FOOD SHOPPING FOR A FAMILY - ISH

[16011996]

Can anyone out there give me some ideas for shopping on a budget for food. I have recently been widowed, and although I work, need to be saving money. Apart from BOGOF offers, at a bit of a loss where to start.

Any ideas gratefully recieved,

Thanks.

[deronda]

Many of the shops "savers brands" are very good and much cheaper.

When buying food look at the cost per item (usually on the small ticket on the shelves), this helps to decide which are the more economical items to buy.

I use the savers versions of juice which are very nice and about 37p per carton. The butter is very nice too. I did try the "tastes like butter margarines" but found they just tasted like marge (which I don't like) so the cost cut was not worth it so stuck to the savers butters.

It is not easy sticking to a budget so go with a list of what you need and stick to it - unless there is a very good offer in something you use regularly.

[lswwong]

Buying fruit and veggies which are in season from the market often costs less than the supermarkets. Spuds, eggs, carrots, and onions are good value by the sack, or at least in larger quantities, from farm shops.

As you work, you are, no doubt, short on time. I liked Nigella Lawson's idea of marinating just a bit more meat for a stir fry and freeze the surplus portion so that you can use it later. I think the key is to eliminate waste, and be creative. It takes a bit of organisation and planning. Did you ever come across a little cookery book called "How to feed your family on £5 (or something like that) a day" by Bernie Lawrence back in the late 80s? The recipes were okay but Bernie's philosophy is pretty sound. She did a good job of turning inexpensive ingredients into varied, interesting meals. Back to basics, literally.

[Judi]

Sorry to hear of the death of your husband. !I cant imagine how you must be coping and feeling at this time.

Food shopping for the family, well where do i start? !Well i spose i started off with a blank peice of paper listing all the things my family like to eat for breakfast. !Unfortunately with my lot we get through plenty of bacon and eggs however we did use a lot of black pudding too so i thought that was a little extravagant so we only have black pudding as well as the bacon occasionally as a treat. !I also listed the cereals my family eat.
I did the same with our 'dinners' and also with our main meals in the evenings.

With a list in front of me i could see the more economical meals and also the meals that cost the most. !From this list i was able to menu plan. !Using cheaper meals, but occasionally using favourite meals that were a little bit more costly. !That way we didnt feel too hard done by. !I limit the amount of nice things i buy. !I buy a 21 pack of Walkers Crisps and 21 2 finger Kit Kats per week and divide them between the three kids. !If they eat more than one a day then its no good asking me to buy more. !I buy Tescos own label for most of my groceries, but not for my cleaning products which i have economised on, i tend to use bleach in the bathroom and vinegar and bleach (not at the same time) in the kitchen. !My washing powder is Tesco Value, and so is the dishwashing liquid.

I find that shopping online suits me better, as i am a terrible impluse buyer and i end up throwing away quite a lot of food when i shop on impulse. !I menu plan when i am compiling my shopping list, knowing what i will need during the week, and probably knocking a few things off before i get to the checkout.

Another tip i found, however i havent done it for a number of weeks. !I did my shopping every 8 days, and after a few weeks i found i would have an extra weeks money where i didnt need to buy any groceries which then i could either buy the kids clothes, or treat myself or them. !Its all these little things that add up. !Once every few months i will stock up our clothes at our local Asda store, however, my teenagers are a bit fussy where clothes are concerned, so i buy cheap jeans and undies from Asda and team them up with a 'named' top, t shirt and trainers from a cheapie place like http://www.mandmsports.com/
Dont forget to get a cheaper deal on your utilities too, it all counts. !Please use this board to your best advantage, it has been invaluable to me.

Big hugs xxx

[Mrs Thrift]

Sorry to hear about your husband.

As above, economical food shopping comes down to good planning and sticking to a list. And of course it's no good buying a BOGOF or other bargain if you're not likely to use the items before they go off, or if it's not something you particularly like.

Other than the excellent advice from the other posters, I can only add that I've recently discovered "Farmfoods" and it's fantastic for frozen and tinned foods.

One of the best things about frozen food, especially vegetables, is that you can control your portions while keeping the rest of the packet, unlike the huge amounts of veg we've previously bought in supermarkets then wasted.

Do be careful to stick to your list, though, as they sell some very tempting, but very fattening snacks and cakes, etc. at good prices, too!

Pasta and Rice (supermarket own brand & I think Farmfoods sell it too) are great to fill the cupboards with as they go with just about anything (we splash out on a jar of pesto to go with pasta, then we can have it with "dry" food too) and are fairly easy to make. Leftovers can go into a salad or stir fry the next day.

[16011996]

Thanks for the great ideas, have been having a wander round the site and got some there too. Will be writing menu plan tonight, and trying to find local markets too. All brilliant ideas.

Thanks Again

[lswwong]

All the very best and please excuse my poor manners for not having offered my sincere condolences before ...

XXXXX

[deronda]

yes please accept mine. !It was very rude of me not to have done so before.

[16011996]

Thanks for the condolences, didn't expect any,

Shopping tonight so will let you know how I get on.

Thanks again

;)

[Yoga Girl]

Sorry to hear about your husband.

I am an avid coupon collector, either from magazines or off internet coupon sites, you can exchange these at Asda and Tesco (and you don't need to buy the product the coupon is for) and this can reduce your bill by 10%.

I also check out the reduced produce - fruit & veg - and you can often make a good meal out of them, eg soups or stews. If you've got a freezer then you can stock up on reduced items eg bread, most stores seem to reduce stuff towards the end of the day.

We often cook in bulk and freeze portions, this works out quite economical, we use a lot of lentils and pulses and make sauces, bolognaises etc, this also saves time when you get in from work and you've got your own "ready meals". The internet has some good recipe sites.

There's also a web-site called wwwfixtureferrets.co.uk which lists the latest offers the supermarkets are running, I use this to see if any of the stuff I regularly buy is on a BOGOF offer anywhere and stock up on them. I then plan the meals for the week depending upon whats on offer.

I've also got all the usual "reward" cards for all the stores, this year I'm going to save up all my reward points/coupons until Christmas to help ease the cost of the Xmas shop.

Hope this helps, if I think of any more tips I'll post them.

[jb84344]

We no longer buy any ready made meals only fresh meat and veg. and as suggested by yoga girl make meals and freeze them, then they just need microwaving when it's time to eat. Because of the time constraints I tend to spend one day every couple of weeks cooking for the freezer which now I've been doing it for a while, I really enjoy, and is no longer a chore to be dreaded!

Also, we buy whatever meat is on special offer and freeze for when it's time to eat/cook!

Packed lunches will save you a fortune too and you can have a lot more interesting things than shop bought, bland e-numbered products.

Hope this helps,
Sincere condolonces,
Julia

[16011996]

Hello,

Well did first shop with all your tips last night. Had a sit down first and made a list, and weird thing was my daughter asked what I was doing (i never write shopping lists) and she said she'd rather have sandwiches for packed lunch than dairylea things she has now (that will save quite a bit) and that if possible could we get her a flask so she can take water if she feels like it, instead of cartons of juice all the time, or put bottled juice in, so its not always the same. From the mouths of babes as they say.

Went quite late and got some really cheap bread which I have frozen, and some croissants which were 10p for 4 so a treat in there as well for Sunday morning. Bought some meat and veggies reduced due to date to make meals up, so that'll be my job for tonight. Also got some carrots that were reduced to 20p a pack, got two packs, when I got to the till it knocked of 23p as they were buy one get one half price or something, so will be looking out for those from now on. Also bought 6 packs of toilet rolls (4 pack) as they were half price and i have put them under bed, and called at corner shop on way home to get a paper and found kitchen rolls half price so bought four packs of these. Figuered will save me money in the long run, hope I got this right.

I bought own name cereal and no one seemed to notice this morning, and also economy beans and things like that, so will have to wait and see if they notice that.

My shopping bill was about a quarter less than it usually is for a week (even including all the toilet rolls) and I reckon we can last for a week and a half with what I have, maybe even a fortnight at a pinch.

Thanks, for all your tips, ifanyone has anymore, please let me have them, really enjoyed the challenge of this and am determined to do even better next time,

Thanks again, and thanks for all your condolences, you are all really nice friendly people, wasn't sure what sort of response I'd get, but you been wonderful,

;) ;D :D

[Judi]

Dunno whether your prepared to do this, i have just bought a pack of J Cloths. I intend to use them instead of using kitchen roll. J Cloths can be washed over and over again, unlike kitchen roll. ;)

[16011996]

Just when I bought 12 kitchen rolls, but is good idea, washer on most days, and am sure have some somewhere in the depths under my sink. Also a tip for anyone else, just been shown how vinegar and lemon juice on a mirror rubbed with newspaper makes it shine and there were no smears either. Much cheaper than glass cleaners. Does anyone else have any cleaning tips?

[Judi]

bleach in the bathroom, although i use vinegar sometimes for limescale buildup.

In the kitchen i find that normal vinegar is good for grease. Sometimes i use salt instead of a scourer, but not on the cooker as it takes the shine off.

Soda crystals you can buy from any hardware store or supermarket will halve the amount of washing powder you need to use in your wash, and also is useful in the dishwasher.

Check out this site, its brilliant!!

http://www.gaia-exchange.sunmaia.net/

[16011996]

Thanks Judi, love the website you suggested, will be having a bash at the washing powder alternative, we go through loads of it. Quite fancy the shower gloop too, as we have sensitive skin, sounds good.

::)

[Judi]

Thanks Judi, love the website you suggested, will be having a bash at the washing powder alternative, we go through loads of it. Quite fancy the shower gloop too, as we have sensitive skin, sounds good.

::)
If you get round to doing the laundry gloop, its best if you put it in the drum itself rather than the dispenser.

[lswwong]

Hi 16011996 (& other posters on this thread)!

So glad to hear your new style shopping trip went well! Fantastic. Also very happy to hear that your family is settling well into the new buying decisions i.e. own brand cereals, etc. I used to live in a Jewish neighbourhood where there is also a 24hrs Tesco nearby. Jewish folks are keen money savers and they love looking for a bargain in Tesco during the wee hours/evenings too. At times, there was a party atmosphere in the supermarket because of this!

Just wanna add to Judi's economical cleaning tips. Rubbing the cut side of a lemon cut in half on your stove and its various bits and pieces is the easiest and most effective way to clean off burnt, greasy bits. Just leave the bits to react with the acid for a while and then scrub with Jif or some scouring product and then rinse. I also use squeezed out lemons/limes (which were used for cooking) to rub chopping boards and the sink in order to deodarise them. Just rinse with hot water. Very effective.

Lots of tips in Kim & Aggie's "How clean is your house" book. They are the queens of lemons, vinegar, and soda crystals! (Check Amazon Marketplace for a cheap 2nd hand copy.)

All the best.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[16011996]

Judi,

Made the laundry gloop at weekend, put it drum as you said, can't belive somehing so easy to make made clothes so clean, and soft too. Recommend this to anyone. Is fab stuff.

Thanks for the tip, think i'll try shower gloop next w/end.

[16011996]

further to the above, just been having potter through cupboards this morning to get a list ready for shopping, and even though I spent less on food last week, I have more left and don't think i'll need to go till end of week. Don't seem to have eaten any less either. Can't quite believe it.

[deronda]

If you eat marmalade it is much cheaper to make your own. It is very easy if you buy the Marmade tins and you just then need to buy sugar. It makes 6lbs (about 6 1/2 jars) for about £2.50. Most shops own brands are about 75p per jar!

[16011996]

Thanks for the tip on marmalade, but haven't a clue where to start, have you got any reciepes I can follow?????

[Judi]

Thanks for the tip on marmalade, but haven't a clue where to start, have you got any reciepes I can follow?????
I aint got a clue either how to make marmalade.

[arkonite_babe]

Hi 160, sorry to read about your loss,

there is a recipe thread in here and you might find some nice cheap andd easy meals to make on there. Another section is your tips, Cathy posts fantastic tips on cleaning stuff in there might help you too. Hope you find something of use!

recipes thread

tips section

[halloweenqueen]

Deeply sorry to hear of your sad loss.
Try using some of your bread for bread and butter pudding, can be made and left to stand then cooked while you eat firsts.
Look on recipezarr.com, American site but some good budget recipes - you have to try the caramel dumplings!
BBC had a series on called moneyspinners with a website link to it, ways to save cash and also earn it, plus budget reipes and tips.
Try Netto or Aldi if you have one or a Farm fresh food shop, especially if you can take a friend to do a weeks shop and halve petrol costs.
I was so impressed with the laundy gloop recipe from you all I'm going to give it a go this week. Get the kids involved, the ladies at Tesco will take coupons easier from kids! Get them to help find the best deals and buy 1get 1 frees.

[16011996]

Hello,

well been following lots of your tips, all really good except have discovered i am crap at making marmalade, my kids said theyd rather have dry toast. But all in all things working well. Not doing a food shop every week, is sort of every ten days now, and food seems to be going further. We are all making an effort to sit down and eat toghether as I have refused to cook more than one meal per night, so if they don't like it they can lump it, but they are trying things I think they had probably not tried and just decided they don't like the sound of.

Last Friday bought some reduced bread, and made up 2 loaves into sandwiches and froze them, I just get enough out for pack lunches each morning, in this weather they defrost by lunch time, and saves cleaning up the mess every morning from making them.

The kids are also helping me lots. They have agreed to only have one chocolate biscuit a day, and one bag of crisps, and because of this they are eating a lot more fruit, however I have found that the local green grocer is cheaper then my local supermarket for most fruit and veg, so don't mind this so much. They have also been having a bottle of water at lunch whilst its been so hot, freezing them over night so its still cool at lunch time the next day. They have also been putting in requests for meals so each of them has a night where they pick what we have (within reason) from whats in the freezer,

Thanks for all your tips.

[Judi]

Wish my kids were as accomodating as yours seem to be!!
Glad you are coping, its hard enough being a widow let alone having to sort everything else out on your own.

keep posting, and keep learning.

[Fran]

Judi -

She has a partner to help her though......

yeah well just thought something better than nothing, although my partner thought I'd gone mad too!!!!!!!!!!!!

[deronda]

Hello

Sorry for not replying sooner. On the tins of "marmade" it has the recipie. You use the contents of the tin, sugar, water and heat - as easy as that. If it was any more complicated I would burn it! ;D ;D

[16011996]

When posted about my partner on another board, think it was the freezer one, I meant my business partner who I run a small business with. Apoligies if anyone misunderstood, when you've all been so nice, would have hated for anyone to feel misled. Only put partner cos didn't want to put her name on, being bit wary of this whole internet thing.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

[deronda]

Went straight over my head. Would not worry it shows how much you do actually take in sometimes! :o

[cath-w]

So more saving tips for you. to help.

