Is £55 a week enough for food for one person?

CliveOfIndia

williewonder said:

Ordering from Ocado for home delivery. No alcohol or cleaning products in this? I want to get fresh meat and fresh veg, cook two meals that I can save one for next day, like chilli or curry. I want to eat more healthy. Is this doable?

My first question would be, why Ocado?  If you're able to get out to the shops, then Lidl/Aldi offer far better value and the quality is just as good.  If you're unable to get out then the other "main" supermarkets who do delivery will still be a good chunk cheaper.

Is it doable?  Absolutely.  Our weekly shop comes in at around £90 - £120 depending on what we're buying.  But that includes everything - food, alcohol, toiletries, pet food, non-essential treats, etc., and is easily enough for a family of 2 parents plus 3 ravenous teenagers (or human dustbins, as I like to call them).

I'll echo the advice you've already had about batch cooking.  Stuff like chilli, spag-bol, soup, stew is dead easy.  Make up a big batch one evening, divide it into portions using either freezer bags or old take-away containers, whack it in the freezer.  Then you've got an instant microwave-able meal for one evening when you can't be bothered to cook - just stick on some rice, pasta, potatoes whatever to go with it.

Also, if you're doing those kind of dishes, you can get away with relatively little meat if you want, and bulk it out with loads of veg and a couple of Oxo cubes for flavour, so it actually works out pretty economical.

MrsStepford

I allow £100 per week for two people including toiletries and cleaning products, eating minimal processed food and as much organic as I can. I get online deliveries from ASDA, Holland & Barrett, Iceland, Ocado, Tesco and Waitrose. Husband picks up stuff from Morrisons and Sainsbury's. We also get food from farms, either by courier or by husband picking stuff up from farm shops locally. He calls into B&M occasionally, as well. 

Butter, milk and cheese can be frozen, also sandwiches and some pastries e.g. mince pies. Buying frozen veg saves waste. You can also cook for two meals and freeze one, for lots of recipes. This avoids food waste.  Grapes can be frozen and used as ice cubes in drinks. 

A soupmaker is a great gadget to use up veg on the way out. Ours makes fantastic soups in just over 20 mins. 

MarzipanCrumble

nearly everything (fresh) can be frozen and mostly for longer than date recommended.   

williewonder

I think this is optimistic, it’s a 2.3kg chicken. We had the legs off it today and it make two roast dinners for me and my support staff. I want to use some breast to make a chicken and mayo sandwich for my supper. I want to use the rest to make a chicken curry and have curry for tomorrow and on Tuesday as will with Nann bread. So all this just for £6.79 for the chicken. I like sticking to a budget even though I could spend more on food I like budgeting.

What about you? What would you do with left over chicken?

Katiehound

chicken & ham pie (ham from a joint cooked in the slow cooker in coco-cola)  I generally boil up the bones & remove all the scrappy bits for the dog!
Broth from the carcass will make a good basis for soup you can then throw in some veggies and a handful of any pasta.
 (Personally hate curry so I wouldn't be making that!!)

I don't know what size chicken you bought but usually a larger bird works out cheaper per kg. last time I actually jointed the bird, or at least took off the legs & boned them to freeze (thank you Jamie Oliver for YouTube). Cooked the rest of the bird- in the microwave in a roasting bag. Stays moist and cooks quicker than conventional oven.

bouicca21

I was lazy this week and got a delivery from Sainsbury’s rather than trek to Aldi or Lidl.  I spent £30 on food with nearly £20 more on stocking up on non grocery stuff like disinfectant and cleaning materials.  

It’s difficult to cut down recipes to a single portion so I tend to make enough for two and put one portion in the fridge for later in the week or freeze it.

I do use frozen veg but not very often as I prefer fresh fruit and veg.  There is no need to worry about wastage if you plan the meals.  For example, I had some overripe tomatoes that I made into a sauce.  Today I added lime juice and a touch of chilli to turn some into salsa, which I had with mackerel, the rest of the salsa will form part of tomorrow’s tacos.  I think the rest of the tomato sauce will either become part of a chilli con carne or turn into puttanesca.

I’ve found the meal planning thread really useful for keeping me on track.

berries

There's a chap called Zach on Facebook who does budget meals. Works out great for me as I tend to eat 2 hot meals a day plus snacks. Eg packer of turkey mince with onions pepper and courgette/mushrooms plus some sort of beans either black bean or kidney.  Either make your own seasoning up or lidi do a tacho one for 49p. Also I make a batch of rice up 10oz then divide it all up into takeaway pots. Makes 6 or 5 depends on how much you eat. 

London_1

I live alone and have done since losing my OH 20 years ago I have always been a thrifty shopper when it comes to food .I have a budget of between £60-£.75 a month. Which is more than enough for me and I normally have sever pounds left over which go into my little separate pot for treats and goodies at the end of the month 

My breakfast is usually a cuppa and perhaps some porridge or cereal depending on the season But I'm not a great breakfast eater anyway

Lunch yesterday was HM soup (I'm a great soup maker and have been for most of my life as was my late Mum).

 Its so much cheaper to make your own and is so easy to do, check out YouTube if your worried, there is a lady on there I think called Tracy from Yorkshire that will even show you how to make tomato soup from a couple of tins of tomatoes.You get twice as much for half the price of tinned ones and it tastes nicer as well. She does some excellent batch cooking as well.

Last nights dinner for me, I am running down my freezer  as I am hoping to move in the spring so found some veggie battered finger things that had been reduced last winter that I had stuck in there.I had 6 of them grilled with some mixed frozen veg, and for pudding I had some of my HM rice pudding. I was more than full up . 

