Month's worth of shopping - Any suggestions to improve?

honeythewitch

The shwartz chilli mix has very basic ingredients ....

"Wheat Flour, Potato Starch, Chilli Powder (14%)(Chilli Pepper, Cumin, Salt, Oregano, Garlic), Salt, Onion Powder, Paprika, Maltodextrin, Ground Cumin (3%), Cocoa Powder (2%), Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Powder, White Pepper"

So if you buy it regularly it might be worth making up a tub of it? The chicken and leek version would be harder to replicate because it contains "cream powder" "lemon peel powder" and "fat powder ":eek:

Gigervamp

honeythewitch wrote: »

So if you buy it regularly it might be worth making up a tub of it? The chicken and leek version would be harder to replicate because it contains "cream powder" "lemon peel powder" and "fat powder ":eek:

Well, you could sub some dried milk powder for the cream powder. Add some lemon zest at the time of cooking and if you're browning the meat first, there's your fat.

nursemaggie

Re the chicken, I bought a savers chicken it cost £2.25 and lasted us 4 meals. I could not tell the difference. I can tell the difference between that and the corn fed free range ones from the market. I usually pay less than £3 for them.

I do buy all the spices for Indian meals but I thought the half price was a treat because they do taste better. My Mr M sells them very cheaply in the Indian aisle. Works out around 4 times quantity for half the price.

You will not find cream in real Indian meals it is usually yoghurt.

recovering_spendaholic

I think you would get a lot of things on your list much cheaper at Lidl or Aldi. I like Aldi and their dried pasta is comparable to buitoni and less than half the notice. Their sweet harvest tinned tomatoes are also lovely, as is the olive oil, baked beans and their butchers choice sausages at 99p are much nicer than Richmond (IMO). If you gave an aldi near you I would urge you to give it a try!

Lizling

nursemaggie wrote: »

You will not find cream in real Indian meals it is usually yoghurt.

Cream's used in lots of Indian foods! Malai kofta, malai kulfi, ras malai etc could hardly be made without the malai! Also dal makhani's usually got cream in it, and no doubt hundreds of other things that I don't know how to cook.

honeythewitch

Lizling wrote: »

Cream's used in lots of Indian foods! Malai kofta, malai kulfi, ras malai etc could hardly be made without the malai! Also dal makhani's usually got cream in it, and no doubt hundreds of other things that I don't know how to cook.

I think Cream is generally used most in the north, isnt it? (authentic or not, most things are improved by a hefty dollop of cream)

Pollycat

Lizling wrote: »

Cream's used in lots of Indian foods! Malai kofta, malai kulfi, ras malai etc could hardly be made without the malai! Also dal makhani's usually got cream in it, and no doubt hundreds of other things that I don't know how to cook.

honeythewitch wrote: »

I think Cream is generally used most in the north, isnt it? (authentic or not, most things are improved by a hefty dollop of cream)

I agree about cream.
I have a pack of mix for butter chicken, bought from a local supermarket in India and it says to add milk & cream.

Re the OP's list - I'm a bit confused.
Some of the things on there should last more than 4 weeks, e.g.I'd never get through a bottle of olive oil in a month. BUT if I did, I'd buy a bigger one which would be more cost-effective - unless it was on special offer e.g. half price.

This is strange (at least to me):
1 Surf 5 Herbal Extracts Laundry Liquid 25 Washes £3.00
1 Surf Tropical Lily Laundry Liquid 25 Washes £3.00
1 Morrisons Colour Super Concentrated Liquid 32 Washes £2.00

2 lots of Surf wash liquid 25 washes. Why 2? Do they have to be different fragrances? Why not one bigger bottle?

Do you really do 80 washes each month, that's more than twice a day, every day.

I never pay full price for this sort of stuff. I wait until they are on offer and stock up (but then again, I do have the luxury(?) of having a lot of storage space and am not tied to a certain spend each month.

You've got
2 Hovis Medium Best of Both Loaf £2.00 in your list twice and 1 Hovis Medium Best of Both Loaf £1.00 once.
Is that 5 loaves, 3 loaves or 2?


1 Morrisons Extra Mature Cheddar Slices £1.50 - isn't this an expensive way to buy cheese?


I too think you may benefit from dropping down a brand.
I'm not sure about Morrisons but some of Tesco own brand (I don't mean the value stuff) is just as good and sometimes better than branded.

Lizling

honeythewitch wrote: »

I think Cream is generally used most in the north, isnt it? (authentic or not, most things are improved by a hefty dollop of cream)

Yes, that's right (on both accounts;) )

HappyMJ

Pollycat wrote: »

I agree about cream.
I have a pack of mix for butter chicken, bought from a local supermarket in India and it says to add milk & cream.

Re the OP's list - I'm a bit confused.
Some of the things on there should last more than 4 weeks, e.g.I'd never get through a bottle of olive oil in a month. BUT if I did, I'd buy a bigger one which would be more cost-effective - unless it was on special offer e.g. half price.

This is strange (at least to me):
1 Surf 5 Herbal Extracts Laundry Liquid 25 Washes £3.00
1 Surf Tropical Lily Laundry Liquid 25 Washes £3.00
1 Morrisons Colour Super Concentrated Liquid 32 Washes £2.00

2 lots of Surf wash liquid 25 washes. Why 2? Do they have to be different fragrances? Why not one bigger bottle?

