I keep trying but....

ALIBOBSY

-taff wrote: »

I see you mentioned buying rocket...I'd suggest growing your own, it's tough as old boots, you won't be able ot stop it growing, and it'll grow in any old window box if you haven't got a garden.

This was my thought as well. We are awash with rocket and salad leaves in the garden and a pack of cheap seeds-think mine were mostly aldi/lidl for 30p and there are hundreds of seeds in a pack. Even more expensive seeds are under £1 usually.

Also spinach is easy to grow, and try perpetual spinach or leaf beat which grows all year around.

For very little space and little cost at start-say small bag of compost for £1.99 ish, seeds for around max say £3 and using recycled pots/trays/bags you can grow all your salad and spinach needs for the year for what you pay for just 2-3 bags.

I find a tip I got off here is great for growing salad or leaf stuffs. Get some of those thick cardboard "tray" type boxes, the ones used for fruit and veg that are opened topped-supermarkets/veggie stalls etc will have these to get rid off so they are free. line it with either an old bag from compost or a black bin liner with just a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Layer of compost and seeds in-job done :T.

The black plastic seems to warm the roots and they grow like crazy, I can't pick fast enough, but the chickens love our extra leftovers lol.

The other thing that stood out was when you talked about a best before date on tomatoes. The ones I grow don't come with a use by date and indeed the fruit and veg from the stores doesn't. They have a sell by date and sometimes a best before-ignore both. Use the things gardeners and chefs have used for eons-look at the item, smell it and squeeze it to see if its still ok to eat. I would happily buy fruit and veg on short date and use it over several days if not longer and even when a bit soft/curled up things would go into a stew of soup. Not to mention many items will freeze straight away-toms become pasata or tom soup which will freeze. Onion/leek/garlic can be chopped/crushed and frozen.

There are 6 of us and we get spend about £50-£80 on shopping (includes nappies/wipes/cleaning stuff etc-but we don't drink so only soft drinks) and at a push have managed on £40ish and will pay less as more and more comes from our garden.

But we use Aldi and Lidl plus the local farm shops and I work from home so have the time and chance to cook most of our food from scratch alongside growing stuff in the garden-we also have chickens for the eggs and can get a large sack of chicken feed from a local feed producer-we are semi rural, for £8.

If I still worked in an office and had to stick to the big supermarkets as well as having less time to prep/cook/grow I think it would be harder. Part of this has to be what you can afford, if you can manage on what you spend and have a good diet you enjoy then its the right budget for you. If you need to really push it down then you need to look at things again.

Regarding the Aldi/lidl travelling distance would it save to just make one trip a month and stock up, then use the big stores closer to home for small top ups on fresh goods and YS bargains.

Remember even stuff like milk can be frozen so can be stored if you can't shop every week.

Ali x

dktreesea

scaredy_cat wrote: »

i found that an uneconomical buy is value or cheap toilet roll, cos it's thin i used more rather than buying the quilted one (4 rolls) and it lasting a month.
so some of the value things might be used up quicker than a more slightly expensive brand.

Sainsburys value brand is quite good. Jumbo sized, so 400 sheets to a roll, and it doesn't fall apart when you use it, unlike Asda's. We buy it six to a pack.

zzzLazyDaisy

Yes, something like that (I got mine on a special offer from amazon).

The no-bread recipe I posted is made from eggs, cream cheese, and raising agent, so more like a firm omelette that you can split and fill, so good for when you need to take something for lunch when you are out.

Watch the quinoa - I know it is marketed as a protein grain, but everything is relative - it is still quite high in carbs compared (I can't tolerate it for this reason).

As a sweet treat raw organic chocolates are quick and easy to make and full of super nutrients - and I don't add any fat or sugar, just organic raisins and hazelnuts - but the basic raw chocolate paste is expensive, though a little goes a long way.

Also sugar free freezer jam is nice, easy to make, and free if you grow, gather, or beg the fruit to make it with.

elantan

Sugar free freezer jam ? Never heard of that

Yeah the quinoa is heavy on the carbs so I don't have a lot of it, I do tend to use it more as a sprouting seed but will eat it as my protein for one meal maybe twice a week or so ... It's a case of trying to mix the proteins and keep them as cheap as poss

the recipe looks deff like something i would like to try thanks

where do you get the raw organic chocolate from ?

