a day.

People eat more than they need. I get by perfectly fine on what I eat.

cson · 05-01-2012 4:55pm

kraggy wrote: »

What do you eat? Pasta with no sauce or something?!

I can't believe anyone can pay for 7 days food with just 20 euro. Even if you are only in college Monday to Friday and then go home at the weekend, that's 4 euro a day.

Can easily be done as kitty kitty demonstrated. I'd even argue that she [I'm attaching femaleness to you kitty kitty!] could do it cheaper and up the quality in places. Pasta in Aldi is 59c for almost every type and there are a few more things that could be sourced cheaper. The Super Six for example would almost never cost you more than €3 if you bought one of each and thats pretty much your fruit and veg for the week.

I must trial it some week for the craic when I get back to College to see what's the cheapest I could live on for a week having 3 meals a day.

Bandana boy wrote: »

Breakfast €2.50-3 per day €14 a week
Lunch €4-6 per day €25 a week

The rest is divided by 2 as shopping for two people
Butchers per week €30
Fruit and Veg per week €60
Weekly Shop €30

Dining out/take aways €30-100

€14+€25+€60+€65 =€174 a week

A fair bit to go to get down to the €40-50 a week brigade

How are you spending €60 on Fruit and Veg a week :eek:

What do You Spend on Food in a Week?

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