survive on a very tight budget

[earlystart]

OK so i'm studying at college in Winchester and after all my expenses ect i'm left with £15 a week to buy food with!

So far i'm managing by living on pasta, beans and really cheap mince with a few bits of veg and fruit when I can afford it, mostly bought from sainsburys as they are the cheapest i've found so far, so basicaly what i'm after is any sort of tips, tricks or ideas on how to maximise what I get for my money and the variety in my diet!

Cheers
Pete

[pumpy]

you could try a visit to the local supermarket, near closing time, to see what produce is being knocked out cheap.

[Aesculus]

you could try a visit to the local supermarket, near closing time, to see what produce is being knocked out cheap.

if time isn't a problem I'd visit every night/eveninh for a couple of weeks and get there rota worked out then you can plan ahead meals from produce which is mostly likely going to be reduced on what day saved myself a fortune when I lived in Edinburgh doing this

[earlystart]

had never thought of doing that! cheers guys! rather dislike buying any thing from a supermarket but at the mo its the cheapest place for most things!

[Susie]

Have you got a market? Are they any good? (Ours here is cheaper than supermarkets on some fruit and veg but not on others, worth checking though).

[pumpy]

had never thought of doing that! cheers guys! rather dislike buying any thing from a supermarket but at the mo its the cheapest place for most things!

go for it!!

[earlystart]

Yes Susie have got a market but its a very posh farmers market which is bloomin expensive!

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

I have two books which may or may not be of help to you, maybe you could look them up online or ask your library if they could get them in?

The New Students Veggie Cookbook by Carolyn Humphries - although this is for vegetarians i sort of figured it's better than nothing!

Cooking Good Food on a budget - I haven't got an author for this one as my husband printed it off of the internet for free through some sort of deal. It gives details of how to feed a family of 3 for less than £35 a week on apparently good quality food, you might be able to adapt it? If you are particularly interested in this one I'm happy to send it to you as I don't use it at all. PM if you'd like it.

Good luck with university, I didn't even make it a full year and left £4000 in debt so all you can save will be helpful!

[Susie]

No, posh farmers market is no good, you need the common non-posh kind with men waving veg at you and shouting! Have you got an Aldi nearby? Again ours here is probably the cheapest of the supermarkets but ymmv. My other thought is if you team up with people and buy/ cook in bulk that might make things cheaper but also it might be a lot more trouble than it's worth...

[Helsbells]

Have you got a true food co-op near you? The sell organic food loose so you can buy it in bulk much more cheaply than at the supermarket. I get things like rice, oats, raisins and lentils. Lentils and beans that are dried are good, you soak them over night. They are cheap and very nutritious.

[earlystart]

Nope no aldi in walking distance and i'm lodging with a family so i'm kind of on my own!

no food co-op near me that i know of either!

[Pumpkin&Piglet]

Could you give your £15 to the family and eat with them?

[earlystart]

nope, did talk to them about doing that but it just wouldnt work and they weren't very willing either!

[Zech]

Apparently there are proper markets in Winchester as well as the poncy farmers markets: http://www.smtcmarkets.co.uk/?page_id=35, though being Winchester they might still be quite posh If you turn up just as they're closing and you're very lucky you can sometimes get amazing bargains. More reliably, they're often cheaper than supermarkets for fruit and veg even during normal opening hours (as Susie said). You do have to be resistant to the rather full-on marketing, though!

If you have time (and it's more about being around than actual time spent) and kitchen space, I've found home made bread to be so much more satisfying than packet stuff that a couple of slices with butter are enough for lunch on their own. If you can stretch to brown rice instead of pasta, it's more nutritious. Quite tasty on its own (OK, more tasty than white rice - it's all relative!), and makes a meal with some sliced veg (either stir fry or steamed over the rice, if you happen to have a steamer and feel the need to be healthy) and soy sauce. As an alternative to cheap mince, bacon goes a long way to make a veggie sauce into a meat sauce. Stock up on onions, tinned tomatoes, and 'value' mixed herbs - these three make a passable pasta sauce on their own, or can be jazzed up with a small quantity of strong-tasting extras such as bacon, cheese, olives, etc.

In my student days I had a book called 'Grub on a grant' - can't remember the author. Cue hollow laughter at the idea of student poverty including a grant!

[Potter's Farm]

If you're cooking with minced meat, add porridge oats. It soaks up all the juice and bulks the meat out to make it go twice as far. I've done this lots with beef mince and no-one in my family has ever noticed!!