Filling but cost effective lunch

Siebrie

Grain + pulse = protein. Keep that in mind and you can probably keep the lunch costs low. A peanut butter or hummus sandwich, a beans-and-rice dish or salad, etc. Plenty of ideas on the vegan or vegetarian websites.

Maybe you can bake your own cupcakes? I bake once a fortnight, it takes me 20 minutes, and I vary the type of cupcake; I freeze them and mix what I bring out of the freezer for dds' school snack boxes. I lowered the amount of sugar from the recipe and they taste even better.

Katiehound

Well, it's what you consider important- to spend 'peanuts' on lunch & then feel hungry / weary/ bloated or spend a little more and buy something nutritious and filling. You have been given a wealth of ideas that aren't expensive.

If you just bought a chocolate bar & saved £1 as a child you started the habit. Eat cheap (nutritious rubbish)  to save money. 

Look at your priorities: be healthy & well fed without spending a fortune or save every penny?  Whatever you eat is laying down health (or not) for the future. Not so sure about saving money religiously.  

Rosa_Damascena

Katiehound said:

If you just bought a chocolate bar & saved £1 as a child you started the habit. Eat cheap (nutritious rubbish)  to save money. 

Look at your priorities: be healthy & well fed without spending a fortune or save every penny?  Whatever you eat is laying down health (or not) for the future. Not so sure about saving money religiously.  

OMG you have my psychological profile down to a tee! 

Katiehound

Rosa_Damascena said:

Katiehound said:

If you just bought a chocolate bar & saved £1 as a child you started the habit. Eat cheap (nutritious rubbish)  to save money. 

Look at your priorities: be healthy & well fed without spending a fortune or save every penny?  Whatever you eat is laying down health (or not) for the future. Not so sure about saving money religiously.  

OMG you have my psychological profile down to a tee! 

I sincerely hope that you are joking!
there's one thing - being stingy and another being downright mean- especially when it comes to healthy eating.

Rosa_Damascena

Katiehound said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Katiehound said:

If you just bought a chocolate bar & saved £1 as a child you started the habit. Eat cheap (nutritious rubbish)  to save money. 

Look at your priorities: be healthy & well fed without spending a fortune or save every penny?  Whatever you eat is laying down health (or not) for the future. Not so sure about saving money religiously.  

OMG you have my psychological profile down to a tee! 

I sincerely hope that you are joking!
there's one thing - being stingy and another being downright mean- especially when it comes to healthy eating.

I am neither - I spend plenty on other items. I just never saw the point of spending much on food until recently, given a sweet snack would keep my tummy happy.

JIL

My son went to university with a student whose family worked out what he may need over the 4 years to pay for his time in university and gave him that money as a lump sum.
He would go to the supermarket and buy 6 packets of basic home brand crisps for 30p and that would be his lunch and breakfast.
He would make soup for his dinner that lasted 3 days, served with reduced for pennies and frozen bread.

I kid you not that when he finished at university and started work, he had enough money saved from his frugality that he put a deposit down on a house.

I think the poster is telling us he has had jam sandwiches and crisps, no breakfast and an evening meal at 10pm for a good while now. However they arent keen to do much cooking and theres no desire to spend much money. 

I think most posters have picked up on the lack of protein. I would guess that it will be a cereal bar added to the lunch that will be the outcome.

Longwalker

JIL said:

My son went to university with a student whose family worked out what he may need over the 4 years to pay for his time in university and gave him that money as a lump sum.
He would go to the supermarket and buy 6 packets of basic home brand crisps for 30p and that would be his lunch and breakfast.
He would make soup for his dinner that lasted 3 days, served with reduced for pennies and frozen bread.

I kid you not that when he finished at university and started work, he had enough money saved from his frugality that he put a deposit down on a house.

I think the poster is telling us he has had jam sandwiches and crisps, no breakfast and an evening meal at 10pm for a good while now. However they arent keen to do much cooking and theres no desire to spend much money. 

I think most posters have picked up on the lack of protein. I would guess that it will be a cereal bar added to the lunch that will be the outcome.

I think we have all had periods in our lives where we can and have lived on sugar and carbs to get us through, but thats not good long term and Im guessing we arent talking to a 22 year old in UNI.

OP, if nothing else, you must have seen the news reports over the years on the need for children to have a good start to the day - hence breakfast clubs, and a good meal at lunchtime - Free School Dinners , its the same need for adults. Generally you put crap in, you get crap out.

I dont spend £4 a day but I eat as best I can. Swap the white for wholemeal. Make a pot of soup at the weekend, freeze in portions - couple of leeks and potatoes and stock cube? About £1.50  - for the week. Cooked meats are expensive per kilo - buy a gammon, boil, cool, slice - will do a week, maybe more. Half a bag of pasta, a tin of tuna drained, some sweetcorn, chopped peppers, a tablespoon or so of mayo - will do two or three meals , half a dozen eggs, a bunch of bananas - you could probably buy the whole lot for a tenner - £2 a day 

Its all very well "saving every penny" but not at the cost to your health. Do you want to hit 40 and find out you have a calcium deficiency , high cholesterol and heart problems or diabetes?

JIL

Longwalker said:

JIL said:

My son went to university with a student whose family worked out what he may need over the 4 years to pay for his time in university and gave him that money as a lump sum.
He would go to the supermarket and buy 6 packets of basic home brand crisps for 30p and that would be his lunch and breakfast.
He would make soup for his dinner that lasted 3 days, served with reduced for pennies and frozen bread.

I kid you not that when he finished at university and started work, he had enough money saved from his frugality that he put a deposit down on a house.

