£100 monthly food budget?

teepoo

Hi All,

Has anyone tried to live off a £100 monthly food budget?

If you have - do you have any money saving tips?

I have been challenged to do this so I have come up with the following monthly food expense plan: (the prices are from Asda)

[Food] [Cost] [Quantity] [Total]

Breakfast
Muesli £3.36/kilogram 4 £13.44
Bananas £0.79/kilogram 6 £4.72
Raisins £1.00/kilogram 4 £4.00
Eggs £0.09/each 99 £8.91
Porridge £0.58/kilogram 2 £1.16
Milk £0.63/litre 8 £5.04

Lunch:
Canteen Lunch £2.47/Meal 16 £39.52
Friday pub lunch £2.99/Meal 4 £11.96

Afternoon tea
Pasta £1.15/kilogram 6 £6.90
Pasta Sauce £2.00/litre 4 £8.00
Tuna £3.60/kilogram 5.55 £19.98

Dinner:
Kidney Beans £0.35/kilogram 24 £8.40
Tomatoes £1.47/kilogram 5 £7.35
Green Beans £3.56/kilogram 2.2 £7.83

Total Monthly spend: £147.21

The only problem is that I am £47.21 over budget!

Any tips? Or should I take the £150 food budget challenge?

p.s. I know that my lunches are a large part of my monthly budget, but they are subsidised so are good value for money.

Thanks,
Pete.

Calchas

I would take the 300lb challenge and dig in!!! A few :beer: wouldn't be a bad idea either.

tessie_bear

have u had a look at the grocery challenge ?

Barneysmom

HI how many is that for and do you really need pasta/pasta sauce etc if you're having a canteen/pub lunch?

helping_hubby

How many is it to feed?

I've fed myself, OH, 2 rabbits and included things like washing powder and washing up liquid for £25 a week, which equates to about £108 a month. I did this by buying lots and lots of value items, bulk buying at times when things were cheaper, cooking bulk meals and freezing them.

I think spending over £12.50 a week on lunches is a lot and this would be the main area for you to cut back.

teepoo

It is to feed only one - me! (I weight lift, cycle and swim five times a week).

Bear in mind that the figures are per month - per day figures sound far more civilized.

No I haven't yet seen the grocery challenge, I will look it up now.

Pete.

clairbear_3

personally the last thing I would skimp on is food
whatever it costs enjoy a healthy balanced diet,and a few 'naughty' things
try to save money in other areas:j

HGLTsuperstar

All that for one person with no booze -deffo back to the drawing board!

teepoo

I am not really skimping, I still get all the calories/nutrients I need. I am just trying to cut out the unnecessary food or substitute in something of the same nutritional value, but that costs less.

And I still have plenty of booze left from Xmas gifts

redmel1621

There doesn't seem to be much variety there....and what on earth are you going to do with 24 kilos of kidney beans I can't see any tinned toms or rice in the plan so can't be to make chilli.

You need to get yourself over to the oldstyle board and look around for tips on there.... I have on the go a massive slow cooker full of beef casserole, using cheaper beef cuts and then just fill with veg, lentils, potatoes (to make a one-pot) and some herbs/seasoning......This feeds a family of 4 for 3xmeals and costs about a £5-£6 in total.... Something like that would give you a weeks worth of meals. very healthy and very cheap........ just to say I have, in the past, fed my family of 4 on under £200 for a month, including toiletries etc.... so It should be do-able for you.

Just to say, I do think, that you need to make sure you have a nice meal in the evening even though you eat well at lunch-time as you are clearly very active.

Mel x

opinions4u

I find that cutting out the canteen lunch (homemade tuna sandwich on wholemeal bread is a great replacement!) and missing the pub once or twice a month makes a big difference. Subsidies are all well and good but if saving £2 a day off the real cost means you pay out £2 a day more than you need to, how real a saving is it?

I'm also a fan of www.mysupermarket.co.uk which can tell you which supermarket is the cheapest for the specific shopping you do.