living on a budget


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After not having much money as it is, food sucks up most of our expenses if you count the bills etc individually. Anyone know any nice cheaper alternatives to foods (iv been told Lidl do nice own brand cereals and cheaper than Asdas own that I usually buy), budget dinners etc? Any other money cutting ideas to share with everyone may be appreciated by other members - who doesn't want to save the pennies?

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She`ll go bleddy bonkers when she get home from work, recipe said put the casserole in 180 degrees, now its all over the bottom of the oven.

There was no real problem with obesity when I was a kid. My mum baked nearly every day - cakes, bread - the lot. By todays standards we should have been as fat as little pigs. But no. We cycled or

Yes but haven't you noticed although a certain faction of the "bad off" can't afford decent food etc they can afford fags, booze and sky tv on 60" 3D top of the range screens while their badly shod br

Hi Pixie,

We buy our Chickens from the CO-OP 'Two for £7.00; one to use one to freeze. Pixie, these are the closest to old fashioned crispy skin chickens i have found anywhere. When you have had your dinner, boil the carcass for about 1hr; sieve and take the meat off the bones; put it in a pan with grated carrot, swede, parsnip, a few frozen peas and a Knorr Chicken stock cube and finally simmer approx 45mins and Wallah. Nutritious, cheap Chicken soup. I have mine not thickened, but that is a personal taste. Lovely with bread dipped in the soup, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm loverly jubberly! Season to Taste.

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I live right by co op but never bothered buying chickens, Iv never cooked a whole bird before so I usually buy a cooked one from morrisons, it'll do two dinners + sarnies. But I may give it a go and cook one up for a roast one day soon!

Making pork + cider stew/casserole today, that seems to be a cheap dinner, pork was only 2 quid ready chopped and a £1 bottle of cider + a pot of plain fremarge Frey (cant spell that!) And of course a ton of veggies slapped in the pot too

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I like to roast chicken and taters in a big roasting bag.

All of the juices are retained for making the gravy, with of course your veg water.

A tip

Always remove the lumps of fat just inside the bird before cooking, there is very little fat on a chicken apart from this.

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i bulk buy a lot of my meat fresh or frozen farm foods good value then make up large pans of stews sheperds pies cheasse and potato pies eat pne that day put one in fridge for next day and freeze any others for later in single portions so we or the lads just go and get one out of the freezer when we need one . withe trays ect it works out the same as ready meals from frezer shops but better taste and quality as you can choose the things you like to go into it.

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Chickens dont have any taste anymore

Pack it with stuffing + butter or smother in herbs.

We're cutting another cost soon, canceling virgin media! Such rip offs, costing us £80 a month for all the hidden charges... Gonna save, pay one lump of money on a decent free view box and get talk talk for net and phone

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I'd say the reason chickens are bland these days is feed...

Chickens allowed to run around eat everything form seed to bugs, mice, small birds, lizards etc In batteries they only eat high protein dry food as they are egg layers, at the end of their egg laying career, usually just a few months, they are slaughtered.

Mine eat everything, but I don't have the heart to neck them......

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Fynger #9

If the CO-OP near you, have the chickens from the same source as our CO-Op, they are the only ones that remind me of the way they used to be.Not pumped up with water and very tasty, worth giving a try, you can buy one, or two for a cheaper price of £7.00.

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Virgin Media and Sky both rip offs.

Buy yourself a satellite recorder like the Humax and connect the wire from the sky dish.

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Left over Diced carrots, Peas, Frozen mixed veg, Cauli, Broccoli, Bobby beans, on their own or mixed together and covered in cheese sauce will go nicely the following day, with a Jacket Potato and salad for a cheap meal instead of throwing them away.

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Good one Carni . We do the same with Quorn minced beef . Our youngest son and his family are all vegetarians so we often use it .

We make a bolognaise sauce with all the veg you mention , first day with spaghetti and usually have enough left over to reheat and put over a baked spud for day two .

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Vegetables.....more YUCK !!!.....just meat n taters....I'm done.....not played with or spiced up.....cooked served...TA DAA !....specially fried stuff......but get limited....boooo

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Check out the bargain bins in your local supermarkets. As long as the food is in date and not contaminated, it is ok.

If you have garden, try to enlarge the vegetable patch, so you can grow more vegetables, because you don't need a large lawn,to sit on in the summer.

The best saving my wife and I made was over 20 years ago, we got rid of the TV and all that goes with it, so we now have more time to do things

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if you have a slow cooker you can buy the cheaper cuts of meat and make delicious healthy meals. I buy cheap beef roast cuts and pot roast it in the crockpot. yummy and make the gravy out of the juices. Mince is very versatile, and not just beef. Minced pork and lamb are good. Bolognaise, savoury mince in Yorkshire pud or with dumplings, meatloaf. And the cheaper cuts for stewing, casseroles or curry, are all ideal for long slow cooking. I wouldn't be without my slow cooker, which is also cheaper to use than an oven/stove. Just chuck every thing in and let it get on with it.

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I dont like Slow Cookers they use too much energy.

Buy a pressure cooker and cook food quickly over a very low heat.

For veg small amount of water is needed, and the veg cooks quicky in the steam, in a basket above the water.

Result very tender veg and veg stock to add to the gravy.

Pressure cookers can also be used to 'pressure roast' meat.

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