Saving money by NOT meal planning !!

thriftlady_2

I found I wasn't using up my dried beans because I'd forget to soak them.I've now started soaking and cooking whole packets at a time,then freezing them in 'tin' sized quantities.You can add them frozen to a stew(or run them under a hot tap) so you get the convenience of a tin of beans with the cost of dried beans.

Lillibet_2

Oh dear:o.....I'm a "Tuesday is jacket spud night" (all be it with a choice of fillings!) and "Friday is fish night" & "Saturday is take away at home" night (HM pizza/Mexican/Thai etc). I don't serve exactly the same things each week,
e.g fish might be fish pie or fish cakes or poached salmon or haddock & a poached egg or anything else fishy if you get my drift, I just find it brings a bit of structure to my cooking week and I love Tuesdays 'cos thats the easist meal of the week & I effectively get the night off:D I guess this means none of you will pop round unexpetdetly on a Tuesday now:p

[Deleted User]

I am not a planner either. I have a big stock of all the essentials for baking, cooking etc eg I have five different types of pulses and I have been meaning to do an inventory for a month or so. The tins and bags of flour etc are easy but the odds and sods are not. I usually have a root and see what takes my fancy so DH never knows what he is coming home to. I do HM all the time by the way.

I printed as many of CQs curry recipes as I could find and have decided to do as she suggests and buy the whole spices to grind as needed. I ordered them yesterday and they came today (and I am amazed at the fantastic quality and value for money). This inventory thing is like clearing a very messy room ie doing a bit at a time and it is very appropriate for me to do the spices today. Later the herbs and then the bits for baking. I think that doing an inventory is enough planning for me

thriftlady_2

Where did you order your spices from Kittie?

[Deleted User]

https://www.spiceswarehouse.com

thriftlady I have put these people in my favs. I got a huge amount of star anise as one of my items for only 59p Much much cheaper than tescos

I spent £10.10 and got p+p half price

elona

So glad to see this thread as I was feeling a failure!

I make sure I have "stuff that will make other stuff" i.e. flour,eggs,cheese,bacon, chicken ..mince , rice and pasta.

Lately have been making home made pizza or home made filled tortillas or huge pots of soup in the slow cooker.
I get meat and fish when there is a good offer on and freeze it.

Making a huge curry in slow cooker as I just fancied the idea and have not had this for a while.

Now weather is getting brighter may start to make flans etc but like to feel I can be flexible depending on weather, daughters etc.

[Deleted User]

Talk about being on a roll!!
I started an inventory today, spices and herbs. Then I did baking ingredients such as sugars, dried fruits etc. Then grains and pulses and it went on and on. I have now written everything down on lined A4 in two vertical columns per side. I only had to throw a few things out so I was very pleased but I do have a lot of nutmegs.

I`m quite tired now because I have been tidying up as well. Most of my stuff is in lock and lock boxes, collected over the years

Next session will be the tins, packets and bottles. I am going to laminate my inventory sheets so I can write on them. This inventory is the foundation for all my meals

arkonite_babe

thriftlady wrote:

I know it sounds like OS heresy,but I don't plan my meals and I still save money.

I can see how people use meal planning to save money and how helpful it is to them,that's great,but for all those to whom that doesn't appeal there is another way.

I shop for my storecupboard.
I have a basic list of everything I use to make our meals(for a family of 5).I keep 2 of each item in stock and when one is finished up I put it on the list(catowen does this too ).The things I'm flexible on are fruit and veg,I like to make use of seasonal produce,and meat and fish.I know that with my basic storecupboard in place I can always make a meal with whatever meat or fish I choose.I have an upper price limit of £2 a lb for meat.I usually buy it in bulk for the freezer from my butcher as it is cheaper that way.

I find this works well for me.I spend about £50-£60 a week which includes any household goods(I can manage it on less if I have to).I always have plenty of options for meals and no waste.I have tried meal-planning several times but I just can't stick to a plan.I'd get to Wednesday and see on the plan 'pasta and tomato sauce' and I'd think I don't fancy that,I fancy baked spuds and cheese or whatever.Also I can use leftovers up more efficiently if I'm plan-free and take into account changes in weather which might make one meal preferable to another.

I'd be interested to know if anyone else uses a similar method?

I am eaxctly the same, I just can't meal plan. The though of it strikes terror in my heart :rotfl:

The reason being I used to be a relief cook in a nursing home and they had a 4 weekly rota for the meals, makes me feel like I'm a resident if I try to plan. More fun digging in the freezer anyway

Edinburghlass_2

I'm a bit like Nelski regarding this one, fish van came on Tuesdays and Fridays so it was fishcakes for me those nights, have't eaten a fishcake since

Mum was never much of a cook either and its rubbed off on me. If I decide to use the slowcooker I do kind of plan that the night before but for the rest of the time I delve into the depths of the freezer and like Pal, pull out odds and sods and never know what the meat might be until its cooked

Sweet_Pea_2

My mum had a meal plan but unfortunately as she is not much of a cook it was a weekly one.
I recently found an old diary I had to keep for homework at school when I was 10. Every day the first thing I wrote was what I had for tea, I kept the diary for a month and each Sunday was roast chicken, each Monday was chicken n chips, each Tuesday was lamb chops and mint sauce etc etc. OH said he cant think of anything worse, but funnily enough I seemed to enjoy this when I was a kid.
Until a couple of weeks ago I didnt have a meal plan. I kept in the basic ingredients for our favourite meals and then whatever we used got bought the following week so that we always had a jar of Tikka sauce in the cupboard in case I fancied curry etc.
I just bought stuff to replace what we had used and kept my basic stock replenished.

However, so many Old Stylers had said that meal planning had saved them money I decided to give it a go, and I have started off with a basic three week rolling meal plan. I have been doing it for six weeks and yes it has saved me money. I cant for the life of me work out why it has saved me money - instead of replacing items used Im simply buying in whatever I need for the next weeks meals from the plan, I cant see why it would make a difference but for some insane reason it does!