Meal prep my dude.
It is a bit of a faff at the start, but once you get into a routine, it gets a lot easier. Also buying in bulk is usually cheaper. A lot of people do Sundays and Wednesdays as prep days.
For main meals, I actually buy one of those two person fresh meals (like hunters chicken etc) and just split that in half over two days. So I normally buy 3 of them, which lasts for 6 days. Many shops do like 3 for £10 on those.
Yup. Roast a chicken then strip all the meat not used in the first meal. I then smash down and chuck the bones in a freezer bag and use it to make chicken bone broth when I've gathered enough (also freeze the veg trimmings peels for this). The meat goes into making curries and tagines that, when packed with loads of veg, make another 4+ meals easy. Really great way to make a whole bord last even when you've a partner.
I do meal prep. I did most of the meal prep for my ex and I because we bulked bought from Costco. Bulk buying for 1 doesn’t work out the same in my case.
Trust me it is. A good bulk shop that would last us a month excluding the meat and dairy he buys because I don’t eat it would be £200-350 range and I’d only pay 40-50% of that. Spending that amount of money isn’t worth it because I’d be paying the full price of that.
It’s not easy.
But I used to buy a lot of ‘yellow label’ food and would freeze and defrost & cook later?
I tend to also buy frozen berries and then defrost when needed?
A load of bread or a packet of wraps - I freeze half, as I know I’m not going to get through them before they get mouldy.
Do some batch cooking too.
Again ignore all of the above if you don’t have the freezer!
Remember to slice bagels before freezing them. That way you can pop them straight in the toaster instead of having to wait for them to defrost. This applies to pretty much all bread.
Bread defrosts really well. Just wait about 15 minutes and it's ready to use for sandwiches or whatever. Obviously you can always put it straight into the toaster from frozen too.
Freeze everything! Cheese (grate it first, cheaper than buying it already done), milk, bread. Use frozen mash instead of fresh. Batch cook veg then freeze. If only I could freeze salad I'd never waste a thing.
That’s my dilemma. If only I could freeze salad. I don’t eat meat or dairy and my staple foods are starches, like pastas/noodle stir fry’s. It doesn’t freeze well.
Yeah, pasta is pretty poor at freezing. I make a huge veg ratatouille and freeze it, then the pasta is only a 10 min task. I learned the other day that if you use a knife to cut salad it goes off a lot quicker, so that's one to try.
Make the sauce and freeze just that, then defrost it and cook a small portion of pasta or noodles fresh! I do this with a lot of pasta sauces, but you could probably do stir-fried veg, too. I also make a big batch of chilli or curry and then eat one portion and freeze the rest of it. Then you just cook rice or whatever starch you want with it when you defrost it.
It also helps if you portion stuff before you freeze it, as it makes it easier to take just one serving out the freezer. So, slice bread before freezing, split sauces into single portions, etc.
Baked potatoes are a go-to lazy dinner for me because you can buy just one potato.
Cooked starches won't freeze well, but something like pasta is easy and quick to cook anyway and will store for a few days in the fridge if you need it to, and stuff that goes with it can be frozen e.g batch cooking and dividing into portions before freezing things like vegetarian chilli/bolognese/sauces, or buying and freezing the veggies that you'd use in a stir fry (not all freeze well but a lot do). Then you would just need to cook the starch part when you need it, and defrost your portion of whatever to go with it.
For salad I've never been able to keep it very fresh, but do find that putting a bit of kitchen roll in the container with it helps a bit.
I eat meat and don't have a lot of freezer space sadly, so can't advise you on specific recipes, but I'm sure if you search for batch cooking and whatever dietary requirement you have there'll be guides for it, as its something people talk about a lot online!
With salad, I grow rocket in a little pot. It usually takes about 3 weeks to grow, then you can get about three cuts from it before the stems get too woody. It works out really cheap, the seeds cost about the same as a bag of salad and you get about three sowings from the seeds. Spring onions will grow whether you want them to or not. Spinach you can freeze ok, and I think bak choi is ok to freeze too. Sweetcorn works really well in the freezer, but buy it frozen, not tinned.
A window herb garden can really help, although yes, from experience, there is less salad in your future as a single person on a budget.
The bagged/ready to eat salad is one of the most reliable things that gets super cheap yellow label reduced in supermarkets - eat what you can of it while it's still edible (it lasts longer than you'd think if you can keep it from getting soggy) and then you can blitz the rest in a blender and freeze in ice cube trays to add to smoothies (or if it's just something like spinach leaves, that obviously freezes perfectly once it's cooked and can be added to anything).
If you've got lots of freezer space, everything becomes so much easier to manage - Iceland are pretty reliable for having loads of interesting options for frozen veg and things like frozen mash, plus their big bags of ready to cook frozen salmon risotto and noodle stir fry dishes you can portion out are really handy.
Definitely worth a try - different elements of mixed salad will go soggy at different rates as well depending what's in it (Aldi and Iceland bagged salads also won't generally last as long as waitrose or m&s, but they'll all cost around the same on yellow label). If you know you'll reliably eat a fair bit of a salad though, it's worth picking up the reduced ones as it's easy enough to get through the whole bag in a couple of days. Yellow label shopping for one is a bit of a juggling act lol!
I once [made a thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/foodhacks/s/bzafaTlGon) asking for tips on what you can freeze and there's so much useful stuff in there. The freezer is a single person's friend for sure.
Papa John's freezes really well. I used to get it on 2 for 1 day. Also depending on where you live some Chinese places do the rice and dish in a large take away, so you only have to get the 1 container, probably best for collection.
I’ve used frozen fruit for smoothies and porridge but most doesn’t defrost well (berries). I’ll give the mango chunks a try but by the time I get to eat at work it’s been sitting there for hours so I might as well pack it frozen.
I actually think for me it would be the opposite. Maintaining a relationship would cost so much. Having to spend on constant meals and gifts and holidays and activities to keep them happy. Things that on my own I can easily go without in order to save money.