- buy in bulk. Get down to aldi etc. and buy beans, sugar, salt, pasta, flour etc in bulk. Much much cheaper.

- start a price list. Boring I know, but then you can see what is cheap. If you know cereals are 20p per hundred grams at supermarket A when you are in supermarket B then you can check the price to see if it cheaper. Also helps to calcualte is 'special offers' really are worth it.

- instead of using kitchen roll or j-cloths use old t-shirts etc. Cut them up and re-wash and re-use etc.

- do not buy tin foil or cling flim, pick up some cheap tupperware and re-use this for sandwiches

- I have a 6 week meal planner - took me a while to create, but really helps. It is a shopping list for the week and a list of basics so that I know what to buy when I get to the supermarket for what meals will be cooked. It is the only way I have found so that we do not throw away loads of food at the end of the week.

- we make our own bread

- switch from meat to some subsitutes for certain meals as they are they are usually cheaper. e.g. lentils instead of minced beef etc.

- make you own cleaning products from white vinegar, soda and essential oils.

- buy bulk, cheap shampoo and soap.

- buy cheap washing power for the machine and only use 1/2 the reccommended dose (unless clothes are really dirty)

- some supermarkets charge for plastic bags and so take a re-useable bag with you.

Hope these help

C.

[Mrs Thrift]

Something myself and Mr (Nearly) Thrift have been doing recently is cutting down on the size of portions we serve up. We realised we'd been piling our plates high then eating it just because it was there, and ending up feeling uncomfortably full after a meal.

Some things we've cut down a little, a bit less pasta or fewer potatoes, and some things we've cut in half - only one chicken breast thing each instead of two, then maybe a bit more veg instead.

Just don't do what I did the other night - made chilli con carne, served about two thirds (would usually eat it all between us) and put one third aside to cool before freezing it to go with baked potatoes at another time..... then forgot about it and left it sitting out all night. :-[ NOT very money saving!

[Judi]

Brilliant tips Cath. I never thought about visiting Aldi and writing down prices of the basic stuff. Mind you i cant really be trusted in a supermarket so i would have to send in Mr Judi.

[halloweenqueen]

Just wondering if I did something wrong with the laundry gloop - wasn't happy with how clean clothes were - but won't waste it - use it for washing towels etc

My sincere condolences for your lost. "To live in our hearts is not to die".

I found that cutting out chips and sticking to new potatoes makes a lot of difference to bringing the cost down and also it's a lot healthier. I also buy carrots/brocolli/cauliflower in vast amounts and cut them in pieces and freeze them. So when it comes to cooking vegatables, I just defrost the amount I need and therefore waste little. Also if you can, plan ahead you weekly meals as this way when you do your shop only buy what you need. It does require a little more organising but it will become 2nd nature soon.

All the best.

[Nikiya]

My condolences.
Just a tip that might be useful:
I do not find shopping in farm's markets cheap, but that might depend on the area. What I do find convenient is Turkish or Asian greengrocers, particularly for things like tomatoes, lemons, aubergines, root vegetables, herbs, etc.
If you like using parsley and have a little garden, it is very easy to grow (even the flat leaf one). Otherwise, buy two or three big bunches at any Asian/Portuguese/ Italian retailer (much cheaper than those ridiculous packages at the supermarket), wash it, spin it, chop it in the food processor and keep in the freezer. It is very practical to cheer up sauces, pies or tarts (not salads, unfortunately).

A really good read if you are serious about cutting back on costs, is 'The Tightwad Gazette'.

I'm reading it again for the sixth time (it's nearly 1000 pages long!).

You will probably only be able to get it on Amazon as it is an American book. I can't recommend it highly enough!

[Chipps]

I second that. Would definitely recommend Tightwad Gazette - although it is a US book, so many of the actual examples are not relevant, Amy Da-whatshername says that she is really showing principles that can be used in any situation - as opposed to a book which is just a list of hints and tips. Brilliant book, my copy is so dog-eared!

[16011996]

Halloweenqueen, the laundry gloop is good but not on stains, although have found rubbing a bit in, leaving for an hour shifed tomato sauce.

Was away for a week last week in a self catering cottage, and found it cheaper than I expected. (the cottage was already paid for so seemed a waste not to go). We travelled down on the Saturday and got to the nearest town about 8pm so went in to the tesco there. Got lots of late night bargains of reduced stuff as I knew there was going to be a freezer in the house so that helped lots. Bought some ecomony uht skimmed milk which you can keep in the cupboard and is cheaper by miles per pint, and healthier too and good as the nearest shop to where we were staying was a good three miles away.

We had own brand weetabix every morning, plus either a croissant, or waffle which had been reduced to 10p a pack. We made lunches everyday for going out, and we made jellys which were cheaper than buying yoghurts.

Sounds a bit sad the next bit but for entertainment the best for us was a competition in the garden one night to see who could make the longest daisy chain. The kids never asked to watch tv once at night. We either walked or played ball or something and they were very happy. Which was nice because I was expecting to be nagged for things or to go out to places but they didn't.

Obviously we went out during the day to places but they were happiest running about in a park or at the beach than the day we went to a big swimming complex, where they were board after a couple of hours when the novelty wore off.

The other wonderful thing was we found a fair and there was a lady there selling home made jam, for about 60-70p a jar. Not as cheap as you can get it in the supermarket, but cheap considering the types she had. (Ginger marmalade, damson jam, blckberry jelly and proper lemon cheese, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm) Have brought this back but will have to hide it from the kids, but would definatley look for these again, makes a nice cheaper treat.

[Ally]

Dear 160, before I begin - my sincerest condolences to you and your children.

Now, here’s the money saving bit ;D. When you’re going late night shopping, you’ll find loads of veggies reduced (Savoy cab, carrots, bean shoots, mushrooms etc). Buy them, when you get home chop them all up and sort them into portions and freeze. Easy chow mein mix! Well, sort of :-/, takes time to chop everything up, but it can be made to be fun, with a little help from your kids and a pinch of imagination. Buying chow mein mixes in stores is so not worth it – this way you get to pick your own ingredients. When I used to do this I would get 10 good portions (meal size, for family of 3) every time for less than a fiver ;D. I agree with the other MSE, ethnic stores are cheaper for veggies when you buy in bigger amounts. Buy a big 10k or 20k sack of rice from there too.

Hope this helps. All the best to you and your children. :)

Ally :-*
Ps. just looked at my weekly shopping bill £150 (2 adults, 7 year old and 10 month old) ouch! :o Have been switching to healthier food and fair trade products – why, when the government complains about poverty, health and obesity does it cost more to buy products that can help to reduce/prevent these problems >:(??? A need for a serious rethink methinks! Anyway, off to rethink my shopping budget. ;D

excellent tips guys - big thank you to you all ;)

[halloweenqueen]

Thanks for the advice on the gloop!

[Plumpud]

Very sorry to hear of your loss.

I shop in Aldi and Lidl, buying the extras that they don't sell from either Tesco or Sainsburys. Aldi and Lidl have weekly special offers, you can sign up to their weekly newsletters on their websites

www.lidl.co.uk

www.aldi.co.uk

I also buy from James the Fish. They sell frozen fish ??? But also sell frozen meat and cheese. They visit each venue every 6 weeks. You receive a price list and phone your order through, then pick up the following week. They cover a huge area including Yeovil, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton and all places in between (they are based in Pershore, Worcs). Phone them on 01386 551300 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm) to see if they cover your area. You'll speak to a real person and they will send you a price list. We've been using them for about 4 years now, and we're very pleased with the price and the quality.

[Plumpud]

Forgot to say, buy a sack of potatoes from a farm shop, much cheaper than supermarkets. You can usually get someone to put it in the boot of your car for you if it's too heavy. You can always decant some into boxes or carrier bags the other end to take it into your house. Just make sure you store them in the dark and not in plastic bags as they 'sweat'. You can also get nets of onions there much cheaper than supermarkets, they keep quite well. Also good for fruit and veg in general.

[16011996]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your tips which keep coming. Will keep and eye out for signs for sacks of potatoes at farms and that, do stop and buy eggs there sometimes.

The wierd thing I've noticed since we've been economising is I've lost a bit of weight. Only four pounds, but it all helps, yet I feel fuller most of the time, and seem to be eating as much as ever.

As a bit of an update, am only supermarket shopping very fortnight, spending the equivalent of what I spent in a week before, although do spend £5-£8 on veg & fruit from the greengrocer. Am being helped out at the moment some by my grandad who at 85 still grows some stuff in his garden, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, peas, beetroot, rhubarb and soon to appear strawberries and raspberries. Since my Gran died there has been too much for him alone so I am getting the overspill, and the kids love nothing better than helping him keep it in order as payment.

I have been using the J cloths instead of kitchen roll, they just get chucked in wash every other night with washing and seem to be lasting better since I've been putting them in one of those net knicker bags (sure they have a better name than this, but thats what we call them.

The kids are still helping to economise, my youngest points out all that is bogof in the supermarket, the middle one has taken out some cookbooks from the library and has written out some veggie recipies to try, and the eldest has taken to rationing things, by when we open a pack of biscuits of multipack of crisps, allocating some to each of us, and not letting us open new ones till we have all eaten our share.

Keep the tips coming please. I could use some for cheap days out fo the kids at the weekend, we tend to do the park a lot but its getting dull, and also could snyone tell me whether there kids mind second hand clothes. Personally I love them, but am concerned as don't want the kids picked on for not having new, and are charity shops ot car boots the best to get them from.

Thanks Again

16011996

:) ;) :D ;D > :-*

[deronda]

My children are not old enough to mind if there clothes are second hand or not. I have bought alot of stuff from charity shops. With the fashions at the moment you may find your children like what they find in the charity shops!

There are shops that also do second hand things for school uniforms. This is particularly useful if your school insists on blazers etc.

I don't know if you have a Peacocks nearby but there clothes are very cheap. My stepdaughter who is a teenager loves the clothes in there. Depending on how old your children are and how tall etc I have noticed that in New Look it is cheaper to buy children t-shirts, vest tops, jumpers etc in the adult section than in the childrens one.

Do you have a local weekly market as some of the clothes on the stalls there are very cheap too.

[Petree]

My condolences,

For your kids clothes look for a TK Maxx or a outlet type place, depending on how old the kids are i.e. is Nike ok or is it FCUK and Ben Sherman, as i pick up £25 FCUK tops from TK for about £8, not super cheap but they look good, else i believe matalan is quite cheap. For jeans look around even in some of the better shops, i got 99p jeans from GAP since they were end of line (on blue jeans?) they have lasted from going out to normal wear and are now for under the car still going strong just the dyes gone.

Charity shop wise go to your local posh bit of town, me and my friends head up to London and there are some charity shops in Kensington and Chelsea areas which have top brand (Armani, Gucci etc.) stuff which is 'sooo last season' for a few quid. Same with younger clothes find the nicer parts of town and you can find loads, especially from the kind of people that can't wear the same thing twice! No-one can tell they're not new, and especially since vintage is in your kids could be the trend setters ::) I'm looking for flares at the mo :P
Even with the cheap clothes let your kids pick, the white socks with the blue band or the red band on top? Same price but kids have favourite colours and such.

Didn't know UHT milk was cheaper, shall be stocking up, and don't forget to put your j-cloths in on a 60C min as all the bugs and stuff love 40C (humans are 37.2C which is they're prime breeding time)

For washing clothes which are used but not dirty, simply put one teaspoon of powder in and one of fabric softener, bet you can't tell the difference, but remember to pre-treat stains, or do a proper wash for those, I remember reading somewhere they did a test between water, powders and those wash balls, the water was 95% as good as the others, just let down on grease which the powder should get.

As for days out, there should be a guide or book in your library called something like 'free days out in Berkshire' or whatever county you live in, if you live in London or another Time out city then it's amazing the list of things you can do, usually for free.
Trips to the seaside, trips to relatives or maybe just a day out in the country,
The local college to me does things for kids in the holidays, music workshops and such, I still have a very wobbly bowl me and mum made many years ago in pottery.
Usually these are free or a few pounds for the clay or whatever is used to make them, one my sister loved was a 'do up your jeans' workshop where you took a pair of cheap jeans and decorated them with coloured paints and gels and beads and stuff, no one can copy those :) and I'm sure you want pink and green jeans too, don't you?

If your kids are into nature and all things green then look up the local ranger or ramblers group as many have youth days and walks where they show them local flowers and birds and things

Also libraries will often get an author in to read their book for an hour which is not only educational but if you bring your copy along they can get it signed and show if off :) Scouts and Brownies often having camping weekends and days out which are subsidized or at least cheap.

A baking day requires no real preparation and thus is great when the rain starts sheeting, make biscuits or fairy cakes, and everyone has to stir, but who gets to lick the bowl? The one who cleans up best of course (I'd prob. still fall for that one :P)
Then you all get to have fun with icing, doesn't mummy look funny with icing sugar hair :):):)

Even in 2004 kids want to do what they always have done, play stations and 9000 channel TV doesn't mean they don't wanna climb trees and scrape knees and do all the things you use to love.

For the shower-glop it says use glycerine the only stuff i can find in supercook which is really expensive for just washing me with, anyone else know where to get some?

Making marmalade, clever idea is it those big orange tins I see in supermarkets? How long does marmalade last as i imagine 6 pots would last a good 18months for our house?

One of the best tips for saving money is getting to know people, or asking favours of them, my mum knows someone who works for a contact lens firm and gets hers for £5, i never pay full price since i know at least one person who works in all the stores, think about who you know.

Would agree with the savers brand stuff, my aunt works in a food factory and when they change from brand name to cheap they don't even change the machines since even adding more water takes tons of adjustment, it's just different labels.

Cheapest way is to grow things, if you have a garden plant an apple tree, radishes grow like mad etc.. My mum did this as a kid, the end of our lawn was overturned and we grew tons in a really small patch, was great fun and we all planted, watered, weeded and ate and above all it was cheap and tasted good

As you say out of the mouths of babes, ask them what they want for lunch this week, have they suddenly decided they don't like cheese but prefer ham, then give them a change, unless your little ones develop a taste for caviar and salmon :o
No processed manufactured plastic food is going to match up to mums sandwiches, I always remember my mum offered me those cartoon character cakes for my birthday but I always wanted her Victoria sponges, I think she felt guilty as all my friends had them at theirs, but I couldn't have been happier.
Don't feel guilty about them missing out, by being their and being mum your meaning far more to them than you could ever realise,

Hope this helps, even just a little bit

Petree

[deronda]

Making marmalade, clever idea is it those big orange tins I see in supermarkets? How long does marmalade last as i imagine 6 pots would last a good 18months for our house?


