Where do we go from basics?

bramble1

sb44 wrote: »

Sorry, it was directed to people who do shop at Tesco rather than Sainsburys.

Some don't like Sainsburys, others can't stand Tesco so it is swings and roundabouts.

It does give you the option of spending your £4 voucher at Tesco if you don't fancy the Sainsbury offers.

Thank you! - it's good to know tescos accept them, as i like to switch up my shops once in a while - i find i don't explore for offers as much when i stick to the same stores.

donnajt

I actually managed to do my weekly shop for £47.12!!! can't believe it, left the kids/DH in car and just stuck to my list, v happy with myself so i treated myself to a custard tart which is hiding in the back of the fridge so i am off to get it...

song_of_calliope

I'm child-free by choice and I don't mind my tax money going towards other people's children at all. I don't begrudge anything to an innocent child when so much of the money goes towards weapons and wars, bailing out bankers, etc. Much better to help out someone who didn't ask to be born and doesn't deserve to suffer for their parent's mistakes. After all, these are the people who are going to be wiping my !!!!! when I'm helpless and on my own in the old folks home one day, I want them to be as well brought up as possible!

Ok, back to the topic. At the moment we have three guests and I'm feeding them a few meals during their stay. These are wealthy people who are used to throwing lots of money at food, going to restaurants all the time, etc and they're loving the simple fare I'm feeding them. Last night was corn and kidney bean chowder - fried a value onion, added some frozen value corn and some veggie stock, then some value kidney beans and a cup of value soya milk and blended with the stick blender. They all asked for the recipe! We'll have more guests in August and are hoping to feed them mostly out of things we've grown ourselves.

So I guess to me the place to go from basics is to pick recipes as wisely as possible. Ditching meat is very helpful for those that are willing to go that route (I've seen on telly people picking up roadkill to eat but that is much, much too far for me to go to save a few pennies!). Things like soups are very filling. We also made a curry out of potatoes, carrots and red lentils all boiled up with a bit of curry powder. Served with some hm yoghurt and coriander grown on the window sill, this fed 5 hungry adults for literally pennies for the whole lot.

Also keeping chickens - if you make the coop yourself out of scrap lumber and don't spoil them too much by feeding them luxuries like grapes (I'm guilty of this) then you'll save a lot of money over buying (like-for-like) free-range organic eggs in the shops. Sounds horrible but we have hybrids because they start laying early, lay almost every day, and then kick-off shortly after they stop laying instead of hanging around for years like other breeds tend to do. I pay less than 10p per egg and can also swap the eggs for stuff worth much more than shop eggs as people love having "homegrown" eggs, too.

pelirocco

ceridwen wrote: »

This is a subject on which there will be differences of opinion and those of us who are childless DO indeed feel very strongly about our taxes going on other peoples choices (because we notice that other peoples taxes dont go on OUR choices in reverse).

I was watching a Superscrimpers episode recently where an 18 year old man and 20 year old woman had got pregnant despite being so young/still living in her fathers house/etc/etc - and it hit me for one "smack between the eyes" that though this couple had been going out spending thousands of £s a year on magazines/fashionable clothing/meals out/etc and continued to do so even on becoming pregnant - that they were being advised by the woman concerned that they should claim all "family" benefits and they were proposing to do just that. Hmmm....in other words straight out of everyone elses pocket into theirs to compensate them for having just blown their own money on "personal" spending. Ultimately the parents of a child are the ones who chose to have that child/or couldnt be bothered whether they had it or no (so "fell pregnant" by accident rather than design) and its not other peoples' responsibility to pay to pick up the pieces if parents havent got their financial priorities worked out properly. They wouldnt pick up the pieces for us after all..

Off course they would , other peoples taxes go towards your health care and pension etc

Instead of bickering over so an so gets more then me because of ...........( insert whatever you think appropriate ) we should all be grateful we live in a country where the help is there IF and when we need it

donnajt

i think any money spent on educating families and children how to cook from scratch and healthily is a positive for our future generations, and i am pleased my taxes help cover such schemes, its actually a government/nhs incentive to reduce the costs on the nhs in years to come, all those furred up arteries, diabetes, gastric bands etc

can we please get back to the thread purpose

am off to find some delish breadmaker recipes, and then away to local shop (yes i figure its cheaper to pay extortinate price for can of coke than go to Mr T and before i know it another £10 gone)

annie123

mojoman wrote: »

All advice seems to be to go down a level. HOW?

