Good shopping budget?

myaccount08

I used to spend £70 a month on our groceries (inc household products), but over the last 18 months it has gone up so much and it's getting ridiculous now :embarasse It's definitely time to cut back. Due to Christmas I want to skip our next big shop altogether (still do a local shop for milk & eggs whenever needed) and use that money for all things Christmas this year... so I’m looking to come up with a list of meals with what I’ve already got and a small budget for a few select items. It will need to include Christmas and NY’s supper too. So this has to last about 7 weeks.

We are both trying to be as healthy as possible so would ideally be consuming the recommended; 5 portions of carbs, 5 F&V, 3 dairy and 2 protein. I treat us to some smoked salmon from Lidl for our oily fish. DH is 6'4 and eats like a horse! As well as working during the day he's also working an extra 4 nights a week from 8pm-4am as a taxi driver so I’m thinking lots of soup in a flask to keep him going in this freezing weather - recipes much appreciated I suffer chronic pain, immune disorder and arthritis (no tomatoes for me) and need bulking up for this bitter cold! IBS means no mince, beef, fried food and I’m wheat intolerant, so that makes it a little more tricky. I will eat a small amount of chapattis/bread/pasta for the sake of cheapness and convenience though

We already have;

Oats
Wheetabix
Cornflakes
Oatcakes – out of date Sept
½ bag of rice
Paella rice
Packet of spaghetti
½ packet of pasta shells
Urid daal
Whole Mung beans
½ bag mung daal
½ bag yellow split pea
Bag green split pea


COOKING
½ bag atta
½ bag besan
Plain flour – out of date Oct
Self raising flour – out of date Oct
Baking powder
Lemon juice – out of date June
Tapioca beads
Semolina powder
Pudding rice – out of date June
Bag brown sugar
Mixed nuts – out of date Oct
Dried prunes – out of date Oct
3 wee pots of jelly & fruit - out of date Aug
Bag of sultanas
Bag of almond powder – out of date Oct
Coconut power – can make cream or milk
Dried milk
2 vanilla pods - year old, still useable?
Bag of raw cacao powder
Stuffing mix
Vegetable stock - out of date Oct
Fish stock - out of date Oct
Chicken stock - out of date Oct
Bisto gravy granules
100g Maca powder
200g alfalfa powder
Huge selection of spices
Dried basil, chives, parsley – out of date Mar 2007
Small bag sunflower seeds
Small bag pine nuts


FROZEN
2 bags frozen brussel sprouts
Bag of frozen cauliflower
Bag frozen sweetcorn
Bag smartprice frozen chips
Lots of frozen finely chopped spinach
½ bag frozen carrots
½ bag frozen broccoli
½ bag frozen peas
½ bag frozen parsnips
6 frozen chicken legs/thighs
1 frozen pork chop
Small amount of frozen cheese
6 frozen pita bread


CUPBOARD
2 tins of mackerel
1 tin sardines
4 tins of fruit
2 tins of tomatoes
2 tins of tomato and herbs
1 tin chickpeas – out of date Nov
1 tin kidney beans – out of date Oct
1 tin water chestnuts
1 tin cured pork – out of date June
1 mini jar of crab meat
Jar of pesto
1 Garlic paste
1 Chilli paste
2 Tomato paste


DRINKS - can be used for sauces??
Whole herbs for tea's, can also be used for food (fennel seeds, rosemary, hawthorn, peppermint, chamomile, liquorice)
Green tea and vanilla bags – out of date Oct
Few free packets of hot chocolate powder
1 long life apple juice
1 long life orange juice
2 long life pineapple juice
2 fizzy pop
1 bottle white wine (left over from last NY)
1 bottle shloer (left over from last NY)


Can all the out of date items still be used?

We are OK for loo rolls & bleach and will be watering down the washing up liquid. What is a good value non bio washing powder? we got asda's own last time but it makes the clothes smell funny!

myaccount08

Forgot to say - this is for 2 adults and on the weekend a child too. The shops we have available are Asda, Morrisons, Somerfield, Lidl and Iceland. We usually use Asda & Lidl. I already plan to get extra bags to use as bin bags. We'll definately need to buy onions and ginger too.


Questions...
Can I make buttery mashed potato and freeze it? (already got frozen roast potatoes)
I got some reduced mushrooms yesterday - can i do anything with them and freeze them?
I've never noticed before - how many portions are in an average bag of frozen veg?
Where is the best place for loo rolls?
We need a new duvet and pillows - where is good quality and cheap?
We need to get a bedframe and ikea is the cheapest ive found (£37) - has anyone got one before and does it fit in a reg saloon car?

I'd love to use things for a different purpose for a change e.g. cereal for some sort of desert... Any ideas for new tasty meals/deserts?

