3 weeks: 50 euro

Gordon

After getting a massive dose of bills through the letterbox recently I've found myself with no money. So I've given myself a budget of 50 euros for the rest of this month to buy food with. It's been ages since I've budgeted properly especially concerning food so I may need a few words of advice from you if that's cool.

I seem to recall spending around 30-40 euros per week when I was in Ireland on food but I would be eating fairly well. What do you reckon the main bulk of my purchase should be on?

I think I'll be getting a fair deal of carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta, and some cheap veggies - what are the best cheap veggies? Frozen stuff? I would go for soya products but they are quite expensive in Greece.

Thanks for any help you can give.

elliebn

i have found myself in similar situations in the past, tinned tomatoes are a god send, you can use them for soups, currys, stews, pasta sauces and as a pizza topping.

not sure how you like pulses but dried lentils, beans and chickpeas can be used to bulk up most dishes (lovely in curry, a jar of curry paste is a must)they have to be soaked overnight before you can cook them so some people find them a nuisance but they are cheap.

pasta, rice, noodles and potatoes are a good idea but you will need some meat or fish (well i would) if you can manage to get some good sausages that aren't too expensive, they can be used for pasta dishes or a sausage and bean casserole. minced beef, you can fry it up and divide it to make shepherds pie or chilli which last a few days. not sure if you eat fish but you should be able to get some cheap enough from a good fish monger.

As for vegetables i can't survive without onions and garlic as a base for most dishes and from there carrots, frozen peas and if you can afford it some peppers.

hope it doesn't work out too expensive for you and hopefully you won't starve. if all else fails theres always beans on toast.

Tazz T

You could nearly have a different pasta dish everyday, costing next to nothing, if you planned it well enough.

Get along to your local lidl and stock up on frozen mince, tins of tuna, tins of tomatoes. Frozen veg would be a better bet as the fresh veg isn't going to last the whole month.

It's fairly easy to do your shopping on 50 euro a month with a bit of planning. Make a few big casseroles/chiliis/stews/currys and freeze them. Buy a load of sliced bread and freeze it also.

Mind you, wouldn't 50 euro get you a pitta gyros everyday for three weeks nyom

xzanti

2 words... KOKA NOODLES 60c a packet in dunnes and very tasty

Gordon

Heh, I think the closest we have to kokanoodles here are around 2 euro a pop which is roughly my daily allowance as far as my last nights calculations go!

Lidl is the way to go, cheers Tazz, I completely forgot about it, there's a place nearby so I'll get the tinned stuff, plenty of tinned tomatoes and I think I'll go the lentil route. My last venture with beans wasn't great, I made white bean chili and I must have left the beans to soak for too little time, I ended up having stomach aches for days afterwards.

Great idea about the freezing bread, it seems to be more expensive than I presumed it was here. Actually, I could live off beans on toast so that's an option too.

50 euros would get you around 27 pitta gyros, most definitely an option if that would suffice but I need at least 3 pitta gyros per day to live off! Unfortunately, got to love those gyro m'apola. However, you won't be surprised I'm sure, the last time I was in the souvlaki shop I was gazing around the kitchen and there was a large cockroach walking slowly up the brightly lit wall. That put me off after a while, even though they say cockroaches have a great deal of protein!

Cheers for the tips, I'm going to go to Lidl tomorrow and stock up.

RuggieBear

Is athens pricey then?

Gordon

Yeah, just around the time that I came over here it all changed. Some people say it's one of the most expensive cities in Europe, if not the most expensive. Prices are similar to Dublin but the minimum wage/average wage is much lower than in Ireland which makes it so [relatively] expensive. Minimum wage is 600-650 I think, in fact it could even be 550 tbh. A fairly decent starting wage is 800 per month after tax and rent is 200-350 per month.

TerrorFirmer

xzanti wrote:

2 words... KOKA NOODLES 60c a packet in dunnes and very tasty

I was just gonna say that. I lived on about 7 euro a week for two weeks. Tesco Noodles, water, bread with butter and Lidl buscuits everyday.

Unbeatable.

RuggieBear

You could try making cottage/shephards pie.

I've been making/eating this for the last few days to save money.

half lb mince, tin of campbells veg soup, 5-7 medium potatoes = a simple cheap but tasty dinner for 3/4 days

Tazz T

Surely, eating and drinking out isn't as dear as Dublin if you know where to go, Gordon. On my trips to the islands I always have a night out in Exarchia on the way back and it's always been very reasonable.

A big bottle of beer costs around 2 euro as long as you don't go to a fancy bar.

Hotels are expensive compared to the rest of Greece though.

Gordon

Yeah, maybe I just get dragged to the wrong places. However, I'd be surprised if I got a big bottle of Amstel for 2 euro now, even in one of those tavli ouzeris where all the old men hang out. I think this money situation will force me to check out the best places to go though. Usually the northern suburbs are more popular with my mates as the bulk of them live up there. And as you may know, that's a tad more pricey than Exarchia and Psiri etc.

Tazz T

I suppose it's the same as everywhere. I never managed to get to Athens this year (i managed to get direct flights to the islands), so maybe prices have gone up since I was last there.

Alf_Wiggum

why do you live in Greece?

Obviously I don't know how much food is in Greece. Are you going to be eating at home for all 3/4 meals or is there a canteen in work or what ever you do?

Breakfast - buy the cheapest, local, plain cereal. If you can get to the local supermarket a couple of times a week buy some bananas and eat one for breakfast too. Also eggs, for scrambling, poaching, boiling are a cheap and tasty breakfast treat.

Lunch - Salad with an olive oil dressing? olive oil would be cheap as would vegetables be or would there be seasonal issues? I'd imagine pasta and a pasta sauce are dirt cheap. Isn't chicken such as chicken fillets also quite cheap too? Like 8 small fillets for about 3 euro (obviously not a free range chicken)?. Freeze the chicken and eat one fillet a day for dinner with pasta. You won't be able to do this one too many consective days.

Dinner - ...

I think the number 1 way to cut down on grocery shopping bills is to cut out all the little odd stuff you rarely use. so stop buying sauces etc.

Nasty_Girl

Crazy but I find that eating very strong tasting things makes me less hungry and feel more full on less food.