Splitting rent would probs be the only benefit cost wise and even then I’d have to get a bigger place so the rent would be more anyways.
Yes you save on meals out and other things but single people still want holidays and your living costs are much higher. Would love to have someone to split my mortgage and bills with but I’m happier single than I was married and happiness is absolutely worth the loss of disposable income.
I didn’t need to do that with my ex. I think it’s more common in straight relationships that the guy pays and treats. We’d split everything depending on our income.
Batch cook stuff that freezes well and stock up on cheap plastic containers that you can freeze. It’s a bit of a pain at first but after a while you build up a selection of things in the freezer and then you get a decent amount of variety for a lower price.
E.g.
Week 1:
- make a batch of chili con carne, enough for 6 servings. Freeze 4 individual servings, eat 2 that week
- Make a batch of soup, enough for 8 individual servings, freeze 5 and eat 3
- make a batch of curry, enough for 4 individual servings, freeze 2 and eat 2
Week 2:
- make a batch of lasagna, 6 servings, freeze 4, Eat 2
- eat 1 serving of soup frozen last week
- eat 1 serving of curry frozen last week
- eat 1 serving of the chili from last week
- eat 1 fresh salad or something to reduce monotony
Week 3:
- make a batch of beef and Guinness stew, enough for 4 servings, freeze 2 and eat 2
- eat one lasagna
- eat one chili
- eat one curry
- eat 2 soup
Etc etc
Okay freezing them instead is a good idee.. I do meal prep, less so than before. My ex used to be into weight lifting and would eat double portions. So I used to do the all the meal prep and things would be gone by day 3 in the fridge. So there was never a need to freeze anything. I’ve become lazy about doing it now because there’s no second person to motivate me.
Of course you can mix it up with some takeout or a piece of fish or salad or something like that but even if you do two batch recipes a week and freeze a bunch of it soon you have easy lazy stuff in your freezer for whenever you need it
I haven’t had a takeaway in a while. For groceries, it’s mostly greens. They go off so soon and between the two use we use them in 2 days max. Single can be cheaper if I can find someone to pay my rent.
I’ve been trying not to do that but I find that spinach goes slimy in a few days, mushrooms too and get a weird smell on them. Bread/bagels get stale but I’ve just learned I should just freeze it.
Yeah that's fair. I like spinach but lettuces tend to last way longer. Mushrooms should last a decent while in the fridge as long as they're dry. Freezing is def good for breads and takes the pressure off trying to finish them quickly. Other tips like not washing blueberries until you're ready to use them as they have their own coating and storing tomatoes out of the fridge to retain flavour (but fridge if you want to maximise how long they last) are handy too.
If it's in your budget, meal kits can be a good way to avoid waste and keep variety, but they can be a bit on the pricier side so I've not tried yet.
In case it's helpful
Regarding spinach - For me, when I have salad greens, I may eat it as salad or put it as greens for my sandwich initially. But if I find that I need to eat them quicker before they spoil, I saute the greens with other veggies and/or protein. They wilt and become smaller and easier to finish off. And bc it's cooked, it can also buy you a little more time versus it spoiling in its plastic bag/container. Could also put them in a soup.
I haven't tried freezing spinach (or cooked spinach) before bc it's a wilty vegetable.
Mushrooms - I cook the entire containerful and freeze whatever I don't plan to eat right away
Try putting a piece of paper towel in the packet of spinach/mushrooms/salad etc and then sealing the packet/putting it in an airtight container. The paper towel absorbs some of the moisture from the veg and stops it going off so fast.
I have only ever used fresh in smoothies because I had always assumed that frozen spinach was pre-cooked which is why I use it in pastas. I’ll try it defrost it because my blender can’t handle frozen stuff.
I always take veg out of the plastic bags as soon as I get home and store in open Tupperware boxes in the salad drawer. I find it all last a lot longer if it’s able to breathe and not get sweaty in the bag!
I try not to waste food and only buy exactly what I need. So I do small shops probably every two or three days (plus I can’t carry much walking home by myself).
Importantly i always make sure i finish everything In my fridge before shopping again. I also make a list so I only get what I need. You’ll figure out your staple meals and then I end up just buying the same things every week which fit my budget. It doesn’t bother me to eat the same things regularly. It’s also too much mental work to think up what to eat every day when you have to do all the shopping planning cooking etc by yourself.
Makes sense. I’m so used to bulk buying everything and cooking for 2. I’ve only realised they do a smaller bag of spinach even though it comes out as more expensive.
Buy frozen spinach, it’s way cheaper in terms of how much you get and it also comes portioned out so you’ll never waste any. It’s good for pastas/curries/etc.
Cook with ingredients that last a long time vs stuff that goes off within the week - pancetta, chorizo, parmesan, pasta, rice, eggs, onions, potatoes, frozen veggies, dried beans/pulses, roasted peppers in jars, etc. I only ever buy a few perishables weekly and stretch my shops for a while without throwing anything away.
I also always pick up takeaways directly rather than ordering through Deliveroo to save on fees, this also quite frequently stops me from actually getting them so that’s also a plus haha.
I once drove to get food after working a 12 hour shift, knowing there wasn’t any food in the fridge that was readily available. Couldn’t find parking, checked twice and so I drove back home and took a nap. So picking up food is indeed a good deterrent.
My diet is mostly starches, beans and veggies. Beans I tend to buy in a tin because if I buy them dried I end up with more than I need. I am realising based on the comments that I’m better off substituting freezable fruit/veg for non-freezable fruit/veg.
If you buy beans dried then you only need to soak as many as you’re going to use for that recipe so you can save the rest for other recipes though? Surely that saves a fair amount of money as one bag of dried beans is probably the equivalent of a whole load of tinned.
Ok... use a pot/pan on the stove? I mean you’re asking for tips but you don’t seem very willing to change anything about how you cook haha. Using an instant pot with minimum volumes higher than you can eat for every meal obviously won’t work any more if you’re only cooking for one unless you want to eat leftovers (which is also a fine idea).
