£300 -6 months shopping list help needed

mum_of_4

My Mum has helped us out by giving me another £250 on tesco gift cards. So £300 in all.

I don't want to waste the money on rubbish so was thinking.

£60.00 -20 packs of fresh mince (buy 2 1kg for £6)
£20.00 -20 packs of walls sausages £1.00 each
£30.00 -30 bags of 800g peas £1.00 each
£50.00 - Salmon 8 pieces £5.00 a bag

£49.60 - 20 boxes of Tesco 240 tea bags £2.48 each
£30.00 - 40 bottles of tesco squash 75p each
£11.60 - 10 baked beans pack of 4 £1.16 each
£24.00 - 1.5kg Strong white flour 48p each
£7.50 - 1l daisy washing up liquid 75p each
£15.80 - sugar 1kg 79p each

Total £298.50

I have an allotment so grow 95% of my veg but need peas as i didn't grow enough to cover winter. I have a grage so can store stuff and 2 chest freezers although one is full of veg and berries.

Wasn't sure about chickens as i won't be able to freeze chiken pie if made from a frozen chicken?

I would love any help that's on offer

edited to ask - if i divied the mince up and put into freezer bags and then in a cool bag would it help to make the mince freeze better?

sandraroffey

you can freeze chick pie if its made with cooked chicken. if something has been frozen you can refreeze it PROVIDING its then been cooked. cook it and put it into a sauce and stuff and let it cool. then make a pie. best things to make and freeze chick pies in (any pies come to that) are the foil dishes you get chinese take outs in!!! yum. whens dinner??xx

sandraroffey

best to freeze uncooked mince in smaller portions or you will have to use up a huge amount if you have a big pack and have to defrost the lot. perhaps you could make different sorts of things with it BEFORE you freeze it? some shepherds pie, bolognese, mincebeef curry, or a minced beef and veg pie??? then freeze it in meal size portions. keep some in small portions uncooked to make burgers. and when you make the bolognese or shepherds pie mix, any yummy grave left over, keep a little of the minced beef still with it, add some peas, carrots, diced potatoes, more onions etc and hey presto, beef and veg soup.let us know how you get on.

lainz

Instead of spending it all at once (we're getting to the time of year of pants weather and power cuts - so a freezer full of food ruined, won't help) At the start of each month use the extra £50 to stock up on meat/ fish and you can take advantage of special offers. Also with Christmas coming up - you might want to stock up on a few things for that.

Hope that helps

mum_of_4

lainz wrote: »

Instead of spending it all at once (we're getting to the time of year of pants weather and power cuts - so a freezer full of food ruined, won't help) At the start of each month use the extra £50 to stock up on meat/ fish and you can take advantage of special offers. Also with Christmas coming up - you might want to stock up on a few things for that.

Hope that helps

I must admit i did think about a power cut but we've never had one for longer than 30 minutes and only had two the five years i've lived here, knowing my luck that might change.

I could spend the £50 each month but peas are offer for £1 normally £1.79 and i realise prices are going up and up so i don't really know which would turn out better.

Also i'm worried i might be tempted to spend it on stuff other than food.

sandraroffey

oh yes, the christmas turkey already in would be a good idea. and perhaps some stuff that you will find on the 'getting ready for winter thread'; tins, dried, batteries, get soup making and frozen.

mum_of_4

sandraroffey wrote: »

oh yes, the christmas turkey already in would be a good idea. and perhaps some stuff that you will find on the 'getting ready for winter thread'; tins, dried, batteries, get soup making and frozen.

Oh yes i would buy a turkey, are they already in Mr T's? I'll have to have a look.

Yes soup, i've still got 100 leeks left and two sacks of spuds so leek and potato soup is going to be on the menu quite a lot. Also got 30+ swede and the first of my parsnips so veg soup too. Never really make the most of my parsnips though don't know many recipes so end up mostly adding them to mash.

sandraroffey

there doesnt seem to be any other meat on your list apart from mince. get those chickens!! tescos chicks are great and cheap. make soup with the left overs and freeze. liver (liver and bacon casserole). kidneys (steak and kidney pie or casserole with dumpling). the list is endless. and what a fantastic mum you have!!!!xx

GrillMonkey

I think you could cut back on tea bags. I get two cups from one bag but you have the equivelant of 26 cups of tea a day if you use one bag per cup.

[strike]Asda orange squash is only 15p a litre. You could buy one bottle to see if the kids like it. If they do you'll end up saving £24 on squash.[/strike]

Also you could substitute a couple of packs of mince for some red lentils.They realy help bulking out chilli and spag bol etc.

[strike]Asda currently have an offer on washing up liquid 3 bottles of their own brand for £2. We use it and it's not bad. I've just stocked up with £6 worth myself

Sainsbury's do 5kg bags of sugar for £3.86 Only marginly cheaper but "every penny counts"[/strike]

mum_of_4

sandraroffey wrote: »

there doesnt seem to be any other meat on your list apart from mince. get those chickens!! ......and what a fantastic mum you have!!!!xx

Yes i think i should get some chickens, already have 4 whole chickens in the 2nd freezer so that's 12 meals so maybe buy 6 more (£20) to give me 30 meals.

I don't think my Mum realises how far i can make £300 go. She thinks I'm always giving her too much stuff. When she visits i'm always packing her off with veg box, eggs and bread.

Idiophreak

mum_of_4 wrote: »

£49.60 - 20 boxes of Tesco 240 tea bags £2.48 each
£30.00 - 40 bottles of tesco squash 75p each

Those two both seem quite high to me...as GM says, that's 27 bags/day...

Generally, it just seems that nearly 30% of the budget gone on drinks seems high...