My staple 42p meal!

Ironically, although I really love food, I hate spending money on it. I don't mind spending money when I'm eating out, probably because I'm paying for the experience as well as the food, but I really begrudge paying a lot for my weekly/monthly shop. If I'm not buying meat and don't include eating out, I can usually manage to spend about £30 on my food for the month. Yes, I mean month, not week. My shopping list usually consists of pasta, rice, beans, potatoes, pesto, onions, peppers, garlic, bread, yoghurt, apples, noodles, eggs, curry sauce, stir fry sauce and cereal. I know... Carb Central. It's ok, I go to the gym a lot so I do burn off some of the many carbohydrates I insist on eating. All these items usually cost me £15 to £20, depending on which offers I can find, then I spend £10 to £15 per month on topping up on the things I use most regularly. I do occasionally spoil myself and buy some chorizo, but you can buy that very cheaply in Aldi and it lasts for ages as I don't eat much meat. So... £30 a month is achievable! Only if you live by yourself, obviously. Which, incidentally, I do.

My favourite budget meal is probably pasta and pesto. I usually make this once a week, probably even more often when I'm having a particularly tight month. If you want to make a simple meal which won't cost you much, this is exactly what you're looking for. I always make enough for three portions, so that I can take some to work for lunch on a couple of days. Here's what I use to make three portions, and how much each item costs:

Two thirds of a bag of Tesco Value Pasta (20p)
A quarter of a jar of pesto (25p - you can usually find a jar on offer for £1)
Two onions (15p - it's cheaper to buy individual onions than to buy the packets)
Two peppers (60p - cheaper to buy a big bag of Tesco Value peppers than to buy the packets of 3)
Two cloves of garlic (7p - I find it's cheaper to buy garlic granules in a pot, and they last longer)

This all amounts to £1.27. Then I divide the cost by three as I usually get three meals out of it, which makes each portion 42p! Some people would probably be able to make it last for four meals... I make myself big portions, as you can see from the picture below. Again, don't judge me, I go to the gym. Honestly.

It might look bland, but it really does taste good. And pretty healthy too, as you don't need to use much pesto. One tip... I bought reduced fat pesto last time I went shopping to try to be healthier, but it really doesn't taste as good as the real thing.

Has anyone got any other tips for budget meals? I would like to broaden my cooking horizons, without breaking the bank!