Food prices

[shonadoll]

Just interested in what others spend. We are a family of four, two of whom are teenagers who eat constantly. They snack on fruit- a net of clementines a day at least, about 8 apples, loads of fresh orange juice etc. I use my slow cooker a lot, and we don't buy ready meals but a lot of fruit and veg and pasta as daughter is a vegetarian. We also go through about 4pints of milk a day with cereal, coffee, etc.

We don't really eat red meat, but a lot of chicken and fish sometimes though its really expensive. I use our local butchers as they are good value and often have deals on. I worked out recently though we are spending nearly £200 a week on food- we also bake our own bread, primarily cos its nicer but it's no cheaper, we go through a loaf a day what with packed lunches for two and snacks. We add sunflower seeds etc to it, it's delicious. We get a take away pizza maybe once every two months, and don't eat out or do fast food.

I vary where I shop do most of it at morrisons or aldi sometimes but don't buy all in one place, just follow the deals. I'm gobsmacked at people who say they spend £100 a week on food for four adults, what are you making/eating every night? I make a big pot of lentil soup on a Saturday and that usually does lunch at the weekend along with a sandwich. Help!

[timwilky]

I spend at least £100/week for just the two of us. Sometimes we eat cheaply Monday was cottage pie, Tuesday Chilli, Last night we ate well chicken livers sauted with onion/chill/garlic and a splash of Maderia, served with salad (50p for the chicken livers). but followed by fillet steak, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus and two small potatoes. The cauli was about 50p and will do another meal, the broccoli about 80p and the asparagus a pound. The steak cost £8. So a bloody good meal for about £7 a head.

That is the biggest change in the wilky household. We used to eat out twice a week. Now it is about twice a month. We still eat far too well.

[dizzyblonde]

I don't think that's too bad Shona, by the time you factor in four adults worth of bog paper and toiletries etc.

When you 'cook' and by that I mean, interesting decent quality meals, not just pasta all the time with token random bits thrown in, it costs money. Pete's dad was a chef and had a restaurant, so Pete can be fussy at times, in his defense my culinary skills have grown because of having to feed a Greek who loves good food!
At the moment, I am very cautious what I spend, as we've been through a rough patch, I've used my imagination to make the money go further, but when finances are back to normal I spend between 100-150 maybe more. Quality food can be cheap, ie I bought three mackerel for £3.50 on Tuesday, spiced up with cumin and coriander, with a nice salad.

We don't eat out, but we do have fish and chips on a Friday night :)

I only shop at Asda, as its within walking distance. I love Morrison's fresh goods, but find them a wee bit expensive compared to Asda. I don't like Tesco or Sainsburys as they ate more expensive and their meat never looks fresh, sainsburys have a habit of leaving green looking stuff amongst their red meat, and its off putting. Tesco are untidy, although if I go to Oldham their Greek products are fabulous......Pete's treats ;)

[Wideboy]

50-60 quid for two of us normally but if we buy booze its usually around 75-80 quid mark.


The only economy stuff we buy is bog roll, kitchen towel and tissues as to put it simply, you wouldn't take a note out your wallet, shuv it up you ar5e and then flush it down the toilet... I'm told I'm a cheap skate but it makes sense to me.

Economy frozen Veg is good aswell.

[widepants]

Damn it , you beat me to it . I was just going to put a thread up about the same.Because Im no longer working and a full time carer , Iwas without a proper income for about 3 months.I make a list of evening meals and lunches and try to stick to it ,normally only spend around £40 -£50 a week .But...how much do you lot spend just nipping down to the local shops.Plus I with Gav..cheap bumfluff is the way to go.

Edit....understand that girls may like a softer paper

[dirtydog]

£200???? bloody hell! We normally spend less than £100 a week and thats pretty much 5 adults, my 9yr old every wednesday for dinner and every other weekend a 3 yr old and a smelly dog (smelly bit isnt really relevant but he does really smell at the moment ;))

the two older kids (21 and 19) are only in for dinner a 3 or 4 times a week but that still leaves 3 adults, 2 kids and a dog to feed for the other nights.

We see who's in on what days then plan the weeks meals in advance.
A typical weeks meals would be something like
monday- chicken curry
tues- cottage pie
weds-pizza (normally because everyone is in and out a different times)
thurs- sausage casserole
fri- pie/fish/chicken and chips not from the chippy though
sat- fajitas
sun- roast

but obviously that would vary week to week but you get the jist.

but we also go through a fair bit of fruit, clementines, apples, bananas etc 4 pints of milk will normally last 2 days in our house

[Bibio]

i don't know how much i spend as i don't look. i buy the 3 for £10 deals in bulk then when i get home i divide them up into meal sized portions and stick it in the freezer. 1 pack of the mince will do 4 meals and the chicken breast 3 meals. TBH i mostly buy in bulk when offers are on such as juice and toiletries which could mean £200 in those but that will last 4+ months.

day to day stuffs like milk and bread i get at the coop.

i use the local butcher for one off meals such as liver or fillet then go to my local venison farm for that as the quality is much higher than asda. which reminds me i had better get a bit of young roe fillet booked for xmas.

i buy in bulk as i hate shopping at supermarkets so the less i go the happier it makes me.

[dizzyblonde]

Asda is my local shop. I walk there every day sometimes, especially at the moment. I don't make a list of weekly meals. I look through my cook books(because I can't remember ingredients) and decide, or think what we had last week. I might see fresh fish on offer and change my mind, or the eldest might suggest what he would like.

