Food bill nightmare!

chardonnay_2

hiya, look out for bogof's on things you normally buy. you shop in aldi - try looking for their alternative for cheaper but usually very good quality. oh got coffee from aldi and really liked it. aldi also sell cheese very cheaply not much more than value and different strengths etc. they also have their own version of red bull £1.69 for 6 cans.

look out for reduced to clear items - all supermarkets reduce stuff near it's sell by date.

Horasio

calleyw wrote:

Why not have porridge or boring own bran flakes.

Value porridge is about 35p in most places. And I have bran Asda own brand flakes and they are 71p for 750g.

Rather than buying brands try sainsburys own label of the same item. Price wise there will be a difference.

I know a lot of people rave about Lidls/Aldis breakfast cereals. Never had them myself.

Base meals around pasta/rice and veg and then add the meat after.

I manage a £100 a month on Food only for two. That does include joints of meat that we have on a sunday. Freeze the left overs for the eating during the following weeks.

You only mentioned breakfast. What sort of things do you eat for lunch and tea.

Yours

Calley

That is amazing - spending only £100 a month for 2 people.

We managed to cut our bill by £100 last month. Mostly it is for 2 people but son lives at home, so needs some food but he is out a lot. His girlfriend comes to stay as well, so can be 4 people or 3 sometimes.

We are looking more carefully for reduced items, own brands and good value.

Hubby and I are trying to lose weight so nights we are alone, we eat more frugally.

missk_ensington

Does anyone know a supermarket that does an 'own brand' soya yogurt? My son is allergic to dairy and I buy Alpro yog at £1.30 for four, every 2 days at least as he has 2 for breakfast and sometimes one after dinner for pudding. Its costing me a fortune (nearly a quarter of my £35 budget!) I know tesco do their own probiotics, but haven't seen soya yogurt only milk???

OP- I shop in morrisons and pay 65p for a litre of Soya milk (off the Long life shelf, not in fridges) which since a litre is more than a pint, that doesn't make it much more than normal milk does it? (I dont buy normal milk so dont know how much a litre is these days!)

Chell

Dowe egburts coffee in a black packet (strong one) is 99p in Home Bargains. They also sell Jordans Cereal cheap.

oldMcDonald

missk_ensington wrote:

Does anyone know a supermarket that does an 'own brand' soya yogurt? My son is allergic to dairy and I buy Alpro yog at £1.30 for four, every 2 days at least as he has 2 for breakfast and sometimes one after dinner for pudding. Its costing me a fortune (nearly a quarter of my £35 budget!) I know tesco do their own probiotics, but haven't seen soya yogurt only milk???

You can make your own soya yogurt at home for a fraction of the price. Keep a couple of spoonfuls of the yog back from your last tub of Alpro and mix into soya milk that has been gently warmed to body temp (pop little finger into milk and when you can no longer 'feel' it, its body temp!) then put milk/yog mix in a flask overnight.

You can also use an Easiyo if you have one (but if not, then you really don't need to buy one!). I do this for soya yog as it is idiot proof!! Couple of spoons soay yog, top up with room temp soya milk. Then pour into the outer flask boiling water as you would normally - and thats it!!

http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/freshcool/yoghurt!7531

missk_ensington

Whats an Easiyo??? Can I put bits of fruit in it?

oldMcDonald

The 'not working link at the end of my post' (copy and paste instead?) will take you to an easiyo, but you really, honestly, truthfully do not need to buy one - they are quite expensive when a thermus will work just as well.

Add fruit and/or sweetners once the yog has set and been chilled. I like it as it is but the kids like it sweeter and with fruit, so i make up a fruit sauce such as strawberry to mix in with theirs when I serve it( cook strawbs with a little sugar and run through a sieve - will keep for several days in the fridge)

HTH

Lisa

*edit* Should have said, not tried this with the 'fruit' versions of Alpro, so not sure if they would work......I use some yog out of one of the big tubs of plain Alpro yog as a starter, I didn't realise you meant it was the little 'fruity' ones that you were buying. Worth getting a plain pot of yog to try this with?

missk_ensington

Ah thanks, Im with you now. Are you sure Easyio is Soya? It doesn't say tht anywhere. Not sure something from a sachet mixed with water is that healthy?!?
I don't have a thermos so it'd probably cost me a tenner buying one of them, although with an easyio Im wondeering where you get the sachets when they run out?

Puttin it in a thermos overnight, whats the logic in that? what does it do?!?! Is it ready to just eat at that point?? Does it look normal?

Thanks!

greenpiglet

No, no!!!

Don't use the sachets, they ARE NOT milk free.

Just use the yog maker and put the soya milk/yog mixture in it. With an allergy on board your son CANNOT have the easiyo sachets, they are little more than dried milk and yog culture.

Lisa (who cannot write under the name of oldmcdonald as I'm being logged in as greenpiglet and cannot log out, so sorry if the real greenpiglet reads this, but it was important to clarify not to use the stuff I have written about as there is an allergy involved!!)