How Easy is This in 2023? - Budget Challenge: One Pound*, One day, 3 Meals, No Foraging

Time for another limited budget challenge - people have been asking me for another one of these; the costs of food are still rising rapidly. Not even sure it can be done for £1 any more - the budget might have to be *adjusted* - Well, let's see what's possible now...

The reason I do this is as an exercise to try to provoke myself to respond creatively; to nurture or develop transferrable skills of creativity and adaptability; to think more about what it means to 'try'; to embed a habit of thinking about and focusing upon solutions, not problems and also to experience personal failure in a safe setting. This type of exercise - in this, and in other contexts - has served me very well in life. Those skills, such as they are, have always been the driving force of what I do, on this channel, and everywhere else.

It's important to note what this video is NOT:
This is NOT a tutorial for cooking or budgeting or foraging. No guarantee is made that anyone else will be able to replicate any part of this video (supposing you even wanted to).
This is NOT an attempt to 'play at being poor', although it always does make me appreciate things that I normally take for granted.
This is NOT an attempt to 'prove that people on benefits could get by with less' - if anything, it proves the complete opposite - because this was a difficult thing to do - that's why it's called a 'challenge'.
This is NOT a diet - it would not be a good idea to cook or eat exactly this food every day - or budget like this every day.

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:18 Price Comparison Waffle
4:17 Rules & Parameters
5:11 Shopping
6:34 The Haul
7:37 Breakfast (prep)
13:23 Breakfast (serve)
14:34 Lunch (prep)
19:17 Lunch (serve)
21:23 Dinner (prep)
23:28 Dinner (serve)
27:08 Conclusions

[AtomicShrimp]

Thanks for all the supportive comments! I'm not going to give up this series - having read a lot of suggestions and ideas, I think what might happen next is this:
*<EDITED> - this is the plan going forward:*
1. Learn lessons from this one and try *exactly these rules and parameters* again. ie: get back on the horse, even if only to fall off again
2. Go shopping *without a budget, but with an objective to shop frugally* for 3 meals 1 day - still applying the same frugality, but without an absolute limit, then when the shopping is done, review the cost of that exercise, talk about alternatives etc. ie: try to discover the boundary between 'really difficult' and 'possible'
3. *Larger budget (but still tight), longer period;* only 3 episodes - each 1 day, 3 meals - will be published, but at the end of Episode 3, I must show a meal plan for using and rationing what's left for the remaining days. ie: do something a bit more useful and 'realistic'*

*I still want to be cautious about the realism. My life is pretty easy compared to some folks, and I am determined not to become a person who just blurts out glib and ultimately demeaning and insulting 'advice' to people who are suffering genuine hardship.

<Original unedited comment below>
£10 for 10 days, except I won't necessarily turn this into 10 videos each with 3 meals in them - I'll maybe do that for 3 days, and at the end, discuss meal ideas and rationing of what's left. Or same idea with £7 for 7 days or whatever - but some longer period, with examples, and meal plans or sketches for the stuff that isn't shown in detail.
Another possibility is to go shopping without a budget, but with an objective to shop frugally for X number of meals for Y number of days - still applying the same frugality, but without an absolute limit, then when the shopping is done, review the cost of that exercise, talk about alternatives etc.

[Tommy_Pockets]

I hope you never stop doing these challenges shrimp

[gluffoful]

I like the idea of £7 for 7 days, which would allow things like bread/flour and bag of rice to be used throughout the week. It may be possible financially, but a challenge to combine a limited number of ingredients into all different meals.

[ABVW]

I am not ashamed to say, I have had to live on budgets like this in the past, sometimes slightly higher, usually slightly lower, and it was always super difficult, I very regularly only ate once a day, and was always hungry.
That being said, if I'd had videos like this to go off as a sort of guideline, I wouldve faired much better.

Please dont give up on these challenges, as im sure there are people out there for which these videos are a great help.

[megabeatsrse]

a tip for the stock:if you simmer the bones first without the vegetables, you can let them go longer then add the veg without destroying as much of the nutrients and flavours from the vegetables

[StephenIC]

I think increasing the budget is clearly the best option for future challenges. I think we've all thought "wow, he can do that with £1, I wonder how he could eat with £3 for the day" or something like that.

