Living in Ireland: Groceries – A Pretty Happy Home

Food. We all need it. We all hope someone else will cook it for us. Am I right?

One of the questions I often get about Ireland is how much do groceries cost?

Because I’m a smart aleck, I like to say “it depends.”

Seriously, though. It really does.

In general, I find things like cereal or pre-packaged foods (e.g. macaroni and cheese) to be more expensive – especially if you want a brand name. If you are okay with store brands, then you can find great deals.

So far, I find produce and dairy products to be very reasonably priced and of excellent quality.

It does crack me up that orange juice with pulp is called orange juice with bits. I love that. Also, I can make two separate dishes out of that 2 lb. package of hamburger for our family of four. Or, we can eat tacos all week…but I’m the only one who thinks that’s okay in this house.

Here’s an example of one recent grocery trip and a sampling of what some of those items cost.

Bag of sweet potatoes – €1.46
Carrots – €.89
Grapes -€ 2.19
Banana – €.36 each
String cheese 8 count – €2.03 (it was on sale)
Blueberries – €2.19
Red Peppers – €1.50
Bag of Salad Greens – €1.15
Chicken – €5.00
Chocolate Milk – €1.59
Coffee – €6.50 (that size was on sale)

All of the items below totaled €32.38. If you are converting euros to U.S. dollars, a rough estimation at the current time is €1 = $1.10. So, the below items cost $35.23.

Here’s another example for you with some non-food items and a sampling of what some of those items cost.

Frozen shampoo – €2.69
Large black trash bags – €1.99
Small white trash bags – €1.00
Clothespins – €2.85
Hand soap – €1.64 each
Contact lens solution – €8.27
Brown (wheat) flour – €1.85
OxyClean – €3.30
Baking Yeast – €1.89
Salsa – €1.00
Artisan bread – €2.00
Cereal (500 g) – €4.49
Laundry detergent (21 washes) – €1.79

This shopping trip, which also included some dairy items that weren’t in this picture, was €49.56, which is $54.09.

Grocery stores here offer a loyalty card with various vouchers or coupons that you can earn. I mainly shop at Tesco because of convenience, quality and price. I do shop at SuperValu for items I can’t find at Tesco (such as molasses). Their prices are higher, but their customer service is amazing. Lidl also has stores here and then there are a variety of organic-type stores too. It’s also very common to see stand-alone butcher shops and bakeries.

Self-checkout is really popular in Ireland and it’s a lot easier than what I was used to in the United States. That’s mainly because everything – even produce – has a barcode. So they are mainly selling items by unit, not by weight.

If you are in a lane with a cashier, it is not unusual to see the cashier sitting on a cushioned barstool instead of standing. Also, it doesn’t matter what lane you are in, you have to bag everything yourself. If you don’t have a bag and need one, you’ll have to pay for it. To contrast, clothing stores are more than happy to give you a free bag for your purchases.

All in all, I’d venture to say we are spending a little less on groceries than we did in the United States. What I am most happy about is that we waste virtually zero food. I attribute this to the frequency of my grocery shopping (almost daily) and because we don’t have room to store a lot of extra food. Food doesn’t have a chance to spoil when you are buying smaller quantities more frequently. Go figure! In my past experience, the more often I went to the store, the more often I’d buy stuff we didn’t need. I haven’t fallen prey to that reality here simply because I have to carry everything I buy home – either in a backpack or a reusable shopping bag. I can’t emphasize enough how this really helps you prioritize your purchases! My biceps seem to benefit too. We don’t have any plans to get a car, but if we do, all bets are off.

If you want to know more about our experience of moving to and living in Ireland, check out these posts:

Living in Ireland: Life Without a Car

Living in Ireland: Inside My Kitchen

Living in Ireland: Christmas in Retail 2017

Living in Ireland: Storm Ophelia

Living in Ireland: That Time a Tree Came Down

Living in Ireland: Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Living in Ireland: Back After A Month in the United States

Living in Ireland: As Seen On My Commute

Living in Ireland: A Trip to the Hardware Store

Living in Ireland: Spring Flowers In Our Yard

Living in Ireland: Grocery Shopping