ChocClare

If you're stocking up on special offers (which is sensible) then don't forget to factor that in. If you bought a year's worth of tea, then you should divide your total spend by 12 to get your "true" monthly figure. Of course, the problem with special offers is that there are always offers on so you end up spending that much more. You might be better off going down the route of unpronounceable woman from the Tightfisted Gazette who decided to change her WAY of shopping so that she eg NEVER bought chicken breasts unless they were on sale, never bought tea unless it was on sale. You do get a feel for when the offers will be on and if you say, OK this week/month x is on sale and I will spend y amount purchasing it and then either we will eat that or freeze it; and OK, I HAD wanted to buy z, but that is full price this week so we will have something else until it's back on offer?
You don't say how big your freezer is/how much time you have to get yourself organised but you can use this quite well for veg. I buy white and red onions in huge sacks in September from the local greengrocer and they are £2 for I think 5kg. I hang these (net) sacks in one of our outhouses and they last all winter, but there is nothing (except time and space) to stop you whizzing up onions (and eg carrots or celery) in the magimix and freezing it in portions and you won't have to buy that again. Similarly, you can freeze tomatoes whole with skins on - I am still eating up the glut from a couple of years ago - and either roast in a mediterranean vegetable mix or use to make a sauce. Originally I was going to make sauce and freeze it but tbh it's just as easy to put chopped onion and carrot and celery straight from frozen into a pan, heat through in some olive oil, bung in your frozen tomatoes, herbs, sugar, bring slowly to boil and simmer for 20 mins on stove top, then zhuzh up with a stick blender for tomato sauce to have with eg chicken or roasted veg and mozzarella. The block mozzarella for pasta is cheaper than ready grated and can be whizzed up in the magimix. Tesco's (or whoever's) value mozzarella (ball in water) is also fab although it doesn't grate well but it's 45p as opposed to a few quid.

Considering you're not filling up on carbs I think you're doing pretty damn well. The only other thing I could suggest would be to do a WHOLE chicken in the slow cooker (or roast in oven) and joint it so that your DH can have his thighs/drumsticks and you can have breasts as it's cheaper than just buying breasts. If you have a slow cooker, then you line the bottom of it with roughly-chopped onion, carrot and celery, bung the whole chicken on the top, season and add any herbs you like (you can also put a cut-in-two orange or satsuma in the body cavity), DON'T ADD ANY WATER and cook on HIGH - I generally do this as I leave for work and it's cooked by the time I get home. You can also use this method in the oven. The beauty of this is you get a variety of cooked meat that you can cut up and use to make eg curries - you don't actually need to have a "cut" of raw meat at mealtimes as this can be expensive. This also produces a lot of stock and the detritus in the bottom of the slowcooker is an excellent base for soup - either whizzed up or left whole, although you will have to skim off the excess fat.

Anyway, my two penn'orth. We are lucky enough to grow our own and keep hens, so eggs are never a problem, but I will not begin to presume to lecture you on how to cut your costs as I have cancer and eat organic/free range all the time for health reasons. Great taste, and we can afford it (just) so we are lucky, but as others have said, you have to decide what your priorities are- at present mine are that it's more important for me to have my health than worry about what I'm spending (and I'm spending nearer £450 for a family of four - admittedly, this is for EVERYTHING - than your £250 for two so I think you're doing brilliantly!!) :T

Memory_Girl

elantan wrote: »

thanks daisy that would be a great help, a spiraliser? never heard of one of them before will look into buying one

You can have a play with mine - love courgette pasta with my HM pasta sauce (if you want to risk eating it of course )

I would look at bulk cooking the basics - pasta sauce, roasted veggies, ratatouille and lots and lots of soups from cheap n cheerful seasonal veggies. Create a new habit of serving a small bowl of soup as a starter every evening - you will need less as a main course.

HM Greek yogurt with frozen berries / chopped fruit / cucumber chunks and mint (honest it makes a nice breakfast)

Make 2 - 3 main meals veggie with eggs and your basic cheese will leave you enough for meat in the other meals. So crustless quiches, veggie souffles, poached eggs on spicy peppers in tomato.

Do you like fermented foods? Things like saurkraut and kimchi are tasty and cheap (and good for you)

What about sprouts to cut your greens bill? A tablespoon or so of sprouting seeds germinates into a whole bowl.

Use you avocado to create a salad dressing with fresh lime and a little oil or natural yoghurt - makes half and avocado stretch to feed two people IYSWIM. And buy them when on offer - you can half, destone and freeze them when cheap and they come to no harm.

I find cheap pieces of pork - make pulled pork in the slow cooker and portion out into the freezer. A baggie, some salsa, some guacamole and lettuce leaves for wraps makes a filling meal.

I am just rambling now aren't I?:cool:

MG

Lurker1972

This is something I need to do for us (again) so have been reading the responses with interest.

