MY £10 ($13) A WEEK FOOD BUDGET CHALLENGE: Lidl £10 ($13) A Week Grocery Haul

[@marjoriejohnson4559]

You are so cute and charming! I have been watching American KZbin budget food videos for a couple of years and recently started watching British counterparts. I've realized there are quite a lot of similarities between the countries food. I am 60 years old so we all can use your info to our advantage, not just the young people. Prior to a job change a decade ago I was in dire straits food wise and for weeks ate only potatoes or beans and rice, but your videos show people the alternatives. Thank you :)

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Thanks so much Majorie and nice to meet you from the other side! I definitely agree there’s a lot of similarities, even with the stores as well!

[@MrDavinci91]

Lidl...The 🐐 of Supermarkets!

[@VeroniaSpaine]

100% 😂😂😂

[@TheSilveryew]

I am a self confessed reduction raider - I don't harass the staff as I have seen customers do, but I know where the reduction shelf is in my local shops and what times to go to get the best reductions. You can make a lot of savings that way. Based on this I think I could do £10 a week for food, but it would be tough for the long haul. To raise money for the Trussell Trust I did the Living Below The Line Challenge in 2017 - you live on £1 a day in food and drink for a set amount of time. I chose to do this for 2 weeks. I managed to do it, but that was really tough and I think if you had to live like that long term you'd have to be really careful, esp. ensuring you were getting enough iron and calcium through what you would be eating.

[@VeroniaSpaine]

That's amazing you were able to raise money! I do agree that I'm not sure it will be very sustainable in the long term, I like the idea of visiting the reduction shelf though!

[@alwayslearning9272]

You definitely know one of the best secrets to making your food budget stretch, marked down items are the key! :) I was really pleased too to hear that you've done Live Below the Line, I have done this myself before and live in Australia where this challenge originated from, and have been considering doing it this year but am not sure just yet. I know I can come up with good affordable meals but don't have the social media reach like the younger people do in order to raise many funds or even much awareness, so while I'm happy to participate it feels like it wouldn't make enough difference to be worth it. :(

[@TheSilveryew]

@@alwayslearning9272 Any contribution will always be worth it, as you are raising money for charity, well done for doing it before and for considering doing it again - in addition to sharing it with my friends and family, I also got permission to share it at my two workplaces at the time.

[@oldbatwit5102]

@@TheSilveryew Respect. Eating healthily for under £2 a day is not easy, doing it for just £1 is very difficult. Everybody should try it. I used to live near a big London street market and at least a third of my diet was fresh fruit because it was so cheap, bought from the market. Fruit and veg was way less than half supermarket price and better quality. Small apples , bananas, and oranges were 10-15 for a pound. They often did buy one get one free late afternoons and I sometimes got grapes for 25p a punnet that would have cost £2 in the supermarket. When I moved out of London to a large town I was shocked that the local street market was pretty much supermarket prices.

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Have you ever tried a £10 or $10 budget before? Let me know in the comments! P.S. If you want to start saving more I’ll be doing a LIVE FREE TRAINING all about saving money! Register here: bossfinanceacademy.com/free-masterclass/

[@intergratedpurgatory1678]

Try iceland, farmfoods and sainsburys or even Co-Op. I feel they will it would be harder then Lidl.

[@VeroniaSpaine]

I definitely think they would be harder haha! I’ve noted them down though!

[@elaibesummers906]

Yes that would be good Veronia

[@YvonneHudduma]

Yas Veronia! You really came through with this video. I'm so impressed with what you were able to get, as this is the reality for so many people! I know I love sharing frugal shopping tips BUT even I'm not sure I can do this, haha. Really enjoyed this video, super inspired!!! 😍

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Haha it was tough I can’t lie! But I was glad that I could meet the budget! Although not sure I could do this every week mind 😅

[@Ginge.1008]

This is so helpful I'm about to do a £10 shop at lidle and decided I'm doing egg fried rice for dinner 👌💁‍♂️

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Amazing I hope it tastes good!!

[@UnrulyHousewife]

Amazing!

