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Housekeeping

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How on Earth do you cut down your food bill without buying low quality stuff and when you have 3 hungry kids, a husband and several animals?

245 replies

FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 24/01/2010 12:55

DH just looked through my spending and it is about £800+ a month on food.

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FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 28/01/2010 19:22

They are like pull-ups but for night time. The potty training pull-ups weren't absorbant enough.

I will have a look when I go to Lidl, thanks.

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FanjolinaJolie · 28/01/2010 19:27

Feel free to ask any ? about the Lidl products if I can help i'll happily do so.

I used to live in Germany and have been using Lidl regularly for about 5 years so pretty much know what they regularly have in stock.

FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 28/01/2010 19:31

Thank you.

Do they sell brands that I will have heard of and will I be able to do my whole shop there?

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ToccataAndFudge · 28/01/2010 19:38

I think I mentioned earleri that most of the "own brand" pull=ups are much more like nappies (and therefore less prone to leakage etc) than pampers and huggies seem to be.

I ended up using huggies (think it was?) for a while and they were dreadful, always leaking, never held me wee, back into Morrisons own pull-ups and we were fine again

FanjolinaJolie · 28/01/2010 19:44

Yes, mostly own brands, well European brands that you may not have heard of or seen before.

You can do about 95% of your weekly shop there, IMO. Some of the errant things that irk me are baking power/soda, soft brown sugar, yeast, bay leaves stuff like that. But all your baking basics flour/sugar/eggs etc you'll be able to get. There is a very large range of dairy products, lots of yoghurts/fromage frais/kids yoghurts/philly (the one with herbs/garlic is amazing in mashed potato) creme fraiche etc etc. Almost everything you'd want I'd say. Meat selection is limited, not sure you'll find your turkey breasts. Frozen lamb v nice, lean minced meat good. Good selection of frozen fish incl salmom pollock cod. Lobsters! Bizarrely.

Romanarama · 28/01/2010 20:07

Marking this to read in detail later as I also spend around 700 pounds a month for 2 adults and 3 dcs, not counting school lunch.

DwayneDibbley · 28/01/2010 20:27

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DwayneDibbley · 28/01/2010 20:29

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FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 28/01/2010 20:31

It is hard to compare though as some might buy all the value ranges and someone else the brands or the own brands but the nicer end - extra special range for example.

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TheBossofMe · 28/01/2010 20:55

Fab - here you go! As promised a list of seed types to try:

Courgettes - F1 Defender (F1 is a hybrid which means you can't save seed and get the same breed next year, but IME all good courgette types are F1s). Plant in either a growbag (2 plants to a bag) or in a pot about the size of a bucket. 2 plants will give you 3-4 courgettes a week for weeks and weeks and weeks! More if you are lucky. Remember to feed and water loads if you are growing in pots (I use a homemade brew from nettles, but tomato food will do, or liquid seaweed mix)

Tomatoes - try Alicante or Gardeners Delight - both easy (you can normally buy plants in garden centres if you want), and produce reliable copious yummy fruit, again for months. 2 plants to a growbag or one to a pot as above. Remember to stake them as they grow (string tied to fence and round base of plant will do). Also Suncherry is a fab cherry type. I always grow about 3-4 of each and make enough sauce to last half the year from anything I don't use fresh (cook in batches and freeze, easier than jars). Germinate in sterile yoghurt pots (use sterile compost) and plant out when big enough (about the size of your longest finger), and remember to water and feed as above. You can also save seeds of the first two types (never bother with the cherry types but I guess it would work if not F1 hybrids) - dry on a paper towel and use again next year.

Pumpkin - go for large types such as Jack of All Trades, and treat like a courgette. The plants grow up things and across ground as well, so a bit of space needed. And very easy to save seeds.

Cucumber - Masterpiece - grow as for a courgette.

Sweetcorn - go for an early type (all F1s unfortunately) - like Early Xtra Sweet. More chance of them ripening in the British summer. You need to grow a few in touching distance of each other, I grow in batches of 6, one per pot (bucket sized). 1-2 cobs per plant, but if you pick and cook within an hour, I guarantee you will be amazed!

Potatoes are easy as well - you can grow Jersey Royals in a bin (look for International Kidney seed potatoes, they are the same) - quarter fill with compost, pop 4 in, top with a bit more, another 4, bit more compost, 4 more and then a bit more compost. Feed and water well as the shoots grow, adding more compost until the bin is full as the shoots grow more and more. Once the foliage has started dying down, take potatoes out as you need them. Seriously yum.

