Meal Planning on a Budget: £35 Week

Our Meal Planning on a Budget (Beginner’s Guide) covers:

• Favourite foods
• Favourite meals
• Budgeting
• How to find affordable recipes
• Meal planning: design and schedule
• Shopping list essentials
• Shopping tips and traps
• Meal preparation

What £35 Buys (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Snacks)

If your food budget is £35 a week (about $70 AUD / $50 USD), you’ll have an average of £5 a day to spend on food.

Meal planning on a budget is absolutely achievable. 

The following estimates costs are based on items found on the Tesco website (3 Jan 2020). Shopping at Aldi, Lidl and when items are on special will stretch your Pound even further. 

Meal Planning on a Budget: 1 Week Plan

Healthy & Delicious BREAKFASTS: £9 week

• Cereal (500g) = £1.80 per week
• Milk (2.272L / 4 pints) = £1.10 per week
• Eggs (12 / 6 serves) – £2 per week
• Bacon (300g / 3 meals) = £1.50 per week
• Bread (large loaf) = £1 per week
• Butter (500g / 6 weeks) £3 = 50p per week 
• Yoghurt (Natural 500g) = £1 per week

Quick & Easy LUNCHES: £9.75 week 

Eating leftovers and making your own salad and sandwiches will be much cheaper than buying ready-made meal-deals. 

Leftovers x 3 times (£ included under ‘Dinner’)

Chicken Salad £1.50 x 2 times = £3

• Mixed salad leaves with carrot, corn, peppers = £1 per serve [x 2 serves = £2] 
• Chicken = 50p per half serve [x 2 serves = £1] 

Sandwiches £1.80 x 2 times = £3.60

• Salad leaves (bag) – £1 = 25p per serve  [x 2 serves = 50p] 
• Tomatoes (6 / 6 meals) – 90p = 15p per serve [x 2 serves = 30p] 
• Cheese (550g / 12 serves) – £2.75 = 25p per serve [x 2 serves = 50p] 
• Ham (400g / 8 serves) £4 = 50p per serve [x 1 serve = 50p] 
• OR Chicken = 50p per half serve [x 1 serve = 50p] 
• Bread & Butter (£ included under ‘Breakfast’)

Snacks & Other = £3.15

• Apples or bananas (6) = [x 6 serves = £2 per week]
• Pepsi Max (330ml / 24 cans) – £5.50 = 23p per serve [x 5 serves = £1.15]

Tasty DINNERS: £21 week

On a £35 week budget, you have £21 remaining to cover 10 meals: 7 x dinners and 3 x leftover meals for lunches. This is an average of £2.10 per meal.

The following meal plan is for 11 meals – grand total £20.60:

Meal 1: £2

Grill, fry or oven-bake your chicken. Bake or mash potatoes and add a bit of butter to the vegetables.

• Chicken breast fillets (1.5 kg / 12 breasts / 12 meals) – £10 = £1 per serve
• Potatoes (2kg / 8-12  / 4-6 meals) – £1 = 25p per serve  
• Green beans (220g / 3 meals) – 77p = 25p per serve  
• Carrots (1kg / 6 / 3 meals) – £1 = 35p per serve
• Corn (1kg / 10 meals) – £1.50 = 15p per serve  

Meal 2 & Leftovers: £2.60 

(£1.30 each – includes 1 meal for lunch leftovers)

Spaghetti Bolognese is a great dish. Quick and tasty, it can be spiced up with oregano, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Try some bacon and some Worcestershire sauce for a lovely salty kick. Don’t forget the grated cheese on top!

• Mince beef (£2.50 for 250G / 3 meals) = 85p per serve
• Spaghetti (£1 for 1Kg / 5 serves) = 20p per serve
• Pasta sauce (50p for 440g / 2 serves) = 25p per serve

Meal 3 & Leftovers: £3.30 

(£1.65 each – includes 1 meal for lunch leftovers)

Instead of spending a fortune on pizza delivery, take a look in the frozen foods section for a huge variety of pizzas. Stone-baked, vegan, spicy and plain. Snack-size, family-size and multi-packs. Heat up some garlic bread and you’ve got everything you need to enjoy your favourite TV show or movie.

