Frugal February

[sarah5298a1]

Frugal Living in the UK - money saving ideas, thrifty tips and recipes

 

[sarah5298a1]

farm foods frozen chicken 2 packs of 1kg chicken breasts or mini fillets for 8 quid, i use this all the time. you can cook it from frozen x

 

[broadsbean]

ohhh realy interesting thread

i did my monthly shopping yesterday spending 170 quid, there are 3 of us plus a dog and a cat.
went to cost co and filled the freezer fridge and store cupboard hoping to get away with 15 quid a week now for the rest of the month i.e till end feb payday that would bring me in at about £230
for us all probably about half the normal.

spent yesterday evening breaking packs up and have 29 days worth of main meal ingredients, i also have lentils, pearl barley dried mixed beans, chick peas, couscous and quinoe in (sp)

fresh veg wise i have parsnip, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, potatoes,BNS courgettes and broccli.

frozen i have sweet corn mixed peppers cauli peas, musy peas and a couple of bags of mixed veg

i also have a massive assorted collection of tins including tomatoes beans mushrooms tuna salmon. 12 packets of savoury rice, 9 packs of super noodles, pasta rice lasagna sheets and some smash

pretty sure nobody is going to starve in this house

sorry to bore you all with that list but you all got me thinking and i thought i would check out the cupboards as i too tend to buy things, bung them in the cupboard and forget about them this could be one interesting month while i use them all up


thanks for making me think about this guys I shall be watching how everybody gets on with interest

 

[Taniau]

For some reason I love to see what other people buy for groceries I also love to wander grocery stores when I travel. Sometimes I'll even take pictures of the packages

We did a Costco trip last weekend and I got some good stuff, but when I went to repackage it all my vacuum sealer wouldn't work. So it looks like I'll have to buy a new one. In the long run it will save money I think as the meat packs are huge!

 

[broadsbean]

For some reason I love to see what other people buy for groceries I also love to wander grocery stores when I travel. Sometimes I'll even take pictures of the packages

We did a Costco trip last weekend and I got some good stuff, but when I went to repackage it all my vacuum sealer wouldn't work. So it looks like I'll have to buy a new one. In the long run it will save money I think as the meat packs are huge!

i love costco meat cos it is always good quality, i just use ziplock bags to freeze it in the right portion size.

I like to visit a supermarket when i am abroad think it gives a really good insight into the culture ( thats my excuse and i am sticking to it )

 

[Taniau]

I haven't used ziplocks before because I have a horrible habit of buying food for the freezer, but never using it and when I do get around to seeing what's in there it's all crystallized and yucky. Hopefully using stuff in a reasonable amount of time will solve the problem

 

[icklerockchick]

I always keep some dried goods in my work bag for those days that you sleep in and forget to bring something for lunch! Being prepared really helps to stop me from being tempted to go buy junk to eat on lunchbreaks. Things like pasta n sauce, savoury rice, fat free supernoodles, cereal bars, something lowish in syns like a kitkat/curlywurly/crisps/sugarfree jelly. Also keep a bottle of squash in my locker so I don't waste money on fizzy juice.

The hardest part is learning to only buy what you need and not stock up on stuff just because it's on offer.

Lentils are great for bulking up dishes, dried beans (theres sooooo many different yummy kinds) are much cheaper than canned, frozen veg is so cheap and also I love it because no need to peel and chop it (farmfoods or iceland have a much better selection than my Asda and are mostly £1 so cheaper too)

 

[Surzy]

Some great tips coming in now. Havent been to an iceland or a farmfoods in years.... been drawn in by the easy convenient nature of j.sainsbury lol I shall pop in and have a look!

 

[Taniau]

The hardest part is learning to only buy what you need and not stock up on stuff just because it's on offer.

My husband is the worst at this! He likes to buy because "it's a good deal" or "maybe someday we'll use it", not because we actually need it.

 

[realslimlady]

I was thinking about how best I was going to do this, and I came to the conclusion that the best way to avoid overspending was to avoid the supermarket altogether. So I decided to take a little trip to Tesco tonight to stock up before starting the challenge tomorrow (pay day). We are now stocked up on toilet roll, dishwasher tablets, washing powder etc. Fridge is groaning, freezer is rammed, cupboards well stocked. We could survive a nuclear winter. So starting tomorrow, I'm not setting foot in a supermarket for the whole of Feb. We get a veg box every Friday, and if we need extra fresh stuff, bread, milk etc, I'll use the local butcher/baker/corner shop. It might cost a little more per item, but will be cheaper overall as I won't be tempted by all the other stuff in the supermarket, or fall for their sneaky subliminal selling power. And I'm cutting my budget to £100, which I am going to keep in cash in a jar.

Great challenge folks!

