£20 for a week's shopping and nothing in store cupboards - HELP PLEASE! :o)

twisted-sister

Hi...I am a student and i've been living off of roughly the same for about three years!!!
Cooking from scratch is def the best way...encourage her to avoid take aways like the plague...they are totally over priced and the easieness become addictive!!!

Here are some of my super cheap favourites:

Cowboy Beans: tin of beans, chopped red onion and green pepper, can of kidney beans, chilli powder...heat a little oil in a sauce pan, fry onions and pepper, add beans, kidney beans and chilli powder...serve!
This works really well in baked tattie or on toast...especially with a little cheese on top. Its really cheap and bulking the beans out means they do two meals!

Egg fried rice: Eggs, rice (already boiled), crushed garlic, diced onion, heated peas, soy sauce...heat a little oil in the pan add soy sauce, garlic and onion, fry gently, add the rice and mix into the oil create a well in the middle of the pan and crack the eggs into the hole, scramble with a fork while cooking, then mix into the rice, stir in the peas!
Genius!

Pasta: pasta shapes, jar of sauce (lidls do a really nice napolitian one), veggies (i like red onion, pepper and courgette for this) mozzarella cheese (tesco do an own brand one for 47p)...put the past on to boil and chuck the vegetables into the oven to roast, when the pasta is ready drain and add the sauce and the veg, tip into a casserole dish and cover with sliced mozzarella, put in the oven for 5-10 mins untill the cheese has melted....YUM!!!

Life Savers:
Pasta
Tins of beans and pulses
Tins of chopped tomatoes
Eggs (breakfasts, french toast, pancake batter)
Rice
Quorn (makes a really cheap and tasy alternative to mice for spag bol)
Bread (keep it in the freezer so none gets wasted!)

Best to avoid:
Fizzy Drinks (they just gobble up money)
Ready meals
Chicken (it's really expensive, i save it for a treat or use turkey meat instead...much cheaper)
Take aways

Oh...and one thing we've found to be great fun is that rather than going out and partying taking it in turns to host "dinner parties" for your friends is much cheaper and really good fun. All the guests bring a bottle...the host provides the food!

Sorry this is such a long post...i just wanted to share all of what i've learnt!!!

Hope it is helpful X

kittyscarlett

Some really good posts here If you can spare her any bits from your store cupboard, especially in the way of seasonings etc, it would be a big help, then she could spend more on the bulk of the basics.

I would definitely add a bag of spuds to the list. So many things they can be used for either first time around or as leftovers - baked ( whether ovened or nuked ), boiled, steamed, mashed, fried or refried, soup, salad, stews, bulking out other dishes hot and cold, pie topping, stick em in a tortilla ( the omelette kind ).

border_collie

I did a major shop for both my uni kiddies, giant washing powder etc. loads of store cupboard stuff just to set them up. They would have eaten that much at home anyway. They both were sensible after being left in charge of their full cupboards.

Doom_and_Gloom

I'd say the following personally*;

Bananas
Onions
Carrots
Soft spread
Mixed fruit
Oats
Sweetcorn
Curry powder
Beans
Tinned tomatoes
Lentils
Couscous
Spaghetti/pasta
Apple juice
Orange juice
Wholewheat bread
Table salt
Ground black pepper
Milk

An average day with the above can be porridge with mixed fruit to sweeten it with juice, banana for a snack, beans on toast for lunch with a soup for dinner. Filling meals that are good for you. This is just a suggestion and you could easily do more than this and make it different every day.

That should mean she gets her 5 a day and stays healthy. The above is around £20 so she should be okay. If things are on reduced she is better off buying them if she knows she's going to use it really soon so it's not wasted or even freeze them if possible. Also offers can be usefull on items that you usually buy which makes it cheaper for you overall. I found that buying store items when you need them spreads the cost and they last quite a while so it can be really easy on you that way.

If you could give her a few starting items foodwise I'm sure it would be very helpful for her though.

*most items would be value/market to come in under £20.

wigglebeena

Green and yellow split peas are cheaper than lentils, give 'em a soak overnight and still get pints of nourishing soup. Plus a bag of economy flour will give at least 2 small loaves and a batch of scones for 30p (flour) and economy spread (26p).

Bambywamby

Ooooh how exciting, I loved my first 'independant shop'.
Personally I would shop at Asda, their Smartprice range is all tasty, cheap and importantly 'artificial additive free'.


For £20 I would buy:


"All items are Smartprice unless otherwise suggested."

Pasta x 2 bags (the tubes are cheaper than the twists or spagetti but are exactly the same thing.)
Two tins of tomatos (for homemade pasta sauces)
Tin of mushroom soup (makes a creamy sauce for pasta)
Mushrooms (to add to tomato & pasta sauce soups)
Milk (UHT or whatever is best value)
Sugar (if she takes it in her tea, personally I wouldn't waste my money on it)
Tuna x 2 tins (one to add to a tomato & pasta dish, the other for tuna toasties - tuna, finely chopped onion on toast with a sprinkle of cheese, then grilled.)
Potatoes (for baked spuds, home made chips/roasties, mashed potato)
Apples & bananas (to snack on)
Oats (invaluable for brekkys and homemade flap jacks.)
Bread x 2 loaves, at 30 pence a loaf the food that can be made is limitless.
Baked beans x 2 @ 30 p a can (in tuna bakes, on toast, with chips, on top of baked spuds)
Spagetti Hoops x 2 @ 15p a can (on toast or with chips)
Cheap margarine type spread
Carrots - grated with cheese (on top of toast & baked spuds), raw for snacking on,
with chicken dinner, grated and added to tuna & tomato pasta
Jar of curry sauce
Small portion of cheddar cheese
A small chicken ( for a chicken dinner, soup with the carcass + add veggies, curry, sandwiches etc)
Gravy granules
Teabags or coffee if she likes them.
Toilet Rolls
And if she has any money left over, I would buy free range eggs - they are obviously quite costly though, but can usually be picked up cheaper at Farm Shops or Fruit & Veg shops.