A couple of years ago (when I had halfhearted attempts at budgeting) I decided we had to cut down our grocery spends - it included cleaning, occasional beer and pet stuff.

For a month I kept all our receipts, pinned to notice board, with the most recent on the top, crossing out each item as I used it. From this I realised I was buying stuff that wasn't needed that week.

From that, started meal planning, only buying from shopping list, using vouchers, etc. it's got out of hand again, so will be going back to basics this weekend.

The only othe thing is, have you tried a local market for veg etc? Or green grocer ( if you still have one!) we have one in neighbouring town where my mum goes...often with a list of extra bits for me. Better taste for slightly less in my opinion

elantan

ChocClare wrote: »

If you're stocking up on special offers (which is sensible) then don't forget to factor that in.this is very sound advice, some things i do factor in but i have to admit other things i dont ... the £125 for 10kg of coconut oil for example wasnt factored in ... if i was to add all the things then i would deff be over the £250 a month If you bought a year's worth of tea, then you should divide your total spend by 12 to get your "true" monthly figure. Of course, the problem with special offers is that there are always offers on so you end up spending that much more. You might be better off going down the route of unpronounceable woman from the Tightfisted Gazette who decided to change her WAY of shopping so that she eg NEVER bought chicken breasts unless they were on sale, never bought tea unless it was on sale. You do get a feel for when the offers will be on and if you say, OK this week/month x is on sale and I will spend y amount purchasing it and then either we will eat that or freeze it; and OK, I HAD wanted to buy z, but that is full price this week so we will have something else until it's back on offer?ive never thought if this before but would be a wee bit concerned it was too rigid ... maybe trying it out though it wouldnt be, i know when the butter is on sepcial i buy atleast 2 dozen and freeze it so that it lasts us a long time
You don't say how big your freezer is/how much time you have to get yourself organised but you can use this quite well for vegWe have the house freezer and a garage freezer, we try to keep both stocked up, if i am working then i have no time as i work ten hour plus shifts ( nights) but if i am off i have more time, sadly recently i have been working loads of overtime but this also needs to change... mr el enjoys cooking though so he does most of it. I buy white and red onions in huge sacks in September from the local greengrocer and they are £2 for I think 5kg. I hang these (net) sacks in one of our outhouses and they last all winter, how exactly would you do this ? we have space in the garage and we use an awful lot of onions so getting a load of onions for £2-£3 would be ideal but there is nothing (except time and space) to stop you whizzing up onions (and eg carrots or celery) in the magimix and freezing it in portions and you won't have to buy that again i did this with turnip when it was on special, they were selling the turnip off at 10p i bought a few dozen and grated them up and froze them much easier when i made home made soup and really handy, however havnt seen them at that price again . Similarly, you can freeze tomatoes whole with skins on - I am still eating up the glut from a couple of years ago ok i am showing my ignorance here but i didnt know you could do this- and either roast in a mediterranean vegetable mix or use to make a sauce. Originally I was going to make sauce and freeze it but tbh it's just as easy to put chopped onion and carrot and celery straight from frozen into a pan, heat through in some olive oil, bung in your frozen tomatoes, herbs, sugar, bring slowly to boil and simmer for 20 mins on stove top, then zhuzh up with a stick blender for tomato sauce to have with eg chicken or roasted veg and mozzarella. The block mozzarella for pasta is cheaper than ready grated and can be whizzed up in the magimix. Tesco's (or whoever's) value mozzarella (ball in water) is also fab although it doesn't grate well but it's 45p as opposed to a few quid.we did get a huge block from Costco once and it was fantastic, maybe ask a friend if we can use their costco card again as that might save us some money as well

Considering you're not filling up on carbs I think you're doing pretty damn well. The only other thing I could suggest would be to do a WHOLE chicken in the slow cooker (or roast in oven) and joint it so that your DH can have his thighs/drumsticks and you can have breasts as it's cheaper than just buying breasts. If you have a slow cooker, then you line the bottom of it with roughly-chopped onion, carrot and celery, bung the whole chicken on the top, season and add any herbs you like (you can also put a cut-in-two orange or satsuma in the body cavity), DON'T ADD ANY WATER and cook on HIGH - I generally do this as I leave for work and it's cooked by the time I get home. You can also use this method in the oven. The beauty of this is you get a variety of cooked meat that you can cut up and use to make eg curries - you don't actually need to have a "cut" of raw meat at mealtimes as this can be expensive. This also produces a lot of stock and the detritus in the bottom of the slowcooker is an excellent base for soup - either whizzed up or left whole, although you will have to skim off the excess fat. cheers will try this sometime, i am lucky if i have cooked a full chicken three times in my life, i just never seemed to enjoy what i had cooked

