Money saving help needed!

BitterAndTwisted

Lisa_27 wrote: »

My shopping list includes, many of these things will last longer than a week-

Bread: you could buy strong bread flour and make our own
Marge
Marmite
Cheese
Tuna
Breaded chicken (£2 for 8 in Iceland) Cheaper to buy a whole chicken and make a week's worth of meals from it
Noodles
Pasta
Pasta Sauce
Chicken breast: Chicken breasts? Do you know how dear they are? most recipe can be made from legs or wings. Cheaper to buy a whole chicken and make a week's worth of meals from it
Salmon (£6 for 4 in Iceland but would only have 1 a week) Mad. There are cheaper kinds of fish to be eating on a restricted budget
Beans
Jacket potato (£1 for 4)
Juice
Lettuce
Oven chips. Sigh. How about buying spuds and making your own for less than a quarter of the price?

Items needed less often-

Loo roll
Kitchen roll: You can skip buying this.
Multi purp cleaning spray
Toothpaste
Shampoo
Shower Gel. Bar-soap is cheaper
Washing powder (will make do without fab conditioner) Thought about making your own? You could make about a year's supply for less than two quid. Use vinegar in place of fab cond

Have been told I can get washing powder for £1 in poundland and my skin isn't too sensitive.

In my experience the pound shop isn't the best place to get good value. Aldi and Lidl's own brands are.

quintwins

Lisa_27 wrote: »

Sorry I lost my thread

£32 is for one person, I will have a shared kitchen so poss space in a fridge but limited freezer space. Kettle, cooker, microwave. However I may be able to store some food in my Nans big chest freezer at hers.

£2 a week saved is not just for make up but for an emergency fund too, clothing like knickers etc.

I plan to ask for Boots, Tesco or similar vouchers for birthday and Christmas to allow me to stock up on toiletries and buy clothes.

My shopping list includes, many of these things will last longer than a week-

Bread
Marge
Marmite
Cheese
Tuna
Breaded chicken (£2 for 8 in Iceland)
Noodles
Pasta
Pasta Sauce
Chicken breast
Salmon (£6 for 4 in Iceland but would only have 1 a week)
Beans
Jacket potato (£1 for 4)
Juice
Lettuce
Oven chips

Items needed less often-

Loo roll
Kitchen roll
Multi purp cleaning spray
Tooth paste
Shampoo
Shower Gel
Washing powder (will make do without fab conditioner)

Have been told I can get washing powder for £1 in poundland and my skin isn't too sensitive.

Salmon is very expensive, iceland do a bag of white fish it's usually pollack (it always says on the back) it's alot cheaper and very nice with soem philly on top or parsley sauce and can be used for fish pie .

Could you not buy a bag of spuds for jacket potatoes and chips? much cheaper and a spud is a spud i don't bother with special spuds for bakes taties.

If you really want chicken breast frozen are cheaper and just as good in casaroles or currys.

You diet seems abit low of fruit and veg from your list are you planning on buying them seperate? also no milk? tea bags? sugar? you won't need everything every week but you do need to take these things into account.

Depending on what your using your cheese for sometimes sliced and grated can be cheaper always check the price per weight, we use tesco edam cheese in sandwichs, it's 95p for 6 slices but we cut them in half for sandwichs and 1/4 for baps.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I live alone and spend ~£25 per week on food and groceries, so it's very doable. It makes a difference being vegetarian.

Potatoes are now your friend- jacket spuds with beans, cheese, tuna, leftover chilli/curry etc are cheap, tasty and filling.

I have never worn make up and it has never stopped me getting a job.

jackyann

For some jobs in what I might loosely call "the beauty industry" makeup is a must.
You should be able to get decent cheap fruit at your local market (or aldi/lidl) - which, remember, is also a beauty aid!
Definitely make your own oven chips: to save on fuel, microwave the potato, then cut into chips and finish under a medium grill.
Cheap fish as healthy as expensive - often more tasty - and I see you have tinned tuna - look at other tinned fish as well.
I nevrr use fabric conditioner. I also wash my underwear in the shower.

foxgloves

I've never ever used fabric conditioner. It's not essential. I also stopped buying kitchen roll when I was debt-busting. I use washable cloths for wiping up & when they're dirty, they get chucked in the washing machine & re-used. As your budget is going to be tight, it'd be better to drop these non-essentials & spend the money saved on food items. I also find that a bottle of cheap unbranded bleach, washing powder, Aldi washing-up liquid & a bottle of Stardrops is all I need for cleaning products....oh, & the occasional bag of cheap soda crystals for any really grotty jobs like oven cleaning. Stardrops costs £1 & as I dilute it in a recycled spray thingy, one bottle lasts me over a year. It saves loads on buying loads of different products for different jobs. You probably do this already, but using one of those net shower scrunchies makes shower gel last for ages....you really do only need one blob & a bit of a scrunch to get you through an entire shower. Good luck with it all.