Saving money by NOT meal planning !!

Hardup_Hester

My Nan had a very rigid meal plan
Roast & then rice pud on Sunday ,
cold with mash & pickle & rice pud on Monday,
rissoles then jelly on Tuesday,
macaroni cheese then jelly on Wednesday,
egg & chips then tinned pears with a slice of bread on Thursday,
white fish in parsley sauce with mash & then tinned pears with a slice of bread on Friday,
sandwiches & fruit salad with bread on Saturday. Absolutely the same week in week out.
My mum hated it, but as a child I loved it, probably as my mum rarely prepared a meal, I was just grateful for a regular meal.
Schooldays were ok as I had school dinners, holidays & weekends a nightmare, there was never any food in the house, mum always had a mug of coffee & a fag for breakfast, lol.
Hester

Hapless_2

We tried meal-planning, but unfortunately with me being unable to cook 50% of the time and hubby not being able to cook at all we do a play by ear system.

naturalplease

MATH wrote: »

I do a meal plan each week but it's not set in stone. If I find I have leftovers to use up or my Dad comes down with some freebies (which he sometimes does)then I slot them in and either delay what was on the plan or cook it and freeze it to use later.
I sat down this afternoon to do my plan for next week and found I only had to source three meals cos I had two delays and 2 frozen under my belt already.
I find doing a plan means I don't have to waste time thinking about 'what shall we have tonight' or start cooking something only to find I'm missing one vital ingredient half way through which always happened before.

Yes, I do exactly the same as this! Planning ahead also gives you the opportunity to be a bit more adventurous with cooking rather than having the same things all the time. I do keep stocks of basics which I top up as necessary, but the rest of my food shopping is dictated by my meal planning - I go through my cookbooks and Good Food mags (as well as my meal planning diary to pick up meals I've made before which we've enjoyed) and write my choices in my diary and add any ingredients I need to buy to my weekly shopping list as I go along.

moanymoany

There are times when mealplanning works for me, most of the time I work round ingredients and how I feel.

Amy Whatsit of 'Tightwad Gazette' doesn't advocate meal planning as she says it doesn't work with taking advantage of special offers.

Tell me Thriftlady, will the Thriftlets be appearing with you on THE show? I would love to hear their views on the 'ration' meals .... they certainly looked good?

thriftlady_2

moanymoany wrote: »

Tell me Thriftlady, will the Thriftlets be appearing with you on THE show? I would love to hear their views on the 'ration' meals .... they certainly looked good?

'Fraid not Moany as I've said no thank you to the telly thing. I'm sure there are others who have been asked too who will be much better than me

moanymoany

sophistica, the price list diary - did that idea come from 'Tightwad Gazette'? Amy whatsit who wrote them also recommends keeping one.

EagerLearner

Hi all, I wanted to just add a quick hello and say that I used to eat without meal planning and I am afraid for us it was a failure... except we didn't know it back then! All I knew is we were stressed and after a hard days work, it was always a last-minute 'what are we eating tonight' and as neither of us had much imagination or bought the right kind of shopping, there'd be more take-aways... and loads of snack food in the cupboard but nothing 'real'.

Now I have a wipeboard in the kitchen after reading of the idea on MSE. We have done this for 3 years now and it's worked so well for us. 6 months ago I read about the shopping price book, in the TightWad Gazette by Amy Daczyn(?) and it's been fab. Who knew the supermarkets tried to con us so much! Joining the monthly grocery challenge on MSE also helped so much.

To illustrate, we used to be £60 overdrawn each month, from food shopping and take-aways. We now have money left over and save around £40 per month - that's a saving of £100 compared to the situation we used to be in at the end of each month!

Anyway, I wish I could be fancy free and eat from the freezer but would mean either we were eating lots of ready-made stuff, or, to eat homemade food it'd take even more organisation than I have time for right now :rotfl:

jinny

[Now I have a wipeboard in the kitchen after reading of the idea on MSE. We have done this for 3 years now and it's worked so well for us]

What a good idea! I usually jot down on a piece of scrap paper when stuff runs out, but I always lose the list. I do have a master grocery list in my recipe folder, but a wipeboard would work better I think. Does anyone know where I would find a cheap one?

thriftlady_2

I'd forgotten about this thread. Gosh I see I reckoned on spending £50-£60 a week in February 2006. Times change and it is more like £100 -£120 now:eek:

I'm glad I saw this thread and my storecupboard list as it has made me realise how many unecessary things I've been buying lately -mainly in the name of healthy eating. Every time I vow to lose weight I seem to start with a shopping list :rolleyes: . I'm off to the shops this morning and before I go I shall study the list and ammend my shopping list accordingly.

Eager Learner I see you mention the Tightwad Gazette. That is where I developed my non-meal planning method. She has an article called 'The Pantry Principle' all about it.

EagerLearner

Jinny I got mine in Woolworths I think - around £4. Rymans have one online here:
http://www.ryman.co.uk/Memo-Dry-Wipe-Board-with-Pen-30x40cm-White-Pine-0915046076.asp

However mine is magnetic and more like this one, which looks better quality perhaps:
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails-Magnetic+Dry+Wipe+Board-31562492.html

Remember to buy via a cashback site ;o)

thriftlady - yes I saw her article, it was interesting but we haven't the space... sadly! I have the first and second book, very nice to have - might ask for the 3rd one for Xmas... I keep as much pantry stock as I can but it's only 1 shelf, so we rely on the freezer shelf and the new countertop freezer we have to freeze slow cooked meals and eat from that.