Let us know how she gets on,

Love Bam x

MissKay

OK! So obviously I have nothing better to do :rotfl:but this is the list I would get from mysupermarket...

28 items. £19.67


Bakery & Patisserie Guide price in £


1 x ASDA Smartprice Medium Sliced Brown Bread (800g) 0.35

Fruit & Vegetables


1 x ASDA Smartprice Stir Fry (350g) 0.49
1 x ASDA Smartprice Raisins (500g) 0.55
1 x ASDA Smartprice Oranges (1Kg) 0.67
1 x ASDA Baking Potatoes (4) 0.72
1 x ASDA Smartprice Onions (2Kg) 0.72
1 x ASDA Closed Cup Mushrooms (250g) 0.74
1 x ASDA Smartprice Peppers (700g) 1.32

Dairy


1 x ASDA Smartprice Reduced Fat Spread 50% (500g) 0.29
1 x ASDA Skimmed Fresh Milk 2 Pints (1.14L) 0.86
1 x ASDA Smartprice Mild White Small Cheddar (Approx 417g) 2.14

Frozen


1 x ASDA Smartprice Cold Water Prawns (200g) 1.19

Tins, Jars & Cooking


1 x ASDA Smartprice Red Kidney Beans in Water (400g) 0.11
1 x ASDA Smartprice Dried Mixed Herbs (18g) 0.21
1 x ASDA Smartprice Sweetcorn in Sweetened Salted Water (326g) 0.29
2 x ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes (400g) 0.42
1 x ASDA Good for you! Mayonnaise (250g) 0.48
1 x ASDA Smartprice Crunchy Peanut Butter (340g) 0.55
2 x ASDA Smartprice Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce (420g) 0.58
1 x ASDA Hot Chilli Powder (44g) 0.77
1 x Patak's Original Balti (540g) 1.00
3 x ASDA Smartprice Tuna Chunks in Brine (185g) 1.44

Packets & Cereals


2 x ASDA Smartprice Chicken Flavour Instant Noodles (65g) 0.14
1 x ASDA Smartprice Spaghetti (500g) 0.39
1 x ASDA Smartprice Porridge Oats (1Kg) 0.58
1 x ASDA Smartprice Long Grain Rice (1Kg) 0.73
1 x ASDA Organics Dried Red Split Lentils (500g) 0.80

Drinks


2 x ASDA Smartprice Orange Juice from Concentrate (1L) 1.14


For breakfasts I would have either porridge with raisins or peanut butter & toast.

For lunches I would have either beans on toast, tuna and sweetcorn butties, cheese on toast, jacket & cheese, jacket & beans, jacket & tuna & sweetcorn. Tuna & sweetcorn with cheese on toast.

For tea I would have any of the lunches or either veggie spag bol (made with lentils/tomatoes/peppers/onions/mushrooms/herbs), veggie chilli & rice (made with lentils/tomatoes/peppers/onions/kidney beans/chilli powder), Prawn curry & rice or Prawn stir fry & noodles. Oranges for pud.

I reckon that's quite healthy too!

Ooops! Forgot to add that I'd use a bit of peanut butter and chilli powder in my stir fry to give it a 'satay' vibe!

grimerking

Go to Asda after 8pm and you can get bread really cheap - e.g. 6 bread rolls for 7p. If she has a freezer, this is a great way to save on bread.

In the first few weeks, she will need to buy things for the store cupboard - e.g. plain flour, self-raising flour, corn flour, stock cubes, sauces, condiments, herbs, spices, etc. This will mean she doesn't have as much to spend on other ingredients such as meat. However, once she has built up the essentials in the store cupboard, she will be able to cook pretty much anything.

I really recommend Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook. If you can find a cheap copy in a charity shop or on Amazon, it would make a great present for her. There are over a thousand recipes. None of them use 'ridiculous' ingredients and can usually be prepared without any special purchases. The book is very well laid out and recipes are 'tagged' with useful information such as 'economical', 'dinner party', etc.

Hope that helps.

Rob

Beki

hiya - hope this helps! i've just bought this little lot from Tesco, so can tell you the prices

(by the way, the grated cheddar works out cheaper than block cheddar by about 40p per kilo, and that's the block cheddar on special offer - the standard cheddar is almost double the price per kilo!!!)

500g bag of value grated cheddar - £1.98
2 x bulbs of garlic - 68p
small swede - £1 (rough guide, as they all weigh different)
value mushrooms 750g - £1.36
1 kilo bag of value carrots - 45p
2 kilo bag of value onions - 67p
500g bag of pearl barley - 33p
youngs 20 fishfingers - £1.49 (on special at half price which i think is good value and will do quite a few meals)
2 x 6-packs of tiger bread rolls - on offer at 2 packs for £1 - ok, so you can probably make your own rolls cheaper than that, but for her first week 12 shop-bought rolls will go a long way, and will take a little of the pressure off!

add to that lot 2 x tins of tuna, 3 or 4 bags of pasta, a bag of value potatoes, some value noodles, and a couple of tins each of baked beans and tinned toms and the meal options are endless

baked spuds
soup, soup and more soup
fishfinger butties
tuna and mushroom bolognese
cheesy swede mash
mushroom and onion butties
pasta with a bit of everything

the list goes on. i'm sure she'll be fine good luck! xxxx

grimerking

Becki,

Be careful with those value noodles. They used to be quite healthy, but not they are about 30% fat (before cooking). I noticed they changed the recipe about a year ago and stopped buying them.