My freezer is empty.......apart from bacon and a bag of hash browns.

[Wideboy]

Damn it , you beat me to it . I was just going to put a thread up about the same.Because Im no longer working and a full time carer , Iwas without a proper income for about 3 months.I make a list of evening meals and lunches and try to stick to it ,normally only spend around £40 -£50 a week .But...how much do you lot spend just nipping down to the local shops.Plus I with Gav..cheap bumfluff is the way to go.

Edit....understand that girls may like a softer paper

Usually costs us a bomb at the local shop as we don't have time to go to a big shop. Started using the farm shop round the corner as its cheaper on a lot of meats compared the the supermarket, not to mention better.

Went to the big Tesco in bursledon to try it last week and never again, all the food was crap and it was packed. Usually go to sainsburys as its 5 mins away and asda isn't to far. find that sainsburys has a better ale and cider selection than the others.


I try to avoid it all though, I fecking hate shopping, people stood around blocking isles and staring into space do my head in, move you turkey headed fool! (Thats the polite version)

[dirtydog]

My freezer is empty.......apart from bacon and a bag of hash browns.


Our freezer normally has a fair bit in, nothing useful though :rolleyes:

it usually just has stuff like frozen pizzas, chips, frozen veg etc

Now and again the meal for the day gets changed and its a takeaway but it's just too expensive buying domoinos/pizza hut for everyone even with the deals they do

[dirtydog]

I try to avoid it all though, I fecking hate shopping, people stood around blocking isles and staring into space do my head in, move you turkey headed fool! (Thats the polite version)


Do it online, so much easier

[Bibio]

asda 2am = fresh produce and no numpties. it's great and the staff don't mind you 'cage raiding'.

[widepants]

Im a big fan of lidl , good stuff and you dont have the temptation to fill the trolly with rubbish.Also a small trolley stops you filling it with kak

[Von Teese]

I shop at Costco and have one of those executive cards where you get a percentage back, that usually pays my fee for the next year so it's free for me to be a member, although this year I made £23 profit on top of paying for my membership as the future mother in law has a connected card and her shopping goes on my percentage too. It works out well for us, perhaps may not suit everyone but for us it is perfect.

When our fridge freezer packed in this year we bought a massive American style one and we go to Costco every couple of months and spend around £300.
The meat there is so good that buying anywhere else usually leaves us disappointed. It is in bulk but then when we get home I get the clingfilm out, cut it all up into portions and freeze it. I save much more than when I used to do all my shopping at Tesco.

As for vegetables, I buy all of mine from a local farm shop to support them.
I think it is cheaper as well.

[missyburd]

Think we aim to spend between £40 and £50 a week on a food, some weeks a bit more, some a lot less. Depends when we're in and what we're doing. Bake our own bread cos I can't tolerate shop bought stuff. Make own soups and meals most nights. Very occasionally splash out on fish and chips, £7 for the both of us isn't too bad for one meal treat.

Usually costs us a bomb at the local shop as we don't have time to go to a big shop. Started using the farm shop round the corner as its cheaper on a lot of meats compared the the supermarket, not to mention better.

We can easily spend £40 at our farm shop but that's meat and very fresh veg for 2 weeks. 10 fat chicken fillets for £11.50, beats the water balloons they give you at the supermarket...

I try to avoid it all though, I fecking hate shopping, people stood around blocking isles and staring into space do my head in, move you turkey headed fool! (Thats the polite version)

I head to the supermarket once or twice a month at the most, usually to get the odd branded stuff that you know they do good offers on. Aldi is great for most stuff and they do the best sausages with less fat we've found. Veg ain't bad at all either.

Oh and we do freeze a lot of meat but eat it fairly quickly. Odd bits in there really, it serves its purpose.

[dizzyblonde]

Buy online? Why so some spotty oik plays games with your bananas and football with your melons?

Asda 6am, after a nightshift........reeeeeaaallly weird, full of folk starting or finishing work, and cardboard!

Like lidl and aldi. Bratwursts and foreign cold meats and cheeses are brilliant value in there. Aldi sell a very good haloumi cheese in summer, its the only place that has one that doesn't sell pasteurized, which has a funny after taste. Only thing is, I can't help bundling continental biscuits and things in my trolley!

Costco......I go there too, which is why my freezer is empty. Due a trip next month!

[yorkie_chris]

Asda is my local shop.

And they royally take the p*ss with the price of meat.

Asda chicken... 2 sweaty skinny lumps that have never seen owt but the cheapest feed and have sat there a week for £5.

Local farm shop... big tray of chicken breasts easily half again as big as usual asda sh*te, fed proper so actually tastes like chicken not water... £11.50 for a tray of 10. Split up and freeze portions.
Pork spare rib chops... yes cheap and a bit fatty but cook it slowly and it's gorgeous. Enough meat to feed 2 people for a quid easy.

A decent feed is not necessarily a pricey one...


When I was a student buying enough for one meal at a time was ridiculously pricey though...

[widepants]

typical example...lidle rich tea 30 odd pence.Branded ones 70 odd pence.
Tight wad here.

[widepants]

one problem I see is the jars and packets are generally sized for 4 or 5 people.Pain in the ass if you have only 1 adult and 2 small kids .Yes I know you can freeze it , but you end up with a freezer full of bits of meals

[dizzyblonde]

And they royally take the p*ss with the price of meat.