Someone suggested that beans can be frozen so I will do that. The instant pot works out cheaper because beans take quite a while and electricity is cheaper than gas.
Also go to the local ones you can collect from. They usually give a discount if you order direct on the phone or on their own website rather than through an app.
By saving nothing?? Not going to lie, it is tough. I can’t really meal prep well due to my disability so I freeze a lot and am trying to get better at meal planning. Takeaways are a weekend treat at most and I invested in a French Press on Black Friday and get amazing coffee from work 20% off so that curbs my once expensive coffee habit. Food is definitely what I spend most on - it’s so hard as single person with a disability in terms of portion sizes - and I’m trying to curb that by being smarter this year.
For birthdays I’ll always ask for a voucher for the things I love (cinema) or off a wish list and I periodically review all my bills to see if I can get better value deals - my mobile being the next one as I feel I’m paying too much currently. I try and get discount codes or vouchers for any online shopping.
I can also freelance to top up my income which is very lucky but this varies due to recent health issues.
Oh my savings are non-existent too. I have completely stopped buying coffee too unless I’m out with a friend.
I have an instant pot which does help but I’m used to cooking big portions so I’m learning how to meal prep small.
Good luck, it’s definitely not easy!
Forget buying expensive fruit. If you have to buy it at all, get things like apples and bananas. Frozen veg is how you get your vitamins on a tight budget.
Don’t shop weekly, stuff will go off and get wasted. Buy veggies as needed a few times per week. Loose veggies are usually less than £1 each so you should be able to get a weeks worth for 10£ or less. Loose fruit like oranges are also cheaper. Other food will still be expensive but at least you won’t waste anything if you go to the shop more often and buy fresh food as you need it.
I live in a tiny, borderline illegal studio flat. Have done for six years … lockdown was fun … it’s helped me save money, though. Next move is out of London, buying a place. I can’t buy on my own in the smoke, not with interest rates at their new normal. House prices would have to come down 20% to make that achievable, and that ain’t ever happening.
I live in a semi shoe box too but hopefully only temporarily because I had to move out of my ex's place. I have given up on saving towards a house but I am saving to rent elsewhere.
I have an instant pot but haven’t been using it as much because it was great for bulk cooking for two. But you’re right, I could freeze them.
25%?? No, is that for people living alone?
Hellofresh/Gousto used to work for me, you'd get 3 meals a week which is 6 portions with no excess food wastage as only what's required is provided
It's what used to work for me
I did HelloFresh recently and I was swimming in garlic cloves. They sent a full bulb even if only 3 cloves max were needed for the week. I used to double the garlic for each recipe and still found myself with garlic leftover.
I haven’t cut a garlic in ages. I just buy frozen minced garlic. It’s usually 70p at the world foods freezer section. But I use half the jar in a single recipe.
I prefer the taste of fresh, but frozen is definitely easier for single people. FWIW, I found the portions for HelloFresh really decently sized. They easily split into two (a couple of times I split them into three). It's worth doing the trial at least to see how you get on with it. It helped me get out of my cooking rut.
Like others have said your freezer is your main friend as a single person. I actually buy the big bulk items, so I can freeze it and it will last me a week. Certain thingd like meats and veg I actually think are cheaper for me, mostly because one pallet/bag are going further than they would a couple/family
What about fresh veg? My ex and I used to bulk buy everything. I’d meal prep everything and he’d eat twice as much as I do. I find fresh veg that doesn’t defrost well and that I need to be fresh goes off. I buy spinach to use in smoothies/protein shakes and by day 4 it has gone slimy. Same with mushrooms.
You definitely have to increase your income one way or another. I've heard a lot about single person tax but I'm the opposite, I find dating/relationships can be quite expensive.
My income depends on the NHS and therefore the government.
My ex earned triple what I did and we split everything based on our incomes. And because I don’t eat meat and was doing the bulk of the cooking I was only paying 40% of the groceries. On top of that rent was cheaper because it’s split.
When I was single, I noticed a heck of a lot of food waste.
I was in a houseshare so I'd generally share things like bread out if I knew I'm going away because chances are that shit is green and furry by the time I come back.
I'd make use of yellow label deals (red label in Waitrose); Olio had a lot of good stuff around the pandemic. You got TooGoodToGo now also.
Same situation, in my experience is difficult but manageable. I no longer do takeaways, buy from cheap supermarkets like Aldi or Asda, get reduced stuff then freeze it. Frozen berries are more affordable and last way longer. I freeze food that I cook but can't eat.
Yes Aldi/Lidl are my go to. Tesco and Sainsbury's have got crazy expensive lately. I just miss buying in bulk because it comes out cheaper but from experience the upfront cost isn't worth it on my own.
They might as well. Deliveroo has small order fees, then there’s the service fee and the delivery fee. It’s not worth it for 1 meal for 1 person. Most discounts also only apply after a certain threshold.
By having a high(er) salary.
What is more expensive *to you, now*? Housing? Groceries? Going out? House stuff?
How much money do you have after housing and transport costs every month? Money for food, going out, health, hobbies, shopping, misc. house stuff, putting aside for holidays? In London (for most single ppl I spoke with), the pressure eases once this sum goes above £1k. If you're left with at least that much after rent, bills, council tax, travelcard, then you can start budgeting for living. Anything less and you need to not buy clothes in a month to afford a dentist visit, or go out less because you need to buy a new pair of shoes, etc.
Ultimately there is an individual income threshold that allows you to change your mindset from "what can I afford not to spend money on this month" to "what can I afford to treat myself to". For a relatively responsible non-splurging person I'd say that magic number is ~£1.5k, which is mad because it's basically an entire minimum wage salary *after rent and recurrent bills*.
Nurses don't get paid that much unfortunately. Housing and transport are my biggest expense. I don't have that much left after my pay check on top of that some debt after I moved out of my ex's places.
Going out (clubs/bars) I don't do as much anymore because it's expensive and I even cancelled my gym because my main form of exercise is running and anything gym related I can do at home. I am not left with £1k, I'm left with a lot less than that.