Hello Petree

Yes the marmalade is those big orange tins. It does last a while - not sure how long as I do tend to get through a jar a week. If you save your jam jars etc you get from supermarket they vacuum seal when the marmalade cools down so they should last a while (you know the pop up bit that tells you if the jar has been opened).

We are grwoing our own cress on the window cil and I have lots of pots in the carden with all sorts of herbs in.

Another tip is to save your carrier bags and use them as bin liners for you little bins, plus they make very cheap nappy sacks if you are still in this position.

[Petree]

Got out the nappy sacks in body, perhaps not in mind :P ;D

Do i need to sterilise the jars and all that faff?
a jar a week, what are you doing with it? ;) lol I hope theres a big family in that house, or else your such a money saver its toast and marmalade for everymeal?

160 you said you run a small buisness, have you got a makro card as you can pick up some useful things their, we buy huge bags of cake mix you just put water in and bake, and clothes too. The mix is a bit more expensive but once you find a scoop thats the right size you can dish the powder into a bowl add the water with another cup and mix, tray and bake.
Buy 12 tubes of toothpaste and loo rolls and stuff since as long as you got the space it's cheaper.

Also if you buy the packs of 500 1p sweets for about £2.50 you can divide them into 100 a week and then your kids won't be pestering you for more. Also for puddings they do these long jam roly polys, lemon roll and a choc one, pre portioned you just need to cut through and then bung em in the microwave, bit of vanilla ice cream and sorted. They're cheap too, have to be the schools use em!!

Must say all the message boards on MSE seem really friendly and welcoming, i only know of one other which is as nice!

HTH

Just popping to the microwave, i hear roly poly calling :)

[Savvy_Sue]

Kids and second hand clothes: it depends on the kids, so ask them. If you have friends with older children prepared to pass on nice clothes cultivate them!

My sisters and I used to fight over the bags my aunt brought us of what her girls had outgrown or more often grown tired of, because they were always far superior to what was passed down from big sister to me and little sister. I help at jumble sales and often come home with something for one or other of my boys (16, 14, 12) - most recently a tee-shirt with a particularly appropriate slogan for the eldest, and a sweat-shirt showing a frog lazing in a hammock reading which reminded me of the middle one.

The older two boys aren't fussy at all: at least they are fussy in that they want very plain t-shirts, sweat-shirts and jog pants, so Asda's Basics range covers it nicely. The younger one is far more fashion conscious, complete aberration, no idea where that's come from. With him I have spent HOURS trawling the shops: Primark, TK Maxx, H&M, all the dept stores and larger supermarkets. He knows I won't spend a fortune but I think he appreciates that I am prepared to put the effort in - but then he spent most of last winter wearing just T-shirts when his solitary favoured sweatshirt was in the wash. No point spending money if they won't wear it, is there?

Again they all have a different style in underpants and socks, which makes sorting the laundry a lot faster: Boxers, plain, logos. Black/plain, white sports, grey or 'anarchic' ie black with coloured heels and toes, probably not approved of at school (as if he cares!)

All the best.

[filigree]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your husband, what a blow for you and the kids :(.

Have you had any advice on your income? You might be entitled to Working Tax Credit if you're the sole breadwinner. It's worth looking into welfare benefits, the worst that can happen is they say no. Don't forget your Council Tax discount, either.

I think I've seen glycerin on sale in Boots, next to the own brand cough medicines. I'm not sure of the price, but take a look.

[deronda]

Petree

No I don't steralise the jars but I do heat them with boiling water before I put the marmalade in anyway.

There is not such a necesssity I don't think with the vacuum as long as the jars are clean.

Reason for getting through so much marmalade - I love it and probably have more of that than the toast!

[16011996]

Took middle one car booting yesterday, she came home with a bag of clothes she loves, and as i'd given her a fiver to spend on them, and possibly cos I left her to ask how much things were she came home with change. Now the other two are begging to go!!!!

Have applied and got working families tax credit, applied for a 25% discount for being only adult, but will enquire if I can get help with paying it, as I read it before that I may be able to get help, but it went out of my mind so thanks for the reminder.

Yesterday, as it was warm and we were bored took the kids to the local cricket match in the afternoon. I used to watch it as a child, and thought they might enjoy it. Anyway, cost £1 for me and 50p each for the kids, we took a picnic tea, and spent six hours there. There was loads of room for the kids to play and run about, and I got a couple of hours in the sun. ALso, because I could see the kids and knew they couldn't go too far away (am slightly protective at the mo, can you tell?) found it very relaxing.

Have found that in our local park they do nature walks on Sat mornings (8am, god help me) These are 50p each, and we should get to see birds, squirrels and various other things the leaflet says.

Also, found out our local sports centre is having an open day next Sunday where you can go and have 20 min sessions on different things to try it out. Sounds like good fun, and the excersise will tire the kids out hopefully.

Its funny, I didn't realise so much was going on till I started to look. The being busy is helping me too, had a rough couple of weeks trying to sort the mortgage, life insurance and a whole lot of other stuff out, so thanks for all your advise, means a lot,

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[mini]

Hi

Depending on your entitlement to tax credits some leisure centres have free or reduced prices to pay, may be worth checking out.

I sent you a personal message with another thought I had, didn't want to broadcast that one though!

love mini

[16011996]

M

[16011996]

Please ignore the above message of mine, god knows what I did.

Mimi,

thanks for the pm, sent a reply. Haven't enquired about discounts, but will. Worth a try.

Have enquired bout the council tax thismorning, and they are sending me a form (oh joy, I love filling them in)
so will have to see if eligable.

;D

[Munkee]

I am very sorry to hear of your loss.

With regard to cheap but nutricious meals, Asda sell HUGE bags of pasta for little over £1. These would probably last a family of three about 3 months if you eat pasta twice a week.
They also do huge bags of rice. If your kids are fussy (like me!), try cutting up pieces of sausage or chicken and mixing them in with the rice for a 'bland' child-friendly meal.

Make your own puddings like baked cakes and crumbles, freeze ice lollies in plastic cups made from cordial and water and use old lolly sticks for the kids to hold.

Jacket potatoes are a godsend with cheese or tuna. Spuds are horrendously cheap if you buy in packs from the market or supermarket.

Keep frozen oven chips in and small pizzas etc and find out what you really like and find ways of putting together a meal for under 75p.

There are hundreds of budget meals you can make that are nutricious, filling, tasty and exciting.

Take yourself (on your own) round a supermarket with a trolley and see how many meals you can actually make for what you have to spend. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[16011996]

thanks munkee, already buy large bags of pasta, but can't remember how long it is since we had jacket potatoes, not a bad idea. my kids won't eat rice since the eldest declared it was maggot eggs, the middle one heaves at the sight of it. youngest will, but calls it eggs so can't see him eating it all that much longer.

Have been trying out value/no frills brands some are ok, but some aren't, are there any that you guys can recommend, as the trial and error is a bit waste full.

[Angela]

I was only thinking yesterday about starting a thread about own label & basic brands.
It all came about after I bought a can of Asdas Smart Price Chunky Chicken 400g @74p.
Tried it out on other half last night(I had a taste too but am on a diet,but thats another thread)and it was very nice,big chunks of chicken & it wasnt stringy at all as some of these chicken in a tin things can be.
One tin would be enough for an adult and one tin would probably do two kids.
It comes in a white sauce so could be served with rice or with vegetables,I think this is a good product and will be keeping some in the cupboard for sure.

[16011996]

will have to give that one a try. we like asda own brand sausage casserole in a tim, (is about £1.10) has between 6-8 sausages in it, and with a bit of mash is a good meal. also we buy value pich tea biscuits and some icing so the kids can decoarate them, they don't know the difference.

[deronda]

I use the savers version of ASDA flours and at around 18p for a bag it is very good. Cakes come out brilliantly. I think I said before about fruit juices they are perfectly alright. I use their butter which is really nice.

[Angela]

I did see the sausage casserole and wondered what it would be like,I thought the sausages may be a bit plasticy,but I will try a tin when I next go shopping.
I also bought a tin of the minced beef(47p I think) and onions in that range and am having a bit of an experiment with him indoors this evening so I will let you know how I get on.

[Angela]

Experiment over Results:-
I mixed a tin of the minced beef and onions with half a jar of Dolmio, instant bolognaise sauce,this would probably feed one adult and one child.
Him indoors was very impressed with it and so was I.
Very cheap meal for a family.
two tins of the minced beef 74p
one jar of dolmio or equivalant(always on bogof somewhere 74p
and a pack of value spaghetti 19p
Feed the family for £ 1.67

Have you tried logging on to:

www.fixtureferrets.co.uk

You can check all the latest offers from all the major supermarkets, and if you register, you can request to be advised when products you are interested in are on offer.

You can also search for specific products, if you don't have time to look through all the offers n each store.

Safeway is a good one on fixture ferrets, as their own website displays only a limited number of their offers- fixure ferrets display all their offers.
Let us know what you think!

Had a second baby last year and so have had to budget much more carefully. We nearly always do our weekly shop at Aldi, Netto or Lidl. If you rotate them (we have all three within travelling distance), the choice is OK. We now spend £30 max on our main shop plus spend about £10-20 in other places during the week and for fruit as sometimes not very good at these types of shops. When we go to Morrisons/Tesco, our shop costs approx £50 and we still have to get extras during the week. The quality at Aldi etc is just as good. We buy the Bag for Life bags at Tesco @ 10p and just use those rather than buy the cheapy bags that Aldi/Lidl supply.

Just remember that they don't accept credit cards, only cash and debit card/switch, but not a bad thing!

Good luck with your budgeting.

[16011996]

I have a lidl, aldi and a farmfoods near by, also a freezer shop one of the mums recommended called busy bee's. Will give them a try, but just not sure whats good and not. Guess me and the kids in for some trial and error, anything anyone recommends would be appreciated.

Hello - I can't compete with advice others have given + my wife is still here for us to have a natter, cuddle and a row. The one thing I would add however is to treat yourself now and again: I'm sure your husband would have wanted you to. Struggling on a very limited budget can be a strain. So go on - it is treat time!
All the best, Pete

[Mrs Thrift]

Next time I do a Farmfoods shop I'll keep an eye out for the things we've already tried and enjoyed to let you know, 160. (And what to avoid!)

Off the top of my head, they do a lot of Birdseye stuff really cheaply that is always a good bet. And they do Dr Oetker's pizzas which are fantastic.

In general I've usually found the Freshbake brand stuff to be pretty good quality, too. And there's a Farmfoods Scottish Beef Pie that's lovely, too, good quality meat.

[mike_paterson]

I have to recommend ASDA value peanut butter with a plain white label at 44p a jar it is 1/3rd the price of Sunpat - tastes as good if not better and has less sugar! Only crunchy available, though at that price it is worth buying and zapping in a blender to get rid of the nuts !

[mike_paterson]

I have to recommend http://www.madaboutbargains.co.uk/ - great site for deals and bargains and http://www.fixtureferrets.co.uk/ that details all the supermarket deals.

[superhoop]

As someone who works in the trade:

• Be careful with discount supermarkets - some are not as cheap as they appear. I have seen research that says Lidl are the cheapest, but for most 'economy' lines, you might as well go to Asda and buy from their 'Smartprice' range. Aldi are nowhere near as cheap as you might expect. Clearly it depends what is available in your area.

• If you visit one of the major (non-discount) supermarkets, ask them what their policy on accepting vouchers and coupons is. When I worked at Safeway, you could use up to six from any one supplier. However, I couldn't swear this was still the case since the Morrisons takeover. Many supermarket cashiers will accept coupons even if you haven't bought the product.

• If you have a Tesco nearby, watch out for any mailings or newspaper advertisements from Sainsbury's. Tesco claim to accept all Sainsbury's specific vouchers (they are usually £X off a spend of £Y). I have put this to the test at Tesco Extra Watford, and it worked a treat - £4 off a £40 spend

I hope this helps the original poster and everyone else!

Cheers

Steve

[16011996]

thanks (keep saying that a lot) for the latest tips, we have been trying savers brands, some are ok, others useless (i don't rate the washing up liquid for example, seem to have to use lots more for it to work). Do use mad about bargains site for the bogof offers, find it quite useful, and have had some vouchers off a site called wishvalue. Keep them coming though, this money saving is quite addictive now, so any more ideas gratefully recieved,

160

[terrierlady]

;)do you have a few mates that shops elsewhere?
go for 2 for price of I offers and split it if you dont like cheaper brands.
we have a group of six women who buy the offers then do a sort out , we stick to a list of named items and each shops in different shops usally the cheaper ones , we cheek our way around ;Dby negotiating on prices and love the local market etc for fruit and again split all the spoils.
we also have fun and have just started a money lending co-op.

[Mrs Thrift]

A conversation I've just had (in "real life" for a change!) has just reminded me of somthing else that might help you, 160 - WASH LESS!! ;D

I'm not really a dirty girl, honest! But I recently had my hair coloured (NOT a moneysaving idea!) but to keep the colour in good condition I've stopped washing my hair every day and now only wash it every other day. I also try and use the minimum amount of shampoo too, to save my hair AND money!

I've realised how little shampoo I actually need to wash my hair compared to how much I used to use, so I'm now trying to be aware how much face cleanser, bodywash, etc. I use and only use the minimum I really need.

And I never buy toiletries unless they're on offer if I can help it. I find Sainsbury's good for BOGOFs on good brands of shampoo and conditioner as well as other discounts on toiletries and sanitary towels, etc. All things you can stock up on and cram into the cupboards until you need them!

I know Sainsbury's is generally quite expensive, but I use them for my Monday morning shop to stock up on the food we need for work (as we work at the same place) and most of my toiletries (because it's nice and quiet at 8am so I can actually get to the shelves) because it's the only place close enough to get to between dropping Mr Thrift off and getting to work myself. And, no, I couldn't organise myself to buy the stuff on a Sunday!

Using less product works with washing powder and washing up liquid, too.

It might not seem like it'll make a huge difference but it all adds up. I must be using less than half the shampoo each week than I was until recently. :D

[rafi]

Great thread, haven't been able to read the whole thing yet, but the tips are brilliant so far.

I'm in the same boat as 160 but also lost my job at the same time. After part time being offered as I didn't think I could cope with full time then, one of the bods came up from London and said No way, no continuity with part time, full time or nothing!

Then the cat died too :(

Anyway to hit a brighter note - the replies to 160 have been great and help me too. Thanks everyone.

I find when I can get to Costco, it's great for huge amounts of toilet rolls - good quality too and for other things that you can buy in bulk. You still have to watch the prices because some can be not much less than you can get on reduced prices elsewhere. If anyone likes Bonne Maman jam they do 2 huge jars together for not much more than the little ones outside.

We don't have much in the way of markets here so they're not really available but we do have Aldi, Farmfoods etc and Asda. Tesco too but the staff in ours put you off, not very friendly! Won't stop me taking their vouchers in though.

