I challenged myself to make a day’s worth of meals for under £1

A money-savvy saver has revealed how she managed to prepare a whole day’s worth of food for less than £1 at the supermarket. 

Kathryn Leech, 26, from Manchester, challenged herself to spend no more than a quid on groceries as the cost of living crisis continues to plague thousands across the UK.

In the end she forked out only 99p to feed herself at Tesco, opting for canned foods, pasta and vegetables.

‘I bought tinned peaches for my breakfast and then cooked a pasta dish for my lunch,’ the influencer said.

‘For dinner, I used cheap spaghetti, chopped tomatoes, onion and carrots to cook up a meal.’

The content creator also tried the challenge at other supermarkets, documenting the results on her TikTok @everylittlepenny.

In two clips in September, she reviewed her daily haul, explaining that the meals weren’t incredibly exciting but efficient.  

Tesco’s tinned peaches set Kathryn back 31p, and were a cheap breakfast which is ‘not bad at all’. 

She had the exact same thing for lunch and dinner, cooking up some vegetables and sauce for her pasta, but admitted that she allowed herself not to budget for seasonings like salt and pepper.

The spaghetti (23p), chopped tomatoes (28p), onion (11p) and carrot (6p) made up the rest of 99p sum.

‘I’m not going to pretend that it’s anything revolutionary,’ she said in a video as she tried the dish. ‘It is an incredibly basic meal but I made enough but I made enough that it’s going to last me for lunch and dinner.’ 

Kathryn admits that while the endeavour was only a challenge for her, living off just £1 a day is a harsh reality for some families.

‘For me, it was just a challenge,’ she added. ‘But for some people, it could be their reality with the way inflation and the cost of living are rising.’ 

The content creator also tried the challenge at other supermarkets, documenting the results on her TikTok @everylittlepenny

In two clips in September, she reviewed her daily haul, explaining that the meals weren’t incredibly exciting but efficient

The spaghetti (23p), chopped tomatoes (28p), onion (11p) and carrot (6p) made up the rest of 99p sum

The super-saver also warned that eating for less than £1 a day may end up doing more harm than good. 

‘I think long-term it would be incredibly unhealthy as there’s no way you could get in all the right nutrients on that little food,’ she said. ‘However, if you need to just have a few cheap meals to keep you going, it would be absolutely fine.’

Kathryn has more than 28,700 followers on her TikTok, where she shares thrifty hacks and tricks, with her videos raking up some 528,000 likes.