Woman who spent £500 a month on food for just two people reveals she HALVED her monthly bill by ditching supermarket meal deals and buying meat in bulk (and was able to pay off £16K of debt in a year)

  • Grainne McNamee, 33, and her husband Ryan, racked up a debt of £16,000
  • The couple from Belfast halved their £500 monthly food bill to pay off the sum
  • Grainne revealed they are able to prepare meals for as little as £1 per portion

A woman who used to spend £500 on food every month for just her and her partner, has revealed how she managed to slash her bill in half by ditching takeaways, and buying meat in bulk. 

Grainne McNamee, 33, and her husband Ryan, from Belfast, who owed £16,000 after splurging on house renovations, a car loan and other smaller debts, have paid off the sum - partly by reducing their food expenses.

Savvy foodie Grainne, ditched takeaways and top-up shops to halve the household's £500 monthly food bill, and now prepares meals for as little as £1 per portion.

Since overhauling the family's finances, she has cut down her working week to just two days a week, so that she can focus on her money-saving blog. 

The couple revealed that their wake-up call to stop their frivolous spending habits and living beyond their means came when Ryan received the news that he could face redundancy from his job at a bank. 

Grainne McNamee, 33, (pictured) from Belfast, who once owed £16,000, revealed how she was able to pay off the debt within a year and now work just two days a week

Grainne McNamee, 33, (pictured) from Belfast, who once owed £16,000, revealed how she was able to pay off the debt within a year and now work just two days a week 

Grainne's Chinese pork ramen costs £1.69 per portion to make
Grainne ditched ready meals and supermarket meal deals for making meals from scratch, including meatball marinara

The 33-year-old, who lives with her husband Ryan and their dog, says the couple would spend up to £500 a month on food before reassessing their finances

Spend per week

Typical food spend two years ago 

Takeaways: Pizza with sides and drinks or a Chinese takeaway

From the supermarket: Around six ready meals, branded items, convenience foods such as microwavable rice, pre-prepared fruit and veg.

Meal deal from a luxury supermarket for two people, including starter, main and dessert 

Lunches: Meal deals for lunches near the office, or a packaged sandwich and a coffee

Average total: £110

Typical food shop now

Takeaways: None

From the supermarket: 

  • Lean beef mince and whole raw chicken to prepare for several lunches and dinners
  • Tinned tomatoes, fresh herbs and spices for bulk prep cooking
  • Fresh fruit, vegetables (non-processed) and potatoes
  • Dried pasta, noodles and rice
  • Frozen fruit and vegetables, for smoothies and bulking out meals
  • Ingredients for homemade 'fakeaway' once per week, such as pizza, steak or burgers

£14 - fresh fruit and veg (Lettuce, Cucumber, Tomatoes, Peppers, Broccoli, Carrots, Bananas, Limes, Grapes, Apples, Potatoes, Celery, Onions)

£14 - fresh food (Bread, Wraps/Burger Baps, Milk, Eggs, Butter, Goat's cheese, Cheddar)

£10 - food cupboard (Tinned tomatoes, Dried herbs, Dried pasta, Flour, Rice, Biscuits, Teabags, Diluted juice, Soda water)

£4 - frozen (Mixed veg, Frozen fruit) 

Bought online: £8 - musclefood meat (e.g. 200g pack of lean mince, 6 chicken breasts) 

 Average total: £50

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The pair had recently taken out a loan to renovate the first home they'd bought together, which, along with other smaller debts and a car loan, left them with over £16,000 of debt.

Grainne and Ryan who live with their dog Jessie, usually ate out or ordered takeaways once or twice a week. They would also shop day-to-day at various convenience shops and supermarkets. 

Assessing their finances, the couple was stunned to discover they spent a whopping £500 each month for just the two of them. 

Grainne decided to start meal planning, batch cooking, and doing a weekly food shop.        

She began coupling lean meat from musclefood.com with low cost vegetables, cupboard staples, and fresh spices. Grainne now cooks up to 45 portions of meals like chicken pie, Chinese pork ramen, and spaghetti and meatballs for less than £60.

Speaking about their finances, she said: 'We were dealt a bit of a blow in 2017 when my husband faced redundancy, and it made us realise just how mindless we'd become with our spending.

'We'd recently bought a new car on finance, but it was on a complete whim. We literally walked into the car dealership and drove out in a brand-new car the same day, having signed up to what was essentially another £11,000 loan.

'This meant that each month, we were forking out over £400 in loan payments, just to meet the minimum required.

'It was at this point that I made the decision to try and clear over £16k worth of debt in just 12 months – something that some friends and family thought was far too ambitious at the time.

Grainne reveled the wake-up call for them to reduce their spending came when Ryan faced redundancy from his banking job. Picutred: Grainne's homemade steak and chips

Grainne reveled the wake-up call for them to reduce their spending came when Ryan faced redundancy from his banking job. Picutred: Grainne's homemade steak and chips

The savvy shopper now prepares meals for as little as £1 per portion, such as chicken stir fry, by coupling lean meat from musclefood.com with low cost vegetables

The savvy shopper now prepares meals for as little as £1 per portion, such as chicken stir fry, by coupling lean meat from musclefood.com with low cost vegetables

Grainne (pictured with Ryan) created an Instagram page to log the couple's daily spending and keep them accountable throughout their quest to get debt free

Grainne (pictured with Ryan) created an Instagram page to log the couple's daily spending and keep them accountable throughout their quest to get debt free

'But I was really determined to get our finances back on track so in order to hold myself accountable I made a dedicated Instagram page, @WannaBeDebtFree , where I began logging day-to-day spending, loan payments, and our finances in general.

