Hello again

Your posts are always full of wisdom and I’m glad to read them. 

(Hoping these budget main meal plans for a week; might give you some inspiration, ease of shopping planning and recipes with 1 person in mind).

The prices / costings / budget per portion were as at 2023.

7 days of main meal plans,

with shopping lists,

and low-cost kitchen store cupboard ingredients comments,

with links to each recipe (you can use the "print" button and choose to save the recipe as a PDF document on you smartphone / tablet / laptop / computer),

for 1 person.

1) With Meat Or Fish (2023 = under £1.60 per portion):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/budget_meal_plan_for_one

2) Vegetarian (2023 = under £1.85 per portion):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/budget_vegetarian_meal_plan_for_one

3) Vegan (2023 = under £1.60 per portion):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/budget_vegan_meal_plan_for_one

Depending on your dietary requirements, if you rotated through each weekly meal plan, one week you could go meat and fish main meals menu plan, the second week could be a vegetarian menu and the third week could be a vegan menu, then for your fourth week you could change things up a bit by going for oot luck with supermarket bargains / discounts / offers.  Then repeat the process the next month.

4 Person Household?:

For those people on a more restricted budget (£1 per portion, when used with a low-cost kitchen store cupboard, costings as at 2023) and feeding a household of 4 people:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/1_dinners

Notes about a low-cost kitchen store cupboard of basic ingredients:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/budget_recipes

Miscellaneous:

...a "bargain" ought to be something already on your shopping list, offered for sale at a discounted price.

Sometimes (first thing in the morning ) in Lidl; you can get a rectangular open-top cardboard box of discounted vegetables and fruit: "Too Good To Waste" boxes, containing 5 kg of fruit and vegetables for £1.50.  These boxes are intended for items that might be slightly imperfect but are still perfectly good to eat, helping to reduce food waste,  Check near the checkout areas or on the long bag packing bench / metal cage / table behind the checkouts.  They don't always have them - but worth a look.  These boxes are great for making economical soups and stews) salads, or serve some fruits with plain yoghurt as a dessert.

Lidl have seasonal vegetable and fruit offers, plus meat / poultry / fish offers which change weekly from Thursdays - "Pick Of The Week":

https://www.lidl.co.uk/c/pick-of-the-week/a10077955

Aldi have seasonal vegetable and fruit offers - which change every 2 weeks - "Super 6" offers: https://www.aldi.co.uk/super-6

If a town / city near you has an outdoor charter market; it is worth finding out which day of the week it is held and what open hours it operates; as around the last half hour of trading: stalls selling vegetables and fruits may start offering discounts, bulk buy offers, or so much money per plastic bowl-worth of some items.  The local town / city council website often has the charter market details.

If you enjoy eating meals with rice, lentils, pulses and savoury spices- check the supermarket offers around the time of celebrations such as Ramadan (February / March) and Diwali (October / November).  In preparation for these times of your; e.g. bulk packets of dried red lentils become available in major supermarkets.

If walking, or using a bus / train to do your grocery shopping; saving up for a shopping trolley - sometimes available for around £15 - to help take the strain out out bringing groceries home is attractive to aching arbd:

https://www.argos.co.uk/search/shopping-trolley/

If cycling home with groceries; stowing the weight lower down on the bicycle can improve manoeuvrability safety.  Saving up for bicycle panniers - sometimes around £15:- can be helpful:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3208713

Another option, for around £20, is a bicycle metal front basket:

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-accessories/bike-bags-baskets/halfords-wire-basket-504694.html

Alternatively, cycling wearing a rucksack / backpack provides another option - where, for around £7; a high visibility and reflective backpack waterproof cover both protects your shopping from poor weather and helps other road users to see a cyclist is present.

The choice is overwhelming, to be honest. I prefer it in hospital with the routine. I've heard this from others, whether they're coming out of hospital, prison, or whatever institutional-based setting. More than likely money is a big factor so not only is choice overwhelming but you have to 'engage' in the market to get the most affordable deals. As an example, I've recently survived a shopping session at Aldi where I tried to buy groceries for the week at around £20, which statistically seems feasible. But, as always, I've just got no will to do anything. I try to recall things that I've done before, things that I've noted others doing, and just try to go along with whatever 'normal' is. Being human, hunger is something that I can't ignore but I'll try to live on a budget like everyone else and just hope that I'm doing it right. 

mr.chip said:

Well, it looks like it has worked. 

Success!  I am glad your post worked out fine.

When you are living in the community; does that mean you have a wider choice and variety of / your preference of / greater access to - higher quality meals that you personally like?