How much do you spend on groceries?

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I do a shop in aldi every 10-14 days where I usually spend 50-60 on average for the 2 of us. I'd also spend 20-30 in between picking up bits and pieces in the local shop. I try to stick to my shopping list but I find it boring eating the same meals over and over and i dont have the time or patience to sit down and make out a dinner plan for the week ahead so I usually end up picking up a few impulse extras would this be an average amount to be spending or is there any way I can cut costs and save some money?

rubadub

Lainey Chubby Pain wrote: »

is there any way I can cut costs and save some money?

You can search tesco online for current offers. You have to register, you can then sort by department, e.g. only alcohol or frozen food. It says when offers end too which is handy if you plan on stocking up.

I do not usually go into shops with lists, unless its items I checked online. I used to find myself finding bargains and then having to go back when I found better offers (I do not like dumping stuff in wrong places). I have little brand loyalty which helps a lot.

Buying in bulk & freezing is also an option to look at, also do not presume bulk buying is cheaper per kg, in many cases it is not, e.g. I find family size sauces & tinned food is usually more expensive.

This site also has links to current offers in supermarkets, but the tesco one linked is nowhere near as good as signing up properly.

http://www.cheapeats.ie/2012/06/11/special-offers-in-supermarkets-june11-201/

MissFlitworth

I actually think a max of €90 every 2 weeks is pretty good for groceries! We spend about €45-€60 in Lidl every week for 2 (including breakfasts, lunch & dinners) then at the weekend I'd tend to pick up 'nice things' (some nice cheeses, wine, possibly hit the butchers for meat etc.) which goes up to an extra €30-€40 so I'd say we're running at an average of €85 per week for 2 people (including coffee, cleaning products etc.) We don't really eat starchy carbohydrates with evening meals though which pushes things upwards.

[just scared myself with foodbill laid out there with all warts & wrinkles visible]

Neuro-Praxis posted a thread a while ago with a really nifty way to plan meals in it without it seeming like a chore which is well worth a gander

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78013685


My tried & tested & random ways for cutting down our foodbill are

- When you're figuring out what you're spending add in everything you spend on food. For a while I thought I was the actual Queen of Lidl because I was spending around €40 for 2 people per week on groceries but when I added everything up, including meals out, buying 'nice food' at the weekend as treats, lunches, the odd can't-be-bothered takeout I was spending (way) over €100 a week. So I actually saved more money by spending more on our weekly grocery shop rather than cutting down on it. The less I bought when I did my weekly shop the more I was spending on additional food that I wasn't putting into my budget.

- an add on to this - buy what you need for your lunch while you're doing your main your grocery shop or at least into your weekly food spend budget, makes the whole thing more expensive but when I was in my Queen of Lidl phase I totally wasn't adding in the extra €20+ a week I was spending on lunches

- dried beans - €1.50 for a 500g bag in my local Turkish market, one bag will do for about 3 meals. Asian markets are great places to shop for spices, beans, rice etc.

- Use all the food you buy, the less you throw out the less shopping you have to do to replace it

- if you eat meat 7 days of the week cut it down to a max of 5

- omlettes rock & are super cheap

- keep leftovers & start making pies/frittatas/all sorts of meals that use them up

- freeze extra portions of food/always have a meal in your freezer for emergency nights when you'd otherwise end up cursing at the presses & calling Dominos

yellowtrout

I was a loyal Tesco customer (thought they were cheapest) til I switched to Aldi. Tried all their alternatives to the big brand stuff and was surprised at how good it all is.

We spend about €80 every two weeks, including wine, and then just pop to Dunnes for things I can't get in Aldi, which only costs a few Euro.

I make almost all my meals from scratch and freeze any leftovers-bolognese, curries etc, and also buy bread and freeze that too.
Just find Aldi milk goes off pretty quickly so I'll get that in Dunnes.

Alun

That sounds about right, i.e. €40-50 per week on average for two including food and household stuff. Some weeks are higher, others lower depending on what things have run out or what luxuries we allow ourselves. I'm sure if we had to we could survive on much less though.

Rua1

We spend around about 40-45 per week in lidl for 2 adults and one cat (and his friends....). This includes our breakfast and lunch.

I'd then probably spend around 30-40 a month in the local butcher, then probably an extra 30 a month getting little bits and pieces that can't be bought in lidl, or if I can't be bothered going into lidl for 1-2 items.

