what one food thing couldn't/wouldn't you compromise on- when it came to the worst?

Reverbe

I just broke my last one TBH... it was free range eggs. Sorry it's not like I dont care but just cannot afford anything other than cheapest of everything. If it's any consolation I dont use that many and dont enjoy eggs anymore due to guilt,,,

jackieglasgow

Last year we were in dire straights for w while, and eggs were my one thing I absolutely refused to compromise on. As a vegetarian, I am quite happy to go without most other ingredients, but could not compromise on eggs. We only eat organic free range eggs normally, so my "going down a brand" was switching to free range. There is abolutely no way I could justify a few pennies saving, even in my very meagre food budget, by participating in the inhumane treatment of another living soul. Even if it is a chook! (slowly dismounts off free-range high horse!)

Reverbe

angeltreats wrote: »

Do you really have a £12,000 tax bill? :eek:

I have friends who are not well off with bigger. In fact it is the Inland Revenue that is crippling them and moving them towards seizure , imprisonment and bankruptcy..They continue to claim HUGE amounts of taxes even tho my mates business made a lot less than they are taxed:eek::mad::mad:

Penelope_Penguin

Reverbe wrote: »

I have friends who are not well off with bigger. In fact it is the Inland Revenue that is crippling them and moving them towards seizure , imprisonment and bankruptcy..They continue to claim HUGE amounts of taxes even tho my mates business made a lot less than they are taxed:eek::mad::mad:

HMRC aren;t ogres - they will negotiate. Either your friends owe the tax, so can make arrangements to pay; or they don;t and should be able to prove it through their accounts.

HariboJunkie

I'm another who voted for eggs. I haven't bought anything but free range for years and am very lucky to have my own hens now who give me 4 a day. :j
Anything else like meat I would just not eat for a while if in dire straits and unable to afford the quality meat I buy now, and I wouldn't worry too much about not getting my extra fruit if it was a short term thing.
Re branded items, there are very few that we are loyal to in this house, having sourced good cheap alternatives or I stock up on the odd item (marmite is actually the only one I can think of) when it's on offer.

clutterydrawer

Well I would probably do a bit of everything...eg one week I'd sacrifice puddings so I could have fresh fruit, the next week I'd have neither of those but buy something branded, etc etc


I clicked "nothing processed". I don't eat meat and eggs aren't relevant for me because i get them all from my neighbour's chickens...although if I didn't, I wouldnt buy battery ones. Fresh fruit would be my second msot important though.

nobodyspecial

I would have voted "FR eggs" but if I'm totally honest, in any contest between my children and a chicken, my children win every time. Not nice, but honest. In my life I've found that theory very often flies out of the window when faced by reality ( and I mean reality with a capital R, not some imagined scenario) I will compromise on absolutely anything for the sake of my family, sorry if that offends, just being honest. Ask anyone who's starving if they are going to question the provenance of the food they are offered, not many will.

Money_saving_Diva_2

Hi Weezl,

This was an interesting poll. I voted for meat in the end as my OH would probably go on strike without it. However, we do only buy when it is on offer, never buy value meat and when possible use the local butchers.

Free range eggs would have been my other one I think though we usually go for the RSPCA approved eggs if we are having a tight week. When we can, we go to a local farm that sells their 'misfit' free range eggs cheaply.. It's a long way to drive though so we only call in there if headed elsewhere in that direction or the fuel costs would over-ride the savings!

Processed food we could easily drop I think as we use so few.. However there are a few branded products I would hate to lose so I did hesitate over this one for a while. Mostly I am happy with own brand or value stuff but some things are not worth the compromise!

Fresh fruit and veg I could also drop if I had to, as we use a LOT of frozen veg and tinned fruit when we need to and in the summer grow an awful lot of our own stuff which negates the requirement to buy much.

Sweets and treats.. Well my OH would miss his chocolate but I think I could keep us both happy by just baking more often as he loves cookies and cakes and they cost so little to make that we hardly ever buy them anyway.

Weezl, as usual I am filled for admiration for your ideas and work ethic when it comes to being healthy AND frugal and look forward to seeing your plans when it is finished.

I also think it would make a fantastic book.. very much capturing todays zeitgeist.

Diva.x

weezl74

Many thanks to all who participated in this, I am just bumping it up one last time to see if anyone else would like to vote. The frugal meal planner is coming along nicely and we have 60 or so MSE testers cooking and baking as we speak!

Do please share any thoughts you'd like including in our thinking.

Many thanks,

Weezl x

grannytwice

voted for meat at most evening meals as hubby has a physical job and will only have meat free a few times a week, i nearly voted for sweet treats as i must admit to a weakness for my pudding but they can usually be home made at a fraction of the price of bought ones:)