New Year-New Moneysaving

hollydays

Sometime in the new year We are moving house and increasing our mortgage.:eek:
I have just bought a breadmaker.Just the two of us (I dont go to work anymore).46 years old.

The tips i keep reading over and over , which resonate for what i am NOT doing right at the moment are ..Breadmaker..Slowcooker..plan your meals..(I try to use "Fixture Ferrets and "My supermarket.com " and Lidl.)..freeze leftovers .. ..find out when your supermarket does its reductions..stardrops..Costco for soapowder (well ,this i do allready)..anything else.? am going to have a garden now - our dog is sooo pleased..-though its going to be veg crammed in the cottage garden bit..and a green house!!(unheated unless you tell me otherwise..what should i start to grow or prepare "land "February time? )OH NOT A natural money saver (ahem,an understatement,but is changing and trying hard!!. bless xx }

Ps I am not very familiar with all the wonders of the Oldstyle board.-.yet.Are there any threads i should regularly check out for ..inspiration-I quite like Flylady.OH scary spending ways lead me to have to pull back..x

kippers

Have a spending diary...those little things add up.

moanymoany

I found myself in a situation where I had to drastically reduce what I spent on housekeeping. I won't bore you with the process, but it started with meals such as value potatoes, made into wedgies, value eggs and value carrots, value spaghetti/pasta with value tinned tomatoes on top, topped with grated value cheese. I now cook a lot with beans, mince with dried soya mince added - as well as the former dishes.

I googles 'frugal recipes' and I've quite a collection. Also there are lots on here. Thriftlady posted a recipe for 'vegetable pancake' which I made and served with a fried egg on top and cabbage. It was cheap and delish.

My DH tells me we eat much better and much more delish things now than when we spent THREE times as much on food. All I would say is keep paring down, keep frugal recipes and try them. Use dried haricot beans as they pad out so many things and are easy to cook and freeze very well.

I adapt ordinary recipes as well. I often replace meat with beans. It works well.

good luck - enjoy your new house.

newlywed

I often pad out meat by adding extra veg.

Eg shep pie and lasagna have grated carrots, peas, sweetcorn, some red lentils too all add in to stretch it further Chilli has sweetcorn and extra red kidney beans added (sometimes lentils too).

The same with stews/casseroles etc - stretch out by adding extra veg. Made quite a difference for us and even OH who says you "need protein" at each meal hasn't complained at all.

squeaky

hollydays wrote: »

am going to have a garden now - our dog is sooo pleased..-though its going to be veg crammed in the cottage garden bit..and a green house!!(unheated unless you tell me otherwise..what should i start to grow or prepare "land "February time? )OH NOT A natural money saver (ahem,an understatement,but is changing and trying hard!!. bless xx }

Hiya,

For this part of your question you'll find lots of good practical advice on here...

Greenfingered MoneySaving

Good luck

thriftlady_2

hollydays wrote: »

The tips i keep reading over and over , which resonate for what i am NOT doing right at the moment are ..Breadmaker..Slowcooker..plan your meals

I manage without any of these things:) Whilst I'm not being particularly thrifty at the moment I can be and will be come the new year.

Breadmaker -hand baking takes less time and you can bake several loaves at once. See this thread.

Slow-cooker -great if you are out at work all day. Also good for cheap cuts of meat. However I prefer the taste of oven slow-cooking (not as economical on fuel though). They cannot be used for everything There are loads of cheap and delicious meals to be made that don't involve slow cooking.

Meal planning -this is great if you can stick to a plan as it really helps you spend less, but if you're like me and can't stick to plans try this method.