How to live on £10 a week?

[Liverpool-Lad]

Oh and Aldi pretty much give fruit/veg away on their offers.

 

[smit101]

I think hunter gather is probably the healthiest, especially in modern times where you can balance it.
Lean game meats and fish, lack of processed stuff. Far less carbs.

Yeah pretty much agree, but meat imo should have fat, nothing wrong with saturated fats in the diet, imo they are very good for us.

 

[Glaucus]

Yeah pretty much agree, but meat imo should have fat, nothing wrong with saturated fats in the diet, imo they are very good for us.

I agree, just look at Inuits who eat whale and very little veg. And still have a very good cholesterol score, far better than most people in western countries.

That fat would come from things like wild boar.

 

[Threepwood]

but certainly wouldn't be easy.

The only hard thing about it is getting used to eating baisic foodstuffs most of the time.

That presumes a vegan diet is healthy, imo it isn't.

And you would be wrong... The only trouble with a totally vegan diet is it can get expensive when trying to fill the nutritional gaps.

This can be done cheaply with animal products if you add things like dried milk and cheap cuts of meat. You can get a pigs hock for less than £3 from the butcher which is more than enough meat/stock for the week. Same with a cheap chicken, enough stock/meat for the week.

Tinned fish is another thing, a tin of sardines a day would cost around the same.

 

[Glaucus]

A vegan diet isn't easy to be healthy. It has to be thought about extremely hard to get the correct nutrition. It is far easier with a mix and less issues.

And before you quote studies the studies are flawed. They compare vegans vs meat eaters.
Where meat eters will be having modern processed food as well as lacking education and discipline. Where vegans will have far more discipline and education on average.

I would be very interested in seating a balanced meat diet, vs a balanced vegan diet study. I don't know any and I would fully expect vegans to have far more issues with such a diet.

And most studies are gpjust general population statistical which are even worse and pretty much pointless.

 

[bitslice]

Turn up at a street market around closing time and you should be able to pick up really cheap veg and fruit.

Same with supermarket sell-by-date offers, you can sometimes get bread for 10p and big bags of carrots for pennies.

Stewpack from Aldi (turnip, carrots, onion, parsnips etc) - 0.89p
Soup pulses/lentils - 0.65p
a bit of meat like bacon or cheap pork, stock.

That will fill the largest casserole pot you have and will last a couple of days easily, in fact I end up giving it to the dog because I get sick of eating it after day 3.

 

[Jonny69]

It's impossible to live on £10 a week, and isn't that why we go to work, so we can afford to feed ourselves? Having said that, even dole money would cover a higher expenditure on food than £10 a week. A tramp living rough probably eats more than £10 worth of food a week.

I don't think it's impossible! In fact, I gave it a shot with good food and started costing it up as I went along: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18274033

You have to sacrifice a few things and face up to the fact that every meal won't be a meat platter with courtesy vegetables. You also have to make a lot of it yourself, but even at supermarket prices you can eat well with free range meat for little more than £10. If you have a market then you'll find it even easier and you can live on what is in season

I should have continued with that thread, but the main problem for me is my lifestyle. I need about 3300-3500 calories a day and you certainly can't do that much on such a small budget. The normal 2500 calories is certainly possible though

Example meal here, for two adults:

I've done a test recipe tonight to check the costs and quantities.

Bean casserole with sausages.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 courgette 150g
1 carton of chopped tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tin of cannellini or borlotti beans
4 sausages
salt/pepper/chilli to season

Chop all the veg roughly. Lightly fry the garlic in a little olive oil and add the rest of the vegetables. Add the tomatoes, drain the beans and add them too. Season with salt, pepper and a small pinch of chilli. Simmer for 20-30 minutes depending how soft you like the veg. Grill the sausages. Spoon out into a bowl and get stuck in with a nice thick slice of buttered bread

The important bit - the costs.

Ok, so going on Sainsburys prices the total is as follows:

1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper = 3/5 Basics pepper pack at £1.35 = 81p
1 courgette 150g = 27p
1 carton of chopped tomatoes = 33p
2 cloves garlic = 1/4 of bulb of Organic 3 pack = 1/12*90p = 7.5p
1 tin of cannellini or borlotti beans = 44p
4 TTD sausages = £1.72

Total: £3.64

My veg came from the market and was substantially cheaper as so:
Red peppers: 4/£1
Orange peppers: 8/£1
Yellow peppers: 9/£1
Courgettes: 5/£1

So my veg costs came to 70p compared to Sainsburys £1.10, not as big difference as I was expecting if I'm honest. My total for tonight was £3.24 and we're both stuffed.

