SW on very very tight budget

hi i have fallen off the wagon put on 6lbs in 5 weeks of eating whatever i wanted - stupid stupid stupid - but back on track after coming back from holiday and wanted to start, thing is i dont get paid until friday and money is tight after holiday.

so where do you get your shopping at a low cost?

i need fruit and veg, meat and pasta - doing EE by the way

Tesco do a good range of 3 for £10 packs of meat. If you get the lean mince it will make two meals. You can get 6 pork chops which you can also split into a couple of meals. Oh and you can also get a roast chicken in that 3 fo £10 deal so you can cook it off and make it last a coupe of days.

Pasta and rice is pretty cheap, especially if you buy large lags of it, lasts a long time too.

Frozen veg is always a winner, plus its cheap. We just get the cheapest tesco frozen veg, its about 90p per huge value bag of cauliflower etc.

Hope that helps xx

hey there i am the same, tesco have bactcholurs rice 3 for £1.40
pasta 3 for £2, muller light 12 for £3!!
this is what i have been living on the last week!! lol
x

I buy my fruit and veg from the local farmers market or greengrocers as I can get the exact amount I want and it tends to me better quality than the supermarket loose stuff.

For meat I check mysupermarket.com to find who's offering the best deals.

Hi, don't know if you have a morrisons nearby but they have muller lights 12 for £2 and savoury rice at 3 for £1, they also do a meat offer similar to tesco but I think you get 3 packs of meat for £9. I find their fruit and veg prices reasonable too. Something else I always buy there is their tinned mackerel, its only 69p a tin and is delicious served on top of rice or a jacket.
Good luck getting back on track

For fruit and veg check out Morrisons who often have 30p fruit/veg packs or half price offers. Also Aldi for their Super 6 - 6 items reduced for a week for around 50-70p each, e.g pack of 8 oranges for 49p. Also Lidl has offers on fruit/veg too.

All of these can normally be viewed on their websites. I'm lucky enough to have all of the major supermarkets nearby so I always check out their deals online first before buying.

Home Bargains often has lots of SW friendly stuff cheap like Pasta n Sauce, Savory Rice, Noodles, Alpen lights. Often half price of supermarkets.

HTH

x

What were you buying before because I would guess a lot of non junk foods are cheaper. I picked up a bag of apples and a bag of oranges from Aldi for 94p for both which was cheaper than a pack of variety crips. Think what you will be saving both health wise and financially by not eating rubbish xxx

I don't ever buy those 3 for £10 offers, they are usually a false economy.

Approx £10 gets me (in Asda):

1 packet of turkey mince £1.60 - serves 4 as a bolognese or 2 as 1/2 bog and 1/2 burgers
1 packet of skinless halal chicken thighs - you get approx 8 in the packet - £2.59
1 small smartprice roasting chicken £2.50 or less -cheapest I ever found was £2.17
1 pork tenderloin for approx £3 or whatever meat we fancy for roast if we had our chicken through the week.

Then I go to Tesco and buy meat free burgers (2 packs of 8 for £3) (1/2 a syn each)
A large jar of organic passata for bolognese (89p) and a pack of organic pasta twists (59p)
15 value eggs
1 pack of Healthy Living brown oatbran rolls
1 small brown loaf
1 pack of low fat sausages, whatever's on offer that week

Veg wise, if I go to a supermarket and not the veggiestore I normally get a pack of red onions, a pack of baking pots or whatever pots are on offer, and the rest of my veg I buy loose, so like 4 large carrots, a half swede, mushrooms, a butternut squash and a head of broccoli. I also get apples and bananas. If i'm feeling flush I'll get grapes too or a punnet of plums.

And I get a batch of whatever yogurts are the best offer. This week I got my 12 Mullers from Morrisons, last few weeks I've gotten the two 6 packs of mullers for £3 from Tesco. You will usually find that on any given week, you will be able to get Fuller for Longers, Activia Fat Free or Weight Watchers 4 packs for £1 in either Tesco, Asda or Iceland.

