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

[MaknCheeese]

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?

Ok so you can easily afford it, consider it a treat, using your own words,but like to compare it to your food budget so feel you can’t justify it. So then why did you start a thread literally asking how people afforded it?

We used to get one a week, now it's one a fortnight - but we've also pretty much cut out eating out as well, which we also used to do most weeks.
I'm a single parent and I also cook for work so I would go insane if I had to cook All. The. Meals. I very much look forward to these nights off.

@Ihatepainting
Because the prices seem so high and I do wonder how people can afford it now with so many threads on COL crisis and food bank usage.
I am shocked at many of the replies, I consider spending £30 on a takeaway as expensive but have been clearly told that is considered cheap.

I consider spending £30 on a takeaway as expensive but have been clearly told that is considered cheap.

Without analysing the quantity and quality of the ingredients you simply cannot call it either cheap or expensive!

Everyone has different incomes, budgets, priorities for things so that how it will vary. Some may spend more on a takeaway a week but you may spend more on other things you see as more value for money.

Everyone has different incomes and priorities, though.

A family of four, with a SAHM and an expensive mortgage in the SE is inevitably going to have a much stricter budget than a couple with no children in the NW who both work full-time.

You think £30 on a meal is expensive and a waste of money, but I imagine there are other things you spend £30 on that I think similarly about.

Prices aren't high in all areas of the country either - I've never spent much more than £20 on a takeaway for two people - the average cost is £13-15, which I think is a bargain when you think it includes ingredients, cooking and delivery, and you only have two plates to wash up afterwards

It is meant in terms of comparison to average costs, for 4 people to have an Indian takeaway in many places 30 quid would be very cheap, i for example would struggle to get one for 2 people for that, a main where I live is between 12-15 pounds.

but yes op lots of folks are struggling with col crisis, but not all by any manner of means, and a huge amount of folks can still afford a takeaway , as witnessed by this thread.

I still don’t get the question though, as you yourself can easily afford one, so why do you assume others can’t. You can’t think you’re the richest person out there if your food budget for 4 is only 90 pounds, which many would struggle with.

Takeaways have always been pretty expensive for a full evening meal for a family haven't they? (As opposed to grabbing a quick kebab, or chickenburger n chips for one, or whatever.) I remember it being a very occasional treat when I was a kid — mid-90s in a small town, getting a Chinese takeaway for two adults and two teens/preteens (the equivalent of a main each but each one to be shared between us, plus special fried rice, ordinary rice, prawn crackers and spring rolls) would be around £20 — inflation would make that the equivalent of nearly £40 now. I remember what it cost because I always went with whichever parent went to pick up the food from the takeaway, because the owners gave all visiting children a lollipop

Takeaways have always been pretty expensive for a full evening meal for a family haven't they?

I think you're right.

I think there are lots of posters on MN who are only recently feeling the pinch financially, and they all seem a bit shocked that things like takeaways, meals out and trips to the cinema are now something they have to budget for, whereas for many of us, they've always been treats we've only been able to afford occasionally.

What did you order to consider £30 expensive?

The thing is, there are still loads of folk who won’t find it expensive. We factor it into what we budget for entertainment/days out sort of fund rather than our grocery budget. We don’t drive or go nights out or anything so a Chinese and some TV/a film is our treat to ourself.

£30 isn’t expensive for a takeaway near me but we do have an incredible amount of options nearby nowadays due to Uber/Just eat/ Deliveroo.

It is meant in terms of comparison to average costs, for 4 people to have an Indian takeaway in many places 30 quid would be very cheap

Yes, relative to an 'average' takeaway meal for 4 that may well be very cheap.

But I like to consider the value for money of things I purchase. And without knowing the ingredients (expensive prawns vs cheap vegetables? Good quality vs bad frying oils etc) I could not determine if £30 is cheap or expensive for that meal.

I think there are lots of posters on MN who are only recently feeling the pinch financially, and they all seem a bit shocked that things like takeaways, meals out and trips to the cinema are now something they have to budget for, whereas for many of us, they've always been treats we've only been able to afford occasionally.

I think this is spot on. So we won’t give up our weekly takeaway but have big household items to buy this year and May have to cut them down or maybe out.

What I simply cannot understand is who can afford to shop at medium to high-cost high-street brands - basically anything from french connection up to Reiss (including full price nike & adidas etc). I can’t contemplate anything above Zara prices and even then have cut right, right down.

The people who can still afford takeaways etc probably aren’t posting on the threads about the COL crisis about struggling financially, is the answer to that one.

My DD loves the bloody things. (ASD) She includes milk shakes & ice creams.. the COST!! :-0

This is very valid.

I am struggling to see where the op is going with this, yes some folks are struggling, but many many are not, not to the extent they canr buy a takeaway , if that was the case, they’d all be out of business.

The simple answer is folks can afford it as they have rhe disposable income to be able to do so.

In a very slightly different universe, you'd all be having to farm or hunt every meal.

it's interesting reading through the responses that most posters write about "takeaways" when they actually mean delivered food.
A few years ago - even as recently as 2019 pre covid - there wasn't the plethora of deliveroo/uber type delivery services, although a few places would have had their own delivery service, so a takeaway mostly meant calling into the restaurant/takeaway to collect.
Although the money that gets to the driver may not be high, presumably the delivery companies work on a commission percentage - so in addition to the rising cost of food, and utilities, wages and general running costs for the restaurant, that's another additional cost to factor in.
the move to more environmentally friendly packaging is probably not cheap either (as a cost to the supplier, not the planet).

I mean takeaway as either me or Dh drive to fetch them. There is a chip shop & a Chinese next door to each other in one direction and an Indian in the other direction.

Depends where you live. I’m not even in a city and we had many, many delivery options, even when I was growing up in the 90s. Pretty much every restaurant does takeaway, delivery or sit in, plus many places with no sit in option which have always done takeaway or delivery. In fact, I can’t think of many which only offered takeaway and not delivery.

Fairly sure I've been using apps like just eat since about 2010, Uber eats since perhaps 2016 ish? they are hardly new for takeaways (sorry, delivered food 😂)

Takeaways or "delivered food" have both been around for years - they're hardly a new phenomenon.

I got deliveries on a regular basis at university and that was well over a decade ago now - even when I lived at home before that, deliveries were common - especially at weekends.

The only time we ever went in a restaurant to "takeaway" was when we went to the chippy as it was less than 20m from our front door

About €50 here but we order a lot.
There's never any leftovers but we're all full
2 adults,2 teens and a pre teen.
That would be for a Chinese.
But if we do order during the week it's usually pizza or snack boxes.
They're bogof usually during the week.

most posters write about "takeaways" when they actually mean delivered food

Delivered food would be an Ocado or Sainsbury food delivery, no?

Perhaps you can. But not everyone can