BUDGET

Spookess

Full Member
I was just wondering if anyone else, like me, only has a small food budget each month? I find with this plan that the more you eat, the more you lose but i also find that eating loads costs loads

What does everyone else do/eat to save money??

I am beginning to understand why there are so many overweight kids in the world. It's cheaper to feed them food from places like Iceland where you can get bags of food for £1 that you just bung in the oven, than to buy fresh fruit and veg and meat! - ok rant over! :soapbox:

Let me know your ideas.
 
I try and replace chicken filletts with turkey, when thrown into a mix you can hardly taste the difference but are quite a bit cheaper. Also big bags of frozen veg last longer, and are cheaper in the long run. Especially if you go for asda own or tesco-own brand.
 
I am on a tight budget, being a student, and I buy frozen veg, frozen meat (chicken and pork) and I buy value rice/pasta/tea bags/cereal/bread. The only thing I really 'splash out' on is mullerlights because they're so handy to have in and I've yet to find a cheaper yoghurt as nice (and more importantly, syn free! I buy a lot of supermarkets own quorn type products as well, I always have veggie mince as it's cheaper and I can't tell the difference.
I don't spend all that much on food and I still eat well. :)

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I agree about the frozen veg but is it just me or does it go a lot more watery than fresh? :hmm:

I know beggars can't be chosers and all that :cry:
 
Is supermarket versions of quorn still syn free and super speed? Don't know why, but i keep thinking it is syn'd? (don't quote me on that, wouldn't be the first time i've been wrong!)
 
go to aldi they do lots of cheap stuff and some syn free or low syn products i spent £55 there yesterday for myself, 2 kids and 1 hungry dog have enough food to last at least 2 weeks with small top up in between bread, milk and more fruit/veg
 
weve swapped a lot of our veg to frozen now. broc, cauli, sliced peppers, baby sweetcorn, mushrooms. you cant tell the difference with it, especially if you chuck it in a bolognese or a pasta sauce. value pasta, tinned toms, beans. value potato. you get the idea. dont buy fancy fruits like strawbs and stuff, lovely but just too expensive! we normally spend £50 a week for 2 adults and a cat, thats with all the cleaning and toiletry stuff aswell.
 
I buy frozen food and steam it. Its beautiful then. If its towards the end of the month we do a lot of green days or use frozen fish and do that but it is hard i always find my loses are smaller towarda end of month x
 
we go to aldi too, they always have the 39p+69p veg on and most of the other is under £1. We live off fresh veg and meat etc and we go shopping weekly, it costs me £50 a week to feed a family of 5 + 3cats lol. I write a meal plan for main meals, work out what i need to buy and stick to it, that is with packed lunches on etc. I used to shop at asda but found it far too expensive, now it's aldi and home bargains every week.
 
Its the same as anything you can do it as cheap or exspensive as you want. I would recommend getting into the habit of adapting sw to within your budget so thr cost doesnt become a reason to pack it in.

I do mainly green so buy cheap pasta rice spuds etc. I dont eat much meat and only use frozen chicken and fish. Asda meat free mince is £3 for two bags and is free on all days. I use mainly frozen veggies. I also get things like mug shots tinned tuna and weetabix cereal bars etc from places like poundland or home and bargain as theyre always cheaper.
 
Dried soya mince is dead cheap and goes a long way. Much cheaper than quorn mince and I don't think it tastes much different. I'm on a tight budget so go to the supermarket in the evening where I can grab all the reductions. On Friday I got punnets of strawberries for 20p each, a chicken for 50p, bread for 20p a loaf plus loads of other bargains. 3 of us and a dog eat extremely well for £50 a month!
If you're unable to do that then I second what others have said about aldi and also lidl which have fab prices.
 
buy pulses and beans dried and soak them yourself, much cheaper than tins, just make sure you boil them for at least ten minutes
 
Yes as everyone said above, frozen stuff is miles cheaper.
As a student budget is very tight, I shop at ASDA. I try to buy smartprice/value brand salad which saves a lot aswell.
super slimming soup is a staple, so I buy stock cubes often and tinned beans which are very cheap, especially at LIDL. Asda chickpea dahl 77p is amazing! Also ASDA Smartprice Spaghetti Loops in Tomato at Sauce 15p, I think Tesco do the same its so yummy and so cheap!
 
tallsarah said:
buy pulses and beans dried and soak them yourself, much cheaper than tins, just make sure you boil them for at least ten minutes

Seconding this. It is a faff as some of them can take 2-3 hours to cook and most of them need soaking over night, but with a bit of planning its not a problem.

