my spending dairy

calleyw

dazzanator wrote:

hi thank you for your replys they realy do help my wife finds all cooking borring she not a bad cook and can cook most things but hates it...

my wife is so disorganiced i have suggest that she takes water and snacks with her she has said she will try but it takes every thing to rember to take her cards and keys when she gose out i have had to come from work to let her in as she left the keys in the house so i dont hold out much hope for this

will try and sit down and meal plan and she has said at the end of the month she will look at this thread and see all the money thats been spent and work out from there what was wastefull but has told me that she is not giong to stop buying the things she thinks are not wastefull as she says she not living in a prison she says we have no debt and yes she agrees that we do waste money she is not giong to feel bad because she has brought the kids a sauage roll from the bakers but dose admit there was no need to buy the twixs

I don 't enjoy cooking and I only cook for two people most days. Why not get some gadgets that allows you to cook meals without standing over them all the time. I mean I love ( I know you can only love a person and not a thing) my 3 tier electric steamer. They cost around £20-£30 each and if I want to I can cook an entire meal in it, if I am having say chicken pieces they go in the bottom tier wrapped in a grease proof and put the spuds on the same tier and then all the rest of the veggies go in the other tiers. Takes about 30 mins to cook. All that is needed is the gravy. Not hard and no need to be slaving over a hot stove.

What about a slow cooker. means that during the summer you can still have chicken/Beef/Pork and steam all the veggies. Not exactly what I call hard work.

If your wife is not organised then put the water and cereal bar in her bag now and then leave them in there. So when they are needed in say a weeks time they are there. And yes granted there