Do I really spend to much on food?

MrsE_2

ceridwen wrote: »

Just ONE little thread for the "middle ground" here? - as compared to goodness knows how many for the "as cheap as possible" type threads.

I dont think ONE thread for that middle ground is excessive at all somehow:cool:

Not quite sure why one thread for this viewpoint - as compared to hundreds of threads for the "cheap as possible" viewpoint is seen by some as being excessive????? <puzzled smilie x 10>

(I'm certainly feeling pretty pleased right now at having halved my grocery bill - but stuck to healthy eating..... so it is possible).

I know what you are getting at.

To eat good healthy food at the best possible prices, thats exactly how I try to eat.

I did mention once pulling the cookery out of OS & having a cooking board (but most OSers didn't like the idea - so fair play).
But my thinking was to have eating & cooking but without the WW2 ration mentality that appears a lot in OS.
I like to eat fine foods at the best prices, for me thats MSE, but we all want different things.

For what its worth I don't imagine any harm will come to a family eating cheap filling basic food stuffs for a while if things are tight either:)

jinky67

Just spent ages reading this thread:D


Well done on getting them on board

I will be watching with interest

zippychick

crux wrote: »

Well, well miracles do happen...

Was asked what all my tapping on the lappy was about...

Explained what I was upto and a discussion ensued, turned into a family meeting. The upshot of which is that wifey + daughter are signed up and 100% on board and all sorts of positive ideas were flying around!

Budget agreed at £500 to inc Caitlin's dinner money, pet food and household goods. Money to be accounted for with receipts and current spend vs budget to go up on the notice board each day.

My mini goal is to try and hit £400/month :cool:

SA just got a step closer :j

That's absolutely BRILLIANT news! Fantastic!

I really hope this doesn't turn into a "let's bash OS thread". So really, can we please ensure it doesn't? Old Style is an invaluable resource on MSE - let's not forget that (this is not aimed at any one particular poster:))

Site feedback : Questions and discussions is always there if people want to make suggestions (Like MrsEs) That way the right people get to see it.

I'm off to have a browse on that board as it's not one I read often.

Crux- again super pleased at your family being on board! :j

Maybe you coulddo a board for the family so you can all see how progress is going, and how much yous have "saved" towards South Africa? Or maybe I am getting carried away :rotfl: I just know pics of my holiday destination would certainly motivate me, along with some sort of bar graphy/display of savings (but then again, I am a bit of a geek:o)

MrsE_2

zippychick wrote: »

I really hope this doesn't turn into a "let's bash OS thread". So really, can we please ensure it doesn't? Old Style is an invaluable resource on MSE - let's not forget that (this is not aimed at any one particular poster:))
)

This board is great.
I certainly wouldn't want to bash it:D

But its great to look at the best prices for a healthy diet rather than just the best prices, as OS can get a bit bogged down with that. Crux has some nickable lunch ideas;)

Its the mixture of all types on MSE that makes it so great.

nuttybabe

zippychick wrote: »

Maybe you coulddo a board for the family so you can all see how progress is going, and how much yous have "saved" towards South Africa? Or maybe I am getting carried away :rotfl: I just know pics of my holiday destination would certainly motivate me, along with some sort of bar graphy/display of savings (but then again, I am a bit of a geek:o)

what a brilliant idea. i am going to do that to keep dh on track for saving for our summer caravan holiday (not quite south africa i know!!! ) thanks

falady

Hi Crux,

I've read your thread with interest and admire you for trying to get your grocery bill down. Well done on the leg of lamb and for getting your family on board. :T

I find that looking at the price of items per kilo is really helpful at the supermarket, be that washing powder or meat (or my guilty favourite sliced fresh runner beans!).

Sometimes I find that items on offer are still more expensive than the own brand equivalent when you look at the price per kilo.

Also, i don't know if you are able to get costco membership or could go to costco with someone that has a membership card? Costco is very good for buying stuff like tinned tuna, pet food, bin bags, washing powder, fabric softener in bulk, eg 10 tins of john west tuna chunks is less than £5. The fresh meat from costco is also very good and freezes well. There are threads about what is good quality / value on either this board or the 'shop but don't drop' board (sorry, can't remember which).

Another way of buying good quality meat cheaply is to buy a whole / half lamb / quarter pig, etc from your butcher, if you have a good local butcher. We ordered a whole lamb about 18 months ago (prices go down in August / September) and it was 26kg of meat (a big lamb!) at £4 per kilo. The butcher prepared it to our specification, eg half shoulders, lots of chops, no mince, etc. My OH even went and helped him and had a buchery lesson! (OH was really interested in doing the butchery after watching a Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall programme showing it, and as we are fairly regular customers of the butcher, they were happy for him to go in on a quiet afternoon and have a lesson on our lamb!).

