The under 50p lunch

In my cost-cutting drive, I have got my lunch at work to under 50p. However, having the same (or similar) thing for lunch every day gets a little boring, so what alternatives can people suggest.

The only "rules" are:

Cost no more than 50p/day

Contain no more than 1.5g of salt or "salt equivalent".

My current solution is:

400g can of Heinz soup - 3 for £1 from tesco and sainsburys
Bread roll - 15p

What alternatives can you suggest?

 

Theft!

 

organise a sandwich run with all your colleagues which you will collect from the local sandwich shop...I simply can't put it any simpler than that...

 

Egg or tuna sandwiches or 15 eggs from tesco £1.20, wholemeal bread 50p marg flora 91p. Tuna tins 4 for £2 use half a tin.

 

Must be cheap sandwich shops in Weardale mr cat!!!!

 

Good suggestion, but maybe a little bit of mayo to add interest?

 

No sandwich shop around here gets below 50p. Cheapest I've seen is 89p for egg sandwiches.

I tend to eat eggs in the evening now and then, so tend to avoid eating too many because of cholesterol.

 

I think Mr Cat was meaning something for free..................

Cant argue with tuna, mix it with some low-fat mayonaise or similar and put it in a wholemeal wrap, in the dim and distant days of my bodybuiling I lived on tuna, eggs, beef,wholemeal rice, spuds and bags of veg. Surprisingly cheap for 4k's worth of calories a day.

 

I was actually - well, maybe you could buy yor own bun at least...

but if this a longish term thing them you may need to buy some ingredients in bulk..? - like marg, mayo etc...thats providing you don;t mind sarnies...again, look out for good deals in tuna at your supermaket - my local morrisons had 4 cans of tuna for 1.90 or something - plus it was get one (pack of 4) free ...

then, if you're prepared to do a bit of cooking the night before..? - maybe make your own soup? maybe some rice based dish that you can have cold..? or even some cold pasta dishes that you've made the night before too?

 

I bet that will exceed the 1.5g salt levels, there can be 0.5 grams in a slice of bread and 400ml of soup can contain more than 2 grams. The amount of salt in tinned soup and bread is shocking.

You could try some pasta with a bit of cheese or home made tomatoe flavourings (the bought ones contain too much salt, colourings and sugar).

 

Why not pop into you local Gurdwara for langar and then pop 50p into the collection box?

 

cook a larger meal the night before and heat the rest up the next day for lunch

 

Always find stews more wholesome than soup and pretty cheap to make esp if you leave the meat out - make one big enough for 3 meals. If you get any thinner m8 you'll whistle in the wind.

you should also be able to concoct some kind of pasta and you really need to eat something fresh too!

I can't eat bread anymore as I have found out I have a wheat allergy

Home made veg lasagne could fit the bill if you have a microwave at work? You could make several and freeze some?

 

if I get any thinner Id fall through the cracks in the pavement..............I can pretend.

Making meals at home is a great idea, I use to do it. Spag bol, stews, assorted chicken dishes etc etc. I use to cook it all in one go and then split it up, in those days I wasnt lazy and a couch spud..........oh well.

 

Isaac, are times *that* hard that you have to economise so strictly? Why not (for instance) walk to work rather than drive/bus/train (if possible) one day a week, which would perhaps save you a similar amount? Just an idea? Or car-share (1/n-ing the fuel costs)? My suggestion here would be cereal with milk - Crunchy Nut cornflakes, you can get perhaps 10 servings from a £2 box, and pinch the milk from your work's fridge or bring your own?

 

jtc - I can't walk 13 miles across the pennines to work. And no one else here lives out my way. And I'm lactose intolerant so milk is out... I'm economising strictly across the board.... driving as fuel efficiently as possible (and 31-33mpg is pretty damn good for commuting in a 2 litre auto), lights off as much as possible in the house, drink nothing but water and tea, etc...

Oh what it is to be 23 with a mortgage, pension and student loan...

 

Isaac, surely you could sell your car and buy a much cheaper and more economical one and also pocket a couple of grand in the process? Something like a MkIII Golf diesel for example?

Michael.

 

michael - please don't mention the d-word in front of me....

My car is only worth around £2500, and is in good mechanical condition. I know its foibles and whatnot now, and I need the reliability and practicality it offers. Whatever was saved on fuel would be spent on maintenance of an older car. Plus, after driving the company passat TDI and getting 38mpg (not to mention hating the noise and dangerously slow pick-up from standstill) on a 300 mile motorway round trip, I'm not convinced that the savings would be much anyway.

 

OK - I thought your current car was worth a lot more. In that case it's probably not worth swapping.

Michael.

 

Lentils!

Boil up a pan of lentils with some spices (or even just throw in a couple of indian oxo's).

Fry up some mushrooms, onion, garlic, chilli's, whatever you want... then add them to the "mush". Reduce till a thick goop.

Suitable for freezing! 30 mins all in.

Serve with a couple of mini nans!

Yummy!

Or the pasta/lasagne option is a good one.

I made a lovely lasagne last night. 6 reasonable servings. 10 min's prep time. 30mins cooking. 1bag quorn mince, about 8 slices of pasta, assorted veg (onions, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, garlic....), milk/water, corn flour, and cheese for the sauce. And tomatos (I cheated and used ragu).

What heating/cooking facilities do you have?

As mentioned above, you should try get something "fresh" in there too. A bag of apples, a bunch of bananas.... 5 a day remember!