Cooking for one

PasturesNew

I think the price of food is, in part, due to choice .... and refusal/reluctance/acceptance of compromise.

I buy 24p loaves.... other people 'complain' that bread's "so expensive" and it's £1.60/loaf .... that's because they refuse to buy "inferior" bread, they are reluctant to change/try, they won't accept that they can save £1.38 by buying the bread I do.

Do that across every food item and it adds up.

I don't cook/eat a lot of meat.... mostly because it's tricky to manage meat when you're a "one" - and then add in the fact I hate even looking at raw meat - and then add in the fact you have to "get round to eating" meat more rigidly than veggies, which you can abuse and store for months. Not eating meat is probably a major part of why my costs are lower.

I don't feed others ... some people have visitors and family and they feed them and splash out on big joints.

Booze has become "the norm" in a lot of households these days, few even notice their booze going into the trolley because "everybody has this", well, I never have.

Coffee's another one - never known what the excitement was all about. I'm happy to pay £1.40 for a jar of instant granules that lasts me 5-6 weeks or more. Never been in a coffee house/place, hate strong coffee and would rather save my money and buy a jar of instant on the way home.

If I want something, I don't buy "the one I like", or "the best" ... I walk in a shop and think "Want quiche ... where's the cheapest?" I then find the cheapest, see if it's ~£1, then choose one that's for sale or walk away and just "go without" if there's not a flavour I fancy at a price I'm happy to pay.

"Just say no" was the tagline for drugs.... it's the same for food

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think the price of food is, in part, due to choice .... and refusal/reluctance/acceptance of compromise.

Of course it is I completely agree . I suppose for me it's finding where the compromise is in what I'm prepared/able to spend and eating what I enjoy. I love cooking and food, it's one of my major pleasures and hobbies so unless finance dictated (been there - may well be there again) it's finding a balance. I could spend my money on IT or expensive socialising or fashion or beauty products but I don't so I suppose there is an element of hobby/socialising budget in my my food spend;)

PasturesNew

caronc wrote: »

I could spend my money on IT or expensive socialising or fashion or beauty products but I don't so I suppose there is an element of hobby/socialising budget in my my food spend;)

Me/IT, £250 in 10 years. Need a new PC really, I'd like a printer one day too.
Me/socialising, £5/year
Me/fashion, £20/year max
Me/beauty, £5/year for shampoo/bubble bath

karcher

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think the price of food is, in part, due to choice .... and refusal/reluctance/acceptance of compromise.

I buy 24p loaves.... other people 'complain' that bread's "so expensive" and it's £1.60/loaf .... that's because they refuse to buy "inferior" bread, they are reluctant to change/try, they won't accept that they can save £1.38 by buying the bread I do.

Do that across every food item and it adds up.

I don't cook/eat a lot of meat.... mostly because it's tricky to manage meat when you're a "one" - and then add in the fact I hate even looking at raw meat - and then add in the fact you have to "get round to eating" meat more rigidly than veggies, which you can abuse and store for months. Not eating meat is probably a major part of why my costs are lower.

I don't feed others ... some people have visitors and family and they feed them and splash out on big joints.

Booze has become "the norm" in a lot of households these days, few even notice their booze going into the trolley because "everybody has this", well, I never have.

Coffee's another one - never known what the excitement was all about. I'm happy to pay £1.40 for a jar of instant granules that lasts me 5-6 weeks or more. Never been in a coffee house/place, hate strong coffee and would rather save my money and buy a jar of instant on the way home.

If I want something, I don't buy "the one I like", or "the best" ... I walk in a shop and think "Want quiche ... where's the cheapest?" I then find the cheapest, see if it's ~£1, then choose one that's for sale or walk away and just "go without" if there's not a flavour I fancy at a price I'm happy to pay.

"Just say no" was the tagline for drugs.... it's the same for food

I buy cheap instant, SM home brand coffee and tea. I never buy meat or chicken (just the very very occasional burger). As for bread, even the fresh bread I buy isn't expensive. A fresh baked SM granary loaf for 50p or baguette for 40p. Sliced loaves for toasting; I buy the SM home brand wholemeal loaf so far from pricey.

