Ok...I admit defeat, I need help. Can I play too?

aliasojo

I have just got my credit card statement in today and OH and I have just had a massive barney over our shopping bills.

(We always use our Tesco card to pay for everything over the month, as we collect the points and usually use them in MFI. Account gets cleared every month btw.)

Anyway, because we use a cc to pay for our shopping, it is all too easy to fling allsorts into the shopping trolley without much thinking about it. OH is really bad for overspending and regularly goes to Tesco after work to stock up. He likes loads of fresh fruit and vegetables daily as he is on a health kick.

I have just added up what was spent in Tesco/Morrison/Sommerfield from 7th April - 7th May and it was so much that I think I'm better not mentioning how much it was on this board cos you'll all shout at me bigstyle. No flipping wonder we are so skint these days.

Now I know you all can't work miracles but any suggestions would be good.

You have to bear in mind........I'm a rubbish cook who hates cooking anyway. (Note mucho emphasis.)

We are a family of 5, 4 of whom are adults.

We live in the Highlands with only Tesco or Morrisons nearby. Driving further afield obviously has added petrol costs.

I'm also not into knitting my own dishcloths and stuff like that.

Any reasonable pain free tips on how to feed a family who don't all like the same stuff and we need to not live on value stuff or cheaper cuts of meat because of cholesterol problems with son. Other son and daughter have dodgy skin and we need to be careful about washing powders and stuff like that.

OH wont eat eggs or pasta which rules out a lot of staple cheapy meals.

Please don't refer me to the indexed thingies....I can't work through them and WILL get lost. :rotfl:

Simple tips would be good about anything shopping/ccoking related cos I hate this subject and find it very boring. Sorry ....I'm just much more of a DIY'er than a 'cooker' and a house keepery person. (Maybe I have a 'male' brain?????:rolleyes: )

Of course I wont be offended if you all laugh at me and tell me to get lost after my previous OS jokes.



I remember one thing Judi said ages ago about shower gel......buy a cheap one and refill an expensive brand bottle. OH hates soap and always wants shower gel so that's on my to do list now.

Now, you'll all have to excuse me whilst I throw myself on the floor and sob loudly with my scrunched up cc statement in my hand. :rolleyes:

r.mac_2

ah.....a convert now are you??:j

well - I'm not sure what you'll think of my ideas, but here goes sweetie

1. meal plan - I know it is boring, but it is the only thing that keeps me focused. Work out how many meals are needed for the week- decide what you are having then STICK to it in the supermarket. And, you can plan in wine too :T

2. make a list to take to the supermarket and STICK to it

3. why not get OH and kids involved - each person take a turn to cook. Or what about making Friday an alisojo in the kitchen free day :rotfl: make them do the cooking!

4. if you hate cooking, when you do cook something like a spag bol, make twice the amount and freeze the other half. This saves time in the kitchen and provides a non-cooking night (could rename this the micromeal night )

5. ban OH from the supermarket?

will keep thinking and get back to you x

aliasojo

r.mac wrote:

ah.....a convert now are you??:j

yes



:rotfl:



Going off to get a pen. :rolleyes:

Jay-Jay_4

r.mac has said it all.

Rather than moseying around the supermarket going "ooh that looks nice" and "I fancy some of that" just buy what's on the list, don't look at anything else and come home.

Blu-tack the list to the kitchen cubboard door and blutack a pencil next to it, if anyone wants, needs or fancies something then get them to add it to your list. Get OH to do this rather than doing his own shop.

Also, give yourself a budget and get used to adding up 'very roughly' in your head as you go around. Just round things up to the nearest pound and have a rough idea of how much it's going to cost.

Jay-Jay_4

Oh... I almost forgot!!!!!

aliasojo wrote:

Of course I wont be offended if you all laugh at me and tell me to get lost after my previous OS jokes.

:rotfl: Get lost!!!!!

Penny-Pincher!!

Can you get shopping delivered by Tescos where you are? If so, you could cut a few ££'s there by using voucher codes from here.

