A couple of weeks back I itemised everything I ate and drank for a week and it came to £41.88. That was pretty much a typical week of shopping and eating for me excepting, of course, that I was always aware that I was monitoring what I ate - but add, say, a few more quid and we're definitely hitting my average spend. Following on from this I thought it might be quite interesting to see what a week's menu would look like at around the £30 mark - and this lot is the result. I should point out that the total of £32.59 did include £3.96 for coffee. I rather shot myself in the foot there I guess, but the normal 'cheap' beans which are my mainstay were not available - had they been I'd have saved around £2. I also used a 'premium' bread flour this week, rather than the 60p/1.5kg supermarket one I normally use. As before, for the cost of each individual dish I have counted every ingredient, save for seasoning and spices (and I've made an overall allowance for these in the 'store cupboard' line item). The link for the torta de naranja recipe will take you to the Peckham Rye Eats blog - it was Lisa who introduced me to this lovely cake when I went round for dinner recently. Thanks Lisa! friday Breakfast: orange juice + granola £0.88 Lunch: tuna mayo sandwich £0.67 Dinner: spaghetti + broccoli 1.76 Sub total: £3.31 saturday Breakfast: orange juice, peanut butter + toast £0.40 Lunch: bacon, artichoke + broccoli salad £2.34 Dinner: poached egg, chorizo + peas; little gem salad; torta de naranja + cream £2.06 Sub total: £4.80 sunday Breakfast: orange juice, porridge + cream £0.40 Lunch: niçoise salad £1.48 Dinner: roast chicken, watercress, roast potatoes; almond thins £1.85 Sub total: £3.73 monday Breakfast: orange juice, granola £0.88 Lunch: fruit (apple, satsuma, nectarine, banana) £1.09 Dinner: pea + ham soup with chorizo; torta de naranja + cream £1.97 Sub total: £3.94 tuesday Breakfast: orange juice £0.30 Lunch: niçoise salad £1.48 Dinner: rice + chicken; pear £2.03 Sub total: £3.81 wednesday Breakfast: peanut butter + toast £0.20 Lunch: fruit (apple, satsuma, nectarine, banana) £1.09 Dinner: lamb's liver, bacon + mash; almond thins £2.14 Sub total: £3.43 thursday Breakfast: porridge with milk £0.20 Lunch: egg + cress sandwich £0.45 Dinner: pea + ham soup; torta de naranja + cream £1.09 Sub total: £1.74 drinks + other stuff Coffee £3.96 Tea £0.30 Honey & sugar £0.20 Bread £0.90 Milk x 2 pints 0.98 Butter £0.47 Olive oil £0.73 Store cupboard £.030 Sub total: £7.83 week's total: £32.59 You'll have probably noticed that the fiscal brakes were definitely on this time around - for example there's no fresh fish for dinner, no steak or other costly meat and I had pea + ham soup twice (although in the one instance enlivened with some fried chorizo). The (halal) chicken I ate was £2.99 for the whole bird - no corn-feeding or free-ranging this week. I only allowed myself one bowl of granola for breakfast - opting for porridge or peanut butter and toast the rest of the time (and on the Tuesday I only had orange juice). And when the juice ran out that day, I didn't buy another carton. The exercise confirmed what I've long thought - that if you want to enjoy a varied diet, if you hope to eat well and pleasurably, if you want the food on your plate to gladden your heart as well as fill your belly, £30 is pretty much the absolute bottom line for a weekly spend in this country - or certainly in London. Consider this: everything I ate this week (apart from a handful of almond thins) was home-made - that includes breakfast cereal, bread, stock and cake. Only the coffee, a chorizo sausage, a few olives and a tub of cream came from a delicatessen; everything else was either from Asda or the shops on Rye Lane. Apart from coffee and tea I only drank tap water - no bottles of water, cans of soda or juice (apart from the morning orange juice). I'm not sure how - without a garden or an allotment, without forming a co-op for bulk purchasing, without living in a large household to benefit from economies of scale, without foraging or skip scavenging - how I could have bought more efficiently the ingredients for what is (I think) a modest yet still enjoyable weekly menu. I'll need several weeks of sybaritic indulgence first, but my next self-imposed challenge will be to aim for a weekly spend of around £20. Luckily, the Cranks Recipe Book is available for one pence on Amazon. Wish me luck.
29 Comments
4/6/2012 08:31:07
I've got benefits stuff looming in the near future (like everyone else at the mercy of the WCA...) and as such need to do a financial check up to make sure I can survive if I go to appeal rate. I think I'll take a leaf out of your book and do a week's food pricing.
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The Skint Foodie
5/6/2012 02:53:12
Do let me know the outcome if you do a week's costing, would you?
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Debbie B
5/6/2012 03:00:21
Although a varied diet, have you looked at what calorie intake the menu provided? Just aware that a man should normally have 2500 a day & at first glance it would seem a bit low on calories.
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The Skint Foodie
5/6/2012 03:57:08
I'm touched by your concern, Debbie, but I'm fine! Actually, for my age, weight and sedentary life, the figure is more like 1900 - although I generally use the easier method of simply assuaging my hunger.
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Debbie B
5/6/2012 09:56:25
Glad to hear you are well, I was wondering for those that might also follow suit with a similar meal plan. This is all very interesting stuff.
The Skint Foodie
5/6/2012 15:33:51
Debbie - I honestly can't see what it is you think the week's menu is missing - unless you think the portions are too small? Don't overlook the bread, milk, honey, sugar, butter and oil included in the final section.
