Thread: money and food how do i eat big on a budget?

iv been meaning to start a thread on this, i decided to go and train to be a sparky. i love the job but 1st year apprentice money is pap!
reps for saving me asking lol

Bump. anyone?

I use a lot of bulkpowders 80%protien mate, mixed with oats that's 140 meals for £35!

yes as bigbob said, myprotein.co.uk do bulk whey supplies, i got 10lb of that and 5kg of maltodextrin for under £50. I get 57p oats from tesco too, to blend with my shake. I then vary the content of the shake depeinding on time of day/PWO/before bed etc.
I'm sure it will last me a couple of months AT LEAST. Thats giving me an extra 3-4 meals a day on top of food

sainsbury tuna in brine = 55p per can...turns out cheaper than tesco..go for bulk whey

that chicken is a good price, also try mince as its very cheap and frozen fish.

i buy frozen white fish from iceland. they do 900g-1kg for 3.50 and its lovely.

also cheap whey to add calories buy olive oil or 1kg tub of meridian peanut butter from holland and barret is 4 quid.
go to lidle 1 kg cous cous for less than a pound brown rice is also very cheap

All really good points.

Your thread was entitled eating big on a budget, so im gonna cover the major macro nutrients. Obviously protein is important, and whilst tesco smart price tuna is only 55p a tin, and you can get frozen chicken breasts cheap neither are complete proteins. What your body is after isn't so much the protein but its the ammino acids found within the protein, taking this into account, whey protein is vitaly important. Websites like bulkpowders.co.uk and my protein.co.uk do these cheap, invest in the biggest size you can afford, its often cheaper to get unflavoured powder. Eggs are obviously a great source of protein and fats, i know asda do 30 chefs eggs for £2.99. not the greatest quality, but good for adding quality protein and calories, also milk isnt a great protein if you have any digestion issues, but is a simple way to bump calories up and increase protein, buy in powder form to make it even cheaper. It also helps to go on the major supermarkets websites and see whats on offer, obviously 2-4-1's are a great way to get meat cheaper, and as long asits bought fresh can be frozen on the day, i just bought a load of turkey mince on offer and have stuck it in the freezer will use over the next couple of weeks. Tesco has an offer on at the moment of any 3 for £10 and 500g packs of steak are included as are the bbq range which obviously includes burgers another good bulking up food. shop later in the day to when food is getting written off because its close to its sell by date.

Carbohydrates are probably the easiest to buy in bulk and cheap, 1kg bag of couscous rarely cost over £1 brown basmati rice is always cheap, porridge oats are cheap, sacks of potatoes are cheap and easy to cook, and versatile (although potatoes arent that great, sweet potatoes are much better for you, though slightly more expensive) also carbohydrate powders like maldoxetrin can be bought VERY cheap on websites mentioned above. were talking £10 for 5kg. Wholemeal pasta is also a great carb and cheap and oatcakes can be bought in bulk and make a great carb with zero prep time to eat.

Fats are crucial, and oils like extra virgin olvie oil can be added to foods to increase healthy fats and calorie count to meals, peanut butter is in expensive when bought in bulk, and eggs yolks are high in protein and fats, also seed mixes cost pennies but are a great source of fats 50p for 100g of mixed seeds from tesco, 50gs of seed provides 20g of healthy fats.

thanks scj great post and thanks to the other guys, yeh im pretty happy with my supplement range (myprotein / bulk) so this thread is really for 'food'. Things liek the turkey mince on special and the tesco steaks ill be getting them later.

30 eggs for 2.99 is a bargain as well sweet stuff.

anyone got any more bargain ideas?

i want steak!!!!!!!

u got a meat market ???? i get 5 packs of meat on mine for £10 1 pack of 4 x steaks
1 pack of 3 x chicken breaks 1 pack of mince ( packs about the size of a pc keyboard full ofthe stuff lol dont know wot grams ) 1 pack of stew steak and 1 pack of 20 sausages

then i go next door and get 24 eggs for £3.50

so £13.50p for the lot and does me a week i just buy 2 bags of rice for £2.00 and go market and get weeks worth of broccolli x 4 2 x cabbage 6 xcarrrotts and 4 x 3x peppers 5 x corchettes and 6 x leeks sack of over 50 potatoes

total £24 quid i then get 6 tins of tuna and have 2 tins every day i work out 2 tins a day as i do a 3 day split

sub total £30 ...and i still have a few bits left over
just stick the meet in freezer veg in fridge and ya sorted

then i get long life milk 4 cartons for 2 quid also get pumpkin seeded granary bread ....soo for around £30 odd a week u can have really good foods i dont get protein shakes as i preffered proper food and im lucky in the sense i have natural muscle and dont need as much protein as sum im lucky i guess i really hope this helps u try thinking more toward markets instead of supermarkets

I'm with SCJ on the tesco 3 for a tenner deal, been gettin it every week since it started couple of months back. Normally get 2 lots of the deal so get say 2 whole chickens, 2 packs pork loin steaks, 2 packs lamb steak for 20 quid, pretty good and allows me to have a pack of meat a day so lasts a week.

Try budget places like lidl etc, get some good meat on offer there now and again also.

Dandy that meat market sounds fan-f*ckin-tastic you lucky bugger wish there was somethin like that around here!!

Originally Posted by d4ead

im really struggling to pay for my diet these days, so im after as much advice as i can get on eating big on a budget.

some of the things i currently utilise

tesco Scottish oats 1kg = 80p
tesco value rice pudding = 18p
tesco brown rice = £1.34
tesco value eggs (15) = £1.57
tesco value chicken breasts (1kg frozen) = £3.20
tesco tuna in brine x 4 = £3.25

but soon as you get to meats im pretty much stuffed, i love my steak but i am really struggling to aford it at the minute.

How do you guys cope.

ps if you have loads of money please send me some, im fed up with working a 45 hour a week night shift and not earning as much as my mortgage. Thank f*ck the wife earns enougth to by the little food we can.

Also try shopping at meat markets you can usually find good bargains there especially at the end of the day

Originally Posted by neildo

Dandy that meat market sounds fan-f*ckin-tastic you lucky bugger wish there was somethin like that around here!!

yeah its amazing good quality stuff too ... when i lived in nottm i had nothing like tht ...in lincoln its very contry sidey soo theres always plenty of meat and veg im very fortunate and lucky to have it here as my job as been axed soo lol