Note that I used Taste The Difference sausages and tinned beans. I could have shaved a bit off that by using cheaper sausages and by cooking the beans myself. This would have needed me to soak them overnight but would have literally come to pennies instead of 44p, because even the fancy dried pulses are dead cheap.

 

[Threepwood]

A vegan diet isn't easy to be healthy. It has to be thought about extremely hard to get the correct nutrition.

Oh I totally agree with you, it's not easy... it is seriously hard and takes a lot of hard work and money.

Theres no way I could do it, nor afford it, but I know people who do and are extremly robust and healthy. One couple I know are even quite fat! xD

I also know other vegans who are just making themselves sick!

But it can be done... I dont think comparing meat eaters to vegans would be anywhere nears as insightful as comparing 'good' vegans to 'bad' vegans tho'.

Freegan for the win imho.

 

[Indigo]

If you ever wanted to buy some fresh fruit and veg (although it's not needed and can be expensive) Aldi do the super 6 if you have a local store. 6 different types of veg every fortnight I think it is and it's always very cheap. Although some of the options won't always be to taste it's a good thing to keep an eye on.

As others have said as well bulk cooking works wonders as does having a good store cupboard. I asked a similar question a few weeks ago (£60/100 month budget) and had some great help from everyone here.

 

[Mercutio]

For a bit of protein you could probably go with the cheapest eggs possible. Not very nice for the chickens that lay them but at least it's a pretty solid slug of protein. Scramble and eat with a little pasta or on toast, an omlette with leftovers maybe.

Considering the alternative sources of protein i'd think eggs are your cheapest/best option.

Eggs are around 50g of protein, that takes a decent chunk of meat/cheese to equal.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

forget buying food or cooking, just go round to your mates or relatives house every time it's lunch/dinner and rotate between them all.

that means all you need to do is buy milk and cereal to cover breakfast.

 

[Van Hellseek]

Value eggs are from battery hens.

And no, I don't expect anyone to care.

 

[Jay794]

Shop at Iceland, I survived uni on £20 a week lol.

Can I ask why you're trying to starve yourself though?

 

[alexakasloth]

Eggs are around 50g of protein, that takes a decent chunk of meat/cheese to equal.

A medium egg is 7g, but I agree that they are a good source of protein.

 

[Mr-White]

Go home and have dinner with the parents for a month

MW

 

[Guest2]

It's impossible to live on £10 a week, and isn't that why we go to work, so we can afford to feed ourselves? Having said that, even dole money would cover a higher expenditure on food than £10 a week. A tramp living rough probably eats more than £10 worth of food a week.

twaddle. At uni we used to do the £5 a week challenge. £10 should be easy

porridge oats, tinned tomates, potatoes, pasta, turkey, sweet potatoe, cheap bread

look in the to clear / waste sections of supermarkets

We used to also include meals like spaghetti bolognese - mince, pasta, chopped tomatoes and mushrooms.

 

[Guest2]

Updated list

Edit - fail, I forgot the chopped tomatoes.

If you want to save money.
Better to spend a bit. More the first couple of weeks. 5kilos pasta and rice bag. Big bottle of oil.
That on its own lowers a lot of cost.

Good list, just get rid of the lard and spread and add some cheap porridge oats for breakfast. and some bananas.

porridge with water and a banana will easily keep you going until lunch time - filling and very healthy

 

[MidnightLamp]

Whole chicken, roast it for one meal then plenty of chicken left over for sandwiches and/or chicken soup. Boil the chicken up for stock.

Buy your veg in markets/Lidl (never big supermarkets)
Oats and milk for porridge in the morning. Insanely cheap breakfast.

Big vats of spaghetti bolognese. 2 onions, 2 peppers, garlic, 3-4 tins of chopped tomatoes, 1 tube of tomato puree and 1-1.5kg mince can be several meals. Freeze half of it.

I buy my spices in big bags. This place looks pretty nifty: http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk

As said above, £10 a week is possible if you eat a lot of crappy carbs but if you can spend a good £30-40 in one week then the following weeks get a LOT cheaper. Always always try to cook in bulk and freeze leftovers.

 

[Jay794]

My parents weekly shop regularly exceeds £100, and thats for 3 people, from Tesco, so based on that, I live off £33.33 a week

 

[Guest2]

As said above, £10 a week is possible if you eat a lot of crappy carbs but if you can spend a good £30-40 in one week then the following weeks get a LOT cheaper. Always always try to cook in bulk and freeze leftovers.

Can easily be done without crappy carbs. Bananas, porridge, eggs, tuna, beef, pasta, tomatoes

Just stay away from the nasty 20p loaves of bread