£40 for food for 13 days

[Gakatsbsk]

Hello

due to unexpected extreme expenses this month I will be living on a tight budget until pay day.

after accounting for all other expenses I will have £40 for food. If I bought nothing I could have enough food in my house for 5 days. I have lots of protein powders and meal replacement type things lying about too.

I do not eat meat or fish, I don’t use any milk or anything like that and I have enough margarine to last. I have all the basics like oils and seasonings.

Has anyone any tips for getting some nutrients in over the next few days. I have a limited appetite anyway due to medication and am 2 stone overweight so don’t need huge meals. I don’t have a blender but have all other standard appliances.

this is just for me, I have no dependents.

Pasta with sauces (tomato, pesto, etc) and veg on side?
Jacket potato with toppings?
One meal that I eat a lot that costs next to nothing is wedges (cut up potatoes) with broccoli and curry sauce/gravy

im not sure this is that tight of a budget for one person? And most of my money goes on food so im not one of these ‘I eat three lettuce leaves for lunch’ people!

when i was a single mum on a tight ass budget I went ‘whoopsying’ at 6pm every single evening!

Maybe make a big batch of soup, lots of nice recipes online, e.g. bbcgoodfood.

I also use a lot of tins of beans, black beans, chickpeas etc to make tacos, beans stews, chunky soups etc

pasta is always a cheap option, when I’m not too hungry I flavour up oil, or butter, by heating it gently with cloves garlic, lemon zest, chilli etc, turn off the heat and let it steep while the pasta cooks. Very tasty without anything else added.

What mango said

It kind of begs the question of what you usually eat??

What is whoopsying?

I'd make a big mixed bean chilli and eat it over several nights with rice, bread or a jacket potato. It will cost pence and is nutritious and filling.

Things like this make me want to try and give it a go myself . I would split it so £20 per seven days . You can have abit of variety that way .

Buying reduced goods in the supermarket. I think one of the big ones (Asda?) has 'Whoops!' printed on their reduced stickers.

Try Olio, always lots of free food on there local to us.

@Mangogogogo What's whoopsying?

OP, you can make many types of meals with all sorts of beans. Mung, chick peas, kidney beans. Soups with a lot of veg. Pasta is relatively cheap and a good filler. £40 for food for the next 13 days should be manageable. Oats and porridge are a great way to start the day.

Dhal is another easy and cheap option.

Are you vegan, or do you just not eat the things you listed?

There's a thread at the moment where you can get 4x4 portions of food worth £50 for £17 using a code.

As a single person maybe the 16 portions could do you for a week (lunch and dinner) and then you could buy some cheap porridge or corn flakes for breakfast.

That would leave you with about £21 for the rest of the day.

I used it recently and you can order veggie stuff.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/promotional_codesbargains/4558295-four-days-worth-of-dinners-for-4-people-ps17-with-gousto-code

That's not a bad budget for 13 days when you already have the basics in and don't eat meat/fish, etc (works out at just over £3/day).

Jacket potato with beans/other filling
Pasta with sauce
Egg fried rice or risotto (can really use any rice)
Tray bake with potato and veg and spices, etc
Shashuka (tomato, peppers, veg with eggs cracked on top)
Omelette or savoury pancakes with veggie filling
Soup...eg, quick tomato soup using tinned tomatoes, some herbs and diced onions.
Dal or other lentil dish
Bombay potatoes
Veggie curry

Regardless, I hope things improve for you.

One giant bag of pasta.
5 jars of basics pasta sauce base.
2 tubs of mushrooms
2 heads of celery
1 bag of carrots
4 courgettes
4 onions.
4 tins of chopped toms
Fresh or dried italian herbs (90p?)
2 big bags of cheese
8 jacket potatoes
4 tins of baked beans (1/2 a day for lunch)
One big bag porridge
2 x 4pts of milk
Small bag of sugar/jar of basics honey
2 bags basic frozen fruit topping
12 eggs
Cheap wholemeal loaf

Porridge with fruit and toast
Scrambled eggs on toast
Mushroom Omlettes
Cheese Omlettes
Carrot, potato and Courgette fritters with poached egg on top
Jacket potato and beans/cheese
Giant pan of pasta sauce for Pasta and sauce/pasta bake topped with cheese

I agree this doesn't feel tight for one person over a fortnight.

It's easy to eat rice and pasta based meals with plenty of veg with that budget. You just need to cook from scratch and avoid convenience foods, apart from maybe baked beans which are cheap and nutritious.

For me, multi vitamins tablets, then a small bag of chips each day, then some eggs or beans from co-op, etc.

Admittedly it's not great but it keeps the body going and engerised

Rice, eggs, beans, potatoes, and veg. It's not all that tight for a single person.

too Good to go might have something from a grocery/health food shop

We just did a week on £10.
I wouldn't worry about nutrients - a few weeks without won't kill you in a crisis.
Have a few eggs and a banana here and there and you'll be fine.

That’s loads of money for two weeks!

Chickpea & spinach curry, quick and easy to make and will last a few days, the same with a three bean chilli.
Jacket potatoes and beans
Shake with a banana or weetabix and a banana for breakfast
make a red lentil and tomato soup for pennies and have that for lunch
Make a spicy rice dish with a bag of frozen veggies and spices

Whoopsying is going round supermarkets getting the yellow sticker discounted food. 6pm is usually when they put the yellow whoops stickers on stuff.

The most bizarre suggestion I've ever read. A multi vit doesn't make up for eating chips everyday and not eating any fruit or veg. And buying fruit and veg Is cheaper than buying bags of chips everyday.

There’s an app called roo good to go. Shops sell things that would otherwise go to waste. If you’ve a Morrisons near you they do a huge box of randomness for about £3 and you get nearly £20/30 of stuff. I’ve had things which have long dates on. You don’t get to choose unfortunately and you must be quick as they sell out quickly!

*too good to go