Have gone on to the energy efficient light bulbs and they seem OK and last longer. Also our phone is through British Gas and seems very cheap - I just grudge BT the huge amount they charge for the line only! I got a notebook and now enter every call I make, name, no. and time each day. You can instantly see when the bill comes in if there's any extra calls on it. I noticed 2 calls for the same number entered a second or two apart when I had only tried the number once. They deleted the charge for one of them. (nit-picking!)

I find too that if I make a list and stick to it and get food for several meals at once - in the supermarket - it saves impulse buys, unless its bogof or something, then avoid going near the shop again. What you don't see ........

Please keep the ideas coming!

R

[Judi]

Or you can do what we are doing this evening for tea. !Last night, my husband went out for a big celebratory meal with his work mates now the job has come to an end. !I made a drink first thing and went to the fridge to find this huge paper carrier bag full of Indian takeaway containers full of food!!!
When i rang him i asked what they were and he said it was a huge doggy bag. !We dont have a dog, i reminded him, and he said it was for our tea. !They are all in the foil containers, and he assures me they havent even been opened. !Towards the end of the night they were just giving food away apparently, so he bought loads back.

If we are all sick i have told him i will divorce him. ;D

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss but hope that all the response you've had on this thread has helped ease the burden.

I'm a single parent and have found this thread useful too. I've just read the message about phone calls - I've followed Martin's advice found elsewhere on this site about telephone call providers and since I altered my BT bill to the very basic plan they do, and then signed up with 18866 (you register on-line for free at www.18866.co.uk) I cannot believe how little I pay for my calls every month. Instead of having a monthly bill of around £35 it is now less than half that and I don't have to think about how much a call is costing. Can't recomend it enough.
I too buy food stuffs from the 'bargain' bin at the end of the day to put into the freezer. And now I've 'trained' myself to stick to my shopping list and meal planner, as well as only buying the bogof offers on items that I use (not bought just becuase they are on offer as I used to do in a previous life, lol) it makes a huge difference to the money in my purse. I only shop for clothes in charity shops - I do begrudge paying full price for skirts or jeans these days. I have also bought the Tesco Value T shirts at £2.50 each which even if they only wash and wear for the summer at that price I don't mind! My son is yet to reach the age of wanting 'designer' trainers or clothes but he now earns his pocket money, by doing small jobs around the hosue, on a daily basis which helps him to see his money 'grow' and he is learning mot only how to save up for the latest DVD or play station game but that if you want something in this life you have to work for it. This has also stopped him constantly nagging me for this and that when we are out, so it all becomes more less stressful for the pair of us.

I'll pass on some advice a friend gave to me: please remeber to treat yourself every once in a while and, more importantly, don't feel guilty about doing so - you're worth it!

hugs
Pyjamas

[16011996]

To Rafi, all my love and hugs, know what you been through, and my thoughts are with you.

When I started this thread I hoped i might get a couple of answers with some tips, but it has been fantastic and I can't thank all of you enough.

I reckon I am saving about £50 a week now than before, and hopefully if I get some other bits sorted that will go up.

Ms Thrift, I do only wash my hair every other day, but another tip for saving shampoo is to have your hair cut short, I did just after my husband died, it now washes and drys in 10 mins and I need hardly any shampoo. Also, only condition it once a week, leave on for five mins wapped in a warm towel, is far more effective than doing every day/every other day. and when you shower always put shower gel on one of those puff ball things, you use far less than using it on your hands, i then use whats left in the puff thing to clean shower doors and rinse them off with shower. Means they are cleaned everytime anyone has a shower.

When washing up, use a medicene spoon to measure out fairy liquid, i put 5ml in my bowl (always wash up with a bowl, saves water, and if you have a pot sink like me, less pots break) rather than a squirt and reckon my bottle now lasts me twice as long, and still get as many suds.

One idea to add to all the excellent tips on this page: always shop on a full stomach. It is surprising how being hungry in a food store can lessen your resolve!

[Abbi]

I second that. When I used to live in Canada my husband and I were at least 1/2 an hour away from the supermarkets etc, and we only used to shop once a month, and I like most people love food shops, and like most men my husband doesn't. Therefore to lessen his agony he used to take me to lunch before we shopped, to my favorite place, thus I was stuffed and wanted to get home and into tracksuit bottoms as fast as possible!

[Mrs Thrift]

Hi Rafi,

So sorry to hear of your loss and everything you're facing at the moment. I'm glad the site has been able to help and I hope it continues to do so.

Best wishes,

Ms Thrift

[r.mac]

::)

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all their tips. I have just recently discovered this site - and think it is fab. I am off to try some of the household cleaning tips (i.e. vinegar).

Thanks Again
R

:) ;D :)

there is a web site called futureferrets.com (I think this is the correct name) This website allows you to enter your favourite brands or goods that you would normally buy from the supermarket and then it searches for the best prices or the latest deals and tells you where you can buy them. I signed up for the alerts to all my favourite brands and they e-mail me when they come up on offer at one of the leading supermarkets. Examples are reductions, BOGOF, half price deals etc. Hope this may help ;D ;D ;D ;D

Hi guys,

Have been reading this thread with interest and would like to add some tips for making your own cleaning products that I have taken wholesale from an article handed out during a recent "Wellbeing at Work" day. The article is called "How to create a healthy living space" by Anat Cohen BMed. The tips let you avoid using dangerous chemicals to clean your home whilst simultaneously saving money. Perfect!

Here are her recommendations:

Product: Bleach
Safe alternative: Borax, lemon juice, stong sunlight

P: Window cleaner
SA: Vinegar in water

P: Ant repellent
SA: Spray cayenne powder in holes

P: Fly repellent
SA: Plant pots of basil

P: Mosqito repellent
SA: Citronella oil

P: Floor cleaner
SA: Vinegar and a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil

P: Mildew remover
SA: Hydrogen perxide to remove, borax for inhibiting growth

P: Shoe polish
SA: Banana peel(!)

P: Furniture polish
SA: A few drops of olive oil plus vinegar

P: Copper cleaner
SA: Lemon juice

P: Oven cleaner
SA: Baking soda and water: sprinkle inside, sit overnight then scour

P: Silver polish
SA: baking soda and sea salt

P: Drain opener
SA: flexible metal snake, plunger, salt

P: Stainless steel cleaner
SA: White wine vinegar

P: Dishwashing liquid
SA: Sea salt, lemon juice, hot water and a few drops of orange essential oil

P: Stain remover
SA: Borax and water

P:Carpet spot remover
SA: Sprinkle with cornflour, let dry then vacuum and wash with bubbling/soda water.

P: Fabric softener
SA: Use baking soda during rinse

Brass/copper/aluminium polish
SA: Paste of lemon juice and cream of tartar

To this list I would like to add that toothpaste also cleans silver and might be a little less abrasive. I've not tried most of these, but I do now clean my stainless steel hob with white wine vinegar and it is just as good as the shop bought product I was previously using. Let me know how you guys get on!

Re: food shopping. I do my shopping on the Internet from Sainsburys and get it delivered during the week (Tues - Thurs), when they deliver all shops over £60 free of charge. If you don't have a car (like me) then this saves you bus/taxi fare, and if you do drive it saves petrol and prevents depreciation, so well worth while. It also helps me stick to a list, and all the special offers are listed on the homepage so you can still take advantage of them. Only thing you don't get is the cheap food they discount at the end of the day.

If your kids don't like rice, try them with cous cous - it's a nice yellow colour and tastes a little different so the novelty might win them over. On the other hand, it's round so they might think it looks even more like eggs! Still, a local restaurant over here makes big fat "chips" out of cous cous, which are lovely and would avoid the egg connotations!

First time I've done this but thought I'd add my bit - glycerine can be bought cheaply at the chemist without a posh name.

I find that most thingas including marmalade (made with Marmade) last for ages if not opened - my motto is that if something is edible after its sell by date its preservatives are helping to keep me young ;).

I have found that getting to know the staff in local shops helps an enormous amount. In the local veg shop I somethimes ask for the bruised fruit that is about to be thrown away - the blackbirds love apples and I've found that robins adore pears - endless free entertainment watching them!! Aslo because the owner has got to know me I bought and enormous real Christmas tree - over 7 foot tall - for £5! And the staff tip me off to tasteless peaches or special offers. Although I use supermarkets for bogofs etc I try to use local shops and the market as much as possible.

?????? forgive me, this is my first time. most supermarket savings are common sense and just need you to be strong and not let the supermarket tell you how to shop, you are in control. the best tip i have is regarding multibuys and bogofs. if you buy items that are reduced in price but are being promoted with one of these offers you may get the original discount. this works in tesco and sainsburys, i dont know about else where . let me explain, if you see items in the reduced bay say a pizza reduced from £2.99 to £1.49 and it is a bogof and there are 2 of them buy them ! you will be charged 2x £1.49 (£2.98) but refunded the original bogof price(2.99). cheap food !! . this works the same for multibuy offers (buy 2 save £1.00 etc), and on offers that give you extra nectar/clubcard points. things get interesting when the supermarket reduce things to a price of a few pence. i fill my freezer ! , this is crazy!, i often get paid to take away there stuff. i have for example took 12x salmon steaks at £4.99 bogof reduced to £1.00, so 12x £1.00 minus 6x £4.99 discount means £18 odd to me plus the product, (freezer comes in handy). i have done this on dodgy looking fruit and veg, dumped it in the bin later but enjoyed being given the money. in fact i often have to do a mental check on my shopping basket as it is often at a minus (i.e. if i went to the checkout they would owe me ! ) this requires a stock up on every day items, cheese, loo rolls, etc. this works and when the opportunity arises clear the shelves! . also check your reciept before you leave the store, i was double charged in tesco and sainsburys last week.

First time I've left a message, so bear with me!

Got up this morning at 4.30 (insomniac!!), put some washing in, and logged on to internet (had some banking to do!), picked up e-mails & my MSE newsletter had arrived. I was intrigued by the Supermarket shopping on a budget and clicked on it, and I've just sat and read (nearly) all of the messages (!), and firstly, let me pass on my sincere condolences. I moan about my lovely hubby, but can't imagine a day without him in my life. Love to you and your children. Anyway, one thing I do, which I haven't seen is to bake your own buns, flapjacks, biscuits, etc. every week (as opposed to just when it's wet and windy), and use them in the kids pack-up. They love taking buns to school (as they are often seen as a treat (normally only seen at birthdays, etc)), and the other kids (depending on their ages, of course) are really impressed that "Your mum bakes? Wow!". The no frills brands flours are usually only a few pence for the big bag (9p at Morrisons), and as one lady said, they're all the same product, just different packaging. The thing with doing this is that most of the other products are things you have in the cupboard anyway, e.g. eggs, sugar, marg, etc. If you need a good book for this, get a Be-Ro book from your supermarket (I've seen one recently) - they're only about 3 0r 4 quid, and it tells you how to batch bake and freeze the products, too. I love Morrisons (don't know if you have one), as they do good, practical BOGOF offers (usually products you actually use). They ALWAYS have an offer on shampoo, toothpaste and shower products (although not always a BOGOF, sometimes 3 for 2, or reduced, so check), and your savings is printed on the bottom of your receipt in big numbers. It's now a game to see how high we can get the number each week for us! Best we've done is £17.13.

Take care & look after yourselves.

[Plumpud]

I'm a bit confused about Superhoop's reply above. Neither Lidl or Aldi are discount supermarkets. They are ordinary supermarkets, both originate from Germany. In the same way that Walmart originates from the USA, and you get Tescos and Sainsburys on the Continent.
They are just cheaper for most items.

They are cheaper because they employ far fewer staff (but both pay their staff far better than other supermarkets). You also have to take your own carriers. They don't have such big stores, so have smaller business rates etc. They don't have such a wide choice either, but the quality is very good.

If you don't like anything you buy from Aldi, you can take it back within 12 months for a no quibble refund. No trouble either, just take it to the till and they refund you immediately, no calling the manager, no 20 questions.

Lidl will refund on anything faulty or not as described. They will also refund on any shoes or clothing as it may not fit. Nearly all of their electrical items have a 3 year guarantee.

Both Aldi and Lidl are excellent for electrical items. Don't be put off by the strange brand names, compare the specification. My family has the following from Lidl - 28" widescreen tv, 14" tv, microwave, 4 x sandwich toasters, 3 x kettles, video, mini cd/radio/clock/alarm, radio/cd/cassette stereo system, rock salt lamp, xmas outdoor lights, fax/phone/copier and a toaster. From Aldi we have had Medion computer, 15" tft screen, scanner, graphics pad, surround sound speakers, chrome deep fat fryer, 2 x microwave/grills and telephone. Haven't had a problem with any of them. My Husband, who is a Builder, has had loads of drills, saws and other DIY stuff from both Aldi and Lidl. They are substantially cheaper than 'trade' suppliers (quite often 3 or 4 times cheaper) and are at least as good quality, quite often better. His workmates have been impressed with them when they have used his, that they often buy them (I quite often have to get them for them!). :D :D

Very sorry to hear of your recent loss.

This may be a time when you are rethinking your patterns of eating. It's very easy to slip into a pattern of not eating properly so don't be too hard on yourself because even budgeting for meals can sometimes feel like that.

Back to basic home cooking is always a good one and don't forget all those lovely comfort foods that are so easy to make. Make two. Freeze one.
Buy one get one free - although consider the health aspects of processed food.
Start at the end of the store and work your way around to the beginning. Don't bother doing this in Aldi/Lidle but the more expensive supermarkets, definitely.
Look at bottom shelves - the cheaper stuff is at the bottom because nobody likes to bend.
Look at the bargain shelf - can it be frozen? Sometimes the most unlikeliest things can be.
Look out for store points.
Get children to drink and enjoy water (maybe be adding an ice cube and a straw). Tell them to look at all the fat people in the supermarkets - they nearly always have fizzy pop in their trolleys.
Buy longlife milk in bulk, thus making less visits to supermarkets.
What is the most expensive item on your shopping list? Toilet rolls. How I begrudge three to four pounds a week (and I always go for the softest, most luxurious). I now buy in my local market - industrial toilet rolls. The cost works out to ONE POUND per week for a family of four. I find this an incredible saving. I did used to buy the ones without the perforations (which were even cheaper, but the set of drain rods I had to purchase made these a tadge on the expensive side as it all flushed away in a huge lump). I now spend the extra and buy perforated!! I don't have the job of changing the toilet rolls constantly either!
Use Aldi/Lidl/Markets and Superscoops.
Don't always buy cheap - I love nice washing up liquid. Ecover is my favourite. I don't begrudge the cost for one minute (I nearly always have to do the washing up).
Don't buy oven cleaner. Yeuk. All those horrible nasty chemicals. Dissolve a tablespoon of bicarb in water, put in a spray bottle and put on oven after use. Wipe off with a damp cloth.

