Are you ever embarassed by your money-saving ways?

[Deleted User]

I am not embarrassed by it I am just impressed with how far I have come. 2 years ago I could spend £50 a week easy on food shopping for me and my other half. No idea now how I could have spent that much. Now I can spend just £15 on a weeks food shopping. Its an on going learning process.

leed

drinkupretty wrote: »

I am not embarrassed by it I am just impressed with how far I have come. 2 years ago I could spend £50 a week easy on food shopping for me and my other half. No idea now how I could have spent that much. Now I can spend just £15 on a weeks food shopping. Its an on going learning process.

Well done - what is your secret? Please tell!

[Deleted User]

leed wrote: »

Well done - what is your secret? Please tell!

Switching down to value items where I can a lot of them are just as good although there are some which are not so good. Menu planning was a big one for me I plan my meals 2 weeks in advance thinking up meals made completely from scratch where I can. The freezer is also very useful. I also found the cheap meal ideas threads on here very useful and also invested in a slow cooker. Just for ideas this is my meal plan for the next 2 weeks using stuff bought and stuff from the cupboard:
Soup and sandwiches
leek and blue cheese bake
ratatouille and goats cheese tart
pasta and tomatoes
Cauliflower cheese and mash
chilli
pizza and chips
pasta and pesto
baked potatoes
Shropshire fidget pie (veggie)
sausage casserole (veggie)
chilli welsh rarebit
egg and chips

meames_2

once some one had dumped a fire surround, unfortunatley there was a broken bit at the bottom, I did go bak a little later but some kids had smashed it up :-(

Squirmy

drinkupretty wrote: »

leek and blue cheese bake

Oooooo that sounds delicious! Would you mind sharing the recipe??

I'm not embarrassed any more, similar to others Im just pleased with how much I save and am embarrassed at how much I used to spend (about £10 on food per day for just 2 of us! :eek:)

My mum is quite thrifty and I used to be embarrassed when I was a kid that she bought value food and shopped in Lidl sometimes....now I know she was just being sensible! :rotfl:

DianneB

Squirmy beat me too it!! I'd love the recipe for that please it sounds delicious!!



Oops! meant to say I would have taken the cheese too, I can't be embarrassed by saving money although my husband has been known to disown me when I query a price or ask for a discount, he looks a bit uncomfortable in CS too so I tend to go on my own. If people ask me where my clothes are from I would generally say M&S, Next etc as that's what the label inside says!!

GavB79

What is this "CS" people are referring to?

[Deleted User]

Squirmy wrote: »

Oooooo that sounds delicious! Would you mind sharing the recipe??

sure its my own variation on a recipe I found on the vegetarian society website.

ingredients:

Serves 4-6
300g leeks (trimmed)
2 baking potatoes peeled and cubed
400ml light stock
100ml single cream
125g blue cheese
Flour and butter for crumble topping

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Pre-heat oven to Gas 6/200C/400F[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]1. Add the chopped potatoes to a large saucepan with the stock, cream and mustard. Cook gently for until starting to soften. Then add the chopped leeks and keep cooking until the veggies are cooked
[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]2. Transfer to a ceramic baking dish.[/SIZE][/FONT]
3. Cut the blue cheese into small bits and scatter over the leek and potato mixture.
4. Add the crumble topping to the top of the dish and place in the oven for 20 - 30 mins or until the crumble topping is golden in colour.

piglet6

GavB79 wrote: »

What is this "CS" people are referring to?

I'm pretty sure CS = Charity Shop(s).

babyshoes

It has become a bit of a joke at work about me shopping at Poundland, 99p shops, Wilkos etc. I often pick up things we need for work and put them on petty cash, because they are cheaper there than in the 'official' catalogue! I think I am slowly converting people though, as sometimes they are amazed at the bargains I manage to find - sometimes they even ask me to look for things they want...

One thing that amazes me is when our students insist on wearing 'brand name' clothes. I understand that it is the fashion, but one of them won't even wear things like socks or underpants that are un-branded! I just don't understand the logic of paying a big company to advertise their products for them... They don't listen to that argument though, and a discussion of charity shops elicits words like 'tramp' 'dirty' etc. I just don't get it! (my goodness I sound old -I am not even 30 yet!)