£100 a month food budget for two
- Thread starter PiKe
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Caporegime
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I cook a lot of meals from scratch. But apart from basic stuff anything decent costs money.
A lamb curry can easily be £20 once you account for everything. I'm talking all the stuff that goes with it too, naan, rice, yogurt, salad, popadoms, chicken tikka pakora, etc.
If all you east is basic stuff then yeah £25 is probably okay. If you want rich wholesome food then no chance. I just bought 4 small packs of fruit and it was like £8. Blueberries for example ain't cheap.
I tend to stick to chicken, beef, and pork. Lamb is an expensive meat by comparison, always has been, that doesn't mean that beef and chicken can't be 'good wholesome food' or that it's necessarily basic.
Same goes for fruit.
If you go out of your way to buy the most expensive types of fruit and meat available of course things are going to cost a lot of money.
I generally eat the following over the course of a week as main meals:
1-2 Pasta dishes (Bolognese for example)
1-2 Curry dishes (Indian or Chinese)
1-2 Dinners, may also make a savory pie of some sort
Some sort of fish at least once a week.
Sometimes I'll make soup, sometimes I'll make a stir fry, and so on.
Those main meals are all doable for around £20 per week if you buy and cook in bulk, obviously if you want to live on lamb and salmon or are buying the supposedly 'premium' supermarket cuts that's not going to be the case. I highly recommend chicken thighs to almost everyone I know over buying breast for example, it's cheaper and tastes better.
Hold in mind this means spending £100-125 per month and buying in bulk. Large bags of rice, lentils, chic-peas, curry paste if you want to be lazy, there's a ton of different options. If you nip out once a week with £20 in your pocket it's probably going to be difficult. Obviously you'll need to buy your meat within set time frames, but almost everything else can be stocked up on in one go.
Same goes for fruit.
If you go out of your way to buy the most expensive types of fruit and meat available of course things are going to cost a lot of money.
I generally eat the following over the course of a week as main meals:
1-2 Pasta dishes (Bolognese for example)
1-2 Curry dishes (Indian or Chinese)
1-2 Dinners, may also make a savory pie of some sort
Some sort of fish at least once a week.
Sometimes I'll make soup, sometimes I'll make a stir fry, and so on.
Those main meals are all doable for around £20 per week if you buy and cook in bulk, obviously if you want to live on lamb and salmon or are buying the supposedly 'premium' supermarket cuts that's not going to be the case. I highly recommend chicken thighs to almost everyone I know over buying breast for example, it's cheaper and tastes better.
Hold in mind this means spending £100-125 per month and buying in bulk. Large bags of rice, lentils, chic-peas, curry paste if you want to be lazy, there's a ton of different options. If you nip out once a week with £20 in your pocket it's probably going to be difficult. Obviously you'll need to buy your meat within set time frames, but almost everything else can be stocked up on in one go.
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Exactly this!
Poppadoms, Rich wholesome?
Are you eating your lamb curry feast every night?
Caporegime
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They are when you have mango chutney, etc with them.
Not every night but could easily be 2-3 nights.
That'll be mango chutney, basically a savory jam filled with sugar.
How many is your lamb curry feast feeding?
Caporegime
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Could be as little as 1 person or as many as 6.
That is the thing some of us have social lives where other people come over to eat as well, etc. Whether it be family or friends.
Sure if you live home alone and nobody ever comes over you could get away with basics, etc. Eating oats every morning is fine I do it myself but I like to add blueberries, cinnamon, goji berries, chia seeds, etc. Some ingredients are cheap others are not.
People seem to be suggesting only buy cheap stuff. If something is expensive like blueberries then don't buy it. Well I like blueberries so if I want them I buy them.
Same goes for Lamb, I like it so if I want it I will buy it. I won't be eating it every night but I will have it. I also like king prawns, etc. Tuna isn't cheap either, most decent seafood is expensive. Basically I would never substitute lamb for beef in a curry even if it is cheaper. I want lamb so I'll buy lamb.
I'd like to see how anyone does £25 a week and has a varied diet including things most people want to eat. Sure cabbage is fine but it's not something I want to be eating every day. Cheap staples are good and I usually have fresh potatoes with a lot of meals. However I won't just eat potato because it's cheap. I will buy whatever I want. For me when it comes to food money is no expense. I don't eat caviar every night so I would say my shopping isn't excessive in the slightest. Basically I don't care about cost when it comes to grocery shopping.
