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Back To Basics Part 1

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I’m on a bit of a budgeting kick at the moment what with being on maternity leave and all so I’m trying out different supermarkets, using vouchers where I can and generally being a little more careful with my shopping.

I had a £15 off voucher for Sainsburys online delivery service so I decided to do my big monthly shop there this month and buy as many products as possible from their basic range:

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The price of these products is cheaper by far than the branded options or the standard Sainsburys line and I was curious as to just how good they would be.

So in the first of two posts I will give you some feedback on what I think about the basic range.

Starting with the most important of course..

Biscuits

Since having Chloe I have a bit of thing for biscuits. I have re-established my relationship with tea ( decaf, milk and no sugar) and I do like to dunk a biscuit or two just after a feed. I can tell you now that these custard creams are the best I’ve tried. So far anyway. The bourbons are also pretty damn good and I haven’t opened the others yet. You get a variety pack containing 4 individually wrapped packs of biscuits (custard creams, bourbons,nice and shortcake) for £1 so 25p per pack which is just a bit of a bargain.

Whole Chicken

The chicken was fine, it wasn’t amazing and next time I would work harder at making the meat taste better. Either by slow cooking or basting regularly while roasting or soaking in a marinade overnight. It does taste fine but it wasn’t great which I kind of expected. It was only £2.86 and fed four of us plus leftovers for a sandwich for the OH the next day so how much do you expect for that price?

Pork Shoulder

I used my pork shoulder to make pulled pork – it was lovely. This involves rubbing in a mix of mustards, herbs and sugars and leaving overnight before cooking slowly for 8 hours. Not much difference to the more expensive piece that I normally buy.

Just prior to roasting:

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Crisps

I bought a multipack of onion rings, cheese puffs and salt&vinegars sticks to take out on day trips/picnics etc for Izzy and us. These aren’t my crisps of choice – I’m more of a kettle chip fan but Izzy loved them and they aren’t bad at all for the price. My OH is partial to the onion rings.

Condiments

We bought mustard and salad cream. The mustard is great and we really like it. The salad cream isn’t brilliant as its slightly bitter compared to my usual brand but its absolutely fine and I would have no problems buying it again.

Breakfast Muffins & Scotch Pancakes

Both of these disappeared in days and were enjoyed by all of us. Plain, simple and just what you need the products to be.

Juice

The OJ is fine, didn’t notice any difference to my usual brand.

Tortilla chips

Perfectly decent tortilla chips. Lightly salted, delicious with dips and great smothered in passata and cheese in the oven.

Cornflakes

I bought these initially to make cornflake cakes with Izzy as my OH is quite fussy with cereal but he opened them before I had a chance to say and he’s enjoyed them – so much so that there are none left to make cakes 😉

Fabric conditioner

I was particularly impressed with the fabric conditioner – it only comes in one scent which is the only flaw as I do like a variety but in all other ways I was happy and felt it worked well. It didn’t aggravate my daughters sensitive skin at all either which can happen with cheap brands occasionally.

So far, so good. I look forward to telling you more about the rest of my shop next month.

* This is not a paid post and these items were paid for in full by myself.

A Battery Powered Life – Energizer Batteries Shop

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I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.

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Where would we be without batteries? At 3am when only Ewan The Dream Sheep will settle my baby. At 5pm when I put Chloe in her swing just so I can have 20 minutes hands free to make food. At 7pm when I need to pump milk and don’t want to be stuck next to the plug socket.

At anytime of day when Izzy absolutely NEEDS her torch. We need them.

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They can get expensive though and buying cheap only means they last half the time. Keeping an eye out for good ones that are on offer or buy one get one free has become a habit of mine.

On the weekend I did my online shop with Sainsburys – I never do a main shop instore with Sainsburys as my local shop is too small but I do like to use them for my online shops. This week I shopped online mainly because I had a £15 off voucher but also because the Energizer batteries I needed to power up the Dream Sheep were 2 for 1.

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Typically when my shop arrived substitutions had been made and the batteries had been replaced with another set within the same brand but not in the 2 for 1. Grrr. It does frustrate me when this happens.

