The under 50p lunch

I do have bananas and stuff at work. Have a microwave available which is how I heat my soup... might start to do pasta salads perhaps.

 

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

if the price of such responsibility is to be forced to scrimp so, I wonder at the value of education. Is this a general experience?

there is merit in starting a pension at such tender age, but pension is deferred wages and it seems that you need them now.

just how long a period do you 'plan' to subsist?

 

Until I don't have to... I buy things for me now and then, but slimming everyday costs is no bad thing regardless. It's a matter of 50p a day for lunch vs £2 to go out and get a filled roll and a doughnut... saving of ~£330 per year there which pays for the flights for a holiday.

I suspect that most people coming out of education will stay with their parents... I did for a while and I was loaded then.

 

When I was at college we used to get £1 for dinner money, I used to go to Superdrug and buy a bag of crisps 16p and a tin of coloured water (otherwise known as panda shandy) 12p, total 28p, probably not very healthy but wasn't concered about that at the time, saved enough money for the weekend beers. (far more important at the time! ). then when I went to Exeter College, I went to the chippy where a bag of chips (we're talking 1992/4) was 50p bargin, oh those where the days.

 

could try hippys method,olny eat one meal a day,each meal lasts 24 hours

 

The making stuff at home and reheating it method is the way to go for truly cheap meals. Cooking for one is always the hardest, so when i lived on my own i simply didnt do it. I cooked enough as others have said for 3+ meals at a time and froze it down. Fry up a basic mix of onions+beef/veggie substitute etc for example and use it to make spag bol, chili, curry, cottage pie etc etc.

What works well for next day meals is a bit of frozen chili and a baked spud in the microwave at work, but lots of other things work too as others have mentioned. Really cheap (saving at both home and work) and miles nice than sarnies. Dont buy your veg from Tesco or whereever get a local organic supplier to deliver you a sack/box of veg for next to nothing and tastes better and healthier for you too.

 

Anyone covered by these guys they're fantastic. We get nearly all our food from here now:
http://www.northernharvest.co.uk/

 

IIRC an egg yolk contains more than enough lecithin required to breakdown the "bad" cholesterol contained in the egg yolk.

 

yeah, if want cheap healthy food then you;re simply gonna have to cook it and prepare the night before...pasta and rice are very cheap now, same as vegetables...

and don't forget the sandwich run to pad it out a bit if need be..lol

 

I'd also massively recommend these folks for anyone in the South and Midlands.

 

I think you have just hit on a discovery to explain why some people seem to be appearantly more well off then others.

 

Not me; I haven't lived at home for more than a summer holiday since I was 5. ...and I wouldn't want to either (my parents are lovely, but the independance!).

I'd love to have a mortgage, but house prices are so far out of whack that I've given up. No way would I go without my lunch for a pipe dream that I'll never see...

I was on a paltry wage when I left uni, and the rent was high, but I still managed OK even though I was skint. Looking back, my lunches were homemade sarnies - with either cheap pate, a bit of cheese/cucumber, or real gunk like sandwich spread (which I love). I reckon that was around 50p/day.

In A Levels, most of my mates and I subsisted on - wait for it...

Superdrug pop (19p/bottle), Superdrug crisps (12p) and a Curly Whirly (15p). Good old 1992... No wander my acne was so bad...

 

During uni in Bristol, my gf (now wife) and I lived in a flat having moved down from the midlands - we had pretty much zero financial support from our families so we made ends meet with p/t work, etc.

What made me chuckle were the students who would complain about having no money, yet were buying clothes, running a decent car, buying £3+ lunch everyday, out three or four nights each week, living up the hill in Clifton, etc. etc.

 

When I was unemployed for 2 years, a while ago and got nothing from the so called 'Caring State' & after 6 months had to live and run a house on just my GF's paltry wage,even I didn't have to lower myself to live on a 50p lunch.

I think it is a mockary to want to do this intentioinally. Some people have nothing and have to resort to begging for food and money to survive.

50p lunch - give yer head a big shake.

 

What?! How is it a mockery to not want to spend money you don't need to?

 

Bake potato done in Microwave, use cheap potato's and just clean them up.

 

Your comments make interesting reading alongside your signature Mark.

Yes, I could spend more on lunch. However, I don't recall soliciting comment on my budgeting, but rather on some more imaginative meal options for a particular price.

 

Can you tell us more about that Northern Harvest Lord?? They cover my area.

 

Odd post.

 

Baked potatoes, sweet potatoes are rather nice too and better for you than regular.

Poridge, made with rice or soya milk (for your intolerance) it is already sweetened without sugar, is very wholesome and oats keep you feeling full longer.

Its awful having a food intolerance as substitutes cost more, if I buy a gluten free loaf its £2 is tiny and nothing like bread

Isaac why not have a treat day midweek for £1 otherwise I feel you could get stalled and down about it, which is no good. It is important to stay healthy though otherwise it is a false ecconomy.

I too am on an ecconomy drive, but oily fish is important as is fresh fruit salad, supermarkets often have specials on and we all have freezers and the fresh stuff is cheaper from a market.