I'm eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge

lemmings1986

hi guys hope everyone is well,

americaninscotland- i agree with edwardia i think it depends on the store as to what time they do there reductions you could always give the store a ring and ask them or ask what time they do them next time you pop in.
ps i love florida this is the 1st year i havnt been i normally go every year for 3 weeks and have done for the last 8 years i would go tomorrow.:D
ive also made 4 hotdog pitta bread pizza to go in freezer.
have just finished this weeks meal plan
everything is stuff we already have in

sun-steak and mushroom pie,mash,veg and homemade lemon curd cake with custard for pudding
mon-rice,mixed meat pieces,veg pitta bread
tues-homemade cottage pie
wed-chicken enchiladas
thurs-meatball pasta bake
fri-fish cakes,homemade wedges and mushy peas

i think i should only need a couple of bits this week im nearly out of veg and eggs so will have to get them.

zafiro1984

Hi All,
Kerri and Lynsey you are both amazing on what you 'don't spend' i take my hat off to both of you.

Just done a menu plan for next week and I'm only buying what I havn't got. Christmas is looming and I'm afraid I haven't been too good on the 'eating from cupboards and freezer' mine seem to be as full as they were in the summer. So it's a strict shopping list from now on.

Meals this week Breakfast:- fruit for me, cornflakes for OH
Lunch:- soup for me, OH- soup, toast topper, cheese, ham toasties, sausage rolls, 3 x egg meals, followed by cake or biscuits.
Dinner:- salmon x 1, lamb x 3, ham x 1, flan with ham, sausages, beef wellie, puddings for Oh:- rice pud, ice-cream, apple pie, creme brulee, meringues, sponge/custard, choc mousse.

All I have to shop for is cornflakes, fruit, sprouts, cream, milk. Believe it or not I actually have everything else or the ingredients to make it. Why oh why didn't I do this earlier????
Ham in SC as I write, lamb leg in main cooker as well,

katskorner

Well the turkey didn't happen. You know I knew it. Apparently none in yet but from tomorrow so waiting on next week. If that doesn't happen then I buy frozen. After all I have a family to feed!

Gives us another week to deplete freezer stocks - yay! Today dug out a bag of frozen roast veggies, some small lamb chops for boys and lamb shanks for us. Looking forward to mine later as hungry .

Still using up weight watchers coupons. Got to plan a decent spend on a decent night to maxmise use .

Lynsey

Steph - welcome to MSE and this thread and good luck.
I would say get to know your local shops and when they reduce and be aware they can and do change. My Sainsbury's now has a new manager and things have changed. He now seems to allow the staff to grab bargains more and reduce heavily - they seem to walk out with Sainsbury's carrier bags full of stuff with a reduced barcode label on the outside of the bag. lol
Good luck to them though as their wages aren't great and helps them out.
Lidl half-price weekend offers and Aldi Super 6 can reduces costs and if you don't use coupons, well there's a whole new world to explore and save.

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Hi All,
Kerri and Lynsey you are both amazing on what you 'don't spend' i take my hat off to both of you.

It hasn't always been like that for myself, believe me. This is my "experiment" which seems to have worked, but this year was supposed to be my "Control Year" to stop buying too much stuff and keep away from the Grabbit board and ebay. I've wavered a little, but still had a decent year.
Back to normal'ish next year, but take on board what I've learnt.

Spends today total £1.35 in Sainsbury's on a small bloomer for 47p, cod and chips meal for 64p and a pack of scones for 24p - no till spit of any denomination ................. but tomorrow's another day.

I'm going to Aldi for veg tomorrow, well potatoes really. I'll neeed frozen peas also, but prefer Lidl's.
TBH, not much needed this week and just a tick-over week.

Off to make the naan bread pizzas now, been busy helping neighbour friend putting her Xmas decorations up.

Lynsey

ms_night_ryder

Hey guys

I've stuck to my plan, honestly I don't think I've spent past £500 this year, but haven't been keeping tally, my spends reduced severly over yge last few months and i haven't gone beyond 40 ish in the last few months, so i am pleased, all thanks to this thread, discount ones and Lynsey.

But my freezer is empty, quite worrying if I didn't think I could fill it up with bargains.

Have taken out some haddock, that leaves me with a pack of prawns, a pack of mackrel, a pack of pancetta and 2 chicken breasts to last the week, so back yo Mr w I go, I have the veg in sc at the moment.

AmericanInScotland

Lynsey wrote: »

Steph - welcome to MSE and this thread and good luck.
I would say get to know your local shops and when they reduce and be aware they can and do change. My Sainsbury's now has a new manager and things have changed. He now seems to allow the staff to grab bargains more and reduce heavily - they seem to walk out with Sainsbury's carrier bags full of stuff with a reduced barcode label on the outside of the bag. lol
Good luck to them though as their wages aren't great and helps them out.
Lidl half-price weekend offers and Aldi Super 6 can reduces costs and if you don't use coupons, well there's a whole new world to explore and save.
Lynsey

Lynsey,
Thanks for the info and the kind introduction. Can I ask, where does one get coupons from here? Back home you'd check the Sunday paper in ads, but every place is different and I haven't a clue how to find them here. Any help would be appreciated!

