BUDGETS.....who needs them....ME
| # | Post |
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| 1251 | I love countdown to chonnni!! I pop in on a Tuesday morning and usually get some great reduced to clear meat!!! I got $47 worth for $18 one week!! Ended up with 9 mince meals, 3 chicken breast meals and a pack of sausages. 13 meals for 5 people for $18!!! twinsforus - 2010-03-07 09:01:00 |
| 1252 | well just to prove i am the maker of less waste, I brought home 5kgs of soft tomatoes from work yesterday that were going to be thrown out , I now have 7 margerine containers of yummy tomato basil and garlic pasta sauce to either use on meatballs or to use as a psta sauce or its the same stuff i use in my lasagne all i added to the almost 5kg of toms was 4 Lrg onions 3 tablespoons of processes garlic , good teaspoon of ground chilli, dash of soya sauce prob 1 heaped tablespoon of sweet basil and salt and heaps of ground blk pepper simmered for 2 hours until thick and then cooled and froze in containers.......thats my little pat on the back for the morning kob - 2010-03-08 09:09:00 |
| 1253 | just to prove I do practise what I preach, I have done a complete pantry, freezer and fridge tidy up and stocktake this week for my big grocery list this week I NEED 1 12 pack of loo rolls, 1 toothpaste, 1 bag of sat, 2 tins of spag 2 tins of bkd beans 4 bread and 2 doz eggs plus fresh fruit and veges(mum has s/beet cauli and spinich might visit her)so insead of spending $160 on a trolley full of stuff I dont need this lot will cost me $40 maybe $50 if i see some meat specials ans im trying to stock my pastas up again as I have found a truley yummo pasta salad dressing to make and its the bomb NOT the sauce one above this is for sald and it keeps for 1 month in fridge and is better the longer you keep it, so will be thrashing that one at the dinner that I need to take a plate for and golf club etc etc plus at home and all the diff pastas you can buy make it more interesting and cheap as chips to make kob - 2010-03-11 09:39:00 |
| 1254 | This wonderful thread has bee created by members of the Trademe recipe forum and stack of --thought it was so wonderful she would hijack it. Edited by snapit at 10:17 am, Thu 11 Mar snapit - 2010-03-11 10:16:00 |
| 1255 | specials this weekend at countdown 2 packs of hellers sausages for $9, i think there is about 15 sausages in each pack chonnni - 2010-03-12 14:13:00 |
| 1256 | Yeah those 2 for $9 sausages is a bargain Chonni. Can you ladies help me? Im want to get rid of makeup on our duchess???? What would you suggest? pebbles211 - 2010-03-13 12:02:00 |
| 1257 | This message was deleted. fruitluva2 - 2010-03-13 12:12:00 |
| 1258 | Morning budgeting Ladies... Well my deal this week I thought I would share is the toadfishes luxury dessert that works out at 52c per person (normally 65c) This week at Foodtown the delicous select Waffle cones are reduced from $3.29 to $2.79 and the Signature range (made in the Tip Top factory i believe) Icecream is from $4.49 to $3.49. In our house we love these cones... much nicer than a regular one. We even go through less Ice cream as the Mr is a "have a huge bowl" So there you go... for $6.28 the 4 of us can have our favourite desert..... 3 times!! Would buy maybe 2 singular trumpets in the dairy which are no where near as nice. toadfish - 2010-03-18 06:41:00 |
| 1259 | I don't normally grocery shop at Foodtown, except for bits and pieces as its close. I buy the signature range Swiss Style bread, delicious and made in the same factory as molenberg. This week I went up for the ice cream and alot of our "staples" were on special.... so couldn't help myself. Sultana Bran reduced to $6.99 for the huge box.... Weetbix reduced to $4.99 for the 1kg box, Special Blend coffee $2.79 (which luckily we like as its so cheap - no it doesn't haft meer mmm...but it does the job) The 16 rolls of purex for $6.99. And I have to say there Hot Cross Buns...Fresh Zone Brand are the best on the market for the price....not bags of air like the tip top ones ..... they are in the bakery section not the bread stands and are 2 for $6 at the moment. So stocked up on staples.......... I treat it like a game..... how to live the best for the least money.... a champagne life on a beer budget... it can be done if you think smart. Edited by toadfish at 6:55 am, Thu 18 Mar toadfish - 2010-03-18 06:49:00 |
| 1260 | Just bumping for budget and boring meals snapit - 2010-04-04 10:43:00 |