'It was quite intimidating to start off with because people are usually so tight lipped about anything to do with income, spending, and debt in particular, but I found a huge online community that were incredibly helpful using the hashtag #DebtFreeCommunity.

'It took a while to get Ryan on board but eventually we were able to sit down and really fine tune our spending – cancelling memberships and direct debits that weren't absolutely essential, and changing the way we viewed money in general.

'Soon we were paying about £1,000 in loan over payments each month, and our total debt gradually reduced.'

By pre-planning meals each week, Grainne now prepares over a weeks' worth of evening meals with leftover portions for lunches, for as little as £2.05 per meal.

The couple recall a huge chunk of their monthly income would be spent on food, particularly on takeaways and eating out.

Grainne (pictured) revealed the couple have become careful of their spending, choosing to shop weekly instead of daily

Grainne (pictured) revealed the couple have become careful of their spending, choosing to shop weekly instead of daily

According to the 33-year-old the food bought from Musclefood goes further, she's able to make multiple meals from the same meat

According to the 33-year-old the food bought from Musclefood goes further, she's able to make multiple meals from the same meat

Grainne continued: 'It wasn't until I totted up the figures that I realised we were spending around £500 a month on food alone, which is a massive amount for just two people!

'So, I set about learning how to batch cook, meal plan, and started food shopping week by week instead of day by day which is what we had been doing.

'When you're really trying to be careful with your spending and get the absolute most for your money, Musclefood hampers are fantastic.

'The quality of the food is amazing which meant the meat went further, and they're great value for money.

'Using chicken breast, minced beef, pork, and steak as bases, I now cook up hearty but healthy meals like Chinese pork ramen, meatball marinara and chicken katsu curry.

'And I can use any meaty leftovers to make a big meat feast pizza which feeds three for about £4.90 – which is better value than most supermarkets.

'When meal planning, I usually make a mental note of one night where we will be eating leftovers, usually just before our weekly food shop.

Grainne (pictured) revealed she focuses on being creative with dishes when bulk shopping to ensure meals throughout the week have the same components

Grainne (pictured) revealed she focuses on being creative with dishes when bulk shopping to ensure meals throughout the week have the same components

Grainne (pictured with her husband) who married Ryan without debt last year,  has written a book sharing her cost cutting methods

Grainne (pictured with her husband) who married Ryan without debt last year,  has written a book sharing her cost cutting methods

'This gives us an opportunity to raid the fridge of any veggies or produce that hasn't been used. Not only does this save money it also cuts down on the level of household waste.

'Another tip would be to learn how to eat repeatedly, so eating dishes throughout the week which have similar or the same components.

'This may sound boring, but it gives you the opportunity to be really creative whilst being cost efficient as you can buy in bulk, and really make your groceries stretch further.

'Our journey to become debt free hasn't been easy, but it's definitely been worth it.

Grainne's savvy shopping list

Chicken Stir Fry (serves 2) 

Chicken breasts

Rice

Sweet chilli sauce

Fish sauce

Dark soy sauce

Carrots

Broccoli

Red onion

Spring onion

Spray oil

Garlic granules

Chilli flakes

Lime

Salt & pepper

 

 200g

150g

50ml

25ml

10ml

250g

180g

0.5

2

1 spray

5g

2g

0.5

-

Total: £2.05

71p

15p

12p

8p

6p

19p

28p

12p

10p

1p

3p

3p

15p

2p

Per head: £1.03  

Chinese Pork Ramen (serves 4)

 Pork loin, roasted

Rice noodles

Chicken stock cube

Frozen ginger

Garlic granules

Dark soy sauce

Fish sauce

Water, boiled

Boiled egg

Cabbage leaves

Mushrooms

Spring onion

Chilli flakes

 1

400g

2

30g

20g

5ml

30ml

800ml

2

4

4

4

10g

Total: £6.74

 £3.93

£1.50

15p

10p

6p

3p

8p

-

30p

5p

28p

20p

6p

Per head: £1.69

Meatball Marinara (serves 4)

 Free-Range Meatballs

Tinned tomatoes

Onions

Garlic bulb

Fresh basil

Dried basil

Dried oregano

Sugar

Cherry tomatoes

Broccoli

Mushrooms

Red onion

Pepper

Pasta

 1 pack of 20  

800g

1

1

20g

5g

5g

5g

8

180g

2

0.5

0.5

300g

Total: £5.57

 £2.63

56p

25p

25p

30p

15p

15p

2p

20p

28p

8p

12p

28p

30p

Per head: £1.39

Chicken Katsu curry (Serves 6)

 Chicken breast

Carrots

Onions

Garlic

Chicken stock

Water

Curry powder

Light soy sauce

Honey

Garam Masala

Flour

Eggs

Cornflakes

Spray oil

Salt and pepper

Rice

 1kg

1kg

200g

1 bulb

2 cubes

-

2 tbsp

20ml

15g

15g

50g

2

100g

One spray

-

450g

 Total: £6.31

 £3.56

£0.60

£0.20

£0.25

£0.08

£0.30

£0.12

£0.05

£0.16

£0.03

£0.30

£0.13

£0.01

£0.02

£0.50

 Cost per head: £1.06

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‎'Ryan and I got married last year with no debt, and we're now saving so much money every month that I can actually afford to just work two days a week!

'This gives me time to concentrate on my Instagram blog and I even wrote a book in December last year, called How to Get Out of Debt: An Eight-Stage Strategy to Pay Off Debt and Fix Your Finances f or Good .

'People often think that living frugally means being miserable, but I'm the happiest I've ever been'

'Often all it takes is some time to re-address your attitude to your finances and make some little changes that all add up in the long term.' 

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