Store cupboard challenge

nopot2pin

DonnaP wrote: »

Hi

I wondered if you could all give me some advice.

I have 2 small freezers that are packed full and I need to make room for Christmas stuff in the next few weeks. I decided to start using things up from the freezer and only shop for the things I needed to make up the weekly meal plan.

Great idea! But.... I went shopping for my fruit and veg today and came back with more stuff for the freezer.

Good quality sausages were 25p per pack, chicken drumsticks 75p etc, etc. These aren't part of the meal plan but will go into the freezer for future meal plans.

However, I was trying to run the freezer down.

How do you deal with this - the absolute bargains you can't walk away from? Do you have a budget for bargains or do you just walk away from them? (the way I see it, when I want sausages there won't be any reduced and I hate paying full price). The 'problem' I have is my local Co-op has these sort of bargains every time I do my weekly shop as I go first thing in the morning (one of the benefits of being a SAHM!).

Donna

Donna,
I dont know if there is a fool proof way, to walk away from such bargains

For me, its not about walking away from such bargains... its about not having to go to the shops in the first place

If I have enough bread, milk and other essentials in, and have no need to go to the shops for a good few days, then it keeps my spends down

I also trick my self into this....
If I am running low on bread, I make my own...
If I am running low on milk, I have UHT stuff in the cupboard... so this tides me over a couple of days, until I really need to go to the shops.

This time of year is better for veg out of the freezer, than the salad summer veg too

There may be other ways, to walk away from such bargains... and like most, I look foward to hearing how others cope with this :rotfl:

CCP

DonnaP wrote: »

How do you deal with this - the absolute bargains you can't walk away from? Do you have a budget for bargains or do you just walk away from them? (the way I see it, when I want sausages there won't be any reduced and I hate paying full price). The 'problem' I have is my local Co-op has these sort of bargains every time I do my weekly shop as I go first thing in the morning (one of the benefits of being a SAHM!).

Like nopot2pin, I have found that I'm spending less on bargains as I'm not going into shops as often as I used to. It also helps that my local Tesco keeps all its reduced stuff in one of two places, so I know to just avoid those sections if I really don't want to buy anything extra. Otherwise, I have a quick think about my meal plan for the next week or so and see if anything on the reduced counter fits in - if it doesn't, I don't buy it. (Or at least, that's the theory. I don't always manage to stick to it, I must admit!)

Nuala - I'm glad you enjoyed your mince and boulangerie tatties, and your banana bread sounds good, too. I've got a bag of chopped bananas in the freezer for me to make cake with at some point - possibly not this weekend, though, as I could do with losing a bit of weight and having cake around isn't going to help matters! :rolleyes:

Yesterday I used up three tortilla wraps from the freezer, to make quesadillas when I got home from my evening class. Tonight's dinner will use up some or all of the remains of a packet of frozen king prawns (depending on how many are left in the packet - I can't remember how many I've used already ).

My meal plan for the coming week is based entirely on what I've got in the freezer and cupboards, so I won't need to buy anything except milk and eggs when I go shopping tonight. I also have my regular fruit box, which arrived yesterday - I didn't actually need more fruit but I forgot to cancel it until it was too late. Oh well - it's healthier than cake, anyway!

patchwork_cat

Donna _ I need your shop! TBH you are lucky. The secret to bargains is though only buy what you need or will use otherwise it isn't a bargain. Perhaps after a point you do have to walk away, or buy a bigger freezer!

I had a friend who would go to the little corner shop for top up shops even though they were more expensive and she had virtually driven past the supermarket, it saved her money! She couldn't go in to the supermarket and not pick up bargains and would go in for a bottle of milk and come out with £20 of stuff she had to have!

Yes if you use them they are a bargain, but at a point you have to say No. That is why I am here and I suspect a few others, because we feel bereft and like something dreadful is going to happen if we don't have 4 tins of tomatoes in the house, LOL. Hi my name is Patchwork cat and I am a shopper. Now for the 12 steps!