Do you really do 80 washes each month, that's more than twice a day, every day.

I never pay full price for this sort of stuff. I wait until they are on offer and stock up (but then again, I do have the luxury(?) of having a lot of storage space and am not tied to a certain spend each month.

You've got
2 Hovis Medium Best of Both Loaf £2.00 in your list twice and 1 Hovis Medium Best of Both Loaf £1.00 once.
Is that 5 loaves, 3 loaves or 2?


1 Morrisons Extra Mature Cheddar Slices £1.50 - isn't this an expensive way to buy cheese?


I too think you may benefit from dropping down a brand.
I'm not sure about Morrisons but some of Tesco own brand (I don't mean the value stuff) is just as good and sometimes better than branded.

re: the olive oil. There is a one third bottle left after 4 weeks.

re: the washing liquid - It was on special it was cheaper getting 2 instead of a big one. re: the number of washes. The OH uses twice the recommended amount thinking that as the washing machine is full and the washing is soiled and therefore it requires more liquid. i.e you are only supposed to use a half a measuring cap to get the full number of washes as recommended on the front of pack but she is insisting the measuring cap must be full. It annoys me but she insists on using twice the amount. I will not be able to change that habit. The super concentrated was supposed to last 32 washes but it lasted only about 8 as the tiny amount recommended to use (it's only a little bit more than a tablespoon - 30ml) didn't look right to the OH for a full load of washing so she used the amount she normally used. Not buying that again. Thing is though the liquitabs average out at 35p/wash. The super concentrated liquid using 4 times the recommended amount is still cheaper at 25p/wash (£2 bottle divided by 8).

Re: the bread we buy 2 loaves per week. the 4th shop also has 1 M Signature Sunflower & Pumpkinseed Bloomer £1.00. I always buy whatever is £1 per 800g loaf.

re: the 10 slices of cheese for £1.50. It's total weight is 240g so £6.25/kg. Yes it's an expensive way of buying it but a 350g block of cheese cathedral city for example on offer at £2.00 (£5.70/kg) when that's purchased it doesn't quite get cut as thinly or evenly as the slices and therefore doesn't last as long as the slices. i.e whoever is having a slice might have 3 thickly cut slices to fit on a bit of bread rather than exactly 24 grams it will be much more. Morrison's own mature cheese is £1.75 for a 350g block so slightly cheaper. So yes I agree it's more expensive per kg but as it's evenly portioned out it should technically be cheaper per portion.

Now it just looks like I'm making excuses. It's hard changing other peoples habits and behaviours.

Pollycat

HappyMJ wrote: »

re: the olive oil. There is a one third bottle left after 4 weeks.

How big is it? Why not buy a bigger bottle to last 3 months?

Do you check SEL price per 100ml/kg etc?
I was buying wasing up liquid and there was an offer on Fairy (various volumes).
I picked 2 up (the ones with the most amount in) and said to the guy next to me who was undecided "Well, that's a no brainer' but he couldn't work it out. When I explained which was the best deal, he asked me to help him with the rest of his shopping. :rotfl:

re: the washing liquid - It was on special it was cheaper getting 2 instead of a big one. re: the number of washes. The OH uses twice the recommended amount thinking that as the washing machine is full and the washing is soiled and therefore it requires more liquid. i.e you are only supposed to use a half a measuring cap to get the full number of washes as recommended on the front of pack but she is insisting the measuring cap must be full. It annoys me but she insists on using twice the amount. I will not be able to change that habit. The super concentrated was supposed to last 32 washes but it lasted only about 8 as the tiny amount recommended to use (it's only a little bit more than a tablespoon - 30ml) didn't look right to the OH for a full load of washing so she used the amount she normally used. Not buying that again. Thing is though the liquitabs average out at 35p/wash. The super concentrated liquid using 4 times the recommended amount is still cheaper at 25p/wash (£2 bottle divided by 8).

I think you either need to change your wife's habit of using way too much liquid or go back to the non-concentrated type? This is a silly waste of money.

Re: the bread we buy 2 loaves per week. the 4th shop also has 1 M Signature Sunflower & Pumpkinseed Bloomer £1.00. I always buy whatever is £1 per 800g loaf.

re: the 10 slices of cheese for £1.50. It's total weight is 240g so £6.25/kg. Yes it's an expensive way of buying it but a 350g block of cheese cathedral city for example on offer at £2.00 (£5.70/kg) when that's purchased it doesn't quite get cut as thinly or evenly as the slices and therefore doesn't last as long as the slices. i.e whoever is having a slice might have 3 thickly cut slices to fit on a bit of bread rather than exactly 24 grams it will be much more. Morrison's own mature cheese is £1.75 for a 350g block so slightly cheaper. So yes I agree it's more expensive per kg but as it's evenly portioned out it should technically be cheaper per portion.

As you say, £6.25 per kg is not really expensive so I agree that it's probably cost-effective for sandwiches.

Now it just looks like I'm making excuses. It's hard changing other peoples habits and behaviours.

I don't think you're making excuses at all - but I do think there is scope to change things.
Start with your wife and explain the principle of concentrated wash liquid.

Answers in your quote.