[@jujularue7611]

Yes, but peanut butter? Did you include it? I guess another go can be frozen berries and frozen veg like peas or green beans, a pack of apples as snack or yogurt if you tolerate milk

[@VeroniaSpaine]

I did buy peanut butter I just forgot to film it! You can see it at the end though 😊

[@Loopylou897]

Wow you did amazing, I loved how excited you were to have the popcorn X

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Thank you! And yes haha It’s one of my favourite snacks! 😊

[@lindseyabbie7]

Love egg fried rice I have mine w veg egg Siracha mayo and spring onion ! My fav and super cheap

[@VeroniaSpaine]

I just started buying siracha sauce recently and I’m in love, I’ll definitely need to try the mayo!!

[@RachelCumberbatch]

I use frozen blueberries for my porridge lasts longer 🙃

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Such a good point Rachel! I sometimes buy frozen veg for smoothies but I will definitely try out having it for my porridge too!

[@Sandrashideaway]

I also buy frozen blueberries for my oatmeal. What's really delicious is frozen mango. I don't sweeten my oats so the mango makes it taste sweet. 😉

[@KLUDUP]

Great video Veronia, l’m in the process of doing a £15 a week one but you destroyed me with this £10 challenge! 😅 Well done 👏🏾👌🏾

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Haha thank you! I’m not going to lie it was tough but I’m glad I managed to do it 😂

[@elaibesummers906]

Well done for spending less than the £10. No I personally can not do it as I love my food and I too train, so I feel I need to eat good food. Sometimes I may treat myself to a piece of steak. I love eggs as well they are so versatile. Great video Veronia. I love food videos. Maybe you could do a meal plan video and what you eat in a week. If you havn't already.

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Yes I'm not sure I could do this all the time but it was a great challenge! I think a meal plan video would be good but at the moment I don't tend to each a lot of different meals so it might be slightly boring!

[@oldbatwit5102]

The title of one of your videos, 'How I budget my under £30k salary', made me chuckle. My total monthly net income is £925, my rent alone is £695.

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Have you tried increasing your income or maybe considered changing your housing situation if you're able to?

[@oldbatwit5102]

@@VeroniaSpaine I'm 65, registered disabled with a number of health and mobility issues. The government changed the rules for my disability benefits, I no longer qualify. I lost that and my council tax exemption. I lost a third of my income overnight. I was let go from my last, part-time, job 3 years ago when I finally became physically unable to do it anymore. There aren't any jobs for me here. Landlords won't touch me because I'm not working, and don't have a guarantor. I'm getting kicked out of my flat next Wednesday and I have nowhere to go. I will lose everything I own. Tuesday I will be buying some warm clothes and a sleeping bag then I will go for a walk.... somewhere. Bye. Helen. xxx

[@VeroniaSpaine]

@@oldbatwit5102 I'm so sorry to hear that. There could potentially be charities that can help you with this, it might also be worth seeing if you can register with the cancel to see if you can get sheltered housing?

[@Thathippiekittykat]

You did so well! I couldn’t do it personally. I like variety!

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Thank you! I don't think I could do it long term but I'm happy I took on the challenge!

[@anyrahamat]

Rice gets less starchy if you wash the rice at least 3-5 times 😊 hope this helps!

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Yeah I tend to wash it like 8 times actually 😂 but I just found this particular rice very starchy for some reason!

[@DianeBolumbu29]

Helpful

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Glad you found it useful!!

[@letishamaughan7271]

This video is amazing! Im currently spending £60-£70 a week on shopping due to only name brand products, not including takeout. My uni friends buy shop own cheaper brands and can budget to less than 40 for 2 people. Tomorrow I am doing my first budget shop so this video was extremely helpful. I realised, taste wise, brand and shop taste the same. Couldn't tell my friends granola was not kellogs. I think it's important to save money where you can. Prior to covid I was so careless with money. I have subscribed and will watch more of your videos Thank you 💖

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Good luck on your budget shop I hope it goes well! And totally agree - a lot of the brands taste exactly the same! Thanks for subscribing too!

