So last month I trialled a month of recording every single thing we bought as a family of five and setting budgets for each area we spend that’s not a set bill basically. I wrote about some ideas to save money on ‘Sticking to a Grocery Budget – top ten bloggers tips’ and the results at the end of the four weeks were not terrible but not great either! We overspent by £50 which obviously I wasn’t happy about but I reckon we whack much more than that on the credit card most months when we’re completely oblivious to what we spend. So a learning curve for all of us as we really became aware of everything we spend money on plus the things we’d really like to buy but simply can’t afford as those were cut out last month !!!
So that was April….now payday has arrived thank God (those last few days weren’t easy!) and I’m looking at when the next payday is…which is a whole extra week longer in May…so FIVE long weeks to get through. We couldn’t manage in four weeks, how are we going to do five? Help!
My budget breaks down into six categories which are food/groceries (including washing powder, toilet roll, kids medicines, shampoo etc), petrol, clothes, vets/pets meds, car parking/public transport and misc/extras like haircuts, soft play entry, coffee and kids classes, toys etc. The overspend in April was mainly on food so I’ve got to find cheaper ways to feed two adults and three kids on a vegan diet throughout May plus save money on toiletries etc. So I’d love to hear your Super Savvy Vegan ideas and your recipes which are mega cheap but tasty too! Stick your comments underneath or join in the discussion in my Facebook group ….and help us make it through five long weeks! Thanks my lovelies x
TVP mince curry:
400g TVP mince, (this should give you some leftovers), 1 large onion, chopped, 2/3 garlic cloves, finely chopped, 3/4 carrots, diced, 1 tablespoon oil, 2/3 teaspoons curry powder, tomato passata/tin tomatoes and/or coconut cream (grated from a block) and mixed with water to make coconut milk, salt and pepper. Rice to serve.
Quantities are all approximate, you can add more or less of any of them according to your taste/what you have in the house. (If you have spinach past its best in the bottom of the fridge, or coriander leaves in a similar state, chop and add them at the end of cooking time.)
Thank you Georgia. We use TVP for shepherds pie and bolognaise but never tried a curry with it. Really good idea 👍🏽
The forums on Money Saving Expert are a fantastic resource for budgeting and cooking from scratch. The challenges, such as the monthly Grocery Challenge (where you set a budget and attempt to stick to it!) and the annual Frugal Living challenge, can really help focus you and lots of good tips are shared. There are also great directories of cheap nutritious meals – for example on the Old Style Forum. There’s plenty of vegan stuff – let me know if you need a link. I’m trying to budget at the moment too, recording everything you spend is such an eye opener!
Thanks Sarah – recording what you spend is a revelation isn’t it. I dread to think how much we were spending before!
If we’re having an emergency in our house (myself and my partner) where we have little money to spend, our go-to meal is frozen veg- cooked of course. with either: Mash potatoes, skin on; made by simply mashing potatoes and adding soy milk to thin. Seasoned with an Oxo or bouillon cube mixed into the veg. We also often eat without the mash and turn the bouillon into a broth. 1 cube per person for seasoning. 🙂