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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:
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Sailingaround · 15/04/2023 21:15

Takeaway for a family is actually doable by the sounds of it . It’s single people who get stung price-wise. My takeaways are about £15-20 for one person! I foolishly got them multiple times a week during the first year or so of the pandemic, and dread to think how much I spent but Now I get them about once or twice a month.

DrMarciaFieldstone · 15/04/2023 21:15

£70 for a curry or Chinese for four here

whatkatydid2013 · 15/04/2023 21:16

BelindaMelinda · 15/04/2023 21:09

Pizza takeaway for 14 of us (7 adults and 7 children between ages 1-12) cos us just over £65 over Easter

£65 for pizzas for 14 people?! Err, how? Was that just a couple of slices each?

If I get a pizza take away just for our 3 dc (two teens and 6 year old) I can easily spend £20 odd and that's a cheaper pizza place, like one of the local kebab shops rather than Domino's etc.

We could get 6 x XXL pizzas of any type for £66 from the papa johns that’s a 3 min walk from us. That would easily feed 14. They are huge

00100001 · 15/04/2023 21:16

JeepersCreeperrs · 15/04/2023 21:02

McDonald’s. £15 for 4.

What did you get for 4 for £15??

How many kids/adult meals?

Assuming 2 adults and 2 kids... Two mids meals is £7. Leaving £8 for 2 adult meals?

Mycatisfatafatcat · 15/04/2023 21:16

I’ve had 4 this week…..I’m not proud of that!

thefamous5 · 15/04/2023 21:16

@BelindaMelinda

I've attached the screenshot of the order. I know all adults had at least 2 slices each, and a good handful of the fries each, the children (1y - 12y) had 1-2 slices each and handful of chips. In hindsight could have done with another portion of chips but no one was hungry!

One family took 3 slices of pizza home with them and there were still a couple of slices left for us the next day

To wonder how people can afford a takeaway for a family?
WellPlaced · 15/04/2023 21:17

We last had a takeaway Thursday and Friday. £40 for 3 and £27 for 2.

We can afford it because we’re fortunate enough to have the money.

Onlyhereforchaletschool · 15/04/2023 21:18

Had a Chinese last night with my mum … we split a main course (crispy chilli chicken and rice) and got a small chips. £10.20. There was loads of food for 2

Comefromaway · 15/04/2023 21:19

We spend a lot less.

Ds and I have a chippy which costs about £8-10 (depending on whether I have fish cake or mini fish) and Dh & Dd have Indian or Chinese which comes to about £12

Rolypolyfishheads · 15/04/2023 21:20

We had takeaway yesterday for 2 of us. 2 x 8" pizzas 🍕 2 x cans of fizzy drinks, 2 x fries 🍟 and 8pcs chilli cheese bites for £15.

Purpleboat · 15/04/2023 21:20

We had Chinese tonight. £18 for three. I voted YANBU for wondering, but I guess how everyone chooses to budget and what to spend their disposable income on is so subjective. Thankfully we are in the position to have a few takeaways here and there without giving it too much thought.

I did read somewhere about a family who used oven chips, shop bought rice etc. and just bought the curry from the takeaway to make it more affordable. I guess this could be an option if you want to keep costs down.

Floralnomad · 15/04/2023 21:21

JeepersCreeperrs · 15/04/2023 21:02

McDonald’s. £15 for 4.

What did you actually get , we had McDonald’s breakfast this week with extra hash browns and that was £16.50 for 2 of us .

fairgame84 · 15/04/2023 21:21

3 days ago. Dominos 2 large pizzas for £21 as they had 50% off. So that was 20 slices between 3 adults and we had some left over for the next day.
We only get takeaway if there's an offer and it costs around £20.

OuchIStubbedMyBigToe · 15/04/2023 21:21

Are takeaways the new Mumsnet chicken??

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 15/04/2023 21:22

We live rurally with not very many options, so we tend to get chippy tea.