The specific number you are spending is not the interesting part. It's your creativity, resourcefulness and problem solving skills, and seeing what is possible for a low price.

I love these videos, please don't abandon them :)

[Squishy-Fish]

Just increase the budget! £3 for one day, £5 for two days it doesn't matter. What we enjoy is watching your creativity and ability to create interesting meals from difficult/different circumstances. Food challenges where you overcome difficulties other than price would also be interesting eg. only a certain number of ingredients, long shelf- life foods only, etc..

[gobboyboyrah]

The start of this video really made me go holy shit... like I remember my mum and I could get 5 instant noodles 20p each, it would have our lunch sorted for most of the week because we struggled growing up. Now as a student living alone I went into a tescos and quite literally was shocked to see one measly packet of instant noodles was a pound! It just feels like everything has absolutely skyrocketed. Even though we were poor, we could afford cheap meals and now my mum can't afford the gas or electricity anymore living by herself. Your videos are genuinely enlightening, fun and informative. I would love for you to keep going with it!

[GMxTekhe]

I think this actually really brings the situation we’re in into perspective - I’d genuinely love to see it repeated almost identically every few months :)

[orriesmom]

Please PLEASE don't give up on this series! Maybe consider doing something like "4 days on £5" so that you could buy some staples like flour, rice and fat? I truly love these budget meal challenges; they are often the highlight of my week!
PS And by all means, include foraging!

[billtone]

Don't abandon the series!!!
I've got to admit at being embarrassed, but these sorts of videos are a lifeline for me and my family at the present time 😢

For creativity on a budget, this is informative and helpful, and the children are helping in the kitchen, so they are away from the p.c. or their phone .

Great upload.

[HappyBeezerStudios]

Prices have gone up here in Germany as well.
a pack of pasta used to be 49 cents, now 89 cents. 1 l milk was 88 cents, now 1.15€, a bag of brand chips was 1.39, now 1.79, the sausages I used to by were 2.89, now 3.89, and the list goes on.
I think the series should continue. With increased prices us people living on a budget are even more dependent on cheap and filling options.

[TimGT]

Whatever you do, do not stop doing the challenge. My wife and I really enjoy your creativity with the dishes, the shopping, all of it. One of our favorite series on YouTube we watch together.

[megamansballs]

I think this series is more important than you know. I watch these videos not just for the challenge, but for your creativity and also highlighting how difficult it is to live on a very small budget. It's so important that people with better incomes understand how life could be, if things had been different.

[egotrips]

As someone in America who's been subbed for a while, please don't abandon the series. These budget videos are what got me interested and although I haven't kept up with your channel till I got this video recommended, it reminded me why your channel is awesome. Living near a bunch of main store chains, I find it impossible to even live in a budget you impose on these challenges--along with rising prices, it's great to see you make these delicate dishes with just a pound or more

[claralouise]

I think lentils are a good idea for anyone on a budget. A bag of dried lentils is extremely cheap, nutritious and versatile. Lentil curry, lentil stew, chilli, soup, bolognese… the list goes on. They’re a really good source of protein too! I cook mine in a slow cooker, which again, saves on cost. Dry couscous is another good option too.

[seargesoren]

I just realized I have more stuff in my kitchen drawers and I keep thinking I don't have enough food for a proper meal.
Sobbering video, very enjoyable!

[GigaBoost]

As for the "now what" question - increase the budget. I think you've sort of done all there is to do for the supermicro budget challenge at this point. Let's go up a little bit, where we're making economical meals but with the option to actually have some meat or fish in there.

[woshamboo]

I used to be homeless and I've watched all of your challenge videos and I don't for one second think this is a flex on poor people lol. It's really kind that you are thinking in an informed and sensitive way but honestly don't overthink it. Yes, they're brilliant ideas for people on a budget but it's your creativity and skills that people watch you for, which can be implemented no matter how much money you have. Please don't stop making these! Ever!

[kingchuckfinley]

For the lunch soup I’d probably opt for the root half. I’m a chef, I absolutely love these videos. I comment multiple times every episode, but in the end you have a plan that makes a whole lot of sense. The bitter root of an onion can really turn a dish a little unappealing, so a soup that is going to be blending with other ingredients is a little more forgiving. I always love how you can make some true meals out of such shallow (I don’t think that’s quite the word to be honest) ingredients. Soup looks great!