this is news to me… the real world is expensive, hmmmm
[quote]Pluto wrote:
this is news to me… the real world is expensive, hmmmm[/quote]
Americans have it easy, cheap food, free shipping on Biotest. Ripp of UK charges up to twice as much as americans would pay(for food and supplements).
[quote]LiftSmart wrote:
I don’t know about England but here you can hunt yourself a moose and if you have a freezer to store the meat, it will last you 6 months.
That’s my plan for University. As long as I can get some free time to hunt.[/quote]
LOL! fell off my chair when i read that. moose in a bit short supply round here at the moment.
Move down to flyweight 
There is a bulk supplier in England called Bookers, found on industrial estates and they sell by the tray. If you can find someone with a car and make it there, you could save some money.
[quote]alit4 wrote:
LOL! fell off my chair when i read that. moose in a bit short supply round here at the moment.[/quote]
It doesn’t have to be moose. There must be something there to hunt?
To the OP:
Eggs and whole milk. Eggs are cheap and full of protein, and milk is full of protein, fat and nutrients, even if it isn’t cheap. Given your high activity level, you can probably get away with generic brand pizza pockets and meat pies and such, as well, but I’m not sure what the price per calorie is on those.
[quote]Anonymous Coward wrote:
It doesn’t have to be moose. There must be something there to hunt?
[/quote]
With the gun laws in the UK he’d be running around a forest with either a bow and arrow or a spear. I suppose a pellet rifle would do the job, but most people in UK do not have the stomach for hunting like you North Americans.
[quote]LiftSmart wrote:
I don’t know about England but here you can hunt yourself a moose and if you have a freezer to store the meat, it will last you 6 months.
That’s my plan for University. As long as I can get some free time to hunt.[/quote]
Ditto for the ‘northeast corner’ 
We like to take 'em out with cars up here-- just gotta hope they don’t trip up and come through the windshield…
you guys are getting some crazy high prices in the states there
over here in Ontario, Canada here are some examples
skinless boneless chicken breast: $8/kg
lean 75-80% ground beef: $6/kg, if on sale $4/kg
12 large free-range eggs: $3.50
1 kg rolled oats: $2.50
i’m putting in close to 4000 calories daily now from whole food and 100 grams of protein powder supplementation daily and the bill for the food itself would only come to about 50-60 CAD per week
honestly i think it’s the fresh fruit and veggies that kick the ass of most people trying to buy nutritious whole food, just look at the prices of bell peppers and apples (which is crazy as ontario is supposed to be a big apple producer)
i get a significant portion of my veggie, legume and fiber intake from just buying those large bags of mixed veggies like peas + carrots you find in the frozen section of any regular supermarket, $2 CAD for a kilogram of those is a hell of a good deal and still very nutritious
IMO, £40 is already very hard to live on in terms of groceries/week, for an AVERAGE person. I think that at £50 a week,you may be hard-pressed to eat a lot and eat clean. That having been said:
Eggs, and milk, like someone mentioned. I think milk may be the single best cheap bulking food, if you can handle it. Portable, cheap, filling. Mm. Mm.
Meat… Buy mince (red meat) and diced (chicken/turkey), it’ll be cheaper, from what I remember. Also look into buying a whole chicken, put the bastard in the oven, freeze when necessary and eat it over the week. Good money saver.
Discounts! Fortunatey, stores in England often have 2 for 1, 2 for 5, etc sales. Take advantage of these: should help you keep things fresh and affordable.
I think it’s gonna be hard, but with enough planning and foresight, you can do it.
P.S. I miss living in England. Sure, it was expensive to eat - I spent a good deal more than the OP on food - but there is a LOT of variety. In Russia, EU supermarket staples are unheard of. Not only that, but calorie counters are often missing or false, which makes bodybuilding a lot more f*cking challenging. (I also stick to kosher food now, which makes life even more of a pain in the ass).
[quote]G87 wrote:
Also look into buying a whole chicken, put the bastard in the oven, freeze when necessary and eat it over the week. Good money saver.
[/quote]
My girlfriend and I just ate a chicken in a half an hour. That’s a good idea, but if a chicken lasts a week, you’re doing it wrong.
I’m glad I’m cutting at the moment. UK ffod is expensive.
LR
[quote]Mahatma wrote:
Anonymous Coward wrote:
It doesn’t have to be moose. There must be something there to hunt?
With the gun laws in the UK he’d be running around a forest with either a bow and arrow or a spear. I suppose a pellet rifle would do the job, but most people in UK do not have the stomach for hunting like you North Americans.
[/quote]
Hunting is actually a good idea.
