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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder how people can afford a takeaway for a family?

784 replies

MaknCheeese · 15/04/2023 19:51

We haven't had a takeaway for a while and I was thinking about ordering one for the family as a treat tonight. I decided not to once I worked out the price, I just couldn't justify paying 1/3 of my weekly groceries budget, £30 on a curry for 4.
When did you last have a takeaway?
How much did it cost and how many did it feed?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
16
Nogg · 16/04/2023 00:09

I was in a chip shop in outer London buying one large chips to share came to £3.50.
The man next to me ordered six main meals
with chips and drinks came to over £100 ! For fish and chips!

note to self never buy a round of fish and chips!

dutysuite · 16/04/2023 00:14

I’ve stopped ordering from my local Chinese takeaway, the portions have got smaller and the price for 4 now is almost £50. We used to eat out quite regularly but less so now and since the pandemic lockdown we got used to having fakeaways which we’ve continued to do and I actually prefer it.

Cactusprick · 16/04/2023 00:19

MaknCheeese · 15/04/2023 20:03

That would be 2 bread, 2 main meals, 2 rice, onion bhaji and 2 side dishes. Enough for 4.

It might be cheap to some but it's 1/3 of my weekly food budget.

Whattttt?
Really?! Even the mains are around £10 each at all the Indian or Chinese takeaways here. I’m shocked you got so much for £30!
Where abouts do you live OP?

Cactusprick · 16/04/2023 00:21

Nogg · 16/04/2023 00:09

I was in a chip shop in outer London buying one large chips to share came to £3.50.
The man next to me ordered six main meals
with chips and drinks came to over £100 ! For fish and chips!

note to self never buy a round of fish and chips!

Yeah it’s mad, fish and chips for 2 for us is about £25 nowadays! Unbelievable isn’t it.

Greycheck · 16/04/2023 00:22

It is really expensive now. We have a takeaway every Friday, there is five of us of which four are adults plus the fact that we are greedy bastards so no sharing and it does add up to a fair whack. Even a McDs for us all is expensive and that's shite.

CremeEggQueen · 16/04/2023 00:22

roses2 · 15/04/2023 22:38

How are people finding takeaways so cheap?? I'm in London and take away prices are now insane. My local Indian is £15/dish. My local fish and chip shop is £14 for fish + £3 for chips!

Yikes, glad I'm not in London - fish and chips here is around £7 and I moan that's gone up nowadays! 😁 Local Indian is approx £9 a main meal

Gardengirl108 · 16/04/2023 00:30

Had an Indian takeaway tonight, £47 for the two of us
2 mains
2 rice
3 sides
2 lots of onion bahjis (8 in total)
1 garlic naan and
8 popodums (although they sent 10)
but the portions are so large that this will last us 3 meals each, we have one about once a month.

CoffeeCakeAndALattePlease · 16/04/2023 00:33

We get one every couple of weeks but the kids aren’t keen so it’s usually just the 2 of us. £18 for Chinese last night…. We usually share a rice, a main and a side as the helpings are massive.

frenchfancy81 · 16/04/2023 00:35

40 quid for 2 of us last week (Indian)

Ineedwinenow · 16/04/2023 00:51

Ours is about 40.00 with a delivery charge for two of us

2 popadoms and pickle
2 mains
1 nan
1 rice
1 chips

It used to be early £30s and we would have one every month or two but now it’s in the £40s we might knock it on the head permanently!

wingingit1987 · 16/04/2023 01:13

It’s the dominos/papa johns type places. That was always my weekly treat as a STUDENT! When I was at my “skintest”. I had a look at their websites to order for the kids a few days ago and almost died at the cost.

owloak · 16/04/2023 01:17

Our rent has gone up considerably and one of the main things we have had to cut out now is takeaways. It will be a long time before we have one again.

CremeEggQueen · 16/04/2023 01:20

wingingit1987 · 16/04/2023 01:13

It’s the dominos/papa johns type places. That was always my weekly treat as a STUDENT! When I was at my “skintest”. I had a look at their websites to order for the kids a few days ago and almost died at the cost.

With Dominos and Papa John's you need it to be one of the special offers, like buy one get one free.
Otherwise you're looking at not much under 20 quid a pizza, absolutely insane prices

ThinWomansBrain · 16/04/2023 01:29

Yesterday - Fish & chips - one portion, but it was huge, enough for two. £2.99
Too Good to Go 😁.

