Cheaper to buy a ready meal?

bouicca21

OP you seem to have overlooked the Twitter post before that one, the one that makes just the points the media should have picked up on.

PasturesNew

Whether it is cheaper to do one thing or another cannot be generalised, but would need to be inspected individually.

Sometimes it is; sometimes it isn't. It depends what one is buying - and the additional criteria that are applied.

I can go and buy four burgers for £1.80, four bread rolls for 45p, a bag of onions for 55p and a squirty ketchup for 45p. I can have four burgers with onions and ketchup for £3.25 starting from nothing.

It can be done much cheaper ..... if one has access to certain shops and the desire/time to go and source the cheapest.

You can only go head to head on a "per specific item" basis - with people actually coming out with real prices/methods.... and then, so what....

Mostly it's a lot to do with access too....

The whole subject of any comparison is always flawed - and "articles" are not for the benefit or education of people, but simply click-bait.

Just because something IS possible, for one person, in one place, with one set of criteria and access and equipment .... never means it's possible for all. And too many people say "XYZ did this, you can too"

Eating slugs and grass from the garden is FREE! Think on people, everybody can eat slugs and grass for free. (P.S. and my neighbour's cat looks like a nice bit of chubby meat .... SC sized too!)

I am aware of the "cost of cooking" - so many times cheap recipes tell people to put something in a full sized oven for 1-2 hours! For those on electric, that's not realistic.

I must add that the particular ready meal Jack bought was overpriced tat.... she could've made that cheaper .... by leaving out most of the ingredients .... but it's such a faff and if you hate food/cooking/yourself/your kitchen then cooking anything really is the most soul-destroying activity of the day.

I like to think I "eat well" in a retro style, bearing in mind I don't use the oven/hob and have no gadgets and "head for £1/day" as a rough budget. I eat bizarrely, quickly and randomly, with food "to hand" .... today there's lots of toast (loaf 40p) and some sausage rolls (my favourite, 17p each) - they're currently a weekly treat .... eaten over three separate days a pair at a time. Electricity to reheat them is under 2p.

VfM4meplse

ariarnia wrote: »

Very powerful writing from a very articulate and passionate person.

And I'll say again, I understand why she's angry (furious). Being linked to/used as justification for austerity in such a way must be completely galling for her.

Lets be clear, she's always angry about something. She's an attention seeker with no credibility in my eyes. Perhaps she'll grow up one day.

PasturesNew

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Lets be clear, she's always angry about something.

That and the fact she's got a new book out to promote
That always sharpens the typing fingers.

She's not my cup of tea - and I don't eat/buy the ingredients/food she eats ..... and I hear she's now gone vegan.

I don't do "food fads" .... I'm happy with my 1960s/1970s palate
In fact, I now fancy a burger and chips .... but I've no burgers.... oh well. Cheese/pickle sandwich for me then.

You can't take advice/recipes/ideas from somebody whose life/style is so far removed from your own life/likes. You can only take it from people "just like you" - because they cook "weird stuff"

VfM4meplse

PasturesNew wrote: »

That and the fact she's got a new book out to promote
That always sharpens the typing fingers.

Before she was "Jack", she actually attended on of the highest performing state schools in the country. Most of the students do well in life regardless of background, because they work hard and apply themselves.

What irks me is the claim of gross deprivation. By virtue of her geography and intelligence, she was given a first class education on a plate and chose not to make the most of an opportunity others would regard as a prize. So although she's undoubtedly had a tough life, it's not as though she didn't have chances.

Ginmonster

I'm really disappointed with how unkind the comments have got here. I wouldn't want anyone to judge me now as an adult by how hard I did or didn't work at as a kid at school. No-one is perfect and anyone can fall into poverty no matter what their background. The politicians (of all parties) who have been putting the policies in place which have increased the queues at the food bank have been able to do so by encouraging this idea of deserving and undeserving poor (it was popular in Victorian times too). It allows us all to say that so and so brought it on themselves and therefore we should have no sympathy for them. I think a little kindness and understanding towards everyone no matter what their circumstances, failings, political leanings etc. would make the world a better place.

ariarnia

Thank you all for your comments.

I think I am just being a grumpy Gus today.

It does worry me though.

I know a fair number of young people who live on take aways and ready meals because they're sure they're cheaper than cooking.

Mostly because they've looked at the prices for the fancy ingredients for the posh recipes and forget that you don't need four hours and 20 different pinches of this and that to make a meal.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

As a student in the late 90s I lived off a budget of £5 per week (not including booze of course!). I never bought ready meals, as they really weren't good value at all. I did buy packets of dried pasta mixes, as I could get two meals out of one supermarket own brand sachet of "cheesy broccoli pasta twirls" @ approx 50p by bulking it up with veg (very good value old style fruit n veg shop nearby where you could buy single items rather than massive bags). So I think there can be a place for certain types of ready-food on a budget.

Twitter really does seem to bring the worst out of people, doesn't it?

Ginmonster

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

As a student in the late 90s I lived off a budget of £5 per week (not including booze of course!). I never bought ready meals, as they really weren't good value at all. I did buy packets of dried pasta mixes, as I could get two meals out of one supermarket own brand sachet of "cheesy broccoli pasta twirls" @ approx 50p by bulking it up with veg (very good value old style fruit n veg shop nearby where you could buy single items rather than massive bags). So I think there can be a place for certain types of ready-food on a budget.

I did the same in my student days! Not sure I'd fancy one of those pasta and sauce things now though. Or beanfeast which was the other packet I'd add veg to to make a meal. I think I may have grown up after all!

PasturesNew

I blame the rise of the celebrity chef culture .... all flogging books and requiring no fewer than 182 obscure ingredients to make

Wheel out delia and you'll have a beef stew with just beef, spuds, carrots, onions, bit of gravy ...... wheel out a modern celeb chef and it'll take them longer to list their ingredients than it takes to cook it!

You don't need organic porcini mushrooms .... you can either leave that bit out, or just buy "any old mushrooms". You don't need a splash of wine, nor a bayleaf, nor a raft of ingredients.

But these celeb chefs need to sell books and keep the telly income rolling in, so they have to continually shove/force/crowbar the latest "must have" ingredient into an old recipe just to get their face seen again ....

Polenta Beef? So that's beef with 27 ingredients on a bed of polenta..... or how about some basic beef stew with a pile of cheap mash

Cheese & Potato Pie with beans is the cheapest spuds, cheapest cheddar, cheapest tin of bins.... cook, serve. It doesn't need maris piper spuds, or expensive cheeses, nor organic beans, no cream is required .... and it doesn't need a full oven to cook either - and forget a dash of organic truffle oil! Just cheesy mash & beans tastes almost as good ... or shove under the grill for a crispy top.