Who regularly eats well for 1 on £10 per week, please share your best ideas?

Fire_Fox

I am on a low income, live alone and have worked in/ studied healthcare for twenty years - currently physical activity which includes nutrition consultations. Providing you meet or exceed official guidelines for healthy eating you don't need to worry about individual vitamins and minerals. You won't meet the guidelines for oily fish tho - do you already take an algae-based omega-3 supplement? Have you considered growing your own fruit and veg, getting involved in a community garden project or an allotment?

I shop in bulk every two weeks or so, walk or bus to the supermarket and either taxi home or use free home delivery when there is a code (regularly, read MSE). This works out cheaper than shopping weekly or more often and only as much as I can carry. The more frequently I shop the more fresh and bargain stuff I get sucked into and the more I spend overall tho you may be more disciplined. MySupermarket is great for price comparisons; Morrisons is not listed by TBH I find them better quality but substantially more expensive than Asda.

Start taking note of the price per kilo of fruit and vegetables bearing in mind a portion is 80g (less for dried). In general veg is cheaper than fruit, frozen or dried is cheaper than fresh, root veg is A LOT cheaper than salad, tho of course there are exceptions. There is also less waste with many frozen or dried fruits and veggies as the stone/ skin/ stalks have already been removed and they are just as nutritious as fresh. Relatively cheap fruit and veg includes SP tinned tomatoes, SP tinned kidney beans, frozen crushed garlic, SP fresh carrots, SP fresh onions, SP apples, fresh red cabbage, savoy cabbage, SP mixed dried fruit, dried prunes, frozen SP mixed veg, SP frozen broccoli, SP frozen sweetcorn, dried yellow lentils, dried chick peas. I eat frozen berries as they are much cheaper than fresh and bananas/ mushrooms cos I love them tho not so MSE! Juicing means you are missing out on soluble fibre and phytonutrients so aim to blend instead.

It's also worth looking at the price per portion of dairy products, as these are important for protein and calcium and you should be having three each day. Dried milk is great for adding to soups and for porridge, not sure if the SP cheddar is veggie-friendly? Asda regularly does brilliant offers on free-range eggs if you are willing to buy fifteen or eighteen. Dried soya mince can be cheap but you probably already know it takes some work to make it tasty! :rotfl: Wheatgerm and peanuts are good source of protein, fibre, healthy fats and minerals plus are well priced.

For carbohydrates look at the price per kilo BUT don't forget some are already cooked (e.g. bread) so contain water, some dry and will absorb a lot of water (e.g. barley takes 3x it's weight IIRC). Dried pulses are something to really focus on as they are cheap, contain protein AND low glycaemic index carbs AND minerals AND fibre AND count towards your five a day!! I don't purchase refined (white) carbohydrates because they are empty calories, which does mean some of the Smartprice/ Value are off limits. You will need wholegrains to be able to combine the protein with nuts or pulses. You can often purchase wholegrain flour, soya mince, brown rice and nuts for a good price from an Asian supermarket or the Asian section in Asda. If you are finding wheat products make you hungry, perhaps you are not eating enough fibre, protein or unsaturated fats, all of which reduce the glycaemic index of a meal and promote satiety.

Good luck!

415SanFran

If you go to the asian shop, buy your pulses there......so much cheaper, a !!!!!! to carry tho
There is a very cheap handwash in Morrisons look right at the bottom probably stuck in a corner, but the bubblebath works out cheaper it's a ltr bottle for about 18p.
Here is the link for washing powder.http://www.makingyourown.co.uk
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html and here is the one for yogurt, honestly it works!!
Can I also suggest you try to pick up a cheap backpack, if you are walking or on a bike it is better for your back, rather than being lobsided, it really is surprising how much you can get in one, without it weighing you down.
Buying in bulk without transport is more than hard.....Approved foods will charge 5.50 for delivery, that said if you work it right you should only need to use it once or twice.
Do you have a slow cooker?

BitterAndTwisted

beautifylife wrote: »

I'd be interested to hear how you make your own washing powder please tell me more?

Not powder but I made TEN LITRES of "Laundry Gloop" from one bar of grated Fairy household soap, some washig-soda and borax. That's a year's supply for about two quid.

Just a thought - yes would like to learn about how to make yogurt - I know what you mean about the equipment costs! Can you say more.

To make home-made yoghurt you need scalded fresh milk, a few tablespoons of live yoghurt and a thermos flask.

Where do you buy 10p shower gel from?

Asda sell a LITRE of their Smart Price foam bath for about 20 pence. Also check out the supermarkets when they've got their own-brand baby bath on special offer.

Sounds like you need to join the Old-Style part of the forum. Have you checked out the Cheap-Family-Recipes. org website? If, as they claim, you can feed a family of four for £100 a month then feeding one on a tenner a week should be pretty do-able. Of course, life is easier if you can batch-cook and freeze in single portions when you spot an especially good offer.

booter

Have you checked out local allotments or people who may grow fruit/veg at home? You may be able to "barter" for their surplus in one way or another - many allotment growers have surplus!

