I'm eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge

ms_night_ryder

Evening.

I had the smoothie for brekkie, popped out, nothing in Mr w, so got a apple Danish and a bag of crisps and had that for lunch, cooked the mince with some onions and have just eaten that with the rice from yesterday and mixed veg, very nice, enough for dinner tomorrow so no cooking.

Not much meat left now, I have done really well and this weeks spends have again been under £5 so very pleased, have schloer and chocies to take for Christmas, just need to pay for the chicken and half a lamb, wont be more than £20 thanks to Costco.

Edwardia

Lynsey and Kirri I am just to scared to tell you how much I've spent since discovering Ocado and Abel & Cole in August but on the other hand what price great cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, blood glucose etc etc.

Anyway today I found Shorters Club https://www.shortersclub.co.uk which sells what looks like everything from Bookers. I sat there working out whether prices were better than prices on mysupermarket and just bought if they were.

I got all non-food items mostly cleaning stuff and saved enough to pay for the 3.99 delivery charge plus a few pounds. MIL gave us cash for Christmas so OH told me to bank that as she'd be pleased to know we've got 6 months supply of washing up liquid for example.

katskorner

I daren't total up my spends for the year - it would be WAY WAY WAY over yours Kirri. Ok there are five of us and two cats and several fish but I spend about £300 - 400 a month.... inc alcohol (but not entirely in my control on that).

Freezer fodder today was a pack of casserole for the boys with jacket pots (not freezer) and then two tubs of HM kung po chicken for us with 6 mini prawn spring rolls. Actually it smells yummy.

Tomorrow we are having lamb shanks for us so that is a decent size box out. Kids will be random depending on how they feel as not the best of appetites due to bugs.. boo. But they will be eating from freezer all the same.

Foodbank was just one tin of spaghetti and I feel bad looking at Lynsey so I reckon I will have to up it and sort that out. Each shop I will add something to the bank .

Kirri

Edwardia wrote: »

Lynsey and Kirri I am just to scared to tell you how much I've spent since discovering Ocado and Abel & Cole in August but on the other hand what price great cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, blood glucose etc etc.

I can imagine it's high with regular orders! But agree, no price on healthy, good quality food, it is worth it. I've tried to keep the quality food but just cut down on what I've bought this year to cut the spends though when I'm working I do use Ocado a lot more regularly so did overspend there last year!

katskorner wrote: »

I daren't total up my spends for the year - it would be WAY WAY WAY over yours Kirri. Ok there are five of us and two cats and several fish but I spend about £300 - 400 a month.... inc alcohol (but not entirely in my control on that).

It would scare me to add up spends too if there was more than 1 person! It's a bit shocking really just how much food spends are..

I wonder how much a family who doesn't watch what they spend gets through?!

Lynsey

Kirri - my Son wants a nut roast and said he'll make one!! I have an Asda Nut and Date roast with gravy he says he'll "look at"!! He'll find something no doubt.

No further spends, just picked up another 2 16p tins of potatoes to see if I could get that till spit, but no luck!! Try again tomorrow. lol

Spends for the week were the 2nd highest of the year believe it or not at £39.67 - just as well I never bought the fish and chips. I think using the £3 coupons in Morries took the toll, but TBH I've got quite a few Xmas goodies sorted and only a few snacks and crackers to buy. I'll need pate and maybe a cheese or two and maybe some more biscuits and cakes, but nothing major.
Apart from the Xmas meat and veg, I just need to tick-over. I won't come in under £1200 now which is a shame and I think back at the wasted stuff. Still, I can't complain and the experiment to live cheaply (food only) has worked and been educational.
I'll go back to a few luxuries next year and definitely the M&S half-price offers when on.

Foodbank stuff today - 5 x 1kg rice @ 40p and 2 x tins potaoes @ 16p = £2.32. I want to get to £30'ish before the end of the year and will get the Lidl chocolate as a treat next weekend for the foodbank.

Next week will be cheaper I hope, unless I find a decent turkey crown (small) offer. I'll not get to the end on £115'ish though.
I have got £30 of Nectar points, so I could cash them in I suppose and maybe I will get there - see how it goes.

Lynsey

Lynsey

Morning all, nice and mild here.

Just toast and coffee for breakfast, naan bread pizzas for lunch and snacks.
I need veg, but I'll pick that up tomorrow from Aldi, unless I get lucky in Sainsbury's later, but not too hopeful.

Welsh Poppy - sorry, meant to reply. If your Morries are taking part, then yes they should accept it as long as you spend the £30 or more.
Sadly not all Morries accept them.

