I'm back! Trying to spend less on food!

mumtoomany

Hello all, the fish and chips was lovely. There are some tables at the chip shop, so we are in. As we say chatting and eating, we were thinking about the last things we went for a suit down meal out, just the two of us. I think it's over 43 years ago! We've been for lots of meals out in that time, but always with children, parents, siblings, friends, etc. Felt rather strange.

The rest of the family is back. The house is full of noise again, I'd missed it. Tomorrow DD2 and her partner and son are coming for a few days, it'll be even busier.

Yesterday after the dentist, we went to get milk and a couple of loaves. First to the cash and carry for the bread. They had no 20p loaves, the cashier offered to go check in the back, but I have a few, maybe four, in the freezer. However they did have some 2kg bags of grated cheese, some were all mozzarella, some 70/30 mozzarella/cheddar. They were £2 a bag! £1 per kilo! I bought six bags. They are now bagged up, in approx 500gm bags and frozen. Also dented tins of tomatoes, 2.55kg size, £1 each, got 5; and a, same size tin, of pizza sauce for £1. Tin of coconut milk 50p, 2 lge pots of Rachel's yogurt 60p each. 6x 80 tetley Tbags, 50p each, and some welsh cheese for OH, £1.25. Then to farmfoods for milk. They had reduuced lots of cakes, biscuits, shortbread. So stocked up on some, for the pantry. After all, you can never have too many biscuits! Spent a total of £33.43

We also managed to get the other two tyres fitted.

Today we had the last of the soup for lunch. Porridge and blackberries for breakfast. Tea will be sausages, chips and baked beans. I've got one of the reduced chickens from aldi out for tomorrow.

@asparklyblonde, I've not really thought about seeds yet. I'm going to wait until the children are back at school and other grandson has gone home.

My writing seems to have gone italic above, for some reason. Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx
 

sheilavw

I too follow this thread. I'm widowed and live alone. I work full time and I take my own lunch to work. My Brother comes twice a week for tea so I try to make something like shepherds pie, chilli/rice etc. Some days I make something and have it the following day. Occasionally I will just have a jacket potato or poached eggs in the evening. Mumtoomany, you mentioned sacks of onions. I know in my local farmfoods they have massive bags really cheap

Crazycatlady2

Loved your last thread so will follow along again if you don’t mind and see what I can learn x 

mandy47

Visited Lidl this morning. First time since we moved house 12 years ago. It's a fairly new store, spotlessly clean and well stocked.
Unfortunately it works out quite a bit more expensive for me. I price compared with my usually list from Aldi, Asda and the local high street/market and it just doesn't work for me. Although I did find the middle aisle interesting.
Todays meals are things made from my stash, slow cooker casserole. Used the last of the dried thyme and my fresh thyme is looking worse for wear at the moment. But it's one less jar in the cupboard. 

ariarnia

yes. we've found before the quality of lidl is better than the cheap supermarkets but because they quite often only have not many of a kind of thing or dont have 'saver' ranges then an actual basics shop there works out more expensive. 

i like to go there for fruit and new things to try or there meat is very good if you want something a bit nicer but not special enough for the butchers. 

Tabby_cat

@mumtoomany Hello, another silent reader here. I followed with great interest, this and your last thread, as I think I've lost my oomph cooking wise and hence visit the supermarket too often. It's just too easy to mindlessly buy things so I'm going to try really hard to only go twice a week. I say twice as I walk there and go on the way back from the gym and can only carry so much each time, hence twice.

I've one question if you don't mind, how do you keep tabs on what's in your 3 freezers? I have trouble enough remembering what I have in one. Do you have a list or are you just really good at remembering. Same with your store cupboards. What's your trick if you don't mind sharing.

Good luck with your yearly budget. 

mumtoomany

Hello all, good to see you all carrying on while I'm AWOL. Been busy here, as well as the normal seven of us, DD2, DS-i-L2 and grandson 2 are here.

I cooked one of the stuffed chickens, I got from Aldi on Christmas eve for less than £1, yesterday. Served with roast potatoes, YS carrots, HG kale and gravy. Despite being quite a small chicken, it served ten of us, plenty of meat each, and enough left to pick of the bones, fro soup later in the week.

Today, i went to Tesco with DD2. Stocked up on dry goods, while i cold take advantage of the staff discount. I then made spaghetti bolognese for us all for tea.

I'll tally up the spends later and post. I need to sort my spends from DD's.

sheilavw. I've bought farmfoods onions before, when i can use DD3's discount. But often buy 20kg bags from the greengrocer. They really are massive!
mandy47, I too find Lidl quite expensive, unless I only buy reduced to clear items, It's also the most tricky to get to of our local supermarkets.
Tabby_cat, hello and welcome. Freezers. The large chest freezer in the kitchen, is kept for meat and fish, (mostly), the chest freezer in the hall, (the house is a very strange layout and the hall has a big space) is mostly frozen vegetables, fruit, bread etc. The upright freezer, part of the fridge freezer in the barn, is the "overflow" freezer, usually for extra meat when we'v had a lamb or pig slaughtered. As for knowing what's in them. I empty each one two or three times a year, then, along with a not so willing helper, make a list of everything in there. I list the three individually and group things together. I list everything in a ring file. So first page might be all chicken and chicken based foods in the kitchen, page two all pork based, as we go through page 8 might be frozen fruit, 9 frozen vegetables, etc. The file then lives on the side in the kitchen, with a pen tucked inside, and everyone id dupposed to cross of or add on items as appropriate. This mostly works. HTH.

Thanks all for reading along, hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

beckstar1975

Yayyy, so glad I found you again. Just catching up, hope the dentist visits haven't been too bad. And hurrah for you and DH going for a meal, DH moans if we don't go once/twice a year, Im genuinely not bothered and would rather go for a walk!

mumtoomany

Hi, @beckstar1975. Welcome over here. Dentists not too bad. Friday was for OH for filling that had come out. I should have been there for a check up, but they cancelled at the last minute, when I was in the building. So mine is now at lunch time today. 
We often go out and about but not to eat in anywhere. Made a nice change.

Still not worked out the Tesco shop, as been busy with a couple of sheep who died!

Hugs, mumtoomamy.xxx

[Deleted User]

So sorry about your sheep, what has happened to them?