Madmakker
What does a week of food cost? Figures from a Danish meal planning app
An ordinary week of food costs around 750 kr for one person, 885 kr for two and 1,075 kr for two adults and two children, when the week is laid out by Madmakker using the app's own price estimates. Below is where the figures come from, how tight the budget can be set, and when the calculation does not hold. The prices are what you pay in a Danish supermarket, in kroner.
What a week costs
The figures are the median of 25 weekly plans, laid out by the app's own planner with a generous budget, so the number is what the week costs and not what the planner was asked to hit. The week consists of five dinners and seven lunches with leftovers taken into account.
| Household | A week of food | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1 adult | approx. 750 kr | 750 kr |
| 2 adults | approx. 885 kr | 443 kr |
| 2 adults + 2 children | approx. 1,075 kr | 269 kr |
The most useful thing in the table is the last column: the second person does not cost the same as the first. A week for two is not twice as expensive as a week for one, because the pack of mince, the cucumber and the bag of rice are shared. That is also why meal planning for one person is harder than for four, not easier.
How tight can the budget be set?
You set a weekly budget in the app yourself, and the planner builds weeks until it finds one that stays under it. It cannot perform magic: if the ceiling is lower than the food can be made for, you get the cheapest of the attempts, and the figure comes out above budget. Here is how often a budget was actually met, measured over 25 plans.
| Household and budget | Met |
|---|---|
| 1 adult, 600 kr | 3 of 25 |
| 1 adult, 700 kr | 24 of 25 |
| 2 adults, 700 kr | 1 of 25 |
| 2 adults, 800 kr | 13 of 25 |
| 2 adults, 900 kr | 25 of 25 |
| Family, 1,000 kr | 9 of 25 |
| Family, 1,200 kr | 24 of 25 |
The jump between 600 and 700 kr for one person is worth noticing. The food does not get better for those hundred kroner. The explanation is that packs do not get smaller because you live alone. A whole joint of beef costs the same however many people are eating.
1,200 kr is the app's own default figure for a family, and a family week stays under it 24 times out of 25.
Where the figures come from, and what they are not
They are calculated by the same code that lays out the plan in the app, using the app's own price list. They are estimates, not the shop's prices on the day, and four things are worth knowing before they are used for anything:
- The prices are adjusted, but not live. The base prices are Danish average prices, which the app scales by the food consumer price index from Statistics Denmark so they do not fall behind over time. No offer leaflets, no chain-specific prices.
- Store cupboard basics are not counted. Salt, pepper, water, oil and butter are treated as things already in the cupboard. A week where those have to be bought too is more expensive than the figure.
- Whole packs are bought. If a meal uses 300 g of beef, the week costs a whole joint. That is also how it works in the shop.
- Five dinners, not seven. The week is laid out with five, because leftovers and evenings out are part of an ordinary week. Set more and the figure rises.
The figures come from a test in the app's source code that runs every time the code is built, so they do not drift away from reality without anyone noticing. If the recipes or the prices change, the figures on this page change with them.
Five things that actually move the food budget
1. Plan at all
The biggest single jump is from no plan to a plan. Without one you shop several times, buy double, and order in on the days when there is nothing.
2. Let the shopping list come from the plan
A list gathered across the week's meals uses the same pack twice. A list per recipe buys it twice.
3. Mark what you already have
Half of an expensive shopping list is often things already in the cupboard. In Madmakker you tick them off, and then they do not count towards the week's figure.
4. Cook for two days at a time
Leftovers are not a fallback. They are the cheapest day of the week and the one that asks the least.
5. Let the expensive packs come round twice
A large pack is only expensive if it is used once. Used in two places in the week, it is cheap per meal.
Madmakker does numbers two, three and four on its own. Number one is still your decision, but the app can turn it into one tap instead of seven.
Questions
What does food cost for a family of four per week?
Around 1,075 kr for two adults and two children with five dinners and seven lunches, measured on Madmakker's own price estimates in August 2026. Set the budget to 1,200 kr and the week stays under it 24 times out of 25.
Can you live on 500 kr a week on your own?
Not with ordinary everyday food priced by whole packs. 600 kr was met only 3 times out of 25 in the measurement, while 700 kr was met 24 times out of 25. The reason is that packs do not get smaller because you live alone, not that the food is expensive.
Is there a free app that plans meals to a budget?
Yes. Madmakker is free in its entirety (no subscriptions, no in-app purchases and no ads) and lays out the week from the size of the household and the weekly budget you set. The app is available for Android and is in Danish.
Does the app take supermarket offers into account?
No. Madmakker uses average prices adjusted by the consumer price index from Statistics Denmark and does not know this week's offers. If the plan should be built around the week's offers, Mambeno is made for exactly that.
I have just moved to Denmark. Do these figures apply to me?
Yes. They are Danish supermarket prices in Danish kroner, adjusted by a Danish price index, so they are what you will actually pay here. If you are trying to work out what a week of food ought to cost in a new country, this is the number. The app is built for shopping in Denmark and is not meant for use anywhere else.
Get Madmakker
Get it free on Google Play Free · Android 7.0 and later · No ads
This page was last reviewed on 3 September 2026 against Madmakker 1.2. If something here is wrong, write to kontakt@nixio.dk.