£10 to £15 for food a week?

76rosie

check out the coupons, watch for glitches, christmas party food one is great and whoopsies by the time you know it the freezer is and cupboards are full. might be tough for the first few weeks but it will soon build up.:j

in the past 6 months i've had free shreddies, free sacla sauce, free jordans and plenty of 1p items, plus dtds and glitches.

the harder you try the better you get:T oh and forgot the freebies through the post

JulieGeorgiana

I am surprised at the ignorance that people like McKneff that think that having so little money means you can’t eat healthy! I can get you below £15 a week AND give you 7 of your 5-a-day!

And to add to this… All recipes suggested below either take less then half an hour… or you bung them in a pot and leave them for ages (Slow Cook/Pressure Cooker) and your prep/finishing will not be more than half an hour either! I call them my lazy meals!

Porridge Oats will last 20 portions so 4 weeks worth of breakfast!

Oats (1kg) 89p (1/4 per week... PS. value costs more then own brand)
Milk £1.18
Value Jam 35p

£2.42

HM Soup (Ham and Pea) can be made cheap (a Ham Hock will make two 5ltr pots of soup, each will serve 10 lunches)... so that's 2 of your 5-a-day and lunch for 4 weeks!

Ham Hock £1.50 (Half per Soup)
Split Peas 49p
3 Carrots 24p
Leek 50p
Value Garden Peas 85p (Half a bag per Soup)
Onion 20p
Value Veg Stock 10p

£3.78

A beef stew would last 7 portions (4 of your 5-a-day)... so a weeks worth of dinner!

Frozen Casserole Steak £3
Seasonal Veg (1.5kg) £1.50
Value Chopped Tomatoes x 2 76p
Value Beef Stock Cubes 10p

£5.36

Add some bread and margarine!

Value Wholemeal Bread 47p
Value Spread 75p (should last 2 weeks)

£1.22

Snacks... Cheap yogurts, buy digestives to have with tea...! Fruit!

Value Yogurts x 2 58p
Value Digestives 19p
Value Coffee 47p
Fruit £1 (I can normally get mine this cheap by buying seasonal)

£2.24

TOTAL £15.12
Fruit/Veg: 7
Protein: Yes
Dairy: Yes

And remember the Lunches last 2 weeks and you have Ham Hock and Peas left for another Batch in week 3. Porridge lasts 4 weeks so you don’t have to buy it every week, so week 2 would cost you £9.15, week 3 £10.58 and Week 4 £9.15.

Other Snacks can be HM Hummus on Toast when you have the extra money freed up to buy the initial ingredients.

I have many other evening meals with are CHEAPER than the ones above!

A Chicken Casserole would last 7 portions (4 of your 5-a-day)... so a weeks worth of dinner!

Chicken Legs £2 (you need 2 of the 5 in the pack)
Seasonal Veg (1.5kg) £1.50
Value Chopped Tomatoes x 2 76p
Value Chicken Stock Cubes 10p

£4.36

Spag Bol would last 7 portions (4 of your 5-a-day)... so a weeks worth of dinner!

Minced Meat (Not Value!) £2.50
Value Mixed Frozen Veg 85p
Valu Chopped Tomatoes 38p
Value Pasta Sauce 39p
Value Mixed Herbs 19p
Value Pasta 25p

£4.56
(NB Add less minced Beef, saving £1.25 and add red lentils instead… a whole bag would last a month and cost 88p)

Other Lunches which is CHEAPER:

Red Lentil and Carrot Soup 10 Portions.

Ham Hock £1.50 (Half per Soup)
Lentils 88p
Value Carrots (2kg) 89p
Onion 20p
Value Veg Stock 10p

£3.57

So I say to you… yes it is possible… yes it can be healthy… and you can mix and match your meals to avoid bordom!

Ps. I feed 2 Adults, 1 Child and 4 pets of £50 a week (including all toiletries, and while having a health condition which means I have to eat more expensive and complex foods!) So I knew £10-£15 is easy!

And think about all the leftovers if you say it only has to be for 4/5 days a week...! Means week on week it'll get cheaper!

Good Luck x

Lynsey

Good luck, with lack of freezer space you may struggle - some great bargains can be had buying and stocking up on reduced items (75%+ savings is a possibility at times).
You have a Lidl, so check out their half-price weekends. Cheap veg etc., especially when on offer.
I don't buy "value" stuff (apart from Sainsbury chocolate) now, but max up on better quality stuff when cheap - some value stuff may be better than others.
£15 per week on food for a single person is do-able for a short time, but you would need to put the effort in.
As 76rosie suggests, try couponing and lots of free/cheap stuff will balance your budget better.

Lynsey

valk_scot

I think if you want to pay off an overdraft it would be more effective to cut back on socialising a bit rather than reduce your food to a possibly unhealthy level.

Also, if you stop buying anything ready-made and cook it yourself, that will cut costs instantly. Salads, sandwiches, baked potatoes, stir fry ingredients and breakfasts are all much cheaper if you DIY them. Sit down with a piece of paper and a pen, list what you normally eat and spend on food in a week, including all the takeaway and pre-prepared stuff, then look up any of the supermarket shopping sites and cost it up using home prepared ingredients. Don't try and skin it down to the last penny atm, just look for the differences. What you're trying to do is find a balance that you can stick to long term, not just a quick fix to pay off your overdraft so you can go back to norrmal again. Normal is how you got the overdraft in the first place after all.