 This mornings breakfast  was a bowl of porridge made as my late Mum made it with water and salt then some milk poured around the edge once dished up. This is because its a bit nippy today and I've got a bit of a nasty cold developing so a hot bowl of porridge will keep me warm and full until 1.00pm lunchtime. which today will be some HM chicken soup from the freezer and a couple of soft rolls also from the freezer They were reduced in the Waitrose deli locally to 29p for 6 so I snaffled some and froze them to eat with soup

Tonights meal will be some steamed Finnan haddock with a poached egg on top with the last of the bag of frozen broccoli. Pudding with be a slice of sponge cake warmed slightly in the microwave with a dollop of ice cream on it.

If you're not a confident cook yet then get an ordinary Swiss roll from the supermarket, and use a slice of it warmed through for 10-15 seconds in the microwave, cover with custard or ice cream Tescos do a large tub of soft scoop 'Miss Molly's' for about £1.40, and a scoop or two of that on cake or even half a tin of fruit will make a nice pudding

 Mid-morning I'll have a cuppa with a couple of HM biscuits and this afternoon a coffee or hot chocolate. I eat my main meal usually around 6 in the evening and if I'm peckish I'll have a piece of fruit later.

 I don't eat a great deal of red meat apart from perhaps mince, then its made into cottage pies ,lasagnes or chillis.I always bring the mince to the boil for a minute then drain to lose the fat from it before cooking so its healthier that way

 I cook a chicken in a slow cooker, and its surprising how much more meat you get from it that way ,plus the remaining stock is good with veg and noodles to make soup with and if you skim off the chicken fat from the jug of drain stock once cooled its good to use in your roast potatoes and free  

The  meat from the chicken will go in a curry and white meat once cooked and cold can be wrapped and frozen so you don't have to eat it all up at once . Slow cook a small bit of gammon in ordinary full fat cola and let it cool and slice into portions and freeze. scraps will easily go into small pasties with some left over chicken and can be frozen again for another meal 

 I use up every scrap of food I cook and have a zero waste policy in my kitchen,I don't pay out cash, to throw it in the bin. I do eat a good few veg ,but when its in season, or frozen if not. This Christmas as usual there will be a competition between the supermarkets to grab the customers for the veg and I always make sure I get and freeze what I can.

I'm  lucky I have a decent wet fish shop in my little town and he is really good at getting really nice fish in, and not too expensive ,far cheaper in fact than the big supermarkets are. he will also cut and remove the bones of say a Dover sole for you He always knows whats good value, and looks after his customers.  

I will eat tinned sardines or pilchards at least once a week as its healthy to eat an oily fish, but I get mine in tomato sauce as I prefer them that way.

I  eat well, and can do it on a smaller amount as there is only me to feed and I'm not bothered about branded stuff I don't eat pizza or burgers as I'm not keen on them. I'm an old fashioned cook and eat what I grew up on. I do use a good few herbs and spices to liven up anything I think of as 'beige' food though  

 If you have access to YouTube and google you can soon learn to become more adept at it though. Try one different meal a week and see how you get on

 If you can read you can cook, trust me I have taught all seven of my grandchildren to cook even simple meals and the five boys all were grateful when they went to Uni as it meant they could survive on a very limited budget.

I  buy Aldi's liquid detergent to go into my washing machine.  I use half the amount and top it up with washing soda crystals bought from Boots for around 70p for a kilo bag.
 
 This more than cleans my washing, and for conditioner I use some white vinegar its doesn't make your clothes smell of fish and chips trust me as half a litre is around 30p in the supermarket. You only need a capful in the washing machine drawer, and it keeps your towels nice and soft as well.

White vinegar is excellent for cleaning stuff as well, and a mix of baking soda and white vinegar will keep your sink and bathroom drains clean and clean.

 Its perfectly possible you eat, and buy cleaning stuff without spending a fortune on branded named goods .The reason they are dear is because its the consumer who pays for the advertising on tv .

The advert for Calgon  is absurd, I have had washing machines for the past 60 plus years and I've never ever seen a machine like the one shown on tv, but then I've been using vinegar in my machines for years, instead of the gloopy conditioner.What on earth is ylang ylang anyway ?

To clean your oven make a paste of soda bicarb and put it on all around your oven after its been used and is cooling down ,leave for half an hour then wipe off with a damp cloth and it will take the grease away for you (I usually use a paper towel or some J-cloth substitute from Poundland. My youngest DD cleaned all of her PVC window frames with a solution of ordinary bleach on a cloth last week and they look like new. 

Lots  of folk on here will give you umpteen tips they have learned over the years to help you cut your weekly budget down, you post a question and someone will come up with a good answer for you

Good Luck, and you will be fine 

  JackieO xx

Nathalia

OP, we love chilli con carne.  I use turkey mince.  It takes a bit of getting used to because it's paler but it's better for you and often cheaper.  I use onions, garlic, tinned tomatoes, chop a red pepper or two (or use frozen chopped peppers: a great standby for your freezer) and some tinned kidney beans and chilli flakes.  We can get two dinners for two people comfortably out of a pound of mince, and have it with rice or with pasta spirals if we fancy a change.

If you can handle that, starting again with mince and onions and garlic (if you like it) and a tin of tomatoes, but this time add some carrots and you have a sort of spaghetti bolognese. I boil the carrots separately first till they have softened a bit and tip the cooking water into the mince/onions pan along with the carrots, as carrots can take a while to cook. Nice with pasta, but also nice on the second day with rice.

And if you can do all of that, mince, onions and garlic, with or without carrots, but with just a bit of tomato puree: cook and put into a dish for the oven.  Boil and mash some spuds up with a bit of milk.  Put the mash on top and smooth flat with a fork or a spoon.  If you're feeling indulgent, grate some cheese on top and you have a very nice shepherd's pie.  Delicious with frozen peas, which can be microwaved in a few seconds while the pie is cooling.