How much do you spend on meat?

devil30

Our bill came to £48 today. Are we spending / eating far too much?

Any input welcome!

lil_me

You haven't said how many people it is for, what you have bought, what quality you buy etc so unfortunately no wisdom springs to mind so far.

We are a family of 4 and I would guess that meat costs is at least 1/3 of my budget, about £100 a month, if not more. I've never really calculated it seperately.

As far as eating too much, protein is essential in a persons diet, info on protein -
How much is enough?

Health professionals recommend that protein makes up ten to 15 per cent of your diet. They suggest men eat 55.5g protein a day and women eat 45g. In real terms, eating a moderate amount of protein - in one or two meals every day - should give you all the protein you need.
The need to eat protein every day is worth emphasising, because your body can't store it - you can't stock up on it by bingeing on protein once a week, for example.

devil30

Ah, sorry for the lack of specifics, Lil. This is for two people. We bought 2 kgs of lamb, 1 kg of beef (minced) and a kg of chicken. The meat is good quality, halal meat. I'm just looking for a general comparison.

lil_me

Which works out on average you're paying £12 per kilo, ouch that seems VERY high, I think the first thing I would look at is changing where I shop. Most even organic suppliers are cheaper than that.

I'll try to find the price list from the farm shop I use just for you to compare.

devil30

Thanks Lil, that's what I was thinking! Am a little limited though, in that it has to be halal. But, I will start shopping around...

Horace

I live on my own but always have enough meat for two (in case my partner comes to stay). I spend on average £25 per month: buying bulk chicken thighs, pork chops, rib-eye steak, lamb shanks (2 for £4), best steak mince, a whole chicken plus a piece of topside. I get these from the butcher in the next village - its all British except for the lamb which is from New Zealand and it is all organic (you can tell from the taste that it hasn't been pumped full of chemicals). I freeze things in either 1s or 2s but the chicken thighs will be frozen in 3s.

I find that buying in bulk and freezing in 1s (chops etc,) then I can always pull two out of the freezer if required.

I buy all my veg locally too, either from the greengrocer which sources local produce or direct from the farm.

lil_me

Just to compare, this is from a farm shop which produces and sells it's own meats, all free range & well reared, quality is amazing

Beef Mince - £4.00 per kilo, very little fat
Chicken - whole is £3 per kilo, breasts are £7 per kilo
Lamb depends what cut but average of £8 a kilo

I do understand that Halal label can come with an extra premium, it may be worthwhile asking around in your local Muslim community as to where others source meats. I worked in a place which only used Halal meats and I know friends and family members of the employer would collect supplies from there as he bought in bulk from wholesalers who delivered. Many Sainsbury's stores have been HFA approved. http://www.halalfoodauthority.co.uk/sainsburys.htm

So the basics of it come down to I probably buy MUCH more meat than you do, just the costs are very different

devil30

Sounds like we're paying well over the odds, Horace! I know halal's a bit of a niche market in some places, but these butchers must compete, I suppose. Its my oh who needs the meat to be halal - I personally don't give a rats as* what I eat!

lil_me

Oh heck a split household, also come across many of those, some who lie to partners just because of the costs involved etc.

If you can order in bulk, even just slightly more than what you buy now (to save on the delivery) the likes of these might be worth looking into, prices much cheaper than you appear to be paying

http://www.halal-meat-direct.co.uk/products/beef.php
http://www.organic-halal-meat.com/lamb.html (only do lamb online so far)

You may be able to find more in your local area, I just searched those who deliver nationally, google can be a great friend when trying to save money.

Certified outlet list for Halal MC http://www.halalmc.co.uk/certified_outlets/certified_butchers_london.html

I still don't think there is one independant organisation to monitor standards and remember a documentary being on about this and that there was many suppliers named their meat as Halal when it was not.

http://www.unstunnedhalal.com/outlets.html more links

http://www.halalcandyuk.com/ one for candy that just happened to pop up

heather38

i buy
4lb minced steak £6
2 pork chops £2.20
1 leg lamb £8
2 frying steaks £2.99
1 whole chicken £3.50
every 2 weeks
so about £45 a month
this is for 2 adults and a baby.
i buy from a very good butcher and he sometimes throws in a free liver for the baby.
i also buy about £10 or so of fish a month.
we're not big chicken eaters but i buy boned thighs for specific recipies at £1 a lb

Bella79

We have a massive meat and fish market near us and i think im gonna start buying my meat monthly from there ..............one reason i havent in the past is becuase its always £0.00 for ?? kg and i get confused theres me and hubby and 2 year old daughter we eat meat nearly every day sometimes hm fishcakes and sat night is treat night so we have takeouts so thats 5 days worh of meat over 4 weeks
what amounts do u think i should be buying and at what cost ?

we like
mince
pork chops/joints
chikens
lamb chops/joints
chirozo

thanks for your thoughts