Single Money Saver living on my own

[Deleted User]

I am a widow and I live alone.I can manage fairly well, but I do miss cooking for a houseful.I find it easier to have a Jacket spud with filling than bother to cook as I used to.I love it when I have visitors as it gives me a chance to cook again.I suppose I spend about £15-20 a week altogether.I do get fed up with mince though.

mink35

JackieO wrote:

I am a widow and I live alone.I can manage fairly well, but I do miss cooking for a houseful.I find it easier to have a Jacket spud with filling than bother to cook as I used to.I love it when I have visitors as it gives me a chance to cook again.I suppose I spend about £15-20 a week altogether.I do get fed up with mince though.

I'll come and visit then you can cook for me, lol I'm sure we can rustle up a few other old stylers to keep me company as well!

DingDong_3

I live on my own and started the grocery challenge last week. I used to spend £30 a week which included everything (bus fare, cleaning products etc) but having read these threads, I'm only allowing myself £20 a week now but to be honest I don't think I'll spend it all. Making a meal plan for the week is a brilliant idea because you know then exactly what to buy and you won't get tempted by frozen pizzas. This week I'm having:

home made spag bol
corned beef hash
beans n mash
homemade pizza
pasta
beans on toast topped with grilled cheese

I'm hopeless at cooking (or think I am) but the spag bol I made yesterday was delicious (and there are two more servings in the freezer). As I get used to cooking, (and read more on these threads) I'll be able to add more recipes. At the moment I buy all my fruit/veg from Tesco but I've started looking at market prices. By the way, Tesco usually do a cheap bag of apples. I got 6 braeburns for 19p a few weeks ago which were fine. I stew them and have them with custard for a cheap dessert

What cereal does everyone buy? I buy bitesize shredded wheat which are pretty expensive but it's the only cereal I can find with low salt and sugar.

Anyway if I can get my food down to £20 a week without much effort then you can too!

crana999

I like branflakes with sultanas / raisins.. I've had that for breakfast almost every day since I was very small!

But I'll eat porridge or my cheapy version of muesli (oats + apple juice + raisins), which are cheaper.

tiff

We have switched from cheerios and coco pops to cornflakes, weetabix and shredded wheat. 0wn label cornflakes are cheap for a large box, and my children like them with warm milk so no added sugar.

Austin_Allegro

I live on my own and can easily eat on £10 a week, or even £8, but I normally spend between £10 and £15.

That doesn't include cleaning products or toiletries, but that only averages about £2 a week anyway. The main ways I keep costs down are:

1. Making sandwiches to take to work and making my own fillings such as tuna and mayonnaise etc instead of buying ready made fillings.

2. Eating a lot of rice/pasta/potatoes and less meat. I get economy rice at 52p a kilo, potatoes in bulk at £1.75 for 5kg, and 1kg of pasta for about 60p

3. I get everything on the ecopomy labels except where experience has shown these to be inferior to the branded products.

4. I get economy muesli for breakfast, about 85p a kilo, this lasts 2-3 weeks

5. If I get meat it's usually things like chicken or bacon, stretched out with potatoes and pasta etc

6. I get fruit from market stalls, it's much cheaper than supermarkets, eg 20 apples for a pound.

7. I get a big bag of frozen veg from the supermarket, this costs about 97p and lasts 1-2 weeks.

8. I stock up on things like whisky and gin when abroad, and make my own wine.

winkle1

thx for all your replies.

i'm trying to make that 10 a week cover EVERYTHING inc cleaning products. perhaps this isnt realistic.

this is also to cover lunches as i always take food to work - usually ham sandwiches and a tin of soup (or homemade soup if i have left over veg) and a bag of crisps. breakfast is porridge oats, dinner is always made from scratch - spag bol, pasta and veg, chilli etc.

i'm trying to eat heathily so I buy a lot of fruit and veg - usually get this from the indian shops as they are so much cheaper.

i'm going to see how i do this month (spent £25 of my £40 budget already!!) and take it from there. think this will give me a more accurate idea of how much i should allow for food.

winkle1

dingdong - I tend to do a meal plan for the week as I'm doing weight watchers so planning my meals means i wont stray of the plan!

r.mac_2

sureeks,

I live by myself too and this month my march grocery challengr budget is £15. This includes meals and cleaning products as well as work lunches. But not toilettries.

So far I found that last week, I was under budget by approximately a pound (and that included two tuna steaks costing £5!).

This week I havn't been to the shops yet!!! Although I have spent £2.50 in pret-a-manger. This came out of my treat/going out/others budget which is £30 per week.

I made up my meal plan for this week;

Mon -beef stew (left overs from Mum's when home at weekend) with potatoes and peas
Tues - chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella and pesto, rice (chicken cost me 50p, mozzarella cost 50p, but only using half, pesto in store cupboard)
Wed - pasta and tomato sauce (pennies - all store cupboard)
Thurs - evening class (take double sandwiches to work)
Fri - going to attempt to make my own pizza (again all store cupboard, but will add fresh veg to top - onion and pepper)

haven't thought about the weekend yet. hope that gives you an idea or inpiration.

winkle1

thx for the ideas r.mac. this week i'm having:

mon: pasta and veg in tomato sauce - had to buy veg but thats it.
tues: egg on toast.
weds: eating at boyfs.
thurs: chilli con carne: i buy mince and split the pack into 6 and use 1/6th every time i cook.
fri & weekend: not sure what i'm doing yet.

for breakfasts i have oats and milk every day. lunch all this week will be ham sandwiches and soup (with crisps, fruit and jelly for extras)