FJ's 'beat the credit crunch with a quid-odd butty box' challenge!

tootiefrooties

my OH started full-time work recently as he finished uni in june - so i'm still quite enthusiastic about making cheap, balanced lunches! (give it a year or two and he can have a tin of beans and a can opener, haha).

So he has the following:

2 tesco value pitta breads (pack of 6 = 24p) = 8p
1/4 tub of 300g pot houmous (£1.05) put into little plastic tub = 26p
4 or 5 cherry tomatoes (68p for 200g) = 17p
1/8 bag tesco value salted peanuts (21p for 200g) = 3p
tesco milk choc sandwich bar (14 for £1.07) = 8p
tesco value yoghurt (4 for 29p) = 7p
tesco value banana (86p for bunch of 6 or 7) = 14p
and he uses the free water machine at work for drinking

TOTAL = 83p

god, that's even cheaper than i thought!

some days he has a bagel instead of pitta and houmous, and this works out slightly more expensive as he has tesco organic bagel (5 for 99p) = 20p
pepperoni (£1.24 for about 10, he uses 3) = 40p
value cheddar cheese slice (£1.08 for 10) = 11p
gherkin slices (jar of sliced gherkins about 70p but has disappeared from website so can't double check) = 8p

so having one of those filled bagels (79p) instead of 2 pittas and houmous (34p) brings the total to £1.28 for more expensive days.

still not bad though :j

tootiefrooties

Oh and yesterday we picked up a couple of 'mug shot' pasta snacks so that he can take one on days where we've forgotten to do a lunch or are low on supplies. they are pasta in various (quite nice sounding sauces) for 35p, so very cheap and i expect quite filling. Not junk food either, although they probably have a few preservatives etc. Just stick in a mug and add hot water

freebie_junkie

My friend has just rang me and upped the ante- now we are also trying to do tea/dinner/evening meal with dessert for £2.50 a head (this is bearing in mind that I and her husband both have to follow a special diet).

So tonight:

Quorn and veggie stir fry and rice for main course/firsts:
4 Quorn fillets, bag of 6 cost 31p as I used a £1 coupon, so 21p for 4
1/2 bag of tesco value stir fry veg mix 46p
1/3 box of tesco value mushrooms 49p
wheat free sweet and sour sauce (ouch!) on 'offer' at £1.28
tesco value rice, 79p bag makes 10 portions, so 2 portions 16p

Melon and grapes for afters/dessert/pudding:
remaining 2/3 of 85p tesco box of grapes 57p
asda watremelon rolled back to £1
chopped up and split between 2 bowls

we will drink innocent smoothies i got free with a £2 coupon as they are on special at £2 in tesco at the moment

£4.17/ £2.09 each

(will be cheaper of you can eat wheat as the cheaper sauces all contain wheat flour!)

his dinner for tomorrow is:

sandwich (philadelphia extra light free with print coupon, 2 slices of bread as above 6p, 2 slices luncheon meat 10p and foil 3p) 19p

tesco value choc mousse 6p

granny smith apple 19p

tesco value milk chocolate wafer 6p

tesco value chocolate digestive biscuit bar 6p

tesco value small orange juice carton 14p

can of asda cola 18p

tesco value cheese puffs 4p

92p in total (this includes his two break too- he doesnt eat all of this at dinner/lunch!)

freebie_junkie

count_rostov wrote: »

Oooh, I'm feeling quite smug on this one as I made my fiance a nice dinner box today (there were complaints that I had made smoked mackerel and turnip sandwiches last week, what can I say, supplies were low)
I made 2 x cheese sandwiches with homemade pumpkin seed bread
1 loaf of bread = about 65p, 4 slices are about 13p, I used about 28p of cheese, a smear of mustard and mayonnaise which can't be more than 5p, and a spring onion from the garden. So that's 46p. I also gave him some stewed fruit from the garden (free) and some homemade yoghurt, I suppose about 15p worth. Oh, and a home made chocolate biscuit which I suppose was about 3p. So that's 64p for the whole dinner. I packed it in a lock and lock tupperware so no packaging costs.
Towards the end of this week, he'll be back to 'unusual' combinations in his pieces.

im so jealous that you can grow stuff in your garden! i keep trying but they get nicked and i tried to grow salad indoors but the fella below constantly has his heating on 'roasting' so they kept dying and i cant have a window box as i live on the 2nd floor and our windows are fixed to only open a crack

you win so far!!!!! :j :j :j

floss2

Don't forget Mr T's special fruit & veg prices....1kg of Charlotte new potatoes 85p (would make a load of potato salad)....galia melons 80p.....grapes 85p.....

ancasta_2

Ive had another rough guess at today

Me :

1 x tsp olive spread : 58p for 250g = 1p
1 x small piece of cheese grated =20p
1 x 1/2 tbsp mayo : 42p for 470g = 1p
2 x sainsburys bread bun : 59p for 6 = 20p
1 x cuppa soup = 11p
1 x clingfilm : 40p for 45m = 1p (cant do half pence so have rounded up)

Total : 1p + 20p + 1p + 20p + 11p + 1p = 54p

OH :

1 x tsp olive spread : 58p for 250g = 1p
1 x 1/2 tin tuna : 89p for 200g = 45p
1 x 1/2 tbsp mayo : 42p for 470g = 1p
2 x sainsburys bread bun : 59p for 6 = 20p
1 x cuppa soup = 11p
1 x clingfilm : 40p for 45m = 1p (cant do half pence so have rounded up)

Total : 1p + 45p + 1p + 20p + 11p + 1p = 79p


Daily total : 54p + 79p = £1.33

anonymousie

Just my 2p worth to add to this great thread.

