The idea of eating healthily can be a costly and difficult one for the average person, but it doesn’t have to be.
Healthy living doesn’t mean breaking your budget – in fact, it’s often cheaper than buying junk food.
With some careful planning and a bit of savvy shopping, you can enjoy plenty of fresh ingredients without blowing your weekly budget.
Wondering how you can pull off the £30 a week stance?
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Shop around, eat seasonally, meal plan, reduce your meat intake.
Also, learn to make your own snacks, drink only water, make your own bread, use cheaper cuts of meat, and eat pulses.
There are several ways to make food healthier and less expensive!
Let’s go through Tesco offers this week for a more convincing outlook:
Your Tesco shopping list:
Bananas – Loose @ 0.14 ea – 0.70
Potatoes – Finest Jacket potatoes 4 pack – 1.50
Low-fat yoghurt – Danone Actimel 8 x 100g – 2.75
Skimmed milk – Tesco skimmed milk 1 pint – 0.60
Tinned lentil soup – Tesco Lentil & vegetable soup 400g – 0.45
Pure, unsweetened orange juice – Tesco Pure Orange Juice Smooth 4x1L – 3.30
Salmon – Tesco 2 boneless salmon fillets 260g – 3.79
Unsalted peanuts – Tesco unsalted roasted monkey nuts 300g – 1.20
Apples – Gala apples class 1 loose – 0.43
Pears – Conference pears class 1 loose @0.51 ea – 1.02
Plums – Tesco plums 400g – 1.50
Carrot sticks – Tesco Fresh & Easy carrot batons 600g – 1.00
Wholemeal bread – Tesco wholemeal medium bread 800g – 0.59
Wholemeal rolls – Tesco wholemeal batch rolls 6 pack – 0.49
Tomatoes – Tesco salad tomatoes 6 pack – 0.75
Cucumber – Tesco cucumber whole – 0.43
Oatcakes – Stockan’s thick oatcakes 200g – 0.95
Spaghetti bolognese – Tesco spaghetti bolognese 400g – 0.60
Tuna – Tesco tuna chunks in brine 145g – 0.79
Brocolli – Tesco broccoli 375g – 0.49
Chicken – Tesco British whole medium chicken 1.3-1.5kg – 3.35
Total – £26.68
Your week’s meals
Monday
Breakfast: Porridge made with skimmed milk; 1 banana; a glass of pure, unsweetened orange juice.
Lunch: Tinned or homemade lentil soup; wholemeal roll (add unsaturated fat spread).
Supper: Jacket potato with frozen peas and baked salmon.
Snacks: Small handful of unsalted peanuts; low-fat fruit yoghurt.
Tuesday
Breakfast: Poached egg on 2 slices of wholegrain toast; a glass of pure, unsweetened orange juice.
Lunch: Wholemeal bread sandwich with egg, tomato and cucumber.
Supper: Spaghetti Bolognese and a salad.
Snacks: Carrot sticks; 1 small handful of unsalted peanuts.
Wednesday
Breakfast: 2 x wholegrain toast with a low-fat spread, honey and banana; a glass of pure, unsweetened orange juice.
Lunch: Lentil soup (tinned or homemade); wholemeal roll with unsaturated fat spread.
Supper: Slice of homemade vegetarian pizza with salad and a jacket potato.
Snacks: Low-fat yoghurt; 2 plums; apple.
Thursday
Breakfast: 2 slices of wholegrain bread (toasted) and a boiled egg; a glass of pure, unsweetened orange juice.
Lunch: Jacket potato and baked beans; salad.
Supper: Home-made chunky vegetable goulash; brown rice; broccoli.
Snacks: 3 oatcakes with low-fat cream cheese; pear.
Friday
Breakfast: Porridge with skimmed milk; 1 banana; a glass of pure, unsweetened orange juice.
Lunch: Homemade carrot and parsnip soup; wholemeal roll with unsaturated fat spread.
Supper: Homemade tuna pasta bake; broccoli.
Snacks: Apple; 1 small handful of unsalted peanuts; pear.
Saturday
Breakfast: Muesli, natural yoghurt and a banana; 1 x wholegrain toast.