Asda chicken... 2 sweaty skinny lumps that have never seen owt but the cheapest feed and have sat there a week for £5.

Local farm shop... big tray of chicken breasts easily half again as big as usual asda sh*te, fed proper so actually tastes like chicken not water... £11.50 for a tray of 10. Split up and freeze portions.
Pork spare rib chops... yes cheap and a bit fatty but cook it slowly and it's gorgeous. Enough meat to feed 2 people for a quid easy.

A decent feed is not necessarily a pricey one...


When I was a student buying enough for one meal at a time was ridiculously pricey though...

Read my post above. Costco is where we usually get our meat. I do the same as VT, cling film it up and freeze it. I don't like supermarket meat, but there us no butcher within walking distance of my house. So Asda has to to for the meantime.

As for decent feed, in our house it may be thought of as snobbery, due to me being willing to try and make imaginative and different food, which sometimes takes s lot of time to prepare.

If you think Asda take the Mick, try Sainsburys or Tesco. Terrible!

[shonadoll]

£200???? bloody hell! We normally spend less than £100 a week and thats pretty much 5 adults, my 9yr old every wednesday for dinner and every other weekend a 3 yr old and a smelly dog (smelly bit isnt really relevant but he does really smell at the moment ;))

the two older kids (21 and 19) are only in for dinner a 3 or 4 times a week but that still leaves 3 adults, 2 kids and a dog to feed for the other nights.

We see who's in on what days then plan the weeks meals in advance.
A typical weeks meals would be something like
monday- chicken curry
tues- cottage pie
weds-pizza (normally because everyone is in and out a different times)
thurs- sausage casserole
fri- pie/fish/chicken and chips not from the chippy though
sat- fajitas
sun- roast

but obviously that would vary week to week but you get the jist.

but we also go through a fair bit of fruit, clementines, apples, bananas etc 4 pints of milk will normally last 2 days in our house

This is the sort of post I was waiting for I mean how the hell do you do it? Do you not eat in between times? Make your own pizza? For chicken meals do you use breast or thighs? Fajitas again an expensive one for us I use 4 chicken breasts, three peppers, sour cream, guacamole and cheese salsa and wraps, it's not cheap!

[shonadoll]

Thanks people. Good to see how everyone does it. I'm going to get a Costco card think that's a good investment.

[Wideboy]

Do it online, so much easier strange those where my exact words whilst walking out tesco front doors, going to give it a whirl tonight or tomorrow, all this modern technomofoligy what an age!

We can easily spend £40 at our farm shop but that's meat and very fresh veg for 2 weeks. 10 fat chicken fillets for £11.50, beats the water balloons they give you at the supermarket...

Yeah this ones pretty good tbh, came out with a good haul for a tenner the first time we went there, thought he was a bit steep on the steaks Helen got on monday.... until I got home from work and saw the size of them.

[yorkie_chris]

Cheapest supermarket going :)
http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/BSA/BSA%20Ultra%20MS%20Angle.gif

[widepants]

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60093000/jpg/_60093969_60093951.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-17988853&usg=__R4ZSZ9f1L_cJhrgm9DpRgv7Vv7U=&h=171&w=304&sz=21&hl=en&start=18&zoom=1&tbnid=FiBr2oNt9e8KeM:&tbnh=65&tbnw=116&ei=KQGuUNfYFOWM0wXy8IHICA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfree%2Bskip%2Bfood%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX %26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns&itbs=1

[missyburd]

Asda chicken... 2 sweaty skinny lumps that have never seen owt but the cheapest feed and have sat there a week for £5.

Local farm shop... big tray of chicken breasts easily half again as big as usual asda sh*te, fed proper so actually tastes like chicken not water... £11.50 for a tray of 10. Split up and freeze portions.


Did you even read my post haha :razz:

Read my post above. Costco is where we usually get our meat. I do the same as VT, cling film it up and freeze it. I don't like supermarket meat, but there us no butcher within walking distance of my house. So Asda has to to for the meantime.

Thought you didn't keep owt in your freezer? :wink:

My freezer is empty.......apart from bacon and a bag of hash browns.

[shonadoll]

Our new butcher is great, proper tasting meat and buy what you need sizes. I've started using that since it opened. Got two fillet steaks for a tenner as a treat for a birthday last week and they were good size and melt in the mouth. Their stewing steak is also good value and hardly any fat compared to supermarkets. I did shop online when I was ill but never again- the quality and substitutions were awful.

I'm like dizzy tend to cook a lot and make stuff up rather than jars and packets, cheaper and nicer I think.

[missyburd]

I'm like dizzy tend to cook a lot and make stuff up rather than jars and packets, cheaper and nicer I think.
Homemade sauces are the way forward, nom nom.

[dizzyblonde]

Thought you didn't keep owt in your freezer? :wink:


No I said it was empty. The reason it is empty, is because I havent been to.Costco in a while, due to having no car.

I don't use it for anything but meat from Costco, and ice cream in summer. I don't use frozen veg, or food. I don't freeze made up food either, as it all gets eaten.

[Wideboy]

Cheapest supermarket going :)
http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/BSA/BSA%20Ultra%20MS%20Angle.gif

Yup, hopefully purchasing one soon as my mates going to let me shoot on his land, fun day out and get to eat!

