2 people food budget help please

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Go four the £4 4lb chicken. Roast on Sunday, one breast and stuffing! Legs on Monday. Curry on Tuesday. Add carrots, sweet corn to curry, and other veg. That then makes three more meals!

Salad and sardines on toast, waste salad not, pack up following day! Get a pack of offer biscuits to go with pack up.

Buy lots of eggs, they go with salad and are cheap!

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Oh. Keep mortgage informed. Pay what you can. I had heart attack 2012. Still in agreement. Still in arrears. My g@mble against theirs!

Bracelovers

maman wrote: »

Is some of that storecupboard /freezer stuff? Seems like an awful lot of eggs and pork for two meals.

Yes got extras bread baked beansx2 tinned toms x4 pasata x2 butter beans tea bags bag of pasta mushy peasx2 and bbq sauce:j

pigpen

Bracelovers wrote: »

Washing powder large box approx every 3 months cost £10

Freezer stock currently half pack mini chicken fillets, frozen veg, some bread, small portion chicken curry.

wash powder.. is that the 90 wash box for £10? If so.. get 2 of the 45 wash boxes.. they were £4.50 in tesco and B&M recently.. I buy 2 or 3 when I see them on offer and 1 box will last me 3-4 months.. and there are 9 of us! you don't need a huge scoop like they suggest.. I use about a tablespoon and have never had an issue with dirty clothes, even from my filthy mud-dwelling toddlers!!

chicken fillets.. buy big ones and chop them, they are cheaper and try your local butcher prices against supermarket you may find them much cheaper.

I eat 3 eggs almost every day so I can see why you need so many but that diet is very heavy on protein which is great if you're a body builder.. try more fish or some meatfree meals to balance. The recommended amount of protein is 50g per day.. that is a tiny amount!

How about homemade soups with crusty breads for lunch? Bread can be sliced and frozen and defrost 2 slices each per meal. buy reduced/slightly sad veg and make soups.. throw in lentils or a handful of pearl barley maybe.. you could make a huge pot to last all week.

Check out ApprovedFoods website.. they have some bargains to fill up your cupboards.. and try the mysupermarket app for the best deals. Amazon Pantry sometimes has bargains too.

Shops such as B&M and Home Bargains also have much cheaper lines in.. definitely worth a look.

pigpen

halogen wrote: »

Have started trying to include some salad in the shopping now as at least then I get some of the 5 a day. However salad items do go off quicker than carrots so I do throw out mouldy lettuce and tomatoes frequently. That!!!8217;s not to say I don!!!8217;t end up with mouldy carrots and onions as well.

Decent fresh stuff lasts well over a week.. keep it cool and dry and use the outer leaves of the lettuce rather than chopping off slices. Carrots freeze fairly well and can be mashed if you don't like the defrosted texture.. this is what I do, I hate defrosted cooked carrots. Lidl veg is pretty rubbish in me experience and I would recommend a decent greengrocer.

I laughed at the idea of portioning the mince as I know I would eat that all in 1 sitting- even if I portioned it. It would be take 1 portion out of the freezer, eat it. Then take the next one out and eat it too.

Then you need to authorise some self-control, being obese and having health problems is not something to be laughed about, it kills people, regularly.. I'm sorry, I am not one to molly-coddle and beat about the bush, but you know this already, you are not unintelligent.. and your dr probably tells you every single time you go!.. it is boring and not what you want to hear I know. You have people who care about you and love you and they want you to be around forever.. We can all eat until we burst if we don't stop ourselves..

Lidl little apples.. in the same offer as the other bits you got last really well and one or 2 of those chopped in a dish with a bit of yoghurt over is a quick and simple dessert.


But yes I do have a lot of stuff in the freezer that!!!8217;s been kept !!!8216;in case!!!8217; like breadcrumbs and pastry and the 10 year old brown hare that was in my aunts freezer when she died. The chances of me finding said breadcrumbs or knowing what type of pastry that mysterious pale cream lump is are nil.

So bin it... you aren't using it.. bin it and fill the freezer with stuff you will eat!

Frozen sweetcorn- its an idea though a tin is kind of a portion control device and I have to make sure there is room in the freezer 1st. Some weeks it!!!8217;s 1 out before its one in, though I guess that!!!8217;s not too bad a thing to be doing, to make sure I use stuff. Frozen fish. I could do that. I often have trouble finding things in my Lidl freezers- why do they keep rearranging?!!- actually I know it!!!8217;s so idiots like me will give up and buy the easier to find fresh stuff- but if I can find the frozen fish!!!8230;.

Frozen veg is great.. eat as much as you like.. it is cheaper than the tins and better and lasts well and will fill the space once you've chucked that food you will never use!

Pre-prepared puds- again sort of portion control. I did used to buy a big pot of yogurt which is cheaper but I ate it all in one sitting. Also I find natural youghut goes off quickly and I needed to buy jam to put in it, which also went mouldy.

