Ham Hash Cakes - more things to do with leftovers

I am always on the look out for tasty and nutrious recipes using leftovers and I saw this one for Ham Hash cakes in a recent edition of my Mums Best magazine.

All it consists of is mash potato, sprouts (both of which can be leftovers) and ham (an ideal way to use cooked meats going out of date). You just dice the ham and mix all three ingredients together, shape into flat cakes and fry in olive oil until crisp, brown and piping hot.
Don't forget that although sprouts are in abundance at this time of year, you can replace them with any left over veg, carrots, cabbage etc will be just as tasty!

It is also a take on the Tuna Fish Cakes I make, from a Sainsburys recipe from their "feed your family for a fiver" selection of dishes which is just tuna, mash and spring onions.

One of my favourite dinners of the year is our Boxing Day meal of cold turkey, bread sauce, mash and pickles along with any sausages wrapped in bacon or sausagemeat and stuffing balls, that may be left over aswell. This year we turned all the leftover veg into a traditional bubble and squeak with a difference, by mashing roughly in a baking tray and topping with grated cheese before popping into a hot oven. It was really tasty and don't forget these kind of meals shouldn't be just for the festive season, as they save you money and cut down on waste at any time of year.

A Super Salmon Xmas Supper

As you know I am always on the look out for cheap, tasty and nutritious meals which are easy to prepare, as I hate cooking, so I was really impressed with this recipe on yesterdays "This Morning" with Phil Vickery. It is a great way to use up stale bread as he said stale is better and I have some Sainsburys Basics Salmon fillets in the freezer which I am trying to empty to make way for Christmas Fayre! As you know I mostly shop at Sainsburys so would use their Basic range cream cheese at 45p for 200g, the Basics Salmon fillets cost me £2.24 and a pot of fresh coriander is £1.19 again at Sainsburys.

Phil’s crunchy salmon bake
Published: Mon, 07 Dec, 2009,

Phil Vickery: Quick and tasty crunchy salmon bake with green beans and coriander.

Servings: 4-6 people
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
500g salmon fillet, cut into 2cm pieces
200g cream cheese
2 tbsp milk
1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped roughly
100g fine beans, cut into 2cm lengths and blanched
salt
pepper
4 slices bread, crusts removed, cubed, very small
50-75mls olive oil
100g roughly grated parmesan cheese

Method
1. Heat the oven to 200°C gas 6.
2. Place the cubed fish into a large bowl.
3. Add the cream cheese, chopped coriander, and season really well with salt & pepper.
4. Spoon into a 20cm x 6cm deep baking dish.
5. Toss the bread cubes with the olive oil and a little pepper and the roughly grated cheese.
6. Bake in the pre heated oven for 35-40 minutes.
7. Serve with green salad

Copyright Phil Vickery
November 2009

You can also see a video of how to make it, here http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/food/crunchysalmonbake/
What a great supper for Christmas Eve or Boxing Day!

Creamy Mushroom Pasta - Simple money saving supper that can use up leftovers

Cook 200g of spagetti according to packet instructions. When pasta is cooked, drain well and set aside. Put the pan back on the heat and add 5 or 6 chopped button or any mushrooms. After a few minutes add 150g of diced ham, 150ml of cream, 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese and warm through. Return pasta to the pan, stir and season. Sprinkle with chopped chives or parsley if you have them or more parmesan if you don't. Serves 2. A quick, easy and delicious supper that can use up a few left over mushrooms and any ham you have nearing its use by date.

