How to Buy 72hr of Emergency Food for Under £10

I really wanted to see if I could put together an easy-to-obtain emergency food list for under £10. My aim was to get it as close to the 2,000 calorie recommendation as possible, or even higher, without breaching that tenner limit. The idea here is to provide an affordable and practical solution for those interested in prepping, whether you’re a dedicated survivalist or just someone looking to be more self-sufficient in case of an emergency.

Why 2,000 calories, well the NHS suggests it as a calorie target for women during normal life. If men stuck to 2,000, they’d likely lose weight in the long-term, but would survive and function.

While it won’t be anything to shout about, the following menu and shopping list will easily keep you fed and functional during an emergency lasting 72 hours. The focus is on ensuring you have enough calories and essential nutrients to maintain your energy levels and well-being throughout the crisis period. This list is designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind, making it accessible for anyone to assemble quickly and without much hassle.

If you want to read more about the kind of food you should be stockpiling for an emergency, instead of a specific list of food items, check out my 12 essential food types for preppers to stockpile article.

Maximising your Emergency Food Stockpile for Under £10

At this scale, food is so much cheaper from physical shops than online, so no easy links here to products. I found all these products at my local Aldi supermrket [Find Your Local Store], I would expect Lidl, B&M, and other cheaper shops to be similarly priced. By shopping at these budget-friendly stores, you can maximise the value of your £10 and ensure you get the most sustenance possible for your money. The goal is to demonstrate that even on a tight budget, you can still prepare adequately for emergencies, ensuring that you and your loved ones remain safe and well-nourished during unexpected situations.

TLDR; Menu Overview

Average calorie intake per day: 1,922kcal.
Average cost per day: £3.30
Total spend: £9.91

£10 Stockpile of Emergency Food

Breakfast (142kcal)

Breakfast will consist of simple (yet relatively scrummy), flavoured porridge oats. Just add hot water style. They’re surprisingly filling and come as a pack of 8, so you could double down and smash two packets for breakfast if you need to.

1x Packet of Instant Flavoured Porridge Oats (8prts for £0.95, 1prt: 142kcal)

Throw in some of the dried fruit or a chunk of the chocolate, to give it a bit of a boost.

Lunch (480kcal)

Lunch involves just heating up some soup. They’re not bad. I’ve picked the soups with pasta or lentils in, as that boosts the calorie content quite sufficiently. Feels like you’re actually eating something, instead of just liquid. Combined with a helping of crackers too.

3x Tins of Lentil / Minestrone / Noodle Soups (various flavours, £0.62 / can, £1.86. 1can: 200kcal)
1x Packet Multigrain Crackers (£0.79. ⅓ packet 280kcal)

You can snack on the crackers throughout the day too.

Dinners (490kcal)

Unfortunately dinner isn’t going to win any culinary awards with tuna, beans and tomato pasta, but again, dead simple to prepare and pretty filling. Chuck in ⅓ can of the beans per evening, and you’re good to go. Hearty and simple.

1x 500g Packet of Penne Pasta (£0.41. 1prt: 350kcal)
3x Tuna in Spring Water (£0.55 / can, £1.65). 1prt: 55kcal)
1x Tomato Puree (£0.59. 1prt: 5kcal)
1x Mixed Beans In Water (£0.69. ⅓ can: 80kcal)

Snacks (821kcal)

Not surprisingly, snacks make up a decent proportion of the calories. Add some of the fruit or chocolate to your breakfast, or sprinkle some of the nuts on top of your pasta. Or more likely, just pick and graze on this stuff throughout the day.

1x Packet Fruit and Nut Mix (200g for £0.59. ⅓ packet: 326kcal)
1x Packet Unbranded Fruit Gum Soft Sweets (£0.90. ⅓ packet: 182kcal)
1x Packet Peanut Cereal Bars (5prts for £0.99. 1bar: 136kcal)
1x Packet of Chocolate (100g for £0.49. ⅓ packet 177kcal)

Emergency Food for 2 People

If you had all the items above, you could actually quite comfortably sustain 2 people on it. You’d probably drop the calorie intake to about 1,300-1,500 per person, but the bag of pasta and 8-pack of porridge oats can be spread further without compromising on the stated calories above (1 person would have leftovers of both, normally).

I would probably take some of the penne, the ⅓ can of beans for dinner, and put that with a soup. That way when you a soup 50:50 with the 2nd person, you’re still getting something half filling.

Don’t Forget the Most Important Item

Hopefully as a prepper of any experience, you have spotted that the most important item for survival is not on our 72hr food list. What item is key to survival but not in this menu?

Water! Unless you’re planning on relying solely on purifiying water during survival (not recommended), you want to get some water stored up as well.

72-Hour Survival Menu Summary

I was very surprised that you could do this for under a tenner. It’s quite impressive to see that you can put together a functional and sustaining emergency food supply within such a limited budget. Yeah, you might want to add a few extra bells and whistles to enhance your meals, but you also have to consider the resources you already have at home. If you’re sheltering at home, you’re likely to have tea, coffee, salt, crisps, snacks, and other tins in your cupboards. Plus, who has a completely empty fridge at any point? I’d bet there are usually some leftovers or condiments in yours that can complement your emergency supplies.

If you want to just copy and paste, or print out the shopping list, here it is again, roughly grouped and ordered by how supermarkets (Aldi, at least) does it.

1x 500g Packet of Penne Pasta
1x Tomato Puree
1x Mixed Beans In Water
3x Tuna in Spring Water
3x Tins of Lentil / Pasta Soups
1x Packet Multigrain Crackers
1x Packet Unbranded Fruit Gum Soft Sweets
1x Packet of Chocolate
1x Packet Peanut Cereal Bars (5 pack)
1x Packet Fruit and Nut Mix (200g)
1x Packet of Instant Flavoured Porridge Oats (8 pack)

Emergency Food Menu Summary

Hopefully you can use this list to quickly and efficiently gather what you need without having to hunt all over the store.

Remember to check out our corresponding article on the general 12 food items you should be stockpiling.

The goal of this article was to make the process of buying a 72-hour emergency food stockpile as straightforward and stress-free as possible. Hopefully I’ve done that, so you can now focus on preparing and ensuring you have everything else you need during an emergency.