| 1261 | Yesterday I brought $58 of boneless chicken breasts from the Mad Butcher ($10.99 per kilo). I removed the fat and chopped them into cubes and put them in approx 550gm servings size bags. I use the pams sandwich snaplock bags, really cheap and what I do is remove all the air and then flatten them so the are only about 1" thick. I got 8 meals for my $58. These are fantastic for a quick and easy dinners... stir fry... pasta sauces.... butter chicken.. you name it. Took me about half an hour but worth it in the long run for quick easy meals. Edited by toadfish at 5:54 am, Sat 10 Apr toadfish - 2010-04-10 05:54:00 |
| 1262 | My favourity habit is to buy whole raw chicken cheap and cut them up and freeze separately, I even keep the chicken bones for stock later. I got two whole chicken for $12 lookingfor - 2010-04-19 20:53:00 |
| 1263 | This message was deleted. herika - 2010-04-28 17:28:00 |
| 1264 | I have to admit I am addicted to buying specials... there I have got it out. I am a fully fledged member of "I stock up on too many specials anonyomous" This last few weeks I have really overspent... too many really good meat deals came my way, cereals at a really good price (eg Weetbix 1kg this week at foodtown), Shampoos/conditioners for the girls.... The only thing in my favour apart from a bulging freezer & cupboards of very low cost meals... They are all things we "normally" use... no impulse buys of luxuries... But I have put my self on a self imposed supermarket ban till next week to give my finances a chance to recover... One of my meat buys was the most beautiful 2 lamb leg chops.. thick... meaty...lean were $11.38 and I got them for $5 (Which is alot considering it will only feed 2... I usually aim for $5-6 for 4 but they looked sooo nice)... But... and heres the but, my 2 daughters are going out tonight and we thought we would go out to dinner as well... then I remembered the lamb... and said to hubby instead of going out why don't we have a BBQ and your special wedges... That appealed just as much and will be a fraction of the "going out" price. Phew budget back on track.... Edited by toadfish at 6:14 am, Fri 21 May toadfish - 2010-05-21 06:10:00 |
| 1265 | toadfish thats awesome, it is a great idea to treat yourself to small treats every now and again otherwise I find you blow out. I go to countdown early on a thrusday morning and they always have specials on meat, and it is cheap I make sure I get those specials each week. I have been on a money spending on specials binge lately too. And then get an email to say there is a bargain shop opening this month so going to stop on the spending for a week so i can go to the opening of this shop. chonnni - 2010-05-21 13:46:00 |
| 1266 | IM HEARING YA JULIA, people im a standing up and confessing toooooooooooo im a specials shopaholic and for the life of me cant grow out of it lol kob - 2010-05-21 16:31:00 |
| 1267 | This message was deleted. backing_black - 2010-05-21 22:00:00 |
| 1268 | This message was deleted. jubli - 2010-05-22 18:21:00 |
| 1269 | Gosh I get green with envy reading this. We have no supermarkets here just a very expensive butchers and 4 square. What I wouldn't give to get the specials you guys all rave about. )Please don't say online shopping as nothing meat, dairy etc is delivered here. You are all so lucky. thank goodness for my vege garden at least. jan2242 - 2010-05-22 18:27:00 |
| 1270 | yes well although over the years i have sworn never to daily shop i must admit that even though i do a main shop once a week I do take a gander around the SM every couple of days es through the meat section to see whats yellow stickered.....thatds were im getting my bargains cause at the actual time of ,y weekly shop there is never any, its weird , but i love a challenge and there nothing better than having heaps in the freezer to make up stuff and freeze, esp with family living away whehn they come home i like nothing better than to send them home with a chillybin full of mummy treats. kob - 2010-05-23 17:55:00 |
| 1271 | You really are my "Soul Sister" Kob, thats exactly what I do! I have 1/2 hour for lunch and ofter pop to the SM... just to get out of the office and get some fresh air. And I always have a quick look at the meat aisle... I sometimes buy a couple of "urgent" things off my shopping list and that allows me to delay the weekly shop. I doubt I will do one this week at all and last big shop was 2 weeks ago. What I seem to be doing is picking up the "super specials" of the week and discounted meat .... and that seems to keep us going. I have a spare of everything we normally use.. so we never actually run out of anything. Seems to be working for me. I must admit you have to be super disciplined to do it this way or you would buy heaps of extra stuff.. but luckliy I am. I also go to a cheap fruit & Veg place close to my work, I would estimate it to be 30% cheaper than the one closer to my home, as where I live things cost more just because of the suburb name! I have heard I should get my dental work closer to where I get my vegies... wouldn't surprise me. If I stop to pick up bread... same thing.. trawl the meat aisle.... sometimes nothing.... sometimes like winning the lottery and I just stock up. My best day was when he was actually stickering.... Edited by toadfish at 6:12 am, Mon 24 May toadfish - 2010-05-24 06:11:00 |
