What should I buy?

[zerosanity]

Hi people. I am currently in a refuge so living off food bank but I have been given £50 voucher for Tesco. I want to buy things that will last and get my money worth. What do you think I should get? My first idea would be peanut butter and jam as I love pb&j sandwiches. Thanks in advance!

Do you have cooking, storage and freezer facilities?

Also are you just feeding yourself? Or do you have kids with you?

Yes what facilities do you have/not have and also any specifics dietary requirements

No dietary requirements. Just me. I have a cooker, microwave, toaster and kettle and pots and pans etc. No extra things unless I were to get them from my house where I've fled from so just trying to do with what I've got at the moment. I've got things like tinned items and some packet things like pasta, rice, mashed potatoes etc.

And yes I have fridge and freezer :)

Do you have to spend it all at once?
If not, I'd get fresh fruit & veg that I believe food banks don't supply.

@Georgyporky

Do you have to spend it all at once? If not, I'd get fresh fruit & veg that I believe food banks don't supply.

I don't have to spend it all at once but I would like to because I have to pay to get to the Tesco which will be £4.50 bus money. I have frozen berries on my list. And will probably get bananas but in terms of fruit I'd like to avoid it as much as possible as I think that realistically it's not as cost effective as I need to be right now

I understand you want to get the best value for money but do buy yourself a couple of small treats, what you are going through must be awful so a bar of chocolate or a packet of nice biscuits is very justifiable. I would buy basic toiletries, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, some oats, frozen veg, some tinned staples, beans, tuna, sweetcorn, some condiments, herbs and spices to jazz up bits from the food bank, garlic, onions, carrots, potatoes because they all last for ages, milk, butter, cheese, cream cheese, pitas and crumpets to stash in the freezer. If you are likely to be at the refuge a while you could buy ingredients to batch cook a few meals, chilli, curry, bolognaise etc to see you through a few weeks. Maybe a frozen pizza.

@AtleastitsnotMonday

I understand you want to get the best value for money but do buy yourself a couple of small treats, what you are going through must be awful so a bar of chocolate or a packet of nice biscuits is very justifiable. I would buy basic toiletries, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, some oats, frozen veg, some tinned staples, beans, tuna, sweetcorn, some condiments, herbs and spices to jazz up bits from the food bank, garlic, onions, carrots, potatoes because they all last for ages, milk, butter, cheese, cream cheese, pitas and crumpets to stash in the freezer. If you are likely to be at the refuge a while you could buy ingredients to batch cook a few meals, chilli, curry, bolognaise etc to see you through a few weeks. Maybe a frozen pizza.

Went out today and got ketchup, vinegar, mayo, and bbq sauce I can't deal with plain food haha! They already provided me with someone the things you said but I love the idea of herbs and spices to make the most of the food bank meals. And of course a treat, I'm thinking Ben and Jerry's ;)

The biggest bag of rice they sell.
Cheese a big block, you can freeze it in chunks.

You could get tinned fruit? Keeps for ages and actually could be used in warm recipes just now as well as cold/to top breakfast/yogurt etc

Also dried fruit - tends to come in small packs and while yes it's sugary it's also good for fibre and nutrients especially iron

Would you be able to buy vitamin supplements with the voucher? Controversial idea maybe but Tesco has a "3 for" on at the moment on these I just got some myself - vit c, vit d and b complex (I suffer badly with mh issues and I'm worse in winter so hoping to mitigate at least slightly plus ward off winter illness)

Cous cous - a big good value bag! Usually best found in the "world foods" section. If you have somewhere to store? Not the ready flavoured stuff as that's more expensive and limits what you can have it with. So quick and easy to make and a great alternative to rice and noodles

In terms of cheap treats check out the kids sweets section - 3 for £1 on things like dolly mixtures, jelly beans, cola bottles etc sometimes a little nostalgia really helps

On the herbs and spices side, again "world foods" aisle is usually cheapest, also maybe get "blends" or "mixes" rather than lots of individual ones? Eg Cajun spice mix, curry mix, chilli mix, Italian seasoning ?

Remember also to get stock cubes! Can make a huge difference!

Other than that it depends on what you already have and your preferences.

I'm vegetarian and while you're not you may find certain veggie food is ok for you and is usually much cheaper than meat versions

Eg tinned veggie ravioli is half the price of meat, tinned lentils can be used instead of mince more cheaply in many dishes, veggie sausages are cheaper than meat depending on brand, I like the Linda McCartney original frozen, they're soy based I think and quite meaty in texture and well seasoned, they go great with baked beans. Well you get the general idea I'm sure

Things I would want that last a long time:
Porridge
Pasta
Rice
Baked beans
Chopped tomatoes
Tinned fish
Peanut butter
Nutella
Cereal
Tinned fruit
Tinned potatoes
Tea/coffee/hot chocolate

If you are accessing a food bank, perhaps you already have some of these staples so could you get some fresh meat that you can portion up and freeze or some frozen meat/fish?

I would also buy some bread to freeze.

Perhaps some frozen veg?

I would also really want cheese and eggs as they usually have a decent shelf life. I would also consider things like onions, garlic etc as these keep for a long time.

I second the comment about looking for herbs and spices in the world food aisle as they are often much better value for money.

In terms of treats...for a cheap chocolate treat, I’ve always been surprised the value range of 100g bars of choc (white/milk/dark) are. I’ve used them for baking but of course always eat the leftovers and they are always yummy!

If you are good at cooking/ enjoy cooking perhaps you could get some fresh ingredients to batch cook some of you favourite meals and freeze them...I’m sure you could pick up some very cheap containers to use for freezing if a proper home cooked meal is something you would enjoy making and eating.

The value ranges of chocolate these days are better than the branded ones!

I meant to include eggs too - cheap, long shelf life (they're fine well past the best before date and I'm a nervous Nellie on this stuff!), nutritious and very versatile.

There's an awesome group on Facebook called: 'Feeding a family on £1 a day'. They have some awesome posters for really cheap food ideas.

Best of luck op.