Food Budget

Babyblessed

Deemark...

So jealous! Tinned tomatoes are indeed a lifesaver but I pay 45c! Eeek, how many tins do I need to buy to take a trip north! Where is the nearest A*da to the border? Might be worth doing it again and looking into what I am buying!

I do get fed up of the way supermarkets 'market' products. A year ago T*sco told us they were bringing border prices south... they sort of tried for about 2 weeks then prices crept up again. Said tablets for the washing machine are now double what they were for that 2 weeks!

tantipie

i've started buying chicken fillets in my local farm shop 20 of them for €22 and there huge so i use 4 at a time for 3 adults and 2 kids,,one day chicken curry,then stir fry,chicken and mushroom voluvents(sp)chicken in one of those Maggi bags( paprika seasoning one gorgeous)chicken faghitas,, so just add,rice/potatoes/noodles,,fairly cheap dinners,spread this out over the 2 weeks as they'd be blue in the face from chicken,,have also bought my washing powder for the next year as persil was on offer for €3.99 and used €2 coupon off so stocked up!!!!

Babyblessed

Tantipie,
where are you! Id love a farm shop like that! Our 1 occasional food luxury is free range eggs from the local farm, 30 eggs for €6.............. Id love to have chickens!

Justask

Babyblessed wrote: »

Tantipie,
where are you! Id love a farm shop like that! Our 1 occasional food luxury is free range eggs from the local farm, 30 eggs for €6.............. Id love to have chickens!

Me to... but I think they are more work then we think :rolleyes:

Babyblessed

Justask wrote: »

Me to... but I think they are more work then we think :rolleyes:

For half a second there I thought you were talking about the chicken farm and had images of catching and killing my own!

Yeah, you are prob right although I know a few ppl with them and they say its simple... Its the initial cost that puts me off, cage more than anything!

Morag

I bought a Hand Steam Cleaner out of lidl 2 years back and use that for cleaning just about everything and that cut out a lot of cleaning products. It was 20 quid but has paid for it's self and then some, no more window cleaner, bleach, tile cleaner, wooden floor cleaner. And it's less chemicals in the house.

Babyblessed

Sharrow wrote: »

I bought a Hand Steam Cleaner out of lidl 2 years back and use that for cleaning just about everything and that cut out a lot of cleaning products. It was 20 quid but has paid for it's self and then some, no more window cleaner, bleach, tile cleaner, wooden floor cleaner. And it's less chemicals in the house.

will be looking out for that!

tantipie

it's in Limerick i head in about every 2 weeks,,i also buy 10 frozen bread rolls not the tiny ones the next size for €1.50,,10 discovery wraps for €1.75 and use these for lunches,,oh and 20 frozen vol au vents for €5

Ayla

Babyblessed wrote: »

For half a second there I thought you were talking about the chicken farm and had images of catching and killing my own!

Yeah, you are prob right although I know a few ppl with them and they say its simple... Its the initial cost that puts me off, cage more than anything!

We have 2 geese, 1 gander, 1 rooster, 2 hens, 1 drake, and (up to a few weeks ago) we had 3 ducks. We were swimming in eggs for awhile. We made our hen coop out of old building materials we had on site, and they free range over our (almost) 2-acre site all day. We throw them a handful of grain 1-2 times/day, give them water, and they do the rest. Couldn't be easier! Oh, and we will be raising/killing our own, which also helps offset the cost of having them.

part time punk

So impressed by some of ye on here ... main weekly shop in Aldi for about €80 (2 adults and one toddler) but I find it's the extras I can't/don't get there that really bulk up the costs. Nappies, wipes, toilitries etc.
I did got the local butchers last week for 2lb minced beef, 1 lb miced lamb, 6 chicken breasts and 6 free range eggs for about €20 At first I thought that was quite expensive but not so sure now. Any of you thrifty butcher buyers reckon that's a good deal? Cheers

lonestargirl

part time punk wrote: »

