Whats wrong with my Shopping List??

lynzpower

Sammy,

Seeing as you get such top discounts etc, I would start grabbing what you can now, and then freezing it. For example, if you get a punnet of strawbs now, you could wizz some in a blender and freeze, and make out of that either a puree for the LO for with yoghurt, or a strawb sauce for pancakes or ice cream or something later.

If you grab some bargains now, then stash away, then when its time to re-order again from tescos then you can incorporate what you have in from your coop bargains into your new meal plan IYSWIM

Do you get any cheapie bits of meat from work? sausages & pork chops etc are always reduced in my local co-op?

sammy_kaye18

Yes i do lynz but i never know what to do with them and i only have a small freezer to put things in so im going to have to look at emptying it soon just so i can fit a chicken in their before Xmas. i dont fancy being in tescos come christmas eve trying to get it! That will be my next saving target though becasue we will be due to move soon - from a flat to a house and i have a much bigger kitchen my fridge/freezer is in my living room at present) so i want a big fridge freezer when we move up there - plus t is further away form shops - coop is right on my flat doorstep (literally!!) and once moved i have to treck abotu 20 mintues to get to it, down lots of hill which is a mission with a 2 year old and buggy.

sounds good about the strawberry sauce and stuff though - might do that.have tonnes fo freezer bags because i use to make all of Bens baby food when he was little so i could use them and get a little stock up. Guess i could do this with raspberries and apples too - saying that do apples freeze well if sliced?? - seem to remember making apple puree and freezing that ok for ben.

lynzpower

yes, you can freeze any purees, and as I said you can use for sauces on stuff, or of course a crumble filling as you have butterystuff, sugar & flour you can make a nice crumble with what you have in.

Have you done your tesco order?

If not, I guess you could leave off the sponge pudding- then you could have a healthy crumble with what you have in

Or of course you could have the crumble as well

If you wanted to go through your freezer,and you dont know what to do with some of the stuff in there- I am more than happy to make suggestions of how to up what youve got in there, I love nosing virtually through other peoples stuff :rolleyes: :rotfl:

what have you got one of those "under the worktop" size freezers?

hex2

Slightly off topic but are you doing the shopping via Quidco.com? At least then you would get a little bit back. Also have a look at pigsback.com, follow the links on the freebies no spend required board and they should quickly get you a £10 Boots voucher that you could use on nappies or christmas stuff.

PoshPaws_3

I haven't got time at the moment to read the entire thread (in the middle of DS's 8th birthday party preparations - just stopped for lunch!) so apologies if anyone has already mentioned this.

Dog Food.

The same people as make Autarky also make Gusto. Its a dried complete food available from Tesco and is around £5-6 for a 12.5k sack. It would last a JR for months (lasts my greyhound & saluki a month) and is fabulous stuff. I've not yet met a dog that didn't like it - and you can ring the changes for them by adding gravy or leftovers along with it. Its only cheap because its classed as a "working dog" food and is exempt from VAT.

We are completely reliant upon the stuff, as my Greyhound is now very unreliable in the bottom department and - on Gusto - he does (basically) big rabbit poo's, which are super-easy to clear up after.

susank

Definately go for the tesco value washing powder as its only £1.49 for 3kg releasing you some more money each time! Mine lasts me for months

patchwork_cat

Hi
If at work they reduce something and you are not sure what to do with it - ask on here you will get loads of options - so if they have pork chops for silly money , buy, then ask when you get home. Has your mum or MIL got a freezer if yours is full I'm sure they might have a bit of room.

Also value flour is fine.

Grab those bargains when you can!

Zed42

Yes, you can grate the cheese and freeze it ....:)

EagerLearner

Thought it might help for me to list what I have 'done' to my shopping list since joining MSE :T . As of June this year we:

- No longer buy branded chopped tomatoes. We get tins from Sommerfield and Sainsburys - having recently done a blind test - MR EL voted Sommerfield the best one!

- No longer buy branded tins of sweetcorn - own brand seems fine - we buy Sainsburys.

- Bought a slow cooker - lovely slow cooked pork with apples, luxury spag bol, chilli, beef stroganoff and more - plus all freeze well.

- No longer get veg and fruit from supermarket - I take £10 to the veg market and get veg, fruit and fish each Saturday. I also get meat from the butchers.

- Get more from LIdl - Mr El used to get a pack of sliced meat a week from the supermarket. Now we get 2 packs from Lidl for the same price and freeze them in lots of 14 slices (14 per week) in freezer bags - that allows for 4 weeks of sandwich meat for the 'old' price of 2 - small but significant savings.

- Buy store value brands of juice etc rather than big names. Same for flour, pasta, foil etc. We don't like squash but the juices are nice.

- Buy much more from the £1 store - 6 rolls of kitchen roll for £1 - when I used to spend £1 for 2 rolls in Sommerfield :eek: They also do cheap washing powder, foil, tupperware, olives, conditioner, shampoo - you get the idea, I am now a convert!

- Stopped using gel packs for washing clothes. It was so easy to sling one in the wash but I had to buy a new pack so often - now I have a huge box of Bold powder (inc conditioner) and it's lasted me for 2 months so far, approx 2-3 months left! When that runs out I plan to try plain powder plus vinegar and essential oils as conditioner...

- No more 'ambling' into Boots at lunch hour - £1 store is cheaper and addictive!

- When Superdrug had their 10% summer sale this summer, I bought loads - 3 bags of 12 loo rolls (each for the price of 9 rolls + 10% off) - a massive saving and it means I haven't had to buy any loo roll from my weekly shop allowance for ages - it used to take out a bing chunk, alongside the washing gel tablets. I also used their sale as an opportunity to get Buy 1 Get 1 Free toothpaste - plus another 10% off ontop, he he! Whenever you see loo roll, washing powder, washing liquid, toothpaste on a deal - get it, particularly buy 1 get 1 free!

- I bought 3 bottles of Fairy liquid for £2, rather than pay £1.03 a go. I only trust Fairy so for me it's a bargain and will last ages :T

- Meal planning - plan a week ahead and freeze stuff, saves hassle and money! Like you, I only have a fridge with one measley shelf - it takes creativity!

- Do a Cook-A-Thon - tomorrow I have 2 friends coming over and we're going to batch cook chicken curry and beef stroganoff for just £4 each - saves going out on a Saturday when the shops are at their most tempting, we all have fun, saves on cooking during the week, then there's the wine (see below)!

- Plus you can save on shopping if you use the vouchers on this site for Tesco etc - recently I found a thread that gave me £25 off a wine order - so we got a £70 order of wine for £45!

Have fun and good luck with the move!

wanting2save

sammy_kaye18 wrote:

Yes i do lynz but i never know what to do with them and i only have a small freezer to put things in so im going to have to look at emptying it soon just so i can fit a chicken in their before Xmas. i dont fancy being in tescos come christmas eve trying to get it! That will be my next saving target though becasue we will be due to move soon - from a flat to a house and i have a much bigger kitchen my fridge/freezer is in my living room at present) so i want a big fridge freezer when we move up there QUOTE]

Just a thought about your freezer problem, try 'Freecycle', there are loads of things given away on there including freezers so this may save you loads of money.......?;)