Really Tight January... help

smitty2702

debtfree2010 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies
I had a good look round the OS board before i went out shopping, today i took hubby with me as he is self employed and hasnt worked for the last two weeks of december I needed him to understand the problem we face with cost of shopping.
So we went to Iceland, i had a £5 voucher so the spend in there was £9.35, i got mince, chicken and beef, so i can make spag bol, chilli / stew / sheperds pie etc
We then went to home bargains spent £7 in there on stuff for kids packed lunch drinks etc for the month!! :)
We then went to Lidl and bought cereal / pasta / rice / few jars of spicy bol sauce, i spent £7.55 :):)
I feel really chuffed with myself and after today i think i will be able to manage ok this month, yes the meals i have planned will be the same ish week on week but we wont starve :T
And i actually think i will continue to shop across these 3 shops for the future as we really need to cut back quite a bit

Well done. It sounds like you are really tackling this with gusto. You don't have to have exactly the same meals either for example sometimes Id do Spag Bol, another time Chilli, another time Meatballs or even Cottage Pie. Try using passata with herbs as I find it just as good as a spag bol sauce and I usually have enough to make a HM pizza with the day after.

Stews are great as you can use less meat and pad out with veg and dumplings.

Do toad in the hole instead of sausages. I give everyone less sausages than if I do sausage and mash and no one ever even notices.

We too are having a tight month (well probably longer but especially tight) I do need to get toiletries and washing stuff and its this that I am dreading.

Good luck with your budgeting.