As soon as Izzy saw the packs – she does like to help me put away the shopping- she shouted yay batteries for my torch.

You see I may tell a little white lie every now and again. If I’m a bit fed up of her playing with something I may say its run out of batteries..even if it doesn’t contain them. Bad mammy but I’m pretty sure we all do it.

We had planned an adventure. A walk out to the local forest when it started to get dark for fun with our torches and to try to find some owls..she’s an owl fanatic but once again Pox hit our household ( this time with Chloe) so instead we used out batteries for something which we all need every now and again. And that was to replace the batteries in this..

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I try to avoid too much screen time for Izzy but on days when one of the girls are unwell it can be a real sanity saver.

We made up lots of snacks and settled in for a day of Peppa Pig and Iggle Piggle!

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What do you use batteries for that you really couldn’t do without? Favourite children’s toys? Do you ever make up that something has run out of battery?

How to spend less – part 4. Cheat.

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By cheat I don’t mean steal. I mean there are many easy ways you can legitimately spend less on items you want/need. I’ll explain about a few of the ways we save money everyday:

1. Supermarket reward points – take advantage of these. There is no point in shopping in Tescos or Sainburys without signing up for a clubcard/nectar card. You get points without doing anything other than swiping your card at the till. With a nectar card you can even collect points via eBay, homebase and about a hundred other online stores. You can spend Nectar points in a lot of places such as Argos, Vue, Bella Italia or even easyjet so your points could be paying towards your next holiday. I’m not as clued up on clubcard points as some people but we do collect them and use them normally when we need to make a big purchase.

2. Price guarantee – both Asda and Sainsburys do a price guarantee. Asda give you a code on your receipt for you to check online, if there is a price difference you get a voucher off your next shop. Sainsburys simple give you a coupon at the till if you could have saved elsewhere. Bargain.

3. Find the secret spots. All stores have them and if you are thorough in your first few shops at your local supermarket you will find them. Always remember to check. I’m not talking about the short date reduced to clear sections although these are also great. Let me explain in our local Asda ( I’m not telling you which one) there is a section where there are always reduced goods normally with between 6months to a year left on the use by date. I was told that these products are usually end of line goods or simply a change of packaging by the manufacturer means they will no longer be able to sell it. I cannot tell you how many bargains I have found in this section. I have had boxes of Hershey’s cocoa powder ( amazing in cupcakes/ chocolate icing or just hot cocoa) for around 50p (rrp £3) jars of Gefen BBQ sauce for the same price (rrp £2.50) stir fry sauces for 10p etc. There are often ciders/wines etc too. These sections are never displayed prominently not do they have big yellow stickers but they are always there. Look.

4. Use your apps.

Voucher cloud – if you are out shopping or looking for somewhere to have lunch you will more than likely find a suitable voucher on this app. Just recently we had £10 off a meal for two in Chiquitos. You simply click on the voucher and show the code. It uses your location details to find the best local deals so make sure you have location services turned on.

Groupon – ok this is maybe not one for every day use but definitely worth checking out. We have purchased driving lessons, solar lights and meals using this app and all have saved us at least 50% off the actual price.

Priority moments – this is specific to O2 but its a huge selling point if you are looking to change networks. There are discounts and freebies listed every day on this app, ranging from a free coffee or chocolate orange to free cinema tickets as well as hugely discounted public transport ( £1 for an all day ticket in my area as opposed to £4.20) The freebies can be slightly random – a large bag of free Halloween Haribo sweets from Accesorize?! But heck it’s free. In December alone I used my app to get reduced entrance (45% off) at Odeon, at least 3 all day tickets with Firstbus, a free Chocolate Orange, 20% off at Debenhams and probably more. There was an advent calendar leading up to Christmas with something different every day. I really hope this is here to stay.

If you know of any more money saving apps please let me know.

