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Eating plans for a £1 a day

(231 Posts)
growstuff Thu 12-May-22 11:18:51

Do GNers have any suggestions for eating for a £1 a day?

Total food should be about 1,500-2,000 calories a day and well-balanced, ie good balance of carbohydrate, fat and protein.

Ideally, there should be little cooking (to save on fuel) and few cooking utensils (certainly nothing fancy) should be needed.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 13-May-22 14:37:41

Zero so far. I did say it wasn’t nutritious.

Whitewavemark2 Fri 13-May-22 14:30:01

Germanshepherdsmum

I haven’t done too badly today. Just for myself, one slice of toast (Tesco’s own brand sliced white bread with Lurpak spread - cheaper ones available) for breakfast, mug of Cuppa Soup for lunch (£1.05 pack of 5) and slice of bread and spread. Fresh fish and chips tonight, homemade, but could have had some of the Iceland fish fingers mentioned upthread. Very little nutrition in breakfast and lunch but the soup was tasty. I spent the morning gardening and doing some housework and don’t feel hungry. It wouldn’t do for a young person obviously.

Any fresh vegetables or fruit?

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 13-May-22 14:25:09

I really enjoy Tesco’s own brand sliced white bread and changed to it for preference, 65p for a loaf of medium white sliced, keeps well. Haven’t counted the number of slices.

I assume the egg was large free range, going down to medium FR would cost £1 for 6 at T.

JaneJudge Fri 13-May-22 14:17:00

news.sky.com/story/tesco-boss-ken-murphy-nets-pay-packet-of-16347m-as-shoppers-face-rising-food-prices-12611887?fbclid=IwAR2Jqo6QcStsSf8oDqFXnhco8h3iwSCLFmxoMzRH5q7k5siCa14gbrknB_Q

what a surprise hmm

Callistemon21 Fri 13-May-22 14:12:51

Sorry, should have calculated the cost.

Egg: 22p
Bread: 10p
Butter?
Yogurt C50p

So nearly a day's allowance for lunch.

Callistemon21 Fri 13-May-22 14:09:34

For lunch I had a poached egg on a slice of buttered toast followed by the remains of a large pot of fruit yogurt which was out of date (I hope it was ok, it smelt fine).

Callistemon21 Fri 13-May-22 14:06:35

We shouldn't be having to make broth out of bones (free or not) that are kept for dogs

But it is very good for us, we should make it for that reason not just because it's cheap.
I freeze it in portions because even a small amount makes soup etc more nutritious and tasty.

mokryna Fri 13-May-22 14:04:32

Growing up in the 50s my neighbours had hutches with rabbits inside each one and a chicken coop. Agreed very cruel but there was rationing and meat was so expensive in those days.

But maybe if you are lucky enough, today, to have room for a hen coop for the eggs.

Growing up we did not eat meat every day, not through choice.

Callistemon21 Fri 13-May-22 14:03:39

fluttERBY123

£14 for 14 days would be a better starting point. Or even 28 days. It's something I've often thought I would do but I've never got round to it.
I saw a roundtwit in a shop once. I should have got it.

I have one in the kitchen , fluttERBY123 and look at it every day.

They don't work ?

Theoddbird Fri 13-May-22 13:58:10

Riverwalk today I made a bolonaise type mix....it does two meals. I put a handful of quorn in it. It is made with the quorn, a red onion, third of a courgette, handful of frozen peppers, a few mushrooms, half a tin of tomatoes, Italian herbs, garlic and the all important squirt of ketchup.
I haven't used jars of pasta sauce for a long time. This mix is really tasty and can be used on pasta or a jacket potato. Today was half of a potato cooked in airfryer. My breakfast was a mashed banana with five teaspoons of Tesco dairy free yogurt. A pot lasts a week. I put a few cereal flakes on it for crunch. None of this costs much...I have just looked at my last grocery shop receipt.

Madashell Fri 13-May-22 13:57:48

Veggie soup made from a (cheap) bag of frozen mixed veg and a handful of lentils and some stock and herbs or spices of choice. Feeds 2 for 2 days.

The costs of cooking are not including.

I’m not sure a pound a day is possible in the long term but making enough for 2-3 days is more cost effective .

Turn up at someone else’s home at lunchtimes, if you have no morals!

sandelf Fri 13-May-22 13:56:01

Honestly, not for £1 a day AND reasonably balanced, tasty and varied. If you go the 'beans 100 ways' route, then you're having to supplement micronutrients with pills - so no gain there. BUT you could get close to £1 with very savvy buying and not minding too much about the quality of fish or chicken. Oats (porridge, flapjacks etc can be v cheap and filling) and rice are your friends. Whole milk too!

