Eating Well During the Credit Crunch
Ranked #5,356 in Food, #158,879 overall | Donates to Oxfam America
How can I save money and eat well?
The credit crunch is here, and most people are feeling their wallets getting tighter. It is still important to eat well (assuming you ate well when the money was good). Here are some tips to find ways to save money, while getting the best possible food and probably eat better than before.
Some people will need to change their habits, although some of the more frugal will be further honing habits already being developed. I share with you some of my tips on living this way. Still having a relatively comfortable life while saving money. I warn you, it may require an investment of time, but most things really worth having in life require that.
Feel free to use the voting list, or guest book to leave your comments and tips here.
Just so you know, this page donates to Oxfam to help deal with food problems much greater than ours. With some perspective, it is not hard to see there are those suffering much more. Having to put in more effort to keep our lives good is really not such a great issue.
Some people will need to change their habits, although some of the more frugal will be further honing habits already being developed. I share with you some of my tips on living this way. Still having a relatively comfortable life while saving money. I warn you, it may require an investment of time, but most things really worth having in life require that.
Feel free to use the voting list, or guest book to leave your comments and tips here.
Just so you know, this page donates to Oxfam to help deal with food problems much greater than ours. With some perspective, it is not hard to see there are those suffering much more. Having to put in more effort to keep our lives good is really not such a great issue.
Contents
- Top Tips to get through this
- Things are not as bad as you think here
- Get started growing your own food with this kit
- Why should you consider lunch boxes?
- Other ways to save money on a work lunch
- The Simple Supermarket meal
- Miso Soup
- Make sandwiches at work
- Other work lunch ideas
- Save money by using last nights or refrigerated cooked rice
- Making your own smoothies
- Frugal Living
- Add your sites for eating well on a budget here
- Links for saving money
- Bookmark This Lens
- How are you saving money?
Top Tips to get through this
Stuff you definitely can do
These are actual things you can do to help out your household, ensuring you have food, minimise waste and eat well.
Read what is in food you buy
Do not just buy stuff for the sake of it, read the more...1 point
Grow your own food.
This is a good one - if you learn to cook, it will more...1 point
Learn how to home freeze
You can plan to home freeze some foods that come i more...1 point
Compare prices
Supermarkets may not differ hugely, but for your o more...1 point
Plan what you will eat
Don't just go to the supermarket with no idea. Sta more...0 points
Make lunchboxes
It costs around £100 a month if you spend £5 a d more...0 points
Learn to eat seasonally
In many supermarkets, and more so in farm shops or more...0 points
Consider a seasonal vegetable delivery scheme
These mean that you may not get to plan so much, a more...0 points
Find things to do with stuff past its prime
Stale bread makes great croutons for a soup or sal more...0 points
Things are not as bad as you think here
However bad things may seem here in the UK or US, or perhaps anywhere where you are comfortably reading this web page, they are a lot worse somewhere else.
Food may seem expensive to you, but at least you can buy it. So spare a thought for those who cannot buy it, where eating seems like a luxury not a necessity due to its scarcity.
Please, either donate, or if you are able to write, then write your own article donating to charity and make a difference that way. Even if you have not got the money, a little time is not a lot to ask is it?
Food may seem expensive to you, but at least you can buy it. So spare a thought for those who cannot buy it, where eating seems like a luxury not a necessity due to its scarcity.
Please, either donate, or if you are able to write, then write your own article donating to charity and make a difference that way. Even if you have not got the money, a little time is not a lot to ask is it?
Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 120 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty
Get started growing your own food with this kit
AeroGarden Cherry Tomato Seed Kit
Amazon Price: Too low to display (as of 07/12/2009)
As you will know from my other lens, growing tomatoes is fairly fun and easy, and can be done in a window sill. This kit has everything you need to get started. This kit gets the seeds going quickly with no dirt or mess. It is 100% natural and organic. You will not need any gardening experience to get started with this kit. More on growing tomatoes.
Why should you consider lunch boxes?
Every day, most of us go to work. This may be any number of places, office, factory, onsite, a school, a hospital or whatever. Generally, there are only very basic facilities for you to provide your own food. You will be unlikely to be able to cook a meal there.This normally means buying stuff from a canteen, a visiting sandwich man, or going to a local cafe. You may even regularly go to a restaurant if you can afford it.
