Budge it

[j4]

I don't know what to do about budgeting for food. sion_a and I have been sharing evening meals, and basically he's been paying for pretty much everything, which is clearly unfair; but when I suggested trying to allocate a set amount for food he was unhappy about the idea & said he'd prefer to go back to the way we used to do it -- on a completely ad hoc basis, buying food roughly once a week but often more, and sort of taking turns to pay. I can understand why he wouldn't want to do that -- there's no reason why he should have to go without everything he wants just because I'm skint -- but I don't think I can cope with that kind of system and still claw my finances back to a sensible point.

On the other hand, I have no idea how to budget for feeding just one person, because more or less ever since I've lived out I've been sponging off one boyfriend or another, and cooking for at least two people. Basically I'm just not used to living a single life, but it's about time I learned.

How much do people think is a sensible amount of money to allocate for a week's food (lunches and evening meals) for one?

For ages I've been eating at the pub on Thursdays with the rest of the crowd -- is it stupid to try to build that into a budget? (The pub food isn't expensive, but it's still eating-out rather than eating-in. Last night's meal cost £3.25, and that's not quite the cheapest option.)


So far this week I have spent the following:

£ 1.19   5 avocados and 2 bananas
£ 0.99   1 bag of new potatoes
£ 3.25   meal at the pub
£ 2.40   1 pint of beer
£15.00   karate lesson

The potatoes and avocados between them have made lots of salads for lunches. I feel like I've been reasonably good about money, but the evening meals have mostly been covered by stuff that sion_a's bought, so really I'm just sponging still. :-(

Bank balance is looking more healthy, but there's still £86 owed to a friend to come out of that -- and no, I can't pay back in instalments, I just want to clear the debt in one go -- and money for a birthday present for somebody else. Salary comes through in less than a week now, but I know I mustn't see that as the point when I can start spending money again!

Food tonight is sorted: I'm working a shift at the pub so I'll have my usual sandwich or bowl of chips. And more money! Hurrah.

Comments

[j4.livejournal.com]

Do you have recipes for the hummous, carrot & lentil pâté, and the refried beans? They sound good. (If you've already given me these recipes then sorry for being crap & disorganised...)

Part of the problem with the make-lots-of-stuff-in-advance strategy has been that I'm busy most weekends; but that's less likely to be the case for the foreseeable. And they sound like the sort of things that will keep reasonably well even without freezing large quantities.

Oh and I'm quite happy to eat economy white bread. :)

[juliet]

All at the pate page on Kake's cookery website - might be worth looking at some of the others there, as well.

Note: if you make the hummous with fresh garlic, leave it in the fridge overnight before attempting to use it, otherwise it'll taste very fresh-garlic-y. I add olive oil, as well, to make it a bit less solid (or you can just add a little water). The refried beans & carrotlentilstuff are both very very good mmmm....

IME they keep fine in the fridge for at least a week, often 2. The hummous is pretty quick to make; the others don't actually require much time *doing* stuff, but do need to be left to cook for a bit.

[j4.livejournal.com]

Oh, I thought you meant (hummous and carrot and lentil pate) rather than hummous and (carrot and lentil pate). Sorry, parse error. :) Have made hummous before, it's nice, & seems to keep for a lot longer than the bought stuff, bizarrely. But it does take ages if you take the hulls off the chick peas! Might try not bothering, it'll probably just be more 'rustic' (lumpy).

The refried beans look like A Good Thing(tm), kidney beans are v cheap and I like them a lot. Mmmm.

Thank you!

[juliet]

Ah, right. Hmm, am tempted to try that now... [cogitates]

Refried beans are *ace*. As, in fact, is the carrotlentilstuff, although I acknowledge it doesn't sound like much (it's also *very* cheap). One of those things that I make & bring to picnics, & everyone goes 'hmm weird vegan shit', & I say 'oh go on, try it'. And they *do* and suddenly it's ALL GONE & they're asking for the recipe. In future I shall just say 'yeah, weird vegan shit, you wouldn't like it, it's all KNITTED TOFU you know'.

I like dehulling chickpeas (in the method as recommended by Kake, with the bowl of water). I think it catches my slightly-compulsive side.

Mmm food. Did I say that already?