Do you earn enough for a minimum acceptable standard of living?

PasturesNew

princeofpounds wrote: »

1 chicken breast £1.20
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesco-price-

200g pasta 31p
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesco-price-comparison/Pasta_And_Noodles/Tesco_Conchiglie_Pasta_Shells_3Kg.htmlcomparison/Fresh_Poultry/Tesco_Skinless_Chicken_Breast_Fillets_950g.html

50g peas 8p
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesco-price-comparison/Frozen_Vegetables_And_Chips/Tesco_Fresh_Frozen_Petits_Pois_1Kg.html

1/5th jar pesto 41p
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesco-price-comparison/Marinades_And_Sauces/Sacla_Italia_Classic_Green_Basil_Pesto_190g.html

So that's £2.00 for a pretty plain (but certainly acceptable) meal. You could get it under the £1.90/meal budget by going for the ultra-value options I'm sure, and breakfasts would probably be cheaper, but throw in a once-a-week treat like a steak and you will get to £40 easily.

Leave the chicken out £1.20 saved :P

PasturesNew

carolt wrote: »

Can I put you on lunchbox duty in my house, please?

...you have to do it whilst

Do them the night before, just before you go to bed. Pop them into the fridge. In the morning just grab them

A lot of sandwiches can be frozen too, so you can do one bulk session and freeze the lot.

Badger_Lady

I'd like to know where I can rent for £52 a week! I mean I don't live in an expensive area... but I charge £70 a week for my lodger to live in my spare room :eek:

Apparently I earn about three times what I need...

chewmylegoff

PasturesNew wrote: »

Leave the chicken out £1.20 saved :P

why not just do away with the lot and eat some free grass from your garden. yummy and ultra MSE.

PasturesNew

If I find myself needing to buy a sandwich and a drink at lunchtime, I go into the nearest supermarket and look at the sandwiches. I don't think "mmmmm cheese ploughmans, big fill... £2.50". I think "mmmm where are the £1 ones....?" and come away with a cheese/onion or egg/mayo for £1. Then for drinks I don't think "Ah, there's one, £0.75", I think "Right, where is the drinks aisle, what's on offer" and I come away with a pack of 6 drinks for about £1.

So I could have spent £2.50 + £0.75 = £3.25, but instead I'm out of there for £2 and with 5 spare drinks for later/another time. And that's over and above the saving I'd have made by going into a supermarket instead of Cheesy Joes Sandwich Shop (or Pret if you're in London....)

beecher2

How do the people who eat so many takeouts manage to stay fit? I'd be overweight - or more likely obese - if I ate what I wanted, when I wanted it.

Reginald_aka

carolt wrote: »

Can I put you on lunchbox duty in my house, please?

I have to do 3 sets, per day. 3 school lunches = 3 lots of sandwiches (would that they'd all agree on the same filling, just for a change!), 3 lots of chopped, and then potted or wrapped veg or fruit (occasionally I get away with 1 large item like a tangerine or an apple, but often that will come back uneaten) plus 3 sweet items likewise wrapped, and 3 drinks, and in this hot weather something cool, ideally frozen, eg squueezy yoghurts, etc.

Takes 20 mins easily.

And that's if I'm lucky and we haven't run out f bread, so I don't have to start making emergency last-minute pasta salad, or out of protein so hard-boiling eggs etc.

What a palaver....

Stop the mollycoddling and let them fend for themselves woman!!!

When I was barely knee high to jackal my siblings and I were sent out poaching! - And beartrap wound or not, if we dared return home empty handed it was the birch for us, not a last minute pasta salad!!!!

PasturesNew

I used to have a job that made me go to their London office a few times. The daily expenses budget was £20 and they'd put me in a hotel miles away. I'd usually have to get a taxi to the office as I had no idea where I was, or where I was going, which would be £10 gone. Breakfast was usually included at the hotel, but come lunchtime I'd go down the road and find a cheap sandwich shop to buy cheap sandwiches for my evening meal. The office had a small dining room (it was a training company and they provided food on site) and if I timed it right, after the clients had gone, I could go down there and get a random freebie lunch from the leftovers. I'd then get a taxi back to the hotel ... and stay in my room eating the cheap sandwiches I'd bought earlier.

carolt

PasturesNew wrote: »

Do them the night before, just before you go to bed. Pop them into the fridge. In the morning just grab them

A lot of sandwiches can be frozen too, so you can do one bulk session and freeze the lot.

A good idea in theory, but personally I don't like soggy sandwiches, so it seems mean to inflict them on my kids. Plus chopped fruit and veg leak vitamins - it's more nutritious to leave till later (yes, I am that anal). Sometimes, when I'm feeling very organised, I do do the bulk of it the night before.

And very occasionally, when I'm desperate/ill, OH does it. He's managed to perfect the technique of giving every individual child a lunch they won't eat, though, , so usually it falls down to me.

What I need is to train my kids up to make their own lunches. Not sure it would be desperately nutritious, though. :think:

chewmylegoff

PasturesNew wrote: »

If I find myself needing to buy a sandwich and a drink at lunchtime, I go into the nearest supermarket and look at the sandwiches. I don't think "mmmmm cheese ploughmans, big fill... £2.50". I think "mmmm where are the £1 ones....?" and come away with a cheese/onion or egg/mayo for £1. Then for drinks I don't think "Ah, there's one, £0.75", I think "Right, where is the drinks aisle, what's on offer" and I come away with a pack of 6 drinks for about £1.

So I could have spent £2.50 + £0.75 = £3.25, but instead I'm out of there for £2 and with 5 spare drinks for later/another time. And that's over and above the saving I'd have made by going into a supermarket instead of Cheesy Joes Sandwich Shop (or Pret if you're in London....)

most people don't select their lunchtime sandwich on the basis of its price - they pick one that they actually want to eat.