Junk Food Challenge!

Elmly

i spend SO much on junk food and defo need to cut down!
who wants to join and support me in this and become a member!
what do you think is reasonable? £50 a month? £25 a month?

i am going to trial with £30 for the rest of this month then see how i go from there!

who's with me? :T

jenniewb

Do you mean £30 to spend on junk? or reduce all your supermarket spending to £30? Food which is good for you/healthy is unfortunetly normally more expensive in most cases.

Good luck though, hope it works out for you.

Elmly

junk food such as takeaways etc... indian/chinese/mcds/kfc/subway etc!
i spend little bits here and there and looking at my bank statement it all adds up!

Clowance

Why not replace a junk food takeaway with a jacket potato done in the microwave and topped with your favourite filling (cheesy beans is mine), if you have a few salad leaves and tomato hey presto cheap and easy dinner.

hornetgirl

jenniewb wrote: »

Food which is good for you/healthy is unfortunetly normally more expensive in most cases.

So not true. Weezl currently has a thread about how you can feed a family of four healthily for just £100 per month.

tessie_bear

u could do fake aways where u cook the curry or whatever...by junk do u just mean takeaways or crisps/chocolate/snacks ?

Elmly

if im out and about i grab a cheese burger (99p) or might get breakfast from subway/mcds (£1.70-£3)!
at the weekends my boyfriend and i like to get a chinese or indian (around £20 for both of us)
or if im at work sometimes i dont fancy my healthy home made lunch and buy kfc (£5)
take the kids for a treat at mcds/kfc one night a week (£10-£15)
all these little bits add up and i wouldnt like to think how much i spend a month!

haycorns

Elmly wrote: »

if im out and about i grab a cheese burger (99p) or might get breakfast from subway/mcds (£1.70-£3)!
at the weekends my boyfriend and i like to get a chinese or indian (around £20 for both of us)
or if im at work sometimes i dont fancy my healthy home made lunch and buy kfc (£5)
take the kids for a treat at mcds/kfc one night a week (£10-£15)
all these little bits add up and i wouldnt like to think how much i spend a month!

If the jump to be healthly is too much to do in one go, try swapping take aways for the homemade equivalent first.

Eg bacon sandwich for breakfast before you leave home
Put nice homemade things in your lunch - eg homemade chicken wrap
Let your children build their own burgers at home. Just grill burgers, cut up gerkin, lettuce, cucumber,tomatoes, cheese, serve with ketchup/mustard / relish and let them assemble their own. Serve with oven chips. Not labour intensive and kids will enjoy the novelty.
Make your own curry - make several portions at once and freeze them. Even if you cheat with a jar of curry sauce you will get an awful lot of home made curry for £20. Buy yourself flat pack poppadoms which are quickly done in the microwave and keep naan bread in the freezer to defrost as required. Invest in a jar of mango chutney and just boil some rice.

Give it a go - it'll be well worth the effort - both financially and health wise.

jenniewb

hornetgirl wrote: »

So not true. Weezl currently has a thread about how you can feed a family of four healthily for just £100 per month.

While I'd agree with that in part, I don't think its true. To eat junk all day would not be as expensive as buying fresh fruit and vegetables for example- may help if you have a garden, but for example I don't, I don't own a balcony and even if I could afford an allotment, I'd have to join a 7 year waiting list.

When I see posts like "10 pack of crisps for £1 on BOGOF at Asda" or similar, I can see that for around 2000kcals (more then enough for an active person to live off calorie wise) you could eat for £5 a week. Not advisable as its complete !!!! but it paints my point. And this is just one example I have read, I am sure there are even cheaper prices. Now if I could eat a balanced and healthy diet on £5 a week or less, I'd be laughing! (And also booking the first ever holiday for the past 20 years,- hell I'd even go abroad, first time ever!:rotfl:)

paulwf

Elmly wrote: »

if im out and about i grab a cheese burger (99p) or might get breakfast from subway/mcds (£1.70-£3)!
at the weekends my boyfriend and i like to get a chinese or indian (around £20 for both of us)
or if im at work sometimes i dont fancy my healthy home made lunch and buy kfc (£5)
take the kids for a treat at mcds/kfc one night a week (£10-£15)
all these little bits add up and i wouldnt like to think how much i spend a month!

It looks like being fairly easy to cut down with just a little planning in advance. Leave enough time to have breakfast before you leave the house or take some cereal or snacks with you to the office. Put some treats in with your healthy lunch so you aren't temped to get a KFC. You can get an Indian/Chinese banquet box in supermarkets for £10 or less.

Fast food isn't healthy for anyone let alone kids and it isn't a good habit for them into to see it as a treat. Spend the £15 on a dine in for £10 meal deal with a few extras and make that the treat instead.

The problem with the types of fast food you mention is there is a reasonable amount of evidence swaying towards the idea that very high levels of saturated fat and salt are psychologically addictive. The cravings are probably why you're paying a lot of money for a KFC lunch even if you've already bought lunch in. IMHO you'd be better ditching them altogether and getting the junk and the cravings out of your system. If you just try and cut down a bit you'll still be topping up the cravings.

Try and spend some quality time with your partner cooking together and trying out some new recipes. KFC and McDonalds is such bland and uninspiring food...there are far more exciting types of fresh food you could be trying at home.

PasturesNew

£5/month on junk food is adequate per person. There are ways of having the same stuff, cheaper, at home.