Old-Style Case Study / Action Points

adam_devon

Hello,

I'm new to old-style, and am keen to read, learn and take action. I would love to be less wasteful.

Following a discussion on DFW - FireWyrm highlighted how effective old-style thrift has been in recent advances towards becoming debt-free.

I'm wondering if this thread might serve to allow some people to post case study's of thing they have tried - what has worked, what hasn't etc.

My biggest expense is petrol - due to commute and rural community job requiring travel to people's houses. So I'm keen to hear about car savings.

I have a big chilli being cooked at present - with 5lb of mince, so I'm hoping that'll be meals from the freezer for a good few weeks.

Hoping to learn from some of your successes, as well as discussing what action points old-style newbies can make.

Adam

Linda32

Well, this is what works for me, in no particular order. Whats called "eating from the freezer", I make evening meal plans from what we have, say Sat - quiche (so I buy one and cut it in half and freeze half for later in the week), we have this with new potatoes and salad. Tonight we had cold chicken with new potatoes and salad. This is from a chicken which I'd previously roasted and frozen into portions. Tomorrow we have four sausages defrosting (from a pack of 8) which will go into cobs with mayo and mustard with salad, so you get the idea. Make sure you have enough for each day, this avoids nipping to the shops and coming out £10 lighter!!!

Don't bother with vinegar and stardrops as cleaner if you don't already use it. They both work very very well, but if you don't already use these then you are spending more.

Do Martin's downshift challenge, where you go down a brand. I used to swear by Nescalf, now I have Tesco Classic Roast coffee. OH is happy with Basic or Value tea, I don't like any sort of tea but he seems to like it.

I do use Fairy Liquid and Marigolds for washing up, the cheaper versions are false economy.

Expensive deodrant is the thing as well, I've had one can for months now, (and its not because I don't use it ) rather than the basic one which only lasts a week at best. Same with cheap loo roll.

HTH

[Deleted User]

Hi Adam, welcome, I am like you trying to convert to old style to pay off debts, I am going to do the grocery challenge in July , I usually spend about 400 a month for 2 adults , 1 hungry teenager and a dog, and I am trying to aim for 200 , so I am going to cook and bake to my hearts content, I baked scones today and they all went, and so much nicer than shop bought.So like you any help is welcome, good luck.;)

VJsmum

5lbs of mince should make at least 20 portions. Even more if you bulk it out. I use half and half of mince with mushrooms finely chopped (i use a mini chopper so that DS doesn't know ther'es mushrooms in it! Done like that they look like meat!) I would also bulk out with kidney beans and baked beans. I reckon you could get 30 - 40 portions out of 5lb mince.)

Freeze, freeze freeze - i have 2 freezers and both are chocca. Learn to eat less meat.

FireWyrm

Ok. I'm a great fan of Chinese cooking but frankly, I can't afford to indulge my guilty pleasure, so, I started learning.

My favourite authors are, Ching He, Ken Hom and Bill Granger. Ching He's recipes are invariably quick and tasty as well as cheap. Bill Granger produces lovely quick australian food, typically sea food and beach food.

One of my all time favourite vegetarian left over meals is vegetable chillie. Basically, fry any root veg, such as carrots, cauliflower etc in a tin of tomato with garlic and dried herbs and chilli paste and onions. Crack two eggs on top, cover with some cheese and put a lid on top. Simmer gently for an additional 15 minutes until the eggs are cooked and the cheese melted. Absolute heaven.

One thing you should think about, never underestimate the importance of spices in your cupboard. I always have cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black peper corns, green herbs, smoked paprika, turmeric, , tins of coconut milk, garlic which I preserve in olive oil by the dozen bulbs, chillies preserved by me, stock cubes, rock salt. With these basic ingredients, you can add some chicken and a cheap green paste for a Thai green curry which will easily feed 2 hungry adults, create a chilli, spagbol, Irish stew, any type of soup or stew etc.

