A weeks food shopping for £20
LillyPop
Forumite 5 Posts
I have asked my mum for my own food budget every week so that I will be prepared when I move out. She has agreed to give me £20 a week and I have to buy everything I need for my weeks meals other than milk with it.
I went shopping today and spent about £12 on tomatoes, a three pack of beans, hot dogs, korma sauce, curly fries, pasta sauce, 2 tins of sweetcorn, sandwhich meat, spaghetti, two loaves of bread (they were 2 for £1.50), a pepper and a 12 pack of eggs.
I took a list with me and still need to buy bread cakes, hot dog buns, a red onion and jacket potatoes. I may also need to buy more vegatables and tomatoes as well as butter at some point. I don't see any reason why I won't be able to get everything I need this week. However, my meal plan includes quite a lot of stuff we already have in.
So when I run out of stuff to use that we already have it is going to be harder to buy everything I need to eat for a week with £20.
Does anyone have any tips? Anything I definitely should or shouldn't be shopping for?
I went shopping today and spent about £12 on tomatoes, a three pack of beans, hot dogs, korma sauce, curly fries, pasta sauce, 2 tins of sweetcorn, sandwhich meat, spaghetti, two loaves of bread (they were 2 for £1.50), a pepper and a 12 pack of eggs.
I took a list with me and still need to buy bread cakes, hot dog buns, a red onion and jacket potatoes. I may also need to buy more vegatables and tomatoes as well as butter at some point. I don't see any reason why I won't be able to get everything I need this week. However, my meal plan includes quite a lot of stuff we already have in.
So when I run out of stuff to use that we already have it is going to be harder to buy everything I need to eat for a week with £20.
Does anyone have any tips? Anything I definitely should or shouldn't be shopping for?
0
This discussion has been closed.
Latest MSE News and Guides
Replies
With regards to cleaning things, definitely ignore the row after row of the same thing. Look out for something called Zoflora, it is in all of the main supermarkets and is a concentrated disinfectant that you dilute. Buy and empty spray bottle and use this. Invest a packs of cloths for cleaning, dusting and dish washing. There is an outlay at first but you can keep on washing and re-using them. You don't want to be buying wipes.
Make a shopping list before you go and plan what you are going to eat for the week. Try not to get carried away with thinking you will eat different things, you won't in my experience
One idea also is to go with a list of meals that you require food for. Lets say you need 4 dinners so go with this list and see what is on offer. Strictly only if you will use it though!
Frozen veggies are just as good for you as fresh and there is obviously no waste like there could be with fresh.
Best of luck :T
How many tomatoes do you eat? A large family pack is less than £2 and does the two of us almost a week (tomatoes are on the daily menu).
Aldi super six offers on fruit and veg are very good too.
The food quality overall is excellent. Tonight's tea was quarterpounders - £1.99 for four Aberdeen Angus burgers with 99% beef. Most burgers are a lower percentage of meat but cost about the same or sometimes more.
Looking at that list I'm at a loss to know what you plan to actually eat
Can you post your meal plan? 3 meals a day for 7 days, or however many meals you eat a day
The Old Style Board is the best place to be for more info.
Replace the curly chips for plain chips.You will get more for your money.
Drop the hotdogs. You can by better meet products with more (real)meat in them for £1 to £2.
Are the tomatoes gold plated? Buy the basic 6 pack at about 60p.
I agree with the tin tomatoes. A can of chopped tomatoes with a good pinch of herbs in them are better then sauces. If you want to spice it up, put in a clove of garlic or sliced onion. You can also add a couple of sliced mushrooms.
Don't buy the brands. A lot of the supermarket own brands are a lot cheaper and are just as good and sometimes better.
Don't over buy the fruit and veg. It can spoil quickly. Buy 2 or 3 items of each veg and fruit items until you know how much you know you WILL eat in a week.
A bunch of bananas looks good until you realize you have to eat at least one a day to use them up.
When you do move out make sure you have a freezer in your new place. It can be used to put in yellow sticker stuff when you come by it.
You can put in any extra food you are not going to eat straight away it. So don't throw throw away the extra sausages you don't want to eat in the freezer for another day.
All these tips are from someone who lives alone.
Ohh! another thing. Buying your food whilst you live at home is completely different to when you live on your own. Been there and got the T shirt!!
The more I learn, the more I grow.
The more I grow, the more I see.
The more I see, the more I know.
The more I know, the more I see,
How little I know.!!
Make sure if you can that you visit street markets BUT learn what is safe to buy and what will have rotted before you've gotten home that day.
Find out what your able to use from home and what you have to buy yourself; is it OK if you use tea bags and things like ketchup? Or are you totally on your own? I think it also matters if you are going to be sharing once you move out of home- shared food can work out cheaper if you can buy in bulk and cook in bulk.
She didnt spend £12 on just tomatoes.
£12 on tomatoes, a three pack of beans, hot dogs, korma sauce, curly fries, pasta sauce, 2 tins of sweetcorn, sandwhich meat, spaghetti, two loaves of bread (they were 2 for £1.50), a pepper and a 12 pack of eggs.
Tinned tomatoes are cheap and can be cooked to produce your own tomato sauce. Grow your own herbs.