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Less is more?

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  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    Nothing to add but welcome to the board Cristin.
  • cristin
    cristin Posts: 56 Forumite
    Thank you everyone for such a varied and wonderful response. This web site has taught me a great deal and it is changing the way I do things and especially how I shop (eg I menu plan now whereas before I didn’t)

    I never meant to criticise anyone (sorry if anyone thought that) or to tell anyone that you must buy organic produce - everybody has to work within their budgets, it just that some of you try and fill your freezers and cupboards to bursting by spending even less than last time and think you have failed this month’s grocery challenge if you haven’t! I like a challenge as much as anyone else , but I simply wanted to let you know what I thought and how I do things.

    1) I don’t have very much money, but the little I have is spent in a slightly different way. I don’t panic anymore if my freezer and cupboards are not bursting with food (menu plan helps ;) ). If I have to choose between buying 2 things that cost 35p each and 1 thing that costs 80p I will weigh it up – I won’t automatically go for the cheaper option because it means I will have two in my cupboard.

    2) I am fed up with the supermarkets treating me like an idiot and telling me what I can and can’t use – the “cheaper cuts” that some of you put to so much good use are getting difficult to find because the supermarkets think it is too much trouble to stock them and we can't cook them anyway :rotfl: ( they don't know about the slowcookers). If oldstylers like us don’t keep asking for certain products they will disappear forever! What will you end up buying then?

    3) I can’t always afford organic – but whenever I go shopping I always make sure at least one of my vegetables or fruit is. Surely even those of us on a very tight budget can afford to buy one organic item. Eg in Asda normal carrots cost 0.54 for a kilo Organic ones £1.02 per Kg. Will it really upset your budget if you spend just 50p more for once? If people like us don’t start supporting organic producers the price will never go down.


    4) Because I can’t always afford organic veg I am going to have a go at growing my own. This web site has given me the courage to have a go ( I don’t have very green fingers!)

    5)
    I also don't agree about all the poisons on fruit and veg. If the skins are poisoned, surely that means the rest of the fruit/vegetable is as well? I'm all for washing fruit and veg thoroughly but I think not eating skins is a bit extreme, as these are a good source of fibre.
    Dear Austin if you feel up to it go and read this page especially reason number 1 (it won’t take long)


    Anyway, even if one oldstyler attempts to go to the local butcher instead of the supermarket (can be scary I know) or buys organic once in a blue moon, or even stops to think about where their cheap meat has come from, or reads the food label to check how much water is included (which you are paying for) I think this post will have achieved something and I will be a very happy oldstyler :j !

    Cristin xx

    PS Debt_Free_Chick hope you have read your pms - Just wanted to say a big thank you for supporting me in this post and for defending me so well!
  • Eliza252
    Eliza252 Posts: 449 Forumite
    goodluck with home grown veg!
    I just found an allotment! - wooooohooo!
    Am glad there will be some people joining me on the board in pestering everyone else for gardening tips!!
    :D
    I've made my debts bite-size too depressing to look at all at once so am handling them one at a time - first up Graduate Loan £1720 paid off! only £280 to go!!!
    Money to raise for tuition fees: £3000
    When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!!
  • Pal
    Pal Posts: 2,076 Forumite
    This thread echo's my thoughts on the subject. I have always felt nervous about the budget shopping threads because it encourages people to use supermarkets and shop based solely on price rather than quality or ethically.

    Some time ago I started a thread on the subject on the discussion board: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=37007&highlight=meat

    I would much rather see threads dedictated to making better use of ingredients. For example, how many meals can you get out of a whole organic chicken?

    A word of caution about butchers: Many get their meat from the same places as supermarkets. They are slightly less likely to be adulterated by the packaging company because they buy whole animals, but the quality of the animals may still be poor, especially when it comes to chicken and pork.

    The thing to do is ask the butcher where the animals have come from. If they cannot name the exact (British) farm, don't shop with them.

    If you cannot afford top quality meat, tell a good butcher that you want cheaper cuts from high quality animals and ask what he recommends. A butcher who is using whole animals will have LOADS of leftovers that you can buy off him. He may even give you things like pigs trotters (great for stock) for free. At some point I am going to cook a pigs head, once I have persuaded Mrs Pal.. :)

    When you are having a break from MSE.com, take a look at RiverCottage.net and the forums there. A great deal of information about seasonal and ethical cooking using high quality ingredients.
  • foreverskint
    foreverskint Posts: 1,009
    First Post
    Forumite
    If you are going to buy organic fruit &veg from a supermarket then surely you must condsider food mileage and only buy what is in season and from this country. From what I can see a lopt of organic comes from abroad as there are not enough producers in this country.