Anyway, my two penn'orth. We are lucky enough to grow our own and keep hens, so eggs are never a problem, but I will not begin to presume to lecture you on how to cut your costs as I have cancer Hope that you get the all clear soon xxx and eat organic/free range all the time for health reasons. Great taste, and we can afford it (just) so we are lucky, but as others have said, you have to decide what your priorities are- at present mine are that it's more important for me to have my health than worry about what I'm spending (and I'm spending nearer £450 for a family of four - admittedly, this is for EVERYTHING - than your £250 for two so I think you're doing brilliantly!!) :T

Memory_Girl wrote: »

You can have a play with mine - love courgette pasta with my HM pasta sauce (if you want to risk eating it of course ) i didnt know you had one

I would look at bulk cooking the basics - pasta sauce, roasted veggies, ratatouille and lots and lots of soups from cheap n cheerful seasonal veggies. Create a new habit of serving a small bowl of soup as a starter every evening - you will need less as a main course. i think this is very valid and as you know something i am very interested in, its almost shameful for me to say but i never was ever taught how to cook so i dont know how to do all these things, i think i need to learn alot especially with our future plans

HM Greek yogurt with frozen berries / chopped fruit / cucumber chunks and mint (honest it makes a nice breakfast) tried HM yoghurt once, it didnt work out very well tasted chemical to me ... another thing i need to learn maybe

Make 2 - 3 main meals veggie with eggs and your basic cheese will leave you enough for meat in the other meals. So crustless quiches, veggie souffles, poached eggs on spicy peppers in tomato. all of which sound delish ... but never made quiche or veg souffle or eggs on spicy peppers ... i tell ya MG my culinary skills are really lacking

Do you like fermented foods? Things like saurkraut and kimchi are tasty and cheap (and good for you) have never tried it ... should try and give it a go sometime

What about sprouts to cut your greens bill? A tablespoon or so of sprouting seeds germinates into a whole bowl. Yep i do the seed sprouting i started just before we went on holiday so i am still learning this process ... but enjoying it so far

Use you avocado to create a salad dressing with fresh lime and a little oil or natural yoghurt - makes half and avocado stretch to feed two people IYSWIM. And buy them when on offer - you can half, destone and freeze them when cheap and they come to no harm.Now that sounds delish ... very delish in fact, how ever once again i wasnt aware that i could freeze avacado, if i can do this then i can buy it when its cheaper and freeze them for when the price goes up

I find cheap pieces of pork - make pulled pork in the slow cooker and portion out into the freezer. A baggie, some salsa, some guacamole and lettuce leaves for wraps makes a filling meal. sounds lovely , we rarely have pork, its one of those meats we just never got to grips with .. occasionally have gammon joint, and also have bacon but thats about it

I am just rambling now aren't I?:cool:Nope never ... i always appreciate the help ... ALWAYS

MG

Lurker1972 wrote: »

This is something I need to do for us (again) so have been reading the responses with interest.

A couple of years ago (when I had halfhearted attempts at budgeting) I decided we had to cut down our grocery spends - it included cleaning, occasional beer and pet stuff.

For a month I kept all our receipts, pinned to notice board, with the most recent on the top, crossing out each item as I used it. From this I realised I was buying stuff that wasn't needed that week.Thats a good idea actually ... i have a notice board in the kitchen and could maybe try this and see how i go... how do you handle deals though ?

From that, started meal planning, only buying from shopping list, using vouchers, etc. it's got out of hand again, so will be going back to basics this weekend.

The only othe thing is, have you tried a local market for veg etc? Or green grocer ( if you still have one!) we have one in neighbouring town where my mum goes...often with a list of extra bits for me. Better taste for slightly less in my opinion

thanks again everyone, i have went out today and bought some more soil and seeds and have started growing the lettuce etc again ... fingers crossed this time it works

ChocClare

Onions - they come in those orange net bags and I struggle to the car with 2 x 5kg bags - one red, one white, both ridiculously cheap. I think people are unsure about buying so many tbh. I then hang the nets up on hooks in the outhouse so they are in a draughty place but dry, and mainly in the dark. I make a hole in the net sack and fish out onions as and when. You do have to be a bit careful to have a feel round to make sure that some of them aren't starting to "go", so you may have to bring a few in and chop up to save the rest if you know what I mean. Of course, there's always the joy of being in full swing getting dinner ready and realising you're going to have to schlepp out in the pitch black with a torch on a freezing cold night because all the onions are in the cottage :rotfl:ah, the joys of rural living!

