Eating well on a budget

[jimmychoos]

Inspired by Nutcracker's thread on finances I wondered whether I could pick your brains. We spend an awful lot on food and have tried to cut it down but it's really hard! We plan menus etc but I think we often cook things with expensive ingredients. So am looking for inspiration....any ideas?

shopping online is great, you only buy what you need plus i find when i go to the supermarket i think i need things and i don't. you can still take advantage of bogof's and other special offers infcat you stand more chance of getting them! tesco's have also just added a new link to there basics range which is where i now start.

the other big advantage for us is that it only takes 10-20mins whereas the weekly supermarket trek was taking 1h.

I save by shopping online too, as I am not tempted by delicious smells from bakery etc. And can do it in evening, alone, and have no car atm. Have jsut given up on organic veg delivery as it had become a bit expensive although I quite liked the variety. may go back to it. Lidl great for fruit juice and lots of other stuff but no good to me now without car.
Markets are usually cheapest fro fruit and veg but takes time.

Janstar, how much would I need to spned per bottle in Lidl to get an average but decent wine?

Lidl do huge sacks of basmati rice for £8.99. 10kg I think, which is £12.99 in Sainsburys etc

Just come back to this - fantastic! I actually do quite a lot of this already eg plan menus, stick to list etc. We do a big monthly shop at Asda and then stock up at Sainsbury's/ local shops. I am def going to try Lidl after all these positive comments.

I love Goosey's list - what I was after really were meals you can cook using the cheaper ingredients iykwim. Our main cheapo meal standby is a veggie stew with beans but is depresses me to cook it (all that CHOPPING)and then to eat it (hello? Am I a student again........?)

Message withdrawn

you lucky ladies! i've heard about aldi a few years ago from a friend and sounde really like a good shop. unfortunatelly there isn't an aldi, lindl or asda around here (at least 30min drive away from what i've found out from the internet) so i won't get to see how they're like for a while yet. i've never actually even seen -let alone set foot in an - asda shop yet and they all sound like such good value. thre isn't even an iceland around here. and all these great offers these shops have...! i usually buy things from tesco (v good quality i think) or sainsburys or waitrose(easier to get to than tesco). i had a look at the asda online shopping but it's just not at all inspiring. we must be wasting so much money not being able to go to one of these cheaper shops. damn!

Meals with cheaper ingredients:

Risotto
Sausage casserole (or frankfurters on 2-for-one offer)
Tuna rice
Stir-fry
Potato and onion bake
Potato cakes
Pancakes -- sweet or savoury
Roast chicken for sunday lunch -> chicken curry on Tuesday night --> chicken soup wednesday night
vegetarian chilli (lentils and TVP, or non-veg but heavily bulked out with the above)
Pasta with tomato sauce (onions/garlic/tinned toms/chilli flakes/anything else lying around)
Soup (pretty much any leftovers boiled up and blitzed with a blender) -- add beans/rice/pasta if too thin
Porridge (this is what I feed the kids after school on Friday when I REALLY can't be bothered. I add in any slightly squidgy fruit that needs to be used up, and let them put chocolate sprinkles on top.

Frogs, love the idea of your Friday night porridge.

Thanks, genghis. I should call it gruel really, shouldn't I, for that authentic Victorian orphan pathos...

ghengis, I can't remember the exact price of the wines I bought last week, but they were lovely Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay for around £3 a bottle. Their wines range from a pound something for fizzy light Italian stuff to five or six pounds for their most expensive.

NONSENSE! She said in Victorian school marm accent...Porridge is GOOD FOR THEM

Hah (smiles smugly)!! Just got back from scary Lidl and got a whole weeks' menu plus 8 cans of lager and 2 bottles French wine for £40! This included 3 packets of biscuits (fake jafa cakes), bacon and sausage, a ready made lasagne, fruit and frozen stuff. Baked beans for 12p - marvellous.

if you are green fingered, then u could try growing your own seasonal fruit and veggies. dont ask me about this, as i dont have agarden, but i remember rhubarb, runner beans, some tatties and things growing in my mums garden when we were kids. or a herb garden for the extra flavours u may need.

Bumpingthis thread as we have had a flyer through the door from Lidyl- halfprice fruit and veg starting from Mon 17th.

Here is another vote for Lidl. Because so much of the stuff is shipped from the continent you get, for example, Italian made tomato puree etc. It does make a difference and of course the price is brilliant. They always seem to have deals on fruit and veg which means I can buy tons of stuff rather than the supermarkets, where the fruit and veg seems to go off rather quickly.

We are on a budget that is so tight you wouldn't believe and I am too embarrassed to say, especially as a SAHM! What I do is budget but leave a few pounds spare, that way if you see something on special offer you can afford to buy it to stock up or freeze.

The only thing I regret is that I can't afford to go organic.

message withdrawn

message withdrawn

Been to Lidls this morning, spent 36 quid and got loads more than i would have at Asda or anywhere else. Our fridge is now bursting and the freezer doesn't look to bad either

Will definatly be going again.

ASDA is really good value, much cheaper than Tesco and Sainsburys.

When I have the time I shop locally, i can get enough fruit and veg for the week for us for about £5. I like the butchers as well, because I feel that I get exactly what I want and I can get the right portions.

I don't buy things unless I need them, they are not a bargin if I didn't want them in the first place!

We eat lots of pasta and sauce, jacket pots, rice and veggies...Lots of chicken as well because it is so cheap.