Eating on a tight budget

[TheFuckfaceWhisperer]

I see lots of threads where people spend £30 - £40 a week on shopping, but what do you actually buy and make with it?
I don't just mean saying "Buy pasta, make stuff with it" I really have little imagination when it comes to food and due to personal circumstances, I'll be £200 a week worse off after Christmas (possibly before...) and will have the bare minimum to live on

Slow cooker is my best friend.
Meatballs in a tomato sauce in slow cooker on low for about 5 hours. Spaghetti slung in a pan for 10 mins.
Serves 5 adult portions and one smaller portion and costs a maximum
£4.20 for all of it

Will add more just dishing up and will be back x

Aldi pizza fruit salad for pudding. Fiver

cookingonabootstrap.com

www.thriftylesley.com seems to be down for me at the moment, but it's great

cheap-family-recipes.org

All have great recipes for minimal cost

Jack Monroe has lots of cooking on a budget recipes.

This guy gives you a shopping list as well as meal plans.
skintdad.co.uk/budget-meal-plan-25-7-days/

Look at some of Jack Monroes recipes.

Also there was a mumsnetter who had a great bargain feed a family shopping list- it included family “treat” type food like angel delight and apple pies, as well as cheap but healthy proper food. I can’t remember her name but it might have been called “austerity housekeeping” - hope that jogs someone’s memory!

Tin of chick peas 40p, tin of chopped tomatoes 40p, cup of lentils (500g for £1), & 1/2 bag mixed frozen vegetables, wole bag for £1 curry spice place all in slow cooker... Comes to about £ 2.- served 3-4 people. You can add to this things like crusty bread or some meat ...

• veggie chilli, onion, tinned tomato, tinned sweetcorn, tinned kidney bean, garlic and chilli powder with rice and shove some cheese on top
• make your own pizza, tiny bit of oil, strong flour, dried yeast, mozzarella and passata
• BBC good food lentil ragu
• pasta with tomato, onion, courgette and butter bean sauce, add garlic, black pepper and herbs
• nut cutlets (bought) mash, carrots and sprouts
• fish cakes 250g left over mash, 2 tins of tuna, little bit of egg, fresh herbs mixed together dipped in the reminaining egg and bread crumbs.

Fry 5 mins on each side, service with frozen peas and cabbage

• cheese omelette, frozen veg and wedges
• BBC good food spicy mushroom noddles
• BBC good food veggie Shepherd pie
• Dahl and rice

I'm, having to penny pinch for meals as well so feel your pain.

I shop at Tesco and get their cheap meat and veg and pasta and rice etc. the frozen 1kg chicken breasts and 2kg drumsticks/ thighs and £1.29 sausages are a god send for those of us who can't afford organic hand reared products.

From these I can do various chicken stews/ soups (defrosted chicken drumsticks/ thighs with loads of cheap veg and spuds and stock cubes (50p a pack). I add in their pasta as well to help stretch it. Just put in whatever veg you have, even the sad near death ones.

Savoury rice is really easy and cheap. finely chop an onion and fry in oil, add in a grated stock cube and however many tablespoons of curry powder you like, some tomato puree (add in a bit of sugar as well it helps) add in rice and fry for a few minutes then add in boiling water and simmer for about 15/ 20 mins until all the water has gone (remember to stir near the end so the bottom doesn't catch). I add in frozen peas and sweetcorn and you can add in chicken or other meat if you have it.

A tin of chopped toms, fried onion and a bit of sugar makes a lovely easy and cheap tomato sauce for pasta.

I use this for a chicken and bacon pasta bake (bacon is the cooking bacon about 60p) with a crunchy topping of whizzed up slice of bread and grated cheese. Just fry some chicken, bacon and chopping onion, cook pasta for half the recommended cooking time. Add everything to a oven proof dish, add in any veg u fancy and sprinkle the topping on and bung in oven for about 30 mins.