I think if you do this and cut say £10 per week off your social budget short term you'll be amazed how much better off you'll be. But it's not worth eating badly so that you can spend £50 on going out, honestly.

AdmiralX

Material_Girl wrote: »

So, is it possible to do it that cheaply or am I crazy to think it can be done?

Of course it is possible. there are several ways and people here have suggested some.

Perhaps you might try also cooking some your own. Home made bread takes 10 minutes and flour can be sold in multipack cheap and it makes at least one meal a day. You do not need yeast always you can google sourdough bread. I make this. This can be the eaten with anything you like. Dry mixed beans are sold in cheap 80p packet and if you soak them they make a week's dish, you may supplement this with oil, butter. Try and find markets around for fresh veg, fru, and eggs: they are good bargains. But if I were you I would also speak to the GP and nurse and ask nutritional advice of how to have a balanced healthy diet and whether what you plan to eat provides you with what you need.:) You can find from local farms produce and make jams you can store, (a friend sells home made jam)

Hiddenidenity

I manage on £10 a week with 2 kids x Tbh Im managing of £10 a month until feb. It can be done

quintwins

i would also cut my entertainment budget if i were you but we all decide whats best for us so i would suggest looking into a tastecard (off ebay not direct) a highlifecard if you have £10 of tesco vouchers or the gourmet society usually have offers aswell for cheaper meals out, these are usually buy one get one free so you could split the savings with a friend or maybe take turns in paying

£15 a weeek is do-able but i would look at it a different way you have £60 for the month breakfasts for a month cost £2, milk for the month (assuming you drink 1 pint aday) £8, and fruit for the month will come in about £15 (averaging 10p a portion if you shop around this gives you 5 portions aday) that leaves you £40 for the months lunchs and dinners.

dinners

sherperds pie

mince £2.20
onion £0.15
frozen value mixed veg £0.20 (1/4 of the bag you won't even need this much)
gravy £0.10
mash £0.50

total= £3.15 this feeds 5 of us with a leftover portion (hubby has a double portion as he has a physicially demanding job) so a weeks worth

beef stew

spuds £0.50 (1/4 of a value bag)
carrots £0.40 (half a value bag)
onion £0.20
beef shin £1.00
gravy £0.10

total £1.70 this does a good 10 portions, and all you do is throw it in a pot on a low temp for 3hrs or so then add gravy at the end

quiche

pastry made with value butter and flour around £0.30
8 eggs (we use value at 8p each beggars can't be choosers and all that) £0.70
sweetcorn frozen/tinned £0.30
frozen brocolli or soinage £0.30
cheese £0.50 (you can always get a big block of cheese for £2)

total £2.10 i make a massive quiche but you could get away with fewer eggs and make a smaller one this does 10 portions

value frozen chicken breasts aren't bad and will do several meals and can be served with you value spuds and frozen veg and gravy


lunchs

sandwichs

bread £0.55 (20 slices of bread so 10 sandwichs)

fill with the rest of your cheese
home made egg mayo (make your own using value mayo)
home made blt (using value cooking bacon)

pasta- make a sauce with value tomatoes and add left over cooking bacon

soup - the feed your family for £100 site has a fab potatoe and onion one using cooking bacon sounds odd but is nice

chicken noodle soup is yummy, dice a cooked chicken breast add to chicken stock add froze peas sweetcorn and a packet of value noodles (not the flavouring) does 10+ portions


thats more than enough meals to last a month even if your not eating out your shopping list would be

mince £2.20
onions £0.79
mixed veg £0.80
gravy £0.90
beef shin £1
value spuds £2
value carrots £0.80
value flour £0.70
value butter £1.20
value eggs £1.45
frozen brocolli £0.86
cheese £2
bread £0.55
value chicken breasts £ 4.49
value noodles £0.10
cooking bacon £0.75
frozen peas £0.85
chicken stock £0.10
lettuce £0.50
tomatoe £0.78
value mayo £0.48

total = £24.01 which leaves you plenty left if you fancy something different, also theres enough lettuce and tomatoe for a few side salads but this the only thing on the list that won't keep in the freezer so you need to eat it within a few days-week of buying it


i agree having no freezer will be your biggest downfall i would try get a free one from freecycle or buy a very cheap wee one even if you don't have room and it has to go in your bedroom

quintwins

wow my post is shockingly long sorry

McKneff

I am surprised at the ignorance that people like McKneff that think that having so little money means you can’t eat healthy! I can get you below £15 a week AND give you 7 of your 5-a-day!

You really need to choose your words more carefully, I totally resent being called ignorant. You need to realise that it is very upsetting.

If you cant choose your words more carefully say nothing at all

Anouchka

JulieGeorgiana is spot on. How do I know? I eat like this myself and have done so for years. With a bit of effort it is more than possible to eat well for £10 - £15 per week.