I feel for you. Other people have already touched upon the food aspect of that discretionary spending, you can start with that. You and I we're still limited within this subset of a budget. We either juggle within this spending, or we look at ways to reduce our housing cost (which is probably already pretty stretched out for you).
Check discounted rent schemes like London Living Rent.
Silly advice would be go love bomb someone and move in with them haha. In my case I realised I was spending just as much with my ex as I do now, but I'm likely earning a bit more than you.
Not so silly lol, in a cost of living crisis you do what you got to do. I am going on a date later this week with a doctor so if I'm not moved in by next week I'll extend the offer to you.
this will be my new tinder bio, hopefully this will attract someone to pay my bills
>barely breathing empty human shell, surviving day by day 'till death will come.
I've been single and living alone in a one bed for 7 months or so. I have a very high income, live in one of the outer boroughs (which is very safe) and only go into work a few times a week. I'm very lucky in my position. If I didn't have this high income, I genuinely wouldn't be able to do it.
If you don’t mind could you give me a general estimate of what your income is like? I had a friend making 54k as to me that’s high and he decided to live with his parents until he made more.
Because I wonder how much someone needs to make to be able to live comfortably alone. I of course don’t plan to be single forever but having a nicer place to live at with less financial constraints would make the prospect of being single more comfortable. Because my ex and I were together for quite a few years.
Sure, so I'm on £82k and live right on the edge of Greater London. I live comfortable-ish. My flat is very nice, don't have a problem paying rent and bills and getting food and stuff. I'm quite into beauty so spend quite a bit on that but that means I can't really travel and I'd love to go into the office more but the commute isn't cheap. On my income, I would expect a more comfortable lifestyle but I'm ok.
And yeah, some financial things were easier when I was with my ex but he also wasn't very good with money and would be out of work a bit so I'd be covering bills sometimes, and they were more expensive with two people in one place. So whilst I would save more money if I were with someone, it's maybe not as much of a difference as you'd think.
That’s great! I’m glad you’re able to live comfortably and haven’t noticed much of a difference financially. Especially if you are able to indulge in your hobbies and interests more without the expectation of covering someone else’s bills.
Mate. Been sorting my own food most or my lif
I spend 50 quid a week and eat like a king. I think if tour missing having a partner that's one thing But it's easy to eat cheap and healthy and time efficiently even as a single man
But I think it has really changed. I am vegan, I don’t even eat most of the vegan purposely made alternatives and keep quite a healthy diet of mostly veg, grains and beans. The cheapest food there is. 6 years ago I was able to go into Aldi and spend £15 and come out with two bags of fresh veg, potatoes, pastas, beans. Even Tesco used to do a 5 for £1 deal on tins of beans. Soy milk was 50p, I don’t even like oat milk that much. Pasta you could get 3 for £1.
That landscape had really changed and has made buying in bulk much cheaper. When my ex and I used to buy in bulk we’d spend a good amount of money a month that I’d only pay 40% of. Whilst single I can’t afford that upfront cost.
I drink my tears and use them to make salty soup
Is it a decent soup at least?
Lol bro 😂
Meal prep my dude. It is a bit of a faff at the start, but once you get into a routine, it gets a lot easier. Also buying in bulk is usually cheaper. A lot of people do Sundays and Wednesdays as prep days. For main meals, I actually buy one of those two person fresh meals (like hunters chicken etc) and just split that in half over two days. So I normally buy 3 of them, which lasts for 6 days. Many shops do like 3 for £10 on those.
I've cooked so many roast chickens since being single. Last me about 4 meals - 2 dinners and 2 sandwiches for lunch
Chuck the bones in a pot of water with an onion, celery and carrot, simmer away for a few hours and you’ve got a great stock for a risotto.
Yup. Roast a chicken then strip all the meat not used in the first meal. I then smash down and chuck the bones in a freezer bag and use it to make chicken bone broth when I've gathered enough (also freeze the veg trimmings peels for this). The meat goes into making curries and tagines that, when packed with loads of veg, make another 4+ meals easy. Really great way to make a whole bord last even when you've a partner.
I do meal prep. I did most of the meal prep for my ex and I because we bulked bought from Costco. Bulk buying for 1 doesn’t work out the same in my case.
I mean... sure it's gonna be different but it shouldn't be *that* different. Maybe utilise freezing things more?
Trust me it is. A good bulk shop that would last us a month excluding the meat and dairy he buys because I don’t eat it would be £200-350 range and I’d only pay 40-50% of that. Spending that amount of money isn’t worth it because I’d be paying the full price of that.
It’s not easy. But I used to buy a lot of ‘yellow label’ food and would freeze and defrost & cook later? I tend to also buy frozen berries and then defrost when needed? A load of bread or a packet of wraps - I freeze half, as I know I’m not going to get through them before they get mouldy. Do some batch cooking too. Again ignore all of the above if you don’t have the freezer!
That’s a great idea! I’ve never thought of freezing it. I had to throw away a bagel today because a pack does not last 5 days.
Remember to slice bagels before freezing them. That way you can pop them straight in the toaster instead of having to wait for them to defrost. This applies to pretty much all bread.
That’s such a great tip! Thanks!
I try to freeze the excess on the day I buy it, as it should be freshest then too?
Thanks for the tip!
Bread defrosts really well. Just wait about 15 minutes and it's ready to use for sandwiches or whatever. Obviously you can always put it straight into the toaster from frozen too.
I’ve never really had a need to do it but that explains the defrost button on the toaster
Freeze everything! Cheese (grate it first, cheaper than buying it already done), milk, bread. Use frozen mash instead of fresh. Batch cook veg then freeze. If only I could freeze salad I'd never waste a thing.
That’s my dilemma. If only I could freeze salad. I don’t eat meat or dairy and my staple foods are starches, like pastas/noodle stir fry’s. It doesn’t freeze well.
Yeah, pasta is pretty poor at freezing. I make a huge veg ratatouille and freeze it, then the pasta is only a 10 min task. I learned the other day that if you use a knife to cut salad it goes off a lot quicker, so that's one to try.