I generally have a fixed meal plan during the week, and then will probably experiment with what I've got at the weekend. Means that pretty much everything I buy gets used. I also freeze sauce based leftovers for later.

Sala

Too much. My shopping on Sunday was 70 euro, including household stuff, and I will probably pick up wine and some snacks, maybe something nice for dinner etc at the weekend so that'll bump it up to 90/100.
I don't need to live too frugally as we aren't struggling, and I find doing one shop a week has cut down the bills a lot since I am not popping out all the time buying what I want, but I am trying to cut down so would appreciate anyones advice. I don't have a freezer and have no room in our tiny galley kitchen for one so that doesn't help.

I tried going to a butcher (Donnybrook) but found it much dearer. Is that normal? There is a veg shop near us, but it doesn't have a lot of stuff so I can't get a lot there. I'm not 100% sure it's even cheaper.

Does anyone know the sainsburys feed a family of 4 for 50 quid campaign - are there any irish ones?

Rua1

Sala wrote: »

I tried going to a butcher (Donnybrook) but found it much dearer. Is that normal? There is a veg shop near us, but it doesn't have a lot of stuff so I can't get a lot there. I'm not 100% sure it's even cheaper.

Does anyone know the sainsburys feed a family of 4 for 50 quid campaign - are there any irish ones?

I once recall picking up a booklet in Dunnes, it was something like family dinners for €40 a week or something. Didn't provide anything particularly interesting for me at least.

My butcher is priced on par with the supermarkets, give or take, but the quality is amazing. I'm in Wicklow town, so the rent would be a lot cheaper than Donnybrook

rubadub

Sala wrote: »

I tried going to a butcher (Donnybrook) but found it much dearer. Is that normal? There is a veg shop near us, but it doesn't have a lot of stuff so I can't get a lot there. I'm not 100% sure it's even cheaper.

Some butchers fancy themselves as upmarket places, or just simply charge what the local market will bear. I go out cycling along the dublin coast, and pop into shops around various areas so notice prices, I also have always had a good memory for prices. Down in dalkey I have never seen a really good deal in the butchers, I don't think he needs to have deals for wealthy locals. Also many people (often wrongly) presume quality must come at a price, and so cheap stuff MUST be poor quality.

While the butchers, Mick Doyles, downstairs in dun laoghaire has some very good deals, one in sallynoggin opposite the church does too. THe most common butcher deal is 10 chicken fillets for €10, which is cheaper than most supermarkets. They might have cheaper round mince, but I have never seen a butchers match the cheapest of the cheap mince in supermarkets.

Green grocers can be cheaper, again in dalkey I do not find it cheap, in ballybrack there are very good deals. Shops like supermarkets or powercity, or woodies know that many presume they are going to be cheap as they have better buying power & economies of scale than smaller places. If you know powercity has the cheapest plasmas, you might presume they have cheap light bulbs, esp. when they have a big sign up saying it is 50% off these lightbulbs. -while the same bulb could be always cheaper in a local hardware shop. People are not familiar with prices of 'non-weekly shopping items' so they can take advantage.

If you want to compare prices or take notes, just take out your phone and take a few snaps of the prices on display.

Sala

I know the quality is much better and the place in Donnybrook has lovely meat, and is near a veg shop, but it's so much hassle to park and get back out on the road I can't stomach doing that! Plus it is dear.
There appears online anyway to be one in Stillorgan and there is a tesco there too so I might give that a go.

I used to live in Wicklow town and yes there is a great butcher there! I just haven't found a good butcher and veg shop here that are easily accessable, open decent hours and have good value quality produce (I don't want a lot do I!?!)

I will have a look for that booklet in Dunnes thanks! I am more focused on healthy eating though, and some of the Sainsburys ones seem to bulk up with pasta etc

huskerdu

Sala wrote: »

I tried going to a butcher (Donnybrook) but found it much dearer. Is that normal?

Its normal for Donnybrook, its not the first place I would be going, if I was looking for bargains.

I go to Fenelons in Stillorgan. The quality is top class, the range is better than supermarkets and it is the same price or better value than supermarkets.

Shop around, you should be able to find a good value butcher.

The Lovely Muffin

About €20-€30 per week for me.

That include supermarkets and the butchers though.

I am going to try and cut that down though and cook in bulk (soups, sauces etc) and start freezing them so that I won't have to do a big shop every week.

Melendez

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