Eat for £12 a week?

alastairq

I'm a 'newby' on these forums...and admit to not having trawled through all the posts on this thread, but.....

whilst everyone seems to have managed to acquire cheap food ingredients....I manage to as well, surprisingly....no-one appears able to factor-in the actual COSTS of ''preparation'', or ''storage?''

I am a 'fan' of HM meals...and the use of fresh ingredients where possible........yet when I combine these costs, with those of the fuel [electricity, in my case] used to cook and store this food, I continually find the cheaper supermarket 'prepared' meals more 'appealing?'

Add to the costs of a meal, the electricity for cooking, storage, even heating of the hot water for washing-up,...and the bills mount up.

With essential fuel costs rising rapidly, am I on the right track in thinking, that any energy saved by having someone else's fuel do the donkey work, would be cheaper, OVERALL, than 'doing things oneself?'

How much does it really cost, to store food in a freezer?

weezl74

Hiya alistairq,

I thought about this long and hard before buying an extra freezer to accomodate my batch cooking and freezing campaign! :oAt christmas when I did my pricings, I worked out that a category 'A' (economical) freezer costs just under £30 per year to run, based on Eon prices for our area.

Or a weekly price of 56p. It was then much easier to get my head round the worthwhileness (is that a word??;)) of having the extra freezer. For me it definately is, since it takes the same cooking time for my big batches of food than for tiny amounts done daily, and my enormous slo-cooker does the hard work of most of it.

I then get out a tub from the freezer in the morning and microwave it for 2 mins.

For me this showed that the extra freezer, and batch cooking method won hands down!:T

Hope all that is of use to you!

Weezl x

comping_cat

alastairq wrote: »

I'm a 'newby' on these forums...and admit to not having trawled through all the posts on this thread, but.....

whilst everyone seems to have managed to acquire cheap food ingredients....I manage to as well, surprisingly....no-one appears able to factor-in the actual COSTS of ''preparation'', or ''storage?''

I am a 'fan' of HM meals...and the use of fresh ingredients where possible........yet when I combine these costs, with those of the fuel [electricity, in my case] used to cook and store this food, I continually find the cheaper supermarket 'prepared' meals more 'appealing?'

Add to the costs of a meal, the electricity for cooking, storage, even heating of the hot water for washing-up,...and the bills mount up.

With essential fuel costs rising rapidly, am I on the right track in thinking, that any energy saved by having someone else's fuel do the donkey work, would be cheaper, OVERALL, than 'doing things oneself?'

How much does it really cost, to store food in a freezer?

You still need to cook and store the supermarkets ready meals!!! (and there would still be washing up, maybe not as much, but a bowl of water can wash up more than a plate and knife and fork - so you would prob find no difference in costs for the dishes!)

I would rather know exactly what im eating, and i would still say that bulk cooking and freezing would still work out cheaper and healthier than buying ready meals.

Even if you bought your ready meal daily, so no need to store it, that would mean travelling to the shops everyday (transport costs?!) also the temptation of picking up other things whilst in the shop might happen, so you could be paying a lot more than saving.

septemberblues

alastairq wrote: »

I'm a 'newby' on these forums...and admit to not having trawled through all the posts on this thread, but.....

whilst everyone seems to have managed to acquire cheap food ingredients....I manage to as well, surprisingly....no-one appears able to factor-in the actual COSTS of ''preparation'', or ''storage?''

I am a 'fan' of HM meals...and the use of fresh ingredients where possible........yet when I combine these costs, with those of the fuel [electricity, in my case] used to cook and store this food, I continually find the cheaper supermarket 'prepared' meals more 'appealing?'

Add to the costs of a meal, the electricity for cooking, storage, even heating of the hot water for washing-up,...and the bills mount up.

With essential fuel costs rising rapidly, am I on the right track in thinking, that any energy saved by having someone else's fuel do the donkey work, would be cheaper, OVERALL, than 'doing things oneself?'

