Eat For £10 A Week Challenge Aldi Edition | The Meals

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Do you think it went well? ☺️

[@gillianhope7742]

Nutritionally not great , veggie or vegan maybe better for at least for Part Of the week with this amount of money as you had no green leaves or iodine which is in fish or sea veg , sardines are 40p a can ,

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

I agree with the lack of nutrition, definitely.

[@laurakendrick2810]

Frozen broccoli or green beans are really cheap for a large bag. Add peanut butter to porridge also and like you say a bag if oats is super cheap vs sachets. Amazing for £9.95 though 👍🏻

[@reneematlock9657]

You did mostly good. You can mix the oats, PB and a banana together and make a breakfast biscuit (they are actually pretty good). I'd have included "pantry staples" in the things I was allowed to use in addition to the challenge items.

[@housewife1543]

You can buy 500g of pasta for 29p which would help with the calorie intake and provide 5 meals. It would be easier to do a challenge over 2 weeks to get more variety

[@jen9774]

It would be interesting to know how much those meals would cost today, a year later, with the scary rise in prices across the board. My income has dropped substantially and my rent/levy increased by a fifth. I'm going to have to think very carefully about budgeting.

[@hollym6381]

Peanut butter tip. You can add chilli flakes and peanut butter to the instant noodles make them taste a million times better x

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Ooh I will remember that for next time! :)

[@paulamonaghan3280]

You did really well. Some people allow the use of basic spices that they already have as part of the challenge. Next time you might want to add a cheap bag of rice or noodles. As for fruit I would add a cheap seasonal fruit or a small container of applesauce. You could have added that to the oatmeal or make a cheap crumble with some stale breadcrumbs.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

That's a good point! I did use salt on the chips to be honest, which made them even more tasty.

[@Katykicker]

Really enjoyed this, well done, you ate well for £10!

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Thank you! :)

[@gladyssymonds6377]

I think you did well with the money restriction and what you had! You could have put a egg on the noodles maybe toast with your cottage pie! I am glad you got your tea!

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Thank you :)

[@alwayslearning9272]

Well done, definitely variety is a luxury when it comes to a minimal spend shop and repetitive meals are required to get you through. I thought what someone said below to do it for two weeks would really help to give you a bit more flexibility and would probably allow for some of the little extras. Interesting that you learnt quickly that porridge oats would have been nicer, I agree the pre-made packet flavours can be a let down. Maybe if you'd turned them into overnight oats instead and stirred in some of your peanut butter they would have been nicer that way, as then it would have been like a cold pudding which probably would have appealed more, plus the peanut butter would have helped to thicken it up and make it more creamy. So how was the tea anyway? We have that brand at our Aldi here in Australia but the packaging is quite different, and the flavour is quite bland and flat, so I haven't bought them again. I find that most replica things are good from Aldi but tea and milk chocolate are two things they don't seem to be able to do well.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

The tea bags were ok - which is good as I have a lot left! I usually use loose tea so will stick to that. And what a good idea with the oat sachets; might try that with the ones left.

[@joannahalford5672]

Well done Nicola! Did you not feel tempted to cheat? I probably would have done 😂. Thanks for sharing Xxx

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

At times, definitely!

[@robwalsh3082]

What a great cook 👩🏼‍🍳 Even the tea looks perfection 🫖

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Thank you! :)

[@katyharding6671]

thanks for this, going to uni and need to learn budgeting :)

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

You're welcome! Enjoy uni :)

[@rev.ruthe.gallot9103]

I think you did well given the restrictions and, most importantly you leaned a lot. I work with a very tight food budget usually (by choice in order to achieve a particular goal) and so did a little conversion out of suriosity, 10 UK pounds = about $14 US. which is a little under my regular budget of $40 fo two weeks. I find that it is easier to plan for 2 weeks at a time because that helps avoid the repetition. You could buy the potatoes and rice but mix them up. The tea would obviously last you both weeks and a box of porridge oats would last two weeks, thus freeing up money to buy a little butter, or margarine or go for a small jar of the better flavored peanut butter. It is just easier to save money by purchasing larger amounts and spreading them over 2 or more weeks than thinking of just one week at a atime ... and you might be able to afford some of the less expensive fruits and veg. I saw on another video that Aldi over there sells what they call "wonky" or imperfect fruit and veg that could really help if they happen to have them in stock. Thanks for sharing

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

A great comment; thank you for that. Two weeks would make it slightly more flexible and might be interesting to try at some point.

[@sneha2169]

You can buy frozen items like spring rolls, samosa from asda or tesco.

[@matheweaston]

Fascinating. You did really well. 👍 👍 👍 Thanks so much for sharing.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Thank you :)

[@matheweaston]

Me

[@tenthousanddaysofgratitude]

Playing this while I make dinner. You might have eaten better than me!

[@melaniefraser8827]

Great video, you did well with what you had in terms of meals although I can appreciate how hard the repetition must be. I’d like to see you do this in Tesco esp as I think it’s usually quite expensive to shop there.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Thank you! I’ll add it to my list :) not shopped in Tesco in a long time so have no idea on prices.