 

[lanugowife]

I too am going to keep the cash so it'll be easier to track. This has encouraged me to do a household monthly budget now which I showed to hubby last night & if we can make it work we should be able to save considerably more, even having budgeted for eating out twice a month etc which we rarely do with a new baby! So thank you, I hope this is the start of sensible spending for us!! x

 

[icklerockchick]

I find that doing my food shopping online saves me loads of money even though you have to pay for delivery of you go for a slot during the week rather than weekend it's usually only £2.50 or £3. Only buying what you need rather than picking up all the offers because they are a good deal and displayed all temptingly on the end of aisles! At first I thought it was lazy to do this when I can walk to asda in ten minutes but when I broke my ankle few weeks ago I had no choice and actually think I will use it a lot more now. Oh and having them lug all the heavy bags up my stairs for me is priceless lol ;-) x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[sarah5298a1]

I find that doing my food shopping online saves me loads of money even though you have to pay for delivery of you go for a slot during the week rather than weekend it's usually only £2.50 or £3. Only buying what you need rather than picking up all the offers because they are a good deal and displayed all temptingly on the end of aisles! At first I thought it was lazy to do this when I can walk to asda in ten minutes but when I broke my ankle few weeks ago I had no choice and actually think I will use it a lot more now. Oh and having them lug all the heavy bags up my stairs for me is priceless lol ;-) x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

i have started doing shopping online i plan my meals. check what i have in, then do the shopping online. i search for money off coupons and free delivery codes in google and mumsnet. i live around 10 miles away from the nearest supermarket so delivery charge is around the same price as petrol i would use. this month i am also trying to limit the unecessary drving i do eg going out just as i'm bored nearest decent shopping town 10 miles so i pay for the petrol, parking and probs shopping i don't need just because i'm bored, i have plenty that needs doing in the house, i have a 15 month old baby and a very large garden that always needs work doing so i am going to limit my shopping trips to only the necessary ones or try to go after work as i work in the area i would shop. x

 

[parfittaroles]

Well my £20 limit for me and the oh just didn't cut it I'm afraid! Just been to asda & spend just under £30 (huge improvement on the usual £60-70). I'll have to do a small shop in the week for milk & salad stuff but apart from that I think I'm sorted!

 

[ColJack]

There's me, hubby, 2 kids & a dog in our house!

so you're ok for meat then? ( it's a bit harsh though planning to eat the dog? )

 

[ColJack]

Sarah,it might be worthwhile in the long run to convert part of that large garden into a veg patch..? ( good time to dig it over now as the coming frost that's been forcast will break the clumps down.. )..
free veg and salad for the summer for a small outlay cost of seeds and time..

 

[Mrs.S.]

so you're ok for meat then? ( it's a bit harsh though planning to eat the dog? )

Lol she's a skinny dog. Not worth the effort

 

[Surzy]

Inventory .... What a hoarder!!

Freezer

4 portions of syn free home-made soup
6 pork escalopes
400g lean lamb mince
300g Quorn chicken style pieces
8 extra lean cumberland sausages
150g mathesons turkey rashers
1kg extra lean minces beef
500g unsmoked gammon joint
400g BGTYS Pork Stir Fry
400g Chicken breast
225g raw prawns
225g cooked prawns

1/2 bag sweetcorn
1 bag cabbage
1/2 bag sliced peppers
1 1/2 bags frozen peas
1 bag green beans
1 1/3 bag diced carrot/celery/onion
1/2 bag diced onion
1/2 bag chopped toms
1 bag chopped fruit topper

Cupboards and Pantry
1.5kg wholewheat pasta shapes
2 boxes lasagne sheets
315g Quinoa
700g Pearled Barley
330g Fettucini
200g giant cous cous
600g Arborio rice
700g Brown Rice
800g red lentils
500g sushi rice
2 boil in bag rice portions
1 packet AH Lentil Dhal
1 packet AH creamy spelt
4 packets low fat supernoodles
2 tomato and herb pasta and sauce
1 cheese, leek and ham pasta and sauce
1 carbonara pasta and sauce
2 mild curry savoury rice
1 garlic savoury rice
2 thai chili savoury rice
2 golden savoury rice
2 chicken and sweetcorn savoury rice (asda)
1 mild curry noodle pot shot
4 asda mighty soups
1 tube tomato puree
1 sweet and sour mug shot
350g honey
1 sm tin sweetcorn
2 lg tins sweetcorn
2 tins baked beans
2 tubs passata
1 tin chopped tomatoes
3 tins plum tomatoes
2 tins chickpeas
2 tins harricot beans
2 tins cannelini beans
1 tin kidney beans
2 tins tuna in brine
1 jar roasted red peppers
300g smash
550g dried split peas
400g soup pasta
250g cous cous
1kg sweet chili sauce
400g spiced cous cous
800g golden basmati savoury rice
350g oatmeal
20 weetabix
8 poppadums
1 kg potatoes
7 sachets of sugar free jelly
190g finn crisp original rye
8 medium onions
1 packet rice vermicelli
8 trifle sponges

 

[parfittaroles]

Crikey, you shouldn't need to get anything for a while lol

 

[Surzy]

Crikey, you shouldn't need to get anything for a while lol

I know! I can't believe how much i've got stashed! And that not including the spices/stocks etc in the pantry!