Bit of Grocery Advice please?

iris

freyasmum wrote: »

I knew there'd be something else!! If you have a home bargains/farmfoods near, why not try the Nicki toilet rolls?

I second buying Nicki toilet rolls. They are £2 for 9 and are excellent. I buy from Farmfoods and at the same time buy my milk from there at 85p for 2 litres.

Don't forget to check out the Voucher & Coupon board (lst page)before shopping. Very often there are coupons for freebies, such as cakes and just this week Heinz beans. Very often a coupon will match a product on offer and make it 'free'. I rarely buy toothpaste, deodourant or face wipes and my dishwasher tablet stash will last me a year!

We like creme caramels, so I use the Green's coupon for 40p x 4 and 2 litres of milk at 85p and there you have 16 desserts for £1.25, or you could make them smaller and get more desserts.

I know it's too late for this year, but if you have a garden try and grow a few salad crops/veg. We have a very small garden but manage to grow runner beans, lettuce, radish and young onions. We also grow most of our own herbs, which we dry and use through the winter. In fact we usually have too many runner beans, but these can be frozen. We dry and save the seeds from the runner beans to use next year, so our runner beans are 'free'.

I also have a slow cooker and use it a lot for making curries, spag bol soup etc. I always double up on quantities and portion freeze for when I can't be bothered cooking.

Popperwell

Three ply toilet rolls(Pound Stretcher/Wilkinsons)Regina Family Pack(usually £6+)now £4(16 rolls)

lincsyellowbelly

Thank you all, really appreciate the time you have spent writing all this for me. I need to discipline myself I think more than anything. I will definately give Aldi or Lidl a try for the stuff that will keep. I am very lucky with fruit and veg because we have someone who delivers fruit and veg boxes for £5 for 5 items of fruit. We don't eat as much veg as we should. Have joined the grocery challenge too so hopefully that should help to keep me focused.

SpikyHedgehog

lincsyellowbelly wrote: »

Thank you all for you comments so far. I feel better for having "confessed". I really think I have a problem when it comes to food spending, not anything else though. Kids thinks I'm a right meany!! I already buy own brands and quite a bit of value stuff, this has made me really think and I think the fussy eaters are the problem. Very rarely can I get away with just one meal and also my husband work shifts which are changed at very short notice, so mealplanning has been started and abandoned before.
Going to try and cut down on the junk food, crisps etc. I do cook from scratch mainly and how I spend this much really is a mystery. Been out this morning and bought some baking stuff for kids snacks, thing is their stomachs are bottomless pits at the moment.
I have good intentions but go astray mid month. Going to give it my best shot this month because this can't go on.

When my husband lived with us, he did shifts (well, he still does, but he doesn't live here anymore!) - they did follow a pattern, which made it easier for me, but it was 2 12 hr day shifts, 2 12 hr night shifts then 4 days off. So I had to be ready with something that he could eat when he got in or before work, & he refused to let me meal plan for him as he wouldn't know what he'd want. So I started to meal plan anyway, but didn't write it where he could see it... I'm thinking batch cooking home made ready meals might help you with his shifts, knowing you've a stash of curry that just needs heating& some rice cooking up, or stew & dumplings?

lincsyellowbelly

Thanks to you all for yesterdays replies, I now need to re read them all today, sit down and make some sensible lists I think. One more question though. For many years I have dithered about buying a bread maker. We use one sliced loaf every day on average. Always buy Hovis so about £1.30 a day on bread and sometimes its not as fresh as I would like. I did have a bread maker about 10 years ago but it only made small square loaves, not enough for us and the bread was very dense. If I invest in one again, can you get them that make normal size bread loaves and does it work out cheaper than £1.30 a time.

freyasmum

lincsyellowbelly wrote: »

Thanks to you all for yesterdays replies, I now need to re read them all today, sit down and make some sensible lists I think. One more question though. For many years I have dithered about buying a bread maker. We use one sliced loaf every day on average. Always buy Hovis so about £1.30 a day on bread and sometimes its not as fresh as I would like. I did have a bread maker about 10 years ago but it only made small square loaves, not enough for us and the bread was very dense. If I invest in one again, can you get them that make normal size bread loaves and does it work out cheaper than £1.30 a time.

It can definitely be cheaper, certainly for the more artisan breads, but I think the question you have to ask yourself is: will I use it?