And one last note. Recycle, rethink, reuse.

Regards.

[16011996]

wow, more wonderful tips, will be trying out the alternative cleaning ones, as I always feel that I use too many chemicals. went to aldi yesterday, and found it excellent and cheap for basic stuff, spent quite a while wandering round and took some notes, don't need much this week, as we have been emptying the cupboards. AMazed how much stuff I had stockpiled, only been out for veg and fruit this week. Freezer almost empty, cupboards nearly bare (but all had a good clean) and decided i'm not going to let them get that full again as I have more room to put things away which normally end up on the worktops.

kids made up a new (well someone will have done it before no doubt) way of having bananas, they are always the last to go in our house. We split the skins and sprinkled in some brown sugar (don't even remember buying it) and baked them in the oven for 10mins and had them with some milk. was lovely and highly recommended.

also we had a vegetable hot pot with left over frozen veggies that theres never enough left in the bag to use up for a meal with a cheese sauce topping, that was good.

also, penelope, we do try and recyle as much as possible, we go once a forthinght to our ocal recycling plant with cans, glass, materials, paper, wood etc and they recycle it all. Also, chop up plastic bottles for paing pots/water pots and the kids have been making pencil holders for fair at school with old baked beans cans and covering them in old wall paper etc.

If you buy eggs locally, my butcher lets me reuse my egg box (had it about 8 months now) just take it with me and he fills it. I also never ever take carrier bags from stores. I have a four of the very strong bags for life (about 75p in sainsbury) also they do a bottle on which is 50p i think, holds 6 bottles and has plastic handles, and take them with wherever I go. Well worth the money.

Take care,

[16011996]

Penelope or someone, having re read your message, can you tell me what super scoops is? never heard of one

Thanks.

[goolieman]

if you see items in the reduced bay say a pizza reduced from £2.99 to £1.49 and it is a bogof and there are 2 of them buy them ! you will be charged 2x £1.49 (£2.9 but refunded the original bogof price(2.99). cheap food !!

I didn't understand what this meant :-[.... until I came home from Tescos yesterday and sat down to study my receipt.
I bought two Pizzas from the reduced section, with a full price of £2.99 reduced to £1.94. These Pizzas were also bogof. So when it came to scanning them, they took off the £2.99 and not the £1.94. Leaving me paying 89p for TWO pizzas. 11" pizzas for two people not baby ones! BARGINOUS!!
One of them went down a treat watching England romp through last night!!

This thread has given me so any pointers when it comes to shopping (which I detested before) Thank you.

16011996 I am sorry for your loss and hope that things are going well for you.

C
:)

[16011996]

I did this today (see above) Wagon wheels on bogof 69p a pack reduced cos out of date end of month to 30p a pack bought 6 packs for £1.80 till knocked off £2.07. Makes you smile when you think they paid you to take it away. Would rather have had the pizza tho!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, bit sad but had to tell someone!!!!

[deronda]

I have never done this but it is definately something I shall be looking out for in the future but knowing my luck their will be only one item of the bogof or two of the buy two get third free! :-/

[deronda]

I have never done this but it is definately something I shall be looking out for in the future but knowing my luck there will be only one item of the bogof or two of the buy two get third free! !:-/

I really must sort out my spelling then I would not have to keep modifying my posts! :P

[16011996]

tried the bicarb spary on the oven last night, works a treat, highly recommend it. can anyone tell me if you have to par boil veggies before they are freezed or can I just chop and freeze them, been getting quite a lot when I go late night shopping for bargains but stuck to use them all up quickly.

[Sarahsaver]

I just bung the veg straight in the freezer if im freezing any, though I would reccommend blanching cauliflower, just plunge into boiling water for a minute then rinse it in cold. I have frozen whole corn on the cob and slices of pumpkin , and a bag of prepared cabbage i got for 14p i just put straight in the freezer.

By the way my thoughts are with you and I hope you have supportive people around you. My father died when I was young so I really feel for your kids too.
Sarah xx

[16011996]

my cauli went mingy in the freezer last week, will try blanching it this week. can anyne tell me if you can freeze salad stuff.

[Judi]

my cauli went mingy in the freezer last week, will try blanching it this week. can anyne tell me if you can freeze salad stuff.

nope, the water content is too high.

[Sarahsaver]

...though i have frozen whole tomatoes and used them at a later date for homemade tomato soup, saus=ces etc. The bag split and they were rolling around the freezer like giant marbles ;D They were SO cheap i felt i had to get them!

[big_c]

wow! this is my second time, i am still unable to get the left and right hands to work together but with help, who knows?. 160, can i swop some wagon wheels [tell me they are smaller than they used to be ? ] for some pizzas ? i have loads. also what is mingy ? my dictionary says "stingy". i have never come across a stingy cauli ?. i must confess not much passes my suffolk cave so help me !. regarding freezing stuff, it is fairly straight forward, if you have time, do it properly if not, who cares do what sarahsaver did, make soup or a stew or next time you are boiling some fresh veg up chuck a few in to bulk it up. my 4 yr old now hunts out the "odd" veg !. a rule of thumb is [what a daft saying !] get a big pan half full of water boiling and add a few of your veg and give it a couple of mins. then scoop them out and cool them quickly. or in my case hang them out side your cave. the golden rule is don't overload the pan . also have you a freezer list ? i know it is sad but it works , take it shopping, look at the bargains and use them to work out meal solutions for next week. i am glad my multibuy tip on reduced stuff is working, it makes you feel good, doesn't it !!!!!! :)

[16011996]

big_c

mingy means vile i suppose is the nearet i can get to it, bit like when something goes off, we call it minging or mingy.

my dad has a freezer list, tried many times to complile one but never know how to quantify a bag of veg (ie how many meals it'll do) etc so gave up. he seperates them into portions when he buys them so he knows how many hes got. mite give it another try tho.

thanks,

16011996

[Janeryan]

So more saving tips for you. to help.

- buy in bulk. !Get down to aldi etc. and buy beans, sugar, salt, pasta, flour etc in bulk. !Much much cheaper.

- start a price list. !Boring I know, but then you can see what is cheap. !If you know cereals are 20p per hundred grams at supermarket A when you are in supermarket B then you can check the price to see if it cheaper. !Also helps to calcualte is 'special offers' really are worth it.

- instead of using kitchen roll or j-cloths use old t-shirts etc. !Cut them up and re-wash and re-use etc.

- do not buy tin foil or cling flim, pick up some cheap tupperware and re-use this for sandwiches

- I have a 6 week meal planner - took me a while to create, but really helps. !It is a shopping list for the week and a list of basics so that I know what to buy when I get to the supermarket for what meals will be cooked. !It is the only way I have found so that we do not throw away loads of food at the end of the week.

- we make our own bread

- switch from meat to some subsitutes for certain meals as they are they are usually cheaper. e.g. lentils instead of minced beef etc.

- make you own cleaning products from white vinegar, soda and essential oils.

- buy bulk, cheap shampoo and soap.

- buy cheap washing power for the machine and only use 1/2 the reccommended dose (unless clothes are really dirty)

- some supermarkets charge for plastic bags and so take a re-useable bag with you.

Hope these help

C.


Great tips-I'd love to have a copy of your 6 week meal planner as I just cannot get my head round this at all!
My husband has recently changed jobs and has had a substantial pay drop(but is much happier) so could really do with some help. he works shifts which does make things more awkward on the dinner front as I never know what time he is going to be home(and neither does he) so need tips for things that can be enjoyed by myself & my 13 yr old son and then reheated later(without causing wholesale food posioning!!!)

[halloweenqueen]

Morrisons were having a clearout of packs of 3 peppers yesterday for 10p a pack - I bought several packs and froze them, great for casseroles, stirfries etc and better than using the dried ones I keep in the cupboard as i'm too tight to go to the shop if I forget one and need it. In my defence I do live in a rural area so its a car journey for a forgotton pepper - I don't think so!! I never really thought about freezing stuff etc frozen items from the shop ;D until I started reading this site and between this thread and the can you freeze cheese thread I'm increasing the stuff in my freezer for hardly any money. My only other tip is don't say no to anything thats offered to you (well within reason!!), if I don't find a use for things 'donated' to me I pass them on to someone else or a charity shop, if you say no once people don't usually like to ask again!

[Bigpaul]

It seems that most of the posters on this thread are women. I am a single dad and a tightwad to boot. In my opinion Lidl has the best prices around for most things. The fruit and veg is always cheap (and sometimes 1/2 price) but needs to be carefully inspected. The natural yoghurt is ridiculously cheap and the frozen pizzas cant be beaten. Steer clear of their own brand baked beans though. My children thought they were 'disgusting'.

Another money saver for me is to keep the crusts of each loaf of bread and dry them out in the oven (only when you are cooking something else or the cost of the power would negate the saving). Breadcrumb the crusts and make fish cakes. I made approx 25 portions the other week for a total cost of about £2.50. My kids love em too.

I also regularly check the 'reduced for a quick sale' section in the supermarket. Any meat i get there is either cooked that night and frozen or frozen immediately for future use.

Bottom line is that you can feed a family for much less than most families spend.

[16011996]

thanks figjam, my kids love fish cakes, but aways though breadcrumbs expensive to try, will have a bash with the way you do it. and its nice to have a mans point of view, its hard doing it on your own as i'm learning, but you sound like a fantastic dad. your kids are very lucky to have you.

we tried aldi beans and the kids hated them, but they like kwik save no frills so thats not too bad.

i do buy cheap meat and freeze or cook and freeze it too, also our local butcher i have found throws in some extra sausages or bacon if I go late on a Saturday afternoon, as they are not open Sunday. Also get cheap pies that won't last till the Monday after. Also my locl green grocer often has cheap fruit and veg late saturday for same reason as butcher, which i take home and make a big fruit salad with, whch lasts a couple of days.

take care everyone,

[16011996]

had a sit down last night and worked out how much better i'm doing since my first post on the 10th may. I reckon we are saving on average £20-£30 a week on food alone, but it has lead to many other changes too.

We now sit down together for a meal nost nights of the week, and I feel I learn more about my kids day at this time, than I ever learnt before. We seem to be eating more balanced meals, as I am making meals rather than using ready meals, and we eat more fruit and veg as I get it late in the day, and quite often it needs using up.

we are still finding it hard to cope with the emotional side of things, but all your tips have helped with the practical side, its taen a weight off in that respect.

If anyone has anything further to add, i would appreciate it, as I have tried practically all that has been suggested,

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks.

[nicki]

I'd like to recommend a website which I think is great for freezer-cooking and tried-and-true recipes. It is an American based website so some translation is needed occasionally for some ingredients but there are members based all over the world! It's mostly about organising your home but it's full of useful tips and I've tried alot of the recipes and only had one disappointment. Have a good look round, I'm sure you'll find something useful there.

http://www.organizedhome.com

;)

Hi 160
This isn't a food saver but if you go into any of the larger stores where theres a cosmetics counter you can usually get soime free scent samples with a smile and a bit of cheeck. Or does this just work for me? ;) Either way it's a free treat for you or your daughter.

Doh
I forgot to add this to my previous mail. Usually you can get at least 2 samples from the assistant but if you 'hit' more than one perfume counter you could do a lot better. This also works for mens aftershave. :)

[16011996]

thanks nicki for the website address I have become a member and found some good recipies that i'm going to give a try, also some ideas on decluttering, which I have decided I must get around to doing. tried this weekend, but is so hard to decide what I get rid of, what I keep etc, just ended up in a soggy mess on the floor. if anyone has any advice for sorting a loved ones things i'd really appreciate it, cos thelonger I leave it the harder it gets, but it was never going to be easy if you know what I mean.

ANyway, enough of the doom and gloom, A friend of mine has bought some energy saving lightbulbs, and I didn't think they made that much difference, but she is on an electric meter in her flat and she reckons they are saving her over £2 a week on electric costs. I was amazed by this, must make an even bigger difference in the winter.

She has also been giving me ideas for foods to freeze that are easy to warm up, my new additions are cheesy mash to use up old potatoes, just boil, mash, mix in some grated cheese, bag in portion sizes and freeze, also mashed carots and swede instead of mash, as above without the cheese (this was lovely on last nights shepherd pie, as a topping). Also the kids have been having ice lollies made with cordial and water in a lolly maker I bought for a quid, reckon its saved me ten times that already.


We went to a car boot on Sunday for something to do, (also I was wighing up wheter it would be worth me doing one there) and there was a bloke there selling meat from a trailer, it all seemed clean, and the meat sounded a good price but I was still wary of whether it would be alright or not. Can anyone tell me if they have had stuff from one of these places and if it was ok???

Thanks

and lots of love

16011996

Mea culpa, mea culpa 160.Just reread my post and realised it may have appeared a little crass to you. The last point was aimed at figjam so my apologies for any upset 160. :-[

[Chipps]

if anyone has any advice for sorting a loved ones things i'd really appreciate it, cos thelonger I leave it the harder it gets, but it was never going to be easy if you know what I mean.

Hi 160, I can't speak from personal experience (for which I am grateful) but I know that my mum had the same problem. I think there is no easy answer, but she determined to sort through all my dad's things - including an entire garage full of stuff, and she just tackled a little bit at a time - when she couldn't manage any more she stopped & left it until another time.
A neighbour of ours, in contrast, got rid of everything of his, sold up and moved very soon afterwards - to get away from sad memories. But she did regret it later on.

[16011996]

silverback, wasn't upset by your posts at all, so do not worry about it.

and thanks chipps have decided I will do half an hour a night and see how I get on,

;)

[Sarahsaver]

Good luck however you decide to sort things out.
I would advise anyone that sooner rather than later is better. My mum still had my dads clothes in the bag from the hospital when i left home at 18, and he died when I was 15. My sister and I would have loved to sit down with her and sort through clothes, photos, etc with mum, but she has never been ready to do it. As far as I know the contents of his bedside table remain the same.
Im 33 years old now.
I spose you have heard of the idea of making a memory box, get a nice box or decorate a shoebox(moneysaving!) and put special things in, your kids could each have one.

Memory boxes.

My Mum died on Christmas Day last year so I'm trying to make some memory boxes for my 3 children and I to keep.

I found some really nice cheap boxes in Marks & Spencer after Christmas and will use them - they aren't specifially for Christmas.

I think there are probably some "summer" boxes on offer at the moment if this helps.

