Saving money on food my way

Battleaxe44

Allegra. as I am nearly 70, I know quite a few old fashioned ways to save money. I have done this all my life We are very comfortable and have a good life lifestyle. I am all for supporting the local farmer and trades people and against paying good money to the multinationals, when I know things can be purchased for a lot less than the prices in the supermarkets, if people would only think laterally.

When I lived in country area in NSW we formed a co-operative and bought staple food supplies in bulk, Now that was really money saving . No-one around here is at all interested in doing this, it;s the same for credit unions and saving. until I can to England our money was saved in the Credit Union and if money was needed to be borrowed or for a mortgage it was the credit union all the time.

I do clean my house vinegar, instead of buying overpriced household cleaners.

I make my own clothes and made all of my children's and grand-children's clothes, but again, buying fabric in this country is not a cheap proposition. I buy mine when I go overseas, these holidays are paid for with the money I save in other ways.

Ken68

If you take MSE shopping to its logical conclusion, shoppers would only buy the best value protein, calories etc.
Liver has already been mentioned, silly money really for maximum protein. Same with milk powder, converts at 29p per litre for three fifths of DPA.
Add in what can be grown and free foraging, well, quids in.

7_week_wonder

You seem to have got most things sussed - well done! You mentioned that no-one seemed keen to start a local food co-op. You probably know about this already, but this is a great website for finding food co-ops (it certainly found a couple local to me that I didn't know existed!)

Kirri

What a refreshing post on a board that is usually full of praise for processed crap and supermarkets! :T

Sounds like you have a fantastic farm shop too, too many are caught up in supermarkets and their pricing and sometimes stepping outside of this can be surprising in both price, quality and just an all round more pleasant experience.

maman

Kirri wrote: »

What a refreshing post on a board that is usually full of praise for processed crap and supermarkets! :T

Sounds like you have a fantastic farm shop too, too many are caught up in supermarkets and their pricing and sometimes stepping outside of this can be surprising in both price, quality and just an all round more pleasant experience.

I agree that aiming for cooking from scratch has to be good for those of us that can but can't help feeling this thread feels like 'Bragging and I'm not ashamed of it'. My way shouldn't be confused with the only way. I've learned a lot of humility on these boards. Many people eat 'processed crap' for a variety of very understandable reasons.

Kirri

maman wrote: »

I agree that aiming for cooking from scratch has to be good for those of us that can but can't help feeling this thread feels like 'Bragging and I'm not ashamed of it'. My way shouldn't be confused with the only way. I've learned a lot of humility on these boards. Many people eat 'processed crap' for a variety of very understandable reasons.

If someone is physically too ill to cook/shop etc I can understand buying in prepared food. Not sure what other reasons I can think of?? maybe if they get it free. Being on a budget it's cheaper to eat from scratch.

This thread should be seen as enlightening/inspiring. Most people on the board don't seem to think about what actually goes in what they are eating/buying/how it is produced (and probably don't care on the whole).

GemDoll

Battleaxe44 wrote: »

Hello Gemdoll,

Yes I do, it is preference thing for us. When I was married to the husband before Hobbit , we went into a holistic lifestyle, sadly he was a heavy smoker before he met me and did not have a very healthy diet, but in 20 years that improved. Sadly he died after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, but it wasn;t the cancer that killed him, it was a contributing factor, it was something else that was contaminated. All of the men at work became very ill that Friday but K was not able to fight the bacteria because his immune system had been compromised. When he was diagnosed they gave him about three months to live, but he lived a further 19 months, returned to work full time and was cleared to fly.

he also did not allow full dose radiation or chemo, we did everything holistically and his oncologist said it was because of his diet, he never had the weight fluctuation or other problems.

Ilona I understand if someone does not eat meat.. I cannot tolerate a lot of grain and if I eat pulses I am very ill, so it is for each person to make the choice. Hobbit has lost over 4 stone in weight since we have been married ( 3 years) and is far healthier for this. His diet was horrible.

The only processed food we eat is cheese, if you can call that processed. I do have at least one day a week that is meat free.

Thank you for replying. I was interest by we eat 98 % organic and sometimes I feel guilty that I could save more if we ate regular produce. I'm in remission from cancer though so I feel happier eating organic food. I wish I didn't feel guilty about price! I still want to be a money saver though. Thanks again for getting back to me.