Can you live of basic/value/smartprice food for a month?

Penny2myName

Jacks_xxx wrote: »

Blimey. It sounds like I'm lucky my lot will eat Value mince then?

Nah, mine have the eat the value mince, once a week, we alternate over the weeks, one week spaghetti bol, another week lasagne another week pasta twists with bol sauce and mince. Plus I have to admit my daughter does like the smartprice mince and onion pies, and son likes the chicken and veg ones. tried buying different ones and they complained!!!! I have to call into tesco for my pies though as I am veggi and asda stopped doing vegetable pies..

What we do avoid is the smartprice cornflakes. there wheatbix are ok, and not any different from teh branded ones, but the cornflakes are just limp. Sad I know but before i went cafine free, i actually liked the coffee, as it was fairly mild, but wont touch the teabags.

As for dairy, cheese is ok and no different from many others on the whole. toffee yogarts my kids go nuts for, when they were on packed lunch used to just buy a full tray of smartprice toffee yougarts, think it came to £1.80 for the tray.

Have also seen my daughter go shop with her money and come back with 10 packs of 8p noodles, she loves them. But there cuppa soups are yuck.

jo1972

My kids LOVE the little pots of Tesco fromage frais, the equivalent to Petit Filous, they are only 48p for 6 I think. Plus the chocolate mousses, 4 for 35p, apparently they are better than the dearer ones

Jacks_xxx

Penny2myName wrote: »

Nah, mine have the eat the value mince, once a week, we alternate over the weeks, one week spaghetti bol, another week lasagne another week pasta twists with bol sauce and mince. Plus I have to admit my daughter does like the smartprice mince and onion pies, and son likes the chicken and veg ones. tried buying different ones and they complained!!!! I have to call into tesco for my pies though as I am veggi and asda stopped doing vegetable pies..

What we do avoid is the smartprice cornflakes. there wheatbix are ok, and not any different from teh branded ones, but the cornflakes are just limp. Sad I know but before i went cafine free, i actually liked the coffee, as it was fairly mild, but wont touch the teabags.

As for dairy, cheese is ok and no different from many others on the whole. toffee yogarts my kids go nuts for, when they were on packed lunch used to just buy a full tray of smartprice toffee yougarts, think it came to £1.80 for the tray.

Have also seen my daughter go shop with her money and come back with 10 packs of 8p noodles, she loves them. But there cuppa soups are yuck.

:wave: Sounds good honeybun!

I'm still trying to find a good cheap tea that is the coloured not grey, :eek: tastes good and doesn't leave lots of "gubbins in the bottom of my mug.

I love that our kids are getting to be so savvy with their money. Granny gave my daughter £1 "to buy a bar of chocolate" and she went to Tesco and bought a pack of 5 for that! (I was SO proud!)

This may have been instrumental in me falling off the Low Carb wagon on only day 8!

Oh well....!

Love Jacks xxx

Jacks_xxx

gibbojene wrote: »

I work in the food industry as a rep so have been in many different factories from fruit and veg to canned foods to meat etc and from the day i saw the way value mince was made i never touch value foods! Wish i could forget so my food shopping bill wasn't so high lol!

:hello: *sticks fingers in ears*

LalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaLaLalalalalalalalalaalalalal!

Can't hear you-ou! :rotfl:

Seriously though, I have to not think about any of that, and just do the best I can with what we can afford.

In two years when we are debt free it might be different, but for the time being we're making whatever sacrifices we can bear in order to pay 50% of what we earn every month towards our debts.

Hubby's even coming with me to do a carboot on Sunday and he hates carboot sales!:D

Love Jacks xxx

Jacks_xxx

jo1972 wrote: »

My kids LOVE the little pots of Tesco fromage frais, the equivalent to Petit Filous, they are only 48p for 6 I think. Plus the chocolate mousses, 4 for 35p, apparently they are better than the dearer ones

:wave: I love those too!

daphne_descends

Jacks_xxx wrote: »

I'm still trying to find a good cheap tea that is the coloured not grey, :eek: tastes good and doesn't leave lots of "gubbins in the bottom of my mug.

Hi Jacks I don't drink much tea these days so not sure what is good value (as a box lasts a looong time!) but where I used to work we only ever had Sainsbury's Red Label and this was nicer than PG Tips or Tetley or Yorkshire etc etc... IMHO

jo1972

fac73 wrote: »

Hi Jacks I don't drink much tea these days so not sure what is good value (as a box lasts a looong time!) but where I used to work we only ever had Sainsbury's Red Label and this was nicer than PG Tips or Tetley or Yorkshire etc etc... IMHO

:undecided I know I'm gonna be flamed here, but I can NOT live without M&S extra strong tea :undecided


Sorry

Jacks_xxx

fac73 wrote: »

Tesco do Value noodles that are about 8p a packet I think. I don't get them often but they make a perfectly fine quick lunch, and I think taste nicer than the expensive equivalents, like Super Noodles. The Curry flavour are nicest, yum yum.

:hello: I love 9p noodles for stretching tea when the kids come home with an extra couple of hungry little mouths to feed (or when they're just extra hungry!)

I shall have to look out for the 8p ones.

I like the curry ones as well.

Love Jacks xxx

Jacks_xxx

jo1972 wrote: »

:undecided I know I'm gonna be flamed here, but I can NOT live without M&S extra strong tea :undecided


Sorry

No flaming from me honey. Tea's really important!

It's a small simple pleasure in our day and I've been feeling a bit deprived while we've been trying out all the cheapest ones.

Our latest is one that was on special offer in Tesco. They're called Punjana and they were £1.49 for a pack of 160. I've just had the first one out of the pack and I'm cautiously optimistic!

Love Jacks xxx

daphne_descends

Jacks_xxx wrote: »

9p noodles

:eek: they have put the price up??? shows how long it is since I bought some - I usually do it in bulk, spend a couple of pounds on them and I'm good for a quarter or six months :rotfl:

Mmm, starting to fancy some tea now. I went off it early in pregnancy but I think it's growing on me again.