Help! £40 to feed family for the month

White_Boots

Hi all. I have only just found this thread but was immediately gripped and have now read the whole thing and I have to say well done mbaz I think you have done amazingly well! I have been struggling to stick to my £100/month food budget and there is only one of me (she hangs her head in shame).

I have been a lentil lover for a while but have not tried the idea of adding oats. I seem to remember my mum saying she used to do this when we were little and times were hard. My dad never noticed in the 10 years or so that she did it for! I am about to do my monthly asda shop so will add a bag of value oats and give it a go.

Thanks everyone for all the brilliant tips.

Shelly1977

I have just read this whole thread, there are some brilliant ideas and mbaz you are a real inspiration :T

I joined the grocery challenge at the start of this month and think I am doing quite well but after reading this thread it is obvious that I can try harder so I will be making an even bigger effort next month to reduce my spending even more.

leebarton

What a fantastic thread! I am on the grocery challenge and have gone over budget this month - but this has given me some great ideas on cutting back next month.

I bought a slow cooker from Mr T using points so in effect it hasn't cost me anything. I agree with trying freecycle first though!

Well done, keep up the good work!

BARGAINHUNTER!

mbaz wrote: »

A slow cooker is going to be one of my first purchases with OH's salary! I think it will pay for itself virtually straight away - especially if I can get one for £9! In fact I may even include it in my grocery budget next month!

Ooops just checked my menu plan - better get some chicken out for freezer for tonight!

Why don't you register with your local Freecycle group and see if anyone has one lurking in the back of their kitchen cupboard that they will let you have for nothing, then spend the £9 on ingredients to make lots of bolognaises, chillis and casseroles!!

evie451

OP I only just started all this veggie growing thing but i must say i have found the Potatoes the easiest thing in the world to do! literally dig em in and leave them! some people earth them up some don't! i didn't and they have been great
i was a bit late planting my carrots then the cat dug around where i had planted and they came up all over the place but the veggie soup i made yesterday was worth the wait the flavour of the carrots was amazing...

i am trying winter salad and cabbage there are some you can plant just now and they are pretty hardy apparently :j otherwise i would be missing my salad leaves i haven't bought a lettuce or tomato all summer!

try the greenfingers board for inspiration!

mbaz

1 week to go!!!!


1st - carbonara (just found a jar in back of cupboard)
2nd Lasagne (with added lentils )
3rd chicken and rice
4th jacket spuds with smartprice beans
5th defrost a curry
6th lasagne
7th omlette
8th chicken dinner
9th casserole in giant yorkshire
10th canelloni
11th Beans on toast
12th Jacket spud
13th ate for free!!!
14th Egg and chips
15th curry (bulked out with lentils!)
16th veggie sausages and chips
17th left-over-bulked-out-curry
18th 4p curry sauce and chips
19th chicken risotto abd syrup sponge and custard
20th beans on toast
21th Egg n chips
22th Gruel pie
23th Shezza's pasta sauce
24th - Chicken risotto

nickynoo08

Hiya mbaz glad to see your doing so well. You've given me some much needed imotivation and loads of inspiration too.
Now back to lentils.....I have just aquired 3 large bags - 1 red 1 yellow and 1 mixed with dried veg n pasta? I have no idea how much to add or what to add them to. Thinking of making some soup but which lentils do i use or does it not matter? I normally make tomato soup but would prefer it to be thicker therefore more filling. Dissaster tho, my OH spotted me putting them away in the back of the cupboard n all he said was dont even think about it. Dunno what your talking about i said;).
Any recipies or ideas will be much appreciated

leeleesavesalot

DianneB wrote: »

What I would like to know from the rest of you is how to vote this thread of the month? can anyone vote?

I think you just thank the first post on the thread.... :beer:

Mollymop5

You can vote here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1129779&page=2

UKroseblue

blue_monkey wrote: »

Oh and not sure where you live but 'scrumping' is a good past time, or going for a walk around a local village, this time of year lots of people will put bags of apples, pears, plums, etc... outside their houses for people to take, or for sale for a very low price, rather than them going off.

Just a note to be very careful when you go 'scrumping' or 'foraging' as some do - people here where i live picked some mushrooms from the botanical gardens while out and about, thinking they'd make a good tasty and cheap meal but one died and another is really ill...I guess if people are putting apples etc outside their houses then they'll be fairly safe but I'm not picking any mushrooms, that's for sure! :eek:

Great thread Mbaz - an inspiration. I tried the ol' oats and lentils trick (well yellow split peas) and my dd said how lovely and creamy the stew was! Made a few meals too - great idea!

Good luck with the rest of the week.:D