5. If you aren’t fussy about having something second hand ( depending on what the item is of course and sometimes they are in fact new) it’s always worth checking eBay or your local Gumtree. We bought a gorgeous mamas & papas changing unit before Izzy was born which would have cost over £600 brand new for just £70 and it was in impeccable condition. We would have never have paid £600 for one. Ebay can be fun too just make sure you don’t get too carried away with the bargains you can find on there. We recently bought a Tommee Tippee sensor monitor which if new would have cost around £90 and we had it for just £20 in great condition. If using eBay always make sure you use PayPal for added protection, we found the customer service to be great when having a dispute over another monitor we purchased which was quickly resolved.

6.Money Saving Expert- If you aren’t already signed up to the mailing list of this pretty marvellous website then do it. You only get one email per week and its normally full of great bargains. There are a lot of great sections on the MSE website but my favourite part is the Forum. I don’t tend to post on it ( rather unfair of me) but I check the Grabbit forum most days and there are superb bargains to be had. Again the key is to not buy things you don’t actually need as this defeats the object. About 6/7 months ago there was a thread/discussion on the forum about a major clear out one big supermarket was having, it seemed they were clearing a lot of their lines of stock but not showing the reductions very clearly. Some of the regular posters had meticulously listed every reduced item in store which helped the rest of us thrifty ones massively. I went shopping with my sister and between us we found most of the items and they were huge bargains such as bottles of olive oil for 40p or bags of dried garlic & basil linguine for 20p etc. I have only just run out of oil and pasta after all this time and probably only about £10 spent. It’s worth checking the forum when you get a spare few minutes.

7. Discount/Promo codes – everytime you go to purchase something online firstly run a google search to see if there is a code. Simply type in Topshop (for example) discount code and more often than not you will get something, be it free delivery or 10% off. Be wary of the ones that are £5 off if you spend £50 etc.. If you were only planning to spend £20 this is not really money saving.

8. Avoid travel agents – sorry if you are a travel agent but it is so overpriced. I am at my worst for bargain hunting when it comes to holidays. My holidays are precious to me as I’m sure they are to everyone so I want them to be the absolute best I can get for the money I spend. I have used various websites over the years but most recently I have found that LowCost holidays tend to come out on top – plus there is always a discount code to be found meaning bigger savings. Always trip advisor your hotel before you book as the most expensive ones are not always the best rated.
I also use Homelidays for searching for house/villa rentals.Airport car parking can be super expensive but a quick search online will find you some great alternatives normally within a few minute drive and they will drop you off and pick up at the airport. If going from Bristol airport I recommend Goblin Combe Farm.

A gorgeous house we stayed at in France 2012:

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9. Change your tv/broadband provider every time the contract expires. I always do this and it means I get the newest, up to date equipment and normally a voucher for M&S or similar for signing up. Also if your provider increases their charges mid contract you are normally able to cancel without any termination fee. Check your terms and conditions for more details.

10. BzzAgent – there are probably more than a few different types of review services out there but I am a bzzagent. You don’t have to write about it on your blog or write sponsored posts, it’s a simple procedure where you complete surveys occasionally ( very short and not very often) to determine what kind of consumer you are and then you will be invited to join campaigns. So far I have had free products from Tesco bakery, Toni & Guy and Dove colour radiance and all they ask if you for to create Bzz by talking to friends/family about the products, normally you have money off vouchers to share with them too. I have enjoyed being a part of it this year and it costs nothing to sign up so worth considering.

You probably think I’m a lot more frugal than I actuallynam but I really do like to get something for less. Don’t we all?

I would really love to hear about your money saving tips? Perhaps comment and I will share them in a future post.

How to spend less – part 2

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Today has been another day of preparation and decluttering. It makes you feel good doesn’t it? I still don’t feel well but instead of moping around on the settee I pulled out my kitchen drawers and started to sort through them. Over the past two years I have accumulated so many food magazines and recipe cards that I have no idea where anything is. So I threw a lot out ( well recycled) and looked through the ones I’d kept and wow I found lots of cheap, family friendly recipes that I had forgotten about so I’m looking forward to sharing them all with you.

