Eating for one month on £60

Mics_chick

Yeah it's inspired me to finally get OSing too

FrugalJo

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

I got sick of throwing packs of mushrooms away (they go funny so quickly dont they)..here i pay the equivelant of £1.40 for a 300g pot - frozen have worked out at less than that for a kilo bag:T .... and for pasta, pizzas etc they are great - i just put them in a colander to drain as they defrost before i use them....

I only decided to take up the challenge when i saw Dbelle talking about it and this month i think im gonna come in well under budget:T and we are eating just as well, if not better than before... its addictive and i for one have allready decided to do it next month....

Mrs Mcawber - I know you buy frozen but to save the the fresh mushrooms going funny/slimy, when I buy the huge value box of fresh, you know covered in cling film, once opened I put a sheet of folded kitchen roll in and recover with the cling film, soaks up the excess moisture and stops them from deteriorating so fast. They last a good two weeks.

I'm working on budget for the next month now, reckon I can go to £100 for the month for the four of us and the dog. My biggest trouble is the packed lunch saga and hungry kids after school. Freezer is nearly empty now, and am looking forward to this challenge come pay day next week.

Move_To_Portugal

Wow frugal...I would love to get to less than £140 per month. Let us know how you get on.

mtp

MRSMCAWBER

Thanks for that FrugalJo

I always take the clingfilm, bags of anything as soon as i get home... but mushrooms always defeat me.... i ended up throwing 2 full boxes away in 2 weeks so i have given up - think im a bit over cautious as someone once food poissoned me with them, now i know that tip i, next time i get some fresh i will try it out :T ..

So far, doing this challenge...i have spent about the equivalent of £40... in 3 weeks - and i didnt have my usual huge stock pile of food to rely on as i had to get rid of a lot before moving over here:mad: - although i did pack up all my herbs n spices with me...i have over 60..so i wasnt wanting to replace them;) and i managed to bring a lot of my beans n pulses too - not that i have used any yet:o .... Im hoping to get away without shopping this week... have a batch of sausages i made last week in the freezer (enough for 4 meals each) , chicken portions, pork casserole.... so i am going to try and skip this weeks:D

Im lucky that there is only me and hubby, and hubby will eat what is put in front of him :T

FrugalJo

MrsMC - Your chicken portion purchase would be most welcome here, we eat a lot of it but prices aren't cheap. £40 in three weeks is brilliant. I have just scraped by without properly budgeting or planning, big mistake, overflowing cupboards for 10 days and then I struggle.

After playing with figures a bit I'm going to go with £160 for shopping this month, a lot higher than the thread is for but everything really is nearly empty ! Apart from the car lol !
The main thing is one big Tesco online shop £100ish with £60 cash only for top ups at Somerfields (get 10% staff discount too), no taking debit card anywhere.
So all though I'm not meeting the criteria for the challenge, will still follow this thread for tips.

Anyway more free apples from work yesterday so apple crumble to be made .

fairy3

Have been watching this thread with interest and have got some great ideas thanks dbelle for starting it.

Just to add another slant to the mushroom/pepper discussion, many moons ago when I was a student my mother gave me packets of dried peppers and mushrooms to add to my storecupboard as they were out of my price range. I still keep them and add to the slow cooker for chilli's stew etc handy at the end of the week.........her rule was to use fruit and veg in order,
fresh
frozen
tinned
dried
preserved

Frugaljo - your situation sounds like mine! Have 3 teens a dog, the packed lunch nightmare and after school munchie dilemma, if you do a challenge I will gladly join you.

MRSMCAWBER - you are so inspiring keep it up!

G
X

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

I love chicken...could live on it - I was getting a fresh chicken for roughly £2.10.... i was only looking for the portions for casseroles etc... so when i found them at what worked out at 5euro -about £3.50 for 10 -3kilo i was thrilled... and hubby tried it and prefers it to the whole chicken :T .. now i have a problem... i have spotted on a leaflet that comes through the door that somewhere is doing frozen ones for 3.99Euro... about £2.80 so i may have to try those :rotfl: if im doing the creamy chicken n veg with pasta -1 chicken portion feeds both of us ...which probably sounds mean... but we both are satisfied on it... and im losing weight without effort :j so if the frozen ones are nice it will be about 28p for chicken for 2.... i think at that price its cheaper than cat food :rotfl:

thankyou fairy.. i had forgotten all about those.. i have some dried porchinni in the cupboard.. i wil have to look out for the dried peppers here... i used to love them in soups as they stay chewy .....
I must admit i pretty much use up in the order you do... making soup if neccessary.. but we do eat heaps of fresh veg

Sticking to the budget you have is still great... especially with teenagers in the house;) ... my hubby will eat pretty much what is put in front of him, and has noooooo interest in the shopping bit:T ... he drives me there once a fortnight (on alternate weeks i shop in the supermarket that is under the bowling alley - where he bowls in a league) and he keeps quiet.... he has realised that if he witters in my ear it just takes me longer ..and he likes to get out of the "bad place" as quickly as possible:rotfl: .... im also lucky that hubby isnt much for snacking.. he eats his meals and once in a while will fancy cheese n biscuits or a bag of pistatios (the bag we got last week are still in the cupboard :shhh: i think he has forgot :T) saves buying any next time;)

i look forward to seeing what things you all come up with.... love new recipes... and ideas...

Good luck:D

newlywed

So where do I get frozen peppers and mushrooms from then???

I tried Aldi and Lidl and Tesco (but it's not a huge store). No Morrisons here.

MrsBartolozzi

Hi Newlywed, I get my frozen sliced peppers in Farmfoods. They have them for 69p for I think 750g (might be 1kg - not sure). They also have frozen berries for £1 which I find cheaper than fresh here and handy to keep and just throw a handfull in porridge, cakes or bun mix before baking, or in jellies which helps them to solidify quickly while giving the kids added fruit.
HTH
MrsB.

lynzpower

Hey MrsM

If your OH forgets about those pistachios, why not try pistachio chicken? theres a few different ways to do it, this way with it crusted on
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Salad-with-Pistachio-Chicken/Detail.aspx

and theres another way which I cant find the recipe for just now, but involves chopped pistachios, dried apricots, raisins as a stuffing ( great with chicken thighs, just remove bone & stuff where the bone should be) Good with moroccan veg casserole and couscous & rice!

Who says you cant be posh on a budget