Go for the cheap cuts of meat. Ask your local butcher for advice. Most are more than happy to discuss their craft and most have favourite recipes if you ask. Buy chuck steak and stew it. Buy belly pork and slow roast it. By scrag neck of pork and boil it. Pot roast, slow cooker and steam it are your new watch words. Try meat you might not be used to, or necessarily think of. I buy cheap offcuts of venison for the most amazing stews. I pan fry defrosted duck breast which is half the price of beef. A beef joint will be a pot roaster and not an oven joint. Try and find oxtail, rabbit and oddments like kidney, liver, heart. Don't be afraid to experiment and always ask if you don't know what it is.

Don't be afraid to go hungry. We all grow up in households where it is the norm to eat three times a day. You don't need to and in fact, we never evolved to eat that way. We would make one big kill which will be consumed immediately and then not eat for days after. Remember this and train your body to accept it. If you can't bare to miss even one meal, try money saving my halving your main meal size (buy smaller plates) or having 'bits and bobs' days. In our house, sometimes, it is acceptable to just have crackers, some cheese, some preserved pork sausage, pickles, fruit of various kinds and a boiled egg for a main meal. Honestly, it won't hurt you. Drink water when you feel hungry and step away from the biscuits. I have a fruit bowl on the kitchen table which is stocked as best I can according to the season. My daughters have unrestricted access to it, but they don't get sweets and crisps. I don't even mind if they waste their vegetables as long as they've eate. Fruit during the day. Never be afraid to finish what's on your childrens plates....believe me, if you halve your main meal, you'll have room for whatever they left behind and less goes into the food bin.

As for petrol, I told yu what I did, there really isn't any trick to it. I hate obeying the speed limit as much as the next person, but the numbers speak for themselves in my opinion.

FireWyrm

Rough calculations of meat required for 2 adults and 2 children per month.

3 packets of multi buy chicken pieces =£10 roughly 3 lbs
3 packets of pork chops/steaks = £10
3 lbs of chuck steak and cube it yourself = £5-8
5 lbs of mince from the local butcher = £10
2 packets lambs liver
1 large packet frozen prawns
2 packets asda lamb mince £2
1 good bacon joint if you can


I usually spend about £40 on meat for the month depending on what I can get. Your meals per week should be something along the lines of this

Sunday - bacon joint
Monday - cold meat from day before with boiled potatos and steamed veg
Tuesday - vegetable stew with the last of the meat and any left over steamed veg from yesterday
Wednesday - if you can, more stew bulked out with more veg and mushrooms or offal such as liver fried with onions. You could do a soup in winter, or pumpkin stew in the autumn etc.
Thursday - cold pickles, cheese, fruit, yogurt
Friday - fish, pie using either semi fresh fish like haddock, eggs, frozen prawns, a tin of tuna even
Saturday - pasta dish like macaroni cheese, or rice and curry
Sunday - the weekly roast again. If you have something with bones, stew them for stock afterwards

I vary this week to week but try to include one fish meal, one vegetarian, one left over at least. Personally, I hate fish, but it's a cheap form of protein so I include it regardless of my personal tastes. My bible is a standard 'good housekeeping' book I was given a few years ago, look for something from the 60's which will have all the old national favourites for the thrifty person and include cuts of meat and how to use them.

Another tip, search out yur local Chinese cash and carry. If you live anywhere near a city, odds are, there is one, where do you think that the Chinese takeaways get their stuff? You can buy spices far more cheaply there and staples such as rice by the sack if you need. You can usually buy cheap cooking oil there also along with stuff like yellow bean and black bean sauce, Thai curry paste, thick coconut milk, dried Chinese mushrooms which go far further than standard English mushrooms. Don't be afraid of the language barrier, ask, they will usually translate for you. Often you find the local cash and carry is a well kept secret known only to a few whites and the local Chinese population. The one in Milton Keynes is well hidden unless you know its there.