Iceland ALWAYS has Pasta n Sauce for 89p each on BOGOFF, ALWAYS. But if for whatever reason I can't get them, I go to Home and Bargain, where they are 49p each.

This week, our Asda had 8 packs of the Crosse & Blackwell chicken and mushroom pasta n sauce for £2. So I got three packs cos they last forever.

My storecupboard essentials are mainly oregano, Fry Light and all flavours of OXO. And packets of boil in the bag rice - these are great for making sure you don't go overboard on the 'free food' portion. Asda and Tesco both do an own brand version which is much cheaper than your average Uncle Ben's etc. Tins of value toms, value beans, value tuna and tins of mushy peas - don't skimp on these, buy Bachelors! I also always have to have Weetabix in the house for those times I'm rushing and don't have time to weigh, measure or cook a breakfast. The store's own brand will be perfectly tasty and cheaper too. You'll also want a jar of extra light mayo and a pot of natural fat free yogurt or fromage frais.

If I can afford something treaty I will go to Marksies and get a couple of cans of their stewed steak, syn some red wine and add button mushrooms and red onion and serve with butternut mash and broccoli. Or I'll get one of those frozen salmon roasts from Tesco in the lemon and tarragon (I think) glaze which is a fiver and free on red. Or something new and treaty from the latest SW magazine.

That should come to around £40 per week and I save a tenner for things like when the milk runs out or if we fancy something else or I come across a recipe and need some vital ingredient.

Hope that helps.

Ok i have a £20 a week budget to feed 2 of us so this is what i will buy as have already done my shopping list but dont start for 3 weeks!

fresh fruit and veg
Smartprice Pots (2.5kg) 84p
Smartprice apples 67p
Smartprice bananas £1.34
Smartprice pears 80p
Smartprice orages x2 £1.34



cereal and packets and tins
Smartprice bran flakes 78p
Smartprice spagetti in tom sauce x 3 42p
Smartprice tuna x 2 76p
Smartprice chicken rice x 2 56p
Smartprice golde nveg rice x 2 56p
Smartprice pickled onions 31p
Smartprice beetroot 24p
Smartprice pasta x3 96p



Frozen
Smartprice peas 76p
Smartprice sweetcorn 87p
Smartprice Mixed veg 67p
Smartprice broccoli 76p




Dairy
4pt milk £1.52
Smartprice cottage cheese fat free x 2 92p
Smartprice mozzerella x2 94p



meat
Smartprice drumsticks £1.67
Smartprice turkey breast steak and pieces £2.97

all for under £20!

That looks really good

If you go into Poundstretchers they have Pasta n sauce for 49p each and same of Batchlors savoury rice for the same - cheaper than the supermarket.

I would focus on green days as veggies and things like pasta rice etc are cheaper than meat. If you want a protein source stick to chicken (buy whole from halal shops, they're cheaper and they skin them for you!) and eggs. But everything fresh and whole rather than packaged and buy from local green grocers rather than supermarkets, they're a lot cheaper and you'll be buying produce that are in season.

Hi panda

i must admit i am a bargain hunter na di am one for looking at the reduced bit in morrisons, sunday morning is good for reduced stuff, specially meat etc which you can freeze, and dont be shy about buying the "economy" stuff its just as good. cheaper cuts of meat etc are brilliant in slow cooker also.
good luck
carla xxx

I am always wary of buyin reduced meat, any tips?

as long as it hasn't oxidised and gone brown should be fine. if you are going to freeze it do so the minute you get home.I usually cook it immediately and then freeze it x

wow girls thanks lots of brilliant tips, all set for food shopping tomorrow, gonna get:

pasta and tins = BM Bargains
fruit and veg = lidls
yoghurt= asda

will bring £25 cash and hope it covers me for all of this.

thank you all sooooooo much, getting head in the game now