Cost of living

[platinum87]

The majority of my outgoings, goes on food, alcohol, and entertainment.

 

[[TW]Fox]

It's not lunch, it's sandwiches. It's something your mum puts in your school bag for you to throw at your mates during food fight in gym locker. My god, it's almost like Jamie Oliver did all of those lunch tv series for nothing. You say "let's go to lunch" and all young people see in their head is a bag of pale untoasted hovis and jar of jam.

Most people who work in an office will have sandwiches for lunch. They are cheap, easy to make, reasonably tasty and convenient.

 

[v0n]

So you whip out your pans and chopping board at the office then

What kind of argument is that - do you whip out your chopping board and kitchen mixer in the office to do your tuna and corn sandwich?

 

[v0n]

Most people who work in an office will have sandwiches for lunch. They are cheap, easy to make, reasonably tasty and convenient.

Actually, as long as I can remember, most people who work in an office will go out for lunch. There is whole industry built around that. But ok - I will surrender my foxhole on the grounds of generation clash - let's revise this challenge:

£63 a week, to create three meals a day, where one meal every day must be hot (warm meal, rather than spicy meal of course).

 

[Minxy]

Most people who work in an office will have sandwiches for lunch. They are cheap, easy to make, reasonably tasty and convenient.

For once I'm with Foxie. Sandwiches count as lunch as far as I'm concerned. It's what I've taken to school/work all my life with the odd exception.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Actually, as long as I can remember, most people who work in an office will go out for lunch. There is whole industry built around that.

Maybe it's different in poverty striken Devon but in my office most people bring sandwiches, a few will visit the van that comes round and once a week some of us have some junk from the retail park.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

When I'm at work sometimes I do spend 7.00 a day on food and sometimes I cook my own food for work like pasta/fajitas/curry. I work 37 hours a week and also have takeaways twice a week minimum. This for me has to stop as over a month it can get up to 250.00.

 

[v0n]

Maybe it's different in poverty striken Devon but in my office most people bring sandwiches, a few will visit the van that comes round and once a week some of us have some junk from the retail park.

I didn't mean to imply Devon was poverty striken, if anything - it's actually vice versa - two sandwiches and a bottle of coke at pret a manger in London is likely to cost you more than a two course set lunch menu in most restaurants and pubs, since the business model of the former is based around the principle that most people working in catering and retail do not get to spend more than 15 minutes on their lunch.
So on those "junk from retail" days as you call it, if you had to choose between two sweaty plastic boxes of cucumber and tuna combos in wet wholemeal bread from sainsbury's fridge or "two main courses for £5.99" at J.D.Weatherspoons, then the poverty striken London office workers usually vote with their wallet for the proper meal venue.

Not that it has a lot to do with the whole "a grown man can survive on £1 a day" malarky in this thread.

 

[Judgeneo]

Mr Kipling Mini Battenberg Cakes 5 Pack
£1.20


1

Mr Kipling Lemon Slices 6 Pack
£1.00



2

Tesco No Added Sugar Apple Blackcurrant Squash Bulk 3L
£5.60



1

Tesco Dried Mixed Fruit 500G
£1.29


1

Tesco Value Swiss Style Muesli 1Kg
£0.96


2

Tesco Fc Pure Apple Juice 2Ltr
£3.20



1

Clover 500G
£1.75


1

Tesco Ground Black Pepper Polypot 100G
£1.34


1

Tesco Table Salt 750G
£0.27


1

Schwartz Hot Paprika 34G Jar
£1.39


1

Tesco Hot Chilli Powder 50G
£0.67


1

Tesco Pickled Sliced Beetroot 340G
£0.74


2

Tesco Cooked Sandwich Ham 125G 10 Slices
£2.00


2

Tesco 12 Value White Rolls
£0.70


2

Mccain Winners Sea Salt And Pepper Wedges 750G
£2.60


1

Chicago Town Takeaway Chicken 670G
£3.45


2

Tesco New Potatoes W/ Herb And Butter 375G
You have missed a promotion. Any 3 for £2.50.
£2.00


1

Tesco Finest* 6 Pork And Chilli Sausages 454G
You have missed a promotion. FINEST SAUSAGES ANY 2 FOR £4.
£2.59


1

Red Peppers Each Class 1
£0.68


1

Tesco Finest Basmati Rice 500G
£1.49


3

Loose Red Onions Class 2
£0.61


2

Tesco Finely Chopped Tomatoes 400G
£1.18


1

Tesco Red Kidney Beans Chilli Sauce 420G
You have missed a promotion. Any 3 for 99p.
£0.78


1

Tesco Premium Beef Mince 500G
£2.20

Basket Summary
Total Clubcard points 74
Total MultiBuy savings £1.80
Guide price (31 items) £37.89


a bit more than the £30, but thats including things that would last more than a week, like salt, pepper, spices, butter, squash.


