My first attempt at shopping list was all from Sainsbury’s, but struggling to balance the books forced me to look further afield.
Here’s how it all started:
47p Loaf of wholemeal bread (800g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
£1.06 2 x long life skimmed milk (2 x 1 litre, Sainsbury’s Basics)
40p Long grain rice (1 kg, Sainsbury’s Basics)
39p Pasta shapes (500g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
75p Frozen mixed veg (1 kg, Sainsbury’s Basics)
97p Mushrooms (400g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
14p Can of potatoes (540g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
15p Vegetable stock cubes (box of 10, Sainsbury’s Basics)
29p Strawberry jam (454g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
65p Porridge oats (500g, normal Sainsbury’s! Not Basics!)
37p Can of Pride chick peas (400g from Sainsbury’s)
62p 2 x cans chopped tomatoes (2 x 400g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
21p Can of red kidney beans in water (400g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
£1.09 Cooking bacon (670g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
45p Carrots, loose (500g, Sainsbury’s)
45p Large onions, loose (500g, Sainsbury’s)
30p Bulb of garlic (Sainsbury’s)
£1.00 6 barn eggs (Sainsbury’s Basics)
22p Packet of sponge mix (225g, Sainsbury’s Basics)
Total: £9.98
This list accounted for pretty much all my tenner, but not all the food I wanted to buy.
My husband looked so aghast when I admitted there wouldn’t be any caffeine that somehow I had to find 27p for a box of value tea bags.
Dairy was limited to UHT skimmed milk – no cheese to liven up pasta or an omelette, let alone yogurt.
Five days bereft of any fruit at all seemed bleak.
But really it was the prospect of attempting veggie curry without curry powder that sent me searching elsewhere. Surely I could find curry powder somewhere in Hackney for less than Sainsbury’s £1.10 mild version, and cheap enough even when living below the line?