| 1272 | I see you are in Wellsford Jan, Warkworth has a huge New World and is what... 30 mins away, there must be times you are passing on the way back from things? New World is the one close to my work and where I get my best deals. Although lately I have been getting some good ones from Woolworths (on my way to work) and Foodtown (close to my home) The other mornng I stopped to pick up milk for work and it was a little embarrasing as I turned up 10 mins late with 2 huge bags full of bargains. I just put them straight in the freezer at work. (would of been ok if they didn't diddle around at the checkout with 1 person on) toadfish - 2010-05-24 06:18:00 |
| 1273 | the worst part is when you find something that has been marinated and its been reduced in price if its something you havent tried before and you hesitate and instead of buying the 3 that are there you think ill just buy one......then you guessed it ..........its that bloody lovely you wish you had of bought all 3, you can never win lol kob - 2010-05-24 06:25:00 |
| 1274 | Toadfish, sadly I am unable to drive and am lucky if I can get to Warkworth once a year. How I wish they had a delivery service. jan2242 - 2010-05-24 09:54:00 |
| 1275 | Thats a shame... it must be very expensive living out of the local shops up there... any neighbours that could take you?? Specials Alert!!! Mad butcher has Rump Steak at $8.99 so will stock up on that. What I do is but 3 or 4 big bulk packs and sort it from there. I freeze it in "meals for 4" on the BBQ - size portions and also end up with a "stir fry for 4" portion or 2 out of the funny little bits and pieces. We BBQ all year round Edited by toadfish at 7:08 am, Tue 25 May toadfish - 2010-05-25 06:58:00 |
| 1276 | Well I can't keep out of the supermarket.... yesterday had to pick up some things for work at New World and you guessed it... came home with 2 packs Maryland Chicken Pieces and a Pork dinner. The Maryland was $12.50ish normal price...packed in a special $9.95 pack and reduced to $6. Our family love this as a "can't be bothered dinner"... just whack it in the oven with dry roasted potatoes... and have it with a salad.. no fuss no bother.. all done for you. Real confession we are having it tonight... and I now have 4 more at $6 each in the freezer.. how many is too many? - The pork dinner was a tray of 3 beautiful lean, thick, big marinated.. Pork medallions I think you would call them, reduced from $11 ish to $5 - for the girls (who don't like fat)and a whopping big Pork shoulder chop for hubby (who does like fat lol) reduced to $2 ... so $7 for a real treat meal. We will do it on the BBQ.... Just seen my post above... still haven't got to the mad butcher yet... Edited by toadfish at 6:50 am, Thu 27 May toadfish - 2010-05-27 06:46:00 |
| 1277 | well my find of the week was a $14 pkt of skinless boneless chicken marinated in lemon sage marinade for $5,00 can you believe that. kob - 2010-05-27 15:31:00 |
| 1278 | lmao at you bargin shoppers, can i ask does it make you overspend? or cut your bills? motorbo - 2010-05-27 18:43:00 |
| 1279 | motorbo usually I find the week I purchase the specials I would get more than just one week's worth of meat so my weekly budget might come out as normal but for the next week or two my meat costs come out less as I have some of the meals already in my freezer - those weeks are great having some money left over from the grocery budget raewyn64 - 2010-05-27 20:17:00 |
| 1280 | hi all... so great to see that this wonderful thread is still going... we have noticed of late that although some stuff is going up already in price, we have managed to keep our shopping bill down and the frezzer stocked as have brought up on the specials - especially what can be frozen and stored for winter... managed to get the following at bin inn for only $90.00 today: 5kg each of brown sugar, castor sugar, icing sugar, raw sugar, 1kg ea raw peanuts, whole milk powder, choc chips, grain for our homemade bread, wheaten cornflour. 200g ea: beef, chicken and mushroom stock, chicken salt. not bad i thought as it stocks me up well into aug as adding to what i had stocked up on in march... so home baking supplies pretty near all set for the winter, been getting tined goods, toliet paper, dish wash, soap powder, toothpaste etc when on special at countdown and so store cupboard looking not too bad either. home brand tuna is not too bad at 1.79 a tin and makes a lovely part of a fish pie. also keep an eye out for fish specials - fresh.. our local fish shop has some great ones and we have made a little go a long way... blessings all.... timetable - 2010-05-28 00:41:00 |
