100 euro a month so spend

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.
 
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.
 
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
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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.
 
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.
 

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
 
ice said:
I could feed a family of 4 for 35 quid a week
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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.
 
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.
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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.
 
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.
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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]
 
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.
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I rise to the challenge !

Shopping list

Bag of porridge 2.50
3 ltr Milk
 
Last edited:
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.
 
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]
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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
 
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!
 

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

God bless Lidl and aldi!
 
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.
 
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.
 
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!
 
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