How long can I make £187.15 last?

mumtoomany

Hi, @London_1. How are you Jackie. Good ideas again. I have to make 72 main meals, (tea every day, and dinner on Christmas day). I also need to have in enough breakfast/lunch food for the same days, so others can feed themselves. I stocked up on some supermarket essentials a month ago, DD2 has staff discount, so 10% off. 
I'm going to try to do an inventory of what i have already in the house. This is one cupboard. 9 bags of pasta, 6 packs of spaghetti, 7kgs sugar, 7 bags of flour, (SR, plain and bread), 8 and a bit tubs of gravy granules, 3 packs stuffing, some dried harricot beans over 2kgs, bag of oats, weetabix, syrup, treacle and stock cubes. 

thriftwizard

@mumtoomany, I was delighted to spot a L!dl in Haverfordwest last time I visited DS1 & his fiancée. If they've finally reached that far west there's probably one within striking distance of you, which might be worth a visit next time you're in town. Mentioning this because our local L!dl had lots of £1.50 boxes yesterday, which were basically being ignored by the other customers, because, as the till operator informed me, "there's too much stuff too close to going off for most people"... if they don't have storage, or capability to cook & eat about a kilo of soft-ish tomatoes, or 3 slightly-bruised lettuces, or preserve stuff one way or another, they won't buy them. Unlike Olio or TGTG, they're available in the mornings. It's very hit & miss, you don't know what you might find, but if you're passing anyway,  it's always worth a look.

Luckily my chickens adore lettuce! Tomato soup for us for lunch today, with vast handfuls of coriander - which for some reason, I struggle to grow.

mumtoomany

Wrong button!! Here's the picture, back with more later, mumtoomany.xx

mumtoomany

Hi, @thriftwizard, thanks. We have lidl, aldi, farmfoods, tesco, morrisons,and iceland food warehouse, in town. We also, fortunately have an independent wholesale green grocer. They do similar boxes, but for £1,( and take the empties back too). I can typically get, 20-30 apples, or 6 lettuce and a beetroot, or four cauliflower, or in summer six punnets of strawberries, etc. Not as much variety in each box, but so many people eating it doesn't matter. I also use our local cash and carry, they do good reductions, this week 4kgs of grated cheese for £10. Loaves of frozen bread are 20p.
I've made the jelly for the trifle. Stewed up three small bruised apples for apple sauce, to go with the pork that's now in the slow cooker. I've sorted the rest of the raspberries from the fridge to make some jam. Will be picking more tomorrow no doubt. 
Just having a cuppa. Then off to the polytunnel, hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

thriftwizard

Well jealous of you with that greengrocer! We do have one here, but they are a bit - well, upmarket on the price front! I happen to know they buy a lot of their supplies from our two market greengrocers, who I buy direct from, and who will often give me stuff "for the chickens" which is not saleable, but mostly perfectly edible - they get jars of any resulting preserves back, so they do know the chickens only get some of it!

mumtoomany

Didn't realise you were in Wales too @thriftwizard, the vegetable shop is in Carmarthen, if you are ever this far.
Fetched around 4kgs of carrots, ten peppers, loads of cherry tomatoes and a single spring onion, from the tunnel. Also the last of the runner beans, to just use as beans or seeds for next year. 
hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

[Deleted User]

As an aside, how do you keep your animal feed bill so low? (Looking at your signature figure) xxx

mumtoomany

Ah, the signature is very out of date!! I don't think I've updated it since around April, my bad. Most of the time we only need chicken feed, and an occasional bag of sheep nuts, to persuade them to be where we want them. The sheep have all the grass they can eat, they alternate between two fields, both around five acres each. And we cut around two acres of hay, another field, each year to supplement over winter. I think we get better winter weather than you too, so the grass grows for longer Didn't get the pigs till after this was updated, but had to buy pig nuts and barley all summer too. And of course all the feed prices have gone up!I
Have put the custard on the trifle now.
Lunch, I had left over sausage pasta bake, OH had salad and pilchards.  
Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xx

pelirocco

mumtoomany said:

Hi all. This year I've been trying to keep our shopping bill, groceries, toiletries, cleaning products, etc, at £2460, for the year. I receive £1440 from DD1, we all share a house, and add £1200 to this. I am feeding seven of us at present, DD1, her husband and their three children, myself and OH. DD1 and DS-i-L1 do buy some extras, such as bits for children's pack lunches, ready meals for when they are on long shifts and wine. I cook most of the meals, and provide other stuff, e.g.toilet roll. 
In previous years, I've managed to come pretty close to my target. However with increased prices, this year I have only £187.15 left! We won't starve if I go over, but I would like to see how near to the end of the year we can get.
I've been re-reading @weezl74 thread, living on 50p a head a day,  and thought posting might keep me accountable. We have three freezers, stuffed to capacity. Cupboards that are groaning, and still have stuff growing outside.

So to start today. OH and I had leftovers from yesterday's tea, for lunch. I had jacket potatoes and cheese, OH had leftover salad. Tea for seven is sausage pasta bake, have also put some sponge in the oven to make trifle tomorrow. No money spent today.

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

That's only £47 a week ?

mumtoomany

Hi, @pelirocco. Yes it is tight! But as well as buying reductions, and having two children with staff discount for two different supermarkets, I grow a lot of veg, some fruit, eggs, chicken, pork and lamb/mutton. 
Another cupboard for you all to look at, what interesting lives we are living! This one is the Tupperware cupboard. Cereal, opened flour, salt, brown sugar, three sorts of lentils, dried fruit, small pasta for soup, etc. As well as this I have a tub of brown rice, balsamic vinegar and cooking/olive oil. They are in the high cupboard, too high for a 5'1" lady to photograph. Will post another tomorrow, hugs, mumtoomany. xxx