Food - £60-100 a month. Enough to eat well?
- Thread starter Indigo
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Just buying veg and potatoes/rice/pasta I think £20 a week per person is doable, especially shopping in Lidl. You have to be very strict though. I lived for 2 months on £10 a week but it's not really pleasant. Rice and 1-2 veg a day, looking for deals on veg in supermarket.
I always make double/triple portions of one pot meals. Bolognese, chili, vegetable casseroles. A good 8-10 servings of things like that can be done for pretty much £10-12, it's good quality food too.
Porridge oats are dirt cheap for breakfast. Tuna and sweetcorn sandwich for lunch. One pot meal for dinner. boom!
I always make double/triple portions of one pot meals. Bolognese, chili, vegetable casseroles. A good 8-10 servings of things like that can be done for pretty much £10-12, it's good quality food too.
Porridge oats are dirt cheap for breakfast. Tuna and sweetcorn sandwich for lunch. One pot meal for dinner. boom!
I've fed 3 people on £20 a week. It was horrible, basics everything, and whilst clearly we weren't hitting the RDA in calories, we weren't starving. I'd like to avoid ever having to do something like that again!
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For me all I can say is times might be hard but skimping on food is not the way.
As you and others have said eating healthily does not have to be expensive but you need to change your shopping habits in particular.
Fruit and Veg in particular can be surprisingly expensive if for example bought out of season and a huge change is to learn not to waste anything.
Soups , slow cooked Caseroles , Pasta and Rice dishes are easily made with leftover veg and will heat up as "lunch boxs" for work.
I suggest you set a meat budget, vary it each week and plan your meals based on what veg is in season (and therefore cheap).
A big freezer will also help frozen veg is just as good as fresh and can be very cheap certainly much much cheaper than fresh and is less likely to go off.
As you and others have said eating healthily does not have to be expensive but you need to change your shopping habits in particular.
Fruit and Veg in particular can be surprisingly expensive if for example bought out of season and a huge change is to learn not to waste anything.
Soups , slow cooked Caseroles , Pasta and Rice dishes are easily made with leftover veg and will heat up as "lunch boxs" for work.
I suggest you set a meat budget, vary it each week and plan your meals based on what veg is in season (and therefore cheap).
A big freezer will also help frozen veg is just as good as fresh and can be very cheap certainly much much cheaper than fresh and is less likely to go off.
We spend around £180 every 2 weeks, this is for 2 adults, 2 toddlers and 3 cats.
Guess with milk and top-ups near £400 a month. Take £50 nappies, £30 baby milk and £20 cat food call it £300 for me and partner, so works out under £40 a week each feeding, this includes all our cleaning/grooming stuff too exc washing powder as get that from costco when its £10 for a 100wash box.
After our 1st born what we did was to swap everything for own label stuff and if we liked it we kept it, not many products we went back to the branded stuff.
to give a recent example, I used gillete bo basher for years, tried tesco 70p a can stuff, works just as good and smells ok too.
Guess with milk and top-ups near £400 a month. Take £50 nappies, £30 baby milk and £20 cat food call it £300 for me and partner, so works out under £40 a week each feeding, this includes all our cleaning/grooming stuff too exc washing powder as get that from costco when its £10 for a 100wash box.
After our 1st born what we did was to swap everything for own label stuff and if we liked it we kept it, not many products we went back to the branded stuff.
to give a recent example, I used gillete bo basher for years, tried tesco 70p a can stuff, works just as good and smells ok too.
I thought this reminded me of something...
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=14156764
This (very unhealthy) diet would come at £30 a month, so tripling it and adding variety could make £100 a month possible, but it wouldn't be the healthiest diet.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=14156764
This (very unhealthy) diet would come at £30 a month, so tripling it and adding variety could make £100 a month possible, but it wouldn't be the healthiest diet.
Not sure about costs but this would be a fairly cheap day surely:
Breakfast: Porridge (can be bought cheaply in bulk)
Lunch: Pasta, fish (either frozen fish pie mix or tinned mackerel, sardines in oil etc), mixed beans, some good oil and lemon juice.
Dinner: Chilli made from baked beans, various tinned beans, tomatoes, cumin, chilli powder (made in a big pot and stored in the fridge). Served with rice.
You sure won't be buying much meat at this price point, and if you could you wouldn't want it.
Breakfast: Porridge (can be bought cheaply in bulk)
Lunch: Pasta, fish (either frozen fish pie mix or tinned mackerel, sardines in oil etc), mixed beans, some good oil and lemon juice.
Dinner: Chilli made from baked beans, various tinned beans, tomatoes, cumin, chilli powder (made in a big pot and stored in the fridge). Served with rice.
You sure won't be buying much meat at this price point, and if you could you wouldn't want it.
The GF and I have spent between £15 and £30 on food a week for the last 3 months.
It's all the "extras" that cost the cash like sweets and cakes, cleaning stuff, loo roll etc. But we always buy some of our things in 'basics forms', like tinned tomatoes and pastas. But also buy all of our fruit and veg loose as it is much cheaper. For example a bag of 5 granny smith apples is £1.25, but buy 5 loose and its 70-90p and there much bigger apples. Its the same with all the veg except when they do very large bags, but we generally wont manage to eat them before they go bad. 'Bagged' onions are a rip off.
Also the Tesco where I live has a habbit of over ordering on meat. Pop in twice per week and fill the freezer for a few £ and it lasts months.
Just think about what you want to eat before you do, meals like chilli you can make for 4 people for £4 very easily.
