How much to live on per week

Fire_Fox

http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/BISCore/corporate/MigratedD/publications/D/DIUS_RR_09_05.pdf

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

Lokolo wrote: »

That is my point! You are judging the people that disagreed with her.

errrrr??? I'm not judging anyone - go back and read my post - I merely said mobs abound on all internet forums and posted a link to an article. (Which juging by your reaction must have hit a weak spot) and that was in response to a post by chameleon who did call "you and yours" a mob ( or to be precise a gang of internet bullies) - and yet you never chose to have a pop at her?!!!! *sorry chameleon*

Lokolo wrote: »

Yes SMF is very nice but at the time was entirely wrong in her view and she refused she was wrong for a very long time.

I don't think SMF was wrong - she was right for her own financial situation and with her son. - it made sense for her family to pay their son's tuition fees upfront.

The problem as I see it is this - I can't understand how anyone can live on £15 a week for food. I totally can't get how anyone can feed family of 4 for £5. I don't think anybody will be able to convince me that you can EVER.

EQUALLY - some posters can't get that someone earns so much money that it makes sense for them to pay tuition fees upfront - in the right set of circumstances.

In the end, probably neither side is going to understand the other.

Lokolo wrote: »

I was one of those that tried to help her understand and I wasn't jealous at all.

I don't know what to say to that - since you're 22 and live in your mum's backroom....:) Seriously, I don't know why everyone isn't taking your advice....

Lokolo wrote: »

I am not quite sure how you could call people such as ONW jealous - what has she got to be jealous about exactly?

I'm not answering that as I might get banned

Lokolo wrote: »

We have people on these boards who spend a lot of time helping, then there are a select few who don't actually come on here to help but instead read posts, thanks and try to argue. Which is exactly what you are doing isn't it?

I'm trying to discuss whether a student can live on £15 a week - I'm not sure what your doing?

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

Anyways, the mud slinging has probably killed off the thread...but if anyone else wants to carry on discussing food costs (or any other costs) I'm still game....

Dunroamin

BACKFRMTHEEDGE wrote: »

Anyways, the mud slinging has probably killed off the thread...but if anyone else wants to carry on discussing food costs (or any other costs) I'm still game....

Well, perhaps if you stopped slinging the mud, people might be more happy to have a conversation with you?;)

As for how people feed a family on a small amount of money, why not visit the Old Style forum and tell them how they can't actually do what they do. It would have the additional advantage that you wouldn't encounter me there as I rarely frequent it.

~Chameleon~

Dunroamin wrote: »

As for how people feed a family on a small amount of money, why not visit the Old Style forum and tell them how they can't actually do what they do. It would have the additional advantage that you wouldn't encounter me there as I rarely frequent it.

Anyone can live on £15 a week if they strictly limit their diet but it's hardy sustainable long term if they wish to remain healthy.

rubytuesday

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Anyone can live on £15 a week if they strictly limit their diet but it's hardy sustainable long term if they wish to remain healthy.

So you think Looby's daughter is not eating healthily then?

It didn't sound like that to me.

I think it may be better rather than allocating the money as a strictly weekly amount to allocate the money over a certain period so may be the OP would be better off giving their offspring a monthly allowance because expenditure generally varies from week to week.

I think I may be able to live on that amount if I had to, I have an incredibly cheap market where they do the huge bowls of fruit and veg for a £1, I have lots of cheap Turkish shops around too and would probably go back to a vegetarian diet, I was a vegetarian for ten years until twenty years ago. I think it is generally cheaper.

I hate batch cooking though as I think defrosted food tastes foul apart from the odd thing such as curry, chilli (which I don't cook anyway, well only bean ones) and soup and I only stretch my chicken to a hot meal, cold and stock and give the oysters to the cats because I've tried cooking with leftover chicken and again I think it's pretty vile!

So they would probably shoot me on Old Style too but where there is a will there's a way but I do think the focus should be on eating good food rather than not spending as that can be a very dreary existence but there is no harm in trying to eat well and save the coppers too.

Eta May be a bit more fruit might be an idea for Looby's daughter but may be she doesn't like it or Looby just didn't mention it as that was just a sample diet.

I'm not that keen on fruit but love my green veg such as savoy cabbage and broccoli and I think veg is generally more nutritious than fruit.

~Chameleon~

rubytuesday wrote: »

So you think Looby's daughter is not eating healthily then?

It didn't sound like that to me.

I didn't say that, I don't know what Looby's daughter eats. I was simply casting my thoughts back to examples of menus and shopping lists I've seen over on the OS board. Yes, it is possible, but.. (and this is obviously a very subjective view) it very much depends upon portion sizes and a very careful selection of foods to ensure all micronutrients are obtained across the major food groups if one wants to maintain a healthy diet.

