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Eating on a budget - how do you do it????

50 replies

oldwomanwholivedinashoe · 27/05/2007 13:53

Seriously! In a recent thread posters were sayingt hey could feed a family of 4 for about £40 a week. I spend a fortune but we're trying to cut back on spending. Let me into your secrets!

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SenoraPostrophe · 27/05/2007 14:19

I like trying to add it all up in my head though. It's good mental exercise...

(sorry everyone, I think I might be a geek)

burstingbug · 27/05/2007 14:19

Nescafe coffee is the only branded item we really buy, although if we can't afford it, we just get a cheep jar.

Dottydot · 27/05/2007 14:21

Now that would do my head in!!!

oldwomanwholivedinashoe · 27/05/2007 14:23

£134 sounds loads lulumama but its only 2 takeaways a week - they are so expensive. Im stopping all that business!! im not a bad cook actually when I put my mind to it. i work and so if i dont plan ahead things go pear shaped i suppose.

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lulumama · 27/05/2007 14:25

i like a takeaway every so often , well, twice a month or so!! even if you had one a week, that would halve your takeaway bill, and you could do a tesco shop one week instead of lidl!

oldwomanwholivedinashoe · 27/05/2007 14:27

just looked in my freezer and I could probably eat for two weeks just out of there!!

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charliecat · 27/05/2007 14:33

Cheapo Pizza with your own fresh stuff(sweetcorn, onion tomatoe) on top, with coleslaw and garlic bread instead of £20 at the pizza house.

Dottydot · 27/05/2007 14:34

There you go! Make sure you put the money you save ('cos we've obviously converted you and you'll be making meal planners and eating lentils from here to kingdom come) somewhere so you can see how much you've saved - otherwise it'll just get absorbed somewhere else. (why is it always easier to give someone else money-saving advice?!)

oldwomanwholivedinashoe · 27/05/2007 14:38

i'll post new thread at end of june and let you all know how much my eating bill has totaled to. It was £600 ish last month - inc takeaways so this will be an interesting experiment.
I'll also let you know how much weight ive lost (was getting very fat from all those takeaways)

OP posts:
Dottydot · 27/05/2007 14:39

Now if you lose weight and save money I'll be very

Judy1234 · 27/05/2007 15:15

We haven't got quite to the point of cutting back on food so it's often £120 - £150 a week (we don't eat out and don't have takeaways) but it could be a lot less.

Don't take children with you shopping. Shop on line for home delivery so you're not tempted by things you see.

Try to buy basic things like carrots and chicken rather than anything processed. We have a chicken tonight and then it will do for some of us for tomorrow too.

I've not used deoderant for 45 years and don't smell. ... as far as I know. I thikn there are a lot of things people buy that actually you don't need if you are really hard up.

Do things like drink a lot of tap water.

stleger · 27/05/2007 15:37

Lidl - avoid the specials aisle or you spend all the money you have saved on something you didn't want until you saw it.

Judy1234 · 27/05/2007 16:47

One reason I stopped going to Costco - you'd save loads but then spend more than you saved on other tempting things.

akaJamiesMum · 27/05/2007 16:52

I make my own pasta sauce - those blender things are fab. Makes loads for very little and I hide all kinds of veggies in it too.

Chicken - buy a whole one - roast one day, stir fry the next and then soup. For me that justifies buying a free range chicken.

We still spend £40 - 50 a week though.

rantinghousewife · 27/05/2007 16:53

We get most of our fruit and veg from the weekly market on a Saturday and save a bundle. The veg is usually cheaper, doesn't look so mean (there courgettes are really long and chunky) and much better quality. And it's not a farmers market but a lot of the veg is local.
Organisation is (as someone else said) the key to eating cheaply. A bit of forward planning should make £40 between 4 just about doable.

Ceolas · 27/05/2007 16:53

Have a look at this thread I started last night. Lots of cheap meal ideas

berolina · 27/05/2007 17:00

Another vote for porridge - with some fruit and optional brown sugar it can make a nice evening meal/supper too.

A nice supper on hot days - potatoes, butter, cottage cheese or quark, and salad (lettuce and tomatoes, possibly a bit of red pepper).

Jacket potatoes with cream cheese/sour cream and salad

Vegetable stew with kidney beans - freezes well too.

One thing I did last week that worked really well and was cheap too: cooked penne al dente, took it out and fried it in plenty of olive oil with a few fresh tomatoes, some herbs, some odds and ends of grated mature cheese (good way to use up the annoying last remnants of a block).

Tap water as staple drink. Almost all Germans recoil at the idea of drinking tap water, instead preferring to buy and lug crates of expensive sparkling water. I find the idea bizarre - the tap water here is perfectly good - and wonder how much we save per year.

sallyheartshapedstrawberry · 27/05/2007 17:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mercy · 27/05/2007 17:20

Things like chickpeas, lentils, soya mince are all cheap, filling and nutritious.

Rice and dhal is very cheap and tasty, serve with some raita or other salad. Lassi to drink.

Some say a bread machine saves money too .

Am off to look a ceolas thread now!

ScottishMummy · 27/05/2007 17:27

big pot dinners - eg meals tht last a few days

make your own baby food

no takeouts

shop at greengrocers cheaper than supermarket

make your own cakes/bread etc

Oblomov · 27/05/2007 17:27

Xenia, Costco is the best.
I don't like Lidl. But their washing powder is brilliant and 1/3 of the price of Bold.
Pizzas are in every supermarket 2 for £3. Add a sald, how much cheaper do you want ?

Ceolas · 27/05/2007 18:38

Also, have a look at this thread. Mioau is the Queen of shopping on a budget!

bumperlicious · 04/06/2007 21:55

DH and I just got back from shopping and were really pleased with ourselves to have spent only £30 (yes, that is just for two of us, but usually spend up to £50 a week so is a good start), but just wondering about using things like lentils. DH is v dubious, what do they taste like and do you have any tips? I notice some of use them to bulk out bolognaise etc. any other ways that I can use them that will make my fussy DH eat them?!

jellyjelly · 05/06/2007 18:59

When i used to live with my partner and son and we cooked chicken we were very generous with our portion and the next day i done a stew and make stock/soup so got about 3 meal out for a whole chicken.

Now and i read a tip the other day (yes its just the 2 of us now) but I made

Roast dinner with all the trimmings (I resisted eating the thigh and breast at the same meal to save money and didnt miss it) for 2

With the thigh meat on one side i made a curry with some of the potatoes that were left over. Very nice.

Made stock with the bones and stuff.

I separated the really nice bits of chicken for another 2 meals which i have yet to make and i have enough meat from the little bits for another meal for 2.

I paid 3.99 and will get enough for maybe 9 meals. 44p a meal per person i believe and add a few veg and its about 65p each. Bargain.

TheGoddessBlossom · 05/06/2007 19:08

Lidl is marvellous. Their fridge stuff (ham, yoghurts, cheese etc) is really really nice, as is their wine!! I prefer their wipes to any others, (sorry but I could not do without wipes - the things wrong with a flannel is you have to get it wet for it to be effective, then wash it - don't have to do that with wipes and they are so portable) and their washing powder and fab con is the best I have found ever. When I line dry my washing it is as soft as if I have tumble dried if washed with their fab con, and no other brand does this. God I'm boring......

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