Feeding yourself for £200 a month???
Hi
I'm trying to work out some kind of budget for when I go to uni in September. Do you think it's possible to feed yourself for £200 a month (this doesn't include alcohol!!)
Trying to figure how much money I could manage on and how many hours I may need to do in a part time job.
Thanks.
I'm trying to work out some kind of budget for when I go to uni in September. Do you think it's possible to feed yourself for £200 a month (this doesn't include alcohol!!)
Trying to figure how much money I could manage on and how many hours I may need to do in a part time job.
Thanks.
Scroll to see replies
My boyfriend and I feed ourselves for 150 a month so can't see why you couldn't manage one person for around 100 if not less depending on what kind of supermarkets you have available near your uni.
Couldn't see anyone spending 200 unless you have takeaways pretty often or you can't cook
Couldn't see anyone spending 200 unless you have takeaways pretty often or you can't cook
I have £190 a month after rent which has to cover food, travel to placement, nights out, alcohol, luxuries etc.
£200 a month is more than enough for food
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£200 a month is more than enough for food
Posted from TSR Mobile
I think you could live off half that personally. I spend £25-£30 and that includes lots of meat and fish, which tend to be pricey. I do shop in lidl, though.
yep buy swmart price and ur good
Of course that's more than enough. I grew up in a home with 4 people including myself and we didn't even spend that much a month.
Idk if you're living off campus or what, but I live off campus & commute to campus daily (
) and pay utility (mother pays rent 
), and I shop/cook for myself, excluding when mates or a bloke I might be seeing help me out from time to time.
I know the main thing to save up and stay full is to like eat out of cans and cooked noodles everyday but...I simply can't.
So like go by each week. Plan a meal for each week. A meal for yourself shouldn't cost over like £40/wk. Like let's say you want to make fish & chips (everyday? lol why not?). 600g of fish/1lb is like £7. A sack of potatoes is like £2. (I'm talkin ASDA). Try to stretch it along with like a dessert/snacks for when you're just feeling peckish, and you see yourself spending under £40/wk.
Don't do the whole takeaway thing, your money will fly out your hand. Shopping for ingredients for fish and chips might cost more than a takeaway that night but it lasts you for way longer. Like a lot of my friends just eat takeaway eeeeveryday and end up with no money, but they live at home & can do that so ok
You're just gonna have to cut down & simplify. Buy some bread, some carved meat, some cheese, make some sandwiches every night
lol
Idk if you're living off campus or what, but I live off campus & commute to campus daily (
) and pay utility (mother pays rent ), and I shop/cook for myself, excluding when mates or a bloke I might be seeing help me out from time to time.I know the main thing to save up and stay full is to like eat out of cans and cooked noodles everyday but...I simply can't.
So like go by each week. Plan a meal for each week. A meal for yourself shouldn't cost over like £40/wk. Like let's say you want to make fish & chips (everyday? lol why not?
). 600g of fish/1lb is like £7. A sack of potatoes is like £2. (I'm talkin ASDA). Try to stretch it along with like a dessert/snacks for when you're just feeling peckish, and you see yourself spending under £40/wk. Don't do the whole takeaway thing, your money will fly out your hand. Shopping for ingredients for fish and chips might cost more than a takeaway that night but it lasts you for way longer. Like a lot of my friends just eat takeaway eeeeveryday and end up with no money, but they live at home & can do that so ok
You're just gonna have to cut down & simplify. Buy some bread, some carved meat, some cheese, make some sandwiches every night
lolYou can definitely feed yourself properly for that price. First off, I'd like to ask that you don't eat a lot processed food. Just isn't healthy. If you try to eat too cheap or too convenient, you might be paying a heck lot more for your medical expenses if you do that.
Anyway, I suggest you keep a look out for good offers in superstores like Lidl, Morrison's etc. I personally work at Morrison's. And by the end of the day, the price reductions are insane. People buy a weeks worth of food for less than £15. A lot of the food, when nearing expiry, go through severe price reductions. You can quite comfortably live off that. And if you've got a friend with a staff discount card, you're in luck! Hope this helped!
Posted from TSR Mobile
Anyway, I suggest you keep a look out for good offers in superstores like Lidl, Morrison's etc. I personally work at Morrison's. And by the end of the day, the price reductions are insane. People buy a weeks worth of food for less than £15. A lot of the food, when nearing expiry, go through severe price reductions. You can quite comfortably live off that. And if you've got a friend with a staff discount card, you're in luck! Hope this helped!
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by theblues1
Thanks guys.
That's great. It's just my mum had been speaking to a couple of other parents who have had kids in uni and they said it wasn't enough!!!!! God knows what they used to eat. Or maybe just spoilt. Cheers.
