No Meat=Feel Better.

[cillian]

Originally Posted by Charlie-Boy

I can't afford meat and I still feel bloody terrible, perhaps I am doing something wrong. That Irish beef sounds very expensive to me, is it?

All food here is expensive, but the beef industry is subsidized so its often cheaper than chicken or pork. 20 ounce steak is usually 8 or 9 euro.

[Charlie-Horse]

Originally Posted by cillian

All food here is expensive, but the beef industry is subsidized so its often cheaper than chicken or pork. 20 ounce steak is usually 8 or 9 euro.

I don't know how you people afford to live over there, they must pay high wages.

Do you get unemployment benefit in Ireland?

[Summer]

A 20 ounce steak plus vegetables and potatoes for 2 people is roughly about 13 euro. So about 6.50 per person. Hell you can't even get a burger at some fast food joint for that.

To me, that is cheap. Eating out is expensive, eating in for 6 bucks is not expensive at all. It also depends on what you buy as well. To save us money I do things like bake cookies instead of buying them, bake muffins instead of buying them, I even baked bread on occasions. Baking is a good source to save money for good food like steaks and vegetables, if you have a sweet tooth or children. I make banana nut breads (my fav), zucchini bread, blueberry bread, apple muffins, not so much chocolate chocolate chocolate. Got to get a wife.

[cillian]

Originally Posted by Charlie-Boy

I don't know how you people afford to live over there, they must pay high wages.

Do you get unemployment benefit in Ireland?

Minimum wage is 8.65 an hour.

[Summer]

Also we don't eat steak every night. That would get expensive and I would be sick of it. But I will give you the prices on the meat I buy for us.

6 pieces of chicken breasts = 6 - 8 euro. Which is 3 dinners.
4 pieces of pork chops = 5 - 7 euro. 2 dinners.
20 ounce steak = 8 - 9 euro. 1 dinner.
Large chickens = 6 - 9 euro. Good for 1 dinner and great for 2 - 3 lunches.

I also buy frozen cod and smoked cod. For a bag of 6 pieces is about 2 - 3 euro. That is about 2 to 3 dinners. I know fresh fish is better, but it is still Irish, and I still have faith in the meat here.

Bag of potatoes is like 4 - 5 euro. Bag I get has probably 10 potatoes. That is good for 5 - 7 dinners. Bag of carrots is like 5 euros, parsnips again like 5 euros, etc etc. It is only the two of us and our daughter who is only 15 months. I give her part of my dinner, she is a baby so she won't eat a full chicken breast or piece of steak by herself. Plus she gets a mix of vegetables. Sometimes we even have breakfast for dinner, eggs and sausage or something. I haven't lived in America for 3 years so I have no clue how much things cost there anymore.

[cillian]

Fresh fish is too damned expensive, 15 euro for a mackerel 13 for a cod fillet. No thanks.

Also there are cheaper cuts, stew meat etc, haven't bought that in a while so I don't know the price, but its cheaper than steak. Actually it gotten cold again, time to break out the stew pot.

[Charlie-Horse]

Originally Posted by cillian

Fresh fish is too damned expensive, 15 euro for a mackerel 13 for a cod fillet. No thanks.

Also there are cheaper cuts, stew meat etc, haven't bought that in a while so I don't know the price, but its cheaper than steak. Actually it gotten cold again, time to break out the stew pot.

I live about 100 yards from the sea and fish is also expensive here, but if you have a fishing rod you can always catch our own. Mackerel is plentiful during the summer months and pretty easy to catch but it's not that popular for eating, most use it for bait.

I have been eating stews for about a month and a half now as it gets cold here pretty early.