Changing the way we do Food Shopping

I had already made a decision about the weekly shop this morning before friend S rang and said she was going to Aldi today. I had been thinking back to when I was a child and my Mother used to go to the Butcher, the Baker and the Greengrocer for her shopping each week. As we are all aware, when the likes of Tesco and Sainsburys started to pitch up in every town the whole idea behind the concept of Super or Hypermarket shopping was being able to buy everything under one roof, to save time but sometimes at a premium. OK, all these stores have great special offers at any one time, but to make real savings if you are on a tight budget, you really need to reconsider how to Shop.
My first change in Supermarket shopping habits, when I started this Blog, was to shop online at Sainsburys rather than visit Tesco each week. The reason for the switch in loyalty was that Sainsburys are always synomous with good quality and what I was happy to eat in their basic range I wouldn't touch with a barge pole in the Tesco Value Department. Shopping online also means you are not tempted to buy things just because they are on special offer and end up throwing them away at a later date and with Sainsburys, another major factor was the tempting "feed your family for a fiver" recipes/adverts on T.V.. By switching Supermarkets and shopping online, I save at least £30 per week.
Another thing I began to do was to buy toiletries, washing powder, loo roll and medicine from Savers, something I have told you many times before.
So this morning my decision for this weeks shopping was that I wouldn't really need to do a Sainsburys shop this week as I have quite a lot in the freezer and the plan was to pop to Aldi for a few bits, but also to visit Iceland. I never go in Iceland, don't ask me why, but when I saw a 4 pint carton of milk advertised in the window for £1, decision was made to give them a visit.
So friend S picked me up and we hot footed it into town. First Stop Aldi. Lettuce, Toms and Cue at 29p each and a Savoy Cabbage for 49p. Their equivalent of Coco Pops for 99p, a pack of Gouda slices for £1.15 and a pack of 4 bagels for 89p along with a pack of marinated Smoked Salmon slices for £1.99. A few other bits and my total came to £12.28. These were all things that would be required this week and would have been a part of my normal weekly shop so I wasn't tempted by anything I didn't want or need.
Then on to Iceland. 4 pint cartons of milk for £1, I bought 2 to freeze. I picked up an Iceland Pizza then moved along the freezer and saw a Chicago Town stuffed crust, which was bigger for the same price, only £1.50. A pack of 18 ice lollies for £2. 6 chicken kievs for £2.50. 2 packs of Willow butter for £1 (now that has to be the deal of week). Buy 2 loaves of Kingsmill for £1.50, bargain, where can you get branded bread for that price? the cheapest is normally £1 when its on offer, if you are lucky! A few other bits and pieces and the total spent in Iceland was £15.
All I need to do now is pop into Savers and buy Loo Roll £1.89 for 6 rolls of Kleenex (it was £2 in Iceland!) and my Aerial liquigel washing powder and my total spent this week will be approx £32 for a family of 5.

So if you want to make real savings there is no doubt you need to shop around and you have to be a savvy shopper as some things in Aldi were cheaper in Iceland and vice versa, but with a little time and effort, it can be done. Next week I will be going to the cheaper shops first and then buy the remainder of what I need at the Supermarket, but you won't do better than the salad stuff in Aldi at 29p or the milk and butter at Iceland. If you sign up for the Iceland Bonus card and spend over £25 instore, they will deliver your shopping for free, storing it in their freezers until your scheduled delivery time. Having a bonus card also means you will recieve money offer coupons throughout the year and get entered in regular competitions to win free shopping - can't be bad can it? I might even spend £25 once a month and get it delivered, making life even easier!

40% off at Yo! Sushi

Get 40% off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 26th August. You will need one voucher per person, per visit, and you can use it on up to 10 plates. Print off your vouchers here.

£20 off Shopping in Tesco with the Daily Mail

Starting in tomorrows Daily Mail, there will be a collection of tokens to obtain money off your weekly grocery shop. For full details of the value of Tokens and what items they refer to, check here.

S is for friend S and shopping savings (a lesson in how not to shop)

My dear friend S is probably waiting for this post and will be filled with dread when she sees it! S has lived a rather charmed financial life for a few years now, but all that could soon be about to change and she really needs to get things in order now to help secure a brighter financial future for her and her daughter.

