[ChuckNorris89]

Just out of curiosity how and what do you eat to fit in 5 Euros a day?

I'm thrifty as well but that is stretching it.

I mean, I eat meat and only buy organic free range stuff if I can, which is of course, more expensive, but as long as I make a dev salary, why would I eat lower quality stuff to save a few bucks if I can afford the best quality?

I feel like when it comes to what you put inside your body you should not make compromises if you can. There are other areas in your life you can save money(car, subscription services, eating out, fancy clothes), but food is not one of them, as long as you can afford it.

[dgellow]

I'm located in Hamburg, we spend less than 40€ per week for 2 on groceries, so that's below 6€ per day for a couple.

Every Saturday we make a plan for the next week. For example last week we had (note that we don't buy prepared meals):

(Day: lunch / dinner)

Monday: Salad + egg + wrap / Udon soup (spring onions, asian noodles, tofu, miso, egg)

Tuesday: Salad + beans + wrap / Chili sin carne + rice

Wednesday: Salad + veg. schnitzel + wrap / Sweet potato curry

Thursday: Salad + roasted vegetables + wrap / Backed potatoes + mix of vegetables

Friday: Porridge + apples / Carrots in oven + smashed potatoes

Saturday: Pancakes + leftovers / Vegetables soup + bread

Sunday: Brunch (fruits, joghurts, cheese, bread, etc) / Pizza

We now have a list of maybe 20-25 recipes we rotate between, cooking takes a bit of time but that's something I really like to do to relax. I personally do not eat the morning and my life partner eats some simple cereals + joghurt + fruits. Food like chili sin carne or a curry is something ridiculously cheap to do and is very easy to do in huge quantities. Also we really like to eat wraps filled with salad for lunch as you can see :). If you alternate the filling and salad sauces that's not too boring and doesn't result in an after-lunch food comas!

We buy almost everything at Lidl and do not eat meat.

[nicbou]

I cook everything myself. Basic ingredients are cheap, so I don't need to be careful. This budget includes lots of wine and cheese. No compromises there.

[ChuckNorris89]

Ok, but could you please give some examples on your daily meals that fit in those 5 Euros as I'm genuinely curious?

Basic ingredients are cheap as long as we ignore quality and where I live, you're not getting any good quality wine and cheese in your 5 Euros a day.

Cheap supermarket budget brands full of chemicals, hormones and preservatives? Yes. Quality stuff? No.

[noir_lord]

5 euro comes to about 4.34 a head, in my house there is me, my partner and her son so assuming ~£13 a day - we probably don't even go that high most days.

As for diet - A typical day would like this.

Breakfast.

(them) Home made pancakes for breakfast with a drizzle of honey. (me) Muesli.

Lunch, Salad Wrap/veggie heavy (other half is vegetarian) or KaposztáS TéSzta (cabbage/noodles).

Evening Meal - Spaghetti Carbonara or Tuna Steaks/veggies.

My other half loves cooking (she's hungarian) and it's completely the norm that for her/where she is from to just do everything from scratch.

Lots of fresh seasonal veggies, lots of soups, noodles, pasta etc - it's a good diet tbh and seems to suit my health issues.

[nicbou]

https://nicolasbouliane.com/recipes

[ChuckNorris89]

Thanks Nic

[hectormalot]

> Cheap supermarket budget brands full of chemicals, hormones and preservatives? Yes. Quality stuff, no.

This is in the EU, regulation basically prevents excesses like that in most cases.

Furthermore, price doesn’t have to be a predictor of quality. E.g. LIDL/Aldi (budget chains) commonly win awards for best vegetables.

I used to spend ~150-200 on food per month when I was living by myself and wasn’t strictly managing it for low cost. Now with a family of 3, we spend 300-400€ a month on groceries (incl bread and meat) and are never holding back on anything because of price.

So, 5€ per day doesn’t sound unreasonable even in the Netherlands. Note: we eat vegetarian 5 out of 7 days, without that we’d probably spend 100-150 more.

Edit: I get that this doesn’t work everywhere. When I lived in the US (NYC) and tried to cook my own meals I couldn’t believe 1) how few supermarkets there were and 2) how high prices for basic food were. Eating out was basically cheaper :/

[hycaria]

Portion of rice / pasta / bread or derivates /other cereal with veggies => endless variations and very cheap.

During this season it’s also soup time. Our favorite is butternut two oignons a bit of butter and cream or coco milk. Super cheap. Makes 2 to 4 servings depending on dilution and veggie size. Add 1€ for bread (for 2). And bit of cheese and / or fruit.