Eat for £12 a week?

[Deleted User]

Last year I did a week on a pound a day as an experiment to see if it was possible.it was but it was also a bit boring.but very do-able.I had watched a programme on t.v. about how in the third world families had to live on a dollar a day which was even more strict.but it was an interesting experiment but not one I would want to carry on with for very long.I can do without meat thats not a problem although I do enjoy it.I have found though since doing this I actually eat less meat than I did and the meat I do eat is half the quantity.Its fresh fruit and veg that costs the most I like to eat as much fruit as I can afford and in the winter its more expensive ,but come summertime there will be more availability so it does get cheaper.Wintertime I stock up on lots of soups in my freezer.During the past week I was glad of them as my CH had broken down and a steaming hot mug of soup kept me warm when I felt a bit chilly .Plus with veg its not too bad even if its looking a bit sorry for itself as the soup pot will take almost any sort of veg.
I am at the moment living out of my freezer as I am going away at the end of the month for a weeks holiday so I am not buying much shopping at all,in fact I haven't been in a food shop now for about 6 days and have no need to go into one this week.I found some rolls in the freezer which will do me this week at least also some bread in there .I have quite a bit of frozen stuff to get through so my purse is staying firmly shut this week.
So I would think it is possible to eat for £12 a week and do it with a few variations if you were careful not to get tempted by the lure of the supermarkets .Just buy exactly what you have run out of and nothing else or what you desperately need and it could be done

GreyQueen

I mostly spend £12-£15 a week housekeeping which includes feeding myself and anything like loo rolls and cleaning materials. I reckon I spend £12 a week on food alone if averaged over the course of the year but since I doubt anyone starts a week with absolutly zilch in the cupboard, averaging is the only way to go. January saw me spending £115.86 and February £89.50 on Housekeeping (food etc) but I did a few things which put the budget up but will save money in the longer term. I've heavily stocked up on pasta, cooking oils (in date til mid way thru 2012), tinned goods and packet goods and rice. I've also dropped £8.99 on an 8.5 kg box of L!dl Formil detergent which should last me 2 years.

I think it's possible to do it but can't comment on the programme as I don't have TV and haven't seen it. I also grow some of my own veg so never buy anything other in the potato line other than the seed spuds and am still eating home-frozen green beans and peas from last year's crop.

squeaky

Blimey! The first post in this thread is five years old...

..so a twelve quid target must be that much harder to achieve these days.

What am I saying "must be"? It is!

I've got so used to spending "not a lot" that I stopped keeping track.

This thread has reminded me that maybe it's time to have a look at my spend again.

sexki11en

samtux wrote: »

What a great idea, instead of buying red wine where it is used in one night buy white wine with soda which will last several nights.. and better calorie wise as well as I think that is what Joan Collins has to keep her figure!! I am converted!

Red wine and coke works well too. Tastes almost like sangria.

SK x

uolypool

Hi I have been cutting my weekly shopping spend down since last year.I spend now about £65 a week £5 of that is prob on cleaning stuff etc so £60 a week for 6 ppl. £10 each. We eat healthy and 99% of the time it is from scratch, (I dont make my own sausages for example) There is always plenty of fresh fruit and I keep a supply of tinned fruit in just in case.I think it is easier for me as buying for a few ppl so can take advantage of the bigger packs and make full use of bogof etc.

Doom_and_Gloom

thornelius wrote: »

For a really old thread how realistic is £12 a week these days?! How cheaply do other people do it?

It certainly is possible http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/index.html?opt=p3m1 . That site shows how you can feed a family of 4 for just £100 a month - that works out to be about £5.77 per person a week!
I have tried a few meals and snacks from that site (from the vegan option planner) and they are filling and nutritious, not just cheap.
I haven't yet only followed the planner as due to disability my partner does the cooking (I just help where I can). I want to just follow the planner though as that would mean there would be a lot of frozen meals, snacks etc I could have when my partner is at work and lets face it £100 for 4 months of food (£25 for a month) for 1 person would be great :T.

My partner and I spend around £100 a month for both of us (£23.08/week) but that includes other things such as toiletries, cleaners, chinchilla items (food, hay, sand etc) so we spend quite a bit less than £12 a week each for food .

squeaky

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

It certainly is possible http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/index.html?opt=p3m1 ..

Magic

First recipe in main meals, bacon and onion pudding, which I haven't had for ages.

I'll give you three guesses what I'm going to have for tea?

Lizling

I just had a quick look at that vegan meal plan (cheap family recipes link), and I'm not a dietician but at first glance it looks seriously deficient in green, leafy vegetables. I can only see 1 portion in a month (the saag aloo) when you're meant to eat about one and a half portions a day! :eek::eek: Extremely unhealthy! On a vegan diet, that could mean a vitamin K, vitamin B2 and iodine deficiency, so that's higher cancer rates, osteoporosis, hardened arteries, anaemia and possibly diabetes... not to mention bleeding gums, nose bleeds, bad skin etc.

I'd also think it's too low in good fats from olive oil, avocado, nut butter etc, which is important because vegans miss out on the healthy fats from things like eggs. Possibly low in protein because there's not a single source of complete proteins in there anywhere, but perhaps it's ok when you take protein combining into account.

Would be simple enough to fix from a nutritional point of view. Substitute the breakfasts with porridge made with soya milk, or soya yoghurt with fruit. Then include a small salad with olive oil dressing with each lunch and a portion of something green with each dinner. And add at least 1 portion of fruit per person per day (and not the same one every day). Unfortunately, that totally blows their budget!

Maybe it's not possible to eat a healthy vegan diet for so little after all

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

swizzle wrote: »

I am old style and have managed to cut my shopping bill, but does anyone know who this woman is-does she have a book?

Thanks

she's probably eaten it!

rinabean

Lizling wrote: »

I just had a quick look at that vegan meal plan (cheap family recipes link), and I'm not a dietician but at first glance it looks seriously deficient in green, leafy vegetables. I can only see 1 portion in a month (the saag aloo) when you're meant to eat about one and a half portions a day! :eek::eek: Extremely unhealthy! On a vegan diet, that could mean a vitamin K, vitamin B2 and iodine deficiency, so that's higher cancer rates, osteoporosis, hardened arteries, anaemia and possibly diabetes... not to mention bleeding gums, nose bleeds, bad skin etc.

I'd also think it's too low in good fats from olive oil, avocado, nut butter etc, which is important because vegans miss out on the healthy fats from things like eggs. Possibly low in protein because there's not a single source of complete proteins in there anywhere, but perhaps it's ok when you take protein combining into account.

Would be simple enough to fix from a nutritional point of view. Substitute the breakfasts with porridge made with soya milk, or soya yoghurt with fruit. Then include a small salad with olive oil dressing with each lunch and a portion of something green with each dinner. And add at least 1 portion of fruit per person per day (and not the same one every day). Unfortunately, that totally blows their budget!

Maybe it's not possible to eat a healthy vegan diet for so little after all

I've been wanting to follow the plan and been put off for the same reason. However, there's lots of frozen peas, and peas count as a green and are a decent source of protein. It is supposed to be nutritionally complete, perhaps the missing nutrients are the ones added to the enriched oats you're told to use for the porridge along with the calcium it mentions.