S

I didn't understand what this meant !:-[.... until I came home from Tescos yesterday and sat down to study my receipt.
I bought two Pizzas from the reduced section, with a full price of £2.99 reduced to £1.94. These Pizzas were also bogof. So when it came to scanning them, they took off the £2.99 and not the £1.94. Leaving me paying 89p for TWO pizzas. 11" pizzas for two people not baby ones! BARGINOUS!!
One of them went down a treat watching England romp through last night!!

This thread has given me so any pointers when it comes to shopping (which I detested before) Thank you.

16011996 I am sorry for your loss and hope that things are going well for you.

C
:)
I have had a barginous day today!!

Bought 2 x 5 New York Bagels at Sainsburys reduced to 49p.then found out at till that they were on mutlibuy & had 68p knocked off therefore 10 bagels for 30p!!!Would have picked up more if I had realised. Also went to Boots to avail myself of the 100 Advantage points on purchasing any Natural Collection items(excluding cosmetics & minatures) and bought toe seperators(49p)
Hair shots(little sachets of conditioning treatments)79p
and a lipsyl 99p and got 800 points altogether. These things will come in handy for pressies for nieces etc and £8.00 worth of points for me!!! Best of all I discovered that they do Dewberry fragrance which I have been hunting for since the Body Shop stopped doing it.

Finally checked out the local British Heart Foundation charity shop and got huge stainless steel stockpot(£3.99) pyrex baking dish(£2.99) brand new pair of flip flops for beach (£1.99). they had a matching frying pan for £3.99 but I couldn't mange to carry it!!!

It may only seem like a little saving to you professionals out there but I am chuffed-as my mum used to say take care of the pennies etc etc

[Janeryan]

Don't know why it put me as a guest!!!

[MA]

Just read through this thread and found it very interesting. One tip that I do - again on the bolognaise front - I buy one packet of mince (as often as possible from the cheapy shelf) and then double the volume with a mixture of grated carrot and celery (whatever I have in the fridge). I then add mushrooms at the last minute. This way, I get my other half to have veg, ::) it's healthier and I get 3 meals outs of one packet of mince. (Freeze two meals and eat one on the night.) Best of luck with all of your endeavours.

[ashmit]

thanks nicki for the website address I have become a member and found some good recipies that i'm going to give a try, also some ideas on decluttering, which I have decided I must !get around to doing. tried this weekend, but is so hard to decide what I get rid of, what I keep etc, just ended up in a soggy mess on the floor. if anyone has any advice for sorting a loved ones things i'd really appreciate it, cos thelonger I leave it the harder it gets, but it was never going to be easy if you know what I mean.

I've never had to sort through a loved one's things, but one tip I found in a decluttering book was that if you need to get rid of something but can't quite manage it, consider taking a photo of it first. !Obviously doesn't work for quite a lot of things but might just help you get rid of some of those little things that you can't justify keeping but that you don't want to lose.

I wish I had better advice than that, but I just thought it might help.

had a sit down last night and worked out how much better i'm doing since my first post on the 10th may. I reckon we are saving on average £20-£30 a week on food alone, but it has lead to many other changes too.

We now sit down together for a meal most nights of the week, and I feel I learn more about my kids day at this time, than I ever learnt before. We seem to be eating more balanced meals, as I am making meals rather than using ready meals, and we eat more fruit and veg as I get it late in the day, and quite often it needs using up.

this made me sniffly. I'm glad you're getting to know your kids better.

Hope you're doing well.

[Petree]

Since no-one else seems to have commented on the meat trailer thing, i thought i would :P

According to the book i got on my food hygiene course, as long as meats are cooked to over 75C in the deepest part then all bacteria are dead, the only remaining bit is spores, which resist up to 121C, spores only infect other meat not you.

According to my Biology A level (results waiting) :P
The only danger is toxins and secondary metabolites produced by the bacteria, providing the meat has been stored below 8C then the risk is minimal, these toxins cannot be destroyed easily, thus is the meat has been in the danger zone 9C-60C for more than 2 hours it needs binning.
once defrosted do not re-freeze, ask the butcher if they have been defrosted to be sure.

Also to figure out whether you should trust him ask him
what is commercial freezer temperature? -18
commercial fridge? 2-8C though 2-5c is preffered.
what chopping board and knife for cooked meat? yellow
etc... he should know all these off by heart, we take readings every hour at work, it's compulsary for due diligence, if he looks puzzled or unsure walk away.

When ordering meat from an unusual place, don't buy chicken, it's the one that is most often bleached 'animal use' meat, to check a butcher, order a chilled chicken breast, warm to room, smell, any smell of bleach or any chemical means you should stay away, don't eat this chicken by the way unless clean and been at room temp for less than 2 hours. To stay safe order pork, beef or lamb, these are harder to fill with water and add artificial proteins into, which make them bulk up.

To check his hygiene policy, look for glove use, or regular washing, gloves should be washed after moving from any raw-cooked and vice versa as well as from dirty-clean, if he takes your money with his hands and then uses them to pick up the chicken, run!, think where that money has been!!

Saying all this, i have had some good meat from the 'all this for a tenner' in a trailer type butchers, providing good hygiene is followed and all hazards are controlled you should be fine.
The best bet is to eat meat which isn't overly popular, chicken breast is often bleached and modified simply because people want lots of chicken breast and not much leg, use the leg and you are more likely to get better, cheaper meat.


HTH even if it is a bit obsessive! (i'm like monk in that respect!)

[tru]

HTH even if it is a bit obsessive! (i'm like monk in that respect!)
lol, I'm obsessive when it comes to food and clean kitchens too, though I have to say I disagree with this -
if he takes your money with his hands and then uses them to pick up the chicken, run!, think where that money has been!!

You should get your money back first, then run ;D

[Petree]

ok, ok, i made a moneysaving mistake :-[ :P ::) ;D

[16011996]

;D :DThanks Petree for the advice re trailer meats, went yesterday, and he wasn't wearing gloves at all so gave it a miss. Good luck with your A level results, I am awaiting mine also (done a course at college this year in Maths). Scary time, don't see why it should take so long for the results.

Have managed to do some of my clearing out, done a bit at a time, not got round to clothes, but have put some stuff in the attic so I know its not gone, but hopefully in a few months I'll realise it can go.

And apologies to a!!!!! for making you sniffy, didn't mean to, just wanted you to know some good has come out of it all.

Back to a very much earlier message regarding using j cloths instead of kitchen rolls, have nearly run out of kitchen roll now, so bought some cloths on Saturday (roll of 20 for 99p is that a fair price??) used them instead of kitchen roll making sunday dinner, then stuck them in wash last night with some other washing and they came out surprisingly clean. Def worth a try.

Sheila, sorry to hear about your mum, we also have made memory boxes, the kids found it a great way to talk about past memories, and although there were tears i think its an excellent idea.

I have realised this week whilst shopping I had picked up things i didn't need or want, just beacause they were on offer, so I think a little more self discipline is required, or else !!!!!

;D :D

[Judi]

I have realised this week whilst shopping I had picked up things i !didn't need or want, just beacause they were on offer, so I think a little more self discipline is required, or else !!!!!



I do that all the time!!!

[ashmit]

Scary time, don't see why it should take so long for the results.

having worked for an exam board, believe me, I'm amazed that they get the results out so quickly! I think they should, but I don't know how it'd be possible - they have so many meetings to ensure that everyone marks to exactly the same standard that I don't know how they could improve it without cutting down on ensuing standards are equal.

Sorry, that was rather off topic. i hope you've both done well anyway :)

Have managed to do some of my clearing out, done a bit at a time, not got round to clothes, but have put some stuff in the attic so I know its not gone, but hopefully in a few months I'll realise it can go.
well done... I hope you're proud of yourself. It must be really difficult for you.

And apologies to a!!!!! for making you sniffy, didn't mean to, just wanted you to know some good has come out of it all.
sniffly in a good way... don't apologise!

[16011996]

Wow, did my food shop late yesterday as the kids were out with there grandpaerents for the day, and was amazed by how much stuff was reduced. I went about 3.30 (the store closes at 4) and they were reducing stuff to silly prices. I got four chicken breasts for 50p, four lamb chops for 60p, two bags of carrots for 20p each (these were bogof too so got paid to take them away!!!!) a 1.5kg bag of potatoes for 25p and some cheese off the deli reduced to 40p a lb to clear. I highly recommend late sundays for bargain hunters. All in all my shop came to just under £30.00. WOW. Does anyone else have any good times for going?

[filigree]

All in all my shop came to just under £30.00. WOW. Does anyone else have any good times for going?

Supermarkets have weekend meat, and weekday meat. Good times to shop are changeover days, ie late Friday and late Sunday. After a rainy weekend, the shelves are full of cheap barbecue meats ;) If you've got time, have a good rummage around the meat and fish aisle. If you find anything that has reached its sell-by date, the staff should reduce it for you. Sainsbury's are good about this usually.

Christmas Eve can be a bargain goldmine, if you can stand the crowds. Last year a chap in Sainsbury's stood in the fruit&veg dept with a huge roll of reduced stickers, and was reducing everything to 10p. He was mobbed by people demanding stickers for their shopping! Tuesday morning directly after Easter Monday morning is a good time to spot heavily reduced luxury roasts, duck etc.

[16011996]

S

[16011996]

I spent half an hour this morning reading through all your messages, and was amazed by how many I have used. Things are improving all the time for us, and not having to worry too much about money has really helped. It is six months today since my husband died and if anyone would have asked me at the time, I would never have thought I could have got this far. We are averaging £80 a month on groceries between four of us, we spend more time together cooking and eating, and I always now seem to have a little bit over at the end of the month for a treat. But by no means is my money saving over, it really is highly addictive!!!!!

Take care,

16011996

[Sarahsaver]

Orange squash...
I have always made it fairly weak.
Today i looked at the recommended proportions for diluting it.
From a 2 LITRE bottle it says you should get 13 servings!!!
Is that all? We make a bottle last about a month!!! ;D

[MATH]

Hi 160
Your posts have made for thought provoking reading. I am really pleased things are looking up for you and wish you and your family every good thing for the future.
I've used loads of the tips on this thread and the kids havn't noticed any change. One of the things I do before I make a shopping list (using a meal plan of course) is to go through my cupboards/fridge/freezer and list all the 'odds and sods'. It's amazing how much food you already have when you plan to shop. From this list I design a couple of unusual concoctions to serve for dinner to make sure everything is used up. Last week I shopped for 5 including household and cleaning products (I don't buy many of these cos vinegar rocks!) for under £30 where I used to spend £75-80

[16011996]

Hi man about the house,

I'm glad you have been saving money, and I'm so glad I started this thread. Must say I haven't been through the cupboards for a bit, I will do that tonight and see what I can find. :o Who knows what tea will be later in the week.

Sarahsaver, I buy the three litre bottles of squash, that says you should get 18 servings on it (had to go and have a look after your post!!!!) It lasts me two to three weeks when the kids are at school (pack lunch flasks included) and three weeks when they are off. Im sure between the three of them thay have more than two glasses each a week. Is madness. Also, I use mine diluted to make ice lollies (think posted that above somewhere.) The kids are having them most days at present with it being so hot.

As an aside, does anyone have any ideas for a cold meal for a child who doesn't like salad. My middle one is allergic to tomatoes (her lips swell up) and she is very anti lettuce, although she eats celery and spring onions I am struggling to think of something to give her on hot days, when I don't feel like cooking and she doesn't want a hot meal.

Any ideas gratefully recieved,

16011996

[Sarahsaver]

salad alternative?
grated carrot with sultanas mixed in, and a bit of vinaigrette
got more but i feel im on the verge of being harassed by one of my lot ;D

[tru]

Carrot and sultanas - yummy ;D

chopped apple with beetroot
new potatoes, small amount of mayo and chives

LOOK HERE (http://salad.allrecipes.com/), there's loads of recipes :)

[16011996]

thanks for the above, have a health warning for you all tho, watch your three year old around carrot sticks. Mine got one wedged up his nose last night. three hours in a & e. lots of :'( from him and :o from the nurses. glad he hadn't stuck it anywhere else.

[Judi]

thanks for the above, have a health warning for you all tho, watch your three year old around carrot sticks. Mine got one wedged up his nose last night. three hours in a & e. !lots of !:'( from him and !:o from the nurses. glad he hadn't stuck it anywhere else.
;D ;D ;D

[16011996]

thanks judi, can see the funny side now. he went to nursery yesterday and told everyone. ::)

[MATH]

Hi 160 - Cold Meal Ideas

1. Cooked and chilled pasta mixed with tuna/ salmon and any salad she will eat or cold, cooked peas and sweetcorn. Mix together with equal amounts of salad cream and mayo and serve with french bread.

2. Cook a bag of cheep frozen peas in a little water and some white wine with chopped onion and mint leaves. When soft blitz in the food processor and chill. Delicious spread on toast of fancy bread, Fancy retaurants have a fancy version of this and an equally fancy name but we call it pea puree.

[Judi]

Thanks for the recipe M A T H. Sounds yummy and easy. Welcome to the boards by the way. :)

[16011996]

Hi,

did the pea puree last night for her, other kids went mad as they had normal salad. can't win. thanks for the pasta ones, she will only eat pasta when its hot, due to bein extremely picky (if anyone has any tips on making her unpicky let me know). but she does eat cold sweetcorn, and cold baked beans comme to think of it.

160

[jaybee]

I used to be a picky eater when I was a child - apparently I would only eat chipolata sausager or honey sandwiches for about 2 years! The only veggies I ever ate were peas. Somehow I managed to grow up pretty healthily (I'm 59 now!). These days I eat EVERYTHING (well, not tripe :-[).

[Trudi_Lavigne]

Cold Food/ Salad alternatives:

I have a child that is rather fussy about eating veg, but loves ice lollys...so I have started freezing homemade veg soup in ice lolly moulds and they go down a treat! Beetroot and tomato is the favourite so far. Non fatty soups are the best for freezing. This idea came from the Covent Garden Soup Book.

My older child also went through a fussy patch when the younger one was born and I managed to get him to eat veg again when the younger one was being weaned and I had ice cube trays full of frozen carrot puree and the like. I discovered he would eat them if chopped up and still frozen, so the same principle as the soup really. He gradually started to eat the same foods non frozen too, and now eats a very healthy balanced diet with lots of veg, at three and a half years old.

[jo_b]

Thanks for the tips, Trudi, and congrats on your first post! :) Will have to give soup lollies a try!

[16011996]

yeah, have some beetroot growing in grandads back garden, will try the lollies. and welcome trudi.

jaybee, not had a honey sandwich for years. did any one ever have sugar butties as a child. mmmmm.