I did got the local butchers last week for 2lb minced beef, 1 lb miced lamb, 6 chicken breasts and 6 free range eggs for about €20 At first I thought that was quite expensive but not so sure now. Any of you thrifty butcher buyers reckon that's a good deal? Cheers

I would pay
€3 a lb for mince beef
€7 for 6 chicken breasts
€3.50 for 20 eggs
I don't really buy minced lamb so I can't compare on that one.

dak

Don't shop when you are hungry...amazing what you will buy if you are. Ii have cut my shopping bill by selective shopping in ALDI and dunnes mainly. Sunday morning is good in Dunnes for meat reductions/special offers. I buy Also Rioro orange juice by the case (85c) a Litre, Aldi banana €1.25 for 6 , kiwis, mushrooms , tomatos etc are all good value. Save a fortune in processed ham by buying a filltet of ham ( 1.5kg for €7.99) and cooking it with a chicken during the week. You have to soak it overnight to reduce salt content but it keeps you in sandwiches for a week.

Aldi Cereals are also good value ( if you can find ones your kids like) €1.79 for 500gms. Aldi also do lovely curry sauces which are as good as or better than Unvle Ben's ( 79c to 1.80). Korma one is particularily good.

Aldi also do nice soda and wheaten breads at 79c. Thier Ketchup I think is nicer than Heinz and also only costs about 80c. My kids love ALDI peanut butter and its about a third of the price of nutella

There are loads of things I wouldn't buy in ALDI but your can save on price without foregoing quality if you try things out.

Ayla

part time punk wrote: »

I did got the local butchers last week for 2lb minced beef, 1 lb miced lamb, 6 chicken breasts and 6 free range eggs for about €20 At first I thought that was quite expensive but not so sure now. Any of you thrifty butcher buyers reckon that's a good deal? Cheers

we get steak mince for about €5/lb, and I generally mix in canned beans to make a little meat go a long way. It's possible to get beef mince, but it's much more fatty so it's worth it for us to buy the better quality steak mince.

our butcher's chix breasts are €1/ea, and by slicing/dicing them we can get by using only about 2 to feed our family of 4 (2 kids). Serving a full breast per person is much more expensive.

I'm not sure I've ever bought minced lamb? No real reason, just haven't.

If our own birds go on strike (like now) we can buy locally raised free range eggs for €1 for a half-dozen.

careca11

there's myself , wife and 22month old child.

I use to shop in dunnes , average shop was €70--€85 a week +meat
I do nearly all my shopping in Aldi(weekly bill is now €30--€40 a week) all fruit all veg , Cereals (there fruit n fibre, Bran flakes and museli's are equally if not better than Kellogs),
the only junk we buy for our son is aldi Jelly Babies €0.69 for a big big bag , 1 bag would last a week

I buy my meat in local Butchers , they do 3 dishes for €10 I get those plus 1lb of mince 1lb of stewing pieces €15 total a week.

only things I don't get in aldi/lidl are odlum's porridge and Avonmore milk

make my own homemade' sauces , breads etc

part time punk

lonestargirl wrote: »

I would pay
€3 a lb for mince beef
€7 for 6 chicken breasts
€3.50 for 20 eggs
I don't really buy minced lamb so I can't compare on that one.

Cheers, yeah same prices for the beef and chicken. Eggs would work out cheaper if I bought more but there'd probably be lots of wastage. The lamb did work out more expensive than the beef but it was lovely as I could see them cutting it up and mincing it. Generally I think you know exactly what you're getting from the butchers so the quality's good

shefra

Ayla any chance you could start a thread on making your own cleaners,shampoos etc

Ayla

For those who're interested I've given them the link to an Australian woman's blog that I've been reading for a few years now. She has gads of recipes on her site (green cleaners, dog food, soap making, laundry detergents, etc):

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2007/08/various-recipes-for-green-cleaning.html

This is the link for the green cleaners - from there you can navigate to any of the other pages she has.

