Maintaining calorie surplus on a budget

teriaki

Being a student almost always means big budgetary constraints so I would like to hear about cheap ideas about some good healthy, calorie (and especially protein) rich foods. My target is gain in muscle mass. So I am interested in what other students wishing to put on some muscle and whose parents aren't oil company executives do for their diet.
I get meals 2x a day 5x a week from my uni accommodation which still leaves quite a bit that I have to get for myself.
I personally rely heavily on Sainsburys basics.
I eat a lot of canned stuff like minced beef, beans and chicken curry. The closes thing I can afford to pure meat is ham. Lean meat is just so expensive here in Britain.
In addition to that, I eat couscous, instant mashed potatoes and noodles.
A nice little discovery of mine was Sainsbury's Fruit and Fiber cereal and muesli- quite cheap and provides a wide variety of nutrients.
Any other ideas?

It's really not that hard. What's your budget? I spend no more than £20-25 a week.

Reply 2

Hansi

If you go to Tesco's you can get lean meat quite inexpensive if you go for the value ones (~800 gr Chicken £5, 900gr Turkey £4.20). I buy those a lot. Also you're better of staying away from things like Sainsburys basics, cook your own food in larger quantities and put leftovers in tupperware for later consumption. Precooked meal have more salts an bunch of extras you don't need, same for the canned stuff. Skip out on the cereal and eat a heap of porridge, you can get the oats 500gr for ~30p. no extra sugar and just good carbs.

Reply 3

teriaki

OP

12

I don't have a very precisely set weekly budget but I usually try to keep it around 5-8 pounds or so, but no more than 10 (and obviously more when the uni cafeteria is closed). I really wish I had more money but this is what I have to live with for now (once I start earning that sweet sweet banker salary, I'll be eating chicken breasts every day). So 5£ for 800g of chicken is a bit out of my league (and its more than twice what it costs back home).
It might not be the best option but those canned Sainsbury basics are cheap and they provide the carbs and proteins.
And whats so bad about cereal? It has so much more different stuff in it than oatmeal.

Reply 4

Brotherhood

It's really not that hard. What's your budget? I spend no more than £20-25 a week.

I spend £21 a week on milk alone. Stupid Oxford prices. :frown:

Reply 5

Brotherhood

It's really not that hard. What's your budget? I spend no more than £20-25 a week.

I spend approaching £20 a week on milk alone. Stupid Oxford prices. :frown:

Reply 6

RawJoh1

I spend approaching £20 a week on milk alone. Stupid Oxford prices. :frown:

*whistles*

Don't really do the GOMAD or anywhere near thing myself. Pint and a half a day for me so that's about £3. :p:

Reply 7

teriaki

OP

12

Brotherhood

*whistles*

Don't really do the GOMAD or anywhere near thing myself. Pint and a half a day for me so that's about £3. :p:

What kind of milk do you buy? The 4 pint stuff I get from Sainsbury's only sets me back 1 £ but you manage to spends three times as much and get less than half as much. Or do you mean you spend 3£ a week, not a day, on milk?
This is one of the main reasons I don't like student life- stupid budgetary constraints won't let me eat normally.

Reply 8

southernlight

RawJoh1

I spend approaching £20 a week on milk alone. Stupid Oxford prices. :frown:

How much milk do you drink?!

Reply 9

ch0c0h01ic

18

teriaki

I get meals 2x a day 5x a week from my uni accommodation which still leaves quite a bit that I have to get for myself.
I personally rely heavily on Sainsburys basics.
I eat a lot of canned stuff like minced beef, beans and chicken curry. The closes thing I can afford to pure meat is ham. Lean meat is just so expensive here in Britain.

Cheap protein sources:
Whey protein
Cheap cuts of meat (ie; chicken legs and thighs, braising steak, liver, etc)
Tuna
Eggs
Beans and Lentils (dirt cheap, high in protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals and low GI carbs). Buy them dried and soak them overnight, fraction of the price of tinned.

Shop around, check out your local butcher because sometimes they end up cheaper than the supermarket and/or you get better produce.

Steer clear of tinned curry, minced beef, etc. If you actually look on the ingredients I will be that it is actually pretty low on the protein front (ie; 5-10g per 100) and be high in fat and additives. Make your own, far cheaper and better for you.

teriaki

In addition to that, I eat couscous, instant mashed potatoes and noodles.
A nice little discovery of mine was Sainsbury's Fruit and Fiber cereal and muesli- quite cheap and provides a wide variety of nutrients.
Any other ideas?

Cereal? Oats are significantly cheaper and just as good if not better for you. They're also good for bulking up whey shakes.

Instant mash and noodles? Replace them with lentils, beans, etc, they're higher in protein and lower GI.

Reply 10

teriaki

What kind of milk do you buy? The 4 pint stuff I get from Sainsbury's only sets me back 1 £ but you manage to spends three times as much and get less than half as much. Or do you mean you spend 3£ a week, not a day, on milk?
This is one of the main reasons I don't like student life- stupid budgetary constraints won't let me eat normally.

A week. I buy exactly the same as you from Sainsburys evidently.

e.g. I spent £44 on my shop this morning and won't have to buy again for ore than two except for milk, eggs and some oranges and bananas next week. And I'd say I could get that down significantly if I really wanted to.

Buy own brand.

Chicken fillets are half-price at the mo.

Turkey and turkey mince!

Buy frozen veg and fruit (where possible). Cheaper and more convenient.

+ everything Choc said.

Reply 11

southernlight

How much milk do you drink?!

4 pints of full fat milk is £1.50 at Sainsburies (both Westgate and Central) or Co-Op.

I gun for 8 pints a day, don't always hit that though. So £3 x 7 = £21.

Reply 12

Poica

southernlight

How much milk do you drink?!

They're building muscle and so need a massive calorie surplus which they partially fill in with milk.

Reply 13

terpineol

I mainly live off stacks of tesco value pasta, and tesco value mince, cooked up with a few tins of value tomatoes.

Value kidney beans are good too thrown in, as are baked beans, perhaps with some sweetcorn.

Reply 14

deanot88

RawJoh1

4 pints of full fat milk is £1.50 at Sainsburies (both Westgate and Central) or Co-Op.

I gun for 8 pints a day, don't always hit that though. So £3 x 7 = £21.

Why would you want to drink 8 pints of milk a day?

Reply 15

southernlight

Poica

They're building muscle and so need a massive calorie surplus which they partially fill in with milk.

Yup I realise that now :p:

Reply 16

deanot88

Why would you want to drink 8 pints of milk a day?

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showpost.php?p=15259456&postcount=14

Mark Rippetoe writes in Starting Strength:

"One of the best ways to move in the direction of these numbers is to drink a gallon of milk a day, most especially if weight gain is a primary concern. A gallon of milk per day, added to the regular diet at intervals throughout the day, will put weight on any skinny kid. Really"

Reply 17

Skies

Oats, oats and more oats

so cheap, they are like staple in my diet, go with anything if you can stomach some of the dodgey textures, and they don't require cooking if you don't mind eating them raw

Reply 18

teriaki

OP

12

Skies

Oats, oats and more oats

so cheap, they are like staple in my diet, go with anything if you can stomach some of the dodgey textures, and they don't require cooking if you don't mind eating them raw

The muesli I eat is already largely composed of oats.
I also eat a fair bit of peanut butter. I go for the low fat version which is "only" 35% fat. Is this a good nutritional choice or not?

Reply 19