what food would you buy with Ј200

A question about : what food would you buy with Ј200

we are on a very tight budget, and while we have food in and never go without, i dont have huge stockpiles in my cupboards.

when my mum recently come round, she thought my cupboards looked empty, and gave me Ј200 to refill and stock up both cupboards and freezers.

while i dont want to waste any of the money, i just wondered what you would all buy if you had that money spare.

idea greatly accepted

many thanks folks x

Best answers:

• Just some ideas..
  Dried pulses
  Pasta
  Rice
  Tins eg beans, pulses,
  Cook in sauses (buy the offers)
  Spices! especially chilli powder
  Breakfast cereal.
  Popcorn. :P
  Jam
  Olives
  Flour
  Yeast
  Sugar
  The list goes on.....
• second above, sound like all the basic essentials to me, stock up on toiletries too however, plently of laundry tablets, toothpaste etc
  tea bags, coffee, mayo, frozen food basics if you have the room like chicken, mince, fish, veg.
  Lucky you! Ј200.
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• Blimey Ј200 ... I'd not be able to spend that on food... I'd have to move out to make room for it.
  Will she be doing an inspection to check?
  I'd have:
  stuff for making bread (flour, milk powder, sugar, quick yeast)
  plain flour, baking powder
  oats, butter, sugar, treacle - for flapjacksp
  cheese
  marg, butter
  couple of jars of jam
  jar of peanut butter
  few jars of crab paste and sardine/tomato paste (quick meal)
  tins of cheapo carrots/peas
  tins of mushy peas in case I go out and buy chips (begrudge 74p for a pot)
  basmati rice
  suet - for dumplings
  tinned tomatoes
  tins of red kidney beans
  packs of cheapo (10p) noodles
  couple of tins of rice pudding (quick meal)
  instant custard (quick meal, banana custard I make sometimes)
  tubes of tomato paste - I use in pizza sauce and stews
  jalapeno/pepper sauce - I use in pizza sauce
  herbs/spices/gravy mix/Oxo
  I think that about covers all the stuff I would buy that isn't fresh. If I had a freezer I'd get:
  mince
  sausages
  oven chips
  Fresh I'd get:
  eggs
  assorted root vegetables
  assorted greens
  spuds
  onions
  For me t hough, a typical day's food might be (had this today): 2 small spuds, steamed, topped with cheese for lunch. A packet of angel delight for tea.
• How kind of your mum- as you have your normal food budget I would suggest buying both things that will keep and tide you over any difficult period (dried food, tins, frozen veg) and also some nice things which can spice up a meal in small quantities (olives, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic paste, good tea, raisins, herbs and spices) as these make a kitchen look well stocked.
• Well there is no point buying lots of things if your never going to use them, it may be worth stocking up on basics like cleaning stuff, paper towels, frezer bags, cling film and squashes etc if you will not use the stuff. However, this is in my cupboards at the moment...
  spare tcs stuff in one...
  Tea
  coffee
  white sugar
  hot choc
  iced tea mix
  sweetners
  biscuits
  cereal bars
  main...
  4 types of rice
  cous cous
  lentils
  6 types of pasta
  lasagne sheets
  noodles
  mixed pules for casseroles and soups
  lentils
  tins of peas
  sweetcorn
  chick peas
  kidney beans
  mushrooms(severe emergency lol)
  tomatoes
  baked beans mini tins
  spagetti hoop mini tins
  soups
  condensed soups
  mackeral
  salmon
  tuna
  packets of...
  instant risotto
  instant cous cous(why cous cous is instant anyway lol)
  packet soups
  typical packet mixes for when in a super hurry
  veg oil
  olive oil good
  olive oil cheap
  vinegar
  balsamic vinigar
  white wine vinegar
  soy(dark and light)
  fish sauce
  worcester sauce
  white wine vinegar
  lemon juice
  tahini
  mayo
  salad cream
  mustard
  horseradish
  tom ketchup
  brown ketchup
  mint sauce
  salt
  pepper
  veg stock granules
  oxo
  chicken gravy
  beef gravy
  pestos
  suet
  sr flour
  plain flour
  jelly
  delight mixes
  tinned rice pudding lol too lazy
  long life yogs
  cereals
  jams
  cheese bisuits
  part baked rolls
  long life milk
  about 30 jars of spices and herbs
  maggi veg cubes
  in cellar about 30 juices, loads of coke, kitchen rolls etc!
  freezer...(excluding prepared meals i've made)