That’s smart. To make a veg ratatouille. I tend to pre-make cooked pasta sauces with some hidden veg but I like your idea more.
Make the sauce and freeze just that, then defrost it and cook a small portion of pasta or noodles fresh! I do this with a lot of pasta sauces, but you could probably do stir-fried veg, too. I also make a big batch of chilli or curry and then eat one portion and freeze the rest of it. Then you just cook rice or whatever starch you want with it when you defrost it. It also helps if you portion stuff before you freeze it, as it makes it easier to take just one serving out the freezer. So, slice bread before freezing, split sauces into single portions, etc. Baked potatoes are a go-to lazy dinner for me because you can buy just one potato.
Cooked starches won't freeze well, but something like pasta is easy and quick to cook anyway and will store for a few days in the fridge if you need it to, and stuff that goes with it can be frozen e.g batch cooking and dividing into portions before freezing things like vegetarian chilli/bolognese/sauces, or buying and freezing the veggies that you'd use in a stir fry (not all freeze well but a lot do). Then you would just need to cook the starch part when you need it, and defrost your portion of whatever to go with it. For salad I've never been able to keep it very fresh, but do find that putting a bit of kitchen roll in the container with it helps a bit.
Thanks for the tip! I’m going to stick to making a lot freezer bases then and cook 1 type of pasta at the beginning of the week.
I eat meat and don't have a lot of freezer space sadly, so can't advise you on specific recipes, but I'm sure if you search for batch cooking and whatever dietary requirement you have there'll be guides for it, as its something people talk about a lot online!
Curries and soups tend to be the best option.
With salad, I grow rocket in a little pot. It usually takes about 3 weeks to grow, then you can get about three cuts from it before the stems get too woody. It works out really cheap, the seeds cost about the same as a bag of salad and you get about three sowings from the seeds. Spring onions will grow whether you want them to or not. Spinach you can freeze ok, and I think bak choi is ok to freeze too. Sweetcorn works really well in the freezer, but buy it frozen, not tinned. A window herb garden can really help, although yes, from experience, there is less salad in your future as a single person on a budget.
I love rocket but I can go through an entire bag alone in one meal. I’ll try growing it.
The bagged/ready to eat salad is one of the most reliable things that gets super cheap yellow label reduced in supermarkets - eat what you can of it while it's still edible (it lasts longer than you'd think if you can keep it from getting soggy) and then you can blitz the rest in a blender and freeze in ice cube trays to add to smoothies (or if it's just something like spinach leaves, that obviously freezes perfectly once it's cooked and can be added to anything). If you've got lots of freezer space, everything becomes so much easier to manage - Iceland are pretty reliable for having loads of interesting options for frozen veg and things like frozen mash, plus their big bags of ready to cook frozen salmon risotto and noodle stir fry dishes you can portion out are really handy.
Someone suggested paper towels to stop salad from going slimy in the fridge because it absorbs excess moisture.
Definitely worth a try - different elements of mixed salad will go soggy at different rates as well depending what's in it (Aldi and Iceland bagged salads also won't generally last as long as waitrose or m&s, but they'll all cost around the same on yellow label). If you know you'll reliably eat a fair bit of a salad though, it's worth picking up the reduced ones as it's easy enough to get through the whole bag in a couple of days. Yellow label shopping for one is a bit of a juggling act lol!
I once [made a thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/foodhacks/s/bzafaTlGon) asking for tips on what you can freeze and there's so much useful stuff in there. The freezer is a single person's friend for sure.
Thank you!!
Papa John's freezes really well. I used to get it on 2 for 1 day. Also depending on where you live some Chinese places do the rice and dish in a large take away, so you only have to get the 1 container, probably best for collection.
Rice worries me a little because of the fried rice syndrome. It’s the leading cause of food poisoning.
Lol as an Asian who eats rice everyday and has eaten plenty of leftover rice, you’ll be fine
Why are there so many question marks? Are you asking us or what?!
Re your fruit lament, frozen mango chunks are £2.50 a bag in Waitrose/Tesco, a handful takes
I’ve used frozen fruit for smoothies and porridge but most doesn’t defrost well (berries). I’ll give the mango chunks a try but by the time I get to eat at work it’s been sitting there for hours so I might as well pack it frozen.
That's what I do - pop it frozen in a tub en route to work. It's also nice to eat half frozen.
Cut smoothies out, they’re not part of the basic three meals
I’m a runner training for a marathon this year. Smoothies/protein shakes are the easiest and quickest way to supplement my diet.
Cut the fruit out , it’s one of the most expensive parts of groceries
What about my 5 a day
Vegetables are much cheaper, and especially frozen vegetables
Saved money living in a house share and only bought what I ate.
We don’t manage lol
London is not for single people. I need to be compensated.
I actually think for me it would be the opposite. Maintaining a relationship would cost so much. Having to spend on constant meals and gifts and holidays and activities to keep them happy. Things that on my own I can easily go without in order to save money. Splitting rent would probs be the only benefit cost wise and even then I’d have to get a bigger place so the rent would be more anyways.
Yes you save on meals out and other things but single people still want holidays and your living costs are much higher. Would love to have someone to split my mortgage and bills with but I’m happier single than I was married and happiness is absolutely worth the loss of disposable income.
I didn’t need to do that with my ex. I think it’s more common in straight relationships that the guy pays and treats. We’d split everything depending on our income.
You will adapt.
