How to eat for £2 per day – Voucherbox’s £2 Challenge

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Could you feed yourself for just £2 per day? The more I travel, the more I appreciate the little things in life, like simply being able to put food on the table. I’ve been to some beautiful countries in my time, like Jamaica and India, but it was also here that I saw some of the poorest people I’ve ever seen in my life. Poverty is relative and although many people in Britain are living on the bread-line, it’s nothing compared to some of the sights I’ve seen around the world.

That’s why I’m taking part in Voucherbox’s £2 Challenge for Zamcog, a charity that provides education and support to Zambia’s most vulnerable children. It costs £2 to feed, educate and clothe a child in Zambia every day, so Zamcog have asked the blogging community to feed ourselves (and our partner/family) if applicable, for just £2 per day. For every post published up until the end of February, Voucherbox will donate £50 to Zamcog.

When I sat down to plan my breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day, I realised just how hard it is to eat healthy, filling food on such a tight budget. It took me far longer than expected to figure out how best to spend my £2. In costing my meals, I divided the cost to buy each ingredient by the quantity used, so if a pack of  six medium free range eggs cost £89p and I used two eggs in the recipe, the cost for the eggs would be £0.15p. Once you’ve covered the initial cost, it’s much cheaper to buy ingredients in bulk as opposed to in smaller quantities.

Here’s how I ate for less than £2 per day – £1.96 to be precise:

Breakfast, £0.68

A cheese and chive omelette with fried cherry tomatoes was surprisingly tasty and filling.

Ingredients:
3 Tesco East Anglian free range medium eggs, 45p
30g Tesco Double Gloucester cheese, 14p
20g Tesco cherry tomatoes, 5p
Pinch of dried chives, 1p
10ml Olivio Oil,= 3p

Lunch, £0.49

A comforting bowl of hot tomato soup sprinkled with dried basil made for a tasty light lunch.

1 x 400g Tesco cream of tomato soup, 45p
Tesco dried basil, 4p

Dinner, £0.79

A plate of bangers n’ mash with green beans, topped with red onion gravy, made for a classic, hearty dinner. 

Main course
2 Richmond Irish Recipe thick sausages, 38p
1/2 red onion, 4p
125g Tesco Redmere Farms white potato, 7p
25g frozen green beans, 3p
10G Clover butter, 6p
3 tsp Bisto Favourite gravy granules, 6p
10ml Olivio Oil,= 3p

Meanwhile, dessert (yes, I managed to fit this into the budget!) took the form of rice pudding and jam, bringing back nostalgic memories of when my mother would serve this to me and my siblings. 

Dessert
200g Tesco Everyday Value rice pudding, 10p 
15g Tesco strawberry jam, 2p

Total = £1.96

Could you feed yourself for just £2 per day? Tell me what you’d eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the comment box below.

This post was sponsored by Voucherbox.

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