If I see a £20-£30 bottle of vodka, I'll buy it. I don't care what it costs. People need to enjoy their lives too and one of the luxuries you can treat yourself to is decent food everyday. It doesn't need to be seen just as fuel.
If I wanted to just spend £25 a week. All I would do is have a 10kg bag of oats and a 10kg bag of rice. I would then have oats for breakfast then have rice and daal (basically thick indian lentil soup) for lunch and dinner. It's worth just spending the extra few quid and having whatever I want.
It's very easy to do £25 a week and have a varied diet, I've done it and know others who do.
If you enjoy buying expensive food that's absolutely fine, to each their own and if you've earned the money you've the right to do whatever you want with it. I enjoy a nice cut of choice steak, or a side of salmon etc myself every so often. That said, you seem to be under the impression people who spend less money or who budget must be living in poverty and eating crap food, it simply isn't true. I've already listed the sort of food I can make for a week on £20, that isn't basic stuff and it is good hearty/enjoyable food.
I don't think anyone in this discussion is factoring in dinner parties or the like for their general costs, and I highly doubt anyone is factoring in eating out at a restaurant when they talk about spending £25 a week on foodstuffs. I'm not factoring alcohol into that either, I consider it a totally different expense as it's purely a luxury and not a necessity that can vary in quality.
If you enjoy buying expensive food that's absolutely fine, to each their own and if you've earned the money you've the right to do whatever you want with it. I enjoy a nice cut of choice steak, or a side of salmon etc myself every so often. That said, you seem to be under the impression people who spend less money or who budget must be living in poverty and eating crap food, it simply isn't true. I've already listed the sort of food I can make for a week on £20, that isn't basic stuff and it is good hearty/enjoyable food.
I don't think anyone in this discussion is factoring in dinner parties or the like for their general costs, and I highly doubt anyone is factoring in eating out at a restaurant when they talk about spending £25 a week on foodstuffs. I'm not factoring alcohol into that either, I consider it a totally different expense as it's purely a luxury and not a necessity that can vary in quality.
Soldato
Which is absolutely fine. But when someone is asking about a £100 a month budget for food it's obvious they don't have that luxury and if you read the posts, many people have pointed out a lot of ways you can eat a healthy and varied diet on that.
Sure it's not going to be filled with luxuries and expensive cuts of meet but it also doesn't mean it's not possible/rubbish food.
This is just another occasion where you seem to fail to grasp the very basic concept of accepting that other people have different priorities/opinions/circumstances to yourself.
Soldato
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Well, I'll likely be shot if I bring home a chicken that isn't certified free-range organic, corn-fed, lovingly pampered by daily trips to the spa and whatever else it needs to be considered free from ill-treatment.... so there's that.
That leaves only £5 for seven breakfasts and seven lunches, though... what 14 meals would you suggest for a mere fiver?
You can buy huge bags of oats for a few quid, you'd easily get 2-3 + weeks out of one of those alone. As for Lunch, I view it more as a top up meal so I'll generally just have something basic. A bit of fruit and a sandwich, use leftover meat from whatever meal you've cooked. A whole chicken can go a hell of a long way if you pick all the meat off, it's shocking how much meat some of my friends leave on when throwing the carcass out. Leftover curry/pasta etc is also acceptable, in the winter I'll often make a huge pot of soup and that's a lovely collection of lunches and dinners in one go.
As I said, if you're literally going out weekly with £25 you're probably going to struggle. You need to do a big bulk shop every few weeks to a month for the majority of your items.
Soldato
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Someone who is reading this over my shoulder... and who is far better at maths, forecasting and spend profiling than me... would be interested in some sort of a breakdown of that monthly purchase list.
I can give you a brief example now without going into specifics, I can get you an up to date list over the weekend though.
I don't use Sainsbury's so take this with a pinch of salt, just using them as an example since plenty of people on here seem to shop there. I find them a bit expensive to be honest, I tend to use Aldi a lot these days for fruit and veg.
1. 1.5KG of Oats would last me 2 + weeks so you can essentially shave 80p off the listed price, although I tend to spend a little more on larger bags so the savings are better.
