mollybella
Active Member
I didn't mean to Sound harsh but why struggle for an animal when there is solutions.. Mine would be straight on loan kept at current yard so I could get on top of things. Priorities 
What do you buy to feed yourself to save money to keep your horses??
- Thread starter Sharonr
- Start date
DabDab
Thinks the luddites had a point...
I didn't mean to Sound harsh but why struggle for an animal when there is solutions.. Mine would be straight on loan kept at current yard so I could get on top of things. Priorities
What, because you had to cut back for a couple of months because of a vet's bill?
Liath
Well-Known Member
I didn't mean to Sound harsh but why struggle for an animal when there is solutions.. Mine would be straight on loan kept at current yard so I could get on top of things. Priorities
Personally I love my horse far too much to put him on loan for the sake of a few months (or even years) of economising and eating less myself... I too think your comments are harsh, but everyone is different I guess.
OP: Lots of great ideas here already... Sausage casserole is always a favourite of mine when skint- even the cheapest sausages make a good one- plenty of root veg, a stock cube and served with Mash or bread.... lovely!
If you're a meat eater and can do without it, you can save loads of money- personally I can take or leave meat, so when I'm skint I live on pasta, veg and a bit of cheese or some beans and pulses for protien.
Making things like soup, bolognese, chilli etc in bulk and freezing in portions is also a good way to save the pennies.
Oh, and it goes without saying that the choccy biscuits, shop bought cakes, crisps, chocolate bars, fizzy drinks and other 'rubbish' that I'm guilty of eating routinely go out the window when I have a vet bill to pay too!
dalesponydiva
Well-Known Member
As well as peanut butter sandwiches etc etc...I don't buy new shampoos/conditioners/toiletries etc but eek out what I have in the bathroom already.
Spit That Out
Well-Known Member
Could be a chance to review all you're direct debits and don't be afraid to ask for a payment holiday. Our mortgage provider let us have 3 months at paying the interest only due to personal circumstances.
As to food, try shops like Iceland, Aldi etc they have good food for very little I.e £1 for a pizza, £1 for a bunch of bananas etc you don't need to starve just shop smart. Otherwise buy a large bag of pasta and add sauces, eat it cold with chicken & mayo, salads and also make big portions and freeze what you don't eat...a large lasagna wouldn't cost you much to make and it could be 2/3 meals.
You could raise money by having a clear out and doing a carboot, my friend made £60 just by selling clothes and DVDs. Have a good rummage around, you'd be surprised what people buy at these things.
Could you offer to do a few jobs around the yard, neighbours in exchange for money, food or a bale of hay...taking the pressure off having to buy things for your horse could help. Perhaps you could get someone to check on your horse to save you going down, saving you fuel.
There are also food kitchens in most towns which can provide a few essentials if you get really desperate.
As to food, try shops like Iceland, Aldi etc they have good food for very little I.e £1 for a pizza, £1 for a bunch of bananas etc you don't need to starve just shop smart. Otherwise buy a large bag of pasta and add sauces, eat it cold with chicken & mayo, salads and also make big portions and freeze what you don't eat...a large lasagna wouldn't cost you much to make and it could be 2/3 meals.
You could raise money by having a clear out and doing a carboot, my friend made £60 just by selling clothes and DVDs. Have a good rummage around, you'd be surprised what people buy at these things.
Could you offer to do a few jobs around the yard, neighbours in exchange for money, food or a bale of hay...taking the pressure off having to buy things for your horse could help. Perhaps you could get someone to check on your horse to save you going down, saving you fuel.
There are also food kitchens in most towns which can provide a few essentials if you get really desperate.
The wife
Well-Known Member
Having a husband who is a soldier and based miles away from our home helps! It sounds backwards saying that it helps but I don't mind eating leftovers and scraping together a meal, eating porridge 3 days in a row or living on sandwiches. I do one 'big shop' a week on a Thursday and budget for around £25 so he can eat well at the weekend (3 square meals a day) and we always have a proper Sunday dinner when not competing. There is generally enough 'proper' food to last me until Tuesday, plus mum provides us girls with hundreds of eggs, so poached egg on toast is the staple diet.
It's my choice to have 2 competing horses of my own, not his, so I don't see why he should suffer or have to go shopping when he gets home on a Friday. I could also eat better if I didn't smoke but that's my choice and consequently my loss.
It's my choice to have 2 competing horses of my own, not his, so I don't see why he should suffer or have to go shopping when he gets home on a Friday. I could also eat better if I didn't smoke but that's my choice and consequently my loss.
The wife
Well-Known Member
Have started eating peanut butter as my 'pudding' after tea!
star26
Well-Known Member
Cheap meal/ snack ideas from my student days:
Eggs on toast (scrambled, fried, poached), omelettes, pancakes (very quick and easy to do, just eggs, flour, water), cheese on toast, beans on toast, pasta with a jar of cheap pasta sauce and veggie sausages, porridge, Cereals!
I find that eating 'vegetarian' is much cheaper. Most supermarkets now stock a wide range of branded and own brand items e.g. Quorn mince (and own brand veggie mince), veggie sausages, veggie bacon, Quorn pieces.
You can basically do anything you would normally do with meat, plus the veggie stuff is lower calorie!
Also if you shop later/ in the evening you often find bargains, e.g. I found lots of amazing cakes by chance one eve all reduced to 7p!!! You can often find a load of reduced stuff, often brand names and quality items by shopping odd hours.
And remember you can freeze loads of things too. I now freeze bread as I never get through a whole loaf on my own, and it goes off so quickly. If I want to eat some I either toast it straight from frozen or (for sandwiches) I get it out in the AM and it's perfect to use by lunchtime.