Otherwise a google search (homemade soap, homemade shampoo, etc) will return zillions of ideas & recipes.

yungwan

2 adults, 1 child (7) and a dog!

We budget about €100 a week for the 3 of us, and on average its about €400 a month. (There will always be a week a month a little more expensive when we need cleaning stuff and/or washing powder etc but generally it evens out)

This includes our breakfasts, lunches and dinners (my OH has 2 dinners most days!)

We tend to buy the same food every week, in or around. That way it stops us overspending.

We generally buy our fruit, veg, bread, milk and most of our perishables in Aldi/Lidl. I love most of their brands, no difference, and they stock most of our faves like 7up, Galtee ham etc.

We do buy our meat in tesco though and will usually go for their 3 for €9 special as well as maybe mince and pork etc. We also buy our cereals in tesco too.

Of course this figure doesnt include anything but food. Not alcohol, (im partial to a bottle of wine a week) or clothes etc.

The key for me is to have a plan of dinners etc. If you go in willynilly you will just buy stuff you dont need. And check prices!!

phonejacker

Has anybody used the Aldi dishwasher tablets and the Aldi washing machine tablets? I heard from people that they don't dissolve completely and that they might break your dishwasher/washing machine? thanks

How Strange

I don't have a dishwasher but I'm using the aldi washing powder tablets and they're fine. I think they won a good housekeeping award. I used to get the tablets from lidl but they never dissolved properly so the dark colored clothes would be covered in marks and stains. No such problem with the aldi ones.

angeldaisy

I tried the aldi ones and found that they didn't breakdown properly in every wash, so to be honest I've gone back to using Finish - buy them when they're on offer.
Don't know anything about them breaking the machine - can't see how that would happen??

Daisy M

I have never used aldi dishwasher tablets but used lidl and they were crap. I tried tesco ones this month and find them as good as any of the top brands.

Morag

I've used the lidl ones the last 6 months and they are grand, the 3 in 1 ones are crap but the standard ones you use with rinse aid and salt have been good.

upinthesky

i spend between 80-90 in aldi we have 3 children 9, 7 and 1

definitely go with a full stomach or id buy more

also depends on what money i have this week i spent 50 because that's all i can afford but i have enough for lunches and dinners

i always bring my phone and caluclate so i no what i want to spend and dont go over it

upinthesky

phonejacker wrote: »

Has anybody used the Aldi dishwasher tablets and the Aldi washing machine tablets? I heard from people that they don't dissolve completely and that they might break your dishwasher/washing machine? thanks

dont have a dishwasher

i use the aldi non bio liquid think it 2.80 or near to it and i find it fine and get loads of washing done with it

i have never tried the tablets

upinthesky

oh and may i recommend aldi rock shandy yum yum and its only 89c

club orange rock shandy 2.19 in places

fizz goes out quick enough like you couldn't drink it the next day but its great value

phonejacker

The diet coke in Aldi tastes like piss but the diet coke in Lidl tastes like the Expensive stuff. €0.55 vs €2.19

silverharp

phonejacker wrote: »

The diet coke in Aldi tastes like piss but the diet coke in Lidl tastes like the Expensive stuff. €0.55 vs €2.19

I wouldnt let any coke into the house even if they were giving away for free. there is no need to have fizzy drinks in the home, dead money for something with 0 nutritional content. 1/3 apple juice to 2/3 water ftw

upinthesky

silverharp wrote: »

I wouldnt let any coke into the house even if they were giving away for free. there is no need to have fizzy drinks in the home, dead money for something with 0 nutritional content. 1/3 apple juice to 2/3 water ftw

i dont give my children fizzy drinks they get juice

but im addicted to them i have to buy a bottle of coke or the rock shandy will do

silverharp

lisar816 wrote: »

i dont give my children fizzy drinks they get juice

but im addicted to them i have to buy a bottle of coke or the rock shandy will do

while not the worst kind of coke addiction:p, its not good for your overall diet. it means youll have a lot of sugar highs and lows which means you'll probably eat more then you need to