Dine in for under 50p

It’s getting to that time when you’re starting to realise your student loan doesn’t make you rich.

If you want to make it to Christmas without having to drop out, it’s time to start budgeting. We tried some of the cheapest possible dinner recipes using a range of supermarkets to stop you from starving without breaking the bank.

Pitta bread pizzas

A cheap, easy to make, pizza using pitta breads. Tesco Everyday Value pitta breads are 22p for a pack of 6 and you’ll use 2, working out at 7.3p.

You’ll need some tomato puree- again, Tesco Everyday Value provides this for just 35p a tube. You’ll use about one fifth of the tube, or 40g, so that only sets you back 7p.

No pizza’s complete without mozzarella. Tesco Everyday Value mozzarella is 55p for 125g. So 50g works out at 22p.

The best side dish to have with pizza is garlic bread. Tesco frozen garlic bread slices are £1 for 10 so only 10p for one.

That brings the cost of this meal to only 46.3p.

Pasta – Sainsbury’s

Pasta is a staple in any student diet and it’s a cheap meal too. Sainsbury’s Basics pasta shapes are 30p for 500g making a 100g serving just 6p.

Sainsbury’s Basics also provide a tomato pasta sauce for 50p, making one serving just 12.5p.

At that price you can go all out and add some meat, such as Sainsbury’s Basics tuna at 90p for a tin, or 30p for a serving.

Now you’ve got yourself a meal for 48.5p.

Fish and Chips – Asda

Fish and chips – the British classic. Battered fish portions brought to you from Asda Smart Price are just 85p, working out to 21.25p per portion.

Asda Smart Price chips are 85p for a 1.5kg bag, so 7p for a 125g serving.

Mushy peas complete this meal. Asda Smart Price mushy peas are only 15p for a tin and you only need half so that’s 7.5p per portion.

That brings the total of this meal to 35.75p!

Sausages and mash – Sainsbury’s

Tasty, cheap and easy to make. How can you ever go wrong with sausages and mash?

A 2.5kg bag of Sainsburys white potatoes is £2.25, so a 225g portion is 20.3p.

A bag of 20 Sainsburys basics frozen sausages is £1.50 (much cheaper than buying fresh). So if you use 3 sausages that works out at 22.5p.

Obviously this meal wouldn’t be complete without gravy. Sainsburys basics gravy is 20p for 170g, so for a 60g serving that’s just 6.9p

Overall this works out at only 49.9p!