topic Re: lbudgetting tips please in Community Spirit

lbudgetting tips please

sue-ball — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 22:59:15 GMT

Next year we will need to live on a very strict budget.Can anyone give me sving tips ,minly for food and cleaning

.Only two of us in

Need to live on a lot less money next year.What is a good list of groceries to buy to start making cheap,meals in bulk that can be frozen and are versatile.Justhusband and i to feedThank you .

Re: lbudgetting tips please

just_me_karen — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 23:08:55 GMT

Grow your own veggies and herbs, sue, you'll save a motza 🙂

You can regrow veggies too, like spring onions. Buy a bunch, chop off all but an inch above the root, plant and watch it regrow,,,then, when you want to et them, chop off to ground level ad they'll just keep growing. It's magic 😄

Re: lbudgetting tips please

izabsmiling — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 23:18:37 GMT

Hi Sue ,

one thing I do which is a better option for the environment,our finances and our septic tanks too lol is use vinegar and bi carb for cleaning .I buy earth's choice dishwashing detergent and washing liquid at around $2 each .I find them good as well as economical .I add some bi carb and sometimes a small amount of vinegar as well if the wash is extra dirty .

Re: lbudgetting tips please

k0llectable5 — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 23:21:02 GMT

Bolognese is a great one to freeze and make in bulk. Mince is cheap and so are tinned tomatoes and tomato based sauces like passata as well as onions. Pasta is also cheap especially at aldi, lasagne sheets, penne, spirals, fettuccini, spaghetti, gnocchi.

If you buy a bag of onions a bag of carrots and a celery you have the basis of all stocks and soups, stews and casseroles etc. You can make a massive pot of veggie soup by adding whatever extra seaonal vegetables you like (beans, corn, broccoli, zucchini, kidney beans, soup mix is very cheap and you only need a little bit per pot it lasts for ages. You can use the stock as a base for casseroles and stews (keeping in mind to use the cuts of meat that are on special) Stick to the veggies that are in season, they will always be cheaper) Pumpkin soup is another one that will freeze down.

NQR (if you live near one) has some really BAD food for super cheap but they do usually have really cheap dairy like cheeses yoghurts and dips and cream, that will save you big time compared to say Coles and Safeway.

Keep your eye on the catalogue specials I sometimes save a hundred backs a shop by going to aldi, Coles, Safeway and NQR and just getting the specials. It is a little more time consuming, yes but for me it's worth it as where I live all these stores are in the vacinity of each other.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

sandypas — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 23:29:20 GMT

You can buy the cheaper cuts of meat and make casseroles - add whatever vegies are cheap and serve on rice or mashed potato. Pasta is good but you need vegies & protein to stay healthy.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

purple_haize — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 23:43:24 GMT

Use 1/2 cup of white vinegar to your washing instead of softener, makes clothes soft and also cleans washing machine as well......you dont smell the vinegar on the washing.

For stains on clothes, use cheap hairspray..........my granddaughter had *fire engine red* texta on a brand new dress..........sprayed/soaked with hair spray left for 1 minute, then put item in lukewarm, more on cold side water for 2 minutes.......my granddaughters dress came out without a trace of texta.

Works on any stain. Cheap can hairspray cheaper than washing stain remover sprays.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

sue-ball — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:07:45 GMT

thanks for all ideas ,is it economical to get a breadmaker,and what are cheapes but nourishing brekky and lunch (not soup as very hot in summer)

Re: lbudgetting tips please

*crikey*mate* — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:13:44 GMT

Hi Sue, a lot will depend on which part of the state you live in,

but foodwise there are heaps of options,

places like "super butcher" often have whole rumps for $4.99 kg, whole rib fillets $10.99 kg

buy in bulk, and you can make everything from them from roasts to mince to stir fry to steaks etc.... (rumps especially)

buy the dry food staples such as flour, rice, sugar etc in bulk places like Bidvest and make everything from scratch.

can buy Chinkies and Crocketts really cheaply from alpha packaging for portion ciontrol and freezing and storage,

Biggest hint, if your food budget is say $100 a week. Spemd $80 and put the other $20 aside to restock on the bulk stuff as it runs out

Biggest variable is fruit and veg, so either grow your own as suggested, or there are plenty of markets around.

If you're on the Gold Coast or nearish, I've even found a couple of super cheap grocery stores. They have boxes of 12 Magnums for $5 LOL But they have 1000's of food lines of "normal" name brands. Dry goods and frozen.

We do a family of 5 (3 "men", and 2 of us into all the healthy fandangled stuff which makes things a bit harder) on max $150 a week. But I make just about EVERYTHING from scratch from pasta, to mince to sausages, kiddie snacks and cakes, biscuits etc)

Re: lbudgetting tips please

k0llectable5 — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:24:09 GMT

I wouldn't go for a bread maker personally. They bags of flour and yeast are well over 12 dollars plus the power you would use running it. The loaves are an awkward shape and size IMO and cutting them evenly can be a pain from my experience with the bread. Dont get me wrong the bread is lovely straight outta the "oven" smell and taste etc, but for the price of making it vs the price of bread at bakeries and supermarkets I never found it to be all that economical.

