Single person, London, living on £80.00 per month - possible?

patchwork_cat

HAve you posted an SOA to make sure that your bills are minimised?

gettingready

Thanks but I know my bills are minimised. My pets cost me a lot but they are non-negotiable so really have to do with what I have left, £80.00 per mnth for myself - just for me: food/toiletries etc no bills.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi GR great to see you over here!

Batch cooking is def the way - I never cook during the week .... same as you - by the time the pets are sorted, I can't be bothered and usually end up eating something silly if I don't have anything to hand.

I do huge pots of things (spal bol sauce, chilli, chicken or beef casserole) and then freeze these in individual portions (DM keeps her tubs from RM she buys which are just the right size;) but ones from the £shop do just as well).

These are brilliant - run them under hot water for a min to loosen them & then stick them in a pan, with a tiny bit of water, stick a lid on and by the time your pasta / rice etc is cooked, it should be cooked through!:j

Regulars - please cover your eyes I do use bought pasta sauces BUT bulk these out by adding a couple of tins of tomatoes, veg etc. I can get 8 portions of spag bol from one jar & 300g of quorn (on a diet just now so "real" mince is out!) HTH

Re the slow cooker ..... I have one but only use it when I'm here - don't quite trust Maisie!:D

gettingready

Rising - hi and thanks....

Yes, slow cooker + 4 cats (especially Fred) and a dog... that is a wory too, especially if there is some meat inside. BUt perhaps I could lock the slow cooker in the bedroom and shut the door? No door in the kitchen... Hmmmm

wearegood

80 will only for survival, not for living.

gettingready

wearegood wrote: »

80 will only for survival, not for living.

I know but I rather surwive and keep all my pets than live better but have to rehome any of them.

I have a feeling you have not been round here for too long as you would have known people live on less than that.

I am just looking for ideas and I know people on here are a friendly bunch and will help with advice.

ScarletRaven

Definitely reckon you can do that quite easily, hopefully with still getting some healthy fruit and veg in your diet as well I'm currently trying to work out how to live on £50 a month for food/toiletries etc and that's for two adults and a toddler! :O Wish me luck lol.

You've certainly come to the right board for this sort of thing, I've been hanging around the OS board for about a year now and what I've learnt from others on here in that time is proving invaluble now we're in this crisis.

If there is a Lidl anywhere near you (can't remember if you mentioned this or not) I definitely recommend them for toiletries - currently a LITRE bottle of shower gel costs just £1.29 - that should last one person a good while I shop there for most things anyway, but like others have said on here it is worth checking out other supermarkets just for their value ranges or occasional amazing yellow sticker (reduced) finds The general concensus on here seems to be that Tesco have the best/largest range of Value products, and if that is where you shop anyway even better Try to work out if it will be more cost effective to pay for delivery of shopping rather than bus fare, also shopping online allows you to check prices beforehand against others to get the best deals.

As for not wanting to leave the slow cooker on while you're out at work, have you considered prepping it when you get in from work and leaving it on over night to cook? My mum finds this the easier option for her, although she says the smell sometimes makes her hungry!

You say you're trying to avoid bread and potatoes at the moment, how about pasta/rice/lentils? If you're happy to eat those, lots of meals can be made using these as a base - healthy, filling and room for lots of variety! Also suitable for lucnhes as well as dinners.

gettingready

Thanks

Pasta, brown rice, lentils are fine.

I have a monthly travelcard for work (which I pay for) so getting a bus is not extra cost but time/difficulty carrying heavy stuff. That is why I order online from Asda 99% of the time.

Overnight cooking - brilliant idea. Never though of it. But then - it would be too hot to put in the fridge/freezer in the morning and left outside can get spoilt.. Hmmmm Need to think about this one.

£50 per month for 2 adults and a toodler? Jessssssssssssssssssssss, you will need more than just luck for that but.. fingers crossed

Or perhaps you mean 50 per week for you and your family?

Callie22

When I lived in London I actually found it cheaper to buy food, mainly because I tended to use the Turkish and Greek shops rather than the supermarkets (I miss TFC a lot!). It was a few years ago now but it was definitely cheaper foodwise, mainly I think because it was much easier to buy just what I needed. It was easier, for example, to buy one pepper, one onion etc, and the basics (pasta, flour and so on) were cheaper than the supermarket brands. That combined with a local Lidl meant that my food bills were much lower than they are now, when I have to use supermarkets more - in the small shops there's also less temptation to take advantage of 'special offers'. If you're willing to batch cook, buy less well-known brands and be a bit creative then I definitely think that food can be cheaper in London, as long as you don't eat our much!

ScarletRaven

gettingready wrote: »

Thanks

Pasta, brown rice, lentils are fine.

I have a monthly travelcard for work (which I pay for) so getting a bus is not extra cost but time/difficulty carrying heavy stuff. That is why I order online from Asda 99% of the time.

Overnight cooking - brilliant idea. Never though of it. But then - it would be too hot to put in the fridge/freezer in the morning and left outside can get spoilt.. Hmmmm Need to think about this one.

£50 per month for 2 adults and a toodler? Jessssssssssssssssssssss, you will need more than just luck for that but.. fingers crossed

Or perhaps you mean 50 per week for you and your family?

I totally understand the fact that it's difficult to cart shopping home again on the bus, used to struggle with that myself all the time. Luckily I shop at the same time as my mum now, so she gives me a lift home with the shopping.

Ah, I didn't actually think about the storing of the food once it was cooked, sorry. My mum has my sister still living with her so she tends to do that bit for her if I remember rightly

Unfortunately I do indeed mean £50 for the MONTH :eek: £50 a week would be easy as we used to allow that at most each week anyways, to have that cut down to a quarter is a little scary I must admit. Came as quite a shock to me too, let me tell ya lol. But I am very determined to make this work!

This post has a fantastic list of helpful links and cheap recipe ideas that may be of use - it'll take some trawling through, but it's definitely worth it for the inspiration http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=54840211&postcount=304 The post is part of the £7 a week thread, which may also be of some use (there were lots of suggestions for rice/pasta/lentil based dishes suggested). The weekly meal plan ideas in the £7 a week thread are not healthy for the long term, but you're working with £20 a week so could easily adapt them to add healthy elements like extra veg/fruit/calcium.

This site may also be useful - you put in how many people the meal needs to serve, and even how long you have to spend in the kitchen (useful if you don't have much spare time like you said), and it suggests cheap meal ideas for both dinner and lunch: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/money/cheap-food

Really wishing you luck with this - it hopefully shouldn't take you too long to find something that works for you, then that knowledge will be with you for life