# 100 euro a month so spend



## dewdrop (9 Jul 2012)

While the recent report that a large number of people have less that 100 euro a month to spend after payment of bills i find this sad news hard to reconsile with the constant reports of massive sums being spent on drink. I think it is ironic to hear on the news these two issues being reported on one after the other namely the poverty story and the drink orgy. Father Matthew comes to mind.


----------



## The_Banker (9 Jul 2012)

dewdrop said:


> While the recent report that a large number of people have less that 100 euro a month to spend after payment of bills i find this sad news hard to reconsile with the constant reports of massive sums being spent on drink. I think it is ironic to hear on the news these two issues being reported on one after the other namely the poverty story and the drink orgy. Father Matthew comes to mind.



I'm not 100% sure what your saying here dewdrop but are you saying people are in poverty because of alcohol or have I picked you up wrong?


----------



## dewdrop (9 Jul 2012)

To be honest i am a bit unsure myself but when i hear of the massive sums spent on drink i just wonder where the money is coming from.  I think it is pretty well accepted over the years that drink has caused great financial stress to many families.


----------



## bazermc (9 Jul 2012)

Is the €100 left over before or after accounting for drink money?

How about a survey on how much people spend on drink each week?  I would say that would be an eye opener!!!!


----------



## bullbars (10 Jul 2012)

dewdrop said:


> To be honest i am a bit unsure myself but when i hear of the massive sums spent on drink i just wonder where the money is coming from.


 
The general topic between most of my friends these days is "how's work going" with a lot reporting they are scraping by, not much doing, bits and pieces etc.

Ireland in the Euros? Session on; all week(end) bender and pubs packed. Some people prioritise then cry poor me over their decisions. Little sympathy.


----------



## blueband (10 Jul 2012)

to be honest i didnt notice the pubs all that packed for euros, where i live anyway. noting like it was for 'italia 90'  but there was a lot more work around then!


----------



## terrontress (10 Jul 2012)

If bills includes groceries then €100 for a single person is plenty. If you have to buy your food from that then it would suffice for a healthy diet but there wouldn't be a penny spare for even a newspaper.


----------



## blueband (10 Jul 2012)

with all the bad news about you might be better without the newspaper!


----------



## TarfHead (10 Jul 2012)

terrontress said:


> If bills includes groceries then €100 for a single person is plenty.


 
I disagree.

€100 a month to fund .. clothing & footwear, save for a holiday, save for a rainy day, mobile phone, car, occasional doctor/chemist costs, birthday & Christmas presents.


----------



## truthseeker (10 Jul 2012)

terrontress said:


> If bills includes groceries then €100 for a single person is plenty. If you have to buy your food from that then *it would suffice for a healthy diet* but there wouldn't be a penny spare for even a newspaper.



A healthy diet is more expensive to fund than an unhealthy one! Good quality fruit, veg, meat and unprocessed ingredients cost a hell of a lot more than a 3-in-1 tray from the local chinese.


----------



## liaconn (10 Jul 2012)

It's not just drink though. I constantly hear people worrying about money, bemoaning pay cuts etc and then booking a nice holiday somewhere. I have a cousin whose dad helps her and her husband with their mortgage but I met her at a party at the weekend and she was wearing a pair of sandals that she said didn't cost 'that much' only £150 (pounds not euro). I don't understand that, to be honest.


----------



## truthseeker (10 Jul 2012)

liaconn said:


> It's not just drink though. I constantly hear people worrying about money, bemoaning pay cuts etc and then booking a nice holiday somewhere. I have a cousin whose dad helps her and her husband with their mortgage but I met her at a party at the weekend and she was wearing a pair of sandals that she said *didn't cost 'that much' only £150 (pounds not euro).* I don't understand that, to be honest.



Oh my god! 

Yeah, the 'im broke and its terrible' brigade, but yet they are off on holidays and getting the hair done and spray tans and hook like fake nails etc....


----------



## ice (10 Jul 2012)

TarfHead said:


> I disagree.
> 
> €100 a month to fund .. clothing & footwear, save for a holiday, save for a rainy day, mobile phone, car, occasional doctor/chemist costs, birthday & Christmas presents.



But I think all that was taken into account ( maybe bar the holiday fund) and then 100 left over. I know I saw the slot on the news and the women totting up her spending had tv, mobile phone etc in there.

We need to know exactly what is included in the essentials to leave 100 

One mans essential is another mans luxery


----------



## ice (10 Jul 2012)

truthseeker said:


> A healthy diet is more expensive to fund than an unhealthy one! Good quality fruit, veg, meat and unprocessed ingredients cost a hell of a lot more than a 3-in-1 tray from the local chinese.