[dizzyblonde]

So, a rifle. And who's farm can you go shooting, cattle, lamb or beef on?

[timwilky]

dizzy, I know plenty of people who have rabbit at least twice a week. free meat

[454697819]

dizzy, I know plenty of people who have rabbit at least twice a week. free meat

I really should get out more and use my rifle... free meat is good.

[chezvegas85]

around £40 a week here approx, just two adults. (although it tends to be £60-70 on my shop, n £20-30 on the mrs' turn (as we take it in turns to pay :rolleyes:) odd how it always turn out expensive on my week ). Probably only go shopping every 10-14 days, but buy little bits inbetween. Biggest money saving for us has been:

Me now making booze (wine/beer) instead of buying it

meals based on pulses + reduced items, which is made probably once or twice a week and usually lasts two meals, so makes lunch the next day too.

^ Love a yellow label :-D, main shop at tesco, i work at morrisons and the mrs part-time at co-op, so chance across a lot of quality 9p fruit and veg, occasionally meat. I ignore Best before dates etc and rely on my own judgement on when to chuck stuff out, so we don't waste much food here.

Shop at tesco as i don't want to go to work on my days off, on that note, anybody work at tesco and shop at morrisons fr the same reason? Could trade a discount card :smt115

[dizzyblonde]

dizzy, I know plenty of people who have rabbit at least twice a week. free meat
And they are welcome to do so. I'd prefer not to skin one and present it to my kids to eat thanks!

I hate handling meat in the first place.


I see a trend though, and obviously so. Singles and couples. Shona feeds fours adults, or a family of four, as do I. Our ideas of food are probably far different to those whom are single
Or couples. We go out to buy more for our money to make it go further, singles and coupled go out to spend as little as possible, and in some cases more on alcohol ;)

[yorkie_chris]

And they are welcome to do so. I'd prefer not to skin one and present it to my kids to eat thanks!

I hate handling meat in the first place.
Or couples. We go out to buy more for our money to make it go further, singles and coupled go out to spend as little as possible, and in some cases more on alcohol ;)

Soft sod. Bit of blood and guts never hurt anyone.

What is difference? You gotta eat... and everyone is trying to eat for reasonable money.

The scale doesn't change much... per person you can do a meal for 4 cheaper than 2.

[-Ralph-]

I don't know what we spend on food and would dread to count it, but being French it's my wife's hobby a bit too. Sometimes at the weekend she'll bake a fancy cake or something and she goes out and spends £20 quid on ingredients. The next one she makes, it's a whole different lot of ingredients and another £20 quid. We'd be a damn sight cheaper just to buy the cake.

The biggest expense on our food bill by far is alcohol, cut out bottles of wine, the odd bottle of malt whisky and six packs of beer completely, and we'd probably save £150-200 a month. Enough actually to buy my wife a brand new bike on credit (hmmmm).

Shona it sounds like you are paying for a good menu and also your incorporating your whole food expense in there, including lunches, etc, so no hidden costs like buying sandwiches that some people don't count in their food bills.

I think as a rule, it is much cheaper to eat out of the freezer than to cook fresh, but doesn't give you a good quality menu. We buy some freezer stuff for our son to have the likes of lunches or early dinners at the weekend if my wife and I are eating together separately after he's gone to bed. You can get bags of 24 chicken nuggets for a pound for instance. The other night we had Chipolata Sausages in a bread roll, fried onions with chillis and relish, oven chips and salad. Cost peanuts but actually for a change I really enjoyed a simple crappy comfort food type meal, and it was less effort too, I said to my wife we should do it once a week. Maybe just 1 or 2 night nights a week, have a cheapie crappy non-healthy meal, everything in moderation.

[dizzyblonde]

Meals for two are cheaper than four in my book. Take out the kids and my food bills would halve

[Bibio]

The biggest expense on our food bill by far is alcohol, cut out bottles of wine, the odd bottle of malt whisky and six packs of beer completely, and we'd probably save £150-200 a month.

this is exactly how i keep my bike on the road. it's either drink or bike. i'm not fussed about drink or getting drunk so bike it is.

i treated myself this week and got 2 bottles of 80/

about twice a year i'll go to the pub for some nonsense.

[Biker Biggles]

this is exactly how i keep my bike on the road. it's either drink or bike. i'm not fussed about drink or getting drunk so bike it is.

i treated myself this week and got 2 bottles of 80/

about twice a year i'll go to the pub for some nonsense.

Same here.
I assume its an age thing:cool:

[missyburd]

this is exactly how i keep my bike on the road. it's either drink or bike. i'm not fussed about drink or getting drunk so bike it is.


Precisely.

Also bearing in mind we've gone from a four adult family to a two, where we were cooking for 4 it did work out cheaper, do a nice big pot of stew/chilli or soup and a pasta dish and everyone's got it for lunches etc for a couple of days.

And when I say we have stuff in the freezer, none of it is ready meals bought, very rarely we get a pizza in for a quick tea (preferring to make our own). The freezer is full of farm shop meat that we can get out in the morning to defrost for tea, means we can plan better and not have to worry about wastage in the fridge, which when you're in an out all the time is easily overlooked. The hardest thing is remembering stuff is defrosting in the microwave! Cue a nice sticky note :rolleyes:

[widepants]

just a quick thought though.Tere have been quite a few replies about the price of food shopping , .Are the prices that have been given only for food ,or does that include all the other sundries ,eg washing powder , shampoo , razors , ladies items etc

[Wideboy]

I don't have soap, I just febreeze each morning

[Biker Biggles]

I don't have soap, I just febreeze each morning

We were all too polite to mention it;)

[L3nny]

Girlfriend left me last month. Went from spending £80-£100 a week in Waitrose then paying the same again on a couple of restaurant visits to spending about £20 a week in Tesco.

