Do budgets and healthy eating go together?

louise30_2

Thanks for all this - it's inspiring me to give it a try.
I am trying to keep my weekly shop to £10 a week. I am quite a fussy eater (but not as much as my BF).
There are some foods that I don't like, but could eat (like corn) but others that I just could not go anywhere near - baked beans for example. In fact, just typing the words is turning my tummy! (don't ask - I think I need therapy!)
Bf doesn't like much veg so I am trying to come up with ways to hide it in food (it's like having a toddler) I once blitzed some broccoli and put it in a bolognese! And also find some more unusual things he might never have tried that I can put down in front of him.

BTW has anyone made their own root vegetable crisps. My mam brought a (small) bag home yesterday. They were lovely, but cost £1.15!!!!

rsykes2000

Root veg crisps are straightforward to make, but you need a mandolin (no, not the musical instrument !) to slice them finely enough, a steady hand and the desire to keep the tips of your fingers intact You can either deep-fry them or use the oven - deep frying gives better crispier crisps, but is obv less healthy and you also need to get a decent amount of oil which adds to the cost.

lynzpower

My 100 pcm is for 2

I think the key is having NO WASTE & MENU PLAN

Not so long since I would throw out a whole chicken as Id been too disorganised to eat it while it was in date. Not any more. :eek:

ONly buy what you absolutely NEED for the week. ( unless something good is on bogof) Menu plan to death, and dont buy anything that doesnt fit in with the menu.

thats it really. I still have a few posh things (finest sausages is one thing I wont downgrade), we have 100 for the month ( month ends on friday when I get paid) and we are 4.20 under budget. LOL might spend it at waitrose!!!

muddled_midget

I find frozen veg can work out better value than fresh veg some of the time, especially if you have every intention of being healthy, then run out of enthusiasm and throw it in the compost. We have an organic veg box for £3.50/week then frozen veg on top of that to supplement it, as well as our own veggies from the garden (hopefully). Even better if you can freeze your own veg before it gets to the point it needs to go in the compost if you realise it's not going to get eaten. I also make up soups and freeze these if I think something's going to go to waste.

saver_sam

lswwong wrote:

I found this article from yesterday's edition of The Times:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2742-2181642,00.html

It is about eating well on a limited budget. I am still reading through it (paper version at home) but feel that this is an above average interesting article as the author has managed to cook from some classic recipes e.g. Jane Grigson's.

I read this article too and found it most interesting that you could prepare suppers (inc pudding) for around £25 pw.

Bargain_Rzl

I can only echo what purpleprincess and melancholly have said. Look on the Old Style board and you will find people feeding their families well on the tiniest of budgets.

Personally, I'm single and spend £10-£15 a week on food. (This does not include wine, which I budget for separately, nor household cleaners as my housemate buys these and I refund him half the cost.) I am always looking out for reduced meat items near closing time in the supermarkets, which I freeze until needed. I plan my meals around these purchases and cook in bulk, freezing several portions for every one I eat straight away. I have learnt to work out what's worth buying cheap (i.e. value tomatoes, value kidney beans) and what is not (e.g. I always buy free range eggs and hardly ever spend under £5 a bottle (before discounts ) on wine). Markets and greengrocers are also worth a look - they often, though not always, work out a lot cheaper than supermarkets for fruit and veg.

Quite often it works out that I've come in so far under budget that I can afford to splash out on a few luxury ingredients - the other week I found myself having accumulated £20 from underspending over a few weeks, and got some delicious goat's cheeses, preserves and fudge down at the local farmer's market.

lynzpower

Bargain RZL

Completely agree with you there. I'm one of those who buys free range meat where I can & finest sausages, mince etc, and I can still do it by having value potatoes and tins as you said.

gingerdad

lynzpower wrote:

My 100 pcm is for 2

I think the key is having NO WASTE & MENU PLAN

Not so long since I would throw out a whole chicken as Id been too disorganised to eat it while it was in date. Not any more. :eek:

ONly buy what you absolutely NEED for the week. ( unless something good is on bogof) Menu plan to death, and dont buy anything that doesnt fit in with the menu.

thats it really. I still have a few posh things (finest sausages is one thing I wont downgrade), we have 100 for the month ( month ends on friday when I get paid) and we are 4.20 under budget. LOL might spend it at waitrose!!!

I agree completely with above execpt for the sausages, you wont get my family touching any meat from the supermarket, but we are lucky as have a very good farm shop 200 yards up the road, he prepares all his own meat and often has some excellent offers. (he's also the only one near that the local vet buys from which says a lot to me).

We eat for £200.00 per month for four of us...

amosworks

Personally I believe there is a huge conspiracy to make junk crap food cheaper than healthy food. Don't ask me why, I'm still figuring that bit out but it has something to do with controlling the population through obesity.

I'll get my coat.

amosworks

Mercuryrising wrote:

With regard to fresh fish and meat - I can forget that for the time being. Vegetables - if they're any good will cost more money. And they will not fill you up in the same way as carbs do. I personally couldn't just have brocolli soup on its own.

There have been several studies proving that a diet of mainly protein is a lot more filling than a carb-centric diet.

I don't understand why you think vegetables cost more money. Do you have a garden? Vegetable patch. Do you have a window? Window box. Do you have a bike? Get an allotment.

Stop making problems for yourself and go do something positive for your wallet and your waistline