Lindsay
7/6/2012 05:43:36
This costing exercise is fascinating. I'm a debt advisor and I regularly have to work out budgets for people. Your food this week is noticeably less interesting. I'm really interested in seeing how you fare on £20 for a week. Imagine how bad it would be if you couldn't cook!
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Izzy
7/6/2012 07:21:12
I am hardcore into day 2 of my Weight Watchers diet plan and it is pure torture to read - and now SEE - your week's menu. The torta de naranja, white farmhouse loaf and poached egg, chorizo and peas look particularly appealing right this very minute. Right, off to munch on a puffed rice cake and dream of better days......
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Fran Petipher
8/6/2012 09:39:51
Keep the faith Izzy i'm a full time Weight Watchers leader and you can eat proper food i promise you, i love the Skinster's website and regularly take inspriation from it for my own weeks meals. If you run a few meals through your recipe builder and tweak you will be pleasantly surprised!
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Robin Betts
8/6/2012 04:01:23
Interested that you're reaching for the Crank's Recipe Book ... If I was going for a £20 week, I'd choose an indigenously vegetarian cuisine with a long tradition: say, South Indian. There's fantastic variety in it, it's delicious if it's properly made (which takes time), and it makes you feel great. But I have to admit, suddenly your blog would become something else altogether..
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The Skint Foodie
8/6/2012 04:49:22
The Crank's reference was supposed to be a joke, Robin. Ah well...
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Robin Betts
11/6/2012 09:14:30
*Klunk* .. Not my first this week. My antennae can't be out atm.
Kim
10/6/2012 16:48:30
Made a torta de naranje yesterday after reading your blog - what a fantastic cake! It's my mum's birthday next week and she's just been diagnosed with coeliac disease, so this will make the perfect gluten free birthday cake. Thanks so much for the recipe.
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The Skint Foodie
11/6/2012 16:22:24
Glad you liked it Kim. Although thanks should go to Lisa and, of course, Claudia Roden!
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Claire Brown
21/6/2012 11:52:06
The Algerian Coffee Store in Old Compton Street has a monthly special - 1/2 Kilo of fabulous coffee beans for £6. They have a different high and medium roast each month. As long as you're not drinking over 250g a week, there's a saving there.
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The Skint Foodie
21/6/2012 12:05:11
Hi Claire - I'm drinking their coffee of the month at the moment! The one they recommended for espresso was a dark roast - which I didn't clock at the time. The problem with dark roasts is that that's what they taste of - the roasting process.
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Helen C
13/7/2012 20:42:56
Hi Skint Foodie: just letting you know that your blog is being read and appreciated in Wellington, New Zealand. Love the recipes and hearing how your journey's going.
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The Skint Foodie
14/7/2012 14:55:47
Thank you Helen!
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Kel
15/7/2012 10:05:35
Interesting concept for a skint foody but my problem isn't being skint, it's work!
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The Skint Foodie
15/7/2012 13:30:52
Funnily enough, I have been thinking of writing a post for those with little time to cook!
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Claire
19/7/2012 07:27:39
Have you tried internet supermarket shopping? Great for the cash rich/time poor. You can order your food from the comfort of your couch with a nice glass of wine in hand. Just don't make the mistake of ordering the food you 'should' eat rather than the way you do eat. For example, don't order a whole lot of salad bags that will go off or prawns you won't get around to cooking. But a salad of radicchio and little gem (if you buy whole heads), topped with goats cheese and pine nuts will take minutes to prepare and the ingredients will last weeks. Ocado frozen mackerel fillets are also a good standby in our house.
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grainne
19/7/2012 03:58:42
I've been slightly stressing about the £20 a week food budget since I read it on here. How the hell are you going to do it? And stay healthy/not depressed? I've got a few tips that might make it a bit easier:
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Claire
19/7/2012 07:20:16
Don't underestimate the power of the cabbage. As coleslaw mixed with apple and fennel it makes a great base for mackerel. Stir fry it with soba, carrot and onion for yaki soba. Braise it with apple. Use it in minestrone. Stuff it like the Poles do. Make bubble and squeak for breakfast. It's cheap and goes a long way.
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grainne
20/7/2012 09:19:35
I've cheered up since I realised that with a food budget of €£40 - a week on £20 will allow you a nice lunch out to reward yourself. Have it booked before you start.
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The Skint Foodie
20/7/2012 12:00:52
Grainne - Thanks for your concern! I *was* supposed to start today, but I've put if off for yet another week. Health will be fine - apart from anything else it's just a week. But taste, pleasure and variety are in serious danger I think.
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I found this really interesting and am tempted to write down and photograph my own meals this coming week, though they're nowhere near as sophisticated! I'm a coeliac vegan and mostly eat raw fruit - I save a lot of money going straight to the reduced produce and to markets. I agree that it's hard to get under £30 unless you eat a really simple, herbivorous diet - lots of cheap staples like apples, rice, millet and beans.
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grainne
2/8/2012 03:38:52
have you starte yet? how is it going?
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The Skint Foodie
2/8/2012 03:57:07
On the £20 week? No!!!!! Keep putting it off. Need to steel myself. :0)
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grainne
2/8/2012 04:58:14
Not surprised! book a lavish lunch and 7 days before that get going. (Or start at lunchtime and finish at breakfast so that you only have 5 total days on low budget.)
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