please help me

Snowy_Owl

I go with what the others have said. Well done on slashing your food bill! My thoughts were cheaper beans and buying whole chickens instead of breasts. The bones could be used for soup. Sauces can be made with cheap tins of tomatos, frozen veg, and change the pasta if you can, i go for the cheap stuff and will only get linguini as a treat if I'm making a fancy meal!!

Snowy

clutterydrawer

stressed_mother_of_one wrote: »

thanks everyone. all i want is for little boy to have a nice day. id even looked up how to make a similar cake. family can be such a pain sometimes! ive juts wrote notes down from all your fantastic advice and got the shopping down to 54 quid with delivery. so maybe now i can relax though i doubt itll last. thanks again everyone,

That's a brilliant acheievment, well done! with practise it will become second nature

deeds

Probably a bit late to the party, but in B&M they sell stir fry sauces etc so cheap!
we got bottles of satay sauce for 10p each in our local on Saturday. We bought the same ones in Asda the week before for £1.20, they were nearing their sell by date, but its a sealed jar! They last for ages after the 'sell by' but I wont get started on sell bys and use bys...

DianneB

stressed_mother_of_one wrote: »

i told my son theyd sold out an he went to his nan crying so shes gone an bought him one an my family think im evil. i was goin to try n make 1.

I think you are getting far too many negative comments about the birthday cake!!! It was his birthday for goodness sake!! If he wanted the cheeky monkey cake you were right to let him have it, it was a one off treat not a weekly buy!! if you start making your own cakes by next year he will be asking for one of yours and you can both decorate it madly with sweets!! Good luck with your challenge of reducing your food bill.

Taye

deeds wrote: »

Probably a bit late to the party, but in B&M they sell stir fry sauces etc so cheap!
we got bottles of satay sauce for 10p each in our local on Saturday. We bought the same ones in Asda the week before for £1.20, they were nearing their sell by date, but its a sealed jar! They last for ages after the 'sell by' but I wont get started on sell bys and use bys...

I totally agree i buy loads of sauces from B&M that are near their use by and i've never yet had a problem or got sick. I bought 8 pkt of stirfry noodles from there the other day for 15p each, they only have about 3 weeks on thier date left but tbh i doubt the noodles know that.

15p noodles abit of frozen veg and some ham/chicken/egg whatever and i have a meal for those can't be bothered days bargin!

kayjay1809

Just wanted to add about the birthday cake... my son asked for a Spot the Dog cake when he was three so I made it (disaster everyone laughed but he liked it). By Four, he was choosing his own at the supermarket but soon came to realise they look better than they taste. Now he's Nine and this year he asked for a homemade chocolate cake with lots of butter icing. Start over the next year making more cakes, for your birthday make a lovely yummy cake and by next year I can guarantee he will be more than happy with a homemade one!! Or Granny can buy one every year, part of his present. But if he's like my son he'll realise taste is better than looks

As far as your other shopping goes, try each week to replace one convenience thing with homemade. As the weeks go by you'll find you are making more and more and your bills come down. We also buy smart price basics, can't tell the difference on most. We always get Heinz baked beans but apart from that Asda's smart price is good value. I buy the cheapest cheese which my son loves as it's not too strong, Asda own packs of butter, which I melt for 10secs in the microwave to spread (much cheaper than branded), and bit by bit our bill has come down. If your son is old enough to ask for a cake, then you can start working towards potty training and getting him out of nappies and baby wipes, saves a fortune!! Good luck!!