Lunch: Chicken and vegetable bake; baked apple and custard.
Supper: Chicken, cucumber and tomato wholemeal bread sandwiches
Snacks: 2 plums; a small handful of unsalted peanuts; carrot sticks.
Sunday
Breakfast: Muesli, skimmed milk and a banana; 1 glass of pure, unsweetened orange juice.
Lunch: Cheese and salad sandwich; salad
Supper: Homemade cottage pie served with peas and carrots.
Snacks: 3 oatcakes with low-fat cream cheese; 2 plums.
Conclusion
See how easy it is to make it with a £30 food budget per week?
You can even reduce it further by making your own bread, drinking more water instead of juice, planting your own tomatoes, cucumbers etc.
In this period of inflation, be sure you make every effort to save money whenever you can.
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Thara says
These are some of my money saving tips. Or you can use food banks, farm markets and local farm shops instead. I find that things like cheese is often better purchased at a garden centre farm shop counter or from a weekly farming market. I always buy my fresh fruit or vegetables from there too in order to save me more time and money.
You can also ask if your closest friends and family members have any leftover or spare food supplies to use up at home cooking like eggs. They may even supply their unwanted fruit or vegetables to you. If there is a community allotment or pick your own farm nearby then start going there as well to find more fresh fruit and vegetables. It cannot hurt you to do so. I often like to track down stuff that way.
Try asking around to start off with. Good luck. It is really not that hard to find and buy your fresh fruit and veg elsewhere on the cheap. Other than at the closest supermarket that is. Many community or private allotment owners like to sell on their fresh fruit and vegetables cheaply to needy members of society. Or you can even order a entire box of fresh fruit and vegetables over the internet as a last ditch option. Try your luck.
Thara says
Heya. We had a family meeting one day early a few years back. It was all about ways in order to be healthy. We decided to find some free books at a local library and online as well. So we now take a look on my own phone to find recipes that can be printed out to use. And we always think carefully. That is important.
Good luck. We tend to plan all of our family meals, rely on themes and so on. For example we really only like to use own brand goods. And we opt for cheaper meals at local cafes, pubs and restaurants. We no longer do a weekly food shop at a big shot supermarket. Instead we choose to get items elsewhere from the farm shops and at a nice weekly farmer market. My costs are reduced that way.
I always prefer to make my own meal plans. I rely on a weekly meal plan to help to save me cash. It helps me to do so truly. Tomorrow I am off to a class in which I will learn how to make some Easter chocolates to eat at home. Best wishes.
Thara says
Heya.
I tend to use my own unique recipes. I always use the Internet in order to find all manner of recipes and make some brief summary notes. I borrow other stuff as much as I can do so. Good luck. You can even find all types of free or cheap cook books at your local library or bookshop these days. Do visit to make use of this cool fact. Pool your resources.
I also now buy fresh fruit and veg often either from a weekly market in town or at a farm shop located in a garden centre. Alternatively I purchase meat and eggs in addition from other recommended places. I buy things like honey and butter at a farm shop. I often have a new small bottle of new milk or wine from friends or family after asking for their permission that is. I also see if I can buy a few eggs on the cheap. I like to grow cool apples and so on. Sweets I buy at a sweet shop.
Some people get their milk from a old fashioned milk delivery service. As for ice cream I only buy it at the ice cream shops or from a mobile ice cream van. We eat at home to save us more money.
Thara says
Heya.
Thanks. I frequently manage to take a decent look at items at a local farm shop in order to see what I can happen to find to use. I always pay very close attention to my allergies and food safety. I also keep tabs on my food supplies to make things that much easier on me when I go to do my weekly food shopping. I make lots of written lists to refer back to in addition. I find all manner of free, fun and cool recipes online. I use my old family cookbooks. For example tonight’s dinner consists of cooked fish and half of a leftover chocolate cake. Tomorrow I will have a dinner of roast potatoes and baked ham with chopped up lettuce and sweets. On Wednesday I will eat cheese with stewed pears and biscuits. On Thursday evening I will probably have either a stir fry or quiche. Friday’s hot dinner will be soup followed by tomato flan and melted chocolates for dessert.