FOOD SHOPPING FOR A FAMILY - ISH

halloweenqueen_2

Thanks for the advice on the gloop!

Plumpud_3

Very sorry to hear of your loss.

I shop in Aldi and Lidl, buying the extras that they don't sell from either Tesco or Sainsburys. Aldi and Lidl have weekly special offers, you can sign up to their weekly newsletters on their websites

https://www.lidl.co.uk

https://www.aldi.co.uk

I also buy from James the Fish. They sell frozen fish ??? But also sell frozen meat and cheese. They visit each venue every 6 weeks. You receive a price list and phone your order through, then pick up the following week. They cover a huge area including Yeovil, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton and all places in between (they are based in Pershore, Worcs). Phone them on 01386 551300 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm) to see if they cover your area. You'll speak to a real person and they will send you a price list. We've been using them for about 4 years now, and we're very pleased with the price and the quality.

Plumpud_3

Forgot to say, buy a sack of potatoes from a farm shop, much cheaper than supermarkets. You can usually get someone to put it in the boot of your car for you if it's too heavy. You can always decant some into boxes or carrier bags the other end to take it into your house. Just make sure you store them in the dark and not in plastic bags as they 'sweat'. You can also get nets of onions there much cheaper than supermarkets, they keep quite well. Also good for fruit and veg in general.

16011996

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your tips which keep coming. Will keep and eye out for signs for sacks of potatoes at farms and that, do stop and buy eggs there sometimes.

The wierd thing I've noticed since we've been economising is I've lost a bit of weight. Only four pounds, but it all helps, yet I feel fuller most of the time, and seem to be eating as much as ever.

As a bit of an update, am only supermarket shopping very fortnight, spending the equivalent of what I spent in a week before, although do spend £5-£8 on veg & fruit from the greengrocer. Am being helped out at the moment some by my grandad who at 85 still grows some stuff in his garden, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, peas, beetroot, rhubarb and soon to appear strawberries and raspberries. Since my Gran died there has been too much for him alone so I am getting the overspill, and the kids love nothing better than helping him keep it in order as payment.

I have been using the J cloths instead of kitchen roll, they just get chucked in wash every other night with washing and seem to be lasting better since I've been putting them in one of those net knicker bags (sure they have a better name than this, but thats what we call them.

The kids are still helping to economise, my youngest points out all that is bogof in the supermarket, the middle one has taken out some cookbooks from the library and has written out some veggie recipies to try, and the eldest has taken to rationing things, by when we open a pack of biscuits of multipack of crisps, allocating some to each of us, and not letting us open new ones till we have all eaten our share.

Keep the tips coming please. I could use some for cheap days out fo the kids at the weekend, we tend to do the park a lot but its getting dull, and also could snyone tell me whether there kids mind second hand clothes. Personally I love them, but am concerned as don't want the kids picked on for not having new, and are charity shops ot car boots the best to get them from.

Thanks Again

16011996

;D > :-*

deronda

My children are not old enough to mind if there clothes are second hand or not. I have bought alot of stuff from charity shops. With the fashions at the moment you may find your children like what they find in the charity shops!

There are shops that also do second hand things for school uniforms. This is particularly useful if your school insists on blazers etc.

I don't know if you have a Peacocks nearby but there clothes are very cheap. My stepdaughter who is a teenager loves the clothes in there. Depending on how old your children are and how tall etc I have noticed that in New Look it is cheaper to buy children t-shirts, vest tops, jumpers etc in the adult section than in the childrens one.

Do you have a local weekly market as some of the clothes on the stalls there are very cheap too.

Petree

My condolences,

For your kids clothes look for a TK Maxx or a outlet type place, depending on how old the kids are i.e. is Nike ok or is it FCUK and Ben Sherman, as i pick up £25 FCUK tops from TK for about £8, not super cheap but they look good, else i believe matalan is quite cheap. For jeans look around even in some of the better shops, i got 99p jeans from GAP since they were end of line (on blue jeans?) they have lasted from going out to normal wear and are now for under the car still going strong just the dyes gone.

Charity shop wise go to your local posh bit of town, me and my friends head up to London and there are some charity shops in Kensington and Chelsea areas which have top brand (Armani, Gucci etc.) stuff which is 'sooo last season' for a few quid. Same with younger clothes find the nicer parts of town and you can find loads, especially from the kind of people that can't wear the same thing twice! No-one can tell they're not new, and especially since vintage is in your kids could be the trend setters ::) I'm looking for flares at the mo :P
Even with the cheap clothes let your kids pick, the white socks with the blue band or the red band on top? Same price but kids have favourite colours and such.

Didn't know UHT milk was cheaper, shall be stocking up, and don't forget to put your j-cloths in on a 60C min as all the bugs and stuff love 40C (humans are 37.2C which is they're prime breeding time)

For washing clothes which are used but not dirty, simply put one teaspoon of powder in and one of fabric softener, bet you can't tell the difference, but remember to pre-treat stains, or do a proper wash for those, I remember reading somewhere they did a test between water, powders and those wash balls, the water was 95% as good as the others, just let down on grease which the powder should get.

As for days out, there should be a guide or book in your library called something like 'free days out in Berkshire' or whatever county you live in, if you live in London or another Time out city then it's amazing the list of things you can do, usually for free.
Trips to the seaside, trips to relatives or maybe just a day out in the country,
The local college to me does things for kids in the holidays, music workshops and such, I still have a very wobbly bowl me and mum made many years ago in pottery.
Usually these are free or a few pounds for the clay or whatever is used to make them, one my sister loved was a 'do up your jeans' workshop where you took a pair of cheap jeans and decorated them with coloured paints and gels and beads and stuff, no one can copy those and I'm sure you want pink and green jeans too, don't you?

