Shopping and cooking for one... over budget

One_broke_Girl

ScarletMarble wrote: »

I NEVER buy small tins of things like beans. If I have beans on toast, I use half a normal tin, transfer the other half into a tuppaware pot and use that within 5 days.

it is crazy a small tin of Tesco reduced salt/sugar beans is practically the same as the big tin! I don't get it!

skint_again_student

I too live alone but I only spend between £10-15 a week on food. I do eat healthy. The trick is to buy little things to add to the cupboard each week so you can buy basic ingredients but change the flavours of meals by adding different herbs and spices. Plus I weigh my food eg pasta so k only use a portion. Morisons savers pasta. Morrisons have 3 veg for £1.50 atm so buy veg you can use more than once. Get food with the longest dates on. There further toward the back. Have a rummage. X

DODO_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

Yes, buying big pies is better value. I don't have a freezer and yearn for buying a big pie

I'll give you an example of how I do my pie/chips/mushy peas on a budget..... I love Pukka pies and real chip shop chips and real mushy peas. If I go into a chippy that'll set me back about £2.50+ for the pie, £1.50+ for the chips and £1 for the mushy peas. £5 in total, for one meal is far too much!

Instead, as they now sell them in supermarkets I wait until I can buy one Pukka pie for £1 (not 2 for £2) .... then I'll get that and hotfoot it down to Lidl to get their 1Kg of oven chips for 67p (4 good portions). Until that time I'll also try to find Harry Ramsdens mushy peas at good price (3 for £1) and stock up.

So, when I finally find a £1 Pukka pie, I'll have the chips and half a tin of mushy peas. I'll then have pie/chips/peas (£1 + £0.17 + £0.16 = £1.33) the first day; chips/peas the second day (£0.50) and on the 3rd/4th days I'll have chips with half a can of reduced fat/salt beans (£1.45 for 4) so £0.17 + £0.18= £0.35 each day.

Four meals = £1, £0.67, £0.33, £0.35 = £2.35 and I've had my "fix".

It can be just 3x a year I do this, as I have to wait until the pie is my "buying point price".

I make chilli con carne - only I usually leave out the peppers because, while they're nice to have in it, they do add a huge amount to the dish in cost. So query every ingredient and see what's making each meal go "out of budget".

It's not easy. You do have to go without .... but £60/week on food's far too high.

Pukka pies are £1 at Asda at the moment

circulartriangle

Hi One_Broke_Girl! I live alone and like you, try to eat healthily and find this isn't always the cheapest option unfortunately. As others have suggested, making a meal that stretches to several portions is a good idea if you can fit a portion or two in the freezer and one or two in the fridge. I try to do this as much as possible because it saves cooking on evenings when I'm tired or have been to the gym and am late home. Maybe consider making things using pulses or lentils rather than meat a couple of nights a week - e.g. chickpea and veg curry, veg and red lentil soup are two of my fave fall-backs, very cheap, tasty, quick to make and filling.

I know what you mean about the thins, I used to buy them but have switched to wholemeal pittas because of the price difference. I get them in either Tesco or Sainsbury's and put them in the freezer, then take one out at a time and defrost and toast (or just put straight in the toaster and press the defrost button). Or if you find a cheap small loaf, you could split it into various freezer bags and squeeze into the freezer if you have space? e.g. two slices here, another two slices here! I've done this when I've found bread on offer. Freezer bags are your friend!!

Like you, I used to buy too much fruit and veg before I adjusted to how much I'd eat before it went soft/inedible. Maybe just buy one type of fruit next time you shop, and see how long it lasts you? That way at least you won't be chucking stuff out, even if you have to buy more later in the week. As another poster suggested, raisins are good on porridge. So are chopped/mashed bananas if you like them (and if you don't want a whole one each time, the rest will keep in a tupperware in the fridge - it'll go a bit brown but once it's mixed with porridge you won't notice! Tastes fine!). Or chopped dried apricots and a few nuts? Perhaps to alternate with blueberries on some mornings - might cut costs a bit.

Also, if you do end up with some fruit that's a bit soft, you could bung it in a blender if you have one and make a smoothie - you won't notice how soft it is. And the same works for veg - bendy celery and carrots get chucked in a soup and you'd never be any the wiser!

Good luck!

Collieheartsyou

Just using the onions, tomatos, carrots and peppers as an example from your list, you could make a vegetable rice/couscous salad with that. If you make a large bowl that's a few days lunches and it could also go alongside a nice piece of meat for a main meal. The leftovers from the rice salad (without dressing) could then be added to a minestrone type soup or a mediterraen type stew. It's basically just becoming a bit more creative with your food.

Another staple for me is what my bf and I call "eating up pasta" where we chuck in all the veggies we have lying around with a tin of chopped tomatoes or passata and some herbs (and it can be eaten cold the next day for lunch!). Vegetable bakes (with potatoes instead of pasta) and stir fries are great for this too.

K9sandFelines

One_broke_Girl wrote: »

Thank you for your replies.. I really do need to get this down. What ever veg I have left going off at the end of the week I'm going to try and cook some kind of ratatouille.

You can also make veg on the turn into soup or curry

[Deleted User]

Both veggie soup and or curry is great for using up veg.I never ever bin veg as I will make it into soup for lunches or curry for dinner cheap and so easy to make.I don't use bottles of curry sauce either its far cheaper to buy some curry powder and sprinkle some on top of chopped veg add a tin of tomato's (diced them yourself I never buy ready chopped)stir in the spices and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes once you have got it hot.Once the veg is softening up you can have a taste and if you want it hotter put a dash more curry powder in and if its too hot a dollop of basic natural yoghurt to 'cool' it down a bit.Any veg can be chucked into a curry I use up diced onion,peppercelery,potato brocolli,carrot and then if I want to bulk it up a bit a tin of beans either baked or chick peas.If its not moist enough a crumbled up basic vegatable or chicken cube (about 20p from sainsbobs for 10)with some hot water and slosh that in until you have the right consistancy.Just keep it simmering until all the veg is cooked through just giving it a stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn:):)and voila you have a curry that can be portioned up for freezing in the take-away type of box,easy to stack in a freezer.or make up a pot of rice and treat your housemates to a cheap curry that has cost you very little only about 30-40 minutes to cook.

