No idea how to get through the next month

crispycreme_2

Yes, lots of lovely meal ideas, thank you. Would enyone mind giving recipes or basic insructions for some of these? Not very good at this.

Boot sale is a perfect idea.

lushlifesaver

Nothing much else I can add I'm afraid but do jump on the March Grocery Challenge on this board once it goes up - it really helps me keep an eye to what we spend and there's always lots of helpful people around with meal idea/tips/bargain spotting etc which can really help.


We spend around £75-80 on what I would deem to be 'pure' groceries a month - so excluding any cleaning items/'treats' (chocolate basically!)/pet food etc - and this is down massively on what it has been previously. We eat a lot of meat as bf is an elite athlete so on fairly strict intake requirements and he is also rather fussy (although he is getting better - thankfully!)


I would suggest:
Looking at portion sizes - this is a good one for anyone regardless of budget. It's amazing how quickly portion sizes creep up!
Try some 'multi-meal' blocks - i.e. by bulking out mince with some grated carrots and other veggies you often lose non of the flavour but can stretch to a few extra portions for the freezer or have spag bol one night with enough left to make some chile or something similar.
Keep an eye out on these boards for when people spot special offers/discounts BUT don't buy unless it's something you will definitely use!
Sorry can't help with milk - we use a lot of semi-skimmed but can't find it cheaper than £1 for 4 pints anywhere
Toiletries - what do you use already? have you got any Boots points you could use? I have always found that the Boots essentials stuff whilst the cheapest (e.g. I used to pay 50p for shampoo) lasted ages and I always got complements. Do you usually spend a lot on these?
Soup is great to minimise veggie waste - if it starts to look a bit sorry pop it in a soup with some potatoes etc and you get some great soups which are really filling
Have some nights where you have 'soup and a pudding' these can really knock weekly food bills down especially if making your own soup and a cake can cost pennies to knock up and be a great treat!
Aldi for nappies - we are expecting our first but currently Aldi is looking like the place we will stock up on nappies as they have great reviews and are a good price (plus our neice has almost exclusively had them and she's a bonny lass - as long as we have no disagreements with them we will be getting our nappies there)

patchwork_cat

Have you got milk, butter/marg, eggs, bread, ( or enough bread flour to make a months worth?)cheese? Home made pizza once a week made with home made base. Mince with pulses can be stretched and with the pulses is still an excellent source of protein. Make Dahls, read the recipes on the grocery challenge sticky at the top of this board. Look up a girl called Jack on google. There is an old thread that became the definitive thread for people in this situation, but I can't find it atm.

paulineb_2

You have what is in the store cupboard plus 90 pounds. Certainly looks do able.

I'd make a curry with the spinach and sweet potatoes. Tuna steaks with veg and egg noodles. Soup with the frozen veg. Lentil soup. Potato wedges with steak and salad. Potato wedges and beans.

Get some leek and make leek and potato soup. Am sure I've seen a curry recipe that uses mushy peas.

Potato wedges

BitterAndTwisted

Honestly, that store-cupboard of yours is looking pretty good. I reckon with a bit of imagination you could all live off that with barely any spending at all.

This site might help you with economical recipes:

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

I think the first thing you could do is to severely limit the amount of meat. It's often the most expensive component of a meal and most adults only need about four ounces a day for health. Think about including dairy and eggs, beans and pulses for that four ounces. Or, of course, having a totally vegetarian meal a couple of times a week. You could probably get away with pasta and home-made tomato sauce (made from fresh onion and tinned tomatoes plus herbs), pasta and pesto (about a quid at L!dl) at least once a week.

~Chameleon~

Don't forget to check out Poundland (or equivalent) for toiletries and cleaning products. They also sell a fair amount of branded food too so some real bargains to be picked up. I'm sure I've seen a thread somewhere on the forum about which are the best bargains, possibly on the shopping/grocery board?

~Chameleon~

You have potatoes and flour. How about making gnocchi to add to a tomato sauce based dish rather than rice or pasta? It's very easy and cheap to make.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Gnocchi

crispycreme_2

I do have some bread, not enough for a week thouh. No cheese, well have parmesan.
A couple of pints of milk. A tub of buttter.

Its the packed lunches Im worried abogut too.

Loads of good ideas on here.I normallh get toiletries from Asda.

Like the curry idea, I have pastes and powders so sure can figure something out.
Pie, do I fry off meat then what? Cook veg, make a sauce from what? Not a very Inspirational cook.
Thinking off maybe dicing 1 gammon and frying it off with onions then mixing it with mash and herbs. Would that work, then eiher fry it off or bake it? Serve with the beans.

I have some ideas and love ghe ones on here, just not sure how to actually make them.

patchwork_cat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2116179 - read this . and this http://thriftylesley.com/ and http://agirlcalledjack.com/

crispycreme_2

Sorry, Cross posted with the last few posts. Will check out the links and also get myself over to the poundland thread. Thankyou