Remember your goal Donna!

CCP When I freeze my Tortillas they always rip, do you interleave them with greaseproof?

CCP

patchwork_cat wrote: »

CCP When I freeze my Tortillas they always rip, do you interleave them with greaseproof?

I've never had any problem, tbh. I just divide up the contents of each pack and freeze each group in a plastic bag - when I want them I leave them on the side to defrost (if I'm organised) or stick them in the microwave for a few seconds (if I'm not!) and they're always fine.

(Actually, on this occasion they did end up in bits, but only because my non-stick pan is no longer non-stick - I must buy a new one soon!)

DonnaP

Hi everyone

Thanks everyone for your comments. I am at the stage where I can't buy any more bargains because I have 2 freezers full to the maximum. :eek:

I know I am lucky with the bargains, because in the evening there are never any reductions. I go shopping just when they have reduced and I am like a child in a sweetshop! They also honour multisave deals even though the items are reduced. The other week I bought Ginsters slices and because of the reduction and multisave offer, they worked out at 1p for 2!!!!! Again they went in the freezer and were really useful for lunches and quick meals.

I have decided to not buy any more food unless essential until after xmas. I buy milk at £1 for 4 pints from a little shop a few minutes walk away from me and that is the only foodstuff they sell, so if I go for milk, that is all I come back with!

My OH said he will pick up fruit and salad -I have enough veg in the allotment and from my Dad's allotment (and the freezer, obviously :rolleyes:).

I have to do this as I want to start making mince pies and other Chrismassy foods for the freezer and in the new year, I want to buy half a pig. I have no chance at the mo.

I think I will join in this thread and use it as 'therapy'. :rotfl:

I shan't be using anything from the freezer tonight or tomorrow though as OH came back from work yesterday with some Indian meals/pizzas from tesco. He got them from a factory shop at a very low price (very very low).

Donna

misscousinitt

Unfortunately I failed to use anything up last night as we went out for pub grub! Was tired and fed up when I got home and OH wasn't going out after all so we went out for some cheap and cheerful food that OH paid for and was infact really nice.

Determined to do my fridge/freezer raiders pasta and sauce tonight though - only 2 weeks to payday when we start getting the Christmas stuff in - running out of time!

Penelope_Penguin

For lunch DH, DD and I shared 1 portion of tomato soup (DD) 2 portions of onion soup (me and DH) I found a lolly yesterday, too

Penny. x

hex2

Tonight we will be having meatballs - they were half price in Mr. S back in August. Must re-do my freezer list, in my head I am convinced there is nothing but chicken in there and the turkey.

I hate missing bargains too Donna, I try very hard not to go to the big supermarkets but I am a sucker for the co-op reductions.

XSpender

Had my scan yesterday and found out I am having a boy!

Went out for a happy hour pizza with DH to celebrate. Post scan/pregnancy test celebrations are becoming a bit of a habit:o. That means nothing was used up yesterday, I was too wound up before the scan to have any lunch either.

BIL coming for tea tonight so will use up some veg and tinned toms to make a tom sauce for the beef meatballs I got yesterday and will use 2 frozen garlic baguettes to have with them. I don't eat meat so will have a few veggie meatballs that have been in the freezer for ages. Hopefullly will make enough sauce to freeze a bit but knowing them too it't not likely:rolleyes:

DH is at work tomorrow so I am going to get cracking with some batch cooking. I hope I have a more successful session than the last one I planned! I am going to make:

Huge vat of vege bolognaise
Huge vat of Italian veg soup
Prepare sausage casserole to stick in slow cooker for Sunday night as out
Mince pies (with HM mincemeat)
Twinks
Choc chip cookies
Orange and coconut cake


The scary thing is that after this weekend I will have no tinned toms left at all:eek:

hex2

The nice elmwood chickens are half price in the co-op again.

At least I only bought two .

Which means I have maybe ten in the freezer :o.

Time for a meal plan.