Catch up tonight.

Lynsey

susan6780

Guys I have a til spit i won't use, its for £6 off £60 shop online (cos i'm posting the code here ) before the 14/12/12

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Good luck!

AmericanInScotland

Hi All!

I'm brand new to the site, and have been reading over the past several days with excitement and amazement. The discounts you all get are incredible! I'm a college student again (PhD at 31), and it's been a hard transition for me from having a job to being a student (and in a new country). All of your money-saving advice and tips are a great resource.

I was a member of a forum like this back home in the States, but I haven't been on it for years. So I'm not completely new to the savings world, but I'm rusty, and in a new country where things may be different.

I acquired many things in my cupboard (only one double set of cabinets) when I moved here in August, but I'd like to have a clear out now for clearing out's sake, and because money is tight at the moment. I'm going to attempt to fix meals for just myself from my small supply, while buying low-cost staples as needed. My fridge/freezer is incredibly small, so I can't stock up on things as much as I'd like (is this good or bad?).

I'm here on student loans (boooo!) so I'm hoping that learning new cost-saving habits will in the end, allow me to borrow less money and hope for some grants to come along!

Locally, I have a Saninsbury's Local, a large Tesco's, and a Co-Op. I have to go into town for Lidl/Poundland/etc. Luckily these are near my school so it's a good all-in-one trip.

I am excited to spend my first Christmas in Scotland, and am lucky to have been invited to a dinner elsewhere. I'm supplying a desert and a candy from the supplies I already have here at home (plus a hostess gift as well I'm going to make).

Thanks for all of your amazing ideas! I hope to get to know many of you more soon!

Can you all give me an idea when stores mark items down or is it different for every store in different areas?

Edwardia

Hi Steph :T Scotland is beautiful but a tad cold

You've done good already by discovering Lidl and Poundland. With Poundland you need to check the weight though because the cans are always the same size as standard ones but Poundland Heinz soups for example contain less soup.

You don't have to worry about finding that pink slime stuff in ground (minced) meat, it's not allowed here and neither are GM ingredients unless labelled. That means that if it says beef in Lidl it's 100% beef.

Most all the supermarkets here match prices with Tesco but Tesco has always been on the more expensive side so you'd save money at Lidl. Likely the prices in Sainsbury's Local will be more expensive than a bigger store. Co-op has some good deals on pickles at the moment.

Different supermarkets reduce prices at different times of the day, it seems to be up to the store manager but there was a thread on this.

I;m sure other people can give you better tips !

AmericanInScotland

Hi Edwardia!
Thanks so much for the kind information. I just did a quick trip to my Co-Op, as I remember reading somewhere that they discount on Sunday.

I'm happy to know about the beef! American meat is mingin, so I'm glad to be in a place where I feel more comfortable eating meat (albeit, still in limited supply).

And I'm from Florida, so I LOVE the cold weather!

_______________________________________________________

I did an inventory of my cupboard, freezer, and fridge (and did a tidy up as well) today. I wrote all of it down, and I hope to create a rotating list of supplies I have on hand in order to be stocked, but not be too stocked because of the limited space I have.

I'm doing well with the meat in the freezer, as it's just me, but seeing as my bf is visiting from home soon, I'm trying to plan ahead with meals based on what I have on hand (with a few extras). He's good at sharing grocery costs, so that is always good!

I've also set myself a goal of 15-20 pounds (sorry my American computer doesn't have the pounds sign) for everything this week, as I want to eat out of my stores as much as possible.

While I did make a few purchases at the Co-Op, they were all veg, reduced, and I was in need of some.

Head of lettuce: 80p
Cherry Tomatoes: 40p
Part of a cucumber: 20p
2 small heads of broccoli: 60p
Emergency box of cat food 1 pound (my order of cat food is being delivered tomorrow, and I just ran out)!

At Sainsbury's I got 2 tins of chopped tomatoes for 31p each.

Tomorrow I'm going to check out Tesco's and familiarize myself with their goods. I may head to town for Lidl if I have anything else I must have.

Food today was:
Omelette with last of eggs, leftover sausage (1) and a bit of cheese. Wheat toast.

Lunch was: Turkey sandwich with last night's leftover sweet potato chips, and 2 ginger creams I got on offer for pack at Sainsbury's

Dinner will be: A thrown together stir fry with left over chicken and green beans from last night, plus part of broccoli I got today, bean sprouts I need to use, and cheap Sainsbury's noodles (11p).