To spend £30 a month on ALL food and drink?

[Jumell]

I’m single and live alone. I want to set myself a good budget and admit I’ve overspent /been wasteful in the past.

As a single adult female living alone - is £30 per month on food doable do you think ? Includes eating out etc

you could make it so that you dont die of starvation, so doable in that sense, but you wouldnt be able to have any sort of balanced diet or anything interesting.

Whats your meal plan? Have you costed anything up ?
Is this something you need to do for a month or two, or are you thinking longer term?

Be realistic FGS and set a budget that won't kill you with starvation.

I would manage fine on about 50 a WEEK, but your budget is ridiculous.

However, no doubt you will have all the frugal fairies of Mumsnet helping you achieve your famine goal. Sad really.

Maybe. Live off value pasta, tinned tomatoes etc.
Try it and see.

So you are basically " playing " at living in food poverty?
This is batshit and in extremely poor taste

This is what i read it as!!

Please keep a food diary to us if it can be done! * *

Jack Monroe is that you?

Your silly budget challenge idea will give you high anxiety levels and health complications in the future. What are you saving up for that is worth more to you than your health? There is no way you’re getting the nutrients your body needs, at the quantity it needs everyday. two portions of oily fish a week, beef and chicken, veg and fruit

I admit I’ve been wasteful in the past. My project the past few weeks has made me appreciate things more

Does this include toiletries, washing powder etc?

It might be doable if you’re fasting everyday and eat one small meal but you still need calories and good nutritious food to feed your body. Does your work feed you? My brother gets breakfast and lunch provided at work and they let him take the leftovers for dinner so £30 a month would be doable for him (he works for a company that wants them to be in the office full time so offers them this inducement and he’s also on a very good wage).

Agree. Awful stuff trying to mimic those who ARE in absolute food poverty. I can't believe what I am reading.

Unfortunately- I know you’re right

Not my intention. I’m disciplining myself

No no absolutely not

If you only eat 1 large potato, a banana, and a few pints of water per day you could probably just about do it.

In the very short term, just to prove you could do it, it might be possible if you went round all the supermarkets near closing time grabbing yellow stickered stuff such as loaves of bread for 10p, but not if you then included the petrol you spent driving round all the supermarkets. You could also get free stuff from Olio or reduced stuff from too good to go. But if you factor your time into the equation, you would be better to work an hour or two of overtime, to counteract the time you would spend on this 'challenge'.

Ok you’re entitled to your opinion - but nothing is in bad taste if it’s made me appreciate everything a lot more

Even with a Mumsnet roast chicken you’ll be struggling. 😂😂

I think you're overly optimistic.

I use to have £13 a week for food for me and toddler ds.

I walked around also with a calculator and would batch cook.

It was just about doable with no treats.

But this was 2007!!!!

I spent £65 a week for teen ds and I 3 years ago.

Now same shop is more like £100!

Why though? You're putting in trite replies which don't expand on this, you mean you just felt like doing it, or you were forced to? I don't know why I'm asking though!

Bread is about £2-£3 and milk is also £2. This thread makes me angry and the person who posted it must be quite thick. Food is supposed to nourish your body so it can run all your organs and give you the energy to get on with your day.

This was my budget for several years in the nineties. And it was supplemented by free food (I would turn up to anything with food - university focus groups, church music events, time share presentations...) and the early days of loyalty points. I ate a lot of reduced bananas.

I think it would be a struggle now - prices have gone up a lot and there is much more competition for free/cheap food.

Bonkers

Whilst you can definitely eat healthily and nutritiously on a budget, £30 a month is very very low and practically impossible, even if you’re eating pasta, porridge and toast most days.

I too live alone and if I can eat healthily a week on £30-£35. This is sometimes what I naturally spend on food a week if I don’t eat out or buy any bottles of wine or get hosting food in. Within this amount, I can have Greek yoghurt and fresh fruit with eggs for breakfast, and something like chicken salads, vegetable stews, goulash, crudités and humous, soup and bread, stir fry, chicken and rice, omelettes or sausage casseroles for lunch. I intermittent fast though so only have a big breakfast and lunch and don’t have dinner, but I drink hot drinks liberally through the day. If I was having dinner each day, it would be more like £40-45. Then there are times you need cleaning and kitchen household products and basic toiletries. That will need to be costed for too.

Are you quite young or living alone? That’s the only way I could explain you not understanding how much an ingredient costs, what goes into even a basic meal, the importance of getting proper amounts of fat, protein, fibre, macronutrients in etc. Your comment about a slice or two of pizza at Greggs is perplexing as it’s about 2-3 days of your food budget!

I mean. Try it…,.

I was homeless growing up and we lived on one tin of beans. 4 slices of bread and two baking potatoes for 2 weeks….