2. Loaf of bread (you can spend more or less on a similar loaf, using a popular brand, but the supermarket own stuff is cheaper, could also make your own).
3. Lettuce to flesh sandwich's out a bit more, use leftover meat from whatever you've been cooking during the week.
4. Bag of apples as a fruit stand-in, you could easily swap these out for bananas, pears, whatever. I usually take an apple + banana in, so factor in another £1 for a bunch, price would still be around the £5 mark.
When you spread this out a little further, aka a larger bulk buy on oats, it becomes easier to fit in things like a jar of jam to slap a dollop in your porridge, or some variation in fruit or salad. Obviously this includes milk, although you can eat porridge with water (not my preference), if you're into milk substitutes you'll admittedly run into problems.
I'll put a list together for you for the weekend if you like, just figured I'd give a brief example on the £5 for breakfast/lunch over a week thing.
I don't use Sainsbury's so take this with a pinch of salt, just using them as an example since plenty of people on here seem to shop there. I find them a bit expensive to be honest, I tend to use Aldi a lot these days for fruit and veg.
1. 1.5KG of Oats would last me 2 + weeks so you can essentially shave 80p off the listed price, although I tend to spend a little more on larger bags so the savings are better.
2. Loaf of bread (you can spend more or less on a similar loaf, using a popular brand, but the supermarket own stuff is cheaper, could also make your own).
3. Lettuce to flesh sandwich's out a bit more, use leftover meat from whatever you've been cooking during the week.
4. Bag of apples as a fruit stand-in, you could easily swap these out for bananas, pears, whatever. I usually take an apple + banana in, so factor in another £1 for a bunch, price would still be around the £5 mark.
When you spread this out a little further, aka a larger bulk buy on oats, it becomes easier to fit in things like a jar of jam to slap a dollop in your porridge, or some variation in fruit or salad. Obviously this includes milk, although you can eat porridge with water (not my preference), if you're into milk substitutes you'll admittedly run into problems.
I'll put a list together for you for the weekend if you like, just figured I'd give a brief example on the £5 for breakfast/lunch over a week thing.
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Caporegime
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Milk substitutes were on offer for branded make today £1 each so I grabbed 4 instead of 2.
My shopping came to £90 and tbh I didn't even buy much. No alcohol. No meat. I'll probably need to do another shop in 4 days time.
I have no idea how £25 is do able. Without having the same meal every day.
I can't even eat the same lunch at work every day, never mind every other meal too.
My shopping came to £90 and tbh I didn't even buy much. No alcohol. No meat. I'll probably need to do another shop in 4 days time.
I have no idea how £25 is do able. Without having the same meal every day.
I can't even eat the same lunch at work every day, never mind every other meal too.
Associate
This thread is really helpful to myself and I'm sure others too, but there seems to be people in here that dont understand that other people don't earn as much as those so cannot afford to spend £500 a month and eat like a king every day of the week. Maybe those people should live on a budget for a few months so they can't escape their bubble.
Anyway, thank you for this thread
Anyway, thank you for this thread
Soldato
This isn't really the thread for the food snobs amongst us, but they can't help joining in anyway. I totally agree with everything @Gray2233 has posted.This thread is really helpful to myself and I'm sure others too, but there seems to be people in here that dont understand that other people don't earn as much as those so cannot afford to spend £500 a month and eat like a king every day of the week. Maybe those people should live on a budget for a few months so they can't escape their bubble.
Anyway, thank you for this thread
Stuff like stew is great at this time of year.
Slow cooker, pack of beef, stock, herbs and seasoning and a few root vegetables and leave for 4 hours.
Cheap and you can portion leftovers into Chinese containers to microwave later.
Chuck a couple of spuds in the oven when you get in, make mash, re heat some stew and you're laughing on a cold night.
Slow cooker, pack of beef, stock, herbs and seasoning and a few root vegetables and leave for 4 hours.
Cheap and you can portion leftovers into Chinese containers to microwave later.
Chuck a couple of spuds in the oven when you get in, make mash, re heat some stew and you're laughing on a cold night.
Thanks bud.
@wesimmo Slow cookers are wonderful, definitely agree with that. I tend to buy tupperware for freezing my excess as you can reuse it and usually get a better seal than you do with the food cartons.
You can pick up a decent slow cooker from most supermarkets for fairly cheap actually, I think mine cost me £20 from Tesco.