Single Money Saver living on my own

Snuggles

Can I join? Been living alone for about a year and a half now since finally scraping together enough to buy my own little house.

I am sure I spend way too much on food. Cooking just for me always seems like a waste of effort, I hate spending the time and creating lots of dishes to wash up when it is only for me. So I buy a lot of of prepared stuff, like jars of sauces, chilled mashed potato, steam fresh vegetables etc. The worst thing is that many foods are sold in packs/servings meant for two, and I often end up cooking and eating both in one meal, just because it's easier!

I really want to get a grip though, and bought a slow cooker yesterday. I want to make batches of stuff and freeze individual portions, so that I always have something healthy available for when I can't be bothered or don't have time to cook properly.

One problem I'm having though is finding containers which are suitable for freezing and then heating in the microwave. I find that some containers which are labelled as suitable for microwaves sometimes seem to give the food a "plasticky" taste. If anyone can recommend anything I'd be grateful.

stilernin

One problem I'm having though is finding containers which are suitable for freezing and then heating in the microwave. I find that some containers which are labelled as suitable for microwaves sometimes seem to give the food a "plasticky" taste. If anyone can recommend anything I'd be grateful.[/quote]


500g margarine tubs are often a good size to use. I usually put an open freezer bag in one then put the food into the bag. It will freeze in the shape of the tub, then you can knock it out and seal the bag. Do the same with small dishes lined with clingfilm and the frozen food can be returned to the dish (minus the clingfilm) for reheating.

With soup or mince, put it into a roasting tin and semi freeze. Lift it out and cut into portions with a heavy knife and wrap each block in cling film.

By doing some of these things you will save a lot of space in your freezer.

Another space saving idea is to empty the contents of boxes or trays of meat and fish and put them in freezer bags with any info you need cut out of the cardboard packaging and put inside the bag.

lilac_lady

When you live on your own you can choose whether to cook or not. Sometimes I do batch cooking/freezing and sometimes I have soup and yoghurt for tea depending how lazy I feel. The benefit of living alone is that you can choose whatever you want to eat/do/watch/read/etc. I wouldn't swap it.

Snuggles

500g margarine tubs are often a good size to use. I usually put an open freezer bag in one then put the food into the bag. It will freeze in the shape of the tub, then you can knock it out and seal the bag. Do the same with small dishes lined with clingfilm and the frozen food can be returned to the dish (minus the clingfilm) for reheating.

With soup or mince, put it into a roasting tin and semi freeze. Lift it out and cut into portions with a heavy knife and wrap each block in cling film.

So simple, but I would never have thought of doing that! Thanks!

Fluffi

I'm a single moneysaver too! Can I join please?

I buy long life milk instead of fresh milk that way if I don't fancy lots of cereal or coffee it doesn't go to waste. For me the unexpected advantage of drinking long life milk is that I don't pop into a shop on the way home just to buy a pint of milk and then end up spending money on other stuff like a bottle of wine, magazine or a tempting takeaway ready meal :-) I'll admit long life milk is an acquired taste though!

I like the margarine tub freezing idea for saving space in the freezer because I've only got a small freezer. I like batch cooking as well but hating washing up afterwards.

PS: I've been lurking around these boards for a while but this thread inspired me to post, thank you everyone :-)

Horace

Another singly here too - I class myself as that because I live alone but sometimes my OH who lives and works in London comes to stay:j I am not a particularly good cook either - although I attempt to bake the occasional cake (looks more like a biscuit but hey ho). I have a slow cooker but I think I must be doing something wrong because I tried to make a soup yesterday and it was cooking from 8am until 11pm and it was warm and raw:eek: I tasted it and it tastes awful but I am too mean to throw it out although I might have to.:eek:

Did a big shop today which will last me now for a few months so the only things that I will buy fresh every week will be seasonal veg, milk and the occasional egg. I hit Tesco and Lidl. I do my meat shopping at the local butcher in the nearest village and occasionally use the local co-op if they have any offers on, I also get my eggs in the village as I have found a shop that sells them on occasion for 29p for half a dozen, they also sell locally grown veg which I get too. I keep two bottles of longlife milk in my cupboard for times when I am ill and cannot get out. I have an old pantry in my flat which is used to house the washing machine so my OH put up some large shelves under which I have hung some baskets and all my food, booze etc gets stored in there right next to the washing powder.

It is difficult when you are on your todd and cannot have lodgers - I live in a rented 3 bed flat and did think of subletting a room during the week but as I haven't got a spare bed and prefer my own company I decided against it. It is difficult to plan what to eat because half the time I end up not eating what I have cooked and freezing it instead, guess I shall have to be a bit more regimented.

I did see something on TV today called Come Dine with Me where one of the 'contestants' liked cooking but hated washing up so if she was entertaining she cooked all her food in large foil containers which she then chucked in the bin afterwards - I thought that was a fab idea.

I love Ecover washing up liquid but hate having to buy a new bottle everytime, I recently found an Ecover refill station just across the road from my flat inside a wierd hippy, crystal healing shop - it is a wierd shop because it smells wierd.

Horace

My local Smash & Grab shop sells microwaveable, freezable boxes - they look like takeaway boxes so I use them in my freezer plus they stack well. When I first moved into my flat, I admit that I didnt cook much but my work colleague at the time came into work one morning with a stack of recipes that she had written out for me. The recipes had been cut down to one person portions and they were her stock receipes for feeding her family for a week. I no longer buy quiche as I make my own but I buy the pastry case because as my mate says life is too short to make pastry:rotfl:

I always wondered what those Remsoka thingies were like because I have seen them advertised in Lakeland but haven't taken the plunge - are they cheap to run? I ask because I dont have gas in my flat and hate to put the oven on just to cook for me - so I tend to use my basic microwave (although I do use the oven on occasion).

christabell

http://www.hoorayforhomecooking.co.uk/index.html is the offical site for the Ramoska, check it out, it is so cheap to use.

I made a New Years Resolution (7) years ago, to tidy my kitchen every night before I go to bed.......off course having a dishwasher helps :eek: .

GoToGal

Single too and trying to stick to £15 a week - maybe we should start a challenge

dawnsong

hi - new to board - i read it but not posted before.
remoskas are great -well worth the money. i bought regular sized one a couple of years ago - use it for all cooking other than things that need boiling (use mini portable gas stove for that) great for frying, stews,bread,rice,baking,roasting, reheating. would recommend 100%. you can pretty much just put the food in and leave till done - food doesn't seem to stick or burn easily. on the regular and large versions there's a glass viewing lid on top so easy to keep an eye on things.