I started growing veg because I was sick of spending £5 on fresh herbs that went slimy in three days. Now I save at least £20 a week on produce, and it’s genuinely easier than I thought.

If you’re skint and want to cut your food bill, growing your own is one of the best ways to do it. Here’s what actually works.

Start With What You Actually Eat

Don’t grow weird vegetables you saw on Gardeners’ World. Grow stuff you actually buy every week.

The Big Savers (things that cost a fortune in shops):

• Salad leaves: A pack of mixed salad is £1.50 and lasts two days. Seeds cost £1 and give you salad for months. Grow in any container, cut what you need, it keeps growing.
• Herbs: Supermarket herbs are £1 each and die immediately. One basil plant costs £1.50 and produces for months if you keep cutting it.
• Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes are £2+ per punnet. One plant gives you hundreds of tomatoes. Grow in a big pot by a sunny wall.
• Courgettes: One plant produces so many courgettes you’ll be begging people to take them. Shop price: £1 each. Your cost: basically free once you’ve got the plant.

Easy Wins for Beginners:

• Potatoes in a sack (costs pennies, yields £10+ worth)
• Runner beans (one packet of seeds = months of beans)
• Strawberries (one plant multiplies like crazy)
• Spring onions (regrow from shop-bought ones – literally free)

What’s Actually Worth Growing?

I did the maths because I’m sad like that. Here’s what saves you the most money:

Definitely Worth It:

• Salad leaves (save £3-5 per week)
• Herbs (save £4+ per week)
• Courgettes (save £10+ per month in summer)
• Tomatoes (save £8+ per month in summer)
• Runner beans (save £5+ per week in summer)

Maybe Worth It:

• Carrots (cheap to buy anyway, but fun to grow)
• Potatoes (only worth it if you’ve got space)
• Onions (take ages and are dirt cheap in shops)

Not Worth It:

• Sweetcorn (takes up loads of space for like three cobs)
• Cauliflower (massive plant, one cauliflower, shops sell them for 80p)
• Anything that needs a heated greenhouse

You Don’t Need a Garden

Seriously. I’ve grown food in the smallest spaces:

On a balcony: Tomatoes, salad, herbs, strawberries – all in pots On a windowsill: Herbs, microgreens, chillies In a tiny yard: Vertical planters for salad and herbs, grow bags for tomatoes and courgettes

If you’ve got a sunny spot and can fit a pot, you can grow food.

The Actual Start-Up Costs

Complete Beginner Kit (£15):

• Compost from Aldi (£3)
• Four packets of seeds (salad, tomatoes, courgettes, herbs – £5 from Poundland)
• Four cheap pots or grow bags (£7 from B&M or Wilko)

That’s it. You don’t need fancy equipment.

Free Ways to Get Started

Regrow from kitchen scraps: Spring onions, celery, lettuce – cut off the bottom, stick it in water, it grows back. Actually works.

Get free seeds: Join a seed swap group on Facebook. People give away seeds they don’t need.

Use free containers: Old buckets, plastic storage boxes (drill holes in the bottom), anything that holds compost.

Make your own compost: Vegetable peelings turn into free compost. You don’t even need a fancy bin – a pile in the corner works.

When to Plant What (UK)

March-April: Salad, peas, broad beans, potatoes May: Tomatoes, courgettes, runner beans (after last frost) June-July: More salad (keep sowing), herbs August-September: Winter salad, spring onions, garlic

Or just sod the calendar and chuck seeds in. I’ve had stuff grow at completely wrong times because plants don’t read gardening books.

How I Actually Save Money

Here’s my real savings from last summer:

Shop prices vs. homegrown costs:

• Salad: Was spending £6/week in shops. Seeds cost £1. Saved: £23/month
• Tomatoes: Was spending £8/month. Two plants cost £3. Saved: £5/month
• Herbs: Was spending £16/month on fresh herbs. Plants cost £6 total. Saved: £10/month
• Courgettes: Was spending £12/month. Two plants cost £4. Saved: £8/month

Total saved: About £45 per month in summer. The plants keep producing year after year (well, except the courgettes), so the savings get better.

What Nobody Tells You

You will have gluts. One week nothing, next week forty courgettes. Learn to freeze stuff or make friends with neighbours.

Some things will die. I’ve killed loads of plants. It’s fine. Seeds are cheap.

You can’t grow everything. Root veg needs deep soil. Some things just don’t grow well in the UK. Focus on what works.

It takes time to figure out. First year I grew about three sad tomatoes. Second year I had loads. You get better.

The Bottom Line

If you’re trying to save money, growing your own food is brilliant. Even if you only grow salad and herbs on a windowsill, that’s £10+ a week you’re not spending in Tesco.

Start small, grow what you actually eat, and don’t stress about doing it “properly.” If it grows and you can eat it, you’re winning.

What do you grow? Any tips for beginners? Let me know in the comments.