It's easy to jump straight into the money saving mindset, but a decent breadmaker is quite an investment, especially if you won't really use it. Perhaps buy one at a carboot sale (less lost if you decide it's not for you), but remember that you can very easily make bread by hand (my preferred method :j).


Also, do keep in mind that once a fresh, delicious-smelling loaf has been placed on the countertop to cool that it may not last as long as you might want :A

krlyr

freyasmum wrote: »

It's easy to jump straight into the money saving mindset, but a decent breadmaker is quite an investment, especially if you won't really use it. Perhaps buy one at a carboot sale (less lost if you decide it's not for you), but remember that you can very easily make bread by hand (my preferred method :j).

Yup, I've been making bread by hand recently and it's really simple - just takes a little time because of having to leave it to 'proof' several times, but someone did give me a no-knead recipe which I'm meaning to try too as that will save some faffing. I make it up the day before needed as then you can let it cool properly and it's much easier to cut when cooled, and it lasts at least a couple of days on the side under a tea towel (no idea how long it'd last as we've eaten it all within 2 days!)

Our loaves aren't quite as big as Hovis type but a bigger tin should do the trick. The first attempt was quite dense but using a bit less flour and kneading it a bit more helped, and I swapped some of the water in the recipe for milk to get a softer crust which may have helped with the texture too. If you get through that many loaves, it shouldn't take you long to make little adaptations to each batch to get the perfect loaf.

Maitane

I'm not sure how useful this is to a family but I tend to stear clear of making 'normal' bread because of my OH whinging that it doesn't taste like *add brand here*.
If I'm not found buying and freezing reduced bread, I tend to make chapati or some kind of flatbread which has both novelty value and can be made in smaller batches. Also, it's cooked in a frying pan and you can stuff them with tasty fillings (see: any old stuff from the fridge) and they go down cracking at lunch.
Also most supermarkets do value pittas at 20p-ish for 6. Pack it out with as much cheap salad-y stuff (grated carrot makes everything go further) then add more filling like some LO chicken.

Also, have you thought of meal planning for shorter lengths of time? Would that work for you?
Here in the People's Republic of North Wales, me and Mr Maity can't meal plan for a week at a time. We just have to accept that we're not that organised or focused but we can do two or three days at a time and buy almost everything reduced from wherever is convenient. As we have some freezer space and a decent store cupboard, it works nicely for us and we always end up with a spare meal in the freezer when the takeaway looks appealing.

Rainy-Days

You may be worth buying in 25kg sacks of potatoes as this will work out cheaper. Allot of farmers sell these at the farm gate to the public, if you get a sack of white and red that should last you and cut down your bill.

I live in a village and although it is not remote, I have a 28 mile round trip. My saving grace is that I do my shopping on the way home from work. I never leave home without my shopping list. I keep that list on the dresser in the kitchen and as I run out of stuff or getting near to running out, I put it on the list. I also have an additional list at home on a spreadsheet of what stocks I have in my freezer and cupboard and I update this every couple of months or so.

I do one shop a week. I have a chest freezer in the garage. I meal plan. If we have not got it in, we don't have it. I don't 'run' to the shops because we have no local shop in the village at all!

The best place to start is building up a stock cupboard, this should have dried things like rice, pasta, tea, coffee, sugar etc. Then work on your tin cupboard so that will be stuff such as whole and chopped tomatoes, baked beans, tomatoe puree and tinned sauces etc. Once you have got that into shape then you can start adding extras in. For chopped tomatoes, baked beans, pasta etc Lidl and Aldi are petty hard to beat with a tin of chopped tomatoes at about 33 pence a tin it still comes in cheap. There is a thread on here somewhere that will give a comprehensive write down of what is good and what is not at Lidl and Aldi. It is compiled by us on here tried and tested, it would be worth you reading up on it.

You will have a big cash outlay to begin with to build up you stock cupbards but once you have got them into shape, you will find your savings further down the line will kick in.

kate477

Hi, I think I'm from the same town as you from what you say - Louth. fieldsoflincolnshire in Facebook (sorry, can't link) will take you to a fruit and veg delivery in the area, also do meat etc. Herons is an awful shop but good for frozen stuff like chips, ice-cream. Yes, it is worth going to Aldi/Lidl, but also worth trying our local butchers, Fairburns in town is good with advice on cheaper cuts, cooking methods etc. If I've got it wrong and you're not from Louth, please forgive me!