[-Ralph-]

Girlfriend left me last month. Went from spending £80-£100 a week in Waitrose then paying the same again on a couple of restaurant visits to spending about £20 a week in Tesco.

Sorry to hear that mate.

Look on the bright side, you've more time to ride and more money to spend on the petrol.

[L3nny]

LOL, I was trying to make it out as a positive :)

[dizzyblonde]

just a quick thought though.Tere have been quite a few replies about the price of food shopping , .Are the prices that have been given only for food ,or does that include all the other sundries ,eg washing powder , shampoo , razors , ladies items etc
My costings include such items.

I've been shopping today.
My bill is as follows
Dog food 3.28
Aftershave 5.00
Deodorant 1.00
Feta cheese 1.50
Houmous 0.85
Taramasalata 0.85
Rocket lettuce 1.00
Tomatoes 1.30
Crackers 0.50
Mushrooms 0.90
Cucumber 0.45
Onion 0.13
Baby wipes 0.87
Pitta bread 0.55
Farfalle pasta 0.95
Pesto 1.00

A tenner or so on toiletries and dog food. The rest is for dinner, apart from the crackers, the youngest likes them, he eats them rather than crisps, with the dips.
Dinner tonight is pasta with pesto, onion and mushroom and cubes of warm feta. Served with salad and Pitts bread. Olives already in the fridge.

[daveyrach]

There is 6 in my house. We spend around £100 a week on big shop but then prob £60ish a week on bits we have to pop out and get. So prob £160 a week. We use around 4 pints of milk a day and go through loads on fruit and frubes. We eat lots of pasta and fresh veg also.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk 2

[daveyrach]

That includes toilettries etc

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk 2

[L3nny]

I have stopped buying fresh fruit and instead buy smoothies, works out cheaper and saves all that messing around peeling and stuff.

[widepants]

I don't have soap, I just febreeze each morning
and that ladies and gentlemen is just on his teeth:smt040

[shonadoll]

My costings include such items.

I've been shopping today.
My bill is as follows
Dog food 3.28
Aftershave 5.00
Deodorant 1.00
Feta cheese 1.50
Houmous 0.85
Taramasalata 0.85
Rocket lettuce 1.00
Tomatoes 1.30
Crackers 0.50
Mushrooms 0.90
Cucumber 0.45
Onion 0.13
Baby wipes 0.87
Pitta bread 0.55
Farfalle pasta 0.95
Pesto 1.00

A tenner or so on toiletries and dog food. The rest is for dinner, apart from the crackers, the youngest likes them, he eats them rather than crisps, with the dips.
Dinner tonight is pasta with pesto, onion and mushroom and cubes of warm feta. Served with salad and Pitts bread. Olives already in the fridge.

That's the sort of dinners I like- love olives, often have pasta with pesto, fresh bread, Parmesan shavings tons of olives and tuna. Yum.

[shonadoll]

Mine includes soap, smart price cheap washing powder (it's just soap in my opinion) shampoo, deodorant etc. dog food I only buy royal canin as it has glucosamine in we have older dogs and I get it very reduced or free sometimes at the vets where I work that's not included either, neither is petrol for cars. Make up wipes for a pound, don't buy brand names, just whatever the deal is.

This is giving me ideas haven't made homemade pizza for ages we use the breadmaker every day for bread but it makes fab pizza dough, and is far better than carry out.

[yorkie_chris]

This is giving me ideas haven't made homemade pizza for ages we use the breadmaker every day for bread but it makes fab pizza dough, and is far better than carry out.

Nom

[EssexDave]

£50/week max. That normally involves some booze.

Lentils are your friends. I have lentil this that and everything. Coffee and tea black no sugar. Milk isn't particularly expensive but 50p a day all adds up.

Lentil dishes are great because you can just add anything. I tend to have lentil soup/green lentil curry and just throw in loads of fresh veg. It lasts for 3-4 days so I generally make enough to last a few days.

I also have a lot of jacket potatoes and either have one with tuna or beans or the lentil curry for lunch with some fruit.

The other thing I go for is a load of salads, sometimes just on it's own with a basic dressing, sometimes with tuna or If I have spare cash chicken.

Being a student really does teach you to be frugal...

[dizzyblonde]

That's the sort of dinners I like- love olives, often have pasta with pesto, fresh bread, Parmesan shavings tons of olives and tuna. Yum.

Well for a change I can't be bothered cooking. Been in that mind all week! We like quality food, end of. Nowt wrong with that. Having foreign tastes in our upbringing makes for interesting dinners, and gives the kids chance to expand their palate. Little one loves Tara, eldest likes kalamata olives, most young children would turn.their noses up, and want chicken nuggets instead, something my youngest refuses to eat!

Most watched tv programme in our house.....masterchef! Eldest thinks its great.

[shonadoll]

£50/week max. That normally involves some booze.

Lentils are your friends. I have lentil this that and everything. Coffee and tea black no sugar. Milk isn't particularly expensive but 50p a day all adds up.