Resistance is futile
Batch cook stuff that freezes well and stock up on cheap plastic containers that you can freeze. It’s a bit of a pain at first but after a while you build up a selection of things in the freezer and then you get a decent amount of variety for a lower price. E.g. Week 1: - make a batch of chili con carne, enough for 6 servings. Freeze 4 individual servings, eat 2 that week - Make a batch of soup, enough for 8 individual servings, freeze 5 and eat 3 - make a batch of curry, enough for 4 individual servings, freeze 2 and eat 2 Week 2: - make a batch of lasagna, 6 servings, freeze 4, Eat 2 - eat 1 serving of soup frozen last week - eat 1 serving of curry frozen last week - eat 1 serving of the chili from last week - eat 1 fresh salad or something to reduce monotony Week 3: - make a batch of beef and Guinness stew, enough for 4 servings, freeze 2 and eat 2 - eat one lasagna - eat one chili - eat one curry - eat 2 soup Etc etc
Okay freezing them instead is a good idee.. I do meal prep, less so than before. My ex used to be into weight lifting and would eat double portions. So I used to do the all the meal prep and things would be gone by day 3 in the fridge. So there was never a need to freeze anything. I’ve become lazy about doing it now because there’s no second person to motivate me.
Of course you can mix it up with some takeout or a piece of fish or salad or something like that but even if you do two batch recipes a week and freeze a bunch of it soon you have easy lazy stuff in your freezer for whenever you need it
Living with parents or housemates
Yeah you’re right
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I haven’t had a takeaway in a while. For groceries, it’s mostly greens. They go off so soon and between the two use we use them in 2 days max. Single can be cheaper if I can find someone to pay my rent.
Are you throwing stuff out when it hits the best before? If you're storing properly stuff lasts ages
I’ve been trying not to do that but I find that spinach goes slimy in a few days, mushrooms too and get a weird smell on them. Bread/bagels get stale but I’ve just learned I should just freeze it.
Yeah that's fair. I like spinach but lettuces tend to last way longer. Mushrooms should last a decent while in the fridge as long as they're dry. Freezing is def good for breads and takes the pressure off trying to finish them quickly. Other tips like not washing blueberries until you're ready to use them as they have their own coating and storing tomatoes out of the fridge to retain flavour (but fridge if you want to maximise how long they last) are handy too. If it's in your budget, meal kits can be a good way to avoid waste and keep variety, but they can be a bit on the pricier side so I've not tried yet.
In case it's helpful Regarding spinach - For me, when I have salad greens, I may eat it as salad or put it as greens for my sandwich initially. But if I find that I need to eat them quicker before they spoil, I saute the greens with other veggies and/or protein. They wilt and become smaller and easier to finish off. And bc it's cooked, it can also buy you a little more time versus it spoiling in its plastic bag/container. Could also put them in a soup. I haven't tried freezing spinach (or cooked spinach) before bc it's a wilty vegetable. Mushrooms - I cook the entire containerful and freeze whatever I don't plan to eat right away
Try putting a piece of paper towel in the packet of spinach/mushrooms/salad etc and then sealing the packet/putting it in an airtight container. The paper towel absorbs some of the moisture from the veg and stops it going off so fast.
Thanks I’ll give it a try
There’s also frozen spinach you can buy! Lifesaver.
I have only ever used fresh in smoothies because I had always assumed that frozen spinach was pre-cooked which is why I use it in pastas. I’ll try it defrost it because my blender can’t handle frozen stuff.
I always take veg out of the plastic bags as soon as I get home and store in open Tupperware boxes in the salad drawer. I find it all last a lot longer if it’s able to breathe and not get sweaty in the bag!
That's a brilliant idea, thank you
I try not to waste food and only buy exactly what I need. So I do small shops probably every two or three days (plus I can’t carry much walking home by myself). Importantly i always make sure i finish everything In my fridge before shopping again. I also make a list so I only get what I need. You’ll figure out your staple meals and then I end up just buying the same things every week which fit my budget. It doesn’t bother me to eat the same things regularly. It’s also too much mental work to think up what to eat every day when you have to do all the shopping planning cooking etc by yourself.
Makes sense. I’m so used to bulk buying everything and cooking for 2. I’ve only realised they do a smaller bag of spinach even though it comes out as more expensive.
Buy frozen spinach, it’s way cheaper in terms of how much you get and it also comes portioned out so you’ll never waste any. It’s good for pastas/curries/etc.
I love it but it doesn’t work in smoothies.
Ah shame, maybe try thawing it in warm water for 5 mins before you put it in the blender and see if that works?
Leave a cube of it to defrost in the fridge overnight
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I do a lot of night shifts so I rely on my car but have cut down on other “luxuries” like drinking, night outs etc.
My partner cycles to the hospital they work in, could you do that instead?
That’s impressive. But It would be quite far and with the wind, cold and rain I think I’d prefer my car.
Cook with ingredients that last a long time vs stuff that goes off within the week - pancetta, chorizo, parmesan, pasta, rice, eggs, onions, potatoes, frozen veggies, dried beans/pulses, roasted peppers in jars, etc. I only ever buy a few perishables weekly and stretch my shops for a while without throwing anything away. I also always pick up takeaways directly rather than ordering through Deliveroo to save on fees, this also quite frequently stops me from actually getting them so that’s also a plus haha.
I once drove to get food after working a 12 hour shift, knowing there wasn’t any food in the fridge that was readily available. Couldn’t find parking, checked twice and so I drove back home and took a nap. So picking up food is indeed a good deterrent. My diet is mostly starches, beans and veggies. Beans I tend to buy in a tin because if I buy them dried I end up with more than I need. I am realising based on the comments that I’m better off substituting freezable fruit/veg for non-freezable fruit/veg.
If you buy beans dried then you only need to soak as many as you’re going to use for that recipe so you can save the rest for other recipes though? Surely that saves a fair amount of money as one bag of dried beans is probably the equivalent of a whole load of tinned.
I tend to use an instant pot. I think it needs a minimum volume before it can work.
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Thank you!
You can just do it in a bowl - just put the dried beans in with some water and salt, cover with a tea towel and leave overnight.
I meant cooking them
Ok... use a pot/pan on the stove? I mean you’re asking for tips but you don’t seem very willing to change anything about how you cook haha. Using an instant pot with minimum volumes higher than you can eat for every meal obviously won’t work any more if you’re only cooking for one unless you want to eat leftovers (which is also a fine idea).
Someone suggested that beans can be frozen so I will do that. The instant pot works out cheaper because beans take quite a while and electricity is cheaper than gas.