I buy seeds online - thompson and morgan are good, as are dobies.

That should get you going! Let me know how you get on!

TheBossofMe · 28/01/2010 20:56

Oh, and I forgot to say, if you have space, plonk some rasperry canes (autumn fruiting better for not getting stripped by birds) and a blackcurrant bush or two. Remember to net them as the fruit form and enjoy!

FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 28/01/2010 20:58

Thank you .

Won't be imminent but I hope to do it soon.

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DwayneDibbley · 28/01/2010 21:02

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FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 29/01/2010 08:04

I am going to Lidl today as have run out of night nappies for DS2. I will get a pack of toujours and see how we get on. Thanks.

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FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 29/01/2010 08:06

We have fish, a snail, a cat, a hamster and 2 guinea pigs

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frazzled74 · 29/01/2010 09:37

I have been watching thread with interest as also need to cut down my shopping bill,I am going to morrisons later and am going to attempt to do 1 weeks shop for 5 with £50.(excluding toilet paper ,washing powder and pullups ,which buy from aldi)

DwayneDibbley · 29/01/2010 09:47

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heQet · 29/01/2010 09:56

You can't reduce your food bill without making compromises. Sad but true. You don't have to eat rubbish, but you can find the right places to cut costs. Household goods for example, the cheap ones are quite often just as good. Shopping at the end of the day and benefiting from the reduced section. Mixing better quality goods with cheaper ones - eg a nice cereal with a cheap one still tastes good and you have a saving of a quid or more. Same with washing powder. I mix a good one with an own brand and save about £4.

bogof offers, but 2 get one free offers - either stockpile or split with a friend.

Strict menu planning.

Seasonal fruits and veg.

big sacks of potatoes from farms - near us are doing 2 big sacks for £8. If you can't store them in a way that would keep them ok for the length of time you need, then split with a friend.

Same with farm meat. Not farm shops, which are expensive! But proper farms quite often sell meat. If you've got a big freezer you can get a whole lamb and half a pig.

For over a year, I had only £25 a week to feed 2 adults, 2 children, 4 cats and all the houehold stuff. If wasn't great, but we managed.

and it's amazing how much you think you need, but actually you can do nicely without.

FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 29/01/2010 10:46

I agree. I am really strict that I only want my children to eat good quality food with meat and fish being the priority including ham and other meats for their occasional packed lunches.

I have just been to Lidl for the first time. Had to leave and get a trolley as I didn't know they didn't do baskets. .

I bought -

Junior nappies - £3.59
Stuffing - 45p
Dishwasher tablets - £1.72
Luxury fruit muesli - £1.09
Paper - 50p
4 tins of heinz beans - £1.50
spinach - 86p.
peanuts - £1.65.
celery - 59p.
grape juice - 85p.
3 mixed peppers - 59p
seed bread - £1.34

total £14.73.

I don't know that I could do a full shop there all the time but I will definitely go next week and try. I was very confused on the brands though as I hardly recognised any!

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FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 29/01/2010 10:53

Quick comparison

lidl - 750g muesli for £1.09
waitrose - 500g muesli for £1.36

I can see myself getting a bit obsessed with this!!

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BecauseImWorthIt · 29/01/2010 15:15

It takes me ages to shop in Lidl because of the unfamiliar brands! But a lot of them are really good quality - they're continental and so not ones we're used to.

BTW, we did a research project recently on toilet paper (I have such a glamorous job!) and Lidl's premium toilet paper is fab (Floralys brand).

ToccataAndFudge · 29/01/2010 15:28

we don't have a Lidl's here

We do have an Aldi - but it's right on the otherside of the town centre from me - and when I have used it on rare occasions they never seem to have anything I'm looking for (again)

frazzled74 · 29/01/2010 15:32

this weeks meals-
roast chicken dinner
spicy bean burritos and salad
quorn curry with rice
turkey and ham pie, pots and veg
lasagne and salad
morrocan chicken and couscous
pizza
have just managed to get shopping for the ingredients for these meals plus shampoo and conditioner, biscuits and cereal,and a few lunch items.All for £49.57.

Laetissimus · 29/01/2010 15:50

bronze
That calendar is fab!! have just printed it out to use - but why is cauli so expensive now if it is in season?

ToccataAndFudge · 30/01/2010 08:27

probably expensive to put you off buying it as it's the work of the devil - brussel sprouts and cauliflower.......the 2 vegetables which I see no point in because they're horrible

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