I don't think this is necessarily true. The likes of lidl and aldi have great deals on fruit and veg.


----------



## truthseeker (10 Jul 2012)

ice said:


> I don't think this is necessarily true. The likes of lidl and aldi have great deals on fruit and veg.



But they also have great deals on processed ready meal type rubbish.

It is cheaper to eat unhealthy processed food than it is to buy all the ingredients you need to cook healthy meals from scratch - plus it takes less time to prepare the processed stuff.

And if you want to be really healthy and eat organic or free range, it costs an arm and a leg. My butcher sells a free range chicken for 14 euro. Compared to 6 quid for a factory chicken. The cost goes up if you look for quality, and you wont have a healthy diet if you dont eat good quality food.


----------



## ice (10 Jul 2012)

truthseeker said:


> But they also have great deals on processed ready meal type rubbish.
> 
> It is cheaper to eat unhealthy processed food than it is to buy all the ingredients you need to cook healthy meals from scratch - plus it takes less time to prepare the processed stuff.
> 
> And if you want to be really healthy and eat organic or free range, it costs an arm and a leg. My butcher sells a free range chicken for 14 euro. Compared to 6 quid for a factory chicken. The cost goes up if you look for quality, and you wont have a healthy diet if you dont eat good quality food.



But its not true that you cant have a healthy diet on a tight budget. You could make a big pot of spal bol for a fiver. If people choose to buy the processed stuff for convinience thats a different matter. I shop in aldi and never but that stuff. 
The vast majority of people dont eat organic meat. Even those who are 'comfortably' well off wont spend 14 euro on a chicken


----------



## truthseeker (10 Jul 2012)

ice said:


> But its not true that you cant have a healthy diet on a tight budget. You could make a big pot of spal bol for a fiver. If people choose to buy the processed stuff for convinience thats a different matter. I shop in aldi and never but that stuff.
> The vast majority of people dont eat organic meat. Even those who are 'comfortably' well off wont spend 14 euro on a chicken



Depends what you define as a healthy diet. Spag bol is one of our 'junk' meals lol!


----------



## ice (10 Jul 2012)

truthseeker said:


> Depends what you define as a healthy diet. Spag bol is one of our 'junk' meals lol!



Really ? How so ?

I make mine with tinned chopped tomatoes, glass of red wine, use wholemeal spagetti, lots of diced carrots, mushrooms, carrots and garlic and not so much mince. ( that makes it cheaper too  ) 

I think thats pretty healthy


----------



## truthseeker (10 Jul 2012)

Ah its not awful. Its just sauce and pasta is pretty stodgery (I use brown pasta too). We have to use turkey mince as I dont tolerate the beef mince for some reason - it upsets my stomach, thats a fiver before I even chop anything.

Ill put it this way, Id never eat it, then go do a work out, its too rich in the belly, its a friday night chill out meal for us. 

We do eat more along the lines of organic or free range cuts of meat, lot of free range egg whites get used in my house - work out food.


----------



## SarahMc (11 Jul 2012)

I'd need to know what 'after bills' means, is that sky, grocery (including wine?), chilldrens activities, petrol, loan repayments. So the €100 is discretionary payments on magazines, meals out, clothes, take out coffee  etc. Is it per person or per household?


----------



## RMCF (11 Jul 2012)

I think the way the news reports worded it was "1.8million people said they have less than €100 to spend after their monthly bills are paid".

Didn't say what 'monthly bills' included. 

Guessing how these reports love to make everything sound worse than it is, misery porn and all that, I'd say that Sky, UPC, mobile bills etc were included as a bill.


----------



## SarahMc (11 Jul 2012)

It's an ILCU report, just mention of 'essential bills'.

The statistics are meaningless without transparency. Shame on the papers for reporting this as news.


----------



## liaconn (11 Jul 2012)

ice said:


> Really ? How so ?
> 
> I make mine with tinned chopped tomatoes, glass of red wine, use wholemeal spagetti, lots of diced carrots, mushrooms, carrots and garlic and not so much mince. ( that makes it cheaper too  )
> 
> I think thats pretty healthy


 
That's how I make it as well and I always use round mince. Apart from the parmesan on top, I consider it a healthy nutritious dinner.
If you cook from scratch and aren't overly fussy about organic foods it is definitely much cheaper that using processed foods and relatively healthy as well.


----------



## truthseeker (11 Jul 2012)

liaconn said:


> If you cook from scratch and aren't overly fussy about organic foods* it is definitely much cheaper that using processed foods* and relatively healthy as well.



Are you sure?

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/#/te...ady_meals/tesco_spaghetti_bolognese_400g.html

A pound for spag bol is pretty cheap. Even allowing for the currency conversion.


----------



## liaconn (11 Jul 2012)

I couldn't access the link. I would spend about €5 on mince, about 50 cent on a tin of tomatoes, and probably about €1 or so on a carrot, an onion, a bit of garlic and a handful of mushrooms. I'd slosh in a glass of wine from an opened bottle so probably about €1.50 for that. That's  €8 for about six or seven portions of bolognaise. I think that's good value.


----------



## ice (11 Jul 2012)

liaconn said:


> That's how I make it as well and I always use round mince. Apart from the parmesan on top, I consider it a healthy nutritious dinner.
> If you cook from scratch and aren't overly fussy about organic foods it is definitely much cheaper that using processed foods and relatively healthy as well.



Agree. A lot of time people choose the processed stuff for convenience. Its very possible to have a good diet on a tight budget. A bag of porridge is very cheap, apples ,oranges , banannas for snacks, dishes like the spag Bol, casseroles with beans and lentils (again cheap to buy) made in bulk. Beans on whole meal toast is a nutritious meal. As is soup made with veg thats on special. Things like actimels, fancy yogurts, cheese strings are all expensive but they are rubbish anyway. Staying as close to nature as possible is not only healthy but cheap too.
I could feed a family of 4 for 35 quid a week


----------



## Sunny (11 Jul 2012)

ice said:


> I could feed a family of 4 for 35 quid a week


 
Sounds like a challenge! Give us a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 4 people for 7 days that costs €35 and meets dietary requirements.


----------



## The_Banker (11 Jul 2012)

Sunny said:


> *Sounds like a challenge!* Give us a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 4 people for 7 days that costs €35 and meets dietary requirements.


 

More than a challenge. An impossibility.

You might get away with it for 1 week but you couldnt keep it up for a month/year without the family losing serious weight.


----------



## Sunny (11 Jul 2012)

The_Banker said:


> More than a challenge. An impossibility.
> 
> You might get away with it for 1 week but you couldnt keep it up for a month/year without the family losing serious weight.


 
I agree. The US Government do reports on this type of thing because they issue food stamps unlike us. Here is the report of what they consider the cost of feeding a family is. 


[broken link removed]


----------



## ice (11 Jul 2012)

Sunny said:


> Sounds like a challenge! Give us a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 4 people for 7 days that costs €35 and meets dietary requirements.


I rise to the challenge !

*Shopping list*

Bag of porridge  2.50
3 ltr Milk


----------



## ice (11 Jul 2012)

I rise to the challenge !

*Shopping list*

Bag of porridge .99
3 ltr Milk          2.19
Beans x 2        1.10
wholemeal pan  1.19
Cheese            1.49
Eggs               2.20
Bag pasta        1.10
Jar Pesto         1.29
Mozarella         .59
Mince             3.00
Chicken          5.00
Tin tuna           .89
Tin Salmon       .89
Bag carrotts    1.49
Bag potatoes   1.69
fish fingers      1.59  
chop toms (2)    .90
Mushrooms       .99
Cream cheese   .69
Tea bags         1.54
Aldi super 6 x 2 4.20 (Aldi do a selection of bags of fruit and veg for 35 cent each - so this assumes 12 bags)

Total 35.02

Assume breakfast and mid morning snack is the same every day!
*Day one*
Breakfast
Porridge with milk, cup of tea

Mid morning snack
Fruit from super six 

Lunch
Beans on toast

Spag bol (made with carrotts, chopped tomatoes, mushrooms and onion) with wholemeal pasta

*Day Two*

Lunch
Fritatta using left over veg from last night and any from super 6

Dinner
Chicken, mash and peas

*Day Three*
Lunch
Cheese sambo

Dinner
Fish cakes made with leftover mash from last night and super six veg

*Day Four*
Lunch
Beans on toast 

Dinner
Chicken stew made with left over chicken from day two
*
Day five*
Home made soup from left over veg and bread

Dinner
Pesto wholemeal pasta with mozarella

*Day six*
Lunch
Soup and Bread

Dinner
Fish fingers, wedges and peas
*
Day Seven*
Pasta with mushroom sauce using cream cheese and mushrooms
Spag bol from freezer (Mondays was a double cook and you froze half of it)


I admit that it would be difficult to keep this up but even if you  were to spend 50 per month you would be able to have a healthy enough  diet.


----------



## ice (11 Jul 2012)

Sunny said:


> I agree. The US Government do reports on this type of thing because they issue food stamps unlike us. Here is the report of what they consider the cost of feeding a family is.
> 
> 
> [broken link removed]



That works out about 115 euro per week for a family of 4 - is that right ?