• Pizza x 1 night = £1.35
• Garlic bread (1 baguette) = 30p per serve

Meal 4: £3 

For a super easy and delicious treat, put a quiche in the oven for 20 minutes or so. Have a shower. Catch up on your emails. Before you know it dinner will be ready. Quiche is also delicious for breakfast.

• Quiche Lorraine (£2 for 400G) x 1 night = £2 
• Mixed salad leaves with carrot, corn, peppers = £1 per serve

Meal 5 & Leftovers: £3.60 

(£1.80 each – includes 1 meal for lunch leftovers)

You can add spice and or sweetness to a chicken and vegetable stir-fry. Try garlic, paprika and chilli with a squirt of honey. Pair it with a Mexican Fajita or Mexican Rice kit to extend it even further.

• Chicken breast fillets (1.5 kg / 12 breasts / 12 meals) – £10 = £1 per serve
• Peppers (2 / 2 meals) – £1 = 50p per serve  
• Onions (1kg / 12 / 6-12 meals) – 85p = 15p per serve 
• Rice (1k Basmati / 12 meals) – £1.60 = 15p per serve

Meal 6: £3.60

• Lasagne (Pre-made 400G) – £3 per serve
• Green beans (220g / 3 meals) – 75p = 25p per serve
• Cauliflower (1Kg / 3 meals) – £1 = 35p per serve 

Meal 7: £2.50

Frozen fish wrapped in foil with a bit of butter and lemon. Add some steamed potatoes for a delicate flavour that doesn’t outshine the fish. A salad on the side with give you all the textures.

• Fish (£2.50 for 2 frozen fillets / 2 meals) = £1.25 per serve
• Potatoes (2kg / 8-12  / 4-6 meals) – £1 = 25p per serve
• Mixed salad leaves with carrot, corn, peppers = £1 per serve

Creating your shopping list 

• Prepare a shopping list after you’ve decided what you’ll eat and after you’ve made adjustments (if any) to your recipes.
• You may already have some items in your pantry/fridge/freezer (e.g. butter, cheese) so you won’t have to buy them.
• Some items last longer than one week (e.g. packet of rice or pasta).
• Below is an example shopping list for the above meal plan (quantities are approximate).
• Some items you might only want to buy on the day or a few days before so they are as fresh as possible (e.g. mixed salad).

Shopping List (for the above meals)

• Bread (1 loaf)
• Eggs (1 dozen)
• Milk (2.272 / 4 Pints) 
• Yoghurt (1 large tub)
• Cheese (1 block)
• Butter (1 tub)
• Ham (200g)
• Bacon (1 packet)
• Chicken (4 breasts)
• Mince beef (about 200g)
• Pizza (1 or multi-pack)
• Garlic bread (1 or 2 sticks)
• Quiche Lorraine (1)
• Lasagne (ready made)
• Fish (1 frozen fillet)
• Corn (1 bag frozen or 1 cob fresh)
• Mixed salad (4 ready-made portions)
• Salad leaves (1 portion for sandwiches)
• Tomatoes (2)
• Apples or bananas (6)
• Potatoes (4-6)
• Green beans (small packet)
• Carrots (4-6)
• Red Pepper (1)
• Onions (1)
• Cauliflower (1)
• Cereal (1 box)
• Pasta spaghetti or noodles (1 packet)
• Pasta sauce / Passata with seasoning (1 bottle/container)
• Rice (1 packet)
• Pepsi Max (6 cans)

Meal Planning on a Budget: Beginner’s Guide

Read our Meal Planning Guide for all the essentials including links to some of the best recipe sites and tricks and traps you need to know before you head off to the supermarket.

Cooking can get in the way of enjoying life, but only if you let it. Learning how to meal plan will help you eat well and save time and money. More time for you and more money for other things. 

Do you have any questions? Any tips of your own to share? Please leave them below in the comments.