| 1281 | motor - cut our bills.... we are the same as raewyn... the other thing that i do is that i stick to the list using my calculator. then if any not spent in the budget i go around the supermarket again or just keep the money back for the off pay week specials. christmas club i have listed sep in our budget and we have been finding that it stacks up nicely each fortnight without breaking the bank... come winter there is little other than what veg we don't grow ourselves, fruit that is top up to our bottled fruit and so the spend could be as little as $80 a week or less... timetable - 2010-05-28 00:45:00 |
| 1282 | The secret to "special buyers anonymous" is to know what you regulary buy.. and don't be tempted by things you wouldn't. I don't know about you but I seem to buy the same things week in and week out and these are the things I stock up on. Yes some weeks I go way over but some weeks I don't shop at all, which is great as I make these weeks coincide with expensive weeks with my girls.. eg school trips etc. I may do things a little differently than some... I buy everything on my visa (love those air nz air $$$) but I keep track of it in an NBNZ record book (free). So I get my weekly allowance put into an account and then keep track of what goes on my visa so it is sitting in that account ready to pay the visa.... so the weeks I go over its just on paper and I know I have to make up for it before the credit card is due.... I pay my credit card off in full everymonth - I wouldn't reccommend this system unless you are really disciplined as credit cards are dangerous things if you use them wrongly. It works for me... toadfish - 2010-05-28 07:12:00 |
| 1283 | i agree Julia, im pretty much the same but with only the two of us home its not really a nessisity now that i actually do a proper shop each week, like it was when the boys were home,i will maybe do a good one each 3 weeks and that will now cost me $220 otherwise on those other shops its just really for juice, milk eggs etc which is why i scan the special and if i find meat specials i grab them.Things change financially to when you become a 2 of 4 you dont have to set certain monetry amounts to things and it no great loss if we dont have peanut butter we just use jam, or if there isnt marg we jsut use butter so what im saying is we have become relaxed with our shops, i still take stock of what we have so i basically know i have all the basics to create anydish i want in the pantry its just not a serious mission in my day to day lifestyle. kob - 2010-05-28 08:32:00 |
| 1284 | This message was deleted. elliehen - 2010-05-28 11:08:00 |
| 1285 | I went to countdown yesterday just to get the specials, i didnt need anything and I stuck to just the specials, my kids love big ben pies but when theya re over $1 each and 3 kids gets costly, and i usually buy the packets of 6 to keep in the freezer, well yesterday I was in countdown looked at the pies and there was packets of 6 reduced from $8 down to $3, they dont expire for another 5 days so I got them and threw them straight in the freezer, countdown is great for that al wasy got mark downed items alot chonnni - 2010-05-28 13:40:00 |
| 1286 | Specials Alert I went to the Reduced to clear shop in Papatoetoe yesterday as i was unwell and remembered they had packs of 5 lemsips for $4. You have to be really careful at that shop as I see people spend a fortune on crap! Lollies, energy drinks etc. I try to buy things we would normally eat and are good for you. Anyhoo... in the chiller this week they have cheddar cheese offcuts, expires 31st August 2010 - 1 kgs packs for $4.99, being offcuts the package size vary as do the shap on the offcuts, I picked a big pack that seem to have like huge slices in it the size of a 1kg block.. I could also tell it was heavier than most... when i got it home I weighed it and sure enough it was over 1.5Kgs. So 1.5kgs cheddar cheese for $5... I will grate most of it and put it in the freezer. Edited by toadfish at 7:51 am, Sat 29 May toadfish - 2010-05-29 07:45:00 |
| 1287 | You ladies are so inspirational. I have been going thru this thread over the last few days, and I always thought I had an eye for a bargain, but you take it to a WHOLE new level. Ive been inspired to keep my eyes peeled, and got a few nice bargains to pop in the freezer over the last week. Thank you :) holz22 - 2010-05-29 07:48:00 |
