Really healthy eating on a budget

suki1964 · 7 February 2018 at 7:00PM

JennyP wrote: »

Thank you. I didn't feel I was. I was unfavourably comparing myself to all the £1 a day people!

And there are those that heat and light a house with just one candle and wear sackcloth :rotfl:

I can stretch a penny, most of us here can. But there has to be a balance. Sure the £1 a day meal plans are fantastic to get a family through a very tight month, but those meals can not be lived on 365 days a year

Last week I done fantastically well and got 14 meals out of £5 of meat. But that was a fluke as I had most of the veg sat here already. As you know, you eat your stocks, they need replacing, a dear shop the following week

And sometimes I want steak and not mince padded out with lentils:D

If your income can take the amount you are spending on food you have no worries. It's when you don't have enough money to get through the month you start to look at where to cut costs

caronc · 7 February 2018 at 7:11PM

suki1964 wrote: »

And there are those that heat and light a house with just one candle and wear sackcloth :rotfl:

I can stretch a penny, most of us here can. But there has to be a balance. Sure the £1 a day meal plans are fantastic to get a family through a very tight month, but those meals can not be lived on 365 days a year

Last week I done fantastically well and got 14 meals out of £5 of meat. But that was a fluke as I had most of the veg sat here already. As you know, you eat your stocks, they need replacing, a dear shop the following week

And sometimes I want steak and not mince padded out with lentils:D

If your income can take the amount you are spending on food you have no worries. It's when you don't have enough money to get through the month you start to look at where to cut costs

Completely agree

To me being :money:is getting the best I can from the money I have for the things that are important to me and not wasting things thoughtlessly.:)

purpleivy · 7 February 2018 at 7:31PM

I too look at the very limited budget threads and think 'I couldn't do that' when I see the amount of YS foods and people being at the shops all the time! Also as the OP said, lots of manufactured foods.

BUT I could do better with what I have! The end of the bread got over looked and is now looking distinctly iffy! I had to get a garlic bread from the freezer to go with the meal!

phizzimum · 7 February 2018 at 7:53PM

JennyP wrote: »

You can make yoghurt in the slow cooker?
Wish i 'd known. I bought an easiyo. It was half price though.

I used to have an easiyo but didn’t do very well with it. I wasnt using the packets as my husband has allergies so maybe that’s why.

I agree with what everyone is saying about expensive, trendy healthy ingredients. Ive got sucked into buying cocao nibs and coconut flakes and things like that then not wanting to use them. So many of these products are from the other side of the world, maybe it’s better to eat things that haven’t travelled so far, we have lots of lovely food grown in this country. (Aware that I suggested banana in my earlier post, so I’m contradicting myself here!)

This has reminded me of the chia seeds and coconut oil that are lurking in my cupboard

carrielovesfanta · 7 February 2018 at 8:19PM

Hi Jenny,

I'm hoping that I can be a bit helpful. As other posters have said, you are unlikely to be able to eat very frugally constantly and as you would like.

I would look at what you currently spend, and what you would like to get it down to.

We aren't frugal in many ways as we mostly buy organic local meat from a local butcher (or supermarket organic chicken), and organic veg boxes. Also, my husband is an amateur Crossfit athlete and has a high protein diet.

My current budget for food + all household is £250 a month. Now this does include little top ups and discretionary spends. My actual food shopping is around £30-£50 a week.

I started meal planning, and originally fell into the same trap as you did - I was creating these very exciting, varied menus and having to buy lots of things each week. I have now changed this to buying one large joint of meat and using it for several meals through the week. To keep up with hub's protein needs, I use 90-100g of meat per person, per meal. This includes lunches.

If you eat large lunches and dinners, it may be an idea to have slightly smaller meals (of 500-700 cals) and more substantial snakcs.

I too have been buying the Quorn when on offer. Dried pulses are also good bulkers (red lentils, black beans, chickpeas). I cook them in large batches in the slow cooker then freeze them.

I make our bread in the breadmaker - if you are gluten free, this will likely be cheaper.

Yogurt is easy to make in a flask - maybe sell the easyio?

