Frugal Friday - Bulk Buying

Saving time and Money

When I can, I buy in bulk, if it works out cheaper to. Sometimes you can get brand named goods for a better deal by buying in bulk. I will travel to a large store called Macro once a month, if I can combine it with another trip, and stock up on some of the essentials we use on a regular basis.

However, even here I take my calculator and work out what is the best deal and if I am actually paying more than I would at Lidls. 

Never just assume.

I avoid end of aisle offers nearly all the time now. There is almost always a better deal to be had further down the aisle.

Highland Spring - worked out at 25p a bottle

Vanish - Buy one get one free £5.99 each

£3.99

Sports Drinks for tennis tournaments - these are £1.20 individually at our Sports Club. I got 12 for £6.99

£9.99

£4.99 for 24

I won't bore you with photos of all my shopping, but you get the idea! The pennies I save grow into pounds and so on. My biggest issue at the moment is storing things so I am having to limit how much I do actually bulk buy. Usually at the start of the school summer holidays I would stock up ad fill the freezers too so I don't have to go shopping much over the holidays. I'm not sure what my strategy is yet this year with builders to share the summer with ....

....just survive and get through I think!

Design ©2012 Another New Day

www.takingachanceinlife.blogspot.uk 2012 - 2013

All personal images are owned by Another New Day

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Frugal Friday

Spending what you earn on what YOU want

I have been so touched by the number of e.mails I have got recently from people commenting and thanking me for my posts I have done on budgets and meal plans etc. I have had people saying that they have changed the way they shop and saved themselves a load of money in the process. Fabulous stuff!

 It has been really encouraging to receive such lovely feedback -  thank you.

One lady who has contacted me recently to say Hi and talk blogs has started her own blog, Sheepskins and Fairylights , pop over and say Hi and leave her some encouraging comments. She gets up to some great adventures and takes some beautiful photos too. 

I realise that my blog is a bit eclectic - a  mish mash of things, but the common theme is always getting a better deal. We all like to make the most of our money. It is not about being cheap or about buying cheap. I like to get quality items for a good deal. I am quite happy to spend money on a designer handbag - if it is something I adore and have saved for and will cherish for years to come. I'd rather do that than buy 20 cheaper ones that I will discard when they break in a few months! Here is a post on when spending more is sometimes the better route!

It is about choice. 

I chose this MK watch for my birthday - I will cherish it for years to come!

It is my money and I want to have the choice about where and how to spend my disposable cash ( what is left after the bills!)

Here are some of my thoughts:

Clothes 

I've learnt the hard way with clothes that less is more (!) It is no use buying a load of tat in the sales because it is cheap. It is usually cheap for a reason. I like to save my money now and spend it on the things I really want. I am much more reasoned about my spending and will look in stores and then often order online where there are vouchers and deals to be found. I often set myself a target for a particular more expensive item , then sell things on e.bay or at car boots to help fund the purchase. Here are some of my tips in a previous post.

Latest Car Boot - to fund items for the new kitchen!

 A Gap dress from a Charity Shop

Beauty

I am learning with my beauty items. I have an obsession with taking care of my skin and do spend money on good quality cleansers and moisturisers. However, there are deals to be had in the drugstores on make up products with some amazingly good dupes for branded products.

Mua Palettes from Superdrug - great value

Beauty Blender Dupe

Groceries

This is where I find I can really go to town and beat the retailers. I've learnt a few of their tricks to get us to spend more and I refuse to be drawn in. I have a large, hungry family and to feed them well and within a budget I follow some basic rules that you can read about here and here.

We are choosing to be careful about how much extra we spend at the moment as we are having a rather large extension built. We have saved ( and saved) for this, but it is never enough is it? I may light heartedly moan about cash flow, but I am delighted where our money is going. I have waited a long time for this ! It was the push to return to work that I needed and I am loving it. The money has certainly been needed.

So to my lovely encouragers - thank you! I shall continue to witter on. This is my little corner to let out some of the frenetic muddle that is whizzing round my brain. 

Thank you for reading and for responding . 
XXX

Design ©2012 Another New Day

www.takingachanceinlife.blogspot.uk 2012 - 2013

All personal images are owned by Another New Day

unless stated otherwise.

Images may not be downloaded,manipulated or reproduced without prior written permission. All rights are reserved.

Commercial or Private use without explicit written consent is prohibited and action will be taken through UK and worldwide copyright laws.

