Armageddon food shop? what 2buy?

Lindy_-_Loo

Gailey - you can do this, I have read your posts and seen the determination.

I went into asda today and they had lots of gardening bits at least 50% off including things like growing cucumber kits at 25p.

I try to only buy clothes in the sales or from ebay.

We currently spend around £300 a month on grocereies and need to reduce it, look forward to reading everyones ideas xx

pennypusher

Hi how about going on to freecycle and seeing if anyone has any apples you could have. It's apparently a bumper year so you should be able to get some fairly easily. You may be able to get other fruit too.

Uniscots97

Gailey, I've found Aldi to be the cheapest for milk at 89p for 2 litres

hm71_2

actually farmfoods near us does 2 four pinters of milk for £1.60 and 2 loaves of hovis £1.50 if you have freezer space can be very helpful. a small saving but a saving all the same, superdrug currently have velvet and andrex loo roll on special and I think theres a 50p velvet coupon about so 9 rolls of loo rol for £2.50. and I find the £1 shop good for coffee etc...

esmf73

Plant wintering onions and veg like cauli. Check you're getting the winter ones. I picked some up in £stretcher for 25p last week

Uniscots97

Gailey for the satchel try Home Bargains or B&M. If you have a market nearby try there for fruit/veg. Also check out gumtree, I've seen some very odd offers. I know of one elderly lady who in turn for getting her dog watched one evening a week 'pays' the family that do it in a few pots of home made jam one week, pies/scones/biscuits the next.

Also check out your local paper for clothes swapping events.

kboss2010

Sorry to hear about your hubby's job. I had to save £6500 in a year to go back to uni when my job was threatened so I've been living on half of my working wage for the past 2 years in an expensive city.

My tips are:

Aldi bog roll (£1.99 for 9 rolls, just as good as Velvet brand)

Carrot and honey soup (1kg carrots, 2 onions, 2tbsp value honey, 2tsp mixed herbs, salt and pepper, 1 1/2 cups Aldi value rice and 2/3 stock cubes (10p for 10 Mr S basics) - cook until veg is soft & blend. Can also freeze.)

Farmfoods £1 frozen bacon - can be chopped and cooked from frozen, great for risottos and tomato pasta.

Tinned chopped tomatoes - great for pasta, £1 for 4 Home Bargains

Aldi value rice/pasta - less than 40p a packet

Buy loads of reduced veg (leeks, carrot, beans, onions) chop up and freeze.

Frozen Peas and broad beans are also great for risotto.

Aldi kidney beans are great for stews, chilli, casseroles etc (22p a tin)

Cheap baked beans can be added to stews or can be rinsed of tomato sauce and used as cannellini beans (cannellini beans are the beans used in baked beans but they cost about 60p a tin without tomato sauce!)

One of my favourite meals I poached egg and cheesy beans on toast.

Shortcrust pastry can be used for pies and quiches (170g plain flour, 110g cheap margarine, pinch of salt and a little water for binding). Just top a pie with pastry in a dish/Pyrex shallow bowl to save time blind-baking and for quiches I use the Hairy Dieters egg, bacon and asparagus flan egg mix and add bacon and peas or mozzarella and sliced pepper or grated cheese and onion. It's nice with salad and a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce to serve.

First-time round at uni I lived on veg stir fries. My favourite sauce was 1 tbsp light soy sauce (or 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce) + 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce. 1L bottles of sweet chilli and soy sauce can be bought for £2 from Chinese/Asian supermarkets (never buy the overpriced tiny bottles from the regular supermarkets, they're a rip-off!)

A decent non-stick wok (Ikea do them for around £7 or your local Chinese supermarket will have good cheap ones) is a life-saver for both time and money. I guarded mine with my life at uni and woe betide anyone who went near it with a metal utensil lol! Flat-bottomed woks are an essential for electric hobs and, for me, easier to use on gas hobs too.

Aldi Tresemme-style conditioner (white and red bottle) is fab, I have very long, thick hair and my hair is always shiny afterwards. It's £1.99 for around 800ml so cheap too.

"Flower shop" branded hand wash is great. You get 2 500ml bottles for £1 from Savers (comes with 1 pump and 1 screw top to re-use the pump on the second bottle). So far I've seen orange, apple and raspberry & orchid (all great but the last one smells like raspberry jubblee drinks!)

Your dentist will usually have freebie tester tubes of toothpaste at reception - whenever anyone in the family visits, grab a few. You pay enough to be there and they get the tubes for free usually. They're great for travelling/sleepovers for the teens too

calicocat

Deichman......this shop is where a lot of my friends get their kids shoes from, they say they are a good price and last better.

hm71_2

just an aside if you have a range by you they have regatta boys and girls "fresher" coats for £10 these are usually £40 waterproof and fleece lined in a variety of colours The Fresher jacket from regatta is a great choice for the windy and wet weather, britain all to often offers us. Stay warm, dry and sheltered from the wind with the Fresher Jacket. Great for out door activies, or just the walk into town.

Colour/Style
Burgundy

Product Features

• Enhanced soft handle ripstop fabric
• Durable water repellent finish
• Windproof fabric
• 250 series anti-pill Symmetry fleece lining
• PU coated fabric
• Concealed hood
• Stormflap with hook and loop
• Reflective trim to front and back
• Elasticated cuffs
• 2 zipped lower pockets
• Concealed zip entrance in lining for embroidery access

http://www.therange.co.uk/
brilliant school coats I bought a couple myself they had patterned ones in our local store.

EstherH

Hi Gailey, how are you getting on? Esther x