    I for one can only afford to buy @normal stuff and not organic and my budget would not allow.

    However On the odd occasion I have bought organic meat I honestly cant say I notice a difference apart from chicken. My favourite meat comes from a butchers.
  • Ticklemouse
    Ticklemouse Posts: 5,030
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    My friend is going to get an organic veg box delivered to her this week. I'm going to find out what was is it and may well go that route too. She's getting the medium box at £10.50, so I'll have to price that up against decent local non-organic veg.
  • Pal
    Pal Posts: 2,076 Forumite
    Organic itself does not necessarily mean that it would taste noticeably nicer. It is free range that generally makes it taste better because the animals grow slower, eat more grass instead of reconstituted animals, and get more fat on them. They also have to be hardier breeds that are not simply meat machines producing bland, flabby tasteless meat.

    If you want a simple test, fry up some value bacon against some decent organic free range bacon (Dutchy of Cornwall is my favourite at the moment). If you can't tell the difference between the two there is something wrong with your tastebuds! :)

    I do shop seasonally, and find the easiest way is to try and buy British. It also means that the fruit and veg costs less when in season, so organic is more affordable. I still buy bananas, grapes and oranges which are obviously imported but most of my fruit and veg is seasonal now.

    Rhubarb! Yum!
  • Pal
    Pal Posts: 2,076 Forumite
    My friend is going to get an organic veg box delivered to her this week. I'm going to find out what was is it and may well go that route too. She's getting the medium box at £10.50, so I'll have to price that up against decent local non-organic veg.

    I am going to do that as well. In theory the great thing is that you get what is seasonal, so you never quite know what you are going to be eating that week! Personally I think that sounds like great fun although I can understand that some might disagree!

    Let us know what you think of it!
  • Xbigman
    Xbigman Posts: 3,884
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Being a reformed eater of total rubbish and a reformed obese slob I have gone through the whole raft of food options. I had an organic goat milk phase, a no meat phase, a no processed food phase. The list is endless. I've now (finally) settled on a long term strategy for cheap(ish) and healthy(ish) eating as follows.

    Grow my own veg or buy from supermarket, but inspect it closely.
    Buy cheap meat but buy smaller amounts / eat meat less often.
    Buy tinned or frozen plain fish - avoid battered stuff as standard.
    Eat plenty of nuts and seeds (mixture of organic and not).
    Limit of 2 bread meals (8 slices) per week.
    Avoid tinned stuff if possible. (only tins in house are salmon, tuna, one sm heinz baked beans, one tin Tesco HL creamed rice).
    Avoid processed foods as much as possible, especially ready meals, tinned veg and anything covered in sugar.
    Absolutely no fried. (threw the frying pan away).

    I shop by doing the supermarket shuffle (Tesco and Morrisons weekly, ASDA bimonthly as its a 20 mile round trip) and the local health shop.

    There are exceptions. IE. I picked up some birds eye fish fingers on BOGOF but I won't buy more when that offer ends. They have made a nice change though.

    I've also been watching the calories but following the above strategy I've eaten well, lost 6 stone and never been healthier.
    Regards



    X

    PS. I do spend most of the day infront of my computer on web sites like this so technically I'm still a slob. :rotfl:
    Xbigman's guide to a happy life.

    Eat properly
    Sleep properly
    Save some money
  • filigree_2
    filigree_2 Posts: 1,025 Forumite
    Pal wrote:
    I would much rather see threads dedictated to making better use of ingredients. For example, how many meals can you get out of a whole organic chicken?

    Same number of meals you can get from a standard chicken, presumably. I've seen plenty of advice on "stretching" chicken and how to use up leftovers, no reason why that advice can't be applied to organic produce. I once posted my tips on how to make a £2.50 chicken last for four days - even if you'd rather buy a free range chicken for £8 you could still follow the tips.

    *lol* I wouldn't get a free pigs trotter round here - they're popular with the West Indian population so the butchers charge for them!
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