Yesterday on our way home from school, she needed to pop into the co-op because she was starving, so me being me, I said make yourself a sandwich when you get in. She said she fancied a croissant or something.
When we got in there, my little one decided he wanted a Duck wrap and a Dr Who magazine and there was no way I was going to pay for that as I had chicken, ham, cheese, bread and bagels in the house. I told him that if he wanted those things he could give me the money back out of his pocket money when we got home and his little Booty came to £4.80.
Meanwhile S is walking around filling up a basket with far more than a couple of croissants! She pointed out that she had bought some snacks, a couple of bags of chipsticks, a couple of bags of quavers and some other stuff. She had already told me that she rarely buys crisps but when she does she likes an assortment. I told her it would be far cheaper to buy multi-packs but still she bought them all loose at probably 40 something pence per bag! As we got to the checkout I saw a pack of 12 Nik Naks for £1.00 and pointed these out to her, so she bought those aswell but still kept the others in the basket. From what I could see, she had also bought a pre-packed sandwich, about 3 different items from the Bakery section, I saw a carton of fresh juice and a physcologies magazine. As she approached the checkout, she asked for my loyalty card, as she doesn't have one, so I picked a leaflet up for her, but she said she has loads of them at home. Her little basket of shopping came to £36 which to me was astonishing! This week I had spent £56 on my weekly shop with Sainsburys online and she had only spent £20 less and had about 10 items if she was lucky!

So the lessons to be learned here are:-

Magazines - If you do have a magazine that you like to buy on a regular basis, then please look at the different subscription deals available, just type the name of the magazine into Google and they will all come up. With S's favourite Pschologies magazine you pay for 6 issues for 6 months by direct debit with www.isubscribe.co.uk you make a massive 69% saving on the cover price of £3.30, so each isssue works out at only £1.00! Plus you recieve a free designer make-up and wash bag set by Allegra Hicks, which would be great for Holiday. Magazine subscriptions also make fantastic gifts and at these crazy prices you won't be going far wrong for a birthday or Christmas pressie. Always tell friends and relatives what you would like to recieve as a gift, as often people are stuck for ideas and would welcome a suggestion from you. My birthday is right near Christmas, but I add things to my list all year and then give the list to my husband about a month beforehand so he can sort out who is buying what. This year I have already written down a jewellery box and some body cream that is £22 which you can only get from Harrods and came highly recommended via another blog, along with some Lime, Basil and Mandarin Cologne by Jo Malone which is £29. Don't forget that with the Sales on, this is a great time to start buying in advance for Xmas to ease the strain nearer the time. Look out for Handbags, purses, cashmere, Nightwear etc

Bakery - If you love the fresh bakery goods available at Supermarkets (and who doesn't?), try to pop in of an evening when items are reduced, buy in bulk and freeze them.

Pre-packed Sandwiches - Avoid them like the Plague! If S had bread indoors and ham or cheese it would have been cheaper to buy one tomato and a lettuce, add some seasoning and mayonnaise and there you have it, a sandwich no different to the one you have bought, but at lots less than the £2.50+ you probably paid in the shop. Even pots of sandwich fillers (although I prefer to make my own) and packets of chicken tikka, work out cheaper than buying a pre-packed sarni and you have enough for the next day awell. The co-op also had a deal on Tuna, 3 tins of John West for only £1.99, mix that with mayo, add some leaves and some cucumber for a tasty lunch. Use the other tins for a pasta dish using ingredients from your storecupboard and you have lunch and dinner sorted for less than £2!

Crisps - Avoid buying loose packets at all costs - this is a completely crazy area to waste money! A loose pack of crisps somewhere in the region of 40p! but at co-op 12 nik naks for £1 - or Walkers crisps in any big supermarket, 24 bags for approx £3.50 - I'll leave you to do the Maths! and if you like Quavers and Chipsticks it will still work out cheaper in the long run to buy two multipacks, even if you don't eat them on a regular basis, products like these do have a long shelf life.

Loyalty Cards - You must have one for every shop you may possibly go in. I don't use Boots very often as Savers is cheaper, but I still have a card which has £11 on it! I will use some of this up when Boots are giving away a make-up voucher which is usually £5 off certain brands.

Local Shops - Do support them, but in the right way. Chains like Co-op and Costcutter do have great deals so keep an eye out for what you need. I mentioned the Tuna and the Nik-Naks above so will be buying them locally and won't then need to order those items on my Sainsburys shop as they are both something I use on a regualar basis.