[@alison2984]

I spend £50 for 2 weeks for a family of 3 It's very easy to shop cheap x

[@ErisstheGoddessofmanhwas]

I understand you , i love eggs ..i can eat more than 5 every day , but sadly i can't , cuz i have allergie whenever i tend to eat more that 5 or 6 a week

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Oh wow 5 a day! I'm usually content with 2 or 3 I would say!

[@mahle5]

Did you already have the peanut butter? I'm really enjoying your videos. Very inspiring.

[@VeroniaSpaine]

I literally can’t remember but I think I bought the peanut butter since it was a challenge! It was probably the cheapest one 😂

[@mimijeji7047]

Hello all the way from Kuwait, loved the challenge. I don’t mind doing at all maybe one day! Great job

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Thank you! And how interesting you found my channel too!

[@debbiekoortzen1154]

Hi, I just found you. I dont love beans either. Great.video, thank you. 🌹

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Glad to hear it's not just me haha! Thanks so much for watching!

[@kayleesmith2051]

I'm American and getting a Lidl in my neighborhood (like, right next to me) and I am so glad I found this video, lmao

[@VeroniaSpaine]

That's amazing! You'll have to tell me if they've got similar foods in your neighbourhood haha!

[@valsmith1231]

I’m surprised you managed to stick to the £10!!

[@VeroniaSpaine]

I know right me too! It was really interesting to see what I could buy!

[@ladykade]

I NEED HELP. I spend around £600 a month on food shop and I don't have kids. I've realised this is a problem now and this does not include clothing neither does it include my take outs😭😭🤣. I buy breakfast in MNS every morning before I go into the office 😭😭 my MNS breakfast cost me around £9 each day 😭😭😭. HELP HELP HELP.

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Wow that is so interesting!! At least the first step is recognising your spending which is good! I do offer 1:1 coaching which helps if you find that you overspend too much and want to take control of your finances! You can find out more here: bossfinanceacademy.com/coaching/

[@veronicaojan2219]

avocado is £1 in the market. 4 for a pound which is good

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Yep it’s quite good value for money!

[@intergratedpurgatory1678]

I love Lidl but they still don't have an online store! So my 18.75 a week is going to saisburys! Maggie cubes are so good!

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Ahh I know that’s the one thing which isn’t great!! Especially if you don’t have a Lidl near you!

[@intergratedpurgatory1678]

@@VeroniaSpaine yeah, I do miss their discounts. I haven't used the lidl app in months!

[@VeroniaSpaine]

To be fair I’m still trying to see what points I can use, haven’t seen much out of it yet 😂😂

[@fififinance7469]

oh wow that budget is tight! Well done, £10 needs work.. but deffo a challenge right? Longer term eek...

[@VeroniaSpaine]

It really was!! I'm not sure I would be able to do this long term, I think I would struggle slightly to be honest!

[@NicholsKT]

You talk really, really fast but I still enjoyed watching you tackle this challenge. Love from Texas!

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Thank you! Yes it's a personality trait that I've always had and I don't realise how fast I'm talking until I start editing haha

[@kaybee6534]

I talk this fast too, so I didn't notice but if you ever need to slow down or speed up a video, you can in the top right options menu.

[@VeroniaSpaine]

It’s good to know I’m not the only one!

[@Sandrashideaway]

💓New subscriber. I'm in the USA so I had to Google how much a pound or p was in dollars. Lol 😀 Looks like you had some healthy foods and did great. I'm vegan & eat oats everyday too. 😉

[@VeroniaSpaine]

Nice to meet you from the other side! Nowadays I think the pound is pretty much almost the same as dollars haha! My food shop was probably around $13 I believe 🙂

[@Sandrashideaway]

@@VeroniaSpaine yeah $13.90 is what Alexa just told me! ☺️

[@michealadeleye7476]

I can't wait to say I splurged £1.29 on blueberries 😭 Uni life man

[@LDNpat]

Wow I'm impressed! I'm not gonna lie I do struggle to stick to £50 per week so 10 seems so far out of reach lol

[@VeroniaSpaine]

It's quite tough but I think with a bit of creativity it can happen! But I probably wouldn't recommend as a full time thing haha!