| 1288 | I am your pie twinnie chonni, the same thing happened to us in Foodtown a few weeks ago and they had 6 (from memory) packs for $3, hubby was with me and he said "grab the lot". Hubby likes pies for a weekend lunch and at 50c having 2 at a time is not going to break the bank. We still have about 3 packs left. Treats but not huge costs. Bet your children really enjoy the occaisional pie. Edited by toadfish at 7:52 am, Sat 29 May toadfish - 2010-05-29 07:49:00 |
| 1289 | Holz, soon you will be a member of "special buyers anonymous" when you get that good feeling of a champagne life on a beer budget... I tell you it's addictive. I like to travel and due to budgeting I have had some awesome holidays with the family and up until fairly recently that was all on just 1 wage & 1/4 wages (I worked part time when the children were small... and not so small lol) Now they are 16 & nearly 18 I have gone back full time. One of my concerns is that what I would gain in wages I would lose in not having the time to shop around... but luckily that doesn't seem to have happened. Edited by toadfish at 8:01 am, Sat 29 May toadfish - 2010-05-29 08:00:00 |
| 1290 | Specials Alert Foodtown weekend windback, 2 x 900gms mince packs for $15. Works out at $3.75 per meal. I brought 2 packs yesterday morning and by last night I had 2 x cottage Pies (for 4) and 2 x lasagnes (for 4) and 2 individual servings of lasagne (for those nights when 1 child needs a meal in a hurry) in the freezer. So thats 4 nights I don't have to think about cooking... So when I know i am super busy or have super tight time frames I put one of those frozen in the oven in the morning, set the autotimer and its ready to serve when I walk in the door... cheaper, quicker and better for us than takeaways. The special just made me be super organised. (PS Think I have said before, I brought 4 x lasagne/cottage pie size ovenproof dishes last year from between $2-4 each at the op shop. This way I am not tying up a dish I love in the freezer...) (PPS and they had more packs of pies for $3 so brought another 3 packs) Edited by toadfish at 8:35 am, Sun 30 May toadfish - 2010-05-30 08:30:00 |
| 1291 | Toadfish - got 2 packs at Countdown yesterday as well (same price). I usually cook one lot up with pasta sauce, use half then freeze down the other half for another time. raewyn64 - 2010-05-30 10:59:00 |
| 1292 | Mad butcher Glen Eden - Frozen roast pork $3.99 a kilo - we having roast tonight! angela137 - 2010-05-30 11:11:00 |
| 1293 | i dont really hunt for specials being gluten and dairy free and only feeding myself! but what i do do, is eat everything, there are never leftovers thrown out, i cook for two and thats lunch the next day, if there is more leftover then it goes into the next meal! motorbo - 2010-05-30 13:25:00 |
| 1294 | Did a stock take of my freezer and turned a random tube of sausage meat, and a $1.89 pack of frozen puff pastry into 12 sausage rolls for my partners lunch this week. Also made up some pizza dough and made some inside out pizzas with bacon I found in the freezer, and the left over pastry turned into caramel tarts. Feeling very domestic, and estimate that cooking this afternoon will save my partner and I at least $20 each this week :) Thank you all for the inspiration holz22 - 2010-05-30 14:45:00 |
| 1295 | 2 cups dried chickpeas Rinse and drain chickpeas in cold water. Pick out any stones and dark brown chickpeas. Oops, must have been reading an earlier thread about cooking chickpeas in crockpot!! Edited by ruby19 at 2:56 pm, Sun 30 May ruby19 - 2010-05-30 14:54:00 |
| 1296 | Reduced to clear shop opened at henderson today major opening specials chonnni - 2010-05-31 12:53:00 |
| 1297 | chonnni wrote:
it was just on Campbell Live - I want one in Tauranga! raewyn64 - 2010-05-31 19:44:00 |
| 1298 | Chonni whereabouts in Henderson. I have Wednesday off so might go and look. Heaps of good things in this thread. Have made washing liquid up and found it very good especially for daughter with excema. Thanks to all contributors. akalea - 2010-05-31 21:05:00 |
| 1299 | Be really careful in this shop, I saw the news clip as well, Yes $5 is cheap for a box of chocolates... but would you normally buy a box of chocolates?.. can't give them as a gift (At least I couldn't with them being out of date) I would rather spend my $5 on something else. When I go to that shop I make a pact that I am not going to be tempted by all the "crap" and only buy what is a normal staple for us or something I can turn into a meal. In saying that I did go there specially before a birthday party to stock up on a little "crap" and it was much cheaper.. but I would have brought those items anyway from a supermarket. toadfish - 2010-06-02 07:10:00 |
| 1300 | Bump toadfish - 2010-06-05 11:11:00 |