I often do easy egg based meals or large batches of soup.

I'm a big fan of frozen veg and fruit. Especially peppers. Think seasonal when it comes to fresh goods.

If you do like things like cacao nibs and chia seeds, I get mine from Bulk Powders at a good price - I always wait for the 33% off deals. They have 40% off at the moment. They also sell 1kg tubs of peanut butter for £4.99 mmmmmmm yummy

I would go through each item on your list and really think about it... can it be replaced with something similar? Do I really need it this week? Can I downshift a brand? Am I getting the best offer? Can I batch cook this cheaply? Can it be bulked out? Can I make it vegetarian?

There will come a point though that you can't spend less without making a sacrifice somewhere. As long as you can afford it, try not to feel too guilty. This issue is if you can't afford it and keep spending the money!

Also - you will get better at it! It took me a good 6 months to get our food spending back to a point where I was happy with it after hubs embarked on his journey.

I'm happy to discuss and tips or recipes with you. Feel free to pm me.

All the best

Clf x

dibblersan · 7 February 2018 at 8:24PM

JennyP wrote: »

Cheese - the one I buy is almost always on special offer!

Picked up on this: look at the price per kilo/how much it is for what you actually use (stronger flavoured cheese you tend to use less when cooking)

'Special Offer' is often not the best value for money.

away-with-the-fairies · 7 February 2018 at 9:28PM

I sympathise. I suffer from migraines and found that I was gluten intolerant and migraines stopped when I tried to cut it out of my diet. It may have been a coincidence. As you know gluten free stuff is hideously expensive. As porridge is the only breakfast cereal left apart from cornflakes I do have to but gf Ines at 2.50 for 500 g. I now don't eat bread at all or pasta as the alternatives were too costly. Fast food is difficult as sarnies are out, as are pasta salad boxes and such like. I am sure u will find a way to cut out the gluten and be more healthy

suki1964 · 7 February 2018 at 9:33PM

dibblersan wrote: »

Picked up on this: look at the price per kilo/how much it is for what you actually use (stronger flavoured cheese you tend to use less when cooking)

'Special Offer' is often not the best value for money.

That goes for Everything

I remember way back before I found oldstyle , I thought I was being a savvy shopper because I got most of my shopping off the end plinths, you know, where all the supermarkets place their "special offers"? I used to walk along the centre of the store dropping the offers in the trolley willy nilly. Then I found out that you have to check the price per kilo/litre/gram/pound to get the best value. Just recently I was buying 1/2lb blocks of butter because buying 2 of those worked out 8p cheaper then the 1lb block. I check the price of everything now, from biscuits, to cheese, mince to soap powder , carrots to larger

It may only be a penny here and there, but they are my pennies

JennyP · 8 February 2018 at 9:50AM

phizzimum wrote: »

I used to have an easiyo but didn’t do very well with it. I wasnt using the packets as my husband has allergies so maybe that’s why.

I agree with what everyone is saying about expensive, trendy healthy ingredients. Ive got sucked into buying cocao nibs and coconut flakes and things like that then not wanting to use them. So many of these products are from the other side of the world, maybe it’s better to eat things that haven’t travelled so far, we have lots of lovely food grown in this country. (Aware that I suggested banana in my earlier post, so I’m contradicting myself here!)

This has reminded me of the chia seeds and coconut oil that are lurking in my cupboard

We don't use the sachets with our easiyo. We just use normal yoghurt, milk and skimmed milk powder. It took two or three goes to get it right and I looked at a lot of yoghurt websites to trouble shoot!

I had chia seeds and coconut oil too! Chia seeds make me gag. But we've got into coconut oil and bake with it. It's a good - if oily - moisturiser. Good on eczema.

JennyP · 8 February 2018 at 9:56AM

dibblersan wrote: »

Picked up on this: look at the price per kilo/how much it is for what you actually use (stronger flavoured cheese you tend to use less when cooking)

'Special Offer' is often not the best value for money.

Morrison's value cheddar is 20p per kilo less but nowhere near as nice a cathedral city. We look at price per kilo on everything.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Really healthy eating on a budget

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free