Whatever about 35 per week you could definitely do it for a lot less than that. Even with 75 you could really up the fruit and veg in my above menu.
Back in my day  we never had advocado, melon or blueberries or stuff like that. It was 3 simple squares a day and an apple and an orange afterwards. Lots of casseroles, shephards pies etc. Twas a grand diet


----------



## truthseeker (11 Jul 2012)

I dont want to quote your entire menu ice, too big!

Looking at it, Id be hungry living on it.

I know my husband would probably be admitted to hospital if he had to eat it (psychiatric hospital that is), he easily eats 3 times as much as me (he is slim, but very active) and the notion of beans on toast as a meal would send him over the edge 

Why do some days only have 2 meals? That cant be good for you?

Now Id never eat as much as him, but my hubby would eat a breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack, dinner and supper most days. His snacks would tend to be protein shakes or egg whites or tuna.

For example, in your list, where is the protein on Day 5? What youve described there is like something a poor student would consider food - its not healthy at all.

And day 6 isnt healthy either, fish fingers are horrible processed yoks!


----------



## ice (11 Jul 2012)

truthseeker said:


> I dont want to quote your entire menu ice, too big!
> 
> Looking at it, Id be hungry living on it.
> 
> ...



Breakfast is the same every day so 3 meals and it also includes a mid more snack per day

Protein in day 5 is from the mozzarella or you could throw lentils into the soup.

Fishfingers are not great but even most healthy eaters would admit to the odd 'non healthy' thing every now and then.

My husband would have to be admitted if I gave him egg whites and protein shakes  I personally would not consider that protein shakes form a healthy diet - better to get it from a natural source. 

Look, its not 5 star cooking and you probably couldn't keep it up but its not bad for 35 a week and I bet its better than a lot of people who eat only processed food and very little fruit and veg.

Its hard to budget it out the way I have. If I was really on a budget I would prepare meals based on Alid/Lidl specials.


----------



## truthseeker (11 Jul 2012)

ice said:


> Look, its not 5 star cooking and you probably couldn't keep it up but its not bad for 35 a week and I bet its better than a lot of people who eat only processed food and very little fruit and veg.



No, its not bad at all - and no doubt more could be done along the lines of salads if you were getting the Aldi specials etc...


----------



## Kine (11 Jul 2012)

That is an impressive list, even if it is most likely unsustainable in the long term. 

God bless Lidl and aldi!


----------



## Purple (11 Jul 2012)

I just did the shopping for 6 people in Lidl. It cost €150.00
I bought meat for each day; chicken (whole and breasts), mince, fish and lamb chops as well as toiletries that aren't needed each week such as, shampoo, toothpaste etc and lots of fruit and veg. No processed food but I did get Parma ham, nice bread and a few treats for the kids.

I could easily feed the family for €100 a week if I had to. Less than €80 would be a struggle if we were to get a good balanced diet.


----------



## ice (11 Jul 2012)

Lidl and aldi are great. I used to do my shopping in Supervalu or tesco and I have changed to aldi and I save at least 50 euro a week. They do great Irish meat, lovely salmon, great cheeses and the offers on fruit and veg are brilliant.


----------



## Vanilla (11 Jul 2012)

I am always amazed at how cheaply other people seem to eat. I know this seems like a huge amount, but if I got away with spending 200 per week on food, toiletries etc, I'd be thrilled. We don't buy processed food and the bill includes all meals, lunch etc. 

Hat off to Ice-menu plan looks very good  but my one quibble would be the quantity. My children would expect more than a bowl of porridge for breakfast!


----------



## truthseeker (11 Jul 2012)

Vanilla said:


> *I am always amazed at how cheaply other people seem to eat. *I know this seems like a huge amount, but if I got away with spending 200 per week on food, toiletries etc, I'd be thrilled. We don't buy processed food and the bill includes all meals, lunch etc.
> 
> Hat off to Ice-menu plan looks very good  but my one quibble would be the quantity. My children would expect more than a bowl of porridge for breakfast!



Yeah, it amazes me too. 

I do like my food though!


----------



## liaconn (12 Jul 2012)

I have to say, I was impressed by Ice's menu. I know it doesn't include many snacks and extras, but I would imagine that nutritionally it's way ahead of many family diets. There's no frozen pizza, microwave dinners, takeaways or jars of processed sauces.

I know in an ideal world we'd all eat perfectly balanced meals every single day, but that just doesn't happen in real life and I wouldn't have a problem with the odd fish finger dinner.


----------



## Shawady (12 Jul 2012)

We are a family of 5 and spend approx €80 a week in Aldi, €20 in the butchers and €30 in Superquinn/Tescos.
Would agree with previous posters that a lot of the stuff in Aldi is very good.
In Aldi, we get things like angus steak burgers/mince, fresh pasta and pesto and the specialy selected muesli so it's not like we are eating rubbish food.


----------