  mince
  chicken portions
  stewing steak
  sausages
  homemade burgers
  bread
  soups
  onions, peppers etc i've chopped and frozen before they go eww and to save me time
  I have 2 baskets of things in my bottom cupboard so i can pull them out easily which are full of baking things, but they are only good if you use them and so will not list
  Maybe will give you ideas, I hate not having a well stocked cupboard as otherwise dinner costs me a fortune or is bland etc
• Wow what a lovely mum you have!! how about NOT stockpiling food but keeping the money to one side and top up your weekly shop? Or use some of it to buy a bread maker or slow cooker (if you don't already have them) to help produce cheaper meals all the time? Good luck!
• What a lovely present. I agree with DianneB keep the money to use with your weekly shop and then you can but special offers when you see them. If you spend it all at once a lot of the goods will be full price and your Ј200 will not go as far.
• How lovely of your Mum.
  I think I would use it to buy extra's of the offers. I would check out different supermarkets for their offers and buy things that I wouldn't be able to normally eg extra tea, washing powder etc
• I would spend Ј50 or so buying doubles of all the things you know you'll use regularly, like tinned tomatoes and such. Only you know what you'll use though! Then another Ј50 on loo paper, cleaners etc. Or set yourself up for some serious home baking.
  This should get you a little bit ahead in your shopping budget so use that weekly spare cash to buy extras of any of your regular items that are on offer. That's how store cupboards build up.
  The other Ј100? That's for the "WOW" bargains. Reduced to clear frozen chickens for Ј1, any other megadeals.
  Just don't go out and spend it in one shop on things you think might be useful, but which don't necessarily fit in with what you actually cook. Tinned mushrooms? I ocassionally buy them because I like eating them cold out the tin for snacks, but they're not a storecupboard thing. Wheras I keep mega amounts of tinned tomatoes and tinned pulses in the cupboard because I use them regularly and it's worth stocking up when I see them cheap.
• i would get the following - i always like to have a packet on the go and a packet spare
  plain flour
  self raising flour
  yeast
  caster sugar
  sugar
  coffee
  t-bags
  baked beans
  tinned spaghetti
  tinned soup (sainsburys basic soups are lovely and around 17p a tin)
  tinned meat e.g corn beef, ham etc
  basic pasta bags around 45p for 500g. works out cheaper than a 1kg or 3kg bag.
  long life milk - always handy for when run out of milk and need it now
  cheap butter/spread for baking
  tomoato puree
  red/brown sauce
  salt/pepper/asortment of dried herbs and spices
  cheese
  tinned fish - tuna/salmon etc
  tinned veg - sweetcorn, carrots etc
  smash
  gravy granuels
  rice
  egg noodles
  cooking oil
  freezer
  chips
  sausages
  fish portions - breaded or battered
  frozen veg
  bugers
  turkey mince - much nicer than steak mince, cheaper and lower in fat
  chicken portions
  washing up liquid/dishwasher tabs
  washing powder/liquid
  stardrops
  bleach
  i would buy extra bits when they are on offer so that you can get the most value for your money
  gxx
• I woud buy a Jamie Oliver Minstry of food cook book (I got one for christmas.. and it's great)
  and at the front it lists what to stock your cupboards with..!
  I'd use this as something to go by!
  We have saved a fortune by using his book, by making stews and other freezable stuff!
• I'd buy all the "expensive" store cupboard items you'd normally space out over weekly shops to free up a bit of weekly cash eg marmite, sun dried tomatoes, olives capers balsamic vinegar.....
• I would be inclined to buy:
  huge bag of pasta
  huge bag of rice
  huge bag of lentils
  huge bag of oats
  huge bag sugar (caster or granulated)
  flour
  baking powder
  yeast
  cooking oil/olive oil
  huge box/carton washing powder/liquid (Tesco has Persil on offer just now)
  I would then do as others have suggested and keep the rest to stock up on non-perishable bargains as you see them.
  Good luck and happy spending. What a nice mum too, I'd be inclined to give her some of your home baking or a small bunch of flowers as a wee thank you.
  OS x