So if you popped into your local co-op and spent £36 per week, just think what that adds up to over a month and then over a year. Its no good being the kind of person who won't withdraw cash from the ATM at the Post Office because it charges you £1.75 if you are then gonna waste cash in other crazy ways. So if you are popping into the co-op or any other local store for a croissant or two, then just pick up the two croissants and head straight for the checkout. We all deserve a treat sometime!

My friend M, is another culprit. I am always seeing her coming out of the co-op clutching a bottle of squash and a loaf of bread.... what can you do? Doing one large weekly shop and buying enough bread and milk for the week will save loads. As I have mentioned many times before, freeze your bread, it defrosts so quickly, it eliminates waste, especially in the summer months when bread can go mildew quickly. Most supermarkets do 2 loaves for £2 and that would probably be enough for her family of 3 for the week. Semi and Skimmed milk can also be frozen, buy the 6 pint carton, decant half and freeze (allow 24 hours to defrost, less on hot days). Buy squash in 2 litre bottles, works out much cheaper and buy supermarkets own brands, they are no different. Saving money does take time and effort but once you get in the swing of it, it gives you a real thrill to have saved a couple of quid! Turn it into a hobby, keep that spending diary, check those bills to see what you have saved by taking showers instead of baths or by switching lights off when they shouldn't be on anyway! Do you know that a phone charger uses the same amount of electricity if the phone isn't attached? How many of you take the phone off and leave the charger sitting there, switched on at the wall? You will find loads of ways of saving money by looking through the archives of this blog, so come on - start saving!

A fantastic range of summer fruits at Aldi for 49p each

I have just seen the T.V. commercial for the latest fruit offers at Aldi. I often go to Aldi to buy their fruit and veg special offers as these items can really send your food shopping bill sky high and the kids always take fruit to school as well as what we eat at other times. This week they have Kiwi's, a pineapple, plums, peaches, cherries and a melon all at only 49p each - really amazing value!




I

Keeping food fresh to cut down on waste in the summer months

Bread - I have mentioned in previous posts about how I keep my bread in the freezer and just take out what I need the night before, to make pack-up for school the following morning. I personally don't think using bread in this way is a problem, as even if you forget the night before, so long as the slices are separated, it takes minimal time to defrost anyway and can always be defrosted in the microwave if you are really short of time. Another option if you don't want to do this, is to keep your bread in the fridge during the hot weather. Nobody wants to eat bread that has been sitting, sweating, in its plastic bag in the bread bin and it will go green really quickly if you continue to store it in this way during the summer.

Bananas - These don't last very well in the heat and go black quicker if placed in a fruit bowl alongside other fruits. A new tip I have learned is to keep your bananas wrapped in an old tea towel in the fridge, to keep them fresher for longer.

Food Containers - Food saver plastic boxes can be very expensive, so I have taken to using old Chinese Take Away containers for all manner of things I keep in the fridge (as well as using them to freeze leftovers). Packs of Ham or Cheese etc often go dry and end up with curling edges once you have opened them, but if once open, you store the packet in a sealed container all these pitfalls that may cause you to chuck food out, are avoided, meaning less waste of food and money.

Days 20 & 21

Well the good news is I haven't been out for two days so haven't spent anything!

Day 20 Daily Tracking: Nothing Spent today.

Day 21 Daily Tracking: Nothing Spent today.
Stuff with food: had 3 large jacket spuds left over from Friday night, put them in the fridge and had them today. Scooped out the middle and put grated cheese and chopped spring onion in them and popped them in a hot oven to reheat and brown, ate them with pizza and coleslaw for a quick and easy Sunday snack whilst watching numerous football matches on T.V.

Dont forget to check your Sainsburys Active Kids Vouchers and my free £10!