JaneJudge Fri 13-May-22 13:54:32

For breakfast I had a buttered crumpet and half a tin of sild with rocket so I'm already over budget

We shouldn't be having to make broth out of bones (free or not) that are kept for dogs, we have never been in the Eastern bloc so why a push for us to model that? We should all be earning enough money to have warm, safe shelter and enough food to feed our families. There is no excuse for how people are treated in and out of employment in our very rich country.

MissAdventure Fri 13-May-22 13:52:24

It is very hard.
A little drop of milk has come from a,bigger quantity, a scraping of spread from some sort of tub or block.

Baggs Fri 13-May-22 13:47:30

Costing what one eats in a day is really interesting. I've just done my usual lunch and it comes to around 62p. It includes cream cheese, ham, celery, dried cranberries, lettuce and salad cream. I have it with a mug of tea so there's the teabag and some milk on top.

I don't think I could eat for £1 a day without some drastic changes that I'd only make if absolutely necessary. I'm going to work out the rest of my food day costs though just out of interest.

Presumably vegans have to include the cost of the supplements they need to take for essential vitamins that only occur in animal products?

MissAdventure Fri 13-May-22 13:46:18

I think you would need to cut out an awful lot from that food in order to stay in budget, although I'm no expert on vegan eating.

Hetty58 Fri 13-May-22 13:39:50

Sorry callistemon - now I've put my glasses on - it was growstuff. I think I could easily eat for £1 a day as I'm vegan and grow a lot of fruit and veg - and tend to cook from scratch. My shopping is mainly ingredients, bought in bulk online - not factory-made supermarket meals or little packets of anything.

I had fruit with porridge first thing. The rice salad I'm having for lunch has sweetcorn, peas, cashews, onions and smoked tofu in it - very nice and plenty for tomorrow. Later, I'll have defrosted vegetable soup and bannock, vegan marzipan fruit cake - and lots of tea! I do eat an awful lot but I'm slim. fit and happy.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 13-May-22 13:30:30

I haven’t done too badly today. Just for myself, one slice of toast (Tesco’s own brand sliced white bread with Lurpak spread - cheaper ones available) for breakfast, mug of Cuppa Soup for lunch (£1.05 pack of 5) and slice of bread and spread. Fresh fish and chips tonight, homemade, but could have had some of the Iceland fish fingers mentioned upthread. Very little nutrition in breakfast and lunch but the soup was tasty. I spent the morning gardening and doing some housework and don’t feel hungry. It wouldn’t do for a young person obviously.

Baggs Fri 13-May-22 13:25:28

I do use stock cubes occasionally but when I was boiling bones regularly, the cooker doing that was the only heating in the tiny old freezing tenement. That's why I started baking cakes at the same time. It meant at least one room was tolerably warm or, perhaps I should say, not intolerably cold.

fluttERBY123 Fri 13-May-22 13:24:58

£14 for 14 days would be a better starting point. Or even 28 days. It's something I've often thought I would do but I've never got round to it.
I saw a roundtwit in a shop once. I should have got it.

Baggs Fri 13-May-22 13:22:13

Witzend

Callistemon21

As I mentioned on another thread, making stock from bones or chicken carcase requires a long simmering using gas or electricity.
I'm not sure how much it would cost to do it in a slow cooker.

Yes, I always make stock from chicken carcasses, but do often wonder how much more it costs in fuel, than buying stock cubes. It’s that much nicer, though.

Nicer because better.

Callistemon21 Fri 13-May-22 13:19:58

Riverwalk

They're trace elements, rather than nutrition - zero calories.

But also required as part of healthy nutrition.

Callistemon21 Fri 13-May-22 13:17:46

Hetty58

Callistemon21: 'Porridge made with water doesn't have much nutrition in it' - I disagree (and always use water) as there's:

Manganese, Phosphorus, Copper, Vitamin B1, Iron, Selenium, Magnesium and Zinc. You'll absorb more of the iron if you leave out the milk.

I definitely didn't say that Hetty58! DH eats porridge every day.

If something is in italics it means it is a quote

it means it is a quote

Riverwalk Fri 13-May-22 13:11:17

They're trace elements, rather than nutrition - zero calories.

Hetty58 Fri 13-May-22 13:06:47

Callistemon21: 'Porridge made with water doesn't have much nutrition in it' - I disagree (and always use water) as there's:

Manganese, Phosphorus, Copper, Vitamin B1, Iron, Selenium, Magnesium and Zinc. You'll absorb more of the iron if you leave out the milk.