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Hello Forumites! However well-intentioned, for the safety of other users we ask that you refrain from seeking or offering medical advice. This includes recommendations for medicines, procedures or over-the-counter remedies. Posts or threads found to be in breach of this rule will be removed.Help! £40 to feed family for the month
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We've been buying more tinned fruit and veg, and frozen too as it lasts longer and things like peas etc are fresher and keep their vitamins better then fresh. I dont mind buying smart price tinned mushrooms etc instead of fresh for example, saves me money and doesnt go off.
Also if i keep popping into the shops for fresh food-i end up getting other things that i dont really need. I try to limit going to the shops, and always take a list with me and stick to it!
Ive been really good at keeping to a budget this year, but will have to be carefull once baby is here-will have nappies etc to buy then aswell!Mommy to Elliot (5) and Lewis (born xmas eve 11!)0 -
Why spend money when you canget things FREEE!
Try these...
Go blackberry picking. And find a friend with an apple tree - free apples. two of your five a day for free! Wash, slice and freeze both. Can stew with a little sugar or make crumbles cheaply.
Do you know anyone with chickens who you could scrounge a few eggs from? Or local farmers etc tend to sell free range ones for cheaper than the supermarket equivalent.
Take advantage of the 50p deals at morrisons
Another of your 5 a day for free - try nettles. Pick with a pair of marigolds and scissors. Boil for 3 minutes, use young green leaves and discard woody stems. Can be used where you would spinach.
This would be really cheeky but how about... using your local freecycle to request any odds and ends of store cuboard items that people have in the back of their cuboards but will never use. Maybe they have gone on a diet or bought a packet of a special ingredient for one recipe but it will go off before they can use it. Could be worth a shot.0 -
i've never used my slowcooker for bolognese or chilli, will try later in the week - my freezer is chocca-block right now, am going to sit and work out a weekly menu (will try and push the boat out and do the rest of September), will def add the lentils/oats as my spag bol used to be enough for two meals but i have found that everything is coming in smaller quantities and there just isn't really enough anymore! Actually am doing a chilli for tea tonight will put in my slowcook now and will report back tomorrow - haven't got any lentils but have oats - do i just add a handful - am using a 800g pack of mince?0
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Hi there donna, for chilli in the sc I would make a bolognese sauce then put half in the fridge and turn the other half into chilli at the end by adding kidney beans and chilli powder, poss some extra veg like courgettes and peppers as well. That's cos I use the 500g packs of mince and it can almost fill the slow cooker!
But if you want to turn the whole lot into chilli this is how I'd do it: put the following in the slow cooker: 3 chopped onions, 3 grated carrots, 2 cans of kidney beans, mince, 3 stock cubes, chilli powder to taste, 3 cans of toms, 3 handfuls of oats (plus some extra water for these, prob about half a pint, but keep an eye on it) and 3 cloves of garlic. I like lots of extra veg in mine if poss, helps with the kids 5 a day, so I also add sweetcorn, peppers, courgettes or whatever is around in the fridge or cupboard, but you don't need these. A teaspoon of cocoa powder also helps with a fuller flavour and doesn't make it taste of chocolate either! Oh and I usually a good dose of herbs cos I like the taste.
If you don't have red lentils, then yellow split peas also work if you have these, and they are cheaper than lentils - experimented with them in soup and lasagne last night!
edit: meant to say good luck! Once you get into the habit of chucking things in the sc then you'll find yourself throwing stuff in a brekkie ready for dinnertime! Have a look at the sc thread, things like sausage casserole and curry are really simple as well and great for freezing the extra when you have freezer space again!GC Oct £387.69/£400, GC Nov £312.58/£400, GC Dec £111.87/£4000 -
This sounds just like me we are sooooo poor at the moment due to the car failing its MOT and costing £500 we are cutting right back we normally spend £100 a month this includes
*food - fresh frozen you name it
*toilitries - toilet roll tooth paste shower gel ect
*cleaning products
*tins dried ect too
*milk (UHT long life)
*bread - we freeze it
we have now £40 to spend for a months worth of food we dont do any shops during the month so it has to last from 15th sept to 15th oct so im starting to plan now with what i already have, what im wondering is what necessitys i will need... i cant think of a few but not loads there is just me and my bf....
*loo roll (a must lol)
*cat food / litter (were gonna start her on wet food as she likes it better so any advice welcome on good food she is 7 and only likes seafood flavour)
I cant think of anything else that is an absalute must ???? prob letles off reading this thread lol
any help is totally appreciated!!!!0 -
Thanks for the tip re cocoa mummysaver, have just added, just kind of threw all sorts in - veg, leftover sundried tomatoes, beans, didn't have any lentils but have already added 2 handfuls of oats and 1/2 pint extra stock, will keep watching in case need to top up - i have a 6pint s/c and it's over half full -unbelievable can't wait to get my lentils in next week's shopping delivery lol!0
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Meal planner (until 25th Sept - OH's payday!!)
7th chicken dinner
8th chicken casserole with yorkshires (leftovers)
16th chicken casserole (hopefully made enough on 8th to s-t-r-e-t-c-h )
I am just a bit concerned about the double reheating that you seem to have planned - I take it you are planning on making the chicken casserole with left over chicken, but then you are planning on reheating it again on the 16th - you shouldn't reheat chicken more than once! I would suggest making the casserole without the chicken in and then portioning it into your two meals and then adding the chicken to the one to eat and and then adding the chicken into the one to keep when it really cold and about to go into the freezer so that it too will only be reheated once!
Well done by the way - I need to do something like this as our shopping bill is getting higher and higher every week. We are a family of six - and another on the way so something need to happen! This inspired me to make a big pan of manky veg soup for my husband to take to work instead of pot noodles - cheaper and healthier!
Keep it up!GC Sept - £147.75/£280
2 Adults, four kids, 3 Gerbils, [strike]6 Fish[/strike]! Down to 5 - well I suppose its one way of saving money!!0 -
otterspasm wrote: »You could certainly get 4 curries out of your chicken and 2 jars curry sauce...bulking them out with carrots and onions make them cheap. I often add red lentils too which are very cheap
Do you mean four portions of curry, as in one meal for the family of four, or four meals which would be 16 (presumably tiny and mainly lentils) portions? It would be the former in our house. Hubbie ideally likes two chicken breasts in his curries. :rolleyes: I add potatoes to bulk out my curries, but they're not cheap thesedays!
Whenever I read about a few pieces of chicken going so far I just truly don't know how. Would I be right in thinking we are talking tiny, child-like portions? My 6ft 2" hubbie has a big appetitie (but weighs about 10 stone).
Help?! ... this is driving me mad!0 -
i think they mean little portions as it would be expensive otherwise0
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I baked some spare potatoes, to use up before going on holiday. I did them in the microwave then put in freezer. Defrosted and put in oven (with something else) to heat and brown they tasted fantastic, better than cooking from scratch. I thought a change from beans on toast.0
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