How have I spent this much on food?!!

[Sparkle900429]

Decided this morning to take control of my finances, first stop review what I have spent on food.

I am single woman living alone, I only have a small under counter fridge, no icebox, no freezer.

I buy food several times a week for the above reason and sometimes can’t be bothered so will order on just eat/Uber eats.

September I spent £532.93 and august I spent £544.06. How have I allowed myself to do this! I have credit card debt I should be paying off!

There is a gap next to the washing machine where a freezer could go but is it safe to do this? (It’s a double socket if that makes any difference) is the freezer my biggest issue?.

what would be a suitable budget for a single person for food?.

Or you could do ....nothing.

EXCEPT swapping 1 takeaway this week with a ready meal Tesco's finest...and put the difference in £ in a separate pot.

And then next week....

And then next week...

And then one Tesco's Finest with a home made meal....

And thus...1 thing each week and see what it does to the budget.

I would get a freezer and get into batch cooking. You can cook several meals at home once, saving time on washing up and saving energy on the oven use.

I like this idea as it can be hard work making too many big changes at once.

You'll soon save up the money for a freezer doing this too!

I think it’s just about being more organised. I’m happy to eat the same thing for a few nights so I’d probably cook something on the weekend and have it a couple of week nights, then cook again mid week. You could mix up sides etc if you want variety. Get a home delivery once every 2wks or something. Ensure there’s enough food for a few meals in there. You don’t necessarily need a freezer but it would help. And of course set a budget for takeaways and stick to it

Freezers are brilliant if you're short of time. I often do double (or even triple!) quantities to make a meal for the freezer. If you get some lidded rectangular pyrex dishes then they'll stack well in the freezer and you can just take the lid off and put in the oven. We've had a busy week this week and I've barely cooked - we've just been eating stuff out of the freezer.

Also saves you loads of money if you're by yourself as you can buy big packs of e.g. meat and freeze in portions.

I agree with others that you'll find it easier if you just cut down on takeaways, or set yourself a budget for them, rather than deciding never to have them. You might well find you actually enjoy them more then as well - I have had that experience with chocolate recently as I've cut down how much I eat for health reasons.

Our food budget was out of control for a while too OP. I have now halved it to £400 per month for 3 people. The biggest thing that completely changed my shopping habits was listening to Ultra-Processed People on audiobook - it was a real eye-opener, and has made me ditch ready meals/shop bought bread and snacks/any kind of convenience food. I also got a pre-paid debit card that I only put the £400 on, so when it's gone it's gone! On the other hand if there is any leftover it means we can get a takeaway at the end of the month. I am much more mindful of each penny now!

If you go on the recipe section of the Sainsbury's website and pick a few meals you fancy that week, the website can add the ingredients to your basket so it makes meal planning super easy. We do have a chest freezer too so can buy things in bulk or on offer, so a freezer is a good idea for saving money despite the initial outlay.

One of the things I've found useful is having a few quick and easy meals in. Sometimes this involves keeping stuff in the freezer, sometimes it means buying stuff each week, some of my favourite easy quick meals include:

• Jacket potatoes (cooked in the microwave), with tuna mayo
• Tortellini (either with parmesan and black pepper, or tomato puree based sauce)
• Pizza
• Spaghetti with prawns, lemon and chilli (frozen prawns, defrosted in a mug of boiling water)
• Fish fingers/ chicken dippers and potato waffles.

I find that if you can make easy and quick meals, it makes it so much less tempting to order a takeaway, and means that I only get a takeaway when I actually want one, not when I can't be bothered to cook!
Also cuts down on cooking time and means I've got ideas prepared for when I get home late!

I can feed myself breakfast, lunch and dinner, 110g protein daily for around £65 per week. If I wasn't aiming for high protein, I could probably do it for £45. Try not to give yourself too much of a hard time OP. You have identified the issue - now manage it well and get yourself out of it. I think meal planning is a great option. As a PP has said - spag bol, curry etc are great options for cooking once and eating for 3 consecutive nights. Having a few hundred quid spare to put towards that CC bill is a nice thought!

Get a freezer and write down everything you’ve spent on food. Once you have a freezer start batch cooking and freezing the food in portions.

Welliesandcashmere just picking up on your post as I need to increase protein intake due to malnutrition following surgery. Is the £65 per week just for yourself? There are 3 of us here to feed so would that work out to £195 per week (we only ever cook one evening meal to feed everyone, breakfasts and lunches are more individually tailored)? We do batch cook etc. Also please could you give me some ideas of the food that you are eating to intake this much protein? I struggle to get mine over 70g. Sorry to disrupt the thread.