Our normal order is:

2 x jumbo sausages
1 x large chips
1 x curry sauce
1 x large chips with cheese
1 x gravy
1 x onion rings

That comes to £13.

whatkatydid2013 · 15/04/2023 21:22

00100001 · 15/04/2023 21:16

What did you get for 4 for £15??

How many kids/adult meals?

Assuming 2 adults and 2 kids... Two mids meals is £7. Leaving £8 for 2 adult meals?

You could get (for example)

40 chicken nuggets & 2 large fries

Mix of cheeseburgers, basic chicken burgers, fries to share & drinks

2 x happy meal & 2 x basic burger and fries.

I get those kind of options when we take a few of the kids friends to the cinema as half of them only pick at whatever we get for dinner after they’ve had popcorn anyway and it’s not worth spending a fortune

Poblano · 15/04/2023 21:22

We had a Chinese takeaway tonight, 2 adults and 2 teens. We had the set meal for 2 (sweet and sour chicken, chicken with mushrooms, beef chop suey, egg fried rice) plus plain chow mein and prawn crackers. Cost around £25.

We have a takeaway roughly once a month. It's much cheaper than eating out.

Marzipangirl3 · 15/04/2023 21:23

I’ll get flamed for this but we don’t cook all weekend from Friday tea time though to Monday morning, plus another midweek takeaway or meal out. We’re a couple and we spend anywhere from £20-£40 on a takeaway depending on where we go. In our area, Indian is by the far the most expensive, chippy is the cheapest.

Disolusionedteacher · 15/04/2023 21:23

£28 for a local kebab/pizza shop for 2 here in the Welsh valleys. Doubt we’ll have one again for a while. It was good though!

BelindaMelinda · 15/04/2023 21:25

@thefamous5@thefamous5@thefamous5 my 15 year old will eat a 12 inch pizza to himself and 13/6 year olds will share another. It's a very rare treat here to order pizza in because I'm always thinking about just how cheap I could have bought the frozen equivalent 😂

00100001 · 15/04/2023 21:25

thefamous5 · 15/04/2023 20:56

@JaneFondue

Oh right apologies. Our Chinese takeaway for six is £30 and that includes delivery via just eat

But your Chinese takeaway is basically rice, chips and noodles with a little bit of chicken for everyone.

"Chinese takeaway of 3 portions of chow mein (noodles), Chinese curry (chicken presumably?) and chips with rice x2"

Others might order something like;
Sweet and sour chicken
Crispy chilli beef
Szechuan pork
Rice x 2
Chips x 1
Prawn crackers X 1

To share between 2 adults and 4 kids . Which would work out more expensive.than your delicious carb fest. Because there's more meat/expensive dishes.

shard5 · 15/04/2023 21:27

They've become a very rare treat at our house purely because like you I imagine all the shopping I could get for that £30 odd pounds which is down the hatch within the hour.
Thankfully my teens are really good, they'll mention they feel like a takeaway, so long as we've had it once I can copy and produce something similar at a fraction of the cost. Burgers, noodles, pizza, I can do it all and it's mostly always better than the takeaway version. Saves loads of money as well so win win!

deflatedbirthday · 15/04/2023 21:30

Tonight. Chinese for 2 adults. 2 mains and 3 sides. £18. Portions are huge and it lasts us 2-3 meals.

I budget £120 per week for food for DH, myself and DSC (50/50) including lunches.
£50 Gousto for me and DH. £45-50 Tesco delivery. Anything left over is takeaway treat.

shivawn · 15/04/2023 21:31

Last takeaway was €13 for 2 of us, just burgers and chips. We just get one chips between us because our chipper does huge portions.

QuickNameChangeForMeToday · 15/04/2023 21:32

We tend to have takeaway and eat out once a month as a family. Takeaway is about £50/£65 depending on what we have (Thai tends to be the most expensive).

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