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A SELF- proclaimed bargain hunter has revealed how she makes delicious meals from as little as 72p a portion.
Lauren Roddick has cut weekly food costs for her and husband Malcolm by ditching weekend takeaways, sourcing yellow sticker items in the supermarket and buying her meat in bulk.
The 36-year-old savvy cook from Glasgow uses a 90-piece family feeder hamper from online healthy retailer MuscleFood to reduce her food costs.
Lauren, who works as a full-time nurse, uses her days off to batch-cook meals for the week ahead and spends the evenings hunting down yellow sticker items.
With prices of supermarket items soaring over the last few years, Lauren said she’s made more of a conscious effort to reduce the amount she spends on food.
With the help of a hamper and her bargain hunting, Lauren dishes up tasty meals including Chinese Chicken Sweetcorn Soup for 72p a portion, Chicken Tikka Masala with Homemade Flatbread for £1.36 each and Dragon Fire Kebabs for £2.04 per person.
Other favourites include Meatball Subs for £1.75 each and Japanese Teriyaki Chicken with Egg Fried Rice for £1.29 a portion.
Lauren freezes the food so she has healthy, homemade meals throughout the week after busy nursing shifts at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
Lauren, who shares budget-friendly recipes through her Instagram page, scrimpy_scottie, said: “I’ve loved to cook for the last 15 years and I’ve always had a nose for finding a bargain.
“It’s important for me to make my meals as cheap as possible without having to compromise on taste.
“I started learning how to save money by batch cooking so I had food prepared for my 12-hour shifts. I’d spend my days off cooking meals to have ready for the rest of the week.
“To make the costs even lower, I’d spend my evenings trying to find the best yellow sticker items available, which I still do every week.”
Lauren says she has figured out the best times of the week when supermarkets are likely to have the best reductions and items on offer.
She’s been able to snap up items such as tuna steak, mince and sausages for 75% off the final retail price.
Lauren explained: “I’m obsessed with yellow stickers and bargains in general - I always check locally for the best deals.
“Because I hunt for yellow stickers so often I seem to know the supermarket reduction system so I can get the best deals.
“I’ve figured out that the best time is at 6pm after the mad rush-hour sweep as well as one hour before closing when the shops make final reductions.
“I’ve been able to secure roughly 75% off items such as tuna steak, flatbread, fishcakes and more by being in stores at the right time.
“Some of the items I use straight away and others I store in the freezer to use for future meals.”
To save even further on her food costs, Lauren has changed where she buys her meats as well as how often she splashes on a takeaway.
Lauren says she and her husband Malcolm used to order a takeaway every weekend but have now switched to making homemade, delicious fakeaways.
She has been using the meat from the MuscleFood hamper to make cheap fakeaways which she says are just as “delicious”.
Write a list - Only go into stores buying what you need. Make sure to always look in the fridge, freezers and cupboard beforehand so you’re not buying for the sake of it and nothing goes to waste.
Cook similar ingredients - Plan the week's worth of meals and make sure similar ingredients cross over. It helps to save so much money, especially when it comes to meat.
Buy versatile meats - If you’re going to spend more money on meat, make sure the ingredients can be stretched out. Beef burgers can be used for other meals such as curries and dishes which include mince to save money in the long run.
Lauren said: “We used to always have a takeaway on a Saturday night but we haven’t had one since March because we loved making fakeaways so much.
“Kebabs have been a favourite in our house. The Dragonfire chicken breast we used from MuscleFood is absolutely delicious and we loved it. What’s even better is that I didn’t need to buy additional spices as the seasoning was spot on.
“Fakeaways are just so much cheaper to make. The meals cost only a couple of quid each, which is a lot better for us than spending over £30 on one takeaway.
“My husband doesn’t even miss the takeaways!”
