Inspirational stories and tips wanted on OS please?

Mrsbojangles_2

Hi everyone

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, but I started my grocery challenge yesterda and have set a target of £225.00 for the month, 2 adults, 2 (fussy) children! I have been really overspending on my food shopping for a long time and have made promise after promise to stick to a budget, which of course goes out the window! This time I mean it, the amount of fresh food I bin each week is a disgrace and i'm embarassed by the sheer waste of food and money! I am looking for some inspirational stories and tips, maybe there are others that were like me that have managed to turn things around!

I look forward to the replies and hope they help others too!

catznine

I don't know about inspirational but I started to make the biggest savings in my grocery bill when I started to use my leftovers instead of throwing them away. Meal planning helps and eventually you will start to plan the leftovers as well. I no longer buy ready meals and freeze extra when I cook for the days when, due to tiredness, we would have bought a take away or a ready meal.

I now find it fun to create a meal out of the odd leftovers as well, e.g if I have some leftover potatoes and a bit of cabbage but only a small bit of meat then I would chop that up and add it to make a tasty bubble and squeak. I save up all leftover vegetables into a container in the freezer and then when it is full I empty it into the soup pan, add some stock, puree when cooked, add a bit of butter and some milk and then have a cream of veg soup which is slightly diffferent every time.

If the bananas look a bit over ripe then I freeze them (in their skins) and use them to make Banana Bread. If you have a few sad looking fruits in the fruit bowl make a fruit salad, just peel and chop about 4-5 different fruits and add apple juice. If any wine is left in the bottle (rare in this house though! ) it gets frozen and added to casseroles and stews. Any left over gravy is also frozen for the soup. Look for meals that incorporate leftovers like fried rice which can use up chopped up leftover meats and fish, add some onion, garlic, soy sauce and a pinch of curry spices and you have Nasi Goreng!

We are now about to start living on half our previous income but no longer have any credit card debt, save up for all we need and feel confident we will cope, especially with all the support here on MSE. We still have a lot to learn though and will have to venture out to the other boards to learn what other savings can be made.

GIRLPOWER_2

very well said...

also cleaning products which used to be a bottle of kitchen, cleaner, bottle of bathroom cleaner, bottle this that and the other... read up on the cleaning index and you will be suprised on how little you need.. makes my husband smile when he sees me putting vinegar in the kettle and value coke down the loo but my home has never been cleaner.