In despair at how much I spend on food

PipneyJane

notional said:

@PipneyJane I can't afford what I am spending on food.  Thanks to those who suggested I put a freezer in some unconventional location in my flat, but I just really don't want to.  I've lived in bedsits and a nasty flat with a fridge in the sitting room that made a buzzing noise and it just made me feel miserable.  Another reason against a freezer is that I don't have a microwave (or room for one) so things take forever to defrost (like 2 days).  I looked at my kitchen yesterday and worked out that I honestly can't spare the space for a slow cooker either.  I have under 2 square metres of worktop, and there's already a kettle and a food processor on there.  Also in answer to other suggestions, I plan all my meals, I buy exactly what I need for my plan, I have no food waste, I don't have leftovers as I live on my own so I cook the quantities I want.  I prep my meals so they are cooked in batches of 4, often I do 2 batches of 4 so I get the best use of the oven.

@PipneyJane I work out a lot, I do zoom gym classes and zoom dance classes, and walk with my poles.

This week I am trying out tinned fish, I tried tinned mackerel in tomato sauce and also in olive oil and tbh I found it revolting    I'll keep going with different kinds.  I am also going to subsitute eggs for some of the salmon I was eating.  I think I have to just make small adjustments and see how it goes.

OK, so £60/week is too high for groceries?  Fine.  That puts a different slant on things.  What can you eat?  I.e. what can your body tolerate?

I do use tinned mackerel and tinned pilchards, but only in things that can cope with the overwhelming flavour.  They both make good curries.  I understand that you can’t eat “spicy food” - by that do you mean food made hot with chillies?  If so, are you OK with cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek and ginger?  There’s a Pilchard Madras recipe on my blog that you might want to try.  (Sorry, we aren’t allowed to link.).  It’s based on one from the Curry Club Cookbook.  Just cut the quantity of chilli down to one quarter.

HTH

- Pip

maman

notional said:

  Also in answer to other suggestions, I plan all my meals, I buy exactly what I need for my plan, I have no food waste, I don't have leftovers as I live on my own so I cook the quantities I want.  I prep my meals so they are cooked in batches of 4, often I do 2 batches of 4 so I get the best use of the oven.

My use of leftovers for lunch is deliberate, so similar to batch cooking. My lunch today will be cooked meat, pickles and a sort of bubble & squeak made from vegetables from last night's dinner. Or I could make a hash of vegetables and add a fried egg. I deliberately cook extra every Sunday (and sometimes during the week)  to keep in the fridge for my lunch on Mondays and/or Tuesdays. It's economical both in the use of power, time  and money. It can be  more varied than batch cooking as it's a different meal made from the same pre-cooked ingredients.  As you have limited freezer space, then batch cooking for you could be a bit monotonous if you have to eat the same meal for several days. 

I'd agree with the tinned fish. Personally I like tuna and sardines but, the more general point I'd make is that  tinned foods are long life and could be purchased as  a large  online delivery which would justify the delivery charge. Tins and jars can be stored anywhere like under the bed, behind the sofa  or in the wardrobe if you haven't got room in the kitchen.

Buying small amounts regularly from expensive local shops isn't a good way of trying to save money as I think many of us have found during lockdown. Take a look at e.g. Sainsbury's or Asda or Tesco online and cost out a delivery of long life foods.

bouicca21

I don’t have room for a full size slow cooker either, but I found a little one which is really useful for a singleton.

SadieO

notional said:

Another reason against a freezer is that I don't have a microwave (or room for one) so things take forever to defrost (like 2 days).  I looked at my kitchen yesterday and worked out that I honestly can't spare the space for a slow cooker either.  I have under 2 square metres of worktop, and there's already a kettle and a food processor on there.  

What do you use your food processor for, and how often? I love mine but if I didn't have much space it would be the first thing to go as everything I use it for I could do another way (blending soups, sauces etc can be done with a stick blender, chopping things can be done by hand or with one of those mini choppers you often see in Aldi etc for a few quid). Would you get more use out of a slow cooker or microwave  if you had one? Do you have a cupboard or somewhere you could store the food processor when not using it, so it isn't taking up worktop space? (Mine lives on the kitchen windowsill!) Or could you get more surface area in another way - search "microwave shelf" on amazon for loads of ideas, many of which are free-standing if you don't want to (or can't) add actual shelves. 

jonnygee2

I'd point out that while things like a slow cooker and microwave are nice to haves, they are in no way essential.

I've been budget cooking for a long time, all I have is a knife, a chopping board, and a small selection of high quality pans and ovenware. There's very little you can't achieve with that. Most slow cooker recipes can be done in a dutch oven for example, just takes a little more monitoring.

greenbee

jonnygee2 said:

I'd point out that while things like a slow cooker and microwave are nice to haves, they are in no way essential.

I've been budget cooking for a long time, all I have is a knife, a chopping board, and a small selection of high quality pans and ovenware. There's very little you can't achieve with that. Most slow cooker recipes can be done in a dutch oven for example, just takes a little more monitoring.

I agree - if the OP's issue is how much they are spending on food, then the solution shouldn't be spending more money on gadgets. I think trying to find a cheaper source of protein (eggs, tinned fish) is the key here. Once that's done, then try another change (e.g. if you can buy tins, then where can you store them if you can bulk buy/get offers), and so on. 

maman

I think the point about the 'gadgets' is to try to find low cost ways of cooking rather than a main oven or buying in prepared foods. It would help if we could have more details of what makes up the £60 per week. 

greenbee

As it's salad weather at the moment, hopefully that will reduce the cost of cooking, but running the oven is likely to be a minor cost compared to the food spend. Apart from boiling the odd egg or making an omelette I'm not using the cooker. I'm with the OP in not being a massive fan of tinned mackerel (I do like frozen mackerel baked with rhubarb...) but I do like tuna and salmon, and sometimes use sardines (in oil) and anchovies (mostly for flavour, as they don't make a very big meal!).

I use a thermal bag instead of a slow cooker (mine has died and as I currently don't have a kitchen (still, after nearly 7 years!) I'm not keen to have yet another gadget to take up some of the very little space I have (not much surface no cupboards). So if the OP can cut costs over the summer by finding a more affordable protein source, then this might be an option for later in the year - but it does depend on what they want to eat. There's no point in investing in a solution for slow cooking if things lie soups/stews aren't on the menu. 

notional

I do use tinned mackerel and tinned pilchards, but only in things that can cope with the overwhelming flavour.  They both make good curries.  I understand that you can’t eat “spicy food” - by that do you mean food made hot with chillies?  If so, are you OK with cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek and ginger?  There’s a Pilchard Madras recipe on my blog that you might want to try.  (Sorry, we aren’t allowed to link.).  It’s based on one from the Curry Club Cookbook.  Just cut the quantity of chilli down to one quarter.

Thanks for all your comments. 

The above did make me laugh though.  Having specifically said I can't eat spicy food due to IBS and I find tinned fish "revolting" I won't be trying your 'Pilchard Madras' any time soon.  But thanks anyway.

-taff

have any of the suggestions been helpful?