food shopping for one

Kels488

hi
i am shopping for one person and its difficult to get the meal planning/shopping list right. i always either:
a. under spend on a weekly budget so then have to buy more food.
b. over spend + then never use the stuff that i buy, for example, vegetables that go off quick (mushrooms, aubergines+ potatoes) or fridge items (cheese, ham + milk)
c. don't seem to have enough food to make one meal.

any help with being to plan better/ make the most of my food would be great. thanks!

hilstep2000

Go to the Old Style Board, loads of advice on there!

lushlifesaver

Hi, as a student I was living with between 2 and 4 other people at various points over the years but was the only one who cooked proper meals (unless you count cooking potato waffles in the toaster cooking?! haha). The main thing I did was do my shopping around an hour before the store I was using closed - this was to get the most of the reductions, I know many shops reduce at different times of day so try and find out when you local shop/s reduce and go as close to then as possible!
I also went to a cheap/pound shop and bought about 40 plastic take away style containers that freeze and can go in the microwave etc (think I paid £2.50 ish but you can get them much cheaper online).

Finally, if I was buying fresh stuff and I knew what my meal plan was for the next week or two I would try and shop the night before a day off then spend the next morning batch cooking, portion it in to my tubs, let it cool then stack them all in my freezer.

I love cooking but often just can't be bothered if it's just for me so doing it this way meant I had the pleasure of cooking at a time when I had time to pace myself and enjoy it and I had homemade ready meals to eat when I couldn't be bothered!

Cheese is freezeable, I buy big blocks, grate it all down then again portion and freeze it. Ham many types and be bulk bought when on offer and frozen. Milk I can't help with as I go through phases of drinking none and therefore buying very little to drinking a lot!

Perhaps try shopping for 2-4weeks at a time then cooking it al and freezing it? Or cooking building blocks of meals (the veg sides or pasta sauce bases etc etc) so that on a morning you pull out the blocks for that night and then in the evening you're just pulling them together through cooking for a great meal?

My OHs mum bulk cooks for 2-4weeks at a time depending on her shifts etc and she's got it down to paying just £50 for her online shop for a month (feeds her, her hubby and their youngest, very hungry son!) which them spend a max of £15/20 topping up with milk and bread over each four week period!

Hope this helps - sorry I didn't realise I'd written such an essay!

Ilona

Kels488 wrote: »

hi
i am shopping for one person and its difficult to get the meal planning/shopping list right. i always either:
a. under spend on a weekly budget so then have to buy more food. It's easy to buy more if you haven't bought enough.
b. over spend + then never use the stuff that i buy, for example, vegetables that go off quick (mushrooms, aubergines+ potatoes) or fridge items (cheese, ham + milk) Mushrooms are ok for almost two weeks, aubergines and potatoes will last for several weeks. Cheese will last for four weeks, ham one week, milk a week after the sell by date.
c. don't seem to have enough food to make one meal. Mix and match, be adventurous with your cooking, make a meal out of whatever you have.

any help with being to plan better/ make the most of my food would be great. thanks!

Stretch your weekly budget to ten days, by eating what you have in your store cupboard and freezer. Buy whatever is reduced, yellow stickers, offers, bogof, etc. Ignore best by dates, use your nose, eyes and fingers to determine if something is edible or not. Make sure you eat something before it goes off, even though it won't fit in with a meal, or you don't fancy it, just eat it. Never throw food away, buy everything you eat.

I have been shopping for one person for the last 48 years, it's easy. It might be a bit confusing if you are newly single, check your food stocks every day, you'll get the hang of it. Best of luck.
Ilona

sare88

Shop for 2, cook for 2, then freeze one portion! Will be more expensive one week but then you'll save money the next!

VfM4meplse

Kels488 wrote: »

b. over spend + then never use the stuff that i buy, for example, vegetables that go off quick (mushrooms, aubergines+ potatoes) or fridge items (cheese, ham + milk)

I notice Nigel Slater has embraced frugality in his current TV show, he makes a point of using up his leftovers / fridge items before he buys more food. His answer seems to be a well-stocked spice cupboard, but this does take some time to build up.

The other answer is to shop when whoopsies are rife, this time of the evening is about the right time.

chelms38

If you have family or friends who live nearby chat with them about any bogof deals in the supermarkets and save yourself some money that way.