Very, very important to let them get to a rolling boil and stay like that for the first 10 mins to kill toxins then you can turn them down to a simmer.

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Hiya. Someone kindly posted this to me when I asked the same question. It's long but loads of tips.

· plan your meals for the week, make a shopping list and get only for the ingredients you need to make them
· start by looking at what you have in the cupboard/freezer already and choose meal options that will use them up
· cook your meals from scratch as pre-prepared sauces will be more expensive and you'll know exactly what has gone into them
· plan to use leftovers for other meals or for lunch the next day eg if you are cooking rice for dinner one day, make extra, throw in some leftover veggies and a fat-free dressing and you have lunch for day two
· cook one meal for the whole family not different ones
· seasonal fruit and veg is always cheaper so plan your meals around what it available
· take advantage of special offers - most supermarkets do cut price fruit and veg each week - and shop around to get the best prices. Check out offers and prices on comparison websites.
· try out the 'discount' supermarkets like lidl or aldi. Not everything is cheaper but many things are such as tinned tomatoes, pulses etc
· check out local shops such as greengrocers and butchers because supermarkets are not always the cheapest option
· frozen fruit and veg can be cheaper than fresh and a good alternative
· go green rather than red as meat is more expensive
· if doing EE then bulk out your meals with cheaper ingredients such as pulses, lentils, meat-free mince so you use less meat
· if buying meat go for cheaper cuts and invest in a slow cooker. Or buy joints and whole chickens that can be used across several meals rather than packs of chicken breasts
· beans, lentils and pulses are all good sources of protein and much cheaper than fish and meat
· batch cook meals taking advantage of special offers and freeze portions so they are ready for use
· go for shop own-brands rather than premium brands as they are usually just as good and a lot cheaper
· you don't have to buy mullerlights. There are several supermarket versions that are also syn free or other brands that are on special offer such as activia or shape zero
· know where your supermarket puts the things that are nearly out-of-date. You can sometimes pick up bargains on things like meats
· if you have storage then big bags of staples like pasta and rice can save money in the long-term - asda are selling 2 x 3kg bags of pasta for £3 at the moment
· invest in a water filter rather than buy expensive bottled water
· have breakfast at home so you're not tempted to eat on the go
· if you and/or your husband work, take lunch with you rather than buying out
· make your own versions of favourite family takeaway meals - save on the £s and the lbs
· and don't shop when you are hungry!
 
Seconding this. It is a faff as some of them can take 2-3 hours to cook and most of them need soaking over night, but with a bit of planning its not a problem.

Very, very important to let them get to a rolling boil and stay like that for the first 10 mins to kill toxins then you can turn them down to a simmer.

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The only beans you really need to worry about the toxins in are soya beans and kidney beans. I tend to cook mine in the slow cooker on low while i am out for work. Kidney and soya beans do get a 10 minute fast boil before going in the others go straight in from soaking overnight. Much easier and probably cheaper than boiling for 3 hours too.
 
I am beginning to understand why there are so many overweight kids in the world. It's cheaper to feed them food from places like Iceland where you can get bags of food for £1 that you just bung in the oven, than to buy fresh fruit and veg and meat! - ok rant over! :soapbox:

Children who are fed £1 bags of food :yuk: that you just bung in the oven will most likely grow up to have food/obesity issues, they won't know what a home cooked meal is, what its like to have a meal cooked from scratch or what a decent meal actually tastes like!! Being healthy doesn't have to be expensive! :)
 
The only beans you really need to worry about the toxins in are soya beans and kidney beans. I tend to cook mine in the slow cooker on low while i am out for work. Kidney and soya beans do get a 10 minute fast boil before going in the others go straight in from soaking overnight. Much easier and probably cheaper than boiling for 3 hours too.

Great idea!
 
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