Feeding a family on a budget

Frugal Friday

Planned Leftovers

As you know we are going through the process of having some work done to our house .  The work is fairly extensive and is affecting the way that I feed my family. We had out gas cut off at the beginning of the build seven weeks ago and as my cooker had a gas hob I am only left with a one ring, plug in induction hob from Lakeland. The small ( one shelf)  electric oven is still working and I have a microwave and slow cooker.

Someone called it posh camping!

It is amazing how quickly you adjust.

I have previously relied a lot on batch baking and my home made pre prepared meals. However we have to move our freezer out of the existing utility room as it is being knocked down shortly so I have been slowly emptying it. I also know I can't cook in volume on one ring! 

This has been like removing a child's security blanket.

I feel like I have been cast adrift into a world of cooking ALL THE TIME.

It is relentless with my boys.

They seem to be bottomless pits .

They devour anything that is not hidden away and just don't seem to have a full phase. 

SO I find myself in new territory of how do I deal with working, hungry kids and no freezer?

Well the temptatation at the moment is to plug the freezer in anywhere I can fit it ( bedroom?) and carry on as before, but if not I am embracing the policy of ......

Planned Leftovers

Now, leftovers are not a common occurence in our house so I will stress here that by leftovers I really am referring to deliberatly cooking too much so it can be used for the following day. Making a meal last two, sometimes even three days is not only time effective, but is great for the budget too!

A couple of obvious ones are:

Day One: Roast Chicken

Day Two: Chicken and black bean Cassoulet

Day One: Spaghetti Bolgnese

Day Two: Chilli and Rice

Day One: Roast Turkey breast

Day Two: Turkey and sweet potato Hash

Day One: Beef casserole

Day Two: Beef and mushroom pie

I tend to try and make my day two meal a re hash of my day one. Often it can be as simple as a baked potato with a filling made from the meal we had the previous day. I find, for me it again is about organisation and planning. I have to have a meal plan and shop to this. This keeps my shopping bill down  as does using up leftovers. 

I will return to batch baking when our kitchen is finished, but I will also keep using the principle of planned leftovers . It really does simplify things and create a bit of breathing space in an otherwise very busy schedule that next week looks something like this .....

• Monday - Work 1.00 - 3.15   Clubs =   son 2 Football 3.00 - 4.15, son 1-Tennis 7.00 - 8.00 
• Tuesday - Work 8.00 - 3.15   Clubs = son 2 tennis 3.15 - 4.00, son 1 - Football 5.00 - 6.00 
• Wednesday - Work 8.00 - 12.00   Clubs = Daughter - tennis 4.30 - 5.30 
• Thursday - Work 8.00 - 3.15   Clubs = son 2 -Tutoring 7.00 - 8.00
• Friday - Work 8.00 - 3.15   Clubs = son 2 - cricket 6.00 - 7.30
• Saturday - Son 1 Football 9.30 - 12.00 ( if a match is on )

If I don't pre prepare meals or at least know what I can throw together fairly quickly on a full week like the above it all falls apart very quickly.

My husband is beginning to get a little more involved in the home side of things now I am working and that helps. He does the football runs and I do the tennis. He is even hanging a bit of washing out and running the hoover around without being asked - steady on there! He has done really well on this eat clean diet we have been following and is 2 llbs away from his goal. He has lost 21llbs so far!

Any tips on how to simplify a meal plan to create more time in a busy schedule?

Design ©2012 Another New Day

www.takingachanceinlife.blogspot.uk 2012 - 2013

All personal images are owned by Another New Day

unless stated otherwise.

Images may not be downloaded,manipulated or reproduced without prior written permission. All rights are reserved.

Commercial or Private use without explicit written consent is prohibited and action will be taken through UK and worldwide copyright laws.

Eating Clean Recipies

Frugal Friday

Keeping to a budget and eating healthily ( part #3)

We are following the principles of the Eat Clean diet by Tosca Reno at the moment. When I first looked at starting this diet with my family I was a little daunted at the prospect of how to incorporate this into our daily lives. We eat as a family. I have never been a parent who cooks separate meals for different members of the family. What is for dinner is for everyone. If someone chooses not to eat it , then that is their choice - there is no other choice on offer. I am not saying I think it is wrong to offer alternative, just that I don't have time to be cooking various meals each day.

So , although my children aren't following the detailed diet principles to lose weight on this plan, they are eating the healthy Clean Meals and I have cut back on some of the more sugar filled items in the larder for them to snack on. 