Not everyone has the knowledge and skills to do this on such a level. Maybe Looby's daughter does and if so, that's fantastic. I could manage it if I had to but it would mean compromising my diet to the extent I no longer gained any enjoyment from cooking/eating and the range of meals I could choose would soon become very monotonous.

Also, you have to remember everyone is different. People have preferences for certain foods and cannot stand others, or might have an intolerance or allergy. Different energy levels and activity dictate the amount of food a person needs. Many factors have to be taken into consideration and all these have an impact on how much it costs to feed a person. One size does not fit all

ETA: Just found the post where Looby listed her daughter's meals... it only mentioned curry, chilli, pitta pizzas and beans on toast... yes, they can all be made very cheap & healthy but you wouldn't want to eat those day in day out. I also wouldn't buy tinned soup, could be made at home for literally pennies as she has access to a market for fresh veg and I'd ditch the cereal and sugar too!! Porridge is cheaper and would be more filling/healthier or eggs (scrambled/poached) on toast.

It's all well and good to give a tiny snapshot of a couple of days' food intake but people don't tend to eat the same thing day after day. I tend to alternate cheaper meals that can be batch cooked and frozen (supply of ready meals for very little money) with more expensive options such as fresh fish, meat, salads etc. It's all about balance and, as you said in your post above, being more flexible in your budget to cover a broader range so maybe you spend £15 this week and £25 the next (or whatever your budget is) than trying to stick to an exact amount each week. Some weeks you might hit lucky and get a large number of reduced items or batch cook enough to freeze a week's worth of meals and others you might find less of a choice and have to pay that bit more.

Dunroamin

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I didn't say that, I don't know what Looby's daughter eats. I was simply casting my thoughts back to examples of menus and shopping lists I've seen over on the OS board. Yes, it is possible, but.. (and this is obviously a very subjective view) it very much depends upon portion sizes and a very careful selection of foods to ensure all micronutrients are obtained across the major food groups if one wants to maintain a healthy diet.

I appreciate that this is an interest of yours and I don't deny that it's important but it's perfectly possible to have an unhealthy diet on a budget of of 2 or 3 times the amounts being discussed.

A small budget no more means unhealthy than a large budget means the opposite.

looby75

BACKFRMTHEEDGE wrote: »

I'm trying to discuss whether a student can live on £15 a week - I'm not sure what your doing?

Just to be clear the £15 thing is for food alone, nothing else, no toiletries, cleaning products or loo roll and there are weeks where she will spend slightly more, others less, there have been weeks where all she's bought is bread and milk and salad items.

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Anyone can live on £15 a week if they strictly limit their diet but it's hardy sustainable long term if they wish to remain healthy.

Well my daughter seems to be doing pretty well, she's been at uni for almost 2 months now, has been eating healthily for about £15 a week. She is lucky enough to live close by to a market that sells really cheap meat and veg, so can make meals that she freezes to eat at a later date which are full of good quality meat and veg.

ETA Cross posted, that was just a snap shot of the things she eats, I would have been typing for hours if I went into every last detail. It was just an example. She loves Asian food, Japanese in particular, a couple of years ago I bought her a Yo-sushi cook book and she makes things from that quite often too full of veg and very low fat. She also makes a really lovely leek and potato soup. Now I know should be the easiest thing in the world to make but I don't know what she does to it but whenever I make it it never tastes as good as when she does. She actually brought some home for me and her brother this weekend which we will have one night this week with crusty bread :drool:

rubytuesday wrote: »

Eta May be a bit more fruit might be an idea for Looby's daughter but may be she doesn't like it or Looby just didn't mention it as that was just a sample diet.

I'm not that keen on fruit but love my green veg such as savoy cabbage and broccoli and I think veg is generally more nutritious than fruit.

She does eat fruit, but not masses of it. She likes apples but since she fell off a mechanical at fresher week and chipped her front tooth (6 years of braces to get perfect teeth down the drain in 10 seconds ) she hasn't eaten as many an she can't bite into them any more. She loves kiwi fruit and even eats the skin _pale_ and buys bananas when they are on offer or reduced, waits for them to go really ripe then mashes and freezes them. She then eats them like icecream.

~Chameleon~

Dunroamin wrote: »

I appreciate that this is an interest of yours and I don't deny that it's important but it's perfectly possible to have an unhealthy diet on a budget of of 2 or 3 times the amounts being discussed.

A small budget no more means unhealthy than a large budget means the opposite.

Oh of course, I completely agree! (now, there's a thing ) it's incredibly easy to fill yourself full of junk and spend vast fortunes doing so, hence the growing obesity epidemic we have in this country

If I was to go in the supermarket and buy all ready meals, pre-prepared fruit & veg, stacks of cakes, biscuits, sweets, crisps, fizzy drinks etc I'm sure I wouldn't get much change out of £100 for a week's supply!! Shocking, isn't it!