You don't need jam.. pureed fruit is better and takes 2 seconds to squish. sliced banana, peaches, pear... even tinned fruit in juice.. NOT SYRUP!! lol... put fruit in a dish and pour over a bit of yoghurt.. again.. self control is paramount... if you eat half you can treat yourself tomorrow too!

Oats. Ahh yes there!!!8217;s a thing. I don!!!8217;t mind porridge, but I can!!!8217;t for the life of me make it. I just get lumpy grey water whenever I try. Also it!!!8217;s very much a breakfast thing where as cereal is an evening snack. It is rare that I have milk in the house to have with it anyway so it!!!8217;s not something I often buy- I think that was an impulse buy this week.

yoghurt can be used in oats too... look up baked oat recipes.. they are healthy, filling and delish.

As for the meat lasting 2-3 weeks. Not really no. I!!!8217;ll have either the turkey breast steaks tonight and the chicken breast fillets on Thursday (I!!!8217;m out tomorrow). So only the fish and the mince remain.

again.. portion control.. you are in control of what you put in your mouth.. stretched with veggies there is enough there to last my household at least 2 weeks

I do really enjoy baking but rarely do it now as there!!!8217;s no one to eat the results! It also creates too much washing up and it doesn!!!8217;t seem to matter how expensive the dishwasher detergent I buy, my dishwasher still doesn!!!8217;t get stuff clean. But C!!!8217;est le vie.

Try fairy detergent.. I find most leave a gritty residue and clog the pipes.. have you had it serviced recently or run it through a very hot clean cycle? It might just be clogged up with grease and food bits and not cleaning as well as it is able.. for the love of chickens, do not use soda crystals.. they do not dissolve and stick in the fat in the pipes and cause coronary arrest of the pump.. see.. too much is bad for appliances too!! (I've killed 3 dishwashers this way.. )

Cakes can be baked, and portioned and frozen.. make smaller batches.. make a big batch and give some to family/friends/neighbours.. again with pastries, most freeze really well.. I can't stand baking.. it is messy and I don't want to eat any of it anyway.

A slowcooker sound like it would be really useful for you.. chuck in a bag of pre-prepped veg and a lump of meat and turn it on.. you will have a nice healthy dinner when you get home and can make a cup of gravy when making your cuppa and eat before you go out half an hour later.. This is my go to on a Tuesday when we have school/college/dance class/work and 45 minutes to get fed and changed and back on the road.. with 4 small delay-fish.

Honestly, I don't want to offend or upset you (I sometimes do this unintentionally as I am a straight talker) and you do know all this.. Please do let people here help you be the best you can be.. xx

Bedding and plants are necessities.. easter egg, not so much

halogen

Thank you all. As my mum says I can argue the hind legs of a donkey, so on that note I'm going to try and shut up and aplogise to the OP for hijacking her thread.

Poppy1984

I really struggle to keep my shopping budget low, there's me, my teen ds with hollow legs but also super fussy and occasionally my partner.
I try to stick to £50 a week for all food, toiletries and house cleaning products. So far I've managed to keep it that low but it feels like a struggle every week.
I read all the threads on cheap meals and frugal recipes, I've got jack munroes book but I find some of the super cheap recipes aren't that cheap really. Eg her fish cakes she uses a tin of potatoes and tin of pilchards to make 8 fish cakes cheapest I could work this out for was £1.50 yet I can buy a pack of 8 frozen fishcakes for £1.45.
I'm really impressed with all of you posting that can keep your shopping bill below £40!
Following this thread for more tips

poppycracker

halogen, have you tried fridge porridge? Oats and milk (or water) in a bowl, put in the fridge before you go to bed. The oats soak up the liquid. You can add anything you want to it after that.

purpleivy

halogen wrote: »

Yes I tried that and I agree, it was just too difficult to keep it up. So now I put up with a b it of IBS symptoms in exchange for an easy life.

I found that going Gluten free wasn't the answer to my IBS. I saw an improvement when I cut out almost all grains though. Rice and Oats in any significant quantity give me symptoms. I tolerate small amounts of corn, usually a few tortilla chips, wholegrain pumpernickel type bread made with rye. Most of these are either sourdough or a mix of sourdough and yeast, so don't know if yeast is a trigger. I know that some people find that shop bread aggravates them but they are OK with HM.

The biggest difference for me has been a new probiotic on the market, MIL found info about it. Not a cheap solution, but I saw a good improvement. To support that I have been taking kefir as well. I did try to be OS and make my own, but it was rank! I tried a few ready made and found one I like. Gut flora is supposed to be a good help in the battle against IBS. I have only had it since having my gallbladder out.

Bracelovers

Hi everyone. I thought I'd update you on the situation, firstly I've only spent £132 for the month to date. I still need several things but hopefully less than £20. Also financially things are going to improve immensely I start a full time job in 4 weeks. I will continue to keep on top of the budget!