I love bread but can't be doing with white thin sliced loaves..takes me back to my childhood and Mothers Pride thin white sliced bread with a knob of hard butter plonked in the middle which tore the bread to shreds if you tried to spread it :eek:

Nelski

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think the price of food is, in part, due to choice .... and refusal/reluctance/acceptance of compromise.

I buy 24p loaves.... other people 'complain' that bread's "so expensive" and it's £1.60/loaf .... that's because they refuse to buy "inferior" bread, they are reluctant to change/try, they won't accept that they can save £1.38 by buying the bread I do.

Do that across every food item and it adds up.

I don't cook/eat a lot of meat.... mostly because it's tricky to manage meat when you're a "one" - and then add in the fact I hate even looking at raw meat - and then add in the fact you have to "get round to eating" meat more rigidly than veggies, which you can abuse and store for months. Not eating meat is probably a major part of why my costs are lower.

I don't feed others ... some people have visitors and family and they feed them and splash out on big joints.

Booze has become "the norm" in a lot of households these days, few even notice their booze going into the trolley because "everybody has this", well, I never have.

Coffee's another one - never known what the excitement was all about. I'm happy to pay £1.40 for a jar of instant granules that lasts me 5-6 weeks or more. Never been in a coffee house/place, hate strong coffee and would rather save my money and buy a jar of instant on the way home.

If I want something, I don't buy "the one I like", or "the best" ... I walk in a shop and think "Want quiche ... where's the cheapest?" I then find the cheapest, see if it's ~£1, then choose one that's for sale or walk away and just "go without" if there's not a flavour I fancy at a price I'm happy to pay.

"Just say no" was the tagline for drugs.... it's the same for food

Hands up to most of this I like my £1 warburtons loaf if its sliced or 75p crusty if I can snaffle it on the same day.

I don't think I eat excessive meat but it does feature in lots of my menu choices and I am happy with that

I am somewhat a feeder and if you have spoke to me more than twice in your life chances are I will invite you for dinner

I don't count booze as part of my grocery budget but I know its a fairly hefty spend some months

Choose Life Choose Food :cool:

caronc

Chose Life Choose Food (and Wine) LOL

Nelski

caronc wrote: »

Chose Life Choose Food (and Wine) LOL

Very true :cool:

Cant wait to see the film ....theres a thing I dont mind doing as a single ....going to the pictures.

iammumtoone

Food spend I don't know But I do know it could be less.

I would guess its at least £3 per day. I have been that person scrimping on £1 or less per day, I do know its doable but its hard. I now have more money so don't need to be that person anymore, and to be honest don't see why I should be. I do plan to get my budget down and and some point soon intend to start meal planing which will help.

I don't drink, so at least I save that way.

I looked and the nearest cosco to me is 70 miles, good job really I would spend a fortune if there was one on the doorstep.

PasturesNew

karcher wrote: »

..takes me back to my childhood and Mothers Pride thin white sliced bread with a knob of hard butter plonked in the middle which tore the bread to shreds if you tried to spread it :eek:

We used to have Mother's Pride I think. White, medium sliced, hard blocks of Stork margarine if you didn't want dripping on it.

We used Stork for everything. Sandwiches, baking, frying eggs, deep frying chips.

PasturesNew

Very occasionally I've had the good fortune to discover a ready meal usually priced at about £4.50 selling for only about £1. As that's the price I'd usually pay for a ready meal I've tried 1-2 of them over the years and, while nice/r, I've never actually felt that paying 4.5x the price for something to be "a bit nicer" is sufficient to ever crave higher priced products.



If that makes sense.

If I lived closest to A5da, I bet I'd spend more on food - their shops and food always look glorious ... I want so much when I wander round there... but I only visit about once a year and then I'm not in a position to "buy everything/anything and stock up". eg last time was just before Xmas and I had a fairly full freezer already and I was shopping for Xmas... so could only walk past it and admire the pretty packaging and sheer volume of choice presented.

*sighs*

If I lived within 1 mile of an A5da I'd probably weigh 2 stone more than I currently do.