If your kids are into nature and all things green then look up the local ranger or ramblers group as many have youth days and walks where they show them local flowers and birds and things

Also libraries will often get an author in to read their book for an hour which is not only educational but if you bring your copy along they can get it signed and show if off Scouts and Brownies often having camping weekends and days out which are subsidized or at least cheap.

A baking day requires no real preparation and thus is great when the rain starts sheeting, make biscuits or fairy cakes, and everyone has to stir, but who gets to lick the bowl? The one who cleans up best of course (I'd prob. still fall for that one :P)
Then you all get to have fun with icing, doesn't mummy look funny with icing sugar hair :):)

Even in 2004 kids want to do what they always have done, play stations and 9000 channel TV doesn't mean they don't wanna climb trees and scrape knees and do all the things you use to love.

For the shower-glop it says use glycerine the only stuff i can find in supercook which is really expensive for just washing me with, anyone else know where to get some?

Making marmalade, clever idea is it those big orange tins I see in supermarkets? How long does marmalade last as i imagine 6 pots would last a good 18months for our house?

One of the best tips for saving money is getting to know people, or asking favours of them, my mum knows someone who works for a contact lens firm and gets hers for £5, i never pay full price since i know at least one person who works in all the stores, think about who you know.

Would agree with the savers brand stuff, my aunt works in a food factory and when they change from brand name to cheap they don't even change the machines since even adding more water takes tons of adjustment, it's just different labels.

Cheapest way is to grow things, if you have a garden plant an apple tree, radishes grow like mad etc.. My mum did this as a kid, the end of our lawn was overturned and we grew tons in a really small patch, was great fun and we all planted, watered, weeded and ate and above all it was cheap and tasted good

As you say out of the mouths of babes, ask them what they want for lunch this week, have they suddenly decided they don't like cheese but prefer ham, then give them a change, unless your little ones develop a taste for caviar and salmon
No processed manufactured plastic food is going to match up to mums sandwiches, I always remember my mum offered me those cartoon character cakes for my birthday but I always wanted her Victoria sponges, I think she felt guilty as all my friends had them at theirs, but I couldn't have been happier.
Don't feel guilty about them missing out, by being their and being mum your meaning far more to them than you could ever realise,

Hope this helps, even just a little bit

Petree

deronda

Making marmalade, clever idea is it those big orange tins I see in supermarkets? How long does marmalade last as i imagine 6 pots would last a good 18months for our house?

Hello Petree

Yes the marmalade is those big orange tins. It does last a while - not sure how long as I do tend to get through a jar a week. If you save your jam jars etc you get from supermarket they vacuum seal when the marmalade cools down so they should last a while (you know the pop up bit that tells you if the jar has been opened).

We are grwoing our own cress on the window cil and I have lots of pots in the carden with all sorts of herbs in.

Another tip is to save your carrier bags and use them as bin liners for you little bins, plus they make very cheap nappy sacks if you are still in this position.

Petree

Got out the nappy sacks in body, perhaps not in mind :P ;D

Do i need to sterilise the jars and all that faff?
a jar a week, what are you doing with it? lol I hope theres a big family in that house, or else your such a money saver its toast and marmalade for everymeal?

160 you said you run a small buisness, have you got a makro card as you can pick up some useful things their, we buy huge bags of cake mix you just put water in and bake, and clothes too. The mix is a bit more expensive but once you find a scoop thats the right size you can dish the powder into a bowl add the water with another cup and mix, tray and bake.
Buy 12 tubes of toothpaste and loo rolls and stuff since as long as you got the space it's cheaper.

Also if you buy the packs of 500 1p sweets for about £2.50 you can divide them into 100 a week and then your kids won't be pestering you for more. Also for puddings they do these long jam roly polys, lemon roll and a choc one, pre portioned you just need to cut through and then bung em in the microwave, bit of vanilla ice cream and sorted. They're cheap too, have to be the schools use em!!

Must say all the message boards on MSE seem really friendly and welcoming, i only know of one other which is as nice!

HTH

Just popping to the microwave, i hear roly poly calling

Savvy_Sue

Kids and second hand clothes: it depends on the kids, so ask them. If you have friends with older children prepared to pass on nice clothes cultivate them!

My sisters and I used to fight over the bags my aunt brought us of what her girls had outgrown or more often grown tired of, because they were always far superior to what was passed down from big sister to me and little sister. I help at jumble sales and often come home with something for one or other of my boys (16, 14, 12) - most recently a tee-shirt with a particularly appropriate slogan for the eldest, and a sweat-shirt showing a frog lazing in a hammock reading which reminded me of the middle one.

The older two boys aren't fussy at all: at least they are fussy in that they want very plain t-shirts, sweat-shirts and jog pants, so Asda's Basics range covers it nicely. The younger one is far more fashion conscious, complete aberration, no idea where that's come from. With him I have spent HOURS trawling the shops: Primark, TK Maxx, H&M, all the dept stores and larger supermarkets. He knows I won't spend a fortune but I think he appreciates that I am prepared to put the effort in - but then he spent most of last winter wearing just T-shirts when his solitary favoured sweatshirt was in the wash. No point spending money if they won't wear it, is there?

Again they all have a different style in underpants and socks, which makes sorting the laundry a lot faster: Boxers, plain, logos. Black/plain, white sports, grey or 'anarchic' ie black with coloured heels and toes, probably not approved of at school (as if he cares!)

All the best.

filigree_2

Sorry to hear about the loss of your husband, what a blow for you and the kids .

Have you had any advice on your income? You might be entitled to Working Tax Credit if you're the sole breadwinner. It's worth looking into welfare benefits, the worst that can happen is they say no. Don't forget your Council Tax discount, either.

I think I've seen glycerin on sale in Boots, next to the own brand cough medicines. I'm not sure of the price, but take a look.