How to feed a family on a budget

[Purple]

Exactly!

Freeloader!

 

[TheBigShort]

You are assuming Purple is not in the top 20% even after his paycut

Good point, didnt think of that. In that case he should get a tax cut.

 

[Firefly]

My real name is Johnny !

 

[Purple]

Good point, didnt think of that. In that case he should get a tax cut.

 

[TheBigShort]

I was one of the people who cut my pay. We lost a big customer earlier in the year due to the collapse in oil prices. The choice was cut pay and cut people on the shop floor or for all senior managers to take large pay cuts. The latter was fairer and more sustainable in the medium term. It's about fairness and the medium term interest of the company. We were the ones who weren't doing our jobs properly (i.e. anticipating what was, with hindsight, obviously going to happen)so we had to take the hit.
People here get paid what they are worth. No more and no less. That means some people on the shop floor are on €90,000 a year and some are on a little over the minimum wage. Nobody is on the minimum wage for very long though as if they are not increasing their value add to the company they will be thrown out.

Fair play to you. And many others lost their jobs or took pay cuts too. Added to that they also took on increased taxes.
Thats why I would be opposed to further increases. Not because it doesn't have merit per se, but because the suggestion that any extra taxes would be used to provide tax relief for those on higher incomes.

 

[Purple]

Fair play to you. And many others lost their jobs or took pay cuts too. Added to that they also took on increased taxes.
Thats why I would be opposed to further increases. Not because it doesn't have merit per se, but because the suggestion that any extra taxes would be used to provide tax relief for those on higher incomes.

Sure, but USC was introduced as an emergency tax and is punitive on higher earners. It is fundamentally unjust that the system is being changed so that those high earners are seeing no reduction in their marginal tax rates.

 

[moneybox]

Well I have never seen a thread go off track as much as this one

 

[Firefly]

Well I have never seen a thread go off track as much as this one

Are you going to offer anything meaningful to this thread? Another recipe maybe?

 

[cremeegg]

Well I have never seen a thread go off track as much as this one

I'm pretty sure some of these posters think they re in the "" thread

 

[Purple]

I'm pretty sure some of these posters think they re in the "" thread

They all run into each other eventually.

 

[TheBigShort]

Well I have never seen a thread go off track as much as this one

At least its still about money. Another thread questioned my taste in movies and the attributable (or non-attributable) quotes of Mark Twain!

 

[Firefly]

Soup is such an obvious one. I keep the tips from brocolli in a bag in the freezer. Then sautee a chopped small potato and chopped onion in some butter for a fre mins then add in some chopped carrots & the brocolli tips & any other veg lying aroundand a stock cub and a simmer for 10 mins or so. Then I use my 6e Tesco hand blender and then I have some really good, healthy & cheap soup. I always make plenty and freeze in portions....just take it out the night before and soup at the ready.

 

[mtk]

More like 250 per week for three here all in .so about 12 per person per day. Cannot see how to knock much off and still eat well tbh

 

[thedaddyman]

I can never understand how people can spend so much money on food. Family of 4 here, €70 a week in Dunnes including toiliteries + a couple of small shops at the weekend for fresh bread etc and a tenner a week to the milkman. Overall, €100-€110 a week and that includes a bottle of wine. No pre-packed meals, cook everything fresh and lots of fruit and veg.

 

[Boyd]

GF and I budget E250 per month on groceries/toiletries (not alcohol) and we generally have some left over out of that. Similar to above, no pre-packaged food etc.

 

[Firefly]

More like 250 per week for three here all in .so about 12 per person per day. Cannot see how to knock much off and still eat well tbh

Is that just for food?

 

[Firefly]

No pre-packed meals, cook everything fresh and lots of fruit and veg.

That's the trick.

 

[Ceist Beag]

We grow our own potatoes, beetroot, gherkins, berries, tomatoes, lettuce, and a few other bits. Tend not to need to buy jam any more, we're able to produce enough fruit ourselves (plus plenty more for eating fresh). Can make about 40-50 individual portions of soup from the tomatoes annually, chutneys from the beetroot, pickle the gherkins. Porridge most mornings which saves on expensive (and unsuitable) cereals. With all of that, we still average about €120/150 per week here (not all on food). We possibly could get down to €80 per week on food by sacrificing some things. Meat and fish are probably the biggest spend but that's a choice we make as we could buy cheaper cuts. Fair play though Purple, that's impressive budgeting ... and thanks for the tip on whole spices!

 

[Purple]

Fair play though Purple, that's impressive budgeting ... and thanks for the tip on whole spices!

Needs must. When the money was there I spent more, now that it isn't I don't because I can't. There's no point in whinging about it. Nobody owes me a living.

+1 on the porridge for breakfast, it's great. A teaspoon of jam works to sweeten and favour it.

 

[Firefly]

+1 on the porridge for breakfast, it's great.

Every morning for me. A spoon of blueberries, a chopped banana and drizzle of honey and I'm good until lunchtime. Mon-Fri I make it in the microwave, but on Sat & Sun I go all out and cook it slowly on the hob.