Our Mortgage Free Journey

MissWillow

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa wrote: »

Just me and the hubby we officially budget £100 per month but only spend a max of 80 with the other 20 going to buy home grown meat off my mum. Out of that 80, some months I have managed 55 for the 2 of us. I go shopping close to closing time/ late evening to get the reduced stuff. For example last night I got a lettuce for 3p, bag of little oranges type thing 16p, fresh organic chickrn £2.73, couple of loafs of bread for 13p each among other things. The right day of the week at the right time and its a gold mine and you can save a fortune. Most stuff will go in the freezer anyway so doesn't matter that its best before that day and how someone can tell me that an Orange is going to go off on this particular day is beyond me.the rest of my shopping is smart price stuff. That shop should last me a couple of weeks if not the end of the month and I will just need to get milk when I run out. Spaghetti bolognese sauces I make myself with a tub of passata which works out so much cheaper than a sauce and much healthier ans tastier. What about taking sandwiches for lunch if the soup isn't working? Do you own a slow cooker? I love mine - you can buy cheaper cuts of meat stick it in with a load of veg. Even the ones that have seen better days and when you come home at night there is a tasty hot meal waiting for you. Hope this helps.

Hi Rachel, I am inspired by your grocery spend! Making the soups at home will save money, but was we needed to buy 2 soup containers last week in our normal shop the saving was wiped out. It is a good idea to make your own sauces and i am going to start doing that. We do try and buy meats sometimes when they are reduced but sometimes the saving is minimal. Buying the veg when it is close to expiring wouldn't really work for us as we need the veg for the whole week. We do own a slow cooker so i will look into what cheap meals we can do in that. Good idea! My target for this week's shop is £40-45 and i hope I won't go over. We are going to a dinner party on Sunday and will need to get a bottle of wine so that could push it back up to £50.

My TCB of £60 has been paid into my bank account and i am impressed with its speed. I still have £37 to come in from Quidco and the item I have listed on ebay is currently on £62 and not due to end until Sunday so all things that are helping me and the OH of reaching the £1200 target.

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

MissWillow wrote: »

Hi Rachel, I am inspired by your grocery spend! Making the soups at home will save money, but was we needed to buy 2 soup containers last week in our normal shop the saving was wiped out. It is a good idea to make your own sauces and i am going to start doing that. We do try and buy meats sometimes when they are reduced but sometimes the saving is minimal. Buying the veg when it is close to expiring wouldn't really work for us as we need the veg for the whole week. We do own a slow cooker so i will look into what cheap meals we can do in that. Good idea! My target for this week's shop is £40-45 and i hope I won't go over. We are going to a dinner party on Sunday and will need to get a bottle of wine so that could push it back up to £50.

My TCB of £60 has been paid into my bank account and i am impressed with its speed. I still have £37 to come in from Quidco and the item I have listed on ebay is currently on £62 and not due to end until Sunday so all things that are helping me and the OH of reaching the £1200 target.

Although you bought soup containers the savings have paid for it in the first week so any other weeks will be money in your pocket fruit ans veg will last long past their best before if stored properly I.e. out of plastic packaging and in fridge. The apples i bought at the start of last month lasted until last week, mushrooms bought 4 weeks ago have seen better days are no good for a salad but fine for casseroles/ slow cooker meals. The carrots at the bottom of our fridge don't look great but once peeled they are fine. I find meal planning useful - looking to see what needs using up so it does not get thrown away.


Well done with quido etc, I've signed up but not actually used it yet, wasn't sure if it was legit. What's your thoughts and experience?

MissWillow

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa wrote: »

Although you bought soup containers the savings have paid for it in the first week so any other weeks will be money in your pocket fruit ans veg will last long past their best before if stored properly I.e. out of plastic packaging and in fridge. The apples i bought at the start of last month lasted until last week, mushrooms bought 4 weeks ago have seen better days are no good for a salad but fine for casseroles/ slow cooker meals. The carrots at the bottom of our fridge don't look great but once peeled they are fine. I find meal planning useful - looking to see what needs using up so it does not get thrown away.


Well done with quido etc, I've signed up but not actually used it yet, wasn't sure if it was legit. What's your thoughts and experience?

Hi Rachel,

That is a good idea about taking the veg out of their plastic packaging... i haven't heard of that trick. Do you put them in something else?

