Feel like crying + UPDATE

icklejulez

Tesco Value coleslaw(20p) is yummy on a JP with butter... OH and I have them usually once a week for dinner. Also tuna and tesco value sweetcorn(20p approx) on a JP goes a long way.

icklejulez

Oh and home made chip sarnies... who needs meat!!!

wizzkid_3

Hi Sammy

Sending abundant vibes to you!

Again, only a few pence saving, but will your 'boys' tollerate soya mince? they sell it in Sainsburys for around 50p for a 250g pack. This feeds a family of 7 easily, so you should be able to do at least 2 meals out of it. You need some good stock cubes like Knorr to give it some flavor. If you explain that this is just temporary, they might be OK with it. (my family have been having this temporarily for the last year! On the odd occasion we have real meat, they rave about it, they never used to appreciate it before)

For when you get your w/m back on it's feet.......
Laundry Gunk is pretty good and cheap, grate 1 bar soap, melt in largest pan of hot water you have, add 250g soda crystals. You will need to store it in a large container or bucket, but a cupful added to the wash will do the trick, slosh of white vinegar in the fabric conditioner dispenser helps to rince out any little accidents familiar with potty training! Soda crystals 56p for 1kg.

HTH

stefejb

sorry things are so rubbish at the moment - in terms of the washing machine try the guys and gals on the diy forum for advice - they fixed my central heating with their advice

Morty_007

You sound so with it! Puts my worries into perspective!

Anyway, I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if any of this has been mentioned - some things that a humble tin of toms can do:

1. You can add a tin of chopped tomatoes to your cooked rice with some peas, sweet corn, fried onion or mushroom (or both) chopped up omlet a bit of bouncy chicken maybe, anything you fancy really. It is a nice change from plain rice.

2. cheap and yummy on toast for breakfast (Or tea) maybe with a plain 2 egg omlet, and fried mushrooms (Just decided this is what i'm having for tea, yummy!)

3. food process a tin with a little milk, salt, pepper, fried onion and a handful of dried herbs for a yummy tomatoe soup with some home made bread maybe?

Sometimes, we just get everything out of the fridge and have a mish mash meal where stuff wouldn't normally go together but it needs using up so we eat it! Logic being that it all goes down the same way, and if it fills a gap, it doesn't matter if it goes together or not.

Keep your chin up, and don't dispair,
Hugs
xx

marvalous

try going to the supermarket just before closing time and getting the reductions on bread, bakery products, fruit and veg. Stuff can be reduced up to 80%. I bough fresh baked croissants last week for 15p and have frozen them. Defrost them and put a bit of ham, cheese and tomato and you have lunch with a difference.

Don't forget shops like Lidl and Aldi for cheap eats!

Dobie

Sorry to hear about your problems, there's lots of good advice here.

The only thing I can think of to add is to ask how you pay for your gas & electricity? If it's a pre payment meter then obviously you'll have to pay the £10 each but if you have an arrangement to pay that amount regularly it might be worth giving them a ring. If you ring before the payment is due & explain that you're having a really difficult month they may allow you to pay less, or even nothing this month & catch up over a couple of months.

If you speak to them before you've missed the payments rather than waiting for them to chase you they'll be more sympathetic. I work in the credit management department of an energy company & we allow some flexibility when customers are normally good payers.

LucyLocket

Sorry to hear things are going badly. Hope they improve soon. I make a sort of egg fried rice . Boil and drain rice, allow to cool. Heat a small amount of oil in frying pan , pour in a couple of beaten eggs, keep moving until virtually cooked, looks a little like scrambled egg, Add cooled rice, canned sweetcorn, any other suitable precooked veggies , possibly some rubber chicken and some salt or soy sauce . Mix through in pan. Quite yummy and suits your available ingredients pretty well.

I've been given a set of the Tesco health and beauty / quit kit / instore mag vouchers which are combinable. If the sales assistant lets them through they can be used for some free BOGOF toiletries and a small discount off the rest of the shopping. PM me and I'd be happy to send them on to you :-)

sammy_kaye18

Hi All.

Sorry i disappeared on you all earlier - went to do some baking - 2 banana breads cooked, one in a tin and the other sliced to snack on should be ok if i cna hide one from bf!!

Anyway,
Tesco front - it is a fair distance from my house (walkable) but any amount of shopping i need i end up having to get a taxi home (£5) - or if i get the bus it means i cant bring as much or heavier stuff.

Luckily though i work in a local food coop - literally i walk out of my front door and im in my job its that close - anyway when all the bread is reduced in the evenings (around 8ish) i make sure i put some rolls and little loaves aside (i only have a small freezer) when they are 30p a bag but at the end of the night when my supervisor is binning everythign they are reduce further so then they are only 20p each - plus my discount gives me and extra few pence so this is a godsend at times. Also liek i said there is normally alot of veg on offer at the end of the night so if i can catch her before she starts binning everythign i can get alot of fruit and veg too with the healthy start tokens. i only work friday adn sunday so im going to try and pick enough up to cover the week for us which should be about 40p.

I applied for some help on freecycle and have already had one person email me back asking the type of machine and if it was skipping cycles so fingers crossed they might be able to help me - ive applied in my local ones and the two other ones relatively local to me.

Plus i just want to say thanks for all the kind wishes and help everyones offered - you've no idea how much this means to me adn my family
Thank you all!!!!!!!!!!!

Luv
Sam
x x x x x

apple_mint

Sammy - well done. You are working along the right lines and looking at every penny. I made savoury rice tonight, along with cabbage (I get 4 meals for 2 people from a large cabbage) and sausage meat patties. Served with homemade onion marmalade (you could use tomatoe / brown sauce)

Here's I did it:

Savoury rice:
1 cup of rice
1 1/2 dessert spoons boullion powder (adapt this ..use oxo veggie cubes, chicken stock cubes ... whatever)
Sprinke of dried herbs (I used parsley & thyme) .. use whatever you've got
1/2 teaspoon of garlic granuals / 1/2 teaspoon of onion granuals (if you haven't got these chop some onion finely and throw in or take a look at what you have got in the way of spices .. a bit of curry powder may be interesting)

Mix all these together an throw in a pan.

Add 2 cups of water & a dollop of butter (or olive spread ...again adapt to what you have)

Bring to the boil and turn down and simmer for 15 minutes. This made too much for us really and we ate it all because we are little piggies. We should really have saved the extra for lunch tomorrow!

I mixed some sausage meat (left over in freezer and was to be used as stuffing) with a chopped onion, some dried herbs and a couple of chopped mushrooms - shaped into 2 patties and gently fired in some oil. If you get some reduced sausages you can split two open and stretch them into patties with veggies and breadcrumbs (and save the rest of the pack for another meal).

I just boil our cabbage but you can stir fry it for a bit of variety.