415SanFran

Their is a thread on here called something like "save gazillions on cleaning products" give that a try. Ill bet you soon stop buying spray bottles of anything, and start with something very concentrated(stardrops) putting in your own water and a swig of vinigar/bleach, Vwalaa,,,three bottles of spray for the price of one!

$stores are not always the cheapest, if you have a savers or superdrug some of the same items are cheaper by a small amount, perhaps 89p rather than the pound

beautifylife

Wow! This is great community spirit. It's wonderful to have everyones support. I hope really helps others too, in a similar position because sometimes it's challenging to admit what you need from others.

Just wanted to answer some of the questions that have been raised:

- Yes I have a backpack, and my bike has a bike bag attached so I can cycle hands free, which is great going downhill!
- Yes I approached 2 local allotments within walking distance and no one was willing to sell their veg. apparently against regulations of owning the allotment.
- I checked out the approved food site and unfortunately everything that you suggested was sold out. I spoke with them and they said that sometimes they only get a few cases and everything goes quickly. But that's fine I can keep an eye on it.
- Yes I checked out the cheap family recipes - looks good especially the food planner and it shows it's doable with the right strategy.
- No I don't have a slow cooker, about 50-70% of my diet is raw food, I try to cook as little as possible because I believe it retains more nutrients that way. I eat food as close to nature as possible - it's simpler, and cuts down on fuel costs too! But I do cook conventionally when but again simple cooking.

In terms of the bread and pasta I think I might have gluten allergy because it tends to bloat me! That's why I avoid it. I have been trying to have more protein dense foods as they are more filling.

Thanks to everyone for all the links I'll check them out and the bubble bath etc that's one for the shopping list. I agree that frozen fruit is much cheaper and I always buy what I can that way.

Where do I go to find the old style forum can anyone direct me? Or is it just obvious?!

I'm looking to do more foraging so if anyone has any tips pass them on! Are there any good online resources you can recommend for making sure your getting the right foods! I only pick what I know for safety reasons.

PS I do have a couple of other challenges right now so I wanted to get some feedback. I am struggling to keep up with my dentist and optical appointments due to the costs. I'm currently trying to apply for a certificate through the NHS but it takes ages! I know Martin talks about cheap ways to pay for these but mostly they our out of my price bracket. What do you do to keep costs down?

Thanks again.

415SanFran

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/826963

Try this thread out, it will not all apply to you, being a single person and veggie, but some of the tips are good.
RE learning, if you are benefits you can learn through the Open University, who do really well at giving money off, it fact I got my last course totally free! The one that I am on now is costing 25pounds, might as well put all this free time into learning.
Go to the forums and OS will be in the list.

beautifylife

Thanks for being so generous with your experience and time.

ceridwen

Re bread not agreeing with you - I have read that sometimes people think its bread thats the problem, when actually its the modern methods used to produce bread (google Chorleywood Process of making bread:eek:).

- Have you tried making your own bread?

- If even that proves "disagreeable" to you - then maybe making the sourdough version instead of standard bread made with yeast might be the answer?

Just my two pennorth - but its always worth experimenting a bit I tend to think.

Fire_Fox

beautifylife wrote: »

- No I don't have a slow cooker, about 50-70% of my diet is raw food, I try to cook as little as possible because I believe it retains more nutrients that way. I eat food as close to nature as possible - it's simpler, and cuts down on fuel costs too! But I do cook conventionally when but again simple cooking.

In terms of the bread and pasta I think I might have gluten allergy because it tends to bloat me! That's why I avoid it. I have been trying to have more protein dense foods as they are more filling.

I hope you don't mind me being honest, but I believe you are imposing too many limitations on your diet for you to achieve anything like optimum nutrition on such a low budget. Cooking food actually releases and concentrates some phytonutrients, whilst overcooking destroys others. Most concentrated carbohydrates need cooking and you need wholegrains and/ or pulses to create 'complete' proteins and for minerals.

If you were coeliac (= gluten allergy) you'd know about it as the symptoms are pretty unpleasant. You'd experience the same symptoms with rye, barley and probably oats. More likely you have some of the symptoms of IBS or wheat 'intolerance'. Eating a diet high in plants, whilst nutritious, could mean you are failing to fully digest the carbohydrate/ fibre content leaving your gut flora to have a field day. This is more likely to be a problem if you are eating a high proportion of raw or eating too quickly, as cooking and chewing both partially digest your food (releasing micronutrients! :T).

Two supplements have been proven to reduce the symptoms of IBS, anti-inflammatory long chain omega-3s from fish body oils and freeze-dried probiotics. These are of benefit to everyone's digestion and general health so there is little to lose by trying! As you are veggie and on a budget, you might consider an algae-based omega-3 supplement and homemade live yoghurt.

With fruit and veg population studies and meta-analyses support the equivalent of nine portions per day as being optimum for health; there are no proven health benefits thereafter so no need to eat them raw to make them more nutritious. I am guessing you are already close to this, and well aware of the need to 'eat a rainbow'. I hit nine for several years, felt absolutely amazing and cannot honestly remember when I last had a head cold.

Sorry to be so blunt but lifestyle healthcare is my passion as well as my livelihood, and you sound like someone who will take constructive criticism and run with it.