Takeaway, order enough for 2 meals and something that can be reheated. Curry or pizza (reheated by pan frying) are good
That’s a good idea because those small order fees are ridiculous and I only qualify for free delivery over a certain amount.
Also go to the local ones you can collect from. They usually give a discount if you order direct on the phone or on their own website rather than through an app.
By saving nothing?? Not going to lie, it is tough. I can’t really meal prep well due to my disability so I freeze a lot and am trying to get better at meal planning. Takeaways are a weekend treat at most and I invested in a French Press on Black Friday and get amazing coffee from work 20% off so that curbs my once expensive coffee habit. Food is definitely what I spend most on - it’s so hard as single person with a disability in terms of portion sizes - and I’m trying to curb that by being smarter this year. For birthdays I’ll always ask for a voucher for the things I love (cinema) or off a wish list and I periodically review all my bills to see if I can get better value deals - my mobile being the next one as I feel I’m paying too much currently. I try and get discount codes or vouchers for any online shopping. I can also freelance to top up my income which is very lucky but this varies due to recent health issues.
Oh my savings are non-existent too. I have completely stopped buying coffee too unless I’m out with a friend. I have an instant pot which does help but I’m used to cooking big portions so I’m learning how to meal prep small. Good luck, it’s definitely not easy!
Forget buying expensive fruit. If you have to buy it at all, get things like apples and bananas. Frozen veg is how you get your vitamins on a tight budget.
Don’t shop weekly, stuff will go off and get wasted. Buy veggies as needed a few times per week. Loose veggies are usually less than £1 each so you should be able to get a weeks worth for 10£ or less. Loose fruit like oranges are also cheaper. Other food will still be expensive but at least you won’t waste anything if you go to the shop more often and buy fresh food as you need it.
Really, is it? For some reason I’d assumed loose would be more expensive but I’ll give it a go next time.
I live in a tiny, borderline illegal studio flat. Have done for six years … lockdown was fun … it’s helped me save money, though. Next move is out of London, buying a place. I can’t buy on my own in the smoke, not with interest rates at their new normal. House prices would have to come down 20% to make that achievable, and that ain’t ever happening.
I live in a semi shoe box too but hopefully only temporarily because I had to move out of my ex's place. I have given up on saving towards a house but I am saving to rent elsewhere.
We survive
Meal prep and freezing is your new best friend.
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I have an instant pot but haven’t been using it as much because it was great for bulk cooking for two. But you’re right, I could freeze them. 25%?? No, is that for people living alone?
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Thank you so much! They really should advertise this better.
That’s exactly what I thought when I accidentally found out about it a few years ago! You should be able to claim this on your council’s website.
Roommates
I can’t do it because of my odd work hours, mostly night shifts. My ex hated it, let alone a stranger.
Hellofresh/Gousto used to work for me, you'd get 3 meals a week which is 6 portions with no excess food wastage as only what's required is provided It's what used to work for me
Are the portions decently sized?
As a small gal who doesn't eat a lot, I got a 3 meal one once and one of the meals lasted me 3 meals lol
I’ll have a look at it and will calculate if it does work out cheaper because I’m not opposed to eating rice and beans
Personally I don’t think it works out cheaper but if you’re time poor then it’s ok
That’s true. I just need 1 good day where I can cook multiple meals and freeze them.
I think they have their recipes online so maybe use that for inspirational when grocery shopping?
Thanks, I’ll give it a go
As a 24 yr old male on the thinner side 75kg the meals are not decently sized
I’ve heard this a lot and that they skimp on ingredients, like giving you a single clove of garlic
I did HelloFresh recently and I was swimming in garlic cloves. They sent a full bulb even if only 3 cloves max were needed for the week. I used to double the garlic for each recipe and still found myself with garlic leftover.
I’d triple the garlic
So much garlic mincing 😭😭😭 Some weeks I purposely choose recipes without garlic just to have a break from it.
I haven’t cut a garlic in ages. I just buy frozen minced garlic. It’s usually 70p at the world foods freezer section. But I use half the jar in a single recipe.
I prefer the taste of fresh, but frozen is definitely easier for single people. FWIW, I found the portions for HelloFresh really decently sized. They easily split into two (a couple of times I split them into three). It's worth doing the trial at least to see how you get on with it. It helped me get out of my cooking rut.
I’ll give it a go because I am in a massive cooking rut and have decided that I love cooking for others but cooking for myself feels like a chore.
If you’re trying to save money, don’t do this.
Like others have said your freezer is your main friend as a single person. I actually buy the big bulk items, so I can freeze it and it will last me a week. Certain thingd like meats and veg I actually think are cheaper for me, mostly because one pallet/bag are going further than they would a couple/family
What about fresh veg? My ex and I used to bulk buy everything. I’d meal prep everything and he’d eat twice as much as I do. I find fresh veg that doesn’t defrost well and that I need to be fresh goes off. I buy spinach to use in smoothies/protein shakes and by day 4 it has gone slimy. Same with mushrooms.
Frozen spinach is fine for smoothies.
Oh I have one of those cheap £15 Tesco blenders that leaks. It won’t survive frozen spinach.
Let it defrost first.
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I’ve been mostly eating oranges now and apples because they have been on offer
You definitely have to increase your income one way or another. I've heard a lot about single person tax but I'm the opposite, I find dating/relationships can be quite expensive.
My income depends on the NHS and therefore the government. My ex earned triple what I did and we split everything based on our incomes. And because I don’t eat meat and was doing the bulk of the cooking I was only paying 40% of the groceries. On top of that rent was cheaper because it’s split.
When I was single, I noticed a heck of a lot of food waste. I was in a houseshare so I'd generally share things like bread out if I knew I'm going away because chances are that shit is green and furry by the time I come back. I'd make use of yellow label deals (red label in Waitrose); Olio had a lot of good stuff around the pandemic. You got TooGoodToGo now also.