I also used to buy 20kg bags of potatoes for about £6 but they've gone up last year so I didn't bother as you've got to be careful that the last ones don't get too soft - also, as they're in paper sacks, they can get a bit damp/sprouty.

Freezing tomatoes whole-read it on a home canning website as apparently if you leave them to defrost the skins come straight off without any hassle, but I've never got that far!

As far as HM yoghurt is concerned, I have made my own using an Easiyo and I have to say that I thought their sachets were revolting - really dried milk taste, yuck. If you have an Easiyo, put two tblsps of live greek yoghurt in the bottom (I use Total), fill up with LONGLIFE FULL FAT MILK - I know, sounds disgusting, but you don't have to faff about with temperature and though longlife milk in tea is disgusting, in yoghurt it just tastes like yoghurt for some reason - put the canister in the outer shell, fill up with boiling water. Do this at bedtime and you will have very nice yoghurt ready in the morning which will thicken up still further in the fridge.

You say you're not confident in your culinary skills, but you don't sound like you're doing badly. The Good Food website is brilliant for easy recipes - for veg soup for example click here and it's worth reading the comments to get loads of ideas for variations that have worked out well for people. The "roast" chicken I suggested does not taste like a pukka roast chicken per se but it is a brilliant way to cook a whole chicken so that you end up with lots of cooked meat which you can then use in other meals - or you could strip all the meat off the bone (it'll fall off), shred it, and use it with veg and stock to make the best chicken soup in the whole world which will freeze beautifully and give you literally a dozen meals for £4-5 (or however much a chicken costs these days).

elantan

ChocClare wrote: »

Onions - they come in those orange net bags and I struggle to the car with 2 x 5kg bags - one red, one white, both ridiculously cheap. I think people are unsure about buying so many tbh. I then hang the nets up on hooks in the outhouse so they are in a draughty place but dry, and mainly in the dark. I make a hole in the net sack and fish out onions as and when. You do have to be a bit careful to have a feel round to make sure that some of them aren't starting to "go", so you may have to bring a few in and chop up to save the rest if you know what I mean. Of course, there's always the joy of being in full swing getting dinner ready and realising you're going to have to schlepp out in the pitch black with a torch on a freezing cold night because all the onions are in the cottage :rotfl:ah, the joys of rural living!

That sounds like something we can do ... we go through loads of onions every week, i tried growing them but that didnt seem to work for me

I also used to buy 20kg bags of potatoes for about £6 but they've gone up last year so I didn't bother as you've got to be careful that the last ones don't get too soft - also, as they're in paper sacks, they can get a bit damp/sprouty

i remember this from being a child, ( i have loads of siblings) we dont eat many potatoes and when we do its usually sweet potatoes

Freezing tomatoes whole-read it on a home canning website as apparently if you leave them to defrost the skins come straight off without any hassle, but I've never got that far!

Have started to look into canning, it is something i think i would like to try

As far as HM yoghurt is concerned, I have made my own using an Easiyo and I have to say that I thought their sachets were revolting - really dried milk taste, yuck. If you have an Easiyo, put two tblsps of live greek yoghurt in the bottom (I use Total), fill up with LONGLIFE FULL FAT MILK - I know, sounds disgusting, but you don't have to faff about with temperature and though longlife milk in tea is disgusting, in yoghurt it just tastes like yoghurt for some reason - put the canister in the outer shell, fill up with boiling water. Do this at bedtime and you will have very nice yoghurt ready in the morning which will thicken up still further in the fridge.

i have tried this, and i agree the easyo stuff aint good at all, thats where i got the chemical taste from, i have tried it with the greek yoghurt and milk ( although i dont think it was long life tbh) and it didnt work out at all ... will nip to the shops and try it with long life milk and see if that works

You say you're not confident in your culinary skills, but you don't sound like you're doing badly. The Good Food website is brilliant for easy recipes - for veg soup for example click here and it's worth reading the comments to get loads of ideas for variations that have worked out well for people. The "roast" chicken I suggested does not taste like a pukka roast chicken per se but it is a brilliant way to cook a whole chicken so that you end up with lots of cooked meat which you can then use in other meals - or you could strip all the meat off the bone (it'll fall off), shred it, and use it with veg and stock to make the best chicken soup in the whole world which will freeze beautifully and give you literally a dozen meals for £4-5 (or however much a chicken costs these days).

thanks ... i can say this much about my culinary skills ... i wont poison anyone ... and you wont go hungry ... but i am not by any stretch of the imagination a great cook ... hubby however is so i like to let him cook as often as poss ... no wonder i am getting fatter lol