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?

Frozen pizzas aren't a treat. We have them on occasion with no issue, but hardly the same.

If you want a bake at home pizza, the ones you can tailor from Asda are a good shout.

The answer is obvious: some families have more money than others. What kind of a question is this, can you really not work it out?

Crosta Mollica are excellent and quite similar to those from good independent places that sell wood fired oven pizzas. They're pretty much the only premade pizzas we eat and are a treat, they're lovely.

But I've never understood the frequent recommmendation for those from the Asda pizza counter. They're nothing like real pizza.

I think on these threads there's often an assumption that takeaway only means Indian, Chinese or pizza/chip shop. Agree these can be very unhealthy especially the latter. But with deliveroo we have amazing healthy options and it tells you the calories, we have ramen and pho options that are very healthy. There is every cuisine you can imagine near me. It's not just pizza and chips.

Yes, and also that pizza takeaway means Dominos/Papa Johns type pizza. If we have a pizza delivery it’s from a gastropub in the local village which has a wood fired pizza oven. It started doing deliveries during lockdown and has kept it up as a sideline. So they’re not swimming in grease or made with weird non cheese, they’re just decent wood fired pizzas which are delivered.

We don't have great delivery choices near us plus delivery times of an hour plus so we are currently experimenting with having a 'not takeaway' evening. 5 minute drive to waitrose. Each picks what they fancy. Back home, dinner in the oven and wine open before a delivery would have arrived (cold with items missing)

Cost is around the same as a takeaway but the experience is less annoying!

The most disappointing takeaway was 5 Guys. Burgers, fries, shakes etc. Cost £95 for 6. DCs had been saying they were really amazing but we were all left feeling a bit meh.

@DanceMonster agree, we do the same. I couldn't make a wood fired pizza like that at home and it's not remotely similar to a supermarket pizza!

Make your own pizza from scratch, delicious

We do sometimes, but it involves cooking. The point of a takeaway pizza is that it doesn’t involve cooking. And the ones we get are nicer than the ones we make ourselves as they’re done in a proper wood fired oven, which we don’t have at home.

I think people who are on a very tight budget don't get takeaways and those who aren't don't look at it in terms of their weekly food budget, rather their entertainment/treat budget.

We had a curry at the weekend

Cost £42

That was for 3 mains
2 sides
bread to share
and a couple of rices

I put it on the credit card 🤷‍♀️

I do know what you mean, op, but most ppl on MN probably can afford it.
I have a friend who can't really afford it and is on benefits (& works 8hr/week), but she has a takeaway at least once a week because her dc want it.
She also gets her nails done more often than me because she sees treats as a way to feel better about things.
She isn't great with money and prioritising bills, etc, so she lives on the edge of a £1500 overdraft, which she had arranged when she had her exdp wage coming in, which she doesn't have anymore.
She'll often have to borrow money from family or kids Christmas money, etc, to manage to get to the end of the month as she's reached her overdraft limit. She won't cut out the non essentials/treats, though, as she sees it as a right.
She could live within her means if she stopped the (at least) weekly takeaways, didn't waste food, had a lot less nights out, stopped clothes shopping every other week, but even though she knows she should, she doesn't seem able to.
It gets frustrating to see, but it's not my life so I don't get involved.

Too much effort sometimes.

Isn't the main point of a takeaway that you don't have to cook it?

@Blaueblumen no not just chips, sausage or smoked sausage suppers, black/white/ haggis pudding.

Thanks for clarifying @linsey2581 I'm not British and find it intriguing as to what people in the UK enjoy

@Blaueblumen A 'chippy' is a colloquialism for a fish and chip shop that traditionally sells fried and battered white fish and chips mainly. It's likely our longest standing type of takeaway.

There's quite an interesting variation in what they sell across the country. In Yorkshire, we traditionally fry in beef dripping and have our own unique version of fishcakes (like a fish and potato scallop sandwich, fried in batter, rather than the more common fish and mashed potato type) and probably have the most limited traditional type menu, with just fish, fishcakes and maybe sausages or pies, with chips and mushy peas, gravy or curry sauce, making up the entire menu.

In Liverpool, many of their fish and chip shops are run by people of Chinese heritage, in Glasgow, by Italians. In both cases, the menu consists of traditional style fish and chips, then also Chinese takeaway style food or pizzas etc.

This probably sums it up. If you are struggling to buy food/skipping meals to be able to feed kids, it would be a bit odd to then have a ‘treat’ allowance where you could afford a weekly takeout/delivery.

Last week, this was for four of us.

£95! Omg that is so expensive! I don’t blame families one little bit for getting takeaways- hardworking parents etc but when I think about how much food £95 would buy … 😱
I like your Waitrose idea.

I’m echoing others on here: a quick run (in the car! 🤣) to your local chippy is often the best value for money.

£95! Omg that is so expensive! I don’t blame families one little bit for getting takeaways- hardworking parents etc but when I think about how much food £95 would buy … 😱

I know. Think of all the nice wine, smoked salmon, avocados, nice cheese and other lovely food you could buy for that....!!

I just bought a Wagamama for 3 of us (me and two kids 23 and 15) and it cost £78!! I am now poor till payday.

But maybe I'm unusual in my taste as I wouldn't actually enjoy 'chippy' type takeaways..

Whereas I wouldn't thank you for cheese, smoked salmon, avocados or the like.

Buying takeaways doesn’t stop us being able to have those things as well, though.