That's great. It's just my mum had been speaking to a couple of other parents who have had kids in uni and they said it wasn't enough!!!!! God knows what they used to eat. Or maybe just spoilt. Cheers.
You can still eat well on half that.
I agree they must either be spoilt, fussy or have a very particular diet for whatever reason be it lifestyle or health.
It's definitely enough. Me and my fiance shop at Asda and spend approx £150 a month for two of us on food and toiletries. You just have to buy smart, not things like ready meals.
I recommend:
- 3 for £10 on chicken,
- A couple of packs of mince - irish mince is cheaper than British mince btw and no different in my opinion (you can make a shepherds pie or a lasagne which can last a couple of meals at least),
- Make your own sauces ( you just need things like stock, tins of chopped tomatoes, vinegars, herbs and spices - granted there is the initial expense of buying herbs and spices but you will save yourself LOTS of money in the long-term),
- Buy big bags of value pasta and rice,
- Cheap own-brand cereals rather than branded cereals (and actually often don't taste any different - I buy asda's own version of cheerios and weetabix and they are nice)
- Frozen veg because it's just as good as fresh and you get lots more of it than you would get in a fresh pack
- If you do buy fresh veg, don't buy it ready-chopped (extrmeely poor value, you're better off doing it yourself e.g. carrots, lettuce, potatoes etc).
- If you like sausages, Asda do a pack of 16 richmonds in the frozen section for £2!
Don't be hooked on getting lots of deals because sometimes it seems like a deal but it isn't saving you money, actually it's make you spend more - think to yourself 'Do I need this?' 'Would I have bought this type of item if this item wasn't on offer?' 'Is it likely to go off before I've had a chance to eat it?'
Another tip - freeze leftovers and anything that is likely to go off quickly that you're not likely to finish.
We also get a few freezer type foods for if we're not in the mood to cook (that reduces the risk of wanting to grab a take away just because it's quick and easy), so things like fish cakes, chicken pies etc. Something frozen you can just stick in the oven.
I recommend:
- 3 for £10 on chicken,
- A couple of packs of mince - irish mince is cheaper than British mince btw and no different in my opinion (you can make a shepherds pie or a lasagne which can last a couple of meals at least),
- Make your own sauces ( you just need things like stock, tins of chopped tomatoes, vinegars, herbs and spices - granted there is the initial expense of buying herbs and spices but you will save yourself LOTS of money in the long-term),
- Buy big bags of value pasta and rice,
- Cheap own-brand cereals rather than branded cereals (and actually often don't taste any different - I buy asda's own version of cheerios and weetabix and they are nice)
- Frozen veg because it's just as good as fresh and you get lots more of it than you would get in a fresh pack
- If you do buy fresh veg, don't buy it ready-chopped (extrmeely poor value, you're better off doing it yourself e.g. carrots, lettuce, potatoes etc).
- If you like sausages, Asda do a pack of 16 richmonds in the frozen section for £2!
Don't be hooked on getting lots of deals because sometimes it seems like a deal but it isn't saving you money, actually it's make you spend more - think to yourself 'Do I need this?' 'Would I have bought this type of item if this item wasn't on offer?' 'Is it likely to go off before I've had a chance to eat it?'
Another tip - freeze leftovers and anything that is likely to go off quickly that you're not likely to finish.
We also get a few freezer type foods for if we're not in the mood to cook (that reduces the risk of wanting to grab a take away just because it's quick and easy), so things like fish cakes, chicken pies etc. Something frozen you can just stick in the oven.
(edited 8 years ago)
I only spend about £20 a week on food and toiletries. I also buy frozen chicken breasts, they're such good value and taste exactly the same to me 
Just try to cut down on going out for food and takeaways - it's the massive spender and I know personally ;/
Even buying ingredients for burgers gives you more than one portion for the price of one meal of going out.
Even buying ingredients for burgers gives you more than one portion for the price of one meal of going out.
Original post by theblues1
Appreciate all your replies. Thanks. So hopefully with a part time job of about 10-12 hrs a week I should be fine to pay for the social side!! I was hearing that everyone nicked your food in halls so you always end up having to spend more. Hope not.
Thank you!
Thank you!
This only happened a few times with me. I kept anything nice (that didn't need to be in the fridge/freezer) in my room (e.g. chocolate). One time someone randomly took my bag of frozen peas out of the freezer during the night and left them there. That was annoying, but they don't cost much!
I've fed myself with < £100.
That's plenty for a month unless you're eating caviar ..? If you really wanted to you could cut it down to £15 a month albeit you'll be rather hungry most of the time
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