We do pack lunches for 5 of us daily during term time as a rule.

At the weeken I make a couple of loaves of bread in my trusty panny. DH slices it (I only cut doorsteps!) then I make it all into sandwiches with a couple of different fillings.

Smallest mousie (aged 9) is a dab hand with the bag sealer, so we bag the lot and freeze them.

Dead easy in the morning rush to grab and run. Also a frozen sandwich keeps itself fresh without an ince pack even in hot weather. They always thaw by lunch. Only cost is that you can't use the really cheap and nasty sanwich bags for fear of freezer burn.

I freeze all my fillings, but don't use salad :rotfl:
eg, egg mayo, salmon (stretched with mayo and yog), ham, cheese, philly style cheese, smoked makrel pate (make this from fish, philly type cheese, yog, lemon juice mixed up) oh, and marmite occaisionally when stuck!

ancasta_2

I like the idea of this thread so much ive bumped it back up with another rough workings out. Not as good as it could be, but still MASSIVELY less than buying lunch. Im going to try work on <£1 each per day, £2 total daily budget.

Really need to stock up on some fruity bits but im waiting till i go grocery shopping on saturday.


Packed lunch for OH and I.

Mine :

2 small ham, lettuce and garlic mayo rolls; tub of olives and a low fat cuppa soup

2 x bread rolls : 45p for 4 part bake rolls - 2 @ 11.25p = 23p
6 x ham slices : £1.40 for 50 slices – 3.75p per slice – 6 x 3.75 = 23p
1 x tsp olive spread : 58p for 250g = 1p
1 x 1/2 tbsp (7g) Heinz Garlic mayo : £1.39 for 290g = 2p
2 x lettuce leaves : 57p for whole lettuce : 5p
1 x cuppa soup = 14p
1 x spoonful of olives : £1.49 HUGE jar from lidl = 10p
1 x clingfilm : 40p for 45m = 1p (cant do half pence so have rounded up)

Total : 23p + 23p + 1p + 2p + 5p + 14p + 10p + 1p = 79p


OH :

1 small tuna mayo roll (using up tins from cupboard) 1 small ham roll, low fat cuppa soup and 2 small bread buns with chocolate spread on

2 x bread rolls : 45p for 4 part bake rolls - 2 @ 11.25p = 23p
3 x ham slices : £1.40 for 50 slices – 3.75p per slice – 3 x 3.75 = 12p
1 x tsp olive spread : 58p for 250g = 1p
1 x 1/4 tbsp (3.5g) Heinz Garlic mayo : £1.39 for 290g = 1p
1 x tin good for you tuna mayo : £1.49 for 3 = 50p
2 x lettuce leaves : 57p for whole lettuce : 5p
1 x cuppa soup = 14p
1 x clingfilm : 40p for 45m = 1p (cant do half pence so have rounded up)

Total : 23p + 12p + 1p + 1p + 50p + 5p + 14p + 1p = £1.07

Todays Total : 79p + £1.07 = £1.86

count_rostov

We had very little bread left this morning so OH got leftover stew from last night and the last crust of bread, but it was homemade so should be tasty. The stew probably cost: 1/2 a chorizo sausage = £2, tin chopped tomatoes = 17p, dried chickpeas = 40p, leftover lentils = 30pish, ropy-looking carrot and celery from bottom of fridge = 25p, 1/2 red pepper = 25p, so that's £3.37 for the whole stew. We got three portions so the lunch was £1.12 and I suppose about 4p for the heel of bread.
Actually, that's more expensive than I thought it would be. Still, it's far cheaper than him going to the chippy, or to the supermarket for Finest cherry tomatoes, parma ham and the most expensive bread which is the 'budget' lunch he chooses if I don't have time to make one!
Freebie-Junkie, I know, I'm so lucky having a garden. But maybe if you have a warm flat you could grow vegetables that like the heat? I'm growing tomatoes and cucumbers in our porch which has huge windows so it's like a wee greenhouse. I'm going to have a go at aubergines next year too.

Lunar_Eclipse

ancasta wrote: »

6 x ham slices : £1.40 for 50 slices

Where do you buy your ham? That's incredibly cheap.

I can't bring myself to buy ham in packets since anything that looks vaguely edible costs £2/pack upwards for about 4 small slices. I therefore buy from the deli and get about 6 wafer thin slices (3 sandwiches worth) for about £1 if I'm lucky. Once I asked for 10 slices and it cost just under £4. Ouch!

I have thought about roasting a ham myself. But I don't have good cutting equipment and presumably couldn't eat it before it went off.

What do others do - I might ask on the OS board for tips too.