Grow your own is the answer.
Doesn't matter if you've only got a window with a table in front of it everyone can grow something towards reducing their weekly shopping bill.

Want a garden but don't have one?
Look for neighbours with unused front gardens (easy access). Someone who lives near me put a note through the door and followed up with a door knock on a nice west facing front garden
The young professional couple had no interest or time to do anything with their 10'x8' patch.
It is now full of all sorts of yummy edible things.
The house owners are so impressed that they have offered to pay this person to do their back garden too. :T

dianadors

A typical week for meals when I was growing up in the 60's at home would have been (and it was virtually the same every week!):
Breakfasts were either Weetabix or Porrage
Saturday - Home made meat and potato pie - desperate dan size served with soaked overnight peas and the best meal of the week. Eaten midday. Bread and home made jam or lemon curd for tea
Sunday - Roast Beef, Yorkshire puddings - the full works - again eaten midday . Teatime was tinned salmon sandwiches, tinned peaches and carnation milk or a trifle for afters
Monday - Stew made with leftover beef. Lots of veg - especially potaotes.
Tuesday - Home made chips and thick vegetable soup for main meal.
Wednesday - Pork Chops spuds and veg
Thursday - Chips Egg and beans
Friday - Homemade Fishcakes using tinned pink salmon, mashed spuds etc.
We had a lot of bread and jam etc for tea time meals and often home made cake.

My least favourite as a child was the Sunday lunch!! We didnt have huge portions - except for the potatoes and veg which were all homegrown on either dads allotment or someone elses garden. There were 5 of us and a tin of peaches went round all 5 of us. Mum bought no snacks. A bag of crisps were sometimes shared to accompany a sandwich. Grandad would buy us a Frys chocolate cream on a Monday and give us a Gray Dunn wafer biscuit to take to school each day.
We drank water or milk, except for Saturday morning when we had a pint of orange from the milkman to share for breakfast and on Sundays we shared a bottle of dandelion and burdock.

donnajt

Thank u so much dianadors, yr message sent me on a lovely trip down memory lane...frys, big bag of revels, and a bottle of pop on a sunday evening from off licence!!!

DebtFree2012

dianadors wrote: »

A typical week for meals when I was growing up in the 60's at home would have been (and it was virtually the same every week!):
Breakfasts were either Weetabix or Porrage
Saturday - Home made meat and potato pie - desperate dan size served with soaked overnight peas and the best meal of the week. Eaten midday. Bread and home made jam or lemon curd for tea
Sunday - Roast Beef, Yorkshire puddings - the full works - again eaten midday . Teatime was tinned salmon sandwiches, tinned peaches and carnation milk or a trifle for afters
Monday - Stew made with leftover beef. Lots of veg - especially potaotes.
Tuesday - Home made chips and thick vegetable soup for main meal.
Wednesday - Pork Chops spuds and veg
Thursday - Chips Egg and beans
Friday - Homemade Fishcakes using tinned pink salmon, mashed spuds etc.
We had a lot of bread and jam etc for tea time meals and often home made cake.

My least favourite as a child was the Sunday lunch!! We didnt have huge portions - except for the potatoes and veg which were all homegrown on either dads allotment or someone elses garden. There were 5 of us and a tin of peaches went round all 5 of us. Mum bought no snacks. A bag of crisps were sometimes shared to accompany a sandwich. Grandad would buy us a Frys chocolate cream on a Monday and give us a Gray Dunn wafer biscuit to take to school each day.
We drank water or milk, except for Saturday morning when we had a pint of orange from the milkman to share for breakfast and on Sundays we shared a bottle of dandelion and burdock.

I love posts like this - thank you!

Also v interesting to see you reference the times that you ate as I often wonder about that. Sunday lunch for eg used to by at lunch time where as now we (as in my lot) tend to have it at tea time.

Also interesting abuot tinned salmon as I don't know how it used to compare but I find it very expensive now so it's more of a treat. As is corned beef, that seems to have shot up in price so we don't have as much pinaculty as we used to, although still cheap meal compared to some.

Thanks for the thread Op!

donnajt

have been busy this morning, my gammon joint (covered in cherry coke) is in the slowcooker, sitting on side cooling is a BM banana loaf and now have a red pesto wholemeal loaf in BM...house smells delish! Off to make a lamb doner for tea tonight with salad and hm wedges

Spend today 75p (cherry coke) (47.12 + 75 = £47.87)