On average, when I was buying lunches out and around the office, it worked out at £5 a day, a figure that is probably similar in most currencies. Give or take, this works at £25 a week (on a 5 day working week), and that is roughly £100 a month. This is now serious money. It is £1200 a year.
So a very simple way to save money is to bring a lunch box, or find other ways to do lunch.
Tupperware boxes are relatively inexpensive. Less than a lunch in a cafe normally. You then need to prepare some food - this may be some sandwiches, but also consider cooking an additional portion when doing dinner, some meals make for a great lunch box. Among my home made lunch box favourites are Pasta, Chicken Katsu Curry with Rice, Beef in Black bean sauce & rice, Sushi, Lasagne and Chilli Con Carne. You can then use a microwave at the workplace to heat them.
Other ways to save money on a work lunch
So you cannot make lunchboxes? It happens, perhaps you do not have enough time in the morning, or perhaps you don't make home cooked meals so do not have any spare. You may not have time to make lunch boxes the night, or morning before, or there may not be a microwave, but there are alternatives.
This is where there are still some tasty alternatives. With major supermarkets on every corner, it may be tempting to go grab pre packed sandwiches - but wait, they are fairly pricey, a bit soggy and you never feel you got your moneys worth.
Many office kitchens have a fridge for employee use. So buy a loaf of bread, and some fillings, and make your own sandwiches daily. If you can, keep a stock of fresh fruit at your workplace, so you can dig into a tasty apple during morning or afternoon breaks.
For something hot and cheap, try buying miso soup sachets. Miso soup is a superb addition to many meals, and is also a pretty healthy eat.
Although not as good as a lunchbox for savings or taste, supermarket ready meals tend to be much cheaper than a cafe. what follows are some more adaptable ideas:
This is where there are still some tasty alternatives. With major supermarkets on every corner, it may be tempting to go grab pre packed sandwiches - but wait, they are fairly pricey, a bit soggy and you never feel you got your moneys worth.
Many office kitchens have a fridge for employee use. So buy a loaf of bread, and some fillings, and make your own sandwiches daily. If you can, keep a stock of fresh fruit at your workplace, so you can dig into a tasty apple during morning or afternoon breaks.
For something hot and cheap, try buying miso soup sachets. Miso soup is a superb addition to many meals, and is also a pretty healthy eat.
Although not as good as a lunchbox for savings or taste, supermarket ready meals tend to be much cheaper than a cafe. what follows are some more adaptable ideas:
The Simple Supermarket meal
This is great if your workplace has a fridge to store butter. It does not require a microwave, although plates are advisable. It is more pricey than making your own sandwiches, but still considerably cheaper than Cafes and restaurants.
Work Kitchen Items Needed
Shopping List
This is very simple to prepare. Simply slice and butter the roll, and place on the plate with the meat and veg.
Work Kitchen Items Needed
- Plates
- table knife (I would not advise the plastic kind)
- Fork
- Fridge
Shopping List
- A bread roll - if you buy a few, you can keep them for a couple of days for other meals.
- A punnet of tomatoes or other fresh veg - raw salad veg is very healthy, and should be part of at least one meal. Now supermarkets have started stocking Tomato Growers selection boxes - with multicoloured tomatoes, I occasionally miss out on a lunch box so I have a good reason to buy one of these.
- Some spread or butter - I prefer spreadable butters with non-hydrogenated fats, but any preference will do.
- Hot meat - most supermarkets have a relatively cheap hot meat counter, where speciality sausages, portions of cooked meat or chicken are available.
This is very simple to prepare. Simply slice and butter the roll, and place on the plate with the meat and veg.
Miso Soup
This is a nice and simple snack, only needs a cup and hot water at its simplest.
Work Kitchen Items Needed
Shopping list
Miso soup is a tasty hot snack. It is a Japanese soup based on fermented soy beans and seaweed. These sachets are inexpensive from supermarkets, and Miso is a very healthy food.
It is a great addition to any meal, as well as a nice afternoon or morning top up.
Preparation is simply to pour the sachet into a container - they are normally a paste so you will need to squeeze it. You then add hot water, and stir.
You could simply use a mug and keep it simple, or you could serve it in a bowl with a buttered roll beside it.
