Eating plans for a £1 a day

It’s probably possible to eat on £1 a day, but I think it would take a decent initial outlay. For example the latest Tesco (?) ad shows a family size spag bol costing £3.85 so 1/6 of that would be 60odd pence. An egg, once you’ve bought a pack on a slice of toast, or half a tin of baked beans in a jacket potato and that good old standby - home made soups from whatever’s at hand?

Have a look at this website. My friend lived on £1 per day through necessity and became very depressed at the repetition, as well as her final pear being mouldy.

savings4savvymums.co.uk/

Do you have any actual recipes? I was thinking of collating a few, to see if it really is possible. I don't mind costing them using a supermarket online site and I'll work out the nutritional value from my carbs and calories book.

The trouble with a family size spag bol is that you'd have to freeze the remainder if you're on your own or a couple and some people don't have freezers.

A free range egg currently costs 17p at Tesco. I had two for breakfast plus an orange, so I'm already over-budget, if I were aiming for a £1 a day.

I don't eat baked beans or potatoes of any sort because they're so high in carbs, but I guess they're OK for most people.

Shandy57

Have a look at this website. My friend lived on £1 per day through necessity and became very depressed at the repetition, as well as her final pear being mouldy.

savings4savvymums.co.uk/

I was hoping for some GN plans to save me scouring the web, but thanks.

The first link I clicked on that site has meals for a £1 per head. I can do that, but I was looking for a whole day's food for a £1.

I've been having a quick think and just can't do it... there's no way to meet minimum nutritional needs.

I've just googled and found this from a journalist in February. The food looks miserable - would you eat a Tesco value chicken burger, 97 for a pack of EIGHT!

The photos make me sad.

www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/survived-living-1-food-day-1211404

I started looking up the costs for one of the recipes (spag bol) on the site Shandy posted.

The first ingredient is ... 500g minced meat £1.99.

I checked on Tesco Online and the cheapest mince is £1.89 (Aldi price matched), but it's 20% fat. I always drain fat off cooked mince, so I'd be throwing 20% away before I'd even started.

All our cheap meals require a freezer and a mincer. Pork shoulder is often on special offer, minced up, add onions and make loads of meatballs to serve with tomato sauce and spaghetti or burgers with mash and cabbage.

I can’t see how it can be possible without bulk recipes unless you don’t have meat and make lentil soup, courgette patties etc.

When we first got married we ate heart which is rarely available now and not cheap, suet puddings, macaroni cheese (cheese seemed a lot cheaper then) and toast. - so many carbs and can’t eat like that now.

Riverwalk My late mother was a huge fan of cheap food. One of her favourites was shepherd's pie - 4 for 99p. I used to wonder what was inside the things because there was no way I could have made anything similar for that price.

I agree with all your points Tizliz.

Ah but Growstuff have you taken into consideration that if you cooked say a shepherds pie with your mince it would last several days so you would need to divide the cost down.

Here are the values for the Tesco chicken burgers - they don't make good reading. Each burger is 57g, not enough to feed a cat, and take 20 minutes to cook in a high oven.

Needless to say they're made from re-shaped chicken and even that is only 47% of the burger.

www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/252026221

It's not easy to eat cheaply.

I don’t think it is possible unless you hunt out all the bargains and reductions and then you can’t really plan. Lidl fruit and veg box at £1.50 would do several days making it into soup etc. and Tesco often have boxes of good brand cereals for about 10 -50p if the outer box is damaged.

25Avalon

Ah but Growstuff have you taken into consideration that if you cooked say a shepherds pie with your mince it would last several days so you would need to divide the cost down.

Well, yes. So 250g of cheap mince would cost me £1. Then there would be onions, potatoes and some kind of thickening agent and cooking costs. I really couldn't make four for 99p.

growstuff

The first link I clicked on that site has meals for a £1 per head. I can do that, but I was looking for a whole day's food for a £1.

I think you’re already an expert on managing your food bill from what you’ve posted growstuff. I admire the fact that you manage three meals a day on about £22 a week I think you said, and I really very much doubt you could get it any lower than that.
Having said that, the site Shandy57 linked is excellent for young families who need to budget and need support, I was very impressed with it.

Thanks for the link Shandy57, some tasty looking recipes there!

We buy Tesco and Aldi bags of pasta at 29p. We make a Bolognese sauce and make a big pot, portion it up and freeze it. I think it would last a few days if you didn't have freezer. Likewise cheap veg, we make soup. A bag of rice is fairly cheap and very versatile.

Also not everyone has easy access to supermarkets. I have a Tesco delivery saver mid week which I pay for with Tesco vouchers so costs me nothing but I have no access to ‘yellow stickers’, I sometimes have to change what we are eating due to substitutions and if I run out of something or need an extra ingredient it is the Spar e.g. yesterday I had mushrooms that needed using so made a chicken stroganoff but had no cream/crème fresh etc which then cost me £1 in the local spar.

If I want to shop at Lidl then that is 35 mile round trip - just not worth it. Luckily I don’t need to budget like that (yet) and would hate to have to.

I think my dogs eat better than some people can afford!

Yes, there are some good things on the site, but I still can't see that 30p per head per meal over a whole day/week would be possible. The main meals would need some veg or salad to go with them, so they'd be more than a £1.

Yes, I do spend £22 a week on food Casdon, but that doesn't include washing up liquid or fuel to cook and I have a friend with a huge allotment who provides me with veg for the most of the year. I freeze what I can, so I always have something for veg curry or soup.

It seriously pains me when I see dishes on menus for the amount I spend in a whole week.

It doesn't help that I don't eat high carb food, but I honestly don't think I could eat any more frugally.

Kate1949

We buy Tesco and Aldi bags of pasta at 29p. We make a Bolognese sauce and make a big pot, portion it up and freeze it. I think it would last a few days if you didn't have freezer. Likewise cheap veg, we make soup. A bag of rice is fairly cheap and very versatile.

I don't eat pasta, but could you produce it for 30p per portion?

It seems wrong that in a first world country people are forced to have food they don’t like just to survive.

youtu.be/fJDg3lMlmBU

This fellow was quite inventive. I don’t know how good it was nutritionally though.

That's a huge problem Tizliz. It's been shown (by the JRF I think) that people in more deprived areas often don't have easy access to the big supermarkets, so rely on local shops. They often don't have a car, so would have to go shopping by bus and bulk buying for a family and bringing it all home isn't easy.

I read a magazine article, years ago, the journalist was given the challenge of feeding herself for £7 a week. Even then she found it difficult, possibly harder doing it as single person rather than say collectively. She did state friends invited for a meal round their place a couple of times during her challenge so that made it a bit easier for her. The one thing that came across, as stated above, the sheer joyless monotony of eating to live on not a lot, she couldn't give up on her preferred brand of tea or coffee can't remember which, that made inroads into her very small budget. Nevertheless an interesting article I thought.