I could eat very cheaply if I lived on my own

[Atobe]

Could you?!

It’s only me and a teenager at home now but I seem to spend half my life shopping for more and more food as they are fussy, we like different things and they eat a lot of milk and cereal so we are always running out.

I think how easy it could be to just feed myself. I would eat very simply and if I didn’t have much food in I would be quite happy with beans on toast or a ham salad sandwich and a cup of tea. I would cook occasionally eg a cottage pie and it would last me for three days!

I don’t eat out much these days so I would save a lot of money all round too!

I've just spent £65 on groceries for 2 weeks for 2 people. I meal plan. I might need another 2 pints of milk half way through, and I bought 4 beers!

And I treated myself to a posh £4 cheese.

We don't snack, but have dessert (fruit or homemade cake) most nights.

Yes definitely!!
I have a tween and a teen and they eat so much! They're not even that fussy but my teen DD thinks nothing of eating a whole punnet of grapes in a day or a whole pint of milk!

Get some big bags of porrige oats and maybe some store brand weetabix, show him how to do the porrige and stop buying the frosted/choco crap that they devour like locusts.

I have one husband and two sons, one is 17 and the amount of food, meat and cooking is just horrendous sometimes.
Myself and DD would be quite happy having a nice salad or cheese on toast for dinner 3 times a week, there is definitely a discrepancy that causes some resentment tbh.

I was just thinking this, DH has a trip home for 7 days in December, Im planning on batch cooking before he goes as Ill be working while he is away.
I will only need to spend around €30 for lunches & dinners. Usual spend is nearer €85.

Same. I've just had to bin some rolls that went mouldy and half a packet of opened ham that my teens ignored. I can't eat it as I'm gf and veggie. I ranted quite a bit.

I spend my life reminding them to eat up X and Y before it's stale / off and I keep being ignored.

My H is def the big booster on food bills- he thinks nothing of chucking in smoked salmon, decent fish, bottles of innocent smoothies, nice fresh orange juice and turns his nose up at £7 chickens and only likes ones from the butcher/ farm shop

It can be way too easy to fall into the trap of ‘I don’t need to cook for just me’ though.

I’d say good nutrition is even more important if you live alone, because who’s going to look after you & pay the wages if you become ill?

I agree. I’m vegetarian and eat things like chickpea curry, veg stew, soup, veggie pasta etc for lunch and dinner. breakfast is a yogurt and a banana. The children and DP eat meat, raspberries, branded ice creams etc it costs so much more.

I'm super annoying with leftovers, we were definitely an ingredient house while the kids grew up.

I'd have put the ham in the rolls with a few slices of cheese, squashed them down and stuck them in the freezer before they went off.
10 minutes in the air fryer (we had a George foreman when the kids were teens) and a perfect after school snack is ready.

This also works with homemade pesto, mozzarella and sun-dried tomato.

Fruit salad is made every 3 days and put in a big bowl in the fridge.

Agree! When my two go to their dad's for a week in the holidays I don't bother getting a food shop at all, and just eat what's in the cupboards

I never have to think about what to cook bc I have the same meals each week.

So much easier and I never have any food waste.

Yes if it was just me I’d eat so cheaply as I’ve only eaten the same things each day for 25 years (food issues due to ptsd) and none of it is expensive. The rest of the family like variety 😂😂😂

Absolutely!

I think about this almost daily. Two primary school age who eat an enormous amount of god knows what - we run out of things constantly. And we spend SO much. I reckon about £600 a month at the moment. It makes me stressed

It’s just me and DP who has a very physical job so I cook a decent meal every night. If for any reason he’s not around, I’m happy with soup
and a bagel or a cheese toastie so whilst I know it would be much easier without him I think the quality and variety of what I eat would plummet!

I eat so much better when I'm not catering to the whims of children (and tbf their allergies
)

they are fussy, we like different things and they eat a lot of milk and cereal so we are always running out

Maybe talk to them about the cost of food and get to the bottom of why they are fussy about food? I think many young people enter adulthood with no real perception of what it takes to earn the money to pay for food, housing, utilities, etc and it can be a huge shock to them.

Make them part of the household team. Involve them in compiling the weekly menu and shopping list. What alternative, cheaper foods/dishes could potentially be substituted? Cost it out - and help them work out how many hours they might have to work in an average wage job to earn that money.

It's a long-term project, certainly, but a very useful one. Knowing how to budget can mean the difference between credit card debt and being solvent.

I do. I spend about £30 a week.

I could but partly because I don’t eat meat only use milk for coffee unless I need it for a sauce which isn’t regularly. I generally only eat one full meal a day too. Still fat so I definitely consume my calories! So all breakfast items, lunch extras and things I buy that add up would be off the list

due to those reasons though it would preclude me from getting certain things without waste or paying more for a smaller amount to avoid waste so I wouldn’t save as much as I think I could because I’d miss out on some (quite significant) savings on certain things or have to do without them.

You have my sympathy. I have two teenagers and the amount of breakfast cereal and milk we go through.....😳😳

Just me and a 20yo competitive swimmer ds here.

I could more than half my food bill if he wasn't around!

In fact when he goes abroad to compete or on camps I save a fortune 😂

Well yes. You would go from feeding 2 2 people including a presumably active teenager to feeding 1 middle aged (sedentary?) woman with a small appetite. So probably around 1/3 of your current spend.
Weirdly feeding growing children requires better nutrition and more calories than it does to maintain a single person in their ?40s.
It sounds like you begrudge feeding your child and forget that food is nutrition and essential, not some optional extra they are just being annoying by using up.

Genuinely think I would live on meals of cheese toasties with side salad, boiled eggs with soldiers, cereal, fruit and crisps if I lived on my own. All washed down with a large Chardonnay or Malbec 🤣

It's just me and 15YO gym rat DS here. I think he eats double what I do.
Love him though :-)