How much does it really cost, to store food in a freezer?

But HM food is so much better for your health, due to additives etc, at least you know what goes in your food. And if HM food and ready meals were exactly the same price I think it would still be best to eat your own prepared stuff. You can't put a price on health!

crockpot

Hi

Nice to see this thread being brought back to life, I was `Swizzle` in a former life! Computer problems changed me to Crockpot.

Anyhow, i am as shocked as everyone at the price of food.

Not sure which direction to go in, do I bulk buy now as much pasta,rice etc as price seems to be going up all the time?

Do i try to live week to week?

Do a big shop online once a month? don`t like to pay delivery charge and not asmany money off coupons about anymore.

I have just about been managing to do £12 a week as there are 4 of us. But can not see that being able to continue.

i did try to grow some of my own,but it all got waterlogged! Might have to invest in alittle green house?

Guapa1

liney wrote: »

I think Cute and Quirky is assuming spag bol is made from a jar as is lasagna. Oven chips are out of the freezer as are yorkshires. This is not homecooking; this is convenience food. Most people here make sauces from scratch and most other things too.

This is so true. Something I like making a lot is linguine and meatballs. That is what I'd write down. However, the sauce is usually made from tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, sweet peppers and mushrooms.
Good thread, what I'm finding hard at the minute is keeping the fresh fruit cost down. I only eat fruit in the day, and like a variety. however if I freeze it, it only becomes good for smoothies.

minxtress

Right im going to do it. Get paid on 17th so going to meal plan and budget shop. I am spending a fortune, never doing a big shop but going to tesco or iceland every night after work and spending £10-15 a time.
The main problem is I hate shopping so nip in and out as fast as possible. Never get a bargain but thats all going to change.
Dont think il ever like shopping but the extra money in my bag will make me smile.
Have picked up some tips along the way, but where on this site do I go to find meal planners please?
Other problem is my middle child is a terrible eater, no fruit or veg except mashed potato, no pasta, no fresh juice. He would survive on bread and flapjacks given half the chance.
He has packed lunch at school after a long hard fight with the school, but I pay £35 every 4 weeks for my youngest daughters dinners. She however is a really good eater so not sure whether to keep her on school dinners or whether packed lunches would be more appropriate and save money?
Working full time and trying to do all this may be hard aswell but I am definately going to give it a go. My aim is to sell my house, on market present, buy outright with the equity on house that my offer has been accepted for, work part time, and live a more frugal life, than the rat race I am caught up in at the moment.
Wish me luck and spread the word the Credit Crunch is over so my bl88dy house sells!!

zarazara

£12 a week I Wish! no chance, not with the recent hikes in food prices.

minxtress

zarazara wrote: »

£12 a week I Wish! no chance, not with the recent hikes in food prices.

I agree £12pppw will be hard for me also but im going to try.
I meant to ask aswell and its not a criticism in any way or a debate on working mothers, I was just curious as to the amount of people on here who manage this way of life, shopping around, markets, bulk preparing eals etc, how many work full time, as I am feeling a bit of a failure!!! I get in at 6 and could no more be bothered to stand and cook in bulk than fly to the moon!!
Weekends I dont mind doing a bit on a Sat morning but couldnt take my whole weekend up with cooking/shopping.
Just keen to know

weezl74

Hiya!

Just popped in to share my twopennorth, for the last three months we (2 adults) have been living on £40 a month (£8.88 per week) and I've been trying to prove that it can be done healthily, which I've rabbited on about lots on the USDA thread (including recipes), so I won't bore you here!

Rather than starting with full store cupboards, we'd just done three months @45 per month and before that £50 a month for three months including buying everything for the christmas hampers, so we didn't start the challenge with anything in store.:o

Anyway, just wanted to say it can be done, it can be healthy, and most of the time it's fun and healthy. And yes I do work full time!;) I'm not suggesting that anyone else should do the same, I just wanted to say I believe it is possible to do it healthily.:D

Love Weezl x