Lentil dishes are great because you can just add anything. I tend to have lentil soup/green lentil curry and just throw in loads of fresh veg. It lasts for 3-4 days so I generally make enough to last a few days.

I also have a lot of jacket potatoes and either have one with tuna or beans or the lentil curry for lunch with some fruit.

The other thing I go for is a load of salads, sometimes just on it's own with a basic dressing, sometimes with tuna or If I have spare cash chicken.

Being a student really does teach you to be frugal...


Fab, I make a mean lentil dhal and keema, need to do that again. We eat a lot of baked potatoes too. Apparently lentil dhal and brown rice is one of the most protein packed meals you can have so it's all good. I add fresh lime juice and a teaspoon of sugar, makes all the diffence. Cheers!

[shonadoll]

That's great dizzy- my Harry's favourite dinner ever is smoked undyed haddock, and for his birthday he wanted homemade pizza. He loves fajitas and curries, and feta cheese paninis with Parma ham. Think if you're like us and you cook, especially when they were babies, the got what we had, mashed up, it's so good for them. Mind you Megan (18) is the best cook, she's vegetarian and can knock up incredible meals with next to nothing, her butternut squash and ginger soup is to die for!

[Wideboy]

£4.95 for delivery!!! they're having a ****ing bubble!!!

[thulfi]

Student days I could easily do it cheaply.

All you need to get by, chicken, eggs, tuna, rice, pasta, yoghurt, apples/bananas, carrots and of course houmous!
Don't think I was ever pushing more than 35quid.

More important things to spend my money on, and it's not expensive to eat healthy either.

[shonadoll]

Yep. I think what would really help is if school economics classes were more saving money based and proper cooking too. You can knock up a pot of soup so cheaply and a loaf of bread- when my kids were doing home economics they were asked to bring in a French stick to "make" pizza,, nuts.

[missyburd]

What was I saying about making our own bread? Flippin' chuffin' breadmaker's packed up, seal's just gone in the bottom :( Simply worn out!

[L3nny]

How much is a decent bread maker? £100?

Would take years before you recoup the cost of it over buying supermarket bread.

I bet the bread from it tastes lush though.

[Drew Carey]

Me and Lily probably spend around £80 per week on food for the two of us......but, we are both dieting and eating fresh food only.

If we were to eat more frozen food etc would be a lot cheaper......another problem with living in Brum city centre, to get fresh fruit and veg etc would actually cost us more going out of the city to get it rather than just popping to the Supermarket for it.

Our new Morrisons is superb though, you can get veg I've never even heard of, plus they now spray the lettuce etc with cold mist to preserve for longer!!! ;-) (so they say)

[yorkie_chris]

How much is a decent bread maker? £100?

Would take years before you recoup the cost of it over buying supermarket bread.

I bet the bread from it tastes lush though.

Pays for itself the first time you wake up to smell of fresh bread... best alarm clock ever!

[Bibio]

Lentils are your friends. I have lentil this that and everything. Coffee and tea black no sugar. Milk isn't particularly expensive but 50p a day all adds up.

Lentil dishes are great because you can just add anything. I tend to have lentil soup/green lentil curry and just throw in loads of fresh veg. It lasts for 3-4 days so I generally make enough to last a few days.


http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9fadx1A5A1qg53a6o1_400.jpg

[JamesMio]

£40 a week tops for 2 adults here. How on earth folks are going through £200 a WEEK astounds me?!

I tend to buy much of the cheap & filling stuff in bulk (e.g. pasta, rice, spuds etc). Making as much of your own stuff is far, far cheaper than buying pre-made.

E.g. - a tin of chopped tomatoes, a squirt of tomato puree, 2 x chopped onions, a couple of chillies and some salt/pepper/herbs makes for a far tastier and cheaper 'red, generic pasta sauce' than any of your Ragu/Dolmio Lloyd Grossman type jars.

£200 a week?!! 'kinell!!

[dizzyblonde]

£40 a week tops for 2 adults here. How on earth folks are going through £200 a WEEK astounds me?!

I tend to buy much of the cheap & filling stuff in bulk (e.g. pasta, rice, spuds etc). Making as much of your own stuff is far, far cheaper than buying pre-made.

E.g. - a tin of chopped tomatoes, a squirt of tomato puree, 2 x chopped onions, a couple of chillies and some salt/pepper/herbs makes for a far tastier and cheaper 'red, generic pasta sauce' than any of your Ragu/Dolmio Lloyd Grossman type jars.

£200 a week?!! 'kinell!!

But as said, shona includes other groceries in that amount. My illustration yesterday proved I spent a tenner on fresh goods for an evening meal, and for the little one to snack on. 40 quid would get me nowhere near a weeks food only shop. Although I do agree 200 is rather a lot.

I watched a programme called super skrimpers the other day. And a fat family were spending over 300 a week. They ate a lot of take aways, ate out, and the woman was obsessed with going to the supermarket. She had multiples of everything from ketchup to bog rolls, some of the stuff would keep a lot of folk going for months! It worked out she was spending 20k a year on groceries! The programme put the equivalent of their years take aways and shopping in their garden, along with the amount of trollies they would use.....it was a ridiculous example, and pretty embarrassing.
They were then given a budget of 50 quid for a week. They had to eat in, and were allowed one meal out with it. I think they starved to death that week :lol:

[timwilky]

I do take advantage of offers

for instance I bought from asda 2 for £5 smoked salmon and king prawns. It made up the wife and I lunch today with a bit of salad. Yes I could have bought a sandwich from the shop down the road for the same. But I know what I enjoyed more.