My cat ate lots of the fish, and the chips were surprisingly OK reheated today.

A good way of keeping cost down with an Indian takeaway (or anything with rice) is to substitute the rice with a packet of microwave rice.

Maple2023 · 16/04/2023 01:33

@CremeEggQueen they're ridiculous! I pay £15 for a 20 inch pizza which has to come through the door sideways Grin
Live alone so I wrap any leftovers and freeze as they're great in the air fryer and come out like fresh pizza for when I have a late night craving

nadiamumoftwo · 16/04/2023 01:37

God I must be a greedy git. Our weekly takeaway is at least £40 for two.

StarsInTheCountry · 16/04/2023 02:00

We have a takeaway once a week. £40-£100 usually depending on what we have for 4 of us. We eat out twice a week usually too, a lunch and a dinner.

We’re fortunate to have a good amount of disposable income so it’s affordable to us.

JMSA · 16/04/2023 02:21

OP, realistically, how much did you expect to pay?

JMSA · 16/04/2023 02:31

Sammyandtheboocas · 15/04/2023 20:23

Even fish and chips is £7 per head round our way, and that's for the 'evening special'.

I genuinely don't know why we do it. We spend around £60 per month on takeaways that are always a bit disappointing and come with a free serving of guilt.

That's so cheap!

JMSA · 16/04/2023 02:56

RosesAndHellebores · 15/04/2023 21:58

I think people must have more money than sense.

Better senseless than joyless!

BarbaraofSeville · 16/04/2023 05:41

People have to remember that the price increases have affected these businesses too and more so. Business utilities are uncapped so a small takeaway could have seen its annual bill go from under £10k to £50k+. Then there's the huge increase in the price of cooking oil and basic ingredients.

If it was providing annual salaries for a couple that's their income gone unless they increase their prices to cover it.

On portion sizes, if we're being honest, a standard meal of a main, rice and side like onion bhaji or spring rolls is far more than most people will eat, even for a treat meal, it's not 'competitive undereating' to make a takeaway last more than one meal, this is an enormous amount of food.

So many won't be ordering a whole meal per person, especially when feeding DC, which is why some orders seem 'cheap'. People will be controlling the cost by ordering the right amount of food and sharing dishes rather than a whole meal and sides per person and over eating or having lots of leftovers.

We're certainly being more mindful about takeaways, making sure it is worth it to us. So sometimes getting supermarket deals instead or sharing dishes, or using microwave rice (Waitrose pilau or egg fried is especially good and about 70 p instead of £3 at the takeaway).

For anyone buying naans, Costco have packs of excellent ones that work out at about 50 p each for a large garlic and coriander one. I've also seen the same brand in supermarket s where they're about £2 for 2 but either way, far cheaper than the takeaway.

Furrybutts · 16/04/2023 06:04

It's just me at home now, and I have 2 a week at a cost of around £40 per week. They each do for 2 meals though.

Food shopping a week for me and 2 small dogs ( plus grandchildren once or twice a week) is around £70.

I also have a Costa most days on my way to work, and a full English once a week.

I would rather skimp on other things if I needed to, but luckily I don't.

Dixietru · 16/04/2023 06:37

Curious to know where people live! Chinese/Indian for 2 people we usually spend £40 (inc delivery fee). It’s about £7-£9 per dish

Blaueblumen · 16/04/2023 07:05

Fish & chips - one portion, but it was huge, enough for two. £2.99

I can't imagine there being much quality fish in there, for that price! Shock

BarbaraofSeville · 16/04/2023 07:09

@Dixietru We're in an area of Yorkshire where there's a wide variety of prices from the suspiscously cheap to the naice restaurant level pricing but that's about what we pay for a main dish, maybe slightly less for Chinese, but it wouldn't be £40 for two people, because that would buy enough food for 4-6 people.

2 mains would be £16
2 rices - £7
2 naans - £8
Mixed starter or similar 4-6 items £9, so £40.

But half of a main, rice and naan would be a decent meal on it's own and if you're adding an onion bhaji and a kofta or similar it's plenty, even big eater DP can't eat anywhere near a whole meal and sides so the above would serve 4 adults or maybe 3 adults/3 DC unless they're all teen boys who've just run a marathon.