MoneySaving Bake Off - how do you save money on ingredients?

Olliebeak1951

Have to admit that I mostly buy SmartPrice / Everyday Essential Eggs - and, like others have said, that is due to 'what I can afford' . However, at the charity shop where I volunteer, we have a customer who sometimes comes in with eggs from her own chooks that 'free-range' in her own large garden. £1 for 6 LARGE Eggs and they are beautiful .................... but she doesn't have enough 'spare' to keep us all going on a regular basis. When I get them, they are a REAL TREAT - medium-boiled with buttered toast soldiers :j!

Olliebeak1951

When buying 'baking ingredients', I make a list of what I want and then open the websites for the various supermarkets around where I live, so that I can check the prices to compare before going out to buy them. With a bus pass, I can get to two or three shops easily in one day ................. Tesco is half a mile away - A$DA around 2mls - Lidl also 2mls slightly different direction - Aldi around 4mls in same direction as Lidl.

I never leave shopping for ingredients until the last possible minute - that's how I end up having to pay 'full price' or 'over price' (ie local McColl's).

Today I bought Clover for 'personal use' (£2.00 for 1kg in A$DA) - ASDA Buttery spread for 'cake baking' (£1.85 for 1kg) and SmartPrice Butter for shortbread for McM Coffee Morning (£1.45 for 250gms).

I NEVER pay a lot for flour - I buy 'supermarket very basic' (45p for 1.5kg/3lbs) and make sure that I sieve it a couple of times :j. The only flour that I have to pay far more for is my 'Gluten Free Flour' - but even then, I check it out on the websites before going to get some - ranges from around £1.50 per kilo (2lbs) for Asda's own upto £1.70 for Branded in Tesco.

Wraithlady

LameWolf wrote: »

While I'm here.....
does anyone know where I can get nuts for cooking inexpensively?

Not exactly dirt-cheap, but Amazon do nuts in bulk (1 kg bags) which may be what you're looking for, or there's RealFoodSource.com (only used them once, to be fair but can't remember any problems). If you're a Costco member, they do pecans and suchlike relatively cheaply.

Personally, I wait until Holland & Barrett are having one of their penny sales which includes nuts (they don't always), then buy multiples of 2 of the larger bags of almonds etc But then again, that's mainly for baking and cereal for us.

maddiemay

Lamewolf - do you have a branch of Grape Tree that you or Mr Wolf can get to? ATM they advertise on their website 1kg of Premium mixed nuts for £9.99, they do sell on line, but the P&P is I think £5.99:eek:

My small town has an H&B and a Grape Tree, I mostly check the prices of both, including special offers on line and spend my dosh at the cheapest:D