I think the poster is telling us he has had jam sandwiches and crisps, no breakfast and an evening meal at 10pm for a good while now. However they arent keen to do much cooking and theres no desire to spend much money. 

I think most posters have picked up on the lack of protein. I would guess that it will be a cereal bar added to the lunch that will be the outcome.

I think we have all had periods in our lives where we can and have lived on sugar and carbs to get us through, but thats not good long term and Im guessing we arent talking to a 22 year old in UNI.

OP, if nothing else, you must have seen the news reports over the years on the need for children to have a good start to the day - hence breakfast clubs, and a good meal at lunchtime - Free School Dinners , its the same need for adults. Generally you put crap in, you get crap out.

I dont spend £4 a day but I eat as best I can. Swap the white for wholemeal. Make a pot of soup at the weekend, freeze in portions - couple of leeks and potatoes and stock cube? About £1.50  - for the week. Cooked meats are expensive per kilo - buy a gammon, boil, cool, slice - will do a week, maybe more. Half a bag of pasta, a tin of tuna drained, some sweetcorn, chopped peppers, a tablespoon or so of mayo - will do two or three meals , half a dozen eggs, a bunch of bananas - you could probably buy the whole lot for a tenner - £2 a day 

Its all very well "saving every penny" but not at the cost to your health. Do you want to hit 40 and find out you have a calcium deficiency , high cholesterol and heart problems or diabetes?

I agree completely, the uni student, sustainable for a short period in time and a good outcome.

I dont think you can put a price on good health. However we dont know what's in the evening meal. That may be the saving grace in this scenario. 

I'm sensing the poster works very long hours and wants something quick and easy.  Deduced from one loaf, jar of jam and crisps.
I think to amend the daytime food, they would need to change their cooking habits.

Longwalker

JIL said:

Longwalker said:

JIL said:

My son went to university with a student whose family worked out what he may need over the 4 years to pay for his time in university and gave him that money as a lump sum.
He would go to the supermarket and buy 6 packets of basic home brand crisps for 30p and that would be his lunch and breakfast.
He would make soup for his dinner that lasted 3 days, served with reduced for pennies and frozen bread.

I kid you not that when he finished at university and started work, he had enough money saved from his frugality that he put a deposit down on a house.

I think the poster is telling us he has had jam sandwiches and crisps, no breakfast and an evening meal at 10pm for a good while now. However they arent keen to do much cooking and theres no desire to spend much money. 

I think most posters have picked up on the lack of protein. I would guess that it will be a cereal bar added to the lunch that will be the outcome.

I think we have all had periods in our lives where we can and have lived on sugar and carbs to get us through, but thats not good long term and Im guessing we arent talking to a 22 year old in UNI.

OP, if nothing else, you must have seen the news reports over the years on the need for children to have a good start to the day - hence breakfast clubs, and a good meal at lunchtime - Free School Dinners , its the same need for adults. Generally you put crap in, you get crap out.

I dont spend £4 a day but I eat as best I can. Swap the white for wholemeal. Make a pot of soup at the weekend, freeze in portions - couple of leeks and potatoes and stock cube? About £1.50  - for the week. Cooked meats are expensive per kilo - buy a gammon, boil, cool, slice - will do a week, maybe more. Half a bag of pasta, a tin of tuna drained, some sweetcorn, chopped peppers, a tablespoon or so of mayo - will do two or three meals , half a dozen eggs, a bunch of bananas - you could probably buy the whole lot for a tenner - £2 a day 

Its all very well "saving every penny" but not at the cost to your health. Do you want to hit 40 and find out you have a calcium deficiency , high cholesterol and heart problems or diabetes?

I agree completely, the uni student, sustainable for a short period in time and a good outcome.

I dont think you can put a price on good health. However we dont know what's in the evening meal. That may be the saving grace in this scenario. 

I'm sensing the poster works very long hours and wants something quick and easy.  Deduced from one loaf, jar of jam and crisps.
I think to amend the daytime food, they would need to change their cooking habits.

Also the OP has learned bad habits from what his mother sent him off with , sounded more like a tuck shop then a lunch box

The evening meal, no matter what, is being eaten too late at night , storing up more problems for later years 

Emily_Joy

Mark_Glasses said:

Thanks again, lots of ideas and again too many for me to reply to individually.

I honestly had no idea jam sandwiches were considered to be rubbish. I guess it's always been in my nature to scrimp on lunch. When I was at school my parents gave me £1.30 to spend at the canteen for lunch and eventually I'd just make do with a chocolate bar that cost 30p and keep the remaining pound for myself. 

I am willing to spend more than 30p on my lunch but I do think £4 is too much. That's over £1k a year. Realistically what is the minimum I would need to spend?

I don't eat breakfast because I've never been able to get out of bed until 5 minutes before I need to leave for work no matter what time I've started work at. I think the dread of going to work keeps me there because I can get up earlier at the weekend when I have a substantial breakfast, lunch and dinner.

So, just to get the picture right, you get up, skip breakfast, run for the tube, go into your office feeling miserable, sit there until lunch time, eat your 30p lunch, then go back home at 10pm feeling very hungry and not very satisfied with your day? 

While 1000GBP per year may sound like a lot of money, but will you really notice? If you put 24K in your saving account rather than 25K will there be any practical difference? You obviously notice that you are hungry. 

Instead of working out how much you should spend, how about you spend whatever is necessary to get something filling two days a week? Do you have microwave at work? Could you put a packet of Jordan muesli & milk to eat after you get there before starting working?