One_broke_Girl

circulartriangle wrote: »

Hi One_Broke_Girl! I live alone and like you, try to eat healthily and find this isn't always the cheapest option unfortunately. As others have suggested, making a meal that stretches to several portions is a good idea if you can fit a portion or two in the freezer and one or two in the fridge. I try to do this as much as possible because it saves cooking on evenings when I'm tired or have been to the gym and am late home. Maybe consider making things using pulses or lentils rather than meat a couple of nights a week - e.g. chickpea and veg curry, veg and red lentil soup are two of my fave fall-backs, very cheap, tasty, quick to make and filling.

I know what you mean about the thins, I used to buy them but have switched to wholemeal pittas because of the price difference. I get them in either Tesco or Sainsbury's and put them in the freezer, then take one out at a time and defrost and toast (or just put straight in the toaster and press the defrost button). Or if you find a cheap small loaf, you could split it into various freezer bags and squeeze into the freezer if you have space? e.g. two slices here, another two slices here! I've done this when I've found bread on offer. Freezer bags are your friend!!

Like you, I used to buy too much fruit and veg before I adjusted to how much I'd eat before it went soft/inedible. Maybe just buy one type of fruit next time you shop, and see how long it lasts you? That way at least you won't be chucking stuff out, even if you have to buy more later in the week. As another poster suggested, raisins are good on porridge. So are chopped/mashed bananas if you like them (and if you don't want a whole one each time, the rest will keep in a tupperware in the fridge - it'll go a bit brown but once it's mixed with porridge you won't notice! Tastes fine!). Or chopped dried apricots and a few nuts? Perhaps to alternate with blueberries on some mornings - might cut costs a bit.

Also, if you do end up with some fruit that's a bit soft, you could bung it in a blender if you have one and make a smoothie - you won't notice how soft it is. And the same works for veg - bendy celery and carrots get chucked in a soup and you'd never be any the wiser!

Good luck!

This is a great answer thank you!!..

Luckystar

Hi one broke girl, if it is fruit you are over spending on have you tried setting a small weekly budget for your fruit and maybe buy less types and see what is on offer that week, if you can buy loose so just a couple of apples, bananas etc for your staple fruit and then one luxury fruit eg strawberries, blueberries. Same with carrotts you are buying a big bag cheaply but are you throwing some away? If so just buy a couple loose to last the week. Buy a loose Jacket potatoes or 2 a week as well will help to make you a nice cheap dinner.

Dinners are hard for one if you don't have much freezer space to bulk cook, I echo other posters about pasta and sauces also a use up homemade savoury rice - fry up some onion, add rice and stock and simmer until rice nearly cooked then add whatever you have left - chopped peppers,sweetcorn,peas. You can add scraps of meat if you have any - chicken, bacon etc. Pesto is a good cupboard staple too and so quick and easy to mix with pasta and serve with a salad for a dinner. you can also use it to liven up chicken or salmon. Store own brand jars are about £1 unless Sacla on offer as this tastes lovely.

Search online for recipes for one, or visit the library to find cookery books for one. Good luck with your budgeting

Emily_Rachel

AnnieO1234 wrote: »

Blueberries are extortionate at the moment to buy fresh but strawberries on the other hand are reasonably cheap at my local market.

Keep a diary for a week of spends, eats and bins. See what it is you're really buying. Is there a pattern of say carbo-binging after a run?

If space is limited and you have the time you may find shopping little and often to be best for you. I totally second the homemade tomato sauce. You can make a big vat of it, store in used jars - I'm sure you have enough or the cheap Kilner type jars and bottles from Ikea.

Look for alternative protein sources, cut down on meat and add in pulses, beans etc. You can find plenty of recipes online for a basic tomato sauce that you can tweak each day for so long to make soup, pasta, chilli etc.

I would step away from the supermarkets as much as possible. Get to know a butcher, grocer etc either at stalls or in their own shop.

Look at a girl called jacks blog for recipe ideas.

Xxx

Hi, great ideas, but I would be very cautious about trying to store home-made tomato sauce in used jars, even in a fridge, for longer than 4 days. The jarring method that allows you to store safely at room temperature, needs very specific preparation in order to prevent botulism poisoning. Usually high pressure, certainly high temperature treatment of the filled jars, maybe with vinegar or sugar or other preservatives added, and it is a bit of a science. Without freezing I would only make a smaller quantity, is about 2 tins of tomatoes worth, stored in the fridge for up to 4 days if you can't freeze it. When I do this we have it on pasta, then add meat and make moussakka, and then use the last bit for a pizza. One basic sauce can become chilli, curry, lasagne, chunky soup, pizza, baked chicken, moussaka, +++ by adding different meat and veg, so never needs to be boring. Meals for one can be fun, but it may well be worth keeping a food diary for a couple of weeks as others have suggested. This can include when you're hungry, what you fancy eating, what you actually eat, as well as what you buy and what you throw away, and can really help you understand and plan you own food needs better. Do enjoy this as a time when you can think of yourself rather than having to cater for others every day too. Although I would also ask your flatmates if they wanted to get together and eat with you sometimes, taking turns to cook. Whether it is once a week or once a month it can be fun and help you all bond a bit better too. All the best!