For anyone who doesn't already know this and shops at Sainsburys, you can check the codes online that are on each of your active kids vouchers to see if you have won £50 worth of Groceries. If you are a winner they send you a code to use online through the post or a voucher to use in-store, the choice is yours. The good news is, I have won £50! so can use next weeks shopping budget towards a bill or something.

When my shopping arrived from Sainsburys on Tuesday evening, the driver was 10 minutes late and gave me a £10 money off voucher! so I am doing really well! Glad I gave up going to Tesco for the weekly shop, I have never had it so good!

Making Use of Leftovers - Banana Cake

We have had a bit of leftover fruit this week, with the kids being off, so Little Man and I have been baking. I got this receipe from the internet an age ago, it is so simple to make (I don't even use scales, just guess work with weights) and very tasty! Ideal for using up bananas that have gone black. Great for pack lunches, picnics or with a cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon, I really must go and put the kettle on!

4oz butter or margarine
6oz sugar
8oz self raising flour
2 eggs
2 large or 3 medium, very ripe bananas

Heat the oven to gas mark 4; 180C
Grease a 2lb loaf tin.
Mash the bananas with a sturdy fork.
Cream the butter and sugar together and mix in the eggs
Mix together the two yellow sludges you now have.
Mix in the flour.
Scrape into the loaf tin and bake for 40 minutes then lower teh temperature to gas mark 2; 150C and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Try to let it cool (turned out on a rack) before you devour it.

Dine out for £5 at All Bar One

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£10 meal deal at Pizza Express - print off voucher - Eat out for Less

Until 9th April enjoy a £10 favouites menu at Pizza Express. Click here to print off your voucher and enjoy a choice of 2 starters, 10 favourite mains and a glass of wine or soft drink.

A fab credit crunchy recipe for Spring

This receipe is taken from the Blog "Backwards in High Heels" with permission.


Four fat, ripe tomatoes that actually taste of something.
Half a cucumber.
Two handfuls of slightly stale bread – ciabatta or good white sourdough.
A handful of basil leaves.
Extra virgin olive oil, the best you have.
Malden Salt.

Cube the tomatoes. Sprinkle them with two or three good pinches of sea salt and let them sit for half an hour to bring out the juices. Cube the cucumber. Cube the bread, and fry it up a little in a dry pan, until it is golden around the edges. Tear the basil. Mix it all up in a big white bowl, and add as much olive oil as you wish. I use quite a lot, making sure that the bread soaks most of it up. Add a couple of screws of black pepper. Check for seasoning. Sometimes I add a tiny dash of lemon juice, and, very occasionally, a few black olives.

That’s it – a perfect spring salad for the credit crunch

Things I will and won't economise on!

I find that a lot of personal finance blogs I read are exactly that, personal. They may contain posts about an individuals journey out of debt or what they have spent in the Supermarket that week etc, whereas I feel that mine is more about ways to save money and where to go to grab a bargain, along with the latest financial consumer news and some receipes thrown in for good measure. I have recently left comments on a few blogs where the author has asked its readers what they do to save money and whether they buy branded or unbranded items when shopping for essentials and what products they would never cut back on i.e. Loo roll, Baked Beans, Shampoo etc, so today I am going to give you an insight into my shopping basket and share with you my favourite products whether essential or luxury.

Food Shopping

In the last few months, I have started to shop online rather than instore and find I am making huge savings each week. I am no longer tempted by special offers I don't really need, I have a 4 weekly menu plan and stick with it. I add essential storecupboard items each time I run low, or out of them, as you can save your trolley contents until you checkout. I get the shopping delivered Midweek, when delivery charges are cheapest, but what I save, more than makes up for delivery.

I sometimes go to Tesco in the evening with my eldest daughter, who has recently left home and now has to do her own shopping and it is at these times that I take advantage of cheap bakery items. Last time I went a few weeks back, I got packs of rolls, uncut loaves and french stick all for 13p each! When I got home, I sliced the bread before freezing to cut down on waste and that way, can just take out what I need as I need it, as bread defrosts quite quickly.

My essentials and things I use a lot of and am happy to economise on


Onions - Sainsburys Basic range is only 50p per bag and contains approx 18 onions!