Anyway, enough waffling from me, and good luck in your continuing shopping challenge!

Ali

zippychick

MrsE wrote: »

This board is great.
I certainly wouldn't want to bash it:D

But its great to look at the best prices for a healthy diet rather than just the best prices, as OS can get a bit bogged down with that. Crux has some nickable lunch ideas;)

Its the mixture of all types on MSE that makes it so great.

That's a really nice thing to say :A And I personally think this thread has been really interesting and educational - just as valuable as the "cheapest meal" threads as each has their own merits .!

nuttybabe wrote: »

what a brilliant idea. i am going to do that to keep dh on track for saving for our summer caravan holiday (not quite south africa i know!!! ) thanks

Glad you like it - when I first bought my house, i put the sales leaflet up at my desk in work so i could look at my wee house all day and have it motivate me to make sales and money :j

wssla00

cooking-mama wrote: »

Thanks for this,I think this way of thinking may just be what im needing to do,ive been wanting to reduce our meat intake anyway,im gonna try the lentils in with mince(must admit i only buy lower fat steak mince,but at least theres no waste),ive also been told porridge oats can be used to bulk out mince...anyone tried this?..would i substitute the lentils gm per gm?..Eg if i want 400gm mince,but decide to only use 300gm do i add 100gm lentils?...and ,do i cook the lentils with the mince or seperately then add later?
This has turned into a very interesting topic,and for me anyway much more realistic than "eat for a week on £12 etc"..Im actualy looking forward to trying the mince with lentils...ive also decided to make chilli with less mince and more kidney beans(or maybe il add some baked beans with the kidney ones)..Hhhmm,,,got me thinking now:rotfl:
Is there already a topic on using cheaper substitutes,?

There are a few, the feed the family £20 is good for bulking out ideas. but the way I do it is three handfuls into my sauce as thats as much as it takes to absorb the liquid. You wouldn't need the same weight of lentils as mince. Which I suppose is why it's cheaper as it bulks pretty good. I haven't tried oats I must say, I was worried it might go a bit milky IYKWIM

Another thing I absolutely LOVE is cottage pie with baked beans- absolutely delicious! I usually just make a huge base mix, divide my say three and then add the extras later... it seems much easier to me

Good luck with the bulking. It certainly works for me

crux

falady wrote: »

Hi Crux,

I've read your thread with interest and admire you for trying to get your grocery bill down. Well done on the leg of lamb and for getting your family on board. :T

I find that looking at the price of items per kilo is really helpful at the supermarket, be that washing powder or meat (or my guilty favourite sliced fresh runner beans!).

Sometimes I find that items on offer are still more expensive than the own brand equivalent when you look at the price per kilo.

Also, i don't know if you are able to get costco membership or could go to costco with someone that has a membership card? Costco is very good for buying stuff like tinned tuna, pet food, bin bags, washing powder, fabric softener in bulk, eg 10 tins of john west tuna chunks is less than £5. The fresh meat from costco is also very good and freezes well. There are threads about what is good quality / value on either this board or the 'shop but don't drop' board (sorry, can't remember which).

Another way of buying good quality meat cheaply is to buy a whole / half lamb / quarter pig, etc from your butcher, if you have a good local butcher. We ordered a whole lamb about 18 months ago (prices go down in August / September) and it was 26kg of meat (a big lamb!) at £4 per kilo. The butcher prepared it to our specification, eg half shoulders, lots of chops, no mince, etc. My OH even went and helped him and had a buchery lesson! (OH was really interested in doing the butchery after watching a Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall programme showing it, and as we are fairly regular customers of the butcher, they were happy for him to go in on a quiet afternoon and have a lesson on our lamb!).

Anyway, enough waffling from me, and good luck in your continuing shopping challenge!

Ali

Thanks Ali!

I have started checking the KG prices your so right about offers not always being the cheapest. What really bugged me today at Tesco's was that not all the meat was in £/kg, half of it was £/100gm....

I know it's a simple conversion, but talk about them actually trying to make things less clear!!

I think the idea of buying a full lamb is ace, but our freezer would never take it

Really, really jealous of your OH having a butchers lesson! I would love to know how they get the knives so sharp just for a start

Chris

rubytuesday

wssla00 wrote: »

There are a few, the feed the family £20 is good for bulking out ideas. but the way I do it is three handfuls into my sauce as thats as much as it takes to absorb the liquid. You wouldn't need the same weight of lentils as mince. Which I suppose is why it's cheaper as it bulks pretty good. I haven't tried oats I must say, I was worried it might go a bit milky IYKWIM

Another thing I absolutely LOVE is cottage pie with baked beans- absolutely delicious! I usually just make a huge base mix, divide my say three and then add the extras later... it seems much easier to me

Good luck with the bulking. It certainly works for me

I've tried oats and red lentils to bulk out mince. They are both reallly nice.