Losing One Wage! - need advise

kemo_2002

ok a typiccal week -

monday - chicken & wedges (homemade) - chicken 2 for £6 then use left over chicken for sandwiches
tuesday - pork chops & chips - £3.50
wed - chicken dinner (other chicken from monday)
thursday - beef chow main - £3.50
friday- burger @ garlicbread - £3
saturday- chips & stewed steak - £2
sunday - dinner @ mums

the rest is made up of dog food (£6), baby milk (£7) nappies (£7), bread & cobs (£2) milk (£3.50- we drink lots of milk in our family!) ice cream (£1) then depends if i need loo role ect.

Gigervamp

When your baby is older, you really should introduce fruit and veg into his/her diet.

My eldest son doesn't like veg. He'll eat carrots and salad, but he will also eat any other veg if it's blended into a base like soup or chilli/pasta sauce. I make a soup that he really loves and it contains sweetcorn, runner beans, onions and peas as well as the other ingredients, but because it's blended, he doesn't taste the veg that he doesn't like. (Oh, and he knows the veg is in there!)

phizzimum

hmm...I see what you mean about not being able to pad those sort of meals out with lentils etc. you must be spending quite a bit on meat for every meal.

well done for making the chicken stretch out for 2 meals plus sandwiches.

how willing is your other half to try new things? I'm trying to think of things that aren't too way out but allow you to reduce the meat content - for example: lasagne, shepherds pie, chicken pie, chicken pasta bake, casseroles

kemo_2002

gigervamp - she eats them, i dont wnt her to be fussy like us, so i use the veg my mum has to make her dinners

i meals are very meat based - we like our meat! lol, just meat is so expensive!

Almo

To echo what others have said, just hide the veg. I'm not a keen veg eater (salad veg only, I don't like cooked veg other than potatoes, which don't count towards your 5 a day (or 7 a day as it is here) and onions. However, for reasons of health and economy I use loads in things like spag bol, chilli, stews, soups etc. I chop it up really finely and blitz it if I really have to, it doesn't alter the flavour hugely, and it really helps to stretch things out. Trust me, it's worth a shot. I am a nightmare for eating veg, but will quite happily eat h/m chicken soup with leeks, carrots, mushrooms, potato, celery etc, as long as there aren't any 'chunks' - I blend it (and then add chicken).

kemo_2002

thanks:) but im afraid my OH will not even contemplate it lol, onve i tried ot hide a tiny bit of brocolli in somethin g and he notice straigt away! lol

Bitsy_Beans

I am not sure where you shop but I buy Sainsbury's basics cobs 12 for 35p. They taste just like the ones cooked in store (I suspect these are too) and are only a tiny bit smaller. I can recommend most of their basics range - it's very good stuff. I buy UHT for our tea and coffee and cereal (kids have fresh whole milk) - not sure what milk you currently buy but would you consider swapping to UHT?
For toiletries I use Stardrops and bleach. Startdrops cost circa 70p and bleach can be as cheap or as expensive as you like. Stardrops last for ages and ages and I use it every week for cleaning my kitchen and my bathroom. For dusting I bought some value microfibre cloths and use these damp for most other cleaning jobs. They were if memory serves about £1 for 3 from Tesco.
I use basics loo roll, £1.12 for 12 rolls. I squash it so it doesn't roll off the holder as easily (thanks for this tip to sneaky ways to save pennies thread!) and we don't even get through a 12 pack in a week (and I am at home too with the kids like you).
I also meal plan. That way I don't spend more money on stuff I don't need. However since you don't eat veg your bills are going to be fairly high in cost due to the meat content. No chance you could try to introduce more veg? Would benefit your health wonders and make your daughter less likely to be fussy eater. It's supoosed to take 20 tastes to accept a new food so for the sake of your daughter (and your food bills and health) start trying more veg. I was never much of a veg eater but now I even have lentils!!!!

djdymond

hiya

dont think i can offer much advice but i just wanted to say i know how u feel. im going on maternity leave in 3 weeks and while im getting paid for it, we have no problem but once it stops, im not too sure whatll happen. although we have no debt, our morgage is something like 850 and we pay rent too as its a part rent part buy property which is another 350!! new granny to be has said she would baby sit a few days a week but if by that time she decides shes getting on a bit etc and says she cant were a bit stuck! nursery fees then outweigh a income for myself.. i suppose in our case, we wuold have to move.. something i REALLY dont want to do!

the only thing i could suggest is if you got a part time job, doing hours when OH isnt working? say evenings at tesco or in a pub etc? not something id choose to do but if it means you get the weekends free together, it may do in the meantime? or perhaps doing work from home which again is easier said then done i suppose... theres always avon, betterware or whatever it is? or the body shop at home? is moving somewhere cheaper an option for you?

ive probably not helped in the slightest but my fingers are crossed for you and ill keep reading your thread! xxx

Taye

I apologise in advance... but i've never quite understood people who say they don't like "veg" there are sooooo many types, shapes, colours flavor's surely you can't dislike them ALL!? they all just taste totally different from each other so i don't get it sorry.

I have to admit my son tried the "i don't like veg thing" and i didn't buy it.. i told him he might not like all veg but there must be some he liked. He's still not a huge veg eater but we did work out between us which ones where just about edible.

I would really recommend trying to each more veg it's such an important part of a healthy diet, maybe you could try a new one each week see if you can work out bettween you which ones you like?

Also trying cooking them in different way because that can also make a huge difference i hate overcooked boiled soggy veg....but i love veg cooked in my steamer.

Mamae

We were in a similar situation. Going from 2 incomes and no kids to 1 income and 1 kid (now 2!). After using running up a large overdraft I realised things had to change and the easiest was the groceries (now we have no overdraft). Meat is expensive. We only eat it twice, maybe three times a week. HM pizza is cheap and easy! As is jacket pots, beans on toast, omlettes etc. If you are not used to eating vegetables it may take a while to get used to them and even enjoy them, but a blanket ban on all veg and bulking out meals will make it very difficult to live within your means. Before we had to we had never tried foods like lentils, now we regulary eat lentil curry, it is a cheap healthy midweek meal. Red lentils and oats and not even noticed in chilli and bolognaise. I used to use 500g of mince to feed 2 of us, now I use 250g mince for 4 of us. Try supermarket own brands and the value brands - this can really make a difference to your purse. Also try not to impulse buy and plan your meals.
The other thing is that children learn by example and if you really want your child to eat and enjoy veg they should see their parents doing that. It will be difficult persauding them to 'eat their greens' if you don't! Worth considering anyway.
Good luck and enjoy your maternity leave.