Instant ramen noodles are bloody amazing as you can make soups from them. add in whatever cooked meats/ veg you have hanging about. I use a potato peeler to thinly slice up half a carrot and add in a couple of thinly sliced mushrooms and thinly slice onion. Takes minutes to cook and is very filling.

Also cheap frozen sausages make really good sausage casserole. Cook them, add to slow cooker or on the stove/ oven in a pot with fried sliced onions, tin of toms, tin of beans and cut up spuds. cook slowly for an hour or so on the hob/oven (stir every now and then) and eat with some slices of bread to mop up the juices. :)

Good old cheap mince can make loads of meals.

mince stew (just like the chicken stew but use beef stock cubes)
Mince and onion with mash
burgers (we have them in cheap pitta bread with home made potato wedges)
Taco mince with savoury rice (just cook the mince with onions and add in some cheap packet taco seasoning and you can use the rest of the taco seasoning in the savoury rice instead of curry powder)

Tan Sandra Bradley.

Bulk buy dried pulses and spices from the World Foods section, also buy flours etc as it's versatile and very cheap. My fallback meals are:

-Bean chilli + jacket potato (I use my Instant Pot to cook a mix of beans in 40 mins, then add tin tomatoes, onion, garlic, chilli spices, salt, pepper and cook on the soup function for 15 mins)

-Fritatta (mix up eggs with leftover veg/cheese in the fridge at the end of the week. Some things like potatoes/carrots are best to put in pre-cooked, bake in over 25 mins)

-Lentil soup (odds and ends of veg, lentils, potatoes, stock in Instant pot on soup function or on stove for 40 mins)

-Pasta and tomato sauce (cook the pasta per the packet. Sauce = sautee chopped garlic, onion and grated carrot for about 4 mins, add tomato sauce, simmer for 20-30 mins and then season with dried oregano, chilli, salt and pepper to taste. I then blend it as I prefer the texture that way.)

My rip off Instant Pot has been a lifesaver. Cheap cooking often takes more effort, time or extra prep than you're used to so anything that reduces that helps. I got it from Aldi for £25.

I've recently found myself on a very tight budget due to DH hiding debt from me this is my weeks shopping list for 2 adults and 3 dcs 6 4 1
Shopping
Aldi
Raisins
Bread
Milk
Cheese
Cream cheese
Cream
Fruit
Potatoes
Carrots
Chicken
Turkey mince
Painkillers
Hot chocolate
Chopped tomatoes
Tomato soup
Pasta sauce
Tomato puree
Curry sauce
Tesco@
Reduced salt soy sauce
Bread sticks
Usually costs £35-£45 depending on weather I need nappies or pull ups or washing powder etc I make my own cleaning sprays.
Some of the meals I make mix turkey mince with lentils spag bol or lasagne feeds 5 of us twice. Or I mix with pease corn and Carrots and make shepherd's pie again would feed us twice.
Coconut curry (I usually have a tin of coconut milk in cupboard but not expensive in aldi) chicken curry powder a stock cube and potatoes served over rice a bit of cream if you've got it not necessary if you don't. Cheese toasties and cream cheese sandwiches are a favourite for lunch.
Chicken and mushroom in a cream sauce with rice fry chicken onion mushroom when cooked pour in cream mix in a stock cube and dried parsley serve with rice and garlic bread (toast with homemade garlic butter) sausage pasta bake onion chopped Tom's garlic mixed herbs tomato puree stock cube sausages over cooked pasta top with cheese and bake again serve with garlic bread and it lasts 2 meals. We have pizza night on Fridays sometimes made with reduced pitta bread watered down tomato puree with mixed herbs and frozen sweetcorn.
Egg fried rice cooked cold rice leave a well in the pan crack egg into it and scramble slowly mix rice and egg add pease and corn and soy sauce it's a massive favourite here.
The shopping list is just what I need this week so some things won't be on the list as I have a stock of a few things after my mum and in laws very kindly did a shop for us.

Thanks everyone, it's been very helpful, especially the detailed list and meal ideas.