First of all I thought I’d share a new slow cooker recipe with you which I kind of made up on the go and it seems to work well:

Slow cooker Thai curry

You will need:

2 boneless skinless chicken thighs £1.50
2 tbsp green curry paste (£0.65)
3/4 tin of coconut milk (£0.79)
2 cups of chicken stock ( from store cupboard )
1/2 sweet potato diced ( £0.40 )
1/2 onion diced ( £0.15 )
A handful of mushrooms chopped roughly (£0.60 )
2 spring onions diced (£0.30)
1 handful of frozen broccoli (£0.40 )
Seasoning ( from store cupboard)

Lightly brown your chicken thighs in a hot pan with a little olive oil and your onion. Place in your slow cooker and add all of the remaining ingredients mixing together thoroughly. Turn your slow cooker onto low and cook for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. If your curry is thinner than you would like add some cornflour mixed with water toward the end of your cooking time. Thai curries are traditionally thinner than say an Indian curry bit it’s all about personal preference.

This would feed 3-4 people quite easily and is extremely budget friendly at just £4.79 – based on my most recent shop at Asda. You could add more meat if you wanted or different vegetables depending on what you have to use up.

As this recipe came out at under a fiver I thought it would be fun to share one or two of my Sainsburys feed your family for a fiver curry favourites. Do you remember the campaign? The adverts were with Jamie Oliver and I loved the recipe cards you could pick up instore. Now I say favourites as I love the recipes but due to my cluttered drawer I haven’t used them in some time!

Chickpea & Spinach curry

You will need:

1kg pack new potatoes ( £1.50 )
1 onion (£0.20) chopped
410g tin of chickpeas (£0.69)
500g jar of tikka masala (£1.00)
300g of frozen spinach (chopped) (£0.75)
Olive oil ( from cupboard)
1 tsp chilli powder
Pepper
Naan breads x 4 (£1.20)

Slice potatoes in half and boil until tender. Drain and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and onion and chilli powder, cook until soft. Add your spinach and heat through until it breaks up. Add your drained chickpeas and potatoes and stir through until warm. Pour in your sauce, heat through and season. Serve with warmed naans.

I did a quick price check on sainsburys website and now it comes out at £5.34 ( well inflation after 3yrs is to be expected) but you do get a lot of curry and its tasty and easy even if you aren’t a huge fan of the kitchen.

And finally..

Red Lentil Curry

You will need:

1 x 390g carton of chopped toms with basil & oregano ( £0.69)
2 tbsp red curry paste ( £1.75 for a whole jar, approx £0.75 for this serving)
1 x 28g pk of coriander ( chopped with a little reserved for garnish) ( £0.80)
1 x pk of 4 pitta breads ( £0.40)
200g dried red lentils (£1.09)
1 onion, finely chopped (£0.20)
2tbsp olive oil ( from store cupboard)
1 pinch of curry powder ( from store cupboard)

Preheat oven to 200 degs C/ gas mark 6.
Heat 1 tbsp of Olive oil in deep frying pan. Add your onion and coriander, sauté for a few mins and stir through your curry paste. Add lentils and 500ml of water. Simmer for 5 minutes and stir in chopped tomatoes. Simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Meanwhile brush your pittas with olive oil, sprinkle with curry powder and bake for 5 minutes. Just before serving sprinkle with coriander and serve with hot pittas.

A perfectly simple vegetarian curry. Delicious and again very cheap. Everytime we have eaten this we have always had leftovers for lunch the next day. A bargain at £4.93 or £3.93 if you consider that you can use the rest of the curry paste on a different meal.

Some money saving tips for you when buying ingredients for curries:

* check out Indian supermarkets for bulk buying rice/spices
*buy lentils from the world foods section of your supermarket
*buy coconut milk and chickpeas from bargain shops such as home bargains or again in the world foods section of supermarket.

I bought 2kg of red lentils some time ago for a fraction of the price above by shopping in the world foods section. I store mine in a jar and I think it looks quite attractive.

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I hope you try these recipes out and I’d love to hear your food budgeting ideas.

Happy new year.