How to eat as cheaply as possible!

Impotence

Impotence

May the source be with u!
I have been thinking about moving out of my parents house recently, so i've been thinking about how I'm going to be able to afford to eat! I've made a quick list of foods which are reasonable filling and cheap (please add to it if you can think of anything else!).
  • Rice (you can get 10Kg for ~£8 from Lidl's).
  • Pasta (you can get it cheap and cheerful from just about anywhere in big bags!).
  • Porridge (again, cheap and cheerful from anywhere in BIG bags).
  • Bread (cheap and cheerful supermarket brands / lidl).
  • Potatoes (Thanks to DaRuSsIaMaN).
  • Canned food (Thanks to DaRuSsIaMaN). [Spaghetti hoops - 4p a can from Aldi, thanks yorkkev28!]
  • Frozen vegetables (Thanks to DaRuSsIaMaN).

Recipes that have been suggested:

Pasta: ILovePasta.org : Allrecipes.com : UKTV Food (Thanks CyberBabe)
Potatoes: BigSpud.com: The Potato Recipe Collection (Thanks CyberBabe)

Then plan is if you leave the house, take food with you in a rucksack... buying sandwiches is stupidly expensive for how much you get (especially at my college!)

obviously you need something to go on the rice/pasta or its not really a meal :P any suggestions? (cheap vegetarian suggestions would be wonderful, but if not i'm sure someone will find them useful :)).

[OT]
Vegetarian: If it shits don't eat it :)
[/OT]
 
Macaroni & Cheese. Then I add some peas in there that I heat up in the microwave. Depending on how hungry I am, I may have enough left over to toss in my lunch cooler for work.
 
In my first year of uni I ate pretty much what you posted there, as for the toppings - i bought a HUGE jar of pasta sauce, a couple of cans of chopped toms with spices/herbs and added it to the sauce + loads of black pepper, garlic, onions & Soy ..... kept me alive while I spent all my money on booze :D
 
I'd set a budget too. I divide my expenses at a per-week basis starting with things that need to be purchased on a regular basis, like food and gas. Knowing the range, or at least the high-end estimate will help.
 
potatoes!

You can get them fairly cheap too; at least I can when I buy a bag of 10 of them at my grocery store. (one by one they're actually not really cheap) Potatoes can be baked really easily, just put an average-sized one in the microwave for 3 minutes, then turn over on the other side and do 3 minutes more. You can also cut them into chunks and boil them, that tastes pretty good. Also seems pretty easy, although I personally haven't tried doing that yet (my mom makes that sometimes though, with some spices and butter).

2. canned food. You can buy beans, canned peaches, etc. for pretty cheap. And they're good imo.

3. Frozen vegetables.

I buy a lot of stuff like frozen broccoli cuts or frozen peas or some other stuff and then steam them -- or boil, in some cases, like with peas. They won't spoil in the freezer and steaming or boiling is also easy. And the price is still cheap.
 
I am the master of eating on the cheap, being a smoker i sometimes have had to make decsions like shall i eat, or shall i buy fags? Obviously fags always win cause food isn't a necessity.

Spaghetti hoops - 4p a can from Aldi.
Potatoes - Bag of potatoes £1.99 for huge sack from market.
Loose veg - Varies but a shoppers tip for you. If u go to a local market half hour before it closes then you can walk away with some mega bargins on fresh fruit and veg.

Best shop for savings - Weigh & Save - No packaging just huge tubs of food, so u save a fortune by not having to pay for individual packets. Everything from Cornflakes to Gravy.

Drinls - Tea. 500 teabags for 50p from netto. If u can drink tea without the need of milk or sugar then all the better.
I just drink black tea when im thirsty, or council pop in the summer.

Hope this helps
 
Another thing that makes cheap drinks (the non-alcoholic kind): water with a little bit of juice in it to give a taste besides water. 64 oz lasts a long time that way.
 
Big B said:
Another thing that makes cheap drinks (the non-alcoholic kind): water with a little bit of juice in it to give a taste besides water. 64 oz lasts a long time that way.
Click to expand...

Council juice :P My parents house not on a water meter so we can pretty much use as much as we want! (the same will most likely be true for most places where i could get a flat!)
 
Impy said:
I eat the stuff quite happily, im not too sure how much it costs here though
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Yea u can make shakes... U just have to buy one Blender/mixer stick. U will find that for very cheap. I bought one from Warehouse just in $10 NZ so it must be more cheap in UK. Take a Glass... Peel the Banana...put it inside that glass in some 3-5 pieces. Then add Milk in it.. Then use that Blender/mixer to mix that in Milk. If you like more sweet then u can add sugar.. Belive me it tastes very good also its healty ;)
 
I often make pasta salad, which is quick, easy and very cheap. The most simple form is basically just pasta noodles of your choice, cooked & strained under cold water, then covered in Italian salad dressing and optionally black olives (chopped, diced or whole), cherry tomatoes (chopped or whole), mild radishes (finely diced) and/or chopped green onions. The whole thing costs only a few dollars, will be good for many meals, and lasts a whole week in the fridge (provided the tomatoes are whole and not chopped).
 
Go to a 24hr supermarket in the early hours. I used to get a cooked chicken and loaf of instore baked bread for £1.10. £1 for the chicken and 10p for the bread!

Get a veggie patch! £6 on seed (multipacks from B&Q) and some water and you'll get tons. Though you are a bit late this year now.

Impotence said:
Council juice :P
Click to expand...
:) Is that any better than the council pop we get round here?!
 
mushrooms in a can are always cheap and they are good for protein, lunch meats as well are pretty cheap. Also if your in a real pinch, microwave dinners, their like a dollar or so.
 
They're like $6 here! Ive never heard of mushrooms in a can. How do they come?... Are they in brine or something?
For a cheap instant meal id just go the chippy for the classic national disaster.
 
Get a Job in a Tesco Cafe and you can get a plate of chips and beans for £0.30 [$0.15]... or 2 Hash browns, 2 Tattie (potato) scones, beans, mushrooms, a bit of fried bread For just over £1 and the juice is on free vend :D

[OT]
I got a full time job at a tesco cafe until i go back to college
[/OT]
 
Yeah, well theres to different variations, one comes in a brine, and the other is more like tuna, with some kind of liquid, but i usually just fry em, its a good time, and whats $6 there
 
couscous is good... cheap and quick, add boiling water or stock, some frozen veg and some meat of your choosing and you have a prety complete and healthy meal.

as for where to obtain it.. being in 1st year uni, im sure you will find friends who would be up for the challenge of "skipping", where you go round all the supermarkets late at night and raid their skips for the thrown out food which is past it sell-by-date that day. my current house mate did this loads when she was ast uni down in bristol and she and her housemates always had food and money for booze!

be warned. Lidi locks up their skips, so thats a no go!
 
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