Guapa1

Welcome myaaccount08. You have loads of food in, I don't even know where to begin there's so much! For soups how about lentil and carrot soup, you've got the ingredients for a veggie shepherds pie... Sardines and pasta with chilli in tomato sauce.Veggie chilli, with rice.

Cornishpixie_2

Hi It can be done. It's just a case of working out some sort of menu/ meal plan with what you have in. Eggs, fruit and veg are usually cheaper at local greengrocers, markets or Aldi. I've managed to get our food bill down to around £80 per two weeks for 6 of us. Buts that's with me being really frugal, but still ensuring kids get the fruit and veg they need. Good luck:)

orangemoose88

Thought I'd just warn you that you'll need to buy bedslats in addition to the bedframe from ikea. Although from the looks of it, this one doesn't need seperate slats.

Do you need a single or double bed?

denton6

When my son was going to uni we bought him a qulit and pillow set from pound stretcher if you have one near you.dont think there were any problems with it.Otherwise will you be able to wait until the sales start.

nannaC

Hi, just a quick note re Ikea bedframe. They are longer than standard beds 200cms so ordinary mattress's are about 10cms short. We only found this out this year when needed a new mattress. I there is one near you could try MFI, they may have some left, a friend of ours went the other day.

buxtonrabbitgreen

Only 2 suggestions. Flapjacks for a desert from oats. I made choclate flapjacks for ds's gf the other day (she is gluten intolerant too) and she loved them.
As to the bed if you are trying to cut down you could always ask on freecycle.
I have bad athritis at the moment. Do tomatoes make it worse then?
you can freeze mushrooms as they are, or slice them first.
Yes you can freeze mash potato.
Sainsburys basic bedding range is ok. I bought a duvet for dd. But you might get a better bargain if you wait for sales.
I get loo rolls from our local post office come shop 4 thick ones for 79p. Or Sainsburys basic again.

myaccount08

Guapa - there is a lot, i'm just not sure how best to make it last 7 weeks! Especially since i cant eat the typical spag bol and tomato based dishes.

Cornishpixie - i used to get the fruit and veg from a local shop, but found maggots in the fruit a few times and little mites on the veggies too which infested our cupboard - totally put me off local F&V! Our Asda is pretty good for fruit & veg, more hygenic at least lol

Kamcauliffe - i didn't realise about the slats, thank you for pointing that out! We're currently on the floor with a double mattress. The solid floor was doing fine as a bed base, but now with the cold and my arthritis its just not working out LOL.

Buxtonrabbit - We got one offer on freeshare, but would have to hire a van to collect far away during awkward hours. No other offers. It would be cheaper and alot more covenient to get a new one from Ikea if those fit in a car. Being 5'11 and 6'4 we'd be far better off with a king size but haven't seen any good value ones. The mattress has another year left in it so could do with a cheap base only for the meantime. We only get one "wanted" per month on freeshare, i'll try again tomorrow...

I will definately make some flapjacks! Fab idea Shall make the mashed potato and get it frozen too. Tomatoes cause inflammation, but as with everything some people are more sensitive than others.

Do you think there will be reductions on duvets in the run up to Christmas - or best wait till afterwards??

Thanks so much for the input

Guapa1

OK, you're best to sit down and do a meal plan. It will take a little effort, but once you get into the swing of it you'll be fine. Here's one week to get you started

Mon
Cornflakes
Lentil and Freezer Veg Soup
Veggie Curry and Rice

Tue
Weetabix with sultanas
Lentil and Freezer Veg Soup
Tinned mackerel and sardines as a fish pie

Wed
Cornflakes
Lentil and Freezer Veg Soup
Daal with butter bean mash

Thurs
Porridge with cinnamon
Lentil and Freezer Veg Soup
Chips and Beans with sauages

Fri
Cornflakes
Lentil and Freezer Veg Soup
Not sure if you can roast frozen veggies? With Peso mash

Sat
Weetabix
Lentil and Freezer Veg Soup
Stirfry with thinly sliced pork chop

Sun
Porridge
Lentil and Freezer Veg Soup
Chicken Casserole

Gingernutmeg

Just another note re: Ikea beds - as has been pointed out the beds are longer (and wider too maybe?) so they don't take standard sized bedding. It's not so much of a problem if you use flat sheets but fitted can be tricky - if you buy an Ikea bed then you're pretty much stuck buying Ikea bedding too (duvets etc might not be so much of an issue, I don't know as we just bought 'everything' from Ikea as it was easier). Not a massive problem as the mid-range stuff is very good quality, we have an Ikea bed which we love and the bedding (sheets, duvet covers etc) washes really well, our sheets etc are three-ish years old now and are as good as new. Don't go for the really cheapest stuff though, if you buy anything, the cheap fitted sheets especially go really bobbly.