*zippy*

I'm learning too Adam and not perfected it like many on here as my spending is still higher than I would like it to be, but so far this is what I'm doing..

Meal plan & make a list

A few meat free meals a week and if veg left over make HM soup

Meat I try to stretch to two meals, tomorrow we have roast beef dinner, Tuesday will be Beef curry with leftovers

Everything I can is homemade plus make double so you have a meal in the freezer when you are short of time after work etc.

Check out the printable coupon thread on the discount board

Bulk buy things when you see a really good offer that won't go out of date like teabags, though OH and I disagree on this though as he says most things go on offer regularly.

Use cheap stores like Poundland, B&M's and Home Bargains. I had 9 quality Toilet rolls in B&M's last week for £1.99, all cereal bars come from Home Bargains 99p, Poundland Heinz ketchup and salad cream £1 etc.

Everyone now takes packed lunch, this has saved £120 a month, I have teenagers so we each make our own so its no extra work for me.

Buy Basics, most have been fine, only a couple of things I wouldn't buy again. If they don't do it in basics I mostly get supermarket own unless branded is on offer.

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ has what's on offer in different
supermarkets

Shop around if you can without it costing more in petrol and time than its worth

http://www.spendingdiary.com/ use a spending diary to log how much you are spending on food, I had been way under estimating how much I was spending by keeping a tally in my head :eek:

I'm trying to cook new things every week so meals are more interesting, lots of ideas on here or online for cheap meals.

I would say start with a couple of things and build on it gradually, good luck x

ceridwen

Certainly its perfectly possible for meat-eaters at least to compile their own cookbook from just MSE Old Style.

I'm a vegetarian - but have managed to get a few recipes off here as "new basics" for me.

So - for someone who eats more conventionally than I do - ie meats and puddings/cakes with sugar in then its a project that could easily be done.

Personally - I think such an MSE compilation cookbook is rather overdue in the making and am surprised no-one has done so to date. I have an MSE book done by MSE Martin and it has a chapter in it of MSE recipes - but defo no full-scale MSE cookbook round.

FireWyrm

ceridwen wrote: »

Personally - I think such an MSE compilation cookbook is rather overdue in the making and am surprised no-one has done so to date. I have an MSE book done by MSE Martin and it has a chapter in it of MSE recipes - but defo no full-scale MSE cookbook round.

hmmm...I'd like to propose a new challenge then. How about, a week meal plans compiled directly from the Old Style thread? Perhaps the challenge could be, you only get to use meal ideas from here?

There is so much information on this thread, it would be criminal to let that knowledge go to waste.

ceridwen

FireWyrm wrote: »

hmmm...I'd like to propose a new challenge then. How about, a week meal plans compiled directly from the Old Style thread? Perhaps the challenge could be, you only get to use meal ideas from here?

There is so much information on this thread, it would be criminal to let that knowledge go to waste.

I'll up the ante on that one - as someone could easily make up a month's meal plan from O.S. with no problem at all.

Oh...I'm so wicked ...as that would mean a meat and sugar-eater - ie not vegetarian/no sugar if I can possibly help it me:rotfl:

Naughty ceridwen - slaps wrist..

...and nope....you ARENT allowed to have Twinks' more than once:D

FireWyrm

ceridwen wrote: »

I'll up the ante on that one - as someone could easily make up a month's meal plan from O.S. with no problem at all.

Oh...I'm so wicked ...as that would mean a meat and sugar-eater - ie not vegetarian/no sugar if I can possibly help it me:rotfl:

Naughty ceridwen - slaps wrist..

...and nope....you ARENT allowed to have Twinks' more than once:D

Fine, I'm game if you are. I'm going monthly shopping on Friday night. I have £100 to spend and no more if I can help it. I have two adults and two children to feed. Lets use this thread as a spring board. Anyone else can follow along, but I need to actually do it since I only shop once a month, it has to be right. I'll post itemised bills with costs and we'll see if it really works.