I gave up using the e-lites. I then swopped to the liquid refillable types, and home bargains sell the liquids now, at 1.49 a pop. It lasts me 10 days. I was on nicotine free for ages, but they were a fiver, and me being a tight arse I swopped back to the nicotine liquid for less than a quid fifty :-)
I am skint because I have been terribly ill in my pregnancy and cannot work. You can plan all you like sometimes life just hits your finances. My child is very well fed clothed and loved I go without to provide food for her and when anyone "plans" to have children is their own affair Victoria Clueless your meal plan is far too complicated IMHO. Mine is (for family I eat prescription food) Breakfasts Ceral or whole meal toast Morn snack Banana or grapes Main meal Spaghettini bol Beef stew Fish fingers and home made chips Spanish chicken Pasta and sauce / tuna pasta bake Veggie cooked breakfast (all grilled or fry lite) Sunday dinner All served with salad or smartprice frozen veg A choice of smartprice fromage frais / yog or ice cream Afternoon snack Any fruit I got Tea Sandwich / baguette (either cheese / meat/ tomato Finger food like cucumber sticks or carrot sticks A couple of he crisps Apple or banana I buy squash sugar tea and coffee No choc treats or cakes in our house unless they are baked as a play activity
I panic about having the liquid in the house with kids but at that price that's v good and I am paranoid. The vapourlites are available in home bargains too
We don't have a fixed weekly/monthly budget because that would actually prevent us getting our average spend down, as we stock up when stuff is cheap. A couple of weeks ago we spent around £100 on Princes 4 packs of Tuna in sunflower oil (prefer that in sandwiches and salads. That was 63p/can before using some spend and save vouchers we had. It will last us about a year. Previously we bought £35's worth from Lidl when it was £3 for a 4 pack and we used a£5 off £35 spend voucher from Facebook, making it 65p/can. (Tesco value tuna in brine is 86p/can). When cheese was on special offer at Lidl at something like £3.40/Kg we bought £35's worth and used another of those £5 vouchers, getting it below £3/Kg. We've just bought around 100 cans of Tesco 'healthy eating' baked beans reduced by 75%. When Tesco had 'double up' on Frozen food plus £2.50 off £10 money off frozen food vouchers in their in store leaflets and Quorn was on offer we filled a freezer with it.
Out of my small early retirement pension which is our sole source of income. We have no longer have receive Tax Credits and Child Benefit as our daughter has left school (for higher education, but we still provide financial support). My wife packed in work shortly after I retired, so we're both classed as 'economically inactive'. But even now we still manage to save something each month.
So you put aside money every month and then use that to bulk buy? That's very clever I will do that. Thank you
I'm fortunate not to need to be frugal with our food - but I can't stop myself from looking for bargains or from cooking good, healthy, meals cheaply. This week I spent £10 on chicken (a large whole chicken and cheap chicken quarters) and have made 21 substantial main meal portions and 14 portions of chicken soup from it. I haven't calculated how much the veg cost but it included, potatoes, rice, home grown onions, garlic, cabbage, herbs and turnips, shop bought celery, courgettes, carrots, mushrooms, a 29p tin of tomatoes (although I still have our own in the freezer), peas, some stock cubes and a touch of spices. Plus some oil, butter, pepper and salt. I would guess that didn't come to much more than another £10. Desserts have all been made with frozen fruits from the garden. Breakfasts are usually porridge and a bit of fruit. Lunches tend to be bread, of some sort, with cheese or eggs or something else fairly simple. As I don't have to be too careful with what I spend I can, and do, buy meats and fish when I want to but tend to only buy them when they're on special offer. A little while back Sainsbury's had filleted, rolled, leg of lamb for £5 per kg. I now have a freezer full of it! Some time back there was rib of beef on manager's special at £6 per kg and I still have some of that left. The rib is being sold, at the moment at £17.40 per kg!!!
i find post like this useful as it is easy to let the budget belt slip on occasions and a thread like this reminds you to pull it back in again and gives you all ideas on how and where in places you wouldnt have thought of on your own
I've heard of people putting their slow cooker meals on in their bedroom overnight so they can turn down the heating a bit and save some money. Mrs Scrungee uses her slow cooker most days. We've 2 spare crocks for hot swapping meals (one from a failed slow cooker and another from a recycling centre). Our Remoska gets used regularly and nearly paid for itself by not having to put an oven on (except on 'baking day' once a week).
Earlier on, I made a massive pan full of pasta sauce, which will be split between freezer boxes and saved. It was made with a small amount of chorizo and two cans of chopped tomatoes, and other than that it was just all sorts I found in the fridge that probably wouldn't have got used, as it was on its last legs. That includes a couple of big mushrooms, a stick of celery, half an onion I found in there, some tomatoes that were going soft. Oh half an apple I also chucked in some herbs from the garden (rosemary and thyme). There's probably half a dozen meals worth in there (don't know yet, still waiting for it to cool before I box it up). I know it will be nice, because its more or less (apart from the half an apple ) how I'd make it anyway.
I like to buy in bulk when on sale, at the moment I am trying to make a dent in all the frozen food I have in 2 freezers , I live alone remember , next Thursday is the day for the 5 pounds off when you spend 40 pounds in Aldi coupon in the Daily Mirror, I will buy 2 papers as the voucher is valid Thursday-Thursday, buy all my normal requirements that weekend to last the month, the following Wednesday, it`s usually quieter, I shall go back and use my other voucher to top up on the things I need and get chicken thighs for the dog and myself , that alone comes to over 14 pounds, then I don`t normally need to do much shopping for the rest of the month.
Clue, please believe me but I am not having a go at you ... I am looking at things from a different perspective which may, or may not help you in your times of difficulty. We have been there and done that and lived on popcorn and not much else! Perhaps it is best that I don't make any comments regarding your lifestyle, but ... ... I would like to offer a lovely Saturday sandwich option for you and that is a hot submarine which we often have ... Take your baguette and cut it lengthwise .... spread garlic butter on the bottom half and then layer slices of salami, luncheon meat and cheese (you know the sliced ones in packs) and then yellow mustard on the top half, wrap up in foil and pop in the oven for 15 minutes till warm. Remove and slice into four and enjoy. You can also do this with tuna mayo and cheese or whatever else takes your fancy. Just a little bit different than cold sandwiches.
Sorry, I missed your post earlier. Not got anything growing yet, but I'm going to get some leaf beet (chard - bright lights) on the go soon. Its delicious, and colourful. My son loves gardening, and just the other day showed signs of the same frustration that many of us experience at this time of year, wanting to get started but can't because its still a bit early
