Need some inspiration

roxy84

I have just been looking through my bank statements and in 7 weeks i have spent £1021 in Tesco on our grocery shopping, i am shocked but my OH seems to think this is ok. There is only me & oh, a 2 year old and a newborn baby.
Im a stay at home mum 23 year old and i cant cook to save mylife, the only things i can really cook are spag bol, mince with veg and yorkshire puddings, i attempt a sunday roast and shephards pie.
I have a problem with my OH, he just eats so much he is into his body building and the gym, he would eat sunday roast everyday if he could. He will even take a full loaf of bread worth of sandwiches to work or a full pack of chicken legs/thighs/drumsticks etc. Im happy to eat whatever and i dont really eat much, the same with our son he'l just eat whatever we have. My oh will also come do the main shop with me every friday but then he will go back everyday for things like bread, milk, pet food etc. No matter how much food i buy it always seems to be all gone by the tuesday

I just dont know where to start, surely im spending way to much

LameWolf

Maybe the first thing to do is to work out EXACTLY what you're spending the money on? I mean, keep the itemised till receipts, and see just how many loaves/cartons of milk/packets of mince etc etc you are buying, and go from there. Perhaps put the info onto an Excel spreadsheet or something. ALL the info, even down to a packet of Polo's.

I just thought that maybe if your OH saw the figures on paper, it might help him see why you're worried, and that'd be a start. You'd also see if there's anything that's really, really not a necessity.

Not a lot of help, I know, but my twopennyworth.

Good luck!

dancingfairy

maybe think about what sort of things you like to cook and see if you can get some recipes and tips from on here.
If you can cook that lot you have definitely got the basics- you can cook mince and veg so I think it is a question of thinking of things you would like to try and starting from there. Easy then build up.
Sausages ? they are pretty easy to cook
Hm pizza - buy a pizza base, chop up veg and put it on top and put in over till done.
curry - buy a jar of sauce and cook a bit of meat and mix together and cook rice. Rice is dead easy too - bung in boiling water for the recommended time and boil gently (simmer) - try it ocassionally - if it is hard it's not cooked , if it is going soggy you have overcooked it slightly and can adjust next time.
How about jacket potatoes with something or beans on toast - they are quite cheap.
What are you spending the money on is it fizzy drinks/squash? a lot of ready meals? cakes/crisps etc?

Magentasue

For most Old Stylers, your food spending is much higher than they would be happy with so there's lots of advice here. However, you haven't said how much you can afford to spend every week/month and whether your Tesco total includes all food (are there takeaways etc.), toiletries, cleaning, pet foods etc. Are there any other expensive extras (DVDs, bodybuilding supplements, alcohol) that are included.

I think it's important to distinguish whether you want to cut food bills because you MUST (can't afford to spend so much) or because you feel you should (see it as wasteful, would rather spend the money on other things because that will affect how much co-operation you'll get from your OH.

As lamewolf says, in any case you need to identify where the money goes so you can see where the biggest savings can be made.

belfastgirl23

I agree. Your first job is to keep your receipts and analyse what all the money is going on. For instance we used to throw in wine, gifts, household items etc with grocery stuff. So it might not be quite as bad as you think.

It might also be worth thinking about some investment too - I've found that the breadmaker saves me a lot of money since we do eat a fair bit of bread (and not the cheap type). It also means that you don't pop to the shop for bread. I also buy UHT milk partly for the same reason. And try to use local fruit and veg shops for other top-ups.

If your DH has a strong interest in health this will work to your advantage too - HM bread is healthier since you know what is in it. Bulking out meals with lentils and beans etc is also healthy and cheap! Maybe you need to go on a sly moneysave without necessarily talking too much to him about it. Also if he is inclined to throw extra in the trolley it's worth thinking about online shopping.

The other thing is that if you're feeding a terminally hungry man you're never going to get your grocery bills to what other couples manage so your goal is to get to something that feels good to you.

Good luck!

Edited to say, we've gone down from spending £300-£400 a month on groceries to around £150 a month now. Still a bit higher than a lot of other OS but it seems to work for us...and is still a big improvement!

newlywed

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

IIf your DH has a strong interest in health this will work to your advantage too - HM bread is healthier since you know what is in it. Bulking out meals with lentils and beans etc is also healthy and cheap! Maybe you need to go on a sly moneysave without necessarily talking too much to him about it.

If he argues about the beans/lentils then make sure you let him know it's a way of getting extra protein (red lentils have about 26g of protein per 100g dried - which is almost as much as 100g chicken ) without increasing any fat intake - as they are low fat

Worked for me with my protein-loving OH (he won't eat bread too much though because of the high carbs)

gingin_2

My husband is the same, he ate at 1.8 kilo roast chicken last night, bar the 2 slices I had. He "commands" a hot meal every night consisting of at least 500g, low fat protein and turns his nose up at fish, as it is not filling enough.

I cook in bulk and portion out the meat dishes before he has a chance to get to them, that way he knows what he is "allowed". My deep freezer is my best friend. We eat a lot of mince for economies sake and dishes like curries/stews tend to have a can of pulses per 500g meat added, to bulk it out ( that will still only serve the 2 of us one meal) and I buy packs of economy peppers/mushrooms to pad things out as well.

I buy in bulk and shop online using whichever supermarket is cheaper. I just used Ocado today as their lean mince was 2 for £4.50, whereas tesco is £2.99 a pack with the same fat content. Their chicken breasts were also just under £8 a kilo (which we also eat a lot of). I bought 12 packs of mince and 4 kilo's of chicken and just froze them. I also found a £15 off voucher and saved £25 off my shop using deals etc so was happy. In a couple of weeks I will use tesco again and stock up on their value items and deals that lower the cost.

I very rarely buy ready meals, it's just too costly for us given sir's requirements and if I don't feel like cooking just bung a chicken in the oven and serve it with salads etc which keeps dh happy and the food bills down.

scattymam1

You have to first get your husband on board with reducing the cost of your shopping or do as I do - don't let hime come with you.

Like yourself I am not much of a cook but I find you can't go wrong with a slow cooker - anything I do in a slow cooker turns out perfect and the meat is always so tender and lovely. Even really cheap cuts of meat come out great. You can find some slow cooker recipes around on this forum but all it needs is some meat, a couple of veg, potatoes if you like and some stock, switch it on and then forget about it til tea time. You can make big batches very cheaply and they are very tasty.

Stephen_Leak

All good advice about getting an accurate and objective picture of where every penny is going, and about shopping. As a single bloke, I can appreciate both sides of the dilemma. However, I don't have the option of leaving myself at home.

Also, you say you can cook Spaghetti Bolognese. OK, it's a tried and tested starting point. Lose any garlic and herbs, but add a tin of red kidney beans and 2 teaspoons of chilli powder (Per 500g of minced meat. Minced pork is cheap and works fine, BTW.) and you've just added Chilli con Carne to your culinary repertoire.

PS. I read somewhere (maybe even on here!) that a serving of red kidney beans in a CCC is one of your "5 a day" for fruit & veg'.

Lainie75

Hi

Have you tried any of the low cost supermarkets like aldi . netto , lidl or heron as they all stock branded items as well as there own makes , i went to netto last week and saved £28 on my normal shop(and i still have some left) they have some great offers bacon bogof £2.99 , 4 tins of princes tuna £2.49 , maxwelhouse coffee 99p , 2 punnets of grapes £1.49 plus there 500g bags of pasta (dried) was 19p each and i got 4 lean pork boneless chops/steaks for £1.99 and lots more so if you have one near you try it you'll be surprised.

Lainie