Shopping Smarter? 23 February 2011 at 8:42PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Old Style MoneySaving 53 replies 9.2K views

quintwins

i hardly ever get the 3 for £10 deals and thats mainly because i head straight for the reduced section (thats why i don't do my shopping online) and i find it often works out cheaper this way

value dishwasher tablets are fine i used them for ages (mil gave me a box of finish about this time last year she got on bogof and i'm still using it, but i now have a bag of fairy ones she gave me before xmas to do me til the summer) avon do a good kids shampoo and it's regularly on bogof it smells lovely aswell, i use value baby bubble bath in my despensers and my youngest has really bad exzema but he's fine

i never buy chicken breasts always thights and drumbsticks i cook them in the slow cookered then stripe the meat off the bones (this takes seconds) it has saved me about £20 a month since i learnt this trick

i also buy all my fruit and veg from the local farm shop tehy do weekly offers for £1 usually about 10 onions, 7-10 apples/oranges depending on size, i get bananas from tesco there cheaper there and a big 20kg bag of good maris piper taties for £6 which lasts us 2 weeks and has never sprouted yet

seraphina

Hales82 wrote: »

Hi all

I'm currently training for a mountain walk for charity and my husband cycles 100+ miles a week so protein is important to us.

I run marathons and have never eaten meat in my life, so being active is no excuse to buy expensive meat:D

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi, we eat meat most days too. OH and kids will not have it any other way. There are ways of stretching the meat a bit further like adding more veg (and chopping it up into smaller pieces for some bizarre reason). I think you are doing well. I spend £65 a week for two adults and 2 older children.

I love the Tesco 3 for £10 offers too.

rosieben

sorry can't offer much help to the OP but purpleivy and caitybabes - I've added your recipes to the GC Challenge recipe index

Rebob

I shop every 8 days but buy the same stuff as I would for 7. I just save a portion of whatever I am cooking daily and this is what we eat on the 8th day.

Compare the pack weight of the 3 for £10 meats as they are often a bit smaller than standard packs so are not always a good buy.

What about using liver for one of your meals? I use pigs liver and pan fry with onions, add gravy to stop it going dry and serve with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots for a cheap tasty meal.

Another meal I do every week is a stew. I seem to manage to drop on the veg by alternating which supermarket I use. I include swede, carrots, onion, parsnips, potatoes, dried pulse/soup mix and a tin of baked beans. I often add leftover meats when nearly cooked or a tin of stewed steak. I serve with suet dumplings or pancakes for a healthy filling meal.

m40

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Cut those dishwasher tablets in half and see how you get on. I don't have a dishwasher myself but I'm astounded at the price of them. You can make your own dishwashing formula as well as laundry detergent and washing-up liquid. If you stick around here for long enough you'll get to know all about them and the vinegar in the fab cond compartment trick.

It seems to me that your first strategy should be staying out of the supermarket at the weekends. It's so annoying to pop in for a pint of milk and find yourself £20 lighter with a bag full of "treats" that you don't really need. I used to do that all the time but now I really can't afford to so I only step into a supermarket about once every ten days.

Hi dish wash tabs cut in half, works fine I do it all the time now and you won't notice any difference.

quintwins

Rebob wrote: »

Another meal I do every week is a stew. I seem to manage to drop on the veg by alternating which supermarket I use. I include swede, carrots, onion, parsnips, potatoes, dried pulse/soup mix and a tin of baked beans. I often add leftover meats when nearly cooked or a tin of stewed steak. I serve with suet dumplings or pancakes for a healthy filling meal.

i make loads of stew, the best meat for stew is by far beef shin, and at £1ish a pack is a lovely cheap meal i cook mine really slow and it's very popular in this house:D

catpaws99

Mr T has value baby wipes 18p a packet, you could try using these for nursery.

[Deleted User]

quintwins wrote: »

i hardly ever get the 3 for £10 deals and thats mainly because i head straight for the reduced section (thats why i don't do my shopping online) and i find it often works out cheaper this way

value dishwasher tablets are fine i used them for ages (mil gave me a box of finish about this time last year she got on bogof and i'm still using it, but i now have a bag of fairy ones she gave me before xmas to do me til the summer) avon do a good kids shampoo and it's regularly on bogof it smells lovely aswell, i use value baby bubble bath in my despensers and my youngest has really bad exzema but he's fine

i never buy chicken breasts always thights and drumbsticks i cook them in the slow cookered then stripe the meat off the bones (this takes seconds) it has saved me about £20 a month since i learnt this trick

i also buy all my fruit and veg from the local farm shop tehy do weekly offers for £1 usually about 10 onions, 7-10 apples/oranges depending on size, i get bananas from tesco there cheaper there and a big 20kg bag of good maris piper taties for £6 which lasts us 2 weeks and has never sprouted yet

Please could you teach me this trick
I don't eat meat that is on the bone but my kids love it .
I have a bag of odds and ends of chicken from sains basics range and I really don't know how to slow cook it.
I don't really want to make a casserole or cook in liquid as my dd doesn't like anything resembling gravy- is this possible ?

quintwins

mummyof5 wrote: »

Please could you teach me this trick
I don't eat meat that is on the bone but my kids love it .
I have a bag of odds and ends of chicken from sains basics range and I really don't know how to slow cook it.
I don't really want to make a casserole or cook in liquid as my dd doesn't like anything resembling gravy- is this possible ?

yeah i sometimes do this if were going on picnics, and it really is an simple as putting them in the slow cooker or low for 4-5 hrs with some salt and pepper (or anything else you want) then lifting them out (works better when there hot i find) and i just take a fork and a knife and pull the meat off, it really does just fall off, if it's for sandwichs i leave it to cool and put it in fridge, if i make casarole strain the liquid and put it and the chicken back in usually with some carrots/onion/celery/peppers whatever really and leave it for another 2 hrs or so, it's yummy and i really moist meat

and i tend to use value or lidl chicken when on offer