Aibu to think I can live on less then 15 pound a week?

[Mosseywossey]

I have just worked out my budget and I only have about 25 pound a week spare. Ideally I want to put 10 pound of it away in case of emergencies and treats.
I am allergic to chemicals so need to cook most of my meals from fresh, but can I realistically live on spending 15 pound on food a week?
And if people have any cheap recipes idea or meal plans let me know. 😋

If you have a skill of any sort, be it typing, programming, etc, you could look at UpWork and try to pick up bits of freelancing work. The pay isn't brilliant, but even l £10 would make a big difference for you when you're living on such small amounts of money.

Yes I think it is possible.

Don't be scared to try value range products, some are actually pretty good and we prefer them to branded products (like ketchup and baked beans etc)

I think a single person can live on less than this.

This thread is awesome. I'm going to Uni in September and it's good to read so many people's cheap food ideas.

Another idea is to buy a packet of mixed salad leaf seeds - there are loads in a packet - and if you have 2 large flowerpots , then plant one one week, and the other 2 weeks later. In a few weeks' time the first one will have grown leaves big enough to harvest and eat, probably enough for salad twice a week for 2 weeks, then the second pot will be ready, and you can plant more seeds in the first pot, and so on. Much, much cheaper than buying salad from the supermarket. I do it all the time :)

agirlcalledjack.com/

You can do it!

Planting salad leaves is a great idea, but you don't need to keep replanting them. Get a cut-and-come-again variety and just cut what you need for each meal. They'll keep you going for the whole summer.

He some good Tupperware. I use plastic screw lid pots to do overnight oats with milk/yoghurt/fruit and eat them on the go. The plastic microwave tubs/pots with a lid with a hole are great to store leftovers in to microwave the next day and eat from. Get some cheap press seal bags from Wilko and store frozen food- takes up less freezer space than the boxes or bags so you can fit more in. I use an ice cube tray to make mini blocks of houmous. Defrost in a little tub in the fridge overnight-tastes fine and no waste

Beans on toast every other day is easy - no creativity needed and easy to plan for.

Mexican bean wraps. Approx 90p for 8 tortilla wraps, 35p ish for value kidney beans and a few pence for spices to mash into the beans, dash of mayo maybe and whatever salad you have. Two bean wraps might cost 75 to 85p ish for 2 if you ate the whole tin!? They are cheap but taste luxurious :) Could use toasted pitta bread instead of wraps.

Also chicken wings are our fav cheap treat. As a poor mans roast or with homemade hot sauce = mix mexican type spices and a tsp of mustard into some ketchup and rub on. Cook slowly at a low temp. Not impossible to get RSPCA/ free range for a low price, but would use a whole day's budget. Worth the occasional splurge though.

Also I like pasta in a garlic cream cheese sauce. Onion, garlic (granules/ cube/ bulb) chopped and sauted. Can add peas, sweetcorn or other veg. Stir in a pot of soft cream cheese and a bit of water. It is something that can be made in a large batch and some kept for snacks/ lunch.

I can recommend trying dark chocolate for those must have moments. I find I eat much less of a rich dark chocolate whereas the milk stuff just begs to be eaten all in one go!

And definitely plan for hormone days - you might be ok but I have days when I just cannot be hungry!

That's reminded me of scrambled eggs in a wrap dobree I like it with chrizo but it can easily be spiced up without.

I am glad some other people are finding this thread as useful as I am!!!
Unfortunately my finances have got worse, the company I worked for no longer need me. However have just employed several over people so I'm flipping between rage and crying. But I have decided that I should try and get a job at the uni, as they are a bette employer and they have some 0 hours ones. So got to see what happens.
However I went for a walk the other day to look if one of the farmers round me sell their food cheaper then supermarkets. It so felt awkward but after about the 3 farmer shop this really lovely guy was talking to me and said that he need help on his family farm and he can only pay me in bit and pieces of produce. It has something to do with milk! Which I drink and use gallons of and he said I can have as much as I would like. So that's something, I'm not really a farm person and not a big fan of big animals but least that will help a bit and it's fresh! So no E numbers!
I will give the salad thing a go and maybe see if I could get some herb plants or seeds, those would be really handy! I'm not sure where they can be kept thou.