Crumpets are cheap and a versatile brunch. You can go savoury or sweet and the topping ideas are endless. French loaves are also cheap at safeway, they can be sliced up and toasted and topped with all sorts of things aswell. when making dinner the night before be mindful to make a little extra for leftovers for lunch the next day. Warm salads are not to costly, a small amount of marinated meet on top of a big bowl of your favourite lettuce mix, tomato, cucumber, redonion, shaved carrot etc.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

polksaladallie — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 01:01:51 GMT

Don't buy food that someone else has made. Shop from the perimeter of the supermarket, not in the middle. Much cheaper.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

sue-ball — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 01:03:28 GMT

Im getting some great ideas here ,very grateful.I forgot to mention i live in a tiny town with one supermarket.Do you all find it is cheaper to make biscuits etc or do you just go without them

Re: lbudgetting tips please

imastawka — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 02:33:34 GMT

If there are only two of you, then a breadmaker is ideal.

I use mine every week, but only to do the hard work of kneading.

I set it to 'dough only' then shape it either free form or into small tins. What they call

1 large loaf can be made into 4 small loaves,plenty for two for dinner and then for

brekkie next day.

The other loaves can be frozen for later use. If you make french bread (no egg) it

works out to be about 60c loaf

Re: lbudgetting tips please

polksaladallie — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 03:36:55 GMT

@sue-ball wrote:
Im getting some great ideas here ,very grateful.I forgot to mention i live in a tiny town with one supermarket.Do you all find it is cheaper to make biscuits etc or do you just go without them

It is cheaper (and healthier) to make almost everything, although you might be limited in the ingredients given the area where you are. I don't make or buy sweet biscuits, because they are full of sugar. Occasionially I make savoury biscuits (no sugar).

See if you can find a used Sharon Lush book on cheap household cleaning without using expensive cleaners. There are some on Ebay.

Good luck in your economising, it can be done.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

purple_haize — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 03:46:53 GMT

@polksaladallie wrote:
@sue-ball wrote:
Im getting some great ideas here ,very grateful.I forgot to mention i live in a tiny town with one supermarket.Do you all find it is cheaper to make biscuits etc or do you just go without them

It is cheaper (and healthier) to make almost everything, although you might be limited in the ingredients given the area where you are. I don't make or buy sweet biscuits, because they are full of sugar. Occasionially I make savoury biscuits (no sugar).

See if you can find a used Sharon Lush book on cheap household cleaning without using expensive cleaners. There are some on Ebay.

Good luck in your economising, it can be done.

Sharon Lush is the one who says to use hair spray on stains and also to use vinegar in wash machine.......the book is really good and full of useful information.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

bright.ton42 — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 04:49:15 GMT

Have a look around this website, it's just fantastic

http://www.cheapskates.com.au/

I've got so many good ideas from it.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

k0llectable5 — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 05:07:35 GMT

Thanks for posting that link, looks like a great site 🙂

Re: lbudgetting tips please

purple_haize — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 05:39:17 GMT

There is another site as well, that is very good.

www.simplesavings.com.au

Re: lbudgetting tips please

b3llag1na — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 06:27:21 GMT

You will find that meat is just about the most expensive thing, save money by having 2 meatless meals a week - a tuna bake or pasta bake on for the meat free days usually goes down well.

Mince is cheap and very versatile, as are the stewing cuts. Another bonus with these as cutting them into small pieces means your portions can be smaller - when we were poor with 4 youngsters to feed we used lots of mince, "fat" sausages and cheap beef cuts.

The kids enjoyed things like snags in onion gravy ( slice up the snags and you can get away with 1 per person).

And we grew most of our own veggies!

Rice is a good staple - filling and also quite versatile. Buying the bulk bags when they are on special makes a meal really cheap! And it keeps for ages as long as you keep any critters out of it!

My daughter's hint is to menu plan EVERY meal BEFORE you shop - this way you only get what you need for that week's / fortnight's meals - she would plan this around the specials in the supermarket to some extent. She also planned in the snacks for each day - no wastage EVER that way!

She says bulk weetbix is a healthy cheap brekky - add a little fruit for variety.

She also used powdered milk mixed 50/50 with the real thing.

Re: lbudgetting tips please

*crikey*mate* — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 09:46:07 GMT

@sue-ball wrote:
Im getting some great ideas here ,very grateful.I forgot to mention i live in a tiny town with one supermarket.Do you all find it is cheaper to make biscuits etc or do you just go without them

we make them, and you can make a big batch and freeze extra dough in smaller portions. and just add stuff to make different flavours if you like that sort of thing.from posher ones to just plain ones.

and you can blitz up normal white sugar to make castopr sugar, (castor sugar is a lot more expensive)

pretty much butter, sugar and flour is all you need for biscuits and you can make cheap butter by overwhipping cream, just keep beating till it gets to butter, add salt if you want salted butter, but for baking, obviously don't LOL

If you can travel say once a month to a bulk place would help heaps but Bidvest do deliver to a fair few places for orders over $50, check online, they may do it for your area.

but the bulky butchers with the $4.99 rumps - butch will cut the roast off for you and slice the rest, so if you can travel into a bigger town once a month or so, that'll save you heaps.

I don't believe you need a bread maker, if you have a mix master that will mix the dough for you, and you can knead it by hand, and just put it in a bowl with a teat towel over it on your hot water system to prove it, then knock it back, prove again and then shape etc.