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Budget meal planning
This report says that average spend per person per week on food and drink was £44.67 in 2023, or £6.38 per day. This is £2323 a year per person. Spend, say, £1.40 per day, which is more than all the meal plans on Thrifty Lesley, that is £511 a year per person, a HUGE saving of £1,812 per person per year.
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Average UK Food Spend, Annual and Weekly
| Per Person | Per Household (avg 2.3 people) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Food at Home | £34 | £79 |
| Food Out (e.g., restaurants, take away, etc.) | £10 | £23 | |
| Total | £45 | £103 | |
| Per Year | Food at Home | £1,793 | £4,124 |
| Food Out (e.g., restaurants, take away, etc.) | £530 | £1,220 | |
| Total | £2,323 | £5,343 |
source nimblefins
This means that a family of four would save a whopping £7,248pa. This kind of figure would make a significant difference to sorting out any debts, or it could pay for a decent family holiday or maybe a significant dent in a deposit for a house, or it could buy a decent car…. Or what else? What could you do with nearly £7,300? And don’t forget, this is without earning or saving a single penny extra.
- Meal planning on a budget for 2? I cook for just my husband and myself, so most of the meal plans are for 2, and very easy to scale up for a family by doubling all the ingredients. The recipe cards can all be scaled up to 3, 4 or more, or down to 1, thus showing the amount of ingredient to use without you having to calculate it yourself.
- The easiest way to cook for just yourself using these meal plans is to make good use of your fridge and freezer. Many of the meals freeze very well, so make the quantity for two, freeze half and use it later in the week. Or just pop it in the fridge for a couple of days.
- Bread and scones can be used straight from the freezer and will stay fresh until needed
- Got leftovers?
- Sometimes, even with the best of planning, leftovers happen. I might not have been as hungry as usual, been invited for a meal by someone, or gone out for something to eat.
- So, what to do with unexpected leftovers? I usually have them for lunch the next day and not make the meal that is in the plan in that slot. That will of course create leftovers of its own of the unused ingredients. Just carry them over and use them some other time, If your budget is extra tight, make the unused meal and freeze to make maximum use of your ingredients.
What Is In A Thrifty Lesley Frugal Meal Plan
The meal plans for 2 people have enough calories for 2 adults, 2000 and 2500 per day. The plans for 4 people include enough calories for 2 teenage children. There are three meals per day, plus some cakey extras to fill hungry moments, and just because cake is lovely to have.
It is disproportionately important to have something nice to eat if you are skint. If you don’t need that many calories, I’m sure you are used to the amounts that you need and can adjust things accordingly. Many things will freeze, so you could make the 2 portions but split into, say, 3, and freeze the extra for another day. I’ll leave that part of things to you, only you know what you need.
All the plans are within current Govt. guidelines for healthy eating and most contain significantly more than 5 a day. If there are 4 of you, buy 2 lots of everything on the 2 person plans. If there is 1 of you, spread each day over 2 days, and if you have one, make use of your freezer for the fresh stuff. Each meal plan is completely self contained, they provide everything you need for a week, excluding tea/coffee. I don’t assume you have anything at all in your cupboards, except salt and pepper. Recipes usually include many suggestions for additions and variations, so if you have a larder, you can ring the changes.
What If I Already Have Some Items From The Budget Shopping List
If you already have some of the items in your larder, oil and sugar perhaps, can I suggest that you use the money that would have been spent on those things to buy a spice e.g. cumin, turmeric or ground coriander, or a piece of fresh ginger (which can be grated and frozen, or grated directly from the freezer) or a jar of ginger and garlic, or perhaps a pot of growing herbs; basil, coriander, mint or thyme; or a bottle of lemon or lime juice, which keeps for ages. With things like that in your larder, the options for flavouring your food are that much greater. I offer some variations in each recipe that you might like to try if you have the ingredient(s) available. Don’t forget to check out the price per 100g, those little jars of spices are the most expensive options.
Can I Change Things, Will I Still Save Money
You can, of course, change the meals around to suit yourself, combine the shopping list of ingredients in any other way that suits you, add extra ingredients that you may have, just use one of the recipes, leave out anything you don’t like or need or change anything else that you see fit.
If you do use anything from here, I would love it if you let me know how you get on.
If you shop at the price point given, of course, it doesn’t matter where you get it. I give as much detail as I can, to enable you to get as much value as you can while doing your shopping. If you don’t have an Asda near you, or whichever shop I use for the particular plan, the budget supermarkets all offer good value. Look at the value ranges of the big supermarkets, or try Costco, Morrisons, Lidl or Aldi. Markets are a great source of cheap groceries, always worth a look.
I generally do weekly meal plans using Asda as the shop of choice. This is not because it is the cheapest, but because they stock things like lentils, and other ingredients, that Lidl and Aldi do not.