Reducing my weekly shop cost - possible?

Hawthorn

missladyannie wrote: »

What a great thread! I've a couple of questions: Is it cheaper to buy loose veggies/fruit or to buy pre-packaged packs. Also, can I freeze raw veggies (i.e. cut up peppers, onions, carrots etc) to freeze rather than waste them if I dont get time to use them in time)

loose vs pre packaged....totally depends. I tend to work it out when I'm there (I my math teacher for brainwashing us to do mental arithmatic, though I hated him at the time :rotfl: )

Sainsburys for example.....the basics bananas come in around 14p each £1.15 for 8, whereas the loose are 52p a kilo, or average 8p each.

The prepacked basics carrots though, are 50p a kilo, as opposed to the loose at 62p a kilo.

You can freeze veg. Some of it loses texture though so be warned about that. Onions/peppers tend to go a bit mushy, but if you're going to use them in cooking it's all good - just cook them for less time.
Way back I used to blanche them (stick em in boiling water for varying amounts of time before freezing) but honestly, I haven't noticed any difference omitting this step.

quintwins

missladyannie wrote: »

What a great thread! I've a couple of questions: Is it cheaper to buy loose veggies/fruit or to buy pre-packaged packs. Also, can I freeze raw veggies (i.e. cut up peppers, onions, carrots etc) to freeze rather than waste them if I dont get time to use them in time)

alot of the time frozen veg is cheaper than fresh and it's pre-prepared so now waste, i use all frozen veg except carrots and onions, if you want crunchy peppers it's best to buy fresh, but for casaroles or curys frozen ones are fab- also iceland is £1 a bag for most of there veg which is the same price as anywhere else except they give u slightly more (value peas and sweetcorn are cheaper)

i work mine out online before i go, sometimes tinneds carrots are cheaper than fresh


i buy a sack of spuds and we use it in 3-4 weeks they never sprout before we use them, i keep them in the bag

redlady_1

Hi there. The potatoes are kept in a dark paper sack and I go through them every now and again and pick out any that may be on the turn. I then keep them under the stairs. I also have my HG ones in a um, basket type thing in the kitchen and cover them with a tea towel. Just make sure you dont allow any light at all to get to them and keep checking for bad ones from week to week. The only ones I keep in the fridge are baking potatoes.

I buy my veg fresh and then freeze whatever I dont use. I have more courgettes in there at the moment than you can shake a stick at! But that is because I grow them. I have been known to just buy frozen veg too. I would suggest checking the price per kilo though as sometimes there can be big variations between fresh, packaged and frozen and not always in favour of the fresh. Do the same with meat, especially the packs of meat. For instance, sometimes it can be cheaper to buy organic lamb chops than ordinary. But you must not just check the price but price per kilo.

Hope that helps

Sezzagirl

Hiya

I've just read about half the posts on this thread and the OP has been given so much good advice

As another reformed diet coke addict (and I agree, it has to be the cans - can't bear it flat) I can recommend tesco diet cola. It tastes so much like diet coke that my Dad swears tesco have got hold of the recipe

It's usually £1.99 for 8 but is on 2 packs for £3 at the moment

Hopeinhell

I buy reduced/whoopsies if they are something we will happily eat, and then we freeze them. You have to eat them quickly after defrosting though.

I try to keep our spend to below £50 per week for the 2 of us, inc bottle of wine at Aldi and Asda. We've worked out which is better for what item. Surprisingly, Aldi is not always cheaper than Asda . But birthday son is coming home soon for visit, so this will go out of the window temporarily :rotfl:.