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.

What do You Spend on Food in a Week?

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