Mealplanning is the key. Can you work out what are your fav meals, maybe cook double portions and freeze etc for the following week. Our menus are similar each week but we have things like:

Roasts (any extra meat will go into a curry or a pie)
Shepards Pie-Cook double and freeze one
Toad In Hole
Chilli-Cook double and freeze
Lasagna-Cook double and freeze
HM Pizzas
Lamb Stew and dumplings
Spagbol-Cook double and freeze
Egg & HM Chips
Curry & Rice
Tuna Pasta
Chops, spuds and veg
Bangers and mash

Bulk out on veg and spuds. Shop in the evening if possible and grab some great yellow stickered items-make sure its freezable and freeze. Do you have a slow cooker-you can bung anything/everything into this and normally turns out ok...LOL. A breadmaker?

I never scrimp on washing powder, Nescafe, Tetley, fabric conditioner, loo rolls and kitchen paper towels, but I do buy from Makros when on offer-so do save money there.

BTW, my DD has dodgy skin and recently read up on Citric Acid, we have cut back on alot of items and her skin has improved. This week she has had some OJ and her skin has flared again-you probably already know this but I didnt when I read it a couple of weeks ago. You will be amazed what food/drinks has this in them.

HTH

PP
xx

System

aliasojo wrote:

I remember one thing Judi said ages ago about shower gel......buy a cheap one and refill an expensive brand bottle. OH hates soap and always wants shower gel so that's on my to do list now.

Nahh Jo, scrap what i said before, i now use Tesco foam bath and decant it into shower gel bottle. You get loads of foam bath for your money and it lasts twice as long. I am presently using Tesco magnolia foam bath in the shower gel my daughter uses...... she hasnt noticed at all!

Lillibet_2

Mealplan, slow cook & on the nights that these 2 options fail, jacket potatoes!!!

System

Lillibet wrote:

Mealplan, slow cook & on the nights that these 2 options fail, jacket potatoes!!!

What fillings do you use for the jacket spuds lillibet?

mamaoba

Some ideas that might work for you:-

food
each week give the family a menu - everyone gets to choose one main meal for Monday - Fri. That way everyone feels their prefernces are taken into account BUT you only have to shop for 1 meal a day. tell them the key ingredient eg beef if you've had beef for Sunday dinner and give them 2 or 3 options to choose from.

Within a few weeks the family will have settled into a list if recipes you all feel happy with or learnt to accept they might not get their favourite on Tuesdays but Wednesday's meal will be one they love.

Make Saturday night Pizza Night and make your own + homemade popcorn - family gets a treat dirt cheap Use leftover veggies and toamato puree or pasta to top the pizza.

Sunday do a traditional roast but use the meat leftovers in meals during the week - eg offer beef stir fry or chicken fajitas.

Once the family has agreed the menu - do the list online and get delivery paid for using a code. Hubby is banned from the supermarket so NO impulse purchases. The cost of the week's shop is there for everyone to see so you can track getting the bill down over time. You can gradually make a note of what's cheapest to make and steer them towards a cheaper option.

Do this for a month and then introduce fish day and veggie day (both cheaper than meat) in the same way you did pizza night. Over time things will get cheaper still - a sneaky gradual approach will be better than lots of battles. with one exception - no trips to the supermarket for hubby.

Cleaning:-
Invest in some soapnuts and a 50p box of ecomomy bio powder for the laundry. for all but the worst loads (e.g some rolled in dog poo in the park) use soap nuts. i have excema and a 1kg bag of soap nuts should last you a year - a massive saving! They are fantastic for people with sensitive skin. Laundry detergents used to make my life hell.
inasoapnutshell will send you a free sample.

Get some stardrops for most other household cleaning jobs.

It's amazing how much of teh budget gets eaten up by loads of household cleaning products we don't actually need.

aliasojo

Haven't got time to read through everything just now, but just wanted to post to say thank you for the replies. We've just had more bad news.....OH car has broken down and is going to cost £1050 to repair. It's not worth it as the thing is only worth around £1500.

Life sucks. Gotta go pick up daughter from swimming lessons.