Budget

Fruitybabe

Fruitybabe

Full Member
Hi everyone... I apologise if this is in the wrong place but couldn't find it. I am finding money really tight at the minute and was wondering if anyone had any ideas for staying on plan on a tight budget. We do green mostly so any help would be greatly appreciated... starting to get really down about this :cry: and need some inspiration to stop me from just buying the cheapest stuff I can find but not on plan. Thanks in advance :)
 
hi hon..
as your already doing green i think your proberly on the cheapest plan as it were... try buying things like cereal for your HEB rather than cereal bars etc as it'l last longer.. buy frozen fruit and let defrost slightly and split into a few bags, cheaper and easy to grab.

passata can make a pasta sauce for up to 4, so if theres two of you.. that two days worth.

you can end up eating the same things etc.. but then think about it- if your buying crap, your gunna be eating the same stuff over and over too.. cause youl be buying what you know is cheap. just try and drop somthing in every now and then that you really look forward too to get you trhough the week xx
 
Thanks Fern :) I know what you mean with eating the same things... I don't mind that as long as I can stay on plan cheaply as I am so determined this time but like I said I just feel so upset at the moment. I will try those things just trying to think what meals I can make in bulk and maybe freeze them, so again any ideas gratefully received :)
 
im not very good with cheap meal ideas! - iv never got our food shop under £65 since we moved out (last jan) and thats for two of us. :O
 
It's hard tho isn't it to try and keep it low it's only recently I have had to so am hoping the friendly people here can help me. Thanks for your tips tho they will definately help me :D
 
Thanks allie :) thinking of maybe making some pasta bakes and freezing them, but what else not sure at the moment... It's always nice to hear other peoples ideas, will make it easier for me definately.
 
hi fruitbabe welcome to minimins,they sell frozen pasta dishes in iceland so must be able to freeze it, i froze some left over pasta with tomato sauce but i haven't tried it yet. good luck on ur weight loss journey :)
 
Thanks val :) everyone here is so nice it's lovely to be able to come here with a problem and see people are willing to help you :) Cool pasta bakes is definately on my list now... Not sure about red elb don't do many of them tend to stick to green but I would imagine a bag of chicken breasts would go with pretty much anything. When I buy them I get asda smartprice theres always loads in there and only £3.75 a bag.
 
Hi there

You can freeze pasta - all that happens is when re-heated its often "stodgier" -so the best bet is to make the sauce it is in runnier so it doesn't suck it all up ;) or to simply add more sauce than you would normally eat - I know this because hubby often asks for leftover pasta dishes for his flask :D

If you like I can sit this evening and dig you out some more economical recipes (I will post a list of recipes and workout the syns/he A/Bs and then you can tell me what appeals and I will add the recipes - I don't need much encouragement to think about food :p
Elb -I will dig you some red ones out too ;)
 
My other half is about to loose his job as of end of month and I know I'm quite silly with some of the things I buy so this will be helpful for me to! But my latest fave is mixed bean chilli it's cheap quick and easy and syn free on green and EE if you'd like the recipe I'll put it up for you! I keep a batch in the fridge so always have lunch/dinner ready!
A cheap red idea is beef casserole with loads of root veg, I always look for veg in the reduced place and get loads and freeze them, I got 4 of those stew bags (it has carrots, swedes, onions and potatoes) for 35p each! Made a huge stew and ate it for a week! I'm kidding but you can freeze it or keep it in the fridge for days!
 
I go to our local market on the way into work and buy all my fruit and veg and much cheaper than the supermarkets.
Try making big pans of 10 speed soup and freezing it in batches or pea and ham soup with extra veggies to bulk it out. I'm on extra easy so these are both free to me but not sure how they'd fare on other plans - sorry!
Stirfry veg is also cheap and good for filling you up. I buy a 'good' pack and a pack of 'smartprice' or equivalent for 50p or whatever it costs and half and half them.
I also buy things like soy sauce at B&M because it's so much cheaper.
Use mysupermarket.com to check out what offers are on and look at the leaflets that come through the door for any bargains - netto often do 4 packs of John West Tuna for £2 and other great offers.
I'll come back if I think of any more :p
 
its really worth sourcing out your local market actually..

last week i got 2 packs of 6 med free range eggs, a pinapple, a melon, pack of strawbs, pack of grapes and a pack of 3 peppers for £6.50 :O
 
Thanks for all your great ideas. I am amazed at your low shopping bills. I checked my spending the other day and my supermarket bills are coming to a whacking £100-£150 a week. That's for 3 people and two cats (who I am trying to wean off Whiskas sachets). Unfortunately I don't get a lot of time to shop around. Tesco and Sainsbury are my main shops. Sometimes will pop in to Lidls. Have no Asda near, would probably cost more in petrol to get there, and no market to speak of any more, more's the pity.

I can't eat too many beans or pulses give me terrible wind!!!! Think also pasta is beginning to have same effect. Sorry to be graphic!!

Offal is a good budget food - liver, especially chicken makes a good pasta sauce with tomatoes and some nice seasoning or good old lambs liver with bacon, fried onions and SW chips (YUM). Hearts are nice sliced and quickly fried (not too long or they go like rubber). Little lambs kidneys used to be eaten a lot for breakfast.

I noticed the other day that Chicken thighs have gone up, thanks to Nigella for making them trendy!!! Packs of thighs and legs are pretty cheap which can be casseroled. I expect the price for pig knuckles, another thing Nigella did a recipe for will also now skyrocket like lamb shanks did when some celebrity chef made them popular!
 
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I think batch cooking is a great idea, get a massive lasagna done and freeze it, and maybe a big chilli too? xxxx
 
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