It's all the "extras" that cost the cash like sweets and cakes, cleaning stuff, loo roll etc. But we always buy some of our things in 'basics forms', like tinned tomatoes and pastas. But also buy all of our fruit and veg loose as it is much cheaper. For example a bag of 5 granny smith apples is £1.25, but buy 5 loose and its 70-90p and there much bigger apples. Its the same with all the veg except when they do very large bags, but we generally wont manage to eat them before they go bad. 'Bagged' onions are a rip off.
Also the Tesco where I live has a habbit of over ordering on meat. Pop in twice per week and fill the freezer for a few £ and it lasts months.
Just think about what you want to eat before you do, meals like chilli you can make for 4 people for £4 very easily.
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Breakfast: Beans on toast with butter (Fibre, carbs and fat)
Lunch: Tuna Pasta accompanied by an apple (Protein, carbohydrates and vitamins)
Dinner: Home made ginger curry with brown rice or chapattis (Google the health benefits of curry, you'd probably be surprised as to how healthy it can be)
I'd say what I've came up with is reasonably healthy, and you should just about meet your budget, just try and buy some of the 'value' products.
Lunch: Tuna Pasta accompanied by an apple (Protein, carbohydrates and vitamins)
Dinner: Home made ginger curry with brown rice or chapattis (Google the health benefits of curry, you'd probably be surprised as to how healthy it can be)
I'd say what I've came up with is reasonably healthy, and you should just about meet your budget, just try and buy some of the 'value' products.
wow, in my house every fooker wants a different meal than each other, but this week is going to be a cheap ass week i think after paying bills.
think body building here.
bulk buy of rice, pasta, eggs. ( last a couple of weeks? ) cheapo supermarket cerial , oats ,
milks cheap in asda £2 for 2 big cartons
frozen veg is ok i find aswell....
then add all the other little things
basics curys , pasta sauces , packet noodles ,
.... you'll NEVER have more than a few different meals but what can you expect of such small amounts of money.
think body building here.
bulk buy of rice, pasta, eggs. ( last a couple of weeks? ) cheapo supermarket cerial , oats ,
milks cheap in asda £2 for 2 big cartons
frozen veg is ok i find aswell....
then add all the other little things
basics curys , pasta sauces , packet noodles ,
.... you'll NEVER have more than a few different meals but what can you expect of such small amounts of money.
Here are some beans that have high protein content:
Soya (36%)
Red lentil (26%)
Broad & Pinto beans (25%)
Adzuki & Blacked Eyed (24%)
Sainsbury's Mackerel Fillets, in Brine 125g (86g*) = 21.5% protein
Sainsbury's Sardines, in Brine 120g = 22.4% protein
Sainsbury's Tuna Chunks, Basics 185g= 27% protein
Obviously the mackerel and sardines have essential fatty acids, but at least there are also cheap pulses/legumes that you can use to buff up the protein content of meals.
Soya (36%)
Red lentil (26%)
Broad & Pinto beans (25%)
Adzuki & Blacked Eyed (24%)
Sainsbury's Mackerel Fillets, in Brine 125g (86g*) = 21.5% protein
Sainsbury's Sardines, in Brine 120g = 22.4% protein
Sainsbury's Tuna Chunks, Basics 185g= 27% protein
Obviously the mackerel and sardines have essential fatty acids, but at least there are also cheap pulses/legumes that you can use to buff up the protein content of meals.
If I am going to be eating less meat than eating beans is going to be where I get most of my protein from now I think. Will also be eating more eggs as well and definately tinned fish, I do actually eat quite a bit of tinned mackerel already and tuna so no problem here.
In terms of carbs I'll be eating potatoes, pasta and grains.
Going to do an ASDA shop online later on and see how much it comes too and post it here so you all have an idea where I'm going. It may also help other people if they're wanting to save money as well!!
Soldato
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I'd up the budget a bit to get a GOOD standard of food, but I'd imagine you could do it for that region as well.
I tend to spend way too much on things like coffee, premade etc due to work lunch time being restrictive and needing to get out the office a bit, but even I'd estimate I'm probably running at ~150-200, and that's not minding my budget at all half the time.
I tend to spend way too much on things like coffee, premade etc due to work lunch time being restrictive and needing to get out the office a bit, but even I'd estimate I'm probably running at ~150-200, and that's not minding my budget at all half the time.
All that for £20?
Please scan a receipt because I don't think that's possible. For one person perhaps, at a push, but not for two!
)Simple answer. No! Not if you want to eat a decent diet.
You can stretch your money though by picking up special deals. I tell me daughter (who is in Uni) to always stock up on cheap noodles and packet soups when she can because it means there will always be something in the cupboard to eat when the money runs out.
Tescos is a good place to shop late at night. All the hot food at the deli is hugely reduced so worth a look. Also pick up 2 for 1 offers where possible.
It used to be the case that cooking fresh would save you money. That is no longer the case. Price rises have tipped the scales and competition means that you fresh fruit and veg is no longer a money saver.
Think about things that can be made from leftovers. Chicken soup can be made from a left over chicken carcass for example.
If you think before you buy then you can stretch your money but realistically your budget is not that great to start with.
You can stretch your money though by picking up special deals. I tell me daughter (who is in Uni) to always stock up on cheap noodles and packet soups when she can because it means there will always be something in the cupboard to eat when the money runs out.
Tescos is a good place to shop late at night. All the hot food at the deli is hugely reduced so worth a look. Also pick up 2 for 1 offers where possible.
It used to be the case that cooking fresh would save you money. That is no longer the case. Price rises have tipped the scales and competition means that you fresh fruit and veg is no longer a money saver.
Think about things that can be made from leftovers. Chicken soup can be made from a left over chicken carcass for example.
If you think before you buy then you can stretch your money but realistically your budget is not that great to start with.