Work Kitchen Items Needed
- Mug or bowl
- Hot water - kettle or urn
- Stirrer - spoon or plastic thing
- Storage cupboard for sachets (these are small, so your desk drawer will do as long as you close the packet well)
- Optional - side plate for roll
- Optional - table knife to spread butter
- Optional - fridge for butter
Shopping list
- Miso Soup Sachets - These can be stored in a cupboard as they generally have a few sachets. Try to avoid those with MSG (e624, Monosodium Glutamate) if possible.
- Optional - bread rolls and butter.
Miso soup is a tasty hot snack. It is a Japanese soup based on fermented soy beans and seaweed. These sachets are inexpensive from supermarkets, and Miso is a very healthy food.
It is a great addition to any meal, as well as a nice afternoon or morning top up.
Preparation is simply to pour the sachet into a container - they are normally a paste so you will need to squeeze it. You then add hot water, and stir.
You could simply use a mug and keep it simple, or you could serve it in a bowl with a buttered roll beside it.
Make sandwiches at work
You may need a relatively good work kitchen (I have one) to prepare this one. However it is very cheap, and you get to choose your items.
Work Kitchen Items Needed
Shopping List
I do this from time to time, it means assembling the sandwich at the work, but with good planning, you can buy stuff for a few days ahead, and have some variation. Preparation is pretty obvious. Just remember not to leave a terrible mess for your colleagues.
Work Kitchen Items Needed
- Plates
- Table knife for spreading and slicing
- Fridge space
- Cupboard storage - since this is bread, you may want an off-the-floor cupboard - some office kitchens have this.
Shopping List
- Loaf of bread - bear in mind the use by dates when picking your loaf. I would advise sliced bread unless you know there is a bread knife in the kitchen.
- Butter/Spread
- Contents - pickles, condiments, cooked sliced meats, fresh vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pastes and pates, cheese - the choice is entirely yours - just remember to vary it a bit.
- Fruit - a good inexpensive, healthy and tasty desert item to round off sandwiches is an apple or banana.
I do this from time to time, it means assembling the sandwich at the work, but with good planning, you can buy stuff for a few days ahead, and have some variation. Preparation is pretty obvious. Just remember not to leave a terrible mess for your colleagues.
Other work lunch ideas
If none of these are suitable, consider that £1200 a year has got to be worth thinking a little creatively about lunch time food.
Saving money need not mean eating badly or boring food as long as you give it a bit of time - plan, draw yourself a menu, try things.
Use the comment box to tell me other ways you are doing this, or describe what you have and see what we can come up with.
Saving money need not mean eating badly or boring food as long as you give it a bit of time - plan, draw yourself a menu, try things.
Use the comment box to tell me other ways you are doing this, or describe what you have and see what we can come up with.
Save money by using last nights or refrigerated cooked rice
Tip for getting reheated rice to come out okay in the microwave.
Rice nearly always turns out badly when reheated in the microwave. This means it is usually throw away and remade for the next day. I found a top-tip for reheating rice successfully:- Break the rice apart gently with a fork.
- cover with a damp (not dripping) kitchen towel.
- Microwave on high for a couple of minutes to reheat.
I picked up this tip from here - MyThings.com | How To Revive Refrigerated Rice in the Microwave.
Making your own smoothies
Save money and cut wasted fruit by making smoothies.
Smoothies are expensive to buy - they cost at least 2/3 times as much to buy as it would to make your own.Fruit slightly past its prime, or soft need not immediately go in the bin. They are ideal for making smoothies.
-
HOWTO: Make your own smoothies
-
Smoothies are expensive to buy - they cost at least 2 or 3 times as much to buy as it would to make your own. Any household looking to eat well should always have a stocked fruit bowl, fruit is not only relatively cheap, but it is a much healthier sn...
Frugal Living
Frugal Living for Dummies
Amazon Price: $11.55 (as of 07/12/2009)
This book is a great little resource, written with some storyline and a personal touch. It tells you how to get a family on board, how to manage finances and many, many frugal alternatives for living, entertaining, eating, celebrating and so on.
Add your sites for eating well on a budget here
If you have a site, or lens on eating well, please feel free to add it to this list. Please do me a favour and link back to me too though.
Note that anything that is considered not relevant will be removed.
