Is there a "frugal" thread on MN?

[GothMummy]

Hey everyone.

Is there a "frugal" thread on MN? Specifically on housekeeping/groceries etc?
I bet there is.. I just cant find it. Or do you all go to money saving expert.com?

thanks

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago about how much you spend on groceries every week, which was interesting. Some spending as little as £40 p.w others well over £120.
Not seen anything else recently though.....

Would be intrested in swapping ideas - anyone else?

1. Don't buy anything in the big supermarkets. Where I live, even the corner shop is cheaper. And the market is even cheaper still for fruit & veggies.

2. value tinned toms are as good as ordinary, but don't buy 'value' detergents. waste of money.

3. eat less meat

and

4)always buy your parmesan cheese in Lidl!

oh, and eco-vintage is very yummy mummy. for stockists google 'Oxfam'

and stop ironing to save electricity!

Actually the thing that really made a difference was talking too a FSA about my mortgage, and getting it on a lower rate, also extended the term while I was off on maternity leave to cut the costs down every month.
Also taking a good hard look at my credit-card debts and the interest rates.

saving a few pounds on the shopping is great and very satisfying, but nowhere near as effective as getting on top of borrowing costs in my case

Maybe we could get a frugal section.

I make double amounts of stuff like pasta bake and freeze one - then add a luxery item such as a good quality chutney which has ben on offer - that way we feel like we are being luxurious without the expense.Ive signed up to money suermarket to get e mails re offers and freebies and there are a few freebies ,plus a got a mascara from virgin vee for 2.50 - no postage !! You just have to be careful not to feel smug then and go on boden website!!!!

We use Lidl/Aldi/Netto for for half price fruit and veg, breakfast cereal (we get aldi's version of shredded wheat and no sugar/salt muesli), porridge, wholemeal pasta, tinned beans, chickpeas etc, olive oil (we decant it into a spray bottle so you use less), fresh herbs, tuna, tinned tomatoes, noodles, free range eggs, cheese, milk, plain yogurt, frozen fish, free range chicken, dishwasher powder, washing up liquid, washing powder. Then we go to Asda for unrefined sugar, wholemeal flour, brown rice, salt free pasatta, free range butter, free range butter, bread (you could make your own if you wanted to be really good and were able to get a cheap second hand bread maker or you might even get one on freecycle), spices, bouillon powder, breakfast cereal if we've been to Lidl rather than Aldi as they don't do shredded wheat or no sugar/salt muesli and other stuff you can't get in Lidl/Aldi/Netto.

I also cook big batches of food from scratch and freeze them into portions because it works out much cheaper than buying frozen ready made stuff from the supermarket, is much yummier and if you find yourself caught short one week you've always got back up meals ready to eat.

Do you have a market near you with a butchers? They usually do really good deals and you can ask advice on the cheaper cuts of meat and how to cook them.

Also 60-80% of what you eat should be fruit and vegetables. Only 20-40% should be meat/fish and potatoes/rice/pasta/bread. A lot of people get it the wrong way around and end up spending a fortune on meat.

Reading this with interest I don't live in the UK anymore and here in Spain we don't have cheap basics like we did in Scotland for example tinned toms are pretty expensive and fresh ones at the markets are not that cheap because they are a tourist attraction. It is really quite a challenge to keep my housekeeping bills down here though I do use Lidl for dairy products, biscuits, cleaning products etc

If you shop online, certain things come round on BOGOF or half price again and again.

Only buy them when they are on special offer, then then stock up.

This might help you get started!

Grab a copy of The Express newspaper (40p) every day until Friday 31 July and inside find a voucher for £5 off a £30 spend at supermarket Lidl.

The vouchers are valid from the issue day until Mon 3 Aug. One voucher per transaction.

(from MoneysavingExpert.com)

On here I read about aiming to spend a little more each week with a view to having one week where you only buy milk, bread and basic veg. You spend the extra on bogof deals etc and fill the freezer. THe idea is you save overall.