Savvy mum shows how to make 36 healthy meals for just £20

Mum-of-one Bonnie Shaw, 23, set herself the challenge of planning and cooking all her meals for the week for just £20 – and excelled herself. 

Bonnie, who works for Network Rail, says she was tired of seeing how expensive healthy meal plans are.

But she doesn’t want it to be inaccessible to people who want to lose weight.

So the savvy mum shared her healthy and cheap hacks with money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk.

‘You shouldn’t have to spend a fortune to lose weight, so I decided to see how far I could stretch £20,’ said Bonnie.

‘I did 36 meals and 12 bananas for snacks in total. Both my partner and I have three meals a day (breakfast, dinner, and tea) and a snack for six days a week. One day a week we have a treat meal and cook from fresh.’

The meals included one porridge a day for both Bonnie and her partner which was changed up by adding some fruit, nuts, or a small amount of chocolate.

Bonnie added: ‘I made spaghetti bolognese six times, which is 332 calories per portion, chili and rice six times, which is 573 calories per portion, homemade pizza six times, which is 553 calories per pizza and sausage and mash six times, which is 436 calories per portion.’

She ran into certain challenges while completing the task, such as making the meals healthy – but found budget-friendly ways of including fruits and vegetables. 

‘Because of the £20 budget, it was difficult to incorporate fruit and veg because it can be expensive.

‘That goes for lean meats as well – we actually spent a quarter of the budget just on one lean pack of mince!

‘If you are on an extremely tight budget, a good way to incorporate more fruit and veg into your meals is using tinned goods.

‘Even though fresh is better, this can be a great way if you can’t afford the fresh version. You can buy a tin of peas or a tin of carrots for under 20p!’

Bonnie used standard Aldi products in this challenge as she wanted to show that budget meal prep is possible even if you can’t find reduced bargains in other stores. 

She says this challenge is a useful way to plan meals and cut down on unnecessary spending during a time when we’re at home more than ever.

‘By stretching your £20 to go further, you can fill your freezer, enjoy home-cooked food ready within minutes, and create meals specific to your own goal.’

The mum says trying the challenge has been rewarding but in future she would extend her budget.

‘I could carry this challenge on to cut down my spending, but I’d probably increase the budget to £30 to make sure we can include more fruit, veg and protein.

‘I hope the challenge proves you can prep your meals to suit your goals on a small budget.

‘With most of us being at home it’s so easy to overindulge out of boredom. By planning and prepping, I stay within my calories without being too restrictive and enjoy what I eat – and it costs me less than 60p a meal!’

Bonnie shares her budgeting and cooking tips on Instagram and YouTube at @theweightlossmummy, where she has shared a video to show how she cooked each meal.