It never even occured to me until recently.I was chatting to a girl at work,and she was talking about how her boyfriend had just shot a deer the day before,and she was looking forward to some venison steaks.
I thought,damn,thats a good idea! venison is a red meat but very lean.It is delicious,I have tried it many times.
The gun laws aren’t that bad here if you want to buy a hunting rifle or a double-barrelled shotgun,it’s just handguns/carbines/machine guns,etc. that are illegal.
You can also buy a powerful crossbow or air rifle with no checks/licence,and it’s a damn sight cheaper.
Some hunting options are pheasants/grouse/rabbits/deer.
Also consider fishing!
Buying the kit and travelling to a canal/stream/pond will pay for itself on a good day if you get a good few fish in-my dad used to go fishing and often come back with £40+ worth of fish for a few hours work!
He caught a small shark once,we had that tasty bastard in the chest freezer for 2 weeks,slicing off juicy steaks from it!
Also,Aldi and Lidl are obviously dirt cheap,but don’t forget Iceland-they sell 16 large eggs for £1,and a huge tub of cottage cheese is also £1,thats damn cheap.but whatever supermarkets are near you,go in all of them,find out whats cheaper for what stuff,and take advantage of the special offers by going to several stores and buying up lots of their special offer stuff-
Remember some stores actually take a loss on some items just so they can advertise those prices and get some word of mouth going,because they know people are gonna buy other stuff while they’re in there.
Sometimes they even offset that loss by putting a few other prices up,but its done subtly,not so’s you’d notice,maybe just an extra penny on a few high selling items.
Chicken
Beef
eggs
milk
cheese
oats
brown rice
Broccoli
Spinach
almonds
Olive oil
These things are cheap for the most part and be purchased in bulk
The states seem pretty cheap when it comes to food.
If your wallet is really hurting, cut out the supplements. These can add $50+ a week easily to your bill and they aren’t generally anything you can’t get from food. All I take is whey and fish oil and I’m still making gains. Its hard to do initially but hell, most of the stuff you might take wasn’t around 50 years ago and they still built muscle. That’s my outlook anyway.
Like X said, you might just have to sacrifice quality for quantity, which is what I’ve had to do lately.
I can’t help but jump in here and brag.
Where I live, nobody likes to eat chicken breasts, so I go into my supermarket and clean out all the quick-frozen chicken breasts each week. LOL I get funny looks at the register with 10 kilos of chicken, but its awesome.
Chicken breasts, boneless, skinless. about $2.50 a kg.
Peanut butter is a life saver, 75p a tub for lyk over 1000cals, i go through like 3/4 tubs a week!
Think about the less lean cuts of meat also, eg, chicken thighs and drumsticks, usually like £3-4 p/kg plus you get extra cals from the fats. Sausages are also a good option, from a butchers you can get high quality ones at £5 p/kg, again extra cals from the fats too.
Lots of olive and macadamia oils, and nuts, whilst whole milk is a saviour too.
Anyhow, i’m at uni in england too, i put away like 3800cals a day, and i spend £40ish on food p/week and about £60-70 more on supps a month(whey, animal paks, omega 3s, casein) plus the odd bulk purchase every few months of maltodextrin and zma. Works for me
[quote]redgladiator wrote:
Pluto wrote:
this is news to me… the real world is expensive, hmmmm
Americans have it easy, cheap food, free shipping on Biotest. Ripp of UK charges up to twice as much as americans would pay(for food and supplements).[/quote]
Hold up there just one sec
For the most part you can get around England and Europe car free.
Unless you live in a few select areas of the US, for the most part we are saddled with high fuel costs, parking, auto repairs and insurance.
There is definitely a trade off. It aint all sunshine and daisy’s over here.
[quote]Wise Guy wrote:
redgladiator wrote:
Pluto wrote:
this is news to me… the real world is expensive, hmmmm
Americans have it easy, cheap food, free shipping on Biotest. Ripp of UK charges up to twice as much as americans would pay(for food and supplements).
Hold up there just one sec
For the most part you can get around England and Europe car free.
Unless you live in a few select areas of the US, for the most part we are saddled with high fuel costs, parking, auto repairs and insurance.
There is definitely a trade off. It aint all sunshine and daisy’s over here. [/quote]
Are you having a laugh? UK petrol prices are a tonne higher than yours! We pay the equivalent of approx $5.80 a gallon here, last time i heard US prices were more like $3 !!
Yep. Insurance is a killer, too. I do agree that UK public transport is better than US public transport, though. By a LONG shot. In a lot of US cities, you basically NEED to have a car.