In some ways it was a ridiculous time to start a new eating plan. My cooker had just been cut off , leaving me with a microwave, a narrow, one shelf electric oven and a one ring induction hob. However, it has been simple - lots of one pot meals and salads, baked potatoes and steamed fish - easy. I am missing having batch baked meals stored up in the freezer. I find this is one of the easiest ways to keep the budget down and save myself time. Hats off to those of you who cook fresh every day - I find it relentless. My new mission is planned leftovers - I have to have a couple of easy cook nights a week.

These are the changes I have made to help me on my journey to eating clean:

• I make a batch of cakes and/or biscuits at the beginning of the week. (If I had a freezer I would freeze half- roll on new kitchen!). I know what I am putting in these compared to not knowing the quantities of sugar hiding in most shop ones. I have made some with limited sugar and some cookies from Tosca Renos cook book which are sweetened with honey.
• I make my own bread so I know this has minimal amounts of sugar in. ( 1 tsp)
• I have stopped buying cereal that has any sugar listed on the ingredients. I have made some homemade granola ( even the "healthy" granola in the pretty packets has sugar in it at the supermarket). 
• I've been trying wholemeal pancakes with the children for breakfasts - sweetened with some maple syrup.
• I am using more olive oil for cooking with.
• I have switched white rice for brown and pasta for wholemeal pasta. The children are coming round to the taste. I find mixing the two a happy compromise.
• I am including more fish in my meal plans.
• I have introduced the idea of planned leftovers to give myself a day without cooking from scratch. This replaces the days I used to have my batch baked meals from the freezer. I can't wait to go back to this.
• We are eating more fibre. An interesting addition during the first week - fairly smelly in the Appleby household!

Day	Week 1	Week 2
Saturday	Mexican chicken and wholegrain wraps with salad	Frittata with new pots in skins and asparagus
Sunday	Roast chicken roast veg/pots tray, steamed broccoli	Roast beef, roast veg/mini pots/sweet pots/butternut squash/steamed veg
Monday	Steamed cobbler fish, brown rice, asparagus	Chicken and bean one pot with rice, broccoli
Tuesday	Spaghetti bolognese with wholewheat spaghetti	Turkey bolognese with wholegrain wraps
Wednesday	As above with veg	As above with wholegrain pasta and salad
Thursday	Turkey lasagne and salad	Poached cod and olives  with baked pots and veg
Friday	Poached salmon baked sweet pots salad	Egg and home made chips/sweet potato chips with peas

 

I think the thing I have tried to keep in mind is that any step along the way is positive. I could go totally organic and shop at only whole food shops etc, but I do need to keep my budget down. With any diet you can be quite radical and restrictive, but with a family it is hard to do this so I am trying to be sensible about it . There are meals and recipes that suit us and our lifestyle that I have adjusted slightly and continue to cook. It is all about balance. However, I do feel strongly about cutting out sugar from our diets as much as possible. I have a child who has some health issues and who is hyperactive - sugar is a huge trigger for these issues. It is hidden in so many of our every day food stuffs - see here.

Here is the recipe of the homemade granola. Breakfasts are a hard one to get right. Cereals are so full of sugar. I have been offering my children wholewheat pancakes - I got an electric pancake maker which is so easy to use and makes fabulous pancakes. 

Clean Granola

2 cups rolled oats
I cup rye or spelt or other flake
I/2 cup flaxseed
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup bran
4 tbsp oat bran
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup unsalted almonds
1/2 cup walnut pieces
4 tbsp unpasteurised honey
2 tbsp honey
spices - cinnamon, ground ginger
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped prunes
1/2 cup chopped apricots
1/2 cup of dried ( unsweetened) blueberries

• Line two baking trays with baking paper
• Place oats,rye,bran,flaxseed and wheatgerm on one and seeds and nuts on the other.
• Bake in the oven at 180 degrees until browned. Give the trays a shake to ensure even browning.
• Combine honey and coconut butter over a low heat and add spices - keep warm.
• In a large bowl combine the cereals, nuts, seeds and honey mixture.
• Spread the mixture back onto the two baking sheets and bake for a further 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Allow the granola to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container.

See my instagram feed for photos of the granola and breakfast muffins.

Here are some photos of my wholewheat pancakes made on my electric pancake maker!

Eat Clean wholewheat pancakes

Design ©2012 Another New Day

www.takingachanceinlife.blogspot.uk 2012 - 2013

All personal images are owned by Another New Day

unless stated otherwise.

Images may not be downloaded,manipulated or reproduced without prior written permission. All rights are reserved.

Commercial or Private use without explicit written consent is prohibited and action will be taken through UK and worldwide copyright laws.