Hope this helps a bit
Eggs on toast (scrambled, fried, poached), omelettes, pancakes (very quick and easy to do, just eggs, flour, water), cheese on toast, beans on toast, pasta with a jar of cheap pasta sauce and veggie sausages, porridge, Cereals!
I find that eating 'vegetarian' is much cheaper. Most supermarkets now stock a wide range of branded and own brand items e.g. Quorn mince (and own brand veggie mince), veggie sausages, veggie bacon, Quorn pieces.
You can basically do anything you would normally do with meat, plus the veggie stuff is lower calorie!
Also if you shop later/ in the evening you often find bargains, e.g. I found lots of amazing cakes by chance one eve all reduced to 7p!!! You can often find a load of reduced stuff, often brand names and quality items by shopping odd hours.
And remember you can freeze loads of things too. I now freeze bread as I never get through a whole loaf on my own, and it goes off so quickly. If I want to eat some I either toast it straight from frozen or (for sandwiches) I get it out in the AM and it's perfect to use by lunchtime.
Hope this helps a bit
mollybella
Active Member
& I love my horses too but I wouldn't make my family suffer.. But I guess that's what horse insurance is for
cambrica
Well-Known Member
Most people assume I'm rich because I have horses. Urmmm, no I'd be rich if I didn't!
With 3 kids my priority is that they are warm, well fed and well clothed. I use a slow cooker a lot and can easily make a delicious cheap meal that lasts a couple of days. I go to my local co-op after 6 on a saturday and can generally pick up a good whole chicken reduced to £2.50 or the local market later on in the day for fruit/veg again reduced.
I also have a really good relationship with my vets and have been with then since the 1980's so if I was really having problems with a bill I know they would be willing to let me pay monthly.
With 3 kids my priority is that they are warm, well fed and well clothed. I use a slow cooker a lot and can easily make a delicious cheap meal that lasts a couple of days. I go to my local co-op after 6 on a saturday and can generally pick up a good whole chicken reduced to £2.50 or the local market later on in the day for fruit/veg again reduced.
I also have a really good relationship with my vets and have been with then since the 1980's so if I was really having problems with a bill I know they would be willing to let me pay monthly.
showpony
Well-Known Member
Firstly if I felt my family was suffering I'd put my mare on loan, wouldn't cut down on food to pay for vet bill.
However I do have some ideas for meals
Carbonara
Jacket Potatoes with cheese and beans
Omelets!
Veggie stir frys
Good wholesome veggie soup
Salad!
Homemade pizza Using pitta bread as the base
Also a roast chicken, can triple up as a dinner, sambos and a lovely stock.
However I do have some ideas for meals
Carbonara
Jacket Potatoes with cheese and beans
Omelets!
Veggie stir frys
Good wholesome veggie soup
Salad!
Homemade pizza Using pitta bread as the base
Also a roast chicken, can triple up as a dinner, sambos and a lovely stock.
budley95
Well-Known Member
There was something on BBC breakfast about this the other month. A woman was feeding her and her son on £1 per day and had quite a healthy and varied diet. Was lacking oily fish was the only problem. Might be on the BBC archives. I can't find it on my phone at the moment!
Palindrome
Well-Known Member
OH loves his veggies and as we are moving to a new place that has a little garden, this is my new experiment at making some savings:
https://www.vegetableseeds.net/
with 95p for a packet of 1400 lettuce seeds, you can't really go wrong. I have ordered tomatoes, courgettes, butternut squash, corn and lettuce. Will see how it goes but I am already eyeing the carrots (3300 seeds for 95p) and radishes. Plenty of manure at the yard to fertilize the veggies and carrot lovers to share with. I am planning to plant a big tubtrug at the yard next to mare's stable if there isn't enough space in the garden.
Otherwise, have had to eat only ramen noodles for a week or 2 when we moved abroad and had no money left (we didn't have horse at that time but there had been delays in the paperwork to get our salary through). I think Ramen noodles are the cheapest food you can find.
https://www.vegetableseeds.net/
with 95p for a packet of 1400 lettuce seeds, you can't really go wrong. I have ordered tomatoes, courgettes, butternut squash, corn and lettuce. Will see how it goes but I am already eyeing the carrots (3300 seeds for 95p) and radishes
. Plenty of manure at the yard to fertilize the veggies and carrot lovers to share with. I am planning to plant a big tubtrug at the yard next to mare's stable if there isn't enough space in the garden.Otherwise, have had to eat only ramen noodles for a week or 2 when we moved abroad and had no money left (we didn't have horse at that time but there had been delays in the paperwork to get our salary through). I think Ramen noodles are the cheapest food you can find.
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budley95
Well-Known Member
I managed to find the article for the £1 per day diet!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22263706
I also managed to find her blog
http://onepoundperday.wordpress.com/
Probably a lot better than just porridge everyday as it really won't do you a lot of good! You might find you can't do £1 per day though as you really want enough calories to keep you going, and with a horse to keep you on your feet it's probably no ideal, but if needs must.
Something I used to eat a lot as a kid when at my grandparents which is quite cheap to make, pasta (own brand value bag)with a cheese sauce with left over veggies and chicken - grill it when its done with the veg in coloured strips and it melts - we used to call it rainbow pasta.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22263706
I also managed to find her blog
http://onepoundperday.wordpress.com/
Probably a lot better than just porridge everyday as it really won't do you a lot of good! You might find you can't do £1 per day though as you really want enough calories to keep you going, and with a horse to keep you on your feet it's probably no ideal, but if needs must.
Something I used to eat a lot as a kid when at my grandparents which is quite cheap to make, pasta (own brand value bag)with a cheese sauce with left over veggies and chicken - grill it when its done with the veg in coloured strips and it melts - we used to call it rainbow pasta.