Skipping meals to save money?
Friday 17 April 2009
It’s only natural that you might be spending less money on food, what with the ever-present recession announcing itself to us in various ways.
But a recent study indicated that more than 20% of us regularly skip meals in order to save money. While there’s nothing wrong with reducing your meal sizes if you want to shed a few pounds of weight, skipping meals is just plain unhealthy.
There’s an indication that the rise in ‘convenience foods’ – from stir-in sauces to full-on ready meals – is responsible for our less-than-impressive diets and meagre bank balances.
Buying something pre-made almost always works out as more expensive than making it from scratch, so if you get into the habit of buying expensive ready-made things, you might end up short on cash for the things that matter!
We’re always here to help when it comes to healthy diets, so we’ve got some credit crunch-busting foods that could stop you overspending and – more importantly – stop you from starving!
We had a think about where our money goes, food-wise, and found that we usually spend as much on food when we’re at work as we do on our weekly shop from home – and we end up with a lot more stuff during a supermarket visit!
Anyway, on-the-go food aside, there’s no excuse for having nothing to eat when you get home. We’ve got seven cheap, easy meals below (that we're assuming you can already cook) – so there’s no reason to go hungry.
Seven easy dishes:
· Beans on toast
· Scrambled eggs on toast
· Stir fry with instant noodles
· Pasta with a cheese- or tomato-based sauce
· Chilli con carne (minced beef, kidney beans, onion, tomato, carrots and spices)
· Vegetable soups (vegetables + starchy vegetables + water, basically)
· Mini pizzas – toast with cheese, tomato puree and a sliced tomato, placed under the grill
If those seem a bit too basic for your palate, or if you like to mix things up a bit, here are some staple foods that every kitchen should have – they provide the perfect base to fit in with your latest recipe. They’re also fab if you have a fussy eater round for the night!
Kitchen cupboard essentials
Noodles (dried)
Pasta (dried)
Rice (dried)
Bread
Eggs
Baked beans
Basic soups (cream of tomato, mushroom, vegetable)
Mixed spices
Tinned tuna
Tinned tomatoes – they make a great base for anything
Tinned fruit in natural juice
Thickening granules
Tupperware (for your leftovers)
Freezer essentials
Veggies of your choice – peas, carrots, sweetcorn, sweet potato, etc
Potato wedges or thick-cut oven chips
Chicken breast
Chicken or fish in breadcrumbs
Frozen berries
A loaf of bread (just in case things go off!)
If you find that you can’t control your spending when you’re out and about, we’ve got a breakfast, lunch and dinner that you might traditionally buy when you’re on the go – check out how much money you could save!
Breakfast – McMuffins from McDonalds
Ingredients:
*6 wholemeal English muffins – 99p
*6 medium free range eggs – £1.40
*300g back bacon – £1.48
*(You can buy cheese slices for about 50p – but does anyone actually like these?)
Instructions:
Grill one slice of bacon (this is healthier than frying).
Fry the egg with some unsalted butter. If you like it to be neat, place a round cookie cutter into the frying pan. Poach it if you’re feeling healthy.
Cut the English Muffin in half and toast it lightly. Spread with butter or ketchup. Add the eggor bacon and serve (or wrap in greaseproof paper if you miss that authentic ‘fast food’ effect).
5 x Egg McMuffins at McDonalds = £8.95
6 x DIY McMuffins = £3.88
You save = £5.07/week, £20.28/month, £243.36/year
Lunch - Baguette from Pret
Ingredients:
*Baguette 39p (available in plain, sesame seed, multigrain or cheese flavoured)
*Prosciutto £2.00
*6 x tomatoes 99p
*Grated Grana Padano cheese £1.00
Instructions:
Slice the baguette in half (lengthways), and spread with butter or mayonnaise. Slice the tomato and place alongside one end. Place one slice of the prosciutto along the length and sprinkle the grana padano cheese along each side. Add a few basil leaves or dried mixed herbs to garnish.
5 x Prosciutto, cheese and tomato baguettes at Pret = £17.50
5 x baguettes = £5.84
You save = £11.66/week, £46.64/month, £559.68/year
Dinner – Ready-made Spaghetti Bolognese
Ingredients
*500g spaghetti, 39p
*390g chopped tomatoes, 69p
*1 small onion, about 20p
*1 garlic clove, about 3p
*1 small carrot, about 10p
*400g beef mince, 98p (use as much or as little as you want - 400g will be very thick!)
Instructions:
Finely chop the onion and garlic and place into a warm pan with some oil. Once they turn golden brown, add the mince and chopped tomatoes.
Stir the mixture until the mince has browned, add seasonings of your choice (salt, pepper, mixed herbs, etc) and then simmer the mixture for half an hour.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add the dried spaghetti. Simmer for 10-12 minutes. Drain using a colander, and then put the cooked spaghetti back into the saucepan. Stir in the sauce and serve.
Freeze the remaining portions if you’re cooking for yourself – they’re a great way to save on your next night in!
One portion of ready-made spaghetti Bolognese = £1.99
Four portions of home-made spaghetti Bolognese = £2.39 (that’s less than 60p per portion!)
You save = £1.39/week, £7.60/month, £91.00/year
Prices are based on Sainsburys' figures - they may differ, depending on your supermarket.
By Amy Bangs