Going to try and stock up on stuff with a good shelf life ready for the time, also paying lots on gas and electric so plenty credit to not worry about that for a bit.... What else should I be doing to prepare?

Another vote for Jack Monroe.

Buy full fat milk, yog, cheese etc, it's more filling and better for you.

Snacks could include :

Hard boiled eggs
Peanut butter and crackers
Veg sticks
Home made cake
Fruit compote :if you see a massive bag of apples /pears/plums at the supermarket, just peel, core and simmer with a spalsh of water till fruit is soft. Can add sugar if you like. Eat with yog, ice-cream, in porridge etc.

Home made soups, I do three and rotate with crusty bread.
Leak and potato.
Tomato and basil with cream.
Vegetables.

I use soup maker. Chop up 1/2 onion and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Then add other ingredients. Press cook, set timer, press blend at the end and serve with crusty bread or French bread. It is very cheap and filling. Takes 1/2 hour to cook.

I also make spag bol with a large packet of mince, drain, add a couple of Oxo cubes and two tins of chopped tomatoes, chop up some peppers and some passata and herbs. Thicken with tomato puree garlic puree and simmer. I switched to buy cheap pasta and no one has complained.

Cheap sausages in casserole with onions, a couple of tins of plum tomatoes, tomatoes puree and vegetables.

I find a boiled ham, mashed potato and carrots and peas is also not expensive as lots of meat left for next day.

A roast chicken is good value as can roast and eat left overs the next day.

If you don't already shop at Lidl or Aldi plan to do so as since I made the switch I save about £30 per week.

I'm an efficient cook and frugal meals come easily since I don't like waste. You could substitute the chicken for another meat. Pork is the next most economical besides minced beef. Frozen veg - I always have sweetcorn & peas in the freezer. Onions, carrots, broccoli & potatoes are staple grocery shops for me as are bananas, apples & satsumas. I don't do desserts during the week but am prepared to bake something at the weekend e.g cake/crumble. Here's a typical week in our house

Day 1 - Roast chicken dinner (roast potatoes, carrots & broccoli)
Day 2 - Chicken based stirfry/curry with rice (any veg of choice)
Day 3 - Veg fried rice (with yesterday's left over rice)
Day 4 - Bacon, onion & pea pasta arrabiata
Day 5 - Leftover roast potatoes - spanish omelete base & salad
Day 6 - Instant noodles (Aldi 20p), broccoli, carrot + leftover chicken
Day 7 - HM soup/risotto/couscous (any veg) & use stock made from chicken.

Fajitas are easy - basically, a stirfry in wraps
Quesadillas / even simple toasted sandwiches for quick/filling meals
Cheap pitta breads with HM meatballs/koftas & salad
Slowcooker meals are fantastic - belly pork (Aldi) casserole is cheap.

Therefore, at least 2 potato, 2 rice & 2 pasta/noodle type based meals in a week. HTH

Go on the money saving expert website. There is a list of things to do like reviewing direct debts, changing energy suppliers etc.

If you've got freezer space then make sure you have plenty of storage containers, soup bags etc. You can cook batches of things like soup, stews, chili, bolognese etc (one pot meals are your friend) and freeze, ensuring everything you buy is used up with no waste. It also saves money as they only need defrosting then reheating on the hob rather than cooking for whatever length of time.

Meal planning will help. You don't have to be the most imaginative cook but think about meals you know you like and what you can do to maybe stretch those or how you can make something similar but cheaper.

Use leftovers. If you've cooked too much mash and veg keep it aside and the next day you can add a couple of ingredients to make fish cakes. Too much pasta? Pasta salad for lunch tomorrow.

There are loads of food websites with great recipe ideas and if you make a Pinterest board you can save what interests you and 'group' them eg pasta dishes, egg based dishes, soups and so on.

While you're stocking up in advance make sure you have plenty of dried herbs and spices, jars of spice mix, fajita seasoning and that sort of thing. You can make dishes that have the same main ingredients taste completely different once you can add various flavours.