I do the price checks and get the coupons etc. I know where to get my whiskey/gin etc to get the brands I want at the best price. and it aint the local asda.

However, surprisingly for some stuff Waitrose works out well. I like my amarone an waitrose is cheaper than the local wine merchant.

[missyburd]

How much is a decent bread maker? £100?

Would take years before you recoup the cost of it over buying supermarket bread.

I bet the bread from it tastes lush though.
As I said earlier, I cannot tolerate the shop bought bread, wondered why I felt bloated and crap for months...cut bread out the diet for a while and it stopped....then we moved and started using a breadmaker and everything that comes out of it my stomach agrees with. The amount of horrid additives and the fact that yeast in shop bought bread is not allowed to fully do its job properly means I prefer to make bread at home. Yes you can do it in an oven with a bread tin but the time involved in doing so it unrealistic, a breadmaker does the job to suit us perfickly.

Oh and the cost of one ranges from £30-£40 upwards.

[Von Teese]

The amount of horrid additives and the fact that yeast in shop bought bread is not allowed to fully do its job properly means I prefer to make bread at home.
+1
I would never go back to being without a breadmaker for all the reasons already on here.

Mr VT's grandfather bought us a really posh one for Christmas a couple of years ago and we LOVE it.

[Sid Squid]

Buy online? Why so some spotty oik plays games with your bananas and football with your melons?
I understand your concerns, I do much of my shopping online for delivery, but buy all my fruit and veg in a market near my house on Saturday mornings.
Even if I thought the 'operatives' that picked stuff for my deliveries took exemplary care of everything, I still appreciate it's their policy to pick the shortest date stuff first, and I like to see the fresh stuff before I pay for it. I reckon just about anything in a tin or packet is safe for delivery. I buy bog paper in the market too - the branded stuff is dear, in the market I can see and have a squeeze of the packet in the market before I buy it, I don't like scratchy, 'fragile' bumwad.

As to the original question, I don't know and I'm a little apprehensive of finding out.

[ClunkintheUK]

To the original question, not much for two of us, maybe 30-40 including booze and bog-roll. but that does not include lunches, which is i admit a huge expense. I know the theory behind reducing this cost but leaving home at 7 and being back at 7:30 (not 1/2 hour later) on a good day i do not find conducive to spending more time making a couple of sandwiches every evening.

On another note, when both my brother and I were still at home we would eat through £250-300 of food in a week. Ok this was a little high due to it being from waitrose, but also due to both of us eating ~8k calories a day. ( I would eat 1kg of pasta in two or three sittings.)

[metalmonkey]

Food is very expensive and the price of quality food is only going to increase, for several reasons which have been covered in past.
I started looking into the link of food quality and health, its seems to make sense. I came across an article talking about the water given to plants it went like this...

A scientist asked his students to hold some water in a bottle for 3-4 hours then, used to water some seeds. So the plants grew to be healty and strong. The same scientist then did the same thing, but gave the water to some mental patients in hosptital. Th water was given to the seeds, the seeds that grew into plants didn't do so well. The seeds grew into weak plants, they looked like a tortured persons, the plants looked sick and ill...

So now look at how we treat the animals that only sole purpose in life is to provide food. Then how crops are grown, from polluated land, water and air then we eat that. Is it wonder the human race is sicker than its ever been....So next time you fill yourself full of crap, think about this.

As to how much is spent on food? It depends on how money I have, what body needs then come to agreement of what I'm going to eat. I agree cheap bog roll, isn't good for the bum. Though getting your body working right, should reduce the need for it. A little education has helped greatly changed my view on what I eat, its not easy but bad habits are often the worse ones to put right.

[arc123]

A scientist asked his students to hold some water in a bottle for 3-4 hours then, used to water some seeds. So the plants grew to be healty and strong. The same scientist then did the same thing, but gave the water to some mental patients in hosptital. Th water was given to the seeds, the seeds that grew into plants didn't do so well. The seeds grew into weak plants, they looked like a tortured persons, the plants looked sick and ill...



What on earth are you talking about?!

[yorkie_chris]

I was curious myself. Has this bloke been visiting you on the ward metalmonkey? :smt082

[metalmonkey]

What on earth are you talking about?!

It was an experiment that was carried out, do I need dig up the information for you?

The idea is point to out the link between the effect of bad/unheathly food, how it is treated thus effects your own health pretty simple really.

[yorkie_chris]

You are either describing that badly or its complete rubbish.

You're saying some mental people managed to "taint" some water by holding it for a few hours (how exactly were they holding onto it :-P)...

[Bibio]

they weren't just holding on to it they were also sticking there meds in it :-)

[widepants]

wtf is that mental people bit all about? Has their ailment passed by magic through the bottle?

[arc123]

It was an experiment that was carried out, do I need dig up the information for you?

The idea is point to out the link between the effect of bad/unheathly food, how it is treated thus effects your own health pretty simple really.

Please do dig it up - i've googled it and can't find anything...

[metalmonkey]

wtf is that mental people bit all about? Has their ailment passed by magic through the bottle?

Through their Qi, everything living has Qi.

[dizzyblonde]

Well I read that segment of metal thingys post over an hour ago, and I'm still trying to figure out what the hell he is trying to describe. Intellectual fail?


