Tips and Quick Questions on “How To Start Being Old Style”

Butterfly_Brain

funkychicken76 wrote: »

yes i have just been into the pantry and i am a tad ashamed it is absoloutly chocka with food so i think we need to start being creative and cooking with what we have.

In that case have a look at the storecupboard challenge thread it will give you plenty of ideas.
First Set yourself a budget - not too drastic at first one step at a time
Meal planning is a real must followed by writing a list - and keeping to it.
Try to do your shop once a week, Milk has a long code usually and you can freeze things on the day of purchase to last throughout the week.
Frozen veg is just as good as fresh and in some cases it is better.
Try going down a brand every week you will be surprised at how good some of the basics lines are.

PollyFlinders_3

Don't be too hard on yourself - as you said, you've spent years filling the trolley without a thought, and it takes a long time to break old habits. Baby steps and all that...

We started trying to live this way about 3 years ago, and I still slip up regularly. But I try to focus on one or two things at a time - at the moment its trying to run down the freezer ready for the summer vegetable glut, and using the toiletries I got for Christmas before buying any more.

If you manage to change one thing a week then thats 52 changes in a year - which WILL make a big difference.

Trinny

Hello and welcome to OS

It felt really intimidating when i started making OS changes and it was even more difficult as OH took ages to convince.

Its already been said - but take your time, change one thing at a time and allow the change to become part of your daily routine.

The big change for me was to join the grocery challenge - its taken me 6 months to get our spend from £200+ to £160 pm, cant say i have noticed any difference in quality of life either.

The other biggie - was to make a freezer inventory and attach it to the side of the freezer - menu plan from there and its so much easier.

OH changed when HE decided to do a store cupboard inventory - and realised how much we already had in storage. He then decided it was a good idea to "use up what we have".

Another change which helped - is leaving OH at home and shopping without him. He likes to shop with his eyes and prefers to go up and down each aisle and just pick what he likes the look of:eek: a shop keepers dream.

Now i top us up and we shop together once a month only. Made a vast difference to us.

Best of luck

Trin

cuddlymarm

Hi

I find it easier to do the food shop online because you aren't physically there to throw extra bits in the trolley.

Also if you shop with Sainsburys and spend over £100 and have it delivered it Tues, Weds or Thurs delivery is free where we are (I don't know whether this all areas) and if you don't shop that often they tend to send you a voucher so you'll shop with them again.

Theres only 2 of us most of the time ( DS2 is at uni and DS1 has left home) so I tend to fill the freezer and the cupboards and only shop every 3 or 4 weeks as needed and then top up on fresh stuff until it is time to shop again.

As I'm running low on stuff I write it on a list on the fridge door so that I don't just keep buying the same stuff all the time.

My downfall is I tend to buy too much fresh veg and yoghurt when I do my big shop and then we are struggling to use it up before it goes off.

It takes a while to break bad habits ( for years I never even looked at prices and then just filled my trolley) but eventually you create new ones.

Good luck
Cuddles:)

phizzimum

my recommendations are:

make a meal plan - it needs to be realistic, with quick meals on busy days. check what's in your cupboards or freezer and think of meals to use what you have.

don't try to change everything at once - everyone on Old Style is always tweaking how they do things and picking up new ideas. the changes you make this month will soon seem second nature and then you can move on to another area.

make it fun - try not to view everything in terms of "we can't afford this" - think about improvements to your health, your carbon footprint, less waste etc. view it as a challenge not a deprivation

keep posting on Old Style!

Norman_Bean

When I started OSing I did it the other way round - I went full on hardly any spending - I used all my freezer and cupbaord stocks up and using all scraps, trying to see how long I could go without a big shop and the result (apart from spending hardly anything) was to make me realise how much money I'd previously been wasting.
It made me more inventive, less lazy and certainly less wasteful. I really saw it as a challange x
The meals that I could do cheaply have been carried on and the meals that needed mre expensive ingredients have been dropped or tweaked.
Now I don't really do a big shop - I restock stuff when it gets used up and do a bulk buy at butchers (€80) every 4 months.
HTH a bit and good luck x

Penelope_Penguin

funkychicken76 wrote: »

We recently found this forum a couple of weeks ago and have since spent ages going through loads of different threads.
We are slowly getting better and have started to use leftovers, cheaper cuts etc but it is very hard particularly after years of just wondering into a supermarket and filling the trolley without a thought. any tips on how to make the whole transition easier?

Well done on what you've achieved so far :T We have a thread on how to get started, which has loads of great tips, so I'll merge this so that you can see what others suggest

Penny. x

xhosa9

Yes, shop online via moneysupermarket.com (collect ipoints as well) and then go back and review your basket at least once to make sure you remove any impulse buys. I also review my basket again once I have sent it to the supermarkets own website to ensure there have not been any other deals added which are better than the one I have. Amazing how much stuff you add in and then think better of after a few days.
I also only buy basic fruit and veg and heavy stuff like spuds online. I then buy all the other F&V from the green grocers which is so much cheaper.

cuddlymarm wrote: »

Hi

I find it easier to do the food shop online because you aren't physically there to throw extra bits in the trolley.

Also if you shop with Sainsburys and spend over £100 and have it delivered it Tues, Weds or Thurs delivery is free where we are (I don't know whether this all areas) and if you don't shop that often they tend to send you a voucher so you'll shop with them again.

Theres only 2 of us most of the time ( DS2 is at uni and DS1 has left home) so I tend to fill the freezer and the cupboards and only shop every 3 or 4 weeks as needed and then top up on fresh stuff until it is time to shop again.

As I'm running low on stuff I write it on a list on the fridge door so that I don't just keep buying the same stuff all the time.

My downfall is I tend to buy too much fresh veg and yoghurt when I do my big shop and then we are struggling to use it up before it goes off.

It takes a while to break bad habits ( for years I never even looked at prices and then just filled my trolley) but eventually you create new ones.

Good luck
Cuddles:)

PaisleyPPL

hi everyone ,

Have been looking thro the threads and im abit overwelmed ,just dont know where to start ?

Here goes ,my partner had surgery, due to the reduction in household income i really need to sart being more thrifty with my food shopping ,before now i would spend about £200 a month on the shopping for two of us(I know I know ,its such alot of money) .This now has to become a thing of the past.

I would like to carry this on even after he is back to work.At the moment ,i try to cook as much as possible but do buy alot of things i can bang in the oven (am a full time student ,and i work very odd shifts) and have to grab food on the go .

Currently im trying to diet :mad: ,and would like to make healthy food that would be suitable for my diet and for his recovery. I currently shop at morrisons but am thinking i should switch over to somewhere like lidl or aldi ?

Sorry about the long winded post:D but any advice on shopping and recipes that would be appropriate for our situation would be greatly appreciated .

Penelope_Penguin

Welcome to Old Style :beer:

Start here Once you've taken a look at the links in post one, then you can ask specific questions for your situation, or join in any threads that interest you.

I'll add this to the thread above later.

Penny. x