[Deleted User]

ms night ryder- £500 for the year ???? :eek::eek: wow thats amazing!!:T:T
I am continually astounded by how well people can eat for so little - truly I think a lot of our money goes on rubbish like chocolate/biscuits so going to see how well my £1200 challenge goes next year by cutting down a bit! might even cut it down to £1000 for the year but dont wanna fail before I start!

Doing well at the moment though, have eaten out of freezer most of the weekend plus a whole weeks dinners planned out for this week. Should be fine up to xmas and try and get some meat bargains to do us into the new year with minimal spends!

Lynsey - I see Lidl have thier 19p chocolate weekend coming up!.....

ms_night_ryder

Young one, its only me, I pretty much eat what I please and o have had a lot of useage of coupons,last month I had a ww meal everyday. Those were free so yeah

Also the discounts on waitrose reduced food have helped, not a great montj for coupons, also don't forget the glitches, love those and till spits and all the bargains and free money, i havent suffered at all, in fact been making monthly food donations to sallie army, reminds me need to drop last bag of stuff this wrek gave 2 bags of food to family, loads of people do way better than me and have attics full of freebies, I'm still a newbie.

Not bragging, but it shows what can be done, I have met my 5 a day and have a cupboard full.

Lynsey

AmericanInScotland wrote: »

Lynsey,
Thanks for the info and the kind introduction. Can I ask, where does one get coupons from here?

Have a look HERE, read and read until it sinks in.

Deleted_User wrote: »

ms night ryder- £500 for the year ???? :eek::eek: wow thats amazing!!:T:T

Lynsey - I see Lidl have thier 19p chocolate weekend coming up!.....

I'm also impressed with ms_night_ryder's spends, but it can be done, especially with coupons, glitches and "whoopsies".

19p chocolate?? What a great offer and a shame I DON'T eat chocolate. If it had been 19p bags of salad, I would have maxxed up.

My fault really, if a fault at all is not following ms_night_ryder and the title of the thread and clearing cupboards and freezers and reducing costs further.
I am a "Scary Cat" really and terrified of losing my "Comfort Zone" (stash) - I still have at least 4 months worth of food which would only need the basics to make meals with.
But it works for me, buying reduced stuff and bargains when you don't really need them and keep them for a "rainy day". Find what works for yourself and stick to it.

Never pay full price when you can get 70% off.

Lynsey

Rebelle

Hello!

Longtime occasional lurker here, coming out of the closet (or should that be store cupboard?) to share a couple of recipes. Been running my freezer & cupboards down for the past couple of months, partly to have a clear out of old stuff & partly due to lack of funds. It's actually been fun getting creative with what I have in, but with a week to go til payday I'm completely skint & as supplies are running low it's been a bit more of a challenge...

Went to the supermarket yesterday to pick up some reduced milk & also got some butter reduced (70p) and a bulb of garlic, so made some garlic butter & had it with pasta (the last of a huge bag :T) for dinner, sounds very plain but trust me it is DELICIOUS, I seasoned mine with plenty of black pepper as it's all I've got in, but if you have one of those chilli grinders, that's even better & it makes for a very cheap meal, lovely with tomato & mozarella bruschetta & salad leaves on the side, if you're feeling flush!

Today I needed to bake something to take to the Christmas Jacob's join at my evening class tomorrow night, as I've somehow ended up with 3 bags of porridge oats (I don't even eat much porridge! ) decided to do flapjacks, using an old squeezy bottle of honey that had crystallised instead of golden syrup & some raisins for sweetness (didn't need to add sugar then, to save it for in tea & coffee ) & then half butter, half coconut oil for the fat (to save the butter for toast/sarnies;)). Never made flapjacks successfully before but these have turned out beautifully, will definitely be adding them to my baking repetoire!

After baking was just gonna stick some veggie burgers in the oven to have with some of my stash of frozen bread rolls for tea, but a cooking show on More4 (can't remember the name now!) gave me another idea - a Middle Eastern breakfast dish called Shakshuka, basically eggs in spicy tomato sauce, very similar to the Mexican dish Heuvo Rancheros.

So I improvised my own version, with a tin of tomatoes, chopped garlic, chilli powder (recipe calls for fresh chillies), cumin, paprika & a veggie stock cube, to make it more substantial for dinner I added a tin of kidney beans & simmered all of the above til reduced, thick & bubbling, then cracked two eggs into the pan & cooked til set. Served it in wraps (from an Old El Paso kit that was languishing in the cupboard, two months out of date) & it was gorgeous, next time I'd add cheese but other than that it was perfect, brilliant new way of cooking eggs for me & made a very cheap & filling dinner, imagine it would also be very nice served with rice. :money:

Hope I haven't bored you with my ramblings, love reading this thread for ideas/recipes & to just generally be nosy at what people have in their cupboards! Might post later in the week if I have any more successes with the few supplies I have left. These include lentils, sweet potato, curry paste & coconut milk, so think a curry might be on the cards if I have time...