Stew Pack - much prefer the contents of the Sainsburys basic range bag and at only £1 it is cheaper than Tesco and really fills up a stew or casserole or makes a great vegetable soup which will feed loads for a quid with a bit of crusty bread.

Bananas - More than happy with Sainsburys Basic range again. I honestly find their Basic range far superior to Tesco Value.

Pain Killers - I buy paracetamol in Savers for 19p!

Flour - have used value ranges for years, fine for yorkshire puds, baking etc

Things I wont economise on

Loo Roll - I tend to buy this in Savers, as they always have the 6 instead of 4 pack of Kleenex for approx 30p cheaper than Supermarket. So not only do you save money but you get 2 extra rolls.

Tuna - I always used to get Tesco Value for years and never had a problem, but then about 6 months back, I opened a tin and it looked like bloody Kitty Kat we used to feed the Moggy on when I was a kid! I topped off my childrens jacket potato with it one day and they all refused to eat it! It was pale pink, no sign of a chunk anywhere (it looked like puree) and it stank, so now it is John West for me, but I buy the 4 packs when they are on offer.

Tea Bags - My fave is the yellow pack of Twinings but when they are not on offer, I find Sainsburys red label very palatable.

Cereals - I buy branded - full stop. I read on a blog that someone said she couldn't taste the difference between sainsburys crunchy nut and kelloggs - I don't want to take the chance, so buy branded, but only when it is on offer.

Bread - I do buy Supermarket own brand on occasion, usually when there is nothing on offer, but won't buy value or basic.

Crisps - Won't buy anything other than Walkers but will buy Cheese Puffs or Quavery type snacks in a supermarket own brand, when Walkers is not on offer.

Cola - nothing but Pepsi Max in this house! but they usually have 2 bottles for £2 at one supermarket or another! I won't buy it full price, I will get a different type of fizzy instead.

Washing Powder - only use Aerial, but buy it from Savers and have started to buy Sainsburys basic range soap powder at 65p per pack for washing towels, bath mats and bedding - it smells gorgeous!

Shampoo and Conditioner - I totally love my Frederic Fekkai! I have just run out and last night, used Herbal Essences (the girls fav) but my hair feels totally different today. It is quite costly when bought at Space NK, but go to HQ Hair via Paypal and at least you get cashback! I have also bought this on Ebay quite often. You may have seen my previous post on the free Loreal Professionnel shampoo and conditioner, well I have my voucher ready to pick up my freebie next time I visit the salon. This offer runs until August 09 so it could be a while before I get any FF! Check out my previous posts if you want a Salon professional range for free and details of the downloadable voucher.

Other things I do to cut costs on shopping

I often go to Aldi's when I see a TV advert showing their fruit and veg products for silly prices as I use a lot of fruit, doing 3 lots of pack up each day. In fact yesterday I took advantage of their current offers on fruit and veg and at 69p each got 1. 6 oranges 2. 6 red apples 3. a punnet of plums 4. a punnet of red grapes 5. a punnet of button mushrooms and 6. a bag of salad potatoes. Total £4.17.

I go to the Farm Shop when I can get there, which isn't often, but it defo saves money.

I don't buy pots of expensive sandwich fillers, I make my own, 1. cheese, onion, mayo 2. Tuna, sweetcorn, mayo. 3 Coronation chicken with chicken leftovers, and a bit of curry powder mixed into mayo and a few sultanas 4. egg mayonnaise 5. prawn mayonnaise etc etc

I feeze bread, pitta bread, muffins, crumpets etc and take out the night before, whatever I will need the next day, saves them going mouldy green before they all get used.

How I make use of Leftovers or items going out of date

Chicken - make a pie or if not enough, I use leftover meat for sarnis or wraps for packing up.

Pizza & Pasta - taken cold for pack up.

Ham & Bacon - I use in Quiche or add to the chicken pie.

Apples - if old and going a bit soft, I cook for apple sauce with pork and freeze.

Bananas - I make banana cake - great for pack lunches or picnics.

