#BelowTheLine Day 1: Not so bad!

25g of porridge = 2p

35g of jam = 2p

Good evening! Just as the soaps come on and I am about to have my daily allowance of one cup of tea with a biscuit, I thought I'd drop in as promised and let you know how the day went.

It started off really well. I had half the portion size the packet said I should have of porridge with water, mixed fruit jam and a banana. I was really surprised that I didn't feel I needed more than that. It was tasty, it was nice and warm when it was chilly outside. And for a total of 16p I was feeling pretty darn smug!

1 banana = 12p

Ham, lettuce + mayo = 35p

But as nice as it was, I was really hungry an hour and a half later.. even after having a pint of water too!

I remained brave until lunch time when I launched into my ham, lettuce and mayonnaise butty. It was mega scrum but it felt like it was lacking a slice of 

cheese and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps. And a chocolate bar!.. this is an eye opener in how fat I am lol

Lunch filled me up for approximately 5 minutes. Then the long slog to tea time began. I was absolutely ravenous!!!!! And I made the whole thing so much harder on myself by cooking blueberry muffins to freeze, purely because I forgot to cook them the weekend before and the ingredients were going off. GOD they smelt so good!!! 

100g pasta = 4p

Can of meatballs = 40p

I drank another 2 pints of water, did some Wii yoga before it was finally time to cook... dum dum duuurrr.... a can of value meatball and spaghetti pasta. Without a doubt the absolute blandest meal I have ever had!! The tomato sauce the meatballs came in was VILE and I wish I hadn't poured any on. BUT it was filling to the point I actually left some. But not satisfying. I don't know what it is I want or need because I have had three meals. It simply must be because I am used to more. 

The day is done though and just in time for a cup of tea and a biscuit. Below is what I used and what I spent.

Breakfast = 16p

25g porridge with 150ml water - 2p

35g of jam - 2p

1 banana - 12p

Lunch = 35p
3 slices of ham - 18p
2 slices of bread - 12p
4 leafs of lettuce 4p
2 dollops of mayo - 1p

Dinner = 44p
1 tin of meat balls - 40p
100g of spaghetti - 4p

Supper = 5p

2 digestive biscuits = 4p

1 cup of milkless and sugarless tea = 1p

DAYS TOTAL SPEND £1.00

#BelowTheLine Food Shop Done!

Alright!! The shopping has been done. And here is a picture of most of what I got. The other bits like the sausages and the chicken pie I completely forgot to put in the picture and by the time I remembered I had put it all away. So not getting it all back out for a pie lol.

I did a practice shop on Tesco online so I knew I was going to be able to get it all done and on budget.

Below is how I plan to do it and how much the actual shop cost, and how much it will cost per serving.

Shopping List

• 3pk chicken and veg pies - 84p
• Value lettuce - 57p
• 10 slices value ham - 61p
• 4pk chocolate mousse - 20p
• 2 x mini pepperoni pizzas + garlic bread - 50p (it was buy 3 for 2 and I got 46p back)
• 8 x sausages - 56p
• 1L long life skimmed milk - £1.06
• 5 x bananas - 61p
• 200g Cream cheese - 49p
• 1/2 Cucumber portion - 45p
• 500g dry spaghetti - 19p
• Meatballs in tomato sauce - 40p
• 26 x digestive biscuits - 30p
• Chicken soup - 24p
• 454g Mixed fruit jam - 29p
• 1kg Porridge oats - 75p
• 120g Packet mash (serves 3) - 20p
• 80 teabags - 27p
• 1kg frozen peas - 99p
• 800g Wholemeal thick slice bread - 50p
• 500ml Mayonnaise - 40p
• 1.5kg Carrots - 69p

TOTAL SHOP = £11.11 << weird amount!!!! Number fairies.

Now I know the shopping list total is more than £5 and the object of the game is to do 5 days at £5 but once broken down into their serving sizes, I can not only have 3 meals a day with a brew and 2 biscuits for supper, but I can have them all for LESS than £1 a day - except for Friday when I spend £1.01.

For each blog post, I will break down exactly what I had and how much a portion cost me. Exciting.