Shopping on a very tight budget

fannyadams

It may vary from Tesco to Tesco but at the one local to my work, they mark down the fridge stuff from 1pm (that's 1/3 off) and then mark down fridge stuff again from 5pm (1/2 price) - bear in mind that some of the 1/3 price stuff reduced from earlier might still be on the shelf and you want the 1/2 price stuff. I usually try to make a 5pm quicky once or twice a week. either Monday & Wednesday or Tuesday & Thursday/Friday. I ONLY get the reduced stuff. word of warning though make sure you can freeze the stuff you buy (I got caught out a couple of times), check out the misprices thread too - although in nearly all the Tescos local to me the customer scanners don't seem to work (I wonder why?).

shopsmile

One of my cats will only eat Aldi's sachets of cat food, that's worth a try. The other cat and the hedgehogs eat the Aldis dried cat food.

Aril

Don't forget liver and tinned sardines- they are both very cheap and nutritious.
If a recipe calls for chicken breast substitute turkey - much cheaper.
Make pastry- you can do a double batch and then make eg pasties [good for using up odds and ends] and jam tarts
My son has now got so used to our OS way of life [apart from the smell of vinegar] so that when I do buy the odd convenience food [which I do if I fancy a break] he asks whether it's something that we can make as well - as a result we've had HM nuggets and HM pasties in the last fortnight.
Aril

tango

Hi ,re tinned sardines and tuna,i will defintely try this.
In fact the last two weeks i have been using up all store cupboard items,as one poster said,i had loads of pasta and rice
We have been eating better already,and when oh moves out, it will be alot easier to plan ahead.
Even shaving my legs with conditioner as recomended,in other thread :rotfl:

Sarahsaver

Tonight's tea:
Tesco value pasta quills
a lovely sauce made of 1 tin of tomatoes, 1 tin of tuna, 1 onion, garlic, tarragon and a splash of herb vinegar, simmered long and slow to make it nice and rich. A meal for under £1

tango

Sarahsaver wrote:

Tonight's tea:
Tesco value pasta quills
a lovely sauce made of 1 tin of tomatoes, 1 tin of tuna, 1 onion, garlic, tarragon and a splash of herb vinegar, simmered long and slow to make it nice and rich. A meal for under £1

Thats satisfying Sarah,healthy and very good value,wow :T

charlie007

i have also recently started to look at what i am spending, for me and OH we normally spend 45pounds a week, but this week have spent 5.00 on bread, milk and fresh fruit and veg the rest id from the freezer and store, we have enough tins to feed a small village. When we went shopping we would often buy random things not really planning for the week and count to make sure we had seven meals in the trolly now we are planning in advance and making lots of soup and home made freezer meals. it all tastes so nice, and the money saved we are converting into euro's for our holiday.

tango

Charlie, i think alot of us have been guilty of not planning ahead, and just shopping with no particular thought for what we REALLY need.
Number of times i would come home from shopping and think :eek: i have spent that? Also it would be just more of the same old stuff,i tended never to run thinks right down.... a little forward planning reaps great rewards.
Good luck with saving towards your holiday

culpepper

making all that you can from scratch helps.
OH was on a very low wage a few years ago and I made everything I could.
Pasta (for 4 adults)can be made with 1 egg and 11 1/2 oz of Bread flour with a drop of water added then rolled out thinly and cut up.
Bread (the bread machine is very useful but you dont need one) can be made at home and if you have an asda's the fresh yeast is free (ask the baker).
Biscuits and cakes are very cheap compared with ready made and no chemical after taste.
If you have a market,fruit and veg can be much cheaper than supermarkets but check the prices as they arent always.
Growing your own fruit and veg has to be the cheapest method if you have the time etc.Even just a couple of tomato plants on a window sill helps costs.
Put all your clean veg peel in a pan of water and boil it up,then keep the liquid for vegetable stock and put the peel in the compost bin.
Go blackberrying in the summer.If you have a common you might be able to find Sloes and crab apples too which make great Jam.
Keep Orange and lemon peel in the freezer to add to cakes.
Boil up cooking apple peel and cores and strain it into a jug with some sugar for a natural fruit juice or freeze without the sugar for home made pectin to use in Jams.(Works with windfalls too)

Smiley_Mum

*moneysavingman* wrote:

I am new here and would like to cut down my grocery budget. Currently spend £50+ a week just on me and the cat I am sure I can cut this down. Am a good cook and have a large freezer.
Only found this website today.

MSM

Have a look at Black Saturn's menu planner. Here...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=157526&highlight=menu+planner

This thread has a lot of info on it and Squeaky, as always is there with a big list of all the relevant threads. :-)

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=103727&highlight=cost+breakfasts

Post up if you need more info and welcome to the site BTW. :-)