This is typical of what I eat in a week, with some of it feeding my girlfriend when she comes around.

there we have swiss museli + apple juice + dried fruit for 10 days + of breakfast

mince peppers tomatos rice etc will do 4 generous portions of chilli, I keep it stored in the fridge

sausages + boiled potatos = 2 meals

pizza = 1 meal

potato wedges/ mr kippling stuff for when I'm hungry

bread rolls + ham + beetroot for this weeks sandwhiches, 3 a day.


Also some of these items were on promotion, in which case I would have brought more and stored them for when needed.

Next week wouldn't need spices, more apple juice or squash or butter or rice, which would make it ~ £23

so averaged across two weeks, (38+23)/2 = £30.50 or £61 a month.

£280 is absolutely stupid for one person


Edit. Oh yeah, and I get clubcard points. Yeah.

 

[Trifid]

£280 is absolutely stupid for one person


Edit. Oh yeah, and I get clubcard points. Yeah.

You forgot toilet roll.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I didn't mean to imply Devon was poverty striken, if anything - it's actually vice versa - two sandwiches and a bottle of coke at pret a manger in London is likely to cost you more than a two course set lunch menu in most restaurants and pubs, since the business model of the former is based around the principle that most people working in catering and retail do not get to spend more than 15 minutes on their lunch.

Or you buy a loaf of bread, some filling, and make your own for a fraction of the cost just before you leave for work?

 

[Freefaller]

£280 a month isn't a lot of food a month and people need to move on from that idea and help the guy out. That's what he's worked out his budget to be.

 

[dal]

To those who have asked, my deposit will mean I'll only have around a £30-40 K mortgage.
SO the general consensus is that I'm way over budget on food. I'm not planning on living of takeaways and I can do some cooking + I intenend to learn more, I dont believe anyone could eat for £25 per week though. BTW that food figure was meant to include other non food stuff like cleaning agents/ toilet roll ect.

Cheers for the input guys, has made interesting reading, maybe I wont be as skint as what I first thought.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Cheers for the input guys, has made interesting reading, maybe I wont be as skint as what I first thought.

That's the thing, it's only predictions and not actual results. When I buy things if I fancy something different I will get it regardless of what cost. It's just a rough guide to start with.

 

[NotAGolf]

OP I'm in a similar position to yourself and have been drafting up budgets etc. I'm in a slightly different situation as I'm moving in with my gf in West Sussex where the property is a shed load more expensive. Will be looking for a 2 bed terraced probably. I'll stick mine down in case it's of any use to you:

Council Tax - £130
Gas+Elec+Water - £150
House and contents insurance - £25
Phone - £20
Internet - £20
TV - £12
Life Insurance - £10
Food/toiletries etc - £300
Car Insurance - £50 (share a car with gf)
Car Tax - £16
Petrol - £60
Misc - £150 (going out, car repairs, house repairs, other things i've forgotten...)
Total - £943

Then there's the mortgage on top which is looking at around £750.

I really hope that's over-budgeting but I don't think it's drastically so. As said there's two of us but I don't but other than the mortage and council tax, food is probably the only option that I'd imagine would be widly different between 1 and 2 people.

 

[Vonhelmet]

£63 a week, to create three meals a day, where one meal every day must be hot (warm meal, rather than spicy meal of course).

Absolute doddle.

Our shopping costs under £100 a week for two adults and two children.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

Wish my food bill was only £280 a month. Mines usually around £400-£500 but i do have 3 kids and a wife....

When i lived in the block i paid £155 a month for everything, Accomodation, food the lot.. Miss them days sometimes.....

 

[Ahleckz]

I get £50 a week, and I can afford to eat, heat my home (though I very rarely do, I just put on a jumper or hide under the duvet), go to the pub, have the internet and everything else. Admitably, I don't pay any rent (bought my flat with cash) and I no longer have a car. But my point is it's very easy to eat for £20 per week you just have to be careful with what you buy and ignore the branded goods and make a lot of your own food. Some days I'll just have soup for dinner so I can afford a nicer cut of meat and treat myself, similar to some people treating themselves to a dinner in a restaurant. It's all about making do with what you have.

 

[edscdk]

House prices must be stupidly cheap then, as I've got a sizable deposit and a mortgage would still be crippling for me on my own.

Hence why I've still not bought anywhere.

where is the logic there, maybe it was a 500k house and he had a 450k deposit?