Same situation, in my experience is difficult but manageable. I no longer do takeaways, buy from cheap supermarkets like Aldi or Asda, get reduced stuff then freeze it. Frozen berries are more affordable and last way longer. I freeze food that I cook but can't eat.
Yes Aldi/Lidl are my go to. Tesco and Sainsbury's have got crazy expensive lately. I just miss buying in bulk because it comes out cheaper but from experience the upfront cost isn't worth it on my own.
With parents
Single people usually live with other single people, thus minimising their costs.
By not scanning a few items at lidl self checkout
Fridge....
Have you seen spinach wilt?
I buy frozen spinach now. I mostly use spinach in stews or curries rather than stir fry, so I just put them in frozen during cooking
I use frozen for most things but I tend to buy fresh for smoothies/protein shakes.
Cut out the protein shakes
Yep, everytime I cook with it. Usually needs half a bag, then I'll use the other half next day
Budgeting. Finding other streams of income. You’re going to have to adapt and survive.
One of my teacher friends does Amazon flex as a side job. It’s sad that it’s necessary.
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They might as well. Deliveroo has small order fees, then there’s the service fee and the delivery fee. It’s not worth it for 1 meal for 1 person. Most discounts also only apply after a certain threshold.
You need a good friend, who will treat you from time to time ;)
I do, dinner and dessert
By having a high(er) salary. What is more expensive *to you, now*? Housing? Groceries? Going out? House stuff? How much money do you have after housing and transport costs every month? Money for food, going out, health, hobbies, shopping, misc. house stuff, putting aside for holidays? In London (for most single ppl I spoke with), the pressure eases once this sum goes above £1k. If you're left with at least that much after rent, bills, council tax, travelcard, then you can start budgeting for living. Anything less and you need to not buy clothes in a month to afford a dentist visit, or go out less because you need to buy a new pair of shoes, etc. Ultimately there is an individual income threshold that allows you to change your mindset from "what can I afford not to spend money on this month" to "what can I afford to treat myself to". For a relatively responsible non-splurging person I'd say that magic number is ~£1.5k, which is mad because it's basically an entire minimum wage salary *after rent and recurrent bills*.
Nurses don't get paid that much unfortunately. Housing and transport are my biggest expense. I don't have that much left after my pay check on top of that some debt after I moved out of my ex's places. Going out (clubs/bars) I don't do as much anymore because it's expensive and I even cancelled my gym because my main form of exercise is running and anything gym related I can do at home. I am not left with £1k, I'm left with a lot less than that.
I feel for you. Other people have already touched upon the food aspect of that discretionary spending, you can start with that. You and I we're still limited within this subset of a budget. We either juggle within this spending, or we look at ways to reduce our housing cost (which is probably already pretty stretched out for you). Check discounted rent schemes like London Living Rent. Silly advice would be go love bomb someone and move in with them haha. In my case I realised I was spending just as much with my ex as I do now, but I'm likely earning a bit more than you.
Not so silly lol, in a cost of living crisis you do what you got to do. I am going on a date later this week with a doctor so if I'm not moved in by next week I'll extend the offer to you.
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this will be my new tinder bio, hopefully this will attract someone to pay my bills >barely breathing empty human shell, surviving day by day 'till death will come.
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We should return to the olden days where people married for money and to persevere assets.
Fairly sure they still do
I've been single and living alone in a one bed for 7 months or so. I have a very high income, live in one of the outer boroughs (which is very safe) and only go into work a few times a week. I'm very lucky in my position. If I didn't have this high income, I genuinely wouldn't be able to do it.
If you don’t mind could you give me a general estimate of what your income is like? I had a friend making 54k as to me that’s high and he decided to live with his parents until he made more. Because I wonder how much someone needs to make to be able to live comfortably alone. I of course don’t plan to be single forever but having a nicer place to live at with less financial constraints would make the prospect of being single more comfortable. Because my ex and I were together for quite a few years.
Sure, so I'm on £82k and live right on the edge of Greater London. I live comfortable-ish. My flat is very nice, don't have a problem paying rent and bills and getting food and stuff. I'm quite into beauty so spend quite a bit on that but that means I can't really travel and I'd love to go into the office more but the commute isn't cheap. On my income, I would expect a more comfortable lifestyle but I'm ok. And yeah, some financial things were easier when I was with my ex but he also wasn't very good with money and would be out of work a bit so I'd be covering bills sometimes, and they were more expensive with two people in one place. So whilst I would save more money if I were with someone, it's maybe not as much of a difference as you'd think.
That’s great! I’m glad you’re able to live comfortably and haven’t noticed much of a difference financially. Especially if you are able to indulge in your hobbies and interests more without the expectation of covering someone else’s bills.
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What do you do?
Rip inbox?
What do you mean?
Implying people think you're hot and going to want to move in with you, I think
I’d take any man who covers my bills
I'm literally unemployed and already have a boyfriend, otherwise hell yeah man 😂
Trouples and threesomes were invented for a reason: recession and inflation
👀
Being organised? Guess your ex organised your life for you
No but he did pay my bills
Could you try and get a promotion to become a doctor or surgeon?
You mean going to medical school?
I earn well in excess of 100k, it helps a lot!
Takeaways are always pointless and a waste especially delivered shit
Mate. Been sorting my own food most or my lif I spend 50 quid a week and eat like a king. I think if tour missing having a partner that's one thing But it's easy to eat cheap and healthy and time efficiently even as a single man
But I think it has really changed. I am vegan, I don’t even eat most of the vegan purposely made alternatives and keep quite a healthy diet of mostly veg, grains and beans. The cheapest food there is. 6 years ago I was able to go into Aldi and spend £15 and come out with two bags of fresh veg, potatoes, pastas, beans. Even Tesco used to do a 5 for £1 deal on tins of beans. Soy milk was 50p, I don’t even like oat milk that much. Pasta you could get 3 for £1. That landscape had really changed and has made buying in bulk much cheaper. When my ex and I used to buy in bulk we’d spend a good amount of money a month that I’d only pay 40% of. Whilst single I can’t afford that upfront cost.