Bread - if there is any going a bit stale, I make bread or bread and butter pudding.

I would never buy value Beefburgers but do buy cheap chicken. Now I realise this is a controversial subject that will no doubt raise a few eyebrows after the plight of battery chickens was bought to light last year by Hugh Fearnely-Whittingsall in his Channel 4 programme. Now don't get me wrong I love Hugh and when I watch his series and see what that man can do with a wild mushroom, it makes me want to move into River Cottage!
In his programme on chickens, Hugh interviewed shoppers in Tesco and a few mums said "I would love to buy organic, but I simply can't afford it, I have a family to feed". So, if you have a family to feed on a weekly budget of say, £50 and you have the option of buying a chicken for £2.50 or an organic one for £7, what do you do?

Everyone seems to have jumped on the "Thrifty" bandwagon of late, with even the Broadsheet newspapers giving us tips on how to save money but I am a bit fed up with broadcasters and journalists harping on about a. being middle class (I thought that the class system in this country was dead, but oh no, it is alive and kicking, in the eyes of the snobs that believe they are middle class) b. making no apologises for only buying organic produce and c. not buying clothes from certain High St chains due to child labour issues. Although I agree, in priniciple, with some of these issues, I just don't think these people have a bloody clue! I have friends who don't have a bloody clue either! They have never had to think about switching a light off to save money, nor do they break out in a cold sweat at the supermarket checkout, for fear they don't have enough money in their purse to pay for the contents of their trolley.
The idea for this Blog had been around for a while before I actually started it, but it was bought about by personal experience due to a drastic change in circumstances last spring. My aim is to help you whether you are a student, a single parent on benefits or just a normal family who is feeling the effects of the credit crunch and may need to make savings on everyday things to afford them the luxury holiday they have wanted for years. I don't want to be patronised by people waving the single parent flag, when they have a wardrobe of designer clothes, a full time job and a full time nanny to match! and I certainly don't want to patronise the readers of my Blog. Sure I love designer goods and have spent a fair bit on them over the years. I have always been the kind of girl who prefers to have one pair of Jimmy Choo's a year rather than 6 pairs from Office or Faith, but times are different now. Even people who have money are scared to spend it. If a girl is going out on a Saturday night and needs a new top, we have to realise that some people can only afford Primark and others can't afford to go out at all! I told you talking about chicken was controversial and look how it has taken me off at a tangent! So yes I do buy cheap chicken and make no apologises for it, it makes a bloody gorgeous pie!

Pizza Express 2 for 1 discount voucher

In association with the Times, Pizza Express have a 2 for 1 voucher valid until 28th Feb. Buy one pizza or main course and get another absolutely free! pizza express

More Eating out on a Budget Tips

Obviously I have been talking a lot about eating out lately, with today being Valentines Day and it is a shame that I did not find out about www.toptable.co.uk before today. The top table website acts as an online booking system to book a restaurant table, but also tells you about offers in your particular area such as eat out for £10 or 50% off a certain restaurant. It also offers a reward points system wherby you earn points then eat for free!
Whenever you book and rate a restaurant through toptable, you earn toptable reward points to redeem for free meals.
Points can also be used to treat yourself to toptable treats and books. Check it out here toptable.

Eat out on Sunday for less - make it valentines weekend not just a day!

Be smart this Valentine's weekend. Don't pay a fortune to have dinner on Saturday night when you can eat out for less tonight or Sunday.

Le Pont de la Tour, London
3 course Sunday menu with champers - £26

Butlers Wharf Bar, London
Full English breakfast menu & Bloody Mary - £9.50

Brasserie Roux, London
3 course pre-theatre menu - £14.50

Uno Restaurant, London
Pizza and complimentary glass of wine - £9.95


Katana @ The International Restaurant
50% off total bill

Plateau Grill, London
2 course menu with glass of wine - £17

Boulevard Dining Room, London
2 course menu with a glass of cocktail - £15

140 Park Lane Restaurant
50% off on Sunday brunch menu

To take advantage of these offers check out lastminute.com