Simple Solutions for Cheap and Easy Meals
It might be true that one reason many people have more...0 points
What Mom Really Wants (the perfect gift - you'll be surprised)
Pay attention, everyone who has or knows a mother more...0 points
Pinching pennies like your grandparents - Consumer news- msnbc.com
The skyrocketing cost of everything from cereal to more...0 points
Pay What You Want for Organic Food : Ecoscraps
In order to promote healthy, organic foods, one re more...0 points
Healthy Apple Carrot Zucchini Muffins | How to Eat Cheap
These are moist, yummy muffins without all the fat more...0 points
Healthy Food on an Unhealthy Budget %u221E Get Rich Slowly
What%u2019s your favorite healthy food that can be more...0 points
Save Money on Food - Interesting Facts on How to Keep Your Produce Fresh | Eddieway Articles
Here are a few tried and tested solutions for keep more...0 points
Links for saving money
There are plenty of places on the net that are good for saving money. Get into a habit of reading some of the more regularly updated ones, and you have a good chance of saving a fair amount. I apologise in advance that many of them will be more UK oriented.
- The Motley Fool UK
- The Motley Fool are a great site about saving money. They have tips on shopping, choosing accounts, choosing loans and credit cards. They have forums all about money saving, which even go into specifics like how to save money on hobbies, how to save money on household stuff like doing washing and so on.
They are independent and have consistently advised against certain types of insurance - such as the oversold payment protection insurance which is a scam. They offer advice to help readers consider if they should take their banks to court to reclaim bank to court.
There are tips on getting out of debt, and once out of debt, building up savings. Once you have savings, they then have information on investing them, about property, about share dealing, about savings accounts and bonds, ISAs, pensions and so on.
They update and add content regularly, as well as having comparison tables for anything you might like to buy. This site is really well worth reading regularly. - Money Saving Expert
- More tips and advice on saving money, getting out of debt, comaparing accounts and loans. Also more forums with information on this. This is a UK oriented site.
- Free Stuff from the Community to the Community all for free!
- Get free stuff, give stuff away, and help the environment.
FreeMesa.org provides people a place to give and receive items from their
communities all for free. Its free recycling made easy!
- Buy and sell stuff cheap
- GumTree are a good place for classifieds, and stuff that people sell personally (as long as you are savvy) will be cheaper than the same stuff new. Equally good for finding flats without going through expensive and untrustworthy agents. You can further use this for selling your stuff. This is always a useful place to know when the money is tight.
- The Motley Fool
- This is the US version of the UK Motley Fool. As a sister site, it is every bit as informative, but somewhat more US oriented, although some fundamental tips stay the same.
- The Freecycle Network
- Freecycle is about things you will no longer use, but probably do not have the resources to sell. Everything is free and it is from the point of view of why throw stuff away you may be able to use.
There are many freecycle groups, generally with one for each city. This applies in the UK, the states and much of the world.
My only real gripe is that it is not particularly IT savvy, and having used yahoo newsgroups for the system, there is no categorisation, it is hard to search, and will overwhelm email boxes in no time, so I do hope that one clever freecycle admin will discover that amazing 1970's invention called a database sometime in the near future. - Growing tomatoes (and other stuff)
- There is little as satisfying as eating food you have grown yourself. It is also a great way to save money if you like premium food.
Bookmark This Lens
How are you saving money?
Do you have other ways to save money? Tried some of these? Is there anything I should change or improve here?
paperfacets wrote...
Hi! I saved money by doing meal planning by the week. That way you go to the grocery with a list of only what you need for the week. Stick to the list and you won't bring home extra stuff which can add up.
Posted October 24, 2008
wstrauss73 wrote...
Most of those tips were great reminders of what we should be trying to do to be efficient and save money. 5-Stars
Bill S. -
What It Takes To Be A Lean Fat Burning Machine
Posted August 31, 2008
Image sources
Rice image derived from Wikipedia Commons and is distributed under the Creative Commons By Attribution Share Alike 2.5 license. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one.
Cashpoint Image: Royalty-free Photos. ©2007 NoNegatives.com.au. Used with permission.
Cashpoint Image: Royalty-free Photos. ©2007 NoNegatives.com.au. Used with permission.
by dannystaple
I build stuff, grow stuff, read stuff and like to write about it. I like to philosophise, research and learn, and then go the next step and apply, do... (more)
