food budget challenge

Very odd....

It was for three babies, so very big. Maybe big enough to carry a dog too?

Dinno that is a lot of money to spend on a pram!

Oh Maw, The Paupers Cookbook. We totally lived out of that when we were first married. Especially the chapter on Programmed Eating!

DINNO if you looked at my reply there were lots of suggestions regarding living on a budget.
Unfortunately I don’t think you will like them as they do not include ready meals, smoothies, expensive energy bars or frozen pizzas.

You could make your own pizzas for considerably less and with greater nutritional value of course.....

Riverwalk,

I forgot to reply to you.

I recently ordered a £969 pram for them. That was the only thing they needed to get and couldn't seem to find. I think I have already put allot of money towards them. They have more than enough things for their triplets and there is no need to buy anything else. Obviously if they're struggling with anything financially I'd definitely help them but at the moment they seem to be fine.

pram link; www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trippy-Pram-3in1-Pushchair-Triple-Carrycot-Stroller-3Car-Seat-Stroller-PROMOTION-/253863657091?var=&ul_ref=https%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F710-53481-19255-0%252F1%253Fff3%253D4%2526pub%253D5574631662%2526toolid%253D10001%2526campid%253D5338243305%2526customid%253Daee5e303d065c451c8a62cc79308d5be%2526mpre%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%25252Fitm%25252FTrippy-Pram-3in1-Pushchair-Triple-Carrycot-Stroller-3Car-Seat-Stroller-PROMOTION-%25252F253863657091%25253Fvar%25253D%2526srcrot%253D710-53481-19255-0%2526rvr_id%253D1927295872851%2526rvr_ts%253Dff1e47341690aad93a26d9dafff93b8e&ul_noapp=true

Processed food is always either unhealthy or very expensive and vegan has become popular so is even more expensive but only because people are stupid enough to pay for something ready made. If you continue to eat processed you have no chance of cutting your costs.

Phoenix,

can you tell me how you managed on a small budget? I think it might help me

MamaCaz, I buy icecream for the freezer when doing the main shop, and then during the week most days I buy something like a vegan magnum or vegan cornetto

At one time (not that long ago) we were having to manage on an incredibly small budget, but we managed.

Ice cream and pizza were definitely off limits, they were too expensive and cost a lot more than we could justify, or afford!

But you said that you buy a vegan ice cream almost every day, *DINNNO.
Is that in addition to the ice cream you keep in your freezer, or have I misunderstood.

I've been vegan for about three years now. The first few months I did cook and use raw ingredients but it took allot of time and energy so I prompted myself to buy processed vegan foods, just because I could/can and it was/is easier on me.

I suppose I'll need to stop doing that to cut down on the weekly cost. As some have mentioned cutting out the takeaways seems like a good idea too as it is quite unhealthy admittedly as that alone costs me upwards of £30 a week for two of us.

I will not however cut out the ice cream or the pizza. The ones I buy are actually healthy not to mention delicious even though they're expensive (pizza = wicked brand from tesco £4 and the icecream is breyers delights dairy free chocolate with hazlenuts £5).

Luckily I already have pizza and ice cream in the freezer so I can use that up as a snack later in the week. I will do a shop in a few days and see how I get on and how much I spend and let you all know.

What would make more sense rather than a set budget, would be to check what you have in sock in your cupboards and freezer and then plan what you need to buy and stick to that. What's the point of a £20 budget if you don't know what you actually need. The best way to cut down is to not buy things you don't need. Start eating whatever you have in the freezer otherwise you're just wasting electricity keeping it frozen.

I go on a walk most days of the week and always drive straight to the shop to buy a vegan icecream, a few trek bars, a piece of fruit, a read-made salad and a nice smoothie
When I go on a walk I take a home-made sandwich, a banana, a flask of coffee and a piece of home-made cake.

It seems to me OP that if you were a bit more organised and bothered to actually cook for yourself instead of buying processed food all the time you would save hundreds if not thousands of pounds a year, and be healthier too.

Bean burgers are easy to make at home and very tasty too.

I'm far from vegan but do cook vegan/vegetarian meals as part of a varied diet - they take time and effort to be filling and tasty.

From what you buy, no wonder you say you're hungry after an hour!

OP it seems you don't do much actual cooking only buying supermarket vegan products e.g. sausages, pizza, ice cream, ready made salads, smoothies, etc., plus takeaways.

That's where the money goes - it would be cheaper to make your own meals using proper ingredients not highly-processed vegan burgers, etc.

How long have you been a vegan?

The trouble is, I tend to see a bargain, don't waste it but freeze it so the food bill is never in fact less. But we could manage on £20 for a couple or three weeks (or longer) quite easily if I ate all that we had in the cupboards, the freezer!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201904/medium-636892-image.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201904/medium-844003-image.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/201904/medium-788558-image.jpg

Might I make a suggestion?
Keep a detailed log of everything you eat for the coming week and what it has cost (Or would, if it has come out of the freezer/store cupboard)
Then look at how the same or similar meals could have been made more cheaply - fresh instead of frozen, using leftovers, Aldi/Lidl instead of Sainsbury’s, or local market, cutting out waste, etc
That should give you an idea of what sort of figure you are currently working with.
Then may I recommend Jocasta Innes’s book “The Paupers Cookbook” , “Delia’s Frugal Food “ and even Bernadine Lawrence “How to Feed Your Family for £5 a Day” for some brilliant recipes and inspiration.
I think £20 is ambitious for two people, frankly but there are dodges such as shopping at the market in the afternoon when veggies and fruit are going cheap, buying only the amount of meat you need (from a butcher) instead of the inevitable 500g from the supermarket, freezing sliced bread and defrosting only what you need each time and above all resisting all BOGOF offers in supermarkets - they are simply designed to part you from your money.
Let us know how you get on, please.

I go on a walk most days of the week and always drive straight to the shop to buy a vegan icecream, a few trek bars, a piece of fruit, a read-made salad and a nice smoothie.

And how much do those things alone cost you, if you don't mind my asking? Actually, you don't need to tell me - just tell yourself, and see how big a saving you would make by cutting them out.
In fact, though I haven't a clue how much such things cost, I wouldn't be be at all surprised if those alone are costing you well over £20 a week.

I doubt very much that you will be able to reduce your food spend to anywhere near £20 a week unless you stop using pre-prepared foods, and start cooking simple meals from cheap, raw ingredients. In other words, a big lifestyle change.
Are you up for that?

I'm just rereading the OP's posts.
What on earth is a vegan ham?

Witzend, there is indeed a vegan mayonnaise
The best known brand ( beginning with H) does one and you would not be able to tell that it was artificial from taste. It is however very expensive.

Never understood vegan sausages, burgers etc. If you eat vegetables why dress it up as meat?
To cut down on waste shop more often then you will have a better variety of food in smaller portions.
We always have a pot of soup either in the slow cooker or in the fridge which helps us use up bits and pieces. Larger purchases like a whole celery get cooked as soon as they start to go limp and frozen in portions to add to stews etc. We dry things like mushrooms when we get a special deal at the market and use them to enrich dishes weeks after?

I do love a budget challenge, please let us know how you get on.

Well, I'd cut out the ready-made salads and smoothies for a start.
If you'd like the wherewithal for a salad from ingredients that aren't going to go limp/slimy very quickly, try a coleslaw type made from shredded white or red cabbage, finely chopped/sliced onion, carrot, apple and celery - moistened with a little vegan mayonnaise - if such a thing exists.
All those (relatively cheap) ingredients keep very well, and make a very nice salad that's considerably more filling than the green-leaf type.