[@sneha2169]

Noodles Cappuccino Toast Banana sandwich Eggs on toast Spaghetti hoops Jacket potatoes Yoghurt, banana Lasagna Potato wedges

[@somersetgirl125]

I know this is an oldish video but here’s my thoughts anyway. I think if you’re on a budget it’s important to maximise your calories in order to eat enough. So I would buy full fat everything eg milk. Butter/marg depending on price rather than peanut butter would be more versatile and would make the other food more appetising so you may have eaten more bread. Instead of porridge and 2 large yoghurts a couple of packs of the smaller yoghurts would have been nicer for summer breakfast. Maybe you would have eaten all the bananas then too. You could have bought less milk too without the porridge and with the saving maybe bought some spread cheese portions which are really cheep? Beans though slightly more expensive would give more cals and protein too than spaghetti. If you were hungry why did you not eat the last egg? It was a fun video. I enjoyed thinking about the challenge and how I would have tackled it.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Some fantastic suggestions, thank you for sharing :)

[@baumi8125]

Thanks so much for the content warning for calories and weight loss, I rarely see things like that which I understand because most people don't get bothered by it, but due to past emotional abuse it's a trigger for me so much appreciated

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

No problem; I wouldn't want to not warn people in case it's a trigger point.

[@lynnoorman2144]

Hiya you did well but oats would be much better - while your oven was on you could crisp them in the oven and sprinkle on top of stewed cheap fruit as a mock crumble. Also get plain noodles and add a diced bit of onion and carrot when boiling!

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Ooh, love crumble ☺️

[@lynnoorman2144]

@nicolafrugalcottage hiya would love to write to you but other than You Tube not sure how to go about that. You've done really well. I'm OK now BTW - things happened to me some 25 years ago. You can get back on your feet. You are a strong lady and I know that you will.

[@catherineturner2839]

Do Lidl - you can get one of their £1.50 veg boxes.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

I should try there!

[@jennifreesjourney9817]

How about home bargains they have fresh produce as well really enjoyed your videos 🤩🤩🤩

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Ooh I didn't realise they had fresh produce? Might be one to think about :)

[@claremcintosh8348]

For your next £10 challenge - would you not consider shopping in 2 supermarkets?? Different supermarkets are great for certain things - but I suppose we are lucky in my local town that the big supermarkets ( Tesco, Asda, Lidl and Aldi) are fairly close to each other so cuts down on travelling costs. Budget teabags are a bit of a non-winner in my eyes (huge tea drinker myself!). Try Asda. Also try UHT milk - if you get used to it great! Aldi have it at a fab price - if not, fair enough, it's not for everyone!!!!

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

I could do! The only issue with this is that none of the supermarkets here are near to each other - but I can plan that if possible. I shall add it to my list! :)

[@jennifreesjourney9817]

Or try one of your local food coops where you get cheap fruit and veg

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

I'm not sure where they would be - I will investigate.

[@frugalgrandma]

You should buy full fat milk then you can water it down more

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

A very good point :)

[@christinesharland8478]

Is this for the whole family or just you.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

This was for one person :)

[@at9329]

very interesting video. I would really like to see if you could do your £10 challenge at a)a market - if you have one nearby .. you know the sort where you can buy veg and meat etc.. and b) An international shop eg an Asian market specialist shop - or Chinese specialist shop something like that - depending on what choice you have locally.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Well I definitely have a market I could go to - not that I shop in there regularly so that might be a real challenge! I'm not sure about an international shop; I shall have a research about what is nearby. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@Itsmeandmyadhd]

My life a nightmare right now only can spend £25 a week for 2 people I lose £451 which was my pip last year been finding it super hard still i want to get a animal but cant efford it right now

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

I’m sorry to hear things are so hard 💔

[@Countrygarden2023]

You would be nutrient deficient if you ate like this all the time! I couldn’t live without fresh vegetables and fruit!

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

It would be tough if it was for the long term, I agree.

[@Leansophfit]

@@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage you could buy frozen mix veg or mix fruit packet depending on price you had. It in this case mix frozen veg plus something like onions ( any kind ) and cucumber and such.

[@marietasteadman1863]

Asda

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Noted! :)

[@rev.ruthe.gallot9103]

Just to let you know, I think somone is trying to impersonate you in the comments .... if you look below, you did respond to my original message back in 2021 but below that is what appears to be a message from you that just says "Write me". I did some investigating and the site it brings me to is not your KZbin Channel. It was just so odd that you would send a cryptic message a year later that I thought it must be some one trying to impersonate you and wanted to let you know

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Thank you for making me aware 😕

[@MayfairMagic]

You couldn't keep this up for long.

[@NicolaatTheFrugalCottage]

Agreed; it would be tough.

[@LittlePinkPiggy1]

This can be done for quite a long time because as each week goes by you end up with surplus food which you weave into your future menus.

[@fupatrooper1638]

Many people have no choice.