Supermarket savvy dad saves £3,360 on kebabs and Chinese food by making his own ‘fakeaways’ from home
MONEY saving dad Calum Matheson started making his own takeaways from home after his favourite Chinese went downhill – and now he’s saving a fortune.
Calum, 41, used to spend as much as £80 a week on take out food just for him, including kebabs and curries.
But now he’s slashed his fast food spend to just £10 a week by buying yellow sticker reductions and cooking “fakeaways” from home.
This marks an incredible saving of £280 a month or a whopping £3,360 a year.
Calum, a support worker for adults with special needs in Glasgow, says his portions also stretch further.
When he has his partner Fiona, 43 and daughter Cara, 10, stay over, he cooks up Chinese banquets including prawn and chicken stir fry rice and even salt and pepper squid.
He estimates that he can feed a family of four for around £20 a week.
Instead of spending £4 per dish at his old takeaway, Calum says each portion costs him just 50p to make.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: “I’ve saved an absolute fortune.
“In my younger days I would spend £50 to £80 a week on takeaways.
Beef kebab recipe
CALUM has shared his beef kebab recipe so you can make it yourself from home.
Instructions:
- Carefully cube sirloin steak and add to a bowl with olive oil, garlic, chopped up basil leaves and salt and pepper. Leave overnight.
- Put the meat on skewers, then either bbq or grill.
- Serve with the nan bread, along with a green salad and choice of garnish. We prefer garlic mayonnaise.
“Without sounding negative, the main reason I started making fakeaways is because the food in my main takeaway got really bad.
“The quality was terrible and they kept increasing prices.
“Now I can feed a family of four easily for an entire week, if I get yellow stickers, for just £20. That could be my entire food shop.
“I probably spend £10 on fakeaways and that could be four or five meals, for four people."
Calum's best bargain to date is buying three turkeys that should have cost £180 for just £4.50 - because he went into the supermarket just as doors shut on Christmas Eve.
The savvy shopper has also managed to nab a salmon worth £20 for just £1.60.
He said: “I’m able to make fakeaways so cheap because I buy the food cheap in all the supermarkets.
“I go to Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s – all of them.”
Special fried rice recipe
HERE'S how to make special fried rice from home, for much less.
Instructions:
- Cook long grain rice the night before and leave it in the fridge.
- In a hot wok, add two beaten eggs and cook for 30 seconds. Add chicken, prawns and Char Sui pork. Char Sui mix can be bought at most Chinese supermarkets and some Tesco and Asda.
- Cook for five minutes then add the rice, chopped onions, garlic and spring onions. Cook for another five minutes while constantly moving around so it doesn't stick.
- Add light and dark soya sauce, a little sugar and black and white pepper. Cook for another five minutes until the rice is turning brown and has soaked up all the flavours.
- Serve and add more chopped spring onions on top.
Calum’s love of cooking started 12 years ago when he first visited Thailand.
Having been back five times since, he decided to take some cookery lessons out there to perfect his favourite spicy dishes.
The keen chef now has ambitions to start his own cookery classes after helping adults at his work learn to make their food.
He said: “What we’re trying to do is promote independence for the adults because none of them have cooked for themselves before.
“Last month we did a fakeaway pizza class and it was a massive hit.
“Sometimes the adults I work with have never eaten Chinese or Indian before.
“When I make a fakeaway for work, I can feed 10 people for around 50p per meal.”
For those hoping to follow in Calum’s footsteps, he recommends going to supermarkets in the evening.
He finds the best time for deals is around 7pm and says he always tries to buy in bulk.
Calum added: “If you see something reduced, even if you don’t need it then are there, buy it and freeze it.
“Cut it up into portions and freeze it into individual freeze bags.”
He also credits joining the for helping him find ways to cut costs.
Calum said: “It gives me the opportunity to share my fakeaways and I get loads of people asking for my recipes.”
MORE ON MONEY
Calum isn't the only one saving money with "fakeaways" - this mum has £5,200 a year more in her pocket by buying yellow sticker bargains.
While this mum feeds her family of 10 on just £150 a week with amazing McDonald’s and Nando’s "fakeaways".
The Sun recently spoke to mum-of-four Penny Campbell who spends just £20 a month making fast food at home.
This article was originally published on September 16, 2019.