[Sarahsaver]

Muscovado sugar on bread mmmmm... ;D
My son and myself just had sprats for lunch because we got a bag full (about 2lbs!) for a quid a while back and i stick them in the freezer.
Whats happened to all that sort of stuff - really cheap old fashioned food, we still eat it - rabbit, sprats, mutton from time to time. Mind you ive seen someone buy a fish head, apparently theres a lot of meat on a salmon's head ::)
my 'fussy' daughter loves the cheap noodles from tesco, she too loves sausages. I cook the noodles with broccoli or carrots then she cant avoid the veg.
As a treat after school i often turn up to fetch them with a fresh carrot each in my pocket, its surprising how jealous the other cola swilling crisp eating kids look :o
As for fruit my kids eat TOO MUCH! I worked out that as a family we eat at least a pound of bananas each a week, plus apples, satsumas and anything else thats going! I have to put it on a high shelf to stop them overdoing it.We have fairly routine 'snack times' at about 10.30 am and after school at about 3.15. We all sit together and have one piece of fruit or a yoghurt, and one biscuit or breadsticks, or a cake if ive made any. This makes it easier if im pestered bcos i can say 'its not snack time yet' and i hope i am giving them good habits for later in life.

[jaybee]

Yes - my grandma used to give me brown sugar sandwiches as a treat!!!! Maybe it would be an idea to make 'horrible' things seem to be a treat - I like the beetroot ice lolly idea! Never liked dripping sandwiches though wich my father considered a treat!!!!

[jaybee]

Forgot to say. . .Sarahsaver - I had to be limited to 2 bananas a WEEK (I was a 'war baby'!!!)

[trafalgar]

Jaybee said
Yes - my grandma used to give me brown sugar sandwiches as a treat!!!!


Me too, I loved them ;D

[jo_b]

Sarahsaver, I have to ask....What's a sprat?! ??? :-[

[Sarahsaver]

Sprats are a little fish, smaller than a sardine. And they are bloomin cheap!
You cut the head off, at the same time pulling out the guts (negligible but better out than in) toss in plain flour then deep fry for 4 minutes. Serve with vinegar, lemon juice, tartare sauce, or like i had tonight, soy sauce and chilli sauce as a starter for a chinese meal I made ;D Eat the whole lot except the tail.
Yes 'yukky' things are a good idea to encourage as 'treats'
I LOVE liver
Squid is cheap on my local market, as are mussels - spot the seafood theme here... and my sons love them.
Poor lad though when I promised to save him some pigeon then got carried away and forgot ::) because it was too yummy (watercress and cranberry sauce by the way)
Got a copy of Escoffier's guide to traditional french cuisine from the charity shop today. Never tried tripe, i know it's cheap, dont know if I could stomach it though LOL

[16011996]

tripe is quite nice, i boil it in a pan with some milk. i like kidneys too, kwik save have them in gray in a tin for 48p, mmmmmm. lovely with some bread to mop up the gravy.

[Sarahsaver]

160... what does tripe taste like? whats the texture like? Im a bit nervous of it, which is unlike me ;D
More old fashioned things we should encourage to bring down the cost of the weekly shop -like big bones with marrow in them, my boys love them, using stale bread - eggy bread, bread pudding, soup :P mmmm
I did wonder if we only had homemade sweets would my kids appreciate the finer things in life a bit more. Not that they have a lot of sweets, so i made a batch of peppermint creams yeaterday, and they think Im an alchemist ;D

[16011996]

tripe is a bit of a mixture of fish and meat in texture, is worth just getting half a pound and trying it, like i said i do it in a bit of milk. always sounds horrid, but nice really. just call it something else and you'll be okay. my kids call it special chicken cos they'd vnever eat anything called tripe.

[trafalgar]

Tripe doesn't have a strong taste.............a bit like chicken.

Tripe and onions in milk is nice but the sight is a bit off-putting, cut it quite small and it don't look so bad :)

[16011996]

i like it with rice chopped small (the tripe not the rice)

[trafalgar]

i like it with rice chopped small (the tripe not the rice)
never tried it with rice but will now ;D

[16011996]

is nice and the kids like sweetcorn in the rice too.

[Sarahsaver]

They sell it for £1 in the local halal butchers so i will give this a go, I love Indian food
http://www.tripesite.com/dry_tripe_curry.htm
TRIPE CURRY ;D I will try it and report back ;)

[16011996]

am crap at curries, if you got any good recipes let me know.

[jaybee]

Jars of curry sauce are generally good and usually on offer as well. I find it works out cheaper than buying loads of this and that to get it all together. I've tried doing it properly but everyone prefers the cheats version!

[Sarahsaver]

am crap at curries, if you got any good recipes let me know.
LOADS
how long have you got! LOL ;D
It IS better to make your own sauces, there is so much difference. Go to an asian shop rather that paying the extortionate schwartz type prices.
in the mean time this sauce goes with tofu, chicken, pork...
2tbsp peanut butter, juice of a lime or lemon, about 1/2" of a block of creamed coconut, salt to taste, one red chilli or half tsp chilli powder, garnish with a spring onion - sort of a thai style peanut curry sauce. You may need to add some water when cooking - lowest simmer you can.
DEEEEEEELICIOUS :P ;D

[16011996]

do you have any without the peanut butter, it makes my daughters lips swell :D

[Spendless]

Hi 160
I`ve been reading your thread for a while now. I`m sorry to hear about your loss and pleased to hear things are looking up for you.

Do you have an Iceland near you? They frequently have meal deals for a fiver. I find them too dear for normal grocery shopping, so I only go in for the offers.

They are especially good during school holidays (food for kids!)

[16011996]

i do have an iceland, spendless, but haven't been for ages. will go and have a look. thanks.

[md123]

I fill up my freezer using the Iceland internet delivery service. You have to spend £40 minimum, but they deliver it free. I only really buy there offers, so you get quite a lot for your money. You also get quite a few e mails from them giving you £5 or £10 of a £50 shop :)

[ocemeer]

safeway about half an hour before closing sell alot of their meat and fish at ridiculous prices ( 19p for pork mince, fish 25p). (its not a 24hr shop)

If you ever get time (which doesnt sound as if you do) I cook muffins and freeze them for when ever i need them, same as the sandwiches it defrosts by lunchtime.
( :-[ complete insomniac so they normally get done at 0200) They are very easy and maybe the kids could help?

Clothes,if your debenhams has an outlet part (normally the lowest floor) they can be very cheap and quite fashionable.
Woolies back to school offer of 3 for 2 is good,really like the black plimsolls (up to size 6 :D) £5 for 3 pairs and they are washable.

(is lemon cheese the same as lemon curd?)

[Angela]

Ocemeer
Lemon Cheese is like Lemon curd buy it is not so sweet,sharper and much nicer IMHO.

[Spendless]

My eldest is a faddy eater. When making spag bol, I put in mushrooms,onions,tomatoes (all veg he won`t eat). Just before serving I put his portion into container and use stick blender on it for a few seconds. It then resembles just mince (all veg are hidden). HE ALWAYS EATS IT! ;)

I also fib about what things are called. Last winter I made tuna fishcakes (tuna, potatoes, sweetcorn). I said they were snowcakes and people ate them when it was snowing. :D

My friend gives her kids extra pocket money for trying something new/different.

I put the above idea to my sister (Still a faddy eater at 30!). She agreed to try a banana,but only in return for 5 pounds!!! ! !:o

[16011996]

;D ;D ;D ;Dmmmm lemon cheese. bought some homemade froma fair yesterday, if anyone hads reciepe i'd apprciate it. will try blending spag bol (well not the spag) cos i get sick of them picking bits out. lol. one up to me i think. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[16011996]

my three, one picks out carrots, one mushrooms, and one onions. can't win.

[Judi]

she picked all the mushrooms and carrots out , there wasn't much left by the time she'd finished !::)


My kids do that all the time!!! I try and bulk it out with lentils, mushrooms etc, and they spend ages picking them out - leaving very little in the way of meat. >:(

[filigree]

I use very finely grated carrot in spag bol sauce, it melts into the tomato and can't be picked out. Nigella did a recipe where she put the onion, celery and garlic into the liquidiser before frying it off with the meat for a stew. The veggies thicken the sauce, but kids can't know they're there ;)

Luckily mine eats darn near anything so long as it isn't mashed. He even eats spinach *smug*

[Sarahsaver]

My boys eat spinach now theyve watched the dvd i got them from poundland - POPEYE! ;D

[16011996]

when we watched popeye my 8 yr old said how bad it was he smoked, and that all the veg in the world wouldn't help his lungs. 8)

[Sarahsaver]

Its odd that mine didnt notice the smoking! Maybe bcos Ive told them that if they ever do smoke they will not live in the same house as mummy :o

Curries - i mentioned a while back, so here goes an easy one

chick pea and potato curry

1 can of tomatoes
1 onion
1 can of chick peas or if u use dried ones about 4 handfuls, soaked and then boiled as per instructions on packet!
about one medium size potato per person (you can see my measurements arent very techincal - go with what looks right!)
1 veg stock cube
1 tbsp curry powder ( I will get round to the home made - cheaper - stuff eventually!!!)
fresh coriander
oil

fry the onion, potato in small cubes and curry powder, until browned slightly
add a dash of water if you think its sticking
add the tomatoes including the juice, break the tomatoes up slightly, add stock cube and simmer as low as possible till the potatoes are nearly done
add the drained chick peas and coriander and simmer for 5 mins til its all warm
serve with rice and mango chutney
yum!

[16011996]

thanks will give that a go, and let you know how i get on.

[16011996]

made a batch of that last night, had a taste was yummy, have frozen it for another day. thanks.

[Lillibet]

My Mum used to liquidize loads of veg & pulses into soups, stews, sauces & goodness knows what else when I was younger in order to smuggle them past my eagle eyes. Must have worked, I later turned veggie for 7 years ;D
She still does it now as my 58 year old Dad still picks out the veggies he claims not to like & he still doesn't know ;)

[jo_b]

The recipe sounds lovely, SSaver. Any ideas as to what I could substitute for the chickpeas to vary the recipe a bit?

[Sarahsaver]

My sis used to make a mean baked bean curry, just put in baked beans instead of the chick peas. Forgot to say add some garlic if you like it ;D
BTW flavour of most curries tends to improve with freezing, which is handy!

[16011996]

curry with baked beans in it my kids trump enough on plain curry. :-[

[Sarahsaver]

LMAO ;D

Tried this on my lads yesterday, homemade fishcakes with spinach mashed into the mixture as well. Well they were more like fish 'balls' but i think the shape appeals more to kids. Cost about 50p to make twelve or thereabouts (cant remember exactly because i pinched a couple)

Wondering if we need to start a 'hidden veg' thread ;D

[16011996]

mmm hidden veg thread not a bad idea. i whizz mash with carrots or broccoli in it with stick blender to make it coloured and hide the veg. works a treat.

[16011996]

had curry last night. was yummy. can't wait to have the rest.

[Cariad]

Hi there,

I always used to shop in one store now I tend to shop according to value and likes of the family ie. I visit Lidl at least every 2 wks and bulk buy their orange juice(orange carton) 35p litre 100% fruit content- my children love this and its double most other places. I'm quite happy then to go through a carton a day.
Also I think it is much cheaper and healthier if you make your own curries, chillies, bologneses and freeze them than this often tasteless, budget stuff that is mass produced.
I try and make sponges, muffins with the children which if you buy flour etc from Aldi/Lidl is under 20p costs very little and the children love baking. !You must use a mixer for quickness and taste (handmixer £5 Argos) Delia Smiths Victoria Sponge is quick and melts in your mouth!(all-in-one method) Pizzas are cheap and fun to make with the children even if you just buy the pizza bases and add the toppings and far more tasty.
What about growing some veg in your garden, even if its just tomato plants in pots, lettuces etc Or try and make friends with people from your local allottment!
Pick blackberries with the children- its free. Freeze them if you pick too much. Make simple blackberry crumble or add to plain yoghurt with honey.
There are also internet sites like Miserly Mums-frugal tips that also give you budget cooking ideas.
I think its about doing what you can without exhausting yourself- Its all about planning & it sounds as if you're doing a brilliant job. Good luck!

[Jay-Jay]

I make mushroom soup like this:-

10oz mushrooms (chopped)
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion (chopped)
1 tbsp pl flour
3/4 pint veg/chicken stock
3/4 pint milk


heat oil in saucepan & add mushrooms and onion, fry for 2 mins then cover & sweat for 6-7 mins (the mushrooms and onions, not you!)

stir in the flour and cook for 1 min

gradually add stock & milk

bring to the boil then simmer partly covered for 15 mins.

allow to cool a little then whizz it with a stick blender

add salt & pepper and a little cream if you fancy ;)

Now my little girl (age 5) doesn't like mushrooms but we call this 'mushroom soup with no mushrooms in' and she loves it!

Much nicer than shop bought tins ;)

[jo_b]

Delia Smiths Victoria Sponge is quick and melts in your mouth!(all-in-one method)

Sounds quick and simple. My kind of cooking! You don't happen to have the recipe to hand, do you?

Also, have you got the full address for the miserly mums site?

[16011996]

having a bash at mushroom soup tonight, my kids say they hate mushrooms, so will have to see how we get on. ;D ;D

[jaybee]

I was going to suggest that you told them they were magic mushrooms but perhaps not!!!! Might cause a few raised eyeborws at school tomorrow.

[16011996]

two of the kids ate it no problem, other one said it looked like concrete and wasn't eating it. thats a good result in our house.

[jo_b]

Thanks for the sponge recipe, Sheel. Will give it a go. :-*

[Plumpud]

I've found the miserly moms here

http://www.miserlymoms.com

It looks really interesting, so I've bookmarked it. I love these American websites, they are very enlightning.

I also like this one

http://www.ThriftyFun.com

I have several American cookbooks now. The first one was Ben and Jerry's ice cream recipes, bought for my daughter when we were given an ice cream maker. Absolutely brilliant, worth every penny if you like more unusual ice creams, but don't like their prices.

My friend goes to America several times a year. She brought me back a set of tupperware measuring cups, as the recipes are usually in cups. You have to remember that the american pint is only 16 fl oz not 20 as it is here.

I have also signed up to Kraft, mermaid and HI on taste newsletters. They all have good recipes. If there are any recipes I like, I copy them into 'Word' and save for later use.

I like the sound of the curry recipe (sorry can't remember who posted it). Is it hot? I like curries, but not if they are hot. The rest of the family won't touch them if they are anything above mild. I can only buy Korma or Coronation chicken in the jars or tins as everything else is deemed too hot. :-X

[16011996]

no plumpud, it wasn't too hot. i don't like anything above mild, and it suited me.

[Cariad]

Hi,

Questions were asked in response to my post and they've already been answered correctly.
Yes Sheel thats the correct recipe for the Victoria Sponge- I keep on making them with the children and honestly one has never lasted more than 4 hours!
Brilliant tips by everyone! :)

[16011996]

and thee victoria sponge is fab.

