Help me save money this month

Toxic_Lemon

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

i admit i could save on that though if i tried hard

....hence you being here!

Keeping household costs down does take extra effort, especially in the beginning. But that's how so many companies have made so much money by exploiting time-saving. However, it's now reached the point that it's become the norm and people have forgotten or never even been taught the basics.

How did the human race survive 100 or even 50 years ago without all the things we HAVE to buy each week now?

Phoolgrrrl

We do a few veg meals a week. Chilli made with kidney beans is good, as with the flavour you don't miss the meat. Kindney beans are around 20p for value ones. We also do veg spag bol, veg risotto, veg lasagne, veg stir fry. We use aubergine and courgettes as they are quite bulky, often they are cheapest in lidl (we don't have aldi).

Buying a whole chicken instead of just breasts is def cheaper.

Don't buy prepared veg, much cheaper to wash and chop it up yourself. Also big bags of pasta/rice are normally cheaper.

We often have a few slices of bacon in a meal, eg risotto or tom pasta, means it has meat but not expensive.

Packed lunches for work (and pos school) are cheaper. If you can't heat things at work/school you can use a flask for soup. Although we are maybe coming out of soup weather...pasta salad?

http://www.supercook.com/ is good for working out what you can make from what you have. If you have a good store cupboard that should help stretch any fresh stuff.

If you have a home bargins local they do cheap tinned food, beans, tomatoes, tuna etc and noodles.

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/ was created by MSE forum people, based on feeding a family of 4 for £100 a month.

Good luck

snowleopard61

Congratulations and hope the 14th goes really well for you all:)

Another thing you could try is to have one or two really basic main meals each week - say just home-made soup with crusty bread, or egg and chips, or (a slightly strange one we used to have at home when I was growing up) boiled eggs with baked potatoes - sounds odd but we used to scoop the contents out of both the potatoes and the egg and mash them up together, then eat the potato skins separately. It was delicious. The most basic meals were actually the ones I really looked forward to each week!

In general, the more you can avoid meat, the more you will save - e.g. spinning out or replacing meat mince with a mixture of lentils, grated carrot or plain oats will cut costs considerably.

bupster

I find veg boxes very very expensive. If you meal plan and then pick up whatever cheap veg are either in season or in the Aldi Super Six if you have one then that will save a packet - but £25 for veg is bonkers. As the others have said, soups, stews, casseroles, bulked up with cheap stuff like carrots, oats, lentils etc means that it costs next to nothing for the major stodgy filling-up part of the meal. Meat then becomes almost an addition to the meal instead of the thing that the rest of the meal surrounds.

Toxic_Lemon

bupster wrote: »

I find veg boxes very very expensive. If you meal plan and then pick up whatever cheap veg are either in season or in the Aldi Super Six if you have one then that will save a packet - but £25 for veg is bonkers. As the others have said, soups, stews, casseroles, bulked up with cheap stuff like carrots, oats, lentils etc means that it costs next to nothing for the major stodgy filling-up part of the meal. Meat then becomes almost an addition to the meal instead of the thing that the rest of the meal surrounds.

It isn't bonkers to me. It's organic, is delivered for me and I don't waste money getting other stuff that tempts me in the shop. Abel and Cole seem to do very well from similar 'bonkers' people.

terra_ferma

I have vegboxes too, from Riverford. I think if your aim is to eat as cheaply as possible, particularly in the short term, it's definitely not the cheapest way to eat.
However since we started having boxes we stopped buying all sorts of junk food, I spend more time cooking and it feels like eating out every day. We were eating too much rubbish, spending too much on food shopping and throwing away a lot.
The taste is just incredible, even supermarket organic veg don't taste as good. We value our food more, and we don't throw anything away.We are now eating fruit which we never did because we thought we didn't like it (now as as snack we have fruit instead of doritos with salsa....).

We also use less salt, oil etc because the food tastes so much better (healthier but saving a bit of money there as well).

Unfortunately I can't afford their organic meat, but next month we are going to try a local farmers market (a 'proper' one), to buy some decent meat (as well as eating more vegetatian meals, so less meat but good quality).
I'm also going to grow sprouting seeds, and some salad leaves, to save a bit of money.

Overall we are not saving as much as we would if I bought supermarket veg, but we would not be eating as well (and losing weight which for us is a bonus)

maman

snowleopard61 wrote: »

Congratulations and hope the 14th goes really well for you all:)

Another thing you could try is to have one or two really basic main meals each week - say just home-made soup with crusty bread, or egg and chips, or (a slightly strange one we used to have at home when I was growing up) boiled eggs with baked potatoes - sounds odd but we used to scoop the contents out of both the potatoes and the egg and mash them up together, then eat the potato skins separately. It was delicious. The most basic meals were actually the ones I really looked forward to each week!

In general, the more you can avoid meat, the more you will save - e.g. spinning out or replacing meat mince with a mixture of lentils, grated carrot or plain oats will cut costs considerably.

That reminds me of a meal I had at a friend's house: hard boiled eggs in a cheese sauce served with rice. It seemed odd but was very tasty.

Butterfly_Brain

My lot love mushrooms stuffed with the basic golden veg rice (27p asda basic ..sainsbury's one is nasty).... cook the rice first fill the mushrooms with the rice and top with a slice of cheese, pop into the oven until the cheese melts then serve with an omelette. DH and DS have a sausage with theirs.

Cheaper still is stuffed pancakes ....... make pancakes as you would normally and fill with left over chicken in a white sauce, layer in a dish and top with grated cheese, or you can use mince and tomato sauce topped with cheese sauce and a little grated cheese, tuna and sweetcorn with white sauce, or just plain veggie ones, whatever you can think of really.

Savoury bread and butter pudding with bacon, sliced tomatoes and onions, again whatever you want ( I buy aldi streaky bacon and chop it into lardons much cheaper)

HM pizza goes down a treat and you can use tortillas if you want a quick pizza, just top as you would a pizza.

Jacket potatoes are cheap as well as filling

Risotto is another cheap standby. I use aldi rice because it is just as good as any other and only 40p kg bag.

Someone on another OS thread has said that Aldi nappies are as good as the more expensive brands. I know that their baby wipes are good, because DH keeps a pack in the car.

Puddleglum

Toxic_Lemon wrote: »

It isn't bonkers to me. It's organic, is delivered for me and I don't waste money getting other stuff that tempts me in the shop. Abel and Cole seem to do very well from similar 'bonkers' people.

Not bonkers for us either. The thing is, if you have a veg box then you have to use it. So no opening a packet or a box or a tin. It's the veg that has to be focused on and that, in the long run saves money - especially as take aways are definitely out. One misguided take away and the veg gets out of control!:eek: