What should your weekly shop cost?

How much should a weekly grocery shop cost in Ireland?

The CSO's Household Budget Survey puts the average Irish household's weekly food spend at about €161 (2023), and prices have risen since — some families are paying €40+ a week more than in 2022. As a rough 2026 guide, a single adult typically spends €55–€75 a week, a couple €95–€130, and a family of four €160–€210.

But two households the same size can differ by 30% or more depending on where they shop and how they shop — which is exactly what the calculator above adjusts for.

What does a weekly shop cost for a family of 4?

Roughly €160–€210 a week in 2026 for two adults and two children. Shopping your main shop at Aldi or Lidl and buying own-brand staples can bring that toward — or below — the lower end. Leaning on premium stores or frequent convenience "top-up" shops pushes it well past €210. The single biggest lever for most families isn't couponing — it's which shop the weekly big shop happens in.

Am I overspending on groceries?

If your weekly spend is well above the typical range for your household size, you're not doing anything wrong — but there's usually room to trim without eating worse.

The four biggest levers, in order of impact:

1. Move your main shop to Aldi or Lidl
2. Swap branded items for own-brand — often the same product, 30–50% cheaper
3. Plan a rough week of meals to cut the food that gets binned
4. Cut "quick top-up" convenience shops, where prices run highest

Is this a real figure or a guess?

It's an honest benchmark, not a guess and not a reading of your receipts. The ranges are anchored to the CSO Household Budget Survey (average household ~€161/week) and adjusted for 2026 grocery inflation, then scaled for your household size, where you shop, and how you shop. Treat the number as a "households like mine typically spend around this" yardstick to measure your own bill against — not a precise prediction. We don't store anything you enter.

Now cut it: the honest grocery guides

We take no money from any supermarket, so these can tell you the truth about where the savings actually are:

• The Real Basket — we priced the same shop at Tesco, SuperValu & Dunnes on the same day. See who's actually cheapest.
• The cheapest supermarket in Ireland — the honest answer, and how to find the cheapest shop for your own trolley.
• Own-brand vs branded — the swaps that quietly save 30–50% on the same product.
• When supermarkets reduce food — how to time yellow-sticker markdowns and fill your freezer for less.
• Are loyalty cards worth it? — Clubcard, Real Rewards, Lidl Plus and Dunnes, honestly assessed.
• Shrinkflation — how to spot the products that shrank, and the one number that reveals the real price.

General information, not financial advice. Grocery prices vary by store, week and region — this is a typical-spend benchmark based on CSO data adjusted for 2026, to compare your own spend against.