Reasonable Food Budget for 1

antonia1

Lizling wrote: »

- frozen berries for breakfast (£2)
Got any blackberries or perhaps elderberries growing near you? Maybe you could at least supplement the shop ones with free ones. Keep an eye out for reduced ones too, if you’ll be able to eat them quickly or freeze them.
- fat free natural yoghurt (£2) – the full fat one is cheaper so maybe you could just eat less of it instead ;-) It would be less processed.
- salad (£1) A bag of frozen peas or green beans would go a lot further for the same money. Or if this is for lunches, could you take in HM veg soup instead?
- frylight cooking spray (£2) – Not sure about this one because I don’t do low-fat substitutes myself, but that seems expensive. Is there nothing cheaper you could use instead?
- potatoes (£2.50) – Something I rarely buy, but surely there are cheaper bags than that? Have you compared against loose prices too?

Thanks for all your suggestions, I've just picked out the ones I probs won't be able to use!

I don't know where there are any blackberry places nearby, I live in a city, but buying reduced and freezing is a good plan.

I have yoghurt for breakfast because of the protein and calcium content, so having full fat and less of it defeats the purpose really. Will switch from Onken to supermarket own brand though.

The salad is mainly for lunches and I don't find soup very filling without bread. Switching to lettuce hearts should reduce the cost though.

I haven't seen a generic version on frylight, but I only replace it every 4 months or so, so £2 isn't really the end of the world.

Yeah, it is possible to get cheaper potatoes by buying them in bigger sacks, but then there's no where to keep them. Will look out for the value versions tho.

antonia1

Thanks all with your ideas, I am definitely going to make some big changes (fewer berries and less meat) and some smaller ones too (downshift on tinned tomatoes and kidney beans). And join the grocery challenge next month with an aim of £80 for the month. If I can get down to that I can pay off my debt a whole month early, which is quite an incentive!

stacey4415c

I've just moved into my own flat and so am cooking for one, i've never really cooked [properly before, well obviously i've made easy dishes such as pasta, rice, etc but i want to start properly cooking and being more adventurous. At the weekend i made lots of notes, ideas for meals, meal plan etc and a list. I went to Asda and spent £34 , i hope this will last me quite a long time! The problem is i do not get back from work until 7 or 8pm, sometimes 9pm so i'm often tired and don't bother cooking as i'm so tired....

rising_from_the_ashes

Stacey - I'm the same (and terrible for eating a whole packet of biscuits as I'm often too tired to cook)

Do you have a freezer?

Try batch cooking at weekends and freezing in individual portions (things like spag bol sauces, mince, chilli etc). These can be taken straight out the freezer and defrosted on the hob (bit of water & knob of butter in pan, put on smallest ring at lowest temp with lid on) - it saves a load of hassle and means you get a "proper" meal during the week. HTH

stacey4415c

RFTA- i have a fridge which has a sort of box freezer at the top, i so want to get into the batch cooking and freezing, and like you i will have to do it at weekends as when i get home i just want to go to bed! Thank you so much for your advice

[Deleted User]

I have lived alone for 8 years since my lovely OH died and it takes a bit of getting used to buying just for one .I put £100.00 in a sperate purse on the first of the month and thats what is my 'food' money for the month.It helps that I have always over the years been fairly adept at keeping costs down (I grew up during and after W2) when food was scarce and rationed so every scrap had to be streeetched to almost breaking point.I do eat quite a bit of fruit and I find Sainsburys the best for bananas and oranges but shop around for apples as they can vary in price If you live in a city even parks have blackberries growing in there as they will grow alomost anywhere or get a bus to the nearest big open space or common at the week-end and take a plastic box with you for 'forageing'.Often even a stroll down an alleyway between houses you will see blackberries straggling over walls .Tip Don't pick the ones low down in case of dogs ...erm deposits
Always make a menu for the week and see what you can use up indoors before replacing it.Buy only what you need and not what you think you need or want Years ago everyone used cash only and it certainly focus's your mind when you see how much you have left in your purse and how many days until the end of the month .I can usually have a couple of pounds left over by the end of the month and they go straight away into a 'holiday account' for next years holidays .This month I have spent a bit more as I was away on holiday last month so ran down my supplies a bit.I always buy value oats and I'm not that keen on cereals anyway.look for the reduced items section and get to know what time stuff is being reduced.If you have to buy something and its on offwer at a BOGOF then try to share the purchase with someone else that way you both save .Mince is excellent at streeeetching for spag bols,shep.pies etc with carrots or oats or pulses.Soup can be made far more cheaply than bought in a tin and tastes much nicer The addition of a couple of chopped up spuds will thicken any soup when whizzed up before serving and the thick chunky veggie soup made in a big pot and portioned up can be frozen or left covered in the fridge for a couple of days .My Mums mantra was always soup first then the meal, OR the meal followed by a pud but never both.You seem to buy quite a bit of yogurt. OK why not buy natuaral yougurt and flavour it with some chopped up fruit yourself I love Onken but as its normally only in a big pot its easy to over-eat the amount Why not get a small pot as well and the big one and use the small pot as a measure IYSWIM then your onken should last a bit longer I use yogurt on top of a chopped apple or banana instead of cream and only a couple of desret spoonsful at that Good luck and I have pm'd you re recipes
Cheers JackieO xx

ceridwen

I like the Food Purse idea JackieO.

That would need some tweaking for some singlies - dependant on lifestyle. In my own case - meals out (of one description or another) - be it "communal - bring food to share" meals or "eating lunch at the parents house" come into play and that feels like "sorta social" type spending (rather than "food spending") iyswim.

You often help your family out with food/presumably feed your family if they're in your house - do you "tweak" there and take cash from elsewhere to cover those costs (ie and just regard that £100 as "your" food money alone) or is that an "all in figure" including "food for family"?

I guess I'd have to take out a bit and change it over to General Purse whenever I was fed a meal out OR add in a bit from General Purse when I was taking some "food to share" (as I'll throw in a bit extra to be generous)....

stacey4415c

Does anyone have any ideas on how flavour rice? I like the idea of cooking rice and adding lots of veg but would like to add something to
Make it a little bit tastier. Does anyone have any suggestions?

RAS

stacey4415c wrote: »

Does anyone have any ideas on how flavour rice? I like the idea of cooking rice and adding lots of veg but would like to add something to
Make it a little bit tastier. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Maybe think about a stir fry and rice?

You could stir fry the veggie and then add soy sauce and or fish sauce, or part of one of those stir fry pouches you can buy for a change (freeze the rest for later).

Downsizing__for_sanity

Hi,

I often have HM granola for breakfast, made from a BBC Good Food website recipe, with yoghurt and berries. I make the yoghurt with an Easy yo flask thing, and it makes a kg and lasts for about 2 weeks in the fridge. Much cheaper than Rachel's Organic etc! You can get flavoured ones, bio, greek, organic, low fat, no-fat etc. Lakeland stock all their stuff, Julian Graves too usually.

The maker cost about £13 originally and you can usually get it on offer. Hope this helps!

DFS