It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

mardatha

ITSMYLIFE, how did you get enough to make it worthwhile the carriage ? Its £7.95 or so to deliver to me, and I didnt think I'd be able to get enough long sell-by dates to make it worthwhile. If I placed a big order and they were all close to the sellby, the husband would go mad...

sparrer

pmorrisjones wrote: »

Just be aware that when I put a whole lot of beans in together, and included red kidney, they all went a sludgy colour as the red kidney ones has bled into the others. Other beans together seem okay.

Thanks pmj...I did think of that and now have 3 pans of pulses sitting soaking in my kitchen. They'll stay there til 11.30pm when the cheap elec kicks in and I'll boil/simmer them separately then. Just wondering how much, if anything, I'll have saved by doing it this way rather than buying the ready-to-use varieties

wendybird

For those who are interested, Woolies has the wind-up lanterns with compass and phone charger on sale for just under 8 quid - less than half what we paid for the first one we bought! We just bought a couple in case of power outages and as gifts for family. They may be more discounted next week, but we didn't want to risk them not being there anymore!

taplady

I bought a wind up torch the other day and am now re-reading my Tightwad gazette as we need to tighten our belts a bit I think! Its a great book to those of you who havent got one - it is American but lots of things can be adapted.

itsmylife_2

mardatha wrote: »

ITSMYLIFE, how did you get enough to make it worthwhile the carriage ? Its £7.95 or so to deliver to me, and I didnt think I'd be able to get enough long sell-by dates to make it worthwhile. If I placed a big order and they were all close to the sellby, the husband would go mad...

When I ordered last week the postage to Northern Ireland was £5.25, I got loads of stuff on the £1 deals, and definitely saved money - stuff for lunch boxes - crisps, drinks, peperami, chocolate bars, jams, honey, mocha, pasta sauces, some cadbury's bun mix for DS and more. We dont have any places near us that would do these things at the prices of Approved foods. Thankfully myself and DH are not too fussy about the sell by dates so that was never a worry, but most of the stuff we got had good dates on it... I reckon I saved at least £20 and for the most it was stuff that we would have been buying anyway (or can be substituted for)... Having looked at the website this morning I see Northern Ireland postage is now up to £10.50, and I will certainly not be paying that no matter how impressed I was with the service or the goods... it gets a bit wearing after a while having to pay extra for postage just cause you are perceived as being off the beaten track :rolleyes:.

I've been lurking around this thread for a while now, its brilliant... my DH works for woolies so we are having to tighten the belts even more now (we put in our approved foods order before the administration announcement :rolleyes:)... not sure how we will cope if he loses his job to be honest...

Angela

mummysaver

Afternoon ladies!

Purple, thanks for the recipe, looks delicious! Will try it out and my normal choc tart for the village dinner on Sat.

sparrer - I cook several bags of beans together and freeze in portions, mixed and seperate! Def cheaper than cans for most beans, we need thriftlady to do one of her price comparisons really (if you're reading this?!).

Chick peas are really cheap in the ethnic section in Morrisons, think they were 18p a can, and kidney beans are still pretty cheap in the value ranges at the mo, tho they do seem to go up and down in price a lot in Asda and Mr T's.

I've got haricot beans soaking at the mo, for my homemade baked beans, think they work out cheaper than the shops, but having just started making them again we've all remembered how much nicer they taste. I freeze these in can sized portions in old marg tubs.

Edit: dd3 is sitting next to me and watching cbeebies, they are showing how wellies are made, she's just said "oh that looks easy, bet we could make them at home"!!!!! Think that might just be beyond my abilities, but she's got the right idea lol!

ifonlyitwaseasier

mummysaver wrote: »

I've got haricot beans soaking at the mo, for my homemade baked beans, think they work out cheaper than the shops, but having just started making them again we've all remembered how much nicer they taste. I freeze these in can sized portions in old marg tubs.

quote]


ok so i have to ask for the recipe please!!!!

Reverbe

For years they have been wheeling out this couple on tv who ran a newsletter on frugal living. I cannot for the life of me recall the name of these peeps and I was trying to look them up online for tips etc. They are quite an older couple now and have tried searching on all the words one would expect like cheapskate/ tight wad/ etc... Can anyone help?

Thanks

Hardup_Hester

John & Irma Mustoe could be who you mean the newsletter was called Pennypinchers Gazette

moanymoany

taplady wrote: »

I bought a wind up torch the other day and am now re-reading my Tightwad gazette as we need to tighten our belts a bit I think! Its a great book to those of you who havent got one - it is American but lots of things can be adapted.

I love Tightwad - I agree that everything can be adapted. I've learned so much from Amy and the books are very funny.

Highly recommended!


BTW - I've found dried cannelini beans are the cheapest, and I like the taste.