[Spendless]

Just picked up tip on miserly mums and thought i'd share it with all of you.

I am constantly throwing away leftovers from kids So

Have just reduced kids tea by 1/3.

What a result! Eldest cleared plate, youngest left mouthful. ;D

Now I've got meal for another day instead of going in
bin.

Can't believe I've never thought of this b4. :-/

[sce37]

Good idea - or in my case it doesn't go in the bin it goes in my mouth. So not only will I save money will lose weight too ;D

[jaybee]

Now I need to learn how to reduce my portion by a third :-/ I'm sure we all eat too juch - I know I do - one meal a day which starts at 7:00am and finishes at 9:00pm. Should have been a sheep so I could graze all day!

[Sarahsaver]

I do this with my kids.
One and a half fishfingers/sausages each instead of two, same for weetabix.
HALF a corn on the cob.
ONE slice of bread instead of two.
Smaller cereal bowls/bowls for dessert.
Limit drinks of milk to 4oz at a time.
They haven't noticed, we have less leftovers and I am less stressed because they are eating it all up ;D

[16011996]

we have reduced by about a third too, and only once have they left somethingon there plates. does make a difference.

[Judi]

anyone know how to cure a sweet tooth? Its not how much i eat, but i get cravings for sweet foods. Ive tried going without but it is awful. I went a whole week without a bar of chocolate and yesterday i bought three as the craving was so bad, i ended up eating two in the same day instead of a sandwich, (and one for my breakfast today that i had bought Mr Judi).

I know the answer is to not buy them but the cravings are awful.

[Spendless]

Judi

I have same problem.

I did once read on a diet page that you have to go cold turkey for a month.

Don't know if it works, cos have never been brave enough to try.

[Judi]

I did once read on a diet page that you have to go cold turkey for a month.


If i had to cut down sugar altogether i wouldnt be able to do it. I have tried drinking tea/coffee without sugar/sweetners and it just made me dehydrate cause i couldnt drink anything without a peg on me nose. Hey thats an idea!!! If i put a peg on me nose, i wont taste anything. ;D

[16011996]

i freeze a block of dairy milk, eat a small peice at a time, coz its frozen lasts longer, and you still get the fix.

[Sarahsaver]

Replace a 'baddie' with a 'goodie'
For example I did this with dried apricots and prunes instead of chocolate, you just have to find something you like as a replacement and tell yourself it is a treat. I also keep 'treats' for me in the same place as the kids' treats, psychologically it seems to work. Also my son raids the big jar of sultanas, he clearly thinks they are special ;)
I know these things are sweet but they are better because of minerals and fibre.Try the grated carrot and sultana salad i mentioned previously, carrots are sweet too, and you can eat loads of this without feeling guilty ;D

[16011996]

all my kids rarely had sweets when very young, i used to give them a bag of raisins to eat when we went out somewhere, 3 yr old still calls them sweeties, even though he now knows there not.

[Fran]

If i had to cut down sugar altogether i wouldnt be able to do it. I have tried drinking tea/coffee without sugar/sweetners and it just made me dehydrate cause i couldnt drink anything without a peg on me nose. Hey thats an idea!!! If i put a peg on me nose, i wont taste anything. ;D


That's fine at home.... and fine when out too, we'd be able to spot you quickly in the local cafe! ;)

[Judi]

That's fine at home.... and fine when out too, we'd be able to spot you quickly in the local cafe! !;)
I guess i would have wind too as you tend to gulp intead of eat/drink so you would probably smell me too!!! ;D ;D ;D

edited to add a smiley or two.

[mink35]

anyone know how to cure a sweet tooth? !

I'm sure I've read somewhere that the smell of vanilla puts you off chocolate. I think you're supposed to put vanilla essence on a hankie or something and sniff it when you get a craving! Don't know if it works tho! :D

[jaybee]

I absolutely adore the smell of vanilla. Sadly though it's never put me off chocolate - addicted to Mars Bars!!!

[sce37]

This is going to get abit technical ??? But if you understand the biology of craving sweet things it !might help. !The thought or smell or sight of chocolate stimulates certain neurological pathways in the brain which create the craving. !Dopamine (a chemical) released stimulates this. !Once chocolate is eaten you get a release of opiod chemicals in the brain that give you that sense of aahhhh/mmmmm. !Try and identify the triggers in everyday life that set this craving off. !Whilst going cold turkey is a good solution evidence shows that there is a high likelihood of going back on the chocolate. ! The methods quoted above about finding alternatives are good. !Try to create an alternative behaviour pattern when the craving is triggered. !Make it something rewarding but healthy. !It wont be easy but eventually new behavioural pathways in the brain will be developed and strengthened and the 'chocolate' craving will be reduced and eventually extinguished. !

[sce37]

Sugar cravings particularly for sweets mean the body is telling you that you need more glucose for energy. Trouble with sweet things is that they give you a quick fix and then drop dramatically. Hence the need for yet another fix. Then you get into that cycle of craving those things that give the fix.

Its back to the old healthy eating thing really. Try and eat foods that release sugars slowly. Not an expert here but its about eating complex carbohydrates ie bread, pasta, potatoes, porridge. You then get a steady release of the sugars/glucose your body needs. That might help circumvent the craving for sweet things.

[16011996]

ooh, didn't know that. :)

[Judi]

I didnt know either. Thanks.

[16011996]

just noticed your icon judi, you must be a true choc o holic!!

[jaybee]

My body must be screaming out for more energy then. Really must try to start being sensible with food (not so many Mars Bars, sob) :'( :'( :'(

[sce37]

I have been known to stuff 3 jam doughnuts with a cup of tea to get my fix. So I don't practice what I preach ;D

[Judi]

just noticed your icon judi, you must be a true choc o holic!!

Yes, i suppose i am. Its the only thing i struggle with. I dont drink, and have never smoked so i suppose its my only vice. ;D Ok i have 5 kids but thats beside the point! ;)

[jaybee]

I think that the trouble with food is that you NEED a certain amount of it to keep going (unlike ciggies, alcohol or drugs). I'm certainly not nelittling the difficulties of giving up (or cutting down) on anything. It's just that food is so essential to life that it's sometimes difficult to cut down (or cut out) something that is basically essential.

Okay - I know chocoloate isn't essential. Bah - it just isn't fair that everything you love is bad for you. >:( >:(

[sce37]

Found this site onchocolate and addiction (http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/chocolate/).

[jaybee]

Thanks for that link - I'll try, really I will. :-/

[16011996]

yes is a good link.

[16011996]

further to earlier posts on here about buying reduced and getting them to pay you to walk away with things (or at least making them very cheap) i discovered over the weekend that sainsburys have got around this, if you buy 2 packs of potatoes say that are bogof at £1.19, but reduced to 69p on the packs, it'll only knock off the reduced price (69p) at the till, not the full price,. this happened with a couple of items, so it wasn't just a one off. checkout girl said it was to stop all the people who take advantage of it :-[ . just thought i'd warn you all.

[Spendless]

Our local co-op recently had some cheese pm 1.99. It was on a manufacturers promotion (ie black typing across pack)on BOGOF. It had been reduced to £1.49 so picked up two packs only to be informed couldn't have BOGOF. I pointed out this then made it £2.98 for 2 packs, dearer than when it had been on full price. To which I got "I see you point, I'll pass comments on".
I refused to buy cheese. 2 days later still on this price so complained todifferent member of staff who told manager.
Result - big thank you & 2 free packs of cheese.
I could have seen their point if it had been co-op promo that had finished but it wasn't - it said BOGOF on pack. Co-op had also got loads of stock and were trying to clear them quick b4 sell-by-date ???

[jaybee]

Thanks for that. I suppose they were bound to twig sooner or later. Damn :'(

[16011996]

yep is annoying, but not as bad as the cheese one above.

[16011996]

whilst checking reciept for something else last night, i noticed a bogof hadn't come off. do you think its too late to ask them about it??

[Spendless]

whilst checking reciept for something else last night, i noticed a bogof hadn't come off. do you think its too late to ask them about it??
Nope.Go and ask. You won't be any worse off than you currently are even if they say no. Let us know how you get on ;)

[jaybee]

I always check my receipts now as occasionally BOGOFs are missed and once I was charged £12.99 instead of £2.99 for something. We can't afford to give them money >:(

[16011996]

rang and they said they'd had problems with this bogof, and that rather than just refund me the difference, would i be happy with £5 voucher, yes please said me, as it was only £1.09 missing. called at customer services and collected it, only to find its a £10 one instead. one very happy 160. ;D

[jaybee]

Result!!!!

Now, what was it you bought??? ;)

[Spendless]

Mr Spendless bought the kids some mini corner yoghurts and they ate them in one sitting >:((it gets worse -they had a money off coupon which I didn't see and Iripped the barcode up beyond repair and had to sling coupon >:()
Next week I went shopping and bought big pot of natural yoghurt and pack of supercook sprinkle set . This has 3 little jars of chocolate strands/hundreds & thousands and sugar strands. Served kids plain yoghurt & let them sprinkle topping of choice over. Ate it all up

[16011996]

oooh, top idea spendless, sick of buying corner yogurts although they are buy 6 get 6 free in sains. jaybee i was buying pasta sauce. ;)

[Judi]

oooh, top idea spendless, sick of buying corner yogurts although they are buy 6 get 6 free in sains. jaybee i was buying pasta sauce. !;)
Have you tried making your own. I havent done it for years but when i had all the kids at home this is what i used to do:

You can use a flask or buy a yogurt maker (I got mine from a car boot). All you need is the cheapest UHT milk and 1 tablespoon value natural live yogurt, and fruit, jam my lot prefered milk shake), plus a small amount (1-2 tsp) sugar to flavour. Leave overnight. You can add dried milk to it to make it thicker.

[16011996]

can you do it with skimmed uht or does it need to fat full??

[16011996]

or full fat even. ;D ;D

[Spendless]

I haven't seen a yoghurt maker for years :(

[16011996]

http://www.ascott-shop.co.uk/usrimage/0dp29new_0.jpg theres a nice one here. ;D

[Judi]

can you do it with skimmed uht or does it need to be full fat??

I only ever use semi skimmed. But i am guessing that either would be fine.

[16011996]

will haveto have a bash at that then, thanks judi, you are fab.

[Judi]

will !haveto have a bash at that then, thanks judi, you are fab.
:-*

[16011996]

made some last night, had a bit this morning, its yummy, put a blob of jam oin and its was so nice, better than them corner ones.
thanks so so much judi, any more tips??

[jue]

Hi There 160 and everyone
Just found this great forum a few days ago and can't stay away.
Just wanted to say I'm so sorry for your loss and glad you are starting to feel better.
My family and I started out of need 6 months ago cutting our family food bill (due to a drastic cut in take home pay) before this an average weekly shop at the supermaket cost us around £75 now we have got that down to £45 ish (thats an annual saving of £1500)..not to be sniffed at. Mainly I've started making a menu planner and shopping with a list. We now rarely have pizza or processed food, mainly cook from scratch and use supermarkets own brands where possible, most of these we like occasionally we don't and don't buy again.
We ahve also cut down our sky subscription and telephone package,and saved more money here. I have enjoyed reading this thread and would like to thank everyone for their ideas. ;D

[Spendless]

Hi Jue
Welcome to the site. It is highly addictive on here,so perhaps look at internet package too!
;D
Have you also gone on moneysaving oldstyle?Alot of tips & recipes are on there. Basically I try not to buy before asking if there is an alternative and cheaper way.
Look forward to hearing from you soon.

[Judi]

160 Thanks for you comments. !Was really nice of you.

Jue, i think i learned a lot when i started to overhaul my shopping habits.

I used to go shopping every week, rarely getting change out of £100 for all of us. !However, the first thing i learned was, if i dont go shopping i dont spend. !So i started shopping online. !If you book a midweek slot the delivery is £3.99. !Brilliant for me, no heavy bags to lug around, and i dont get tempted to spend. !I am a compulsive shopper!!!

The tip is, to buy 7 lots of meals. !Monday in my house is fish, Tuesdays is Pizza, Wednesdays is Chilli, Thursdays are Sausages in barbecue sauce. !Fridays (tonight) is Spag Bol, Saturdays we alternate with Burgers on baps or Hot Dogs in rolls with loads of onions and sauces (we dont eat a cooked meal on Saturdays), Sundays is a traditional roasts, mash, vegs sort of dinner. !I also vary the meals every so often, so we dont get bored eating the same stuff. !We only have puddings on weekends.

I buy enough cereals for the week, stuff for sandwiches etc. !The tip is not to buy too much stock - i am a serial stockpiller too !>:(

Then when i have created my shopping online, i spend ages going through it, taking things off that i really class as luxuries. !The kids have a packet of crisps a day and a chocolate bar, and thats it. !If they eat more than one a day, then thats tough - they have to wait.

Only last night i took stock of a situation. !I like to keep a microwave meal or two in my freezer for when something unforseen happens. !But the kids have been eating them willy nilly - so that luxury is now to be scrapped.

I try to spend in between £60-£70 a week on groceries. !Anymore than that, luxuries will creep in and the kids wont eat their meals.

[16011996]

hi jue, nice to have you here and thanks for your kind comments. i hope you continue to save money, there are so many helpful tips posted here by everyone. i love this site, and think to look back now i would have been struggling without the help and advice given here. i agree with judi, don't miss the money saving old style, its good in there, (you'll never see so many references ti vinegar in one place).

take care

160.

[Judi]

Another tip i have, is to register with the Pampers website. My baby is now 8 years old but i registered 6 months ago, and got a booklet of 4 £1 vouchers and periodically get vouchers through the post which i use against my shopping.


Huggies (https://www.huggiesclub.com/secure/logon_uk.asp?countryId=uk&fromEmail=)

Pampers (http://uk.pampers.com/en_GB/home.do)

[Judi]

I have also signed to Pinecone Research. Each time i do a survey i get paid £4 in luncheon vouchers which i redeem in Asda when i want something. Unfortunately they aint taking on new members at the moment unless you see one of their banners floating round the net, and you can join through that.

Pinecone research (http://www2.pineconeresearch.co.uk/FAQ.asp)

I have also started using Quickwise. That seems pretty good but i havent put in a submission form yet.

Quickwise (http://www.quickwise.co.uk/)

[Sarahsaver]

Thought id share this recipe which fed 2 children and 2 aduts, very easy and very cheap.
In a slow cooker put a pint of stock, a tin of tomatoes, onion, clove of garlic, 1 tsp cajun seasoning, a cup of black eyed beans which have been soaked overnight, one apple cut into pieces (cored of course!) and 3 Tesco Value pork chops.
Leave it all day, and eat it with chunks of toast.
Yum.
The meat sort of breaks down into little bits so you dont even have to chop it :)