In relation to Quidco and Top Cash Back they are both legit. They basicly get a kickback for sending customers through to retailers and they share part of this with the customer. I have earned about £400 in the last 12 months from doing this. for all my xmas shopping last year, I did most of it online and then used those sites to get cashback. I also do some international travel with my work and so have gotten cashback with booking hotels. Even if you don't use it much it is worth as Mr T says every little helps:) BTW they are both free to sign up to with no annual fees.

Hope this helps:)

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

MissWillow wrote: »

Hi Rachel,

That is a good idea about taking the veg out of their plastic packaging... i haven't heard of that trick. Do you put them in something else?

In relation to Quidco and Top Cash Back they are both legit. They basicly get a kickback for sending customers through to retailers and they share part of this with the customer. I have earned about £400 in the last 12 months from doing this. for all my xmas shopping last year, I did most of it online and then used those sites to get cashback. I also do some international travel with my work and so have gotten cashback with booking hotels. Even if you don't use it much it is worth as Mr T says every little helps:) BTW they are both free to sign up to with no annual fees.

Hope this helps:)

Hi Miss Willow,

Fruit and veg like to breath otherwise they sweat and go moldy so I just take them out of the packet and pop them in the fridge. Even if I buy lose (which most of the time is cheaper) they come straight out of the polothin bags that you get at the supermarket and in the fridge - think carrots, leaks, parsnips, tomatoes, lettuce, sweed, peppers, apples etc. you get the picture. The dates the supermarkets put on are @rse covering so they do not get sued - my motto is use it unless it smells funky. Most dairy you can get about a week over the date, fruit and veg is see when it goes off but if its not as firm you may need to think of an alternative meal. E.G. I have half a sweed and carrots in my fridge that have gone a bit wrinkly - cut the outside edges of the sweed and peal the carrots and they are good to use and will probably be going in the slow cooker this weekend. Bread lasts loads longer in the fridge providing its wrapped up and no air can get to it to make it go stale. Even if it does go stale you can blitz it into bread crumbs and freeze in portions and use for toppings on bakes and stuff. What sort of meals do you tend to have?

Think I will be looking on quidco before I go shopping online from now on - Thanks Miss Willow :money:

JimLad

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa wrote: »

What sort of meals do you tend to have?

As self assigned head chef of the household here are a selection of the meals we cook...


Curry - Generally a £1 Jar of sauce with some sliced chicken breast, onions and mushrooms. Served with rice and microwave popadoms. This will do us for the next days lunch too.

Lasagne - Tesco white sauce (think its £1?). Home made red sauce (25p Can of tomatos, herbs, garlic), big pack of Mince beef and a few lasagne sheets. Again this will do us for next days lunch.

Sausage Pasta Bake - 8 Sausages, Can of Tomatos, Onion, Peppers, Mushrooms. Fried up together, mixed with pasta and then baked in oven with cheese on. Again this will do us for next days lunch.

Egg fried Rice Dish - Egg fried rice with sausage / chicken and onions, peppers. soy sauce.

Meat and veg - Something like a pork chop or Chicken breast served with steamed potatos and carrots and gravy.

Sunday Roast - A whole chicken (leftovers go into the curry) with Roast potatos, paxo stuffing, steamed carrots and gravy.

MissWillow

Just got back from Mr T and we spent £27! We did however have about £5 in money off vouchers. We got reduced chicken and Coriander!

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

MissWillow wrote: »

Just got back from Mr T and we spent £27! We did however have about £5 in money off vouchers. We got reduced chicken and Coriander!

Congratulations £27 is an amazing achievement, even without the voucher £32 is brilliant. Go you :T

misscousinitt

Just wanted to pop by and say Hi and Good Luck.

MCI

MissWillow

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa wrote: »

Congratulations £27 is an amazing achievement, even without the voucher £32 is brilliant. Go you :T

Thanks Rachel, yes we were really pleased. We were quite strict on our selves and didn't buy desserts or crisps. It also helped that we were out to dinner on Sunday so we had one less day to plan for.

Thanks for all you tips:)

MissWillow

misscousinitt wrote: »

Just wanted to pop by and say Hi and Good Luck.

MCI

Thanks misscousinitt for the message. I read your diary too! It is such a great motivator reading the MFW diaries and keeping one too!