Although, Bibio might have a point :)

Bearing in mind I have an allotment, and have been learning a fair bit about growing food, I can't fathom out what is meant.


I also know a lot about weeds ;) and killing them without weedkiller!

[Biker Biggles]

they weren't just holding on to it they were also sticking there meds in it :-)

:D
But surely the plants should have felt much better if the water had mental meds in it?
Unless it was knockout stuff.:thumright:

[arc123]

Through their Qi, everything living has Qi

lol - I think you'd better go dig out the details of that experiment!

[ClunkintheUK]

Through their Qi, everything living has Qi.



Water isn't a living thing.

[dizzyblonde]

I think what MM is attempting to describe is the Chinese 'QI' or perhaps Ch'i. A person who hasn't got a mental imbalance can produce positive vibes to pass on to a plant to make it grow. Someone whose wiring is s little different may pass on a negative vibe, which may stunt a plants growth.


It's been a long time since I read up on such, so I'd forgotten. Now it makes slightly more sense....and perhaps the rest of us might understand what the hell he is on about!

[arc123]

I think what MM is attempting to describe is the Chinese 'QI' or perhaps Ch'i.

I was quite aware of what QI / Chi is.

A person who hasn't got a mental imbalance can produce positive vibes to pass on to a plant to make it grow.

lol - using this logic plants muct have suffered terribly before the advance of humans to 'make them grow'

[metalmonkey]

I think what MM is attempting to describe is the Chinese 'QI' or perhaps Ch'i. A person who hasn't got a mental imbalance can produce positive vibes to pass on to a plant to make it grow. Someone whose wiring is s little different may pass on a negative vibe, which may stunt a plants growth.


It's been a long time since I read up on such, so I'd forgotten. Now it makes slightly more sense....and perhaps the rest of us might understand what the hell he is on about!

Yes that whats I'm trying to say, thankyou.

Postive energy, postive thoughts affect everything around. So what I was trying to say was, we are treating our food sources in a very negative way. Since energy can only be transfered, not created or destroyed. (Thermo Dymanics)

So with that though in mind, this must be effecting the food chain, food supply and the food we are putting in our body. I hope that makes sense.

[dizzyblonde]

I was quite aware of what QI / Chi is.



lol - using this logic plants muct have suffered terribly before the advance of humans to 'make them grow'

Well why make out you don't know what he's on about? Although saying that it took a while for the penny to drop for me.

As for the plant thing, I have no idea, I've read about the chi, but I'm afraid using it to make plants grow I have not. It was just my random account of what he was trying to say....I think :?

[metalmonkey]

I was quite aware of what QI / Chi is.



lol - using this logic plants muct have suffered terribly before the advance of humans to 'make them grow'

No becasue the engery is transfered, that is point I was trying to make. If negative energy flows through living a system, they it must have impact. The water is a medium in which the energy was transfered. I just executed my explanation poorly which was my fault.

[Spank86]

Through their Qi, everything living has Qi.



I'm sensing your original statement using the word 'scientist' to describe the person doing this project (I'm sorry I can't call that an experiment) might have been a little generous.

[dizzyblonde]

After a quick google with words 'qi in plants' I found this experiment. Makes absolutely no sense to me at all . Not one mention of mental patients or scientists.

http://zeniclinic.com/2011/04/dna/

[metalmonkey]

I'm sensing your original statement using the word 'scientist' to describe the person doing this project (I'm sorry I can't call that an experiment) might have been a little generous.

The actual experiment is just an illustration, I can't vouch for how scientfic it was. The only to get even close if it was peer reviewed and then by who.

The experiment isn't important here really, I'm just trying explain how bad food effects us and risk it has on your health.

NB I try to find it later.

[Spank86]

I think you may have chosen a poor example of how food can go bad in the first place.

I've known some of the most mentally unbalanced people ever when I worked for a garden centre and most of them were very successful growers.

[Messie]

Sod all the racism guff in the other thread; I really do find it deeply offensive that people will spout such utter offensive dribble about people with mental health problems affecting the food we eat.
Chris (MM) please go back and think very hard about your original post about this.
If it's true, and backed up by fully reference works and research, then let us know.
If you can't and/or it's not true I think you have to apologise for and retract that comment

[phil24_7]

I think the original experiment has no basis in science but I defend MM's right to use it in this thread, even if he didn't use it correctly. I don't think he should apologise or retract the comment which is made on something he once read and not his own view point. Perhaps you should back you counter comment/view up with fact or retract it?

[dizzyblonde]

I think you may have chosen a poor example of how food can go bad in the first place.

I've known some of the most mentally unbalanced people ever when I worked for a garden centre and most of them were very successful growers.

Although my terrible explanation of an equally bad description was just that......I have to agree with Spank. You have to consider, that growing plants actually helps give good chi, to those amongst us that are a little different to what is considered the norm. Why do think do many people with mental breakdowns or someone looking to do something positive, grow plants, do gardening, or indeed get an allotment. Those of which make great success at cultivating plants.

Quite flawed if you look at it like that. MM..


Back to food......hopefully next year, when I've gotten a hold on the jungle, I'm hoping to grow far more veg than I intend to buy, for certain parts of the year, and indeed type.

[yorkie_chris]

If that was from a peer reviewed scientific publication I'll eat my hat.
Mr "scientist" is on the wrong side of the clipboard in that ward.


How many prison teams do you see at flower shows?