What works best for you?

littlemissmoneypenny

Thanks Flipper OSN, and well done for reducing your grocery bills. I was, rather optimistically perhaps, hoping to limit our grocery spending (including washing powder, nappies and toiletries) to £300 for the next month. I think I will still aim for that amount but won't worry to much if I go over as it is the first month but at least it will give me an idea of what is reasonable. I got paid early this month due to the bank holiday on Mon, wasn't supposed to get paid until next week so it is going to take some serious willpower not to go out spending this weekend!

charlies-aunt

Wow! fantastic posts on this thread - really inspiring! Not much to add except that I think that menu planning is the way to go and don't forget to visit your local market on late Saturday afternoon when they sell fresh stuff off at silly prices

If you live in the country - keep your eyes open as lots of people put their garden surplus outside their gates as 'free' and you can pick up lots of lovely home grown fruit and veg like this...and be sure to tell your friends with allotments that you love the taste of home grown!

I think if you can maybe think about stretching the expensive stuff like meat with inexpensive extras - plenty of vegetables, pulses, pearl barley, oatmeal and rice can stretch a pound of mince to 15-16 generous portions.

Look out for posts about the infamous 'Rubber Chicken' too!

CupOfChai

I've found meal planning to help too. I think it can work out if you just look at the first month as making a best guess at what you spend on groceries, then keeping all your receipts and totalling up everything you have actually spent. That then gives you a starting point to work on reducing from, and from there you can reduce the amount you aim to spend very gradually while also still monitoring what your actual spends are to see how you're doing. You also then can try different ideas to reduce your spending, such as trying cheaper brands or cutting back on things you might decide you don't actually need to buy.

littlemissmoneypenny

I have been reading about the rubber chicken and will be trying that next week! Going to be brave and attempt to roast it in the slow cooker. I have read a lot about eeking out mince with oats but can't find a specific recipe or ration of how much oats to mince - can anyone help with this? Also, do you soak the oats first? And can you notice the difference between oaty-mince and mince-mince? I think my husband would but willing to try!

anna_p86

For me meal planning has made a huge difference, not only because I've already worked out what we need, it also means I check the cupboards etc for what we've already got so therefore don't buy something at the supermarket then get home & realise we've got plenty of that already

nuttybabe

Hi littlemissmoneypenny

I buy a pack of mince from butcher for £1.80 and I split it in half. I put half into a bolognaise. I brown it off with half pack onions and stick in slow cooker. I then add a few tins of toms, 1/2 pack of carrots grated, sweetcorn, a handful of red lentils (washed first) and then a handful of oats. the slow cooker is usually full by then!!! Ds1 prefers it with oats in.

The next day i brown the rest of the mince with the rest of the onions and stick in slow cooker. i then put in rest of carrots grated, a few tins toms, peas and green lentil (washed and cooked first), and gravy. Ds1 loves his cottage pie and will ask for it every meal time!!!

With both of these i have 4 family sized meals. 3 of each go in the freezer for following weeks.

wssla00

Definitely meal plan! I plan for four weeks then order a monthly shop based on what I need still after looking through the cupboards and freezers. I am not very rigid on what day I have something so can chop and change from my favourites and bulk out mince with lentils and veg and get three two portion meals from one pack of mince just by making it plain then adding herbs and spices after it has been divided.

Rubber chicken is also good as is looking on my supermarket to see who is cheapest quickest.

If you use a lot of salad leaves why not try and grow some inside on your windowsill? I have spent this year about £3 on different lettuce seeds this year and it has done me all summer. I haven't bought one lettuce at all. They are very quick to grow too.

A good book to get from the library is Jamie Olivers ministry of food for good recipes that are cheap to make. His website is also good. I made recently his pasta arribata for about £3 for 4 servings so really good value and absolutely delicious

Also a good idea is to keep in flour, sugar, eggs and maybe some choccy so you can make a sweet treat if you feel like it so you don't feel like you are depriving yourself.

The main thing is don't expect your food bill to go down by half in the first month. It's unrealistic to think the family wont notice and you will feel like you are depriving yourself. Start slow and join us all on the grocery challenge. Maybe try downgrading one product a week to the one below e.g. branded down to supermarket or supermarket to value. If you like it, keep it, if not, go back to your usual one and try another product.

Making bread can bring your costs down dramatically but if you don't have a bread maker then it takes ages and with kiddies it could be a bit difficult. Keep an eye out on freecycle though as they regularly come up and you can have a go to see how you get on.

Good luck

littlemissmoneypenny

wssla00, thanks. Love the tip about keeping ingredients in to make a sweet treat. That is one of my downfalls, really wanting something sweet and heading off to the shop, returning 10 mins later, £10 lighter, with all manner of things I don't need.

wssla00

Mine too so that's why I do it lol! I am having a baking day tomorrow prob to replenish the cake tins. Some nice fruit cake and some choccy brownies should stop the sweet tooth!

Hippeechiq

nuttybabe wrote: »

water down fabric conditioner or i use vinegar (normal brown as white now too expensive!!! :P)

Hi nuttybabe I also water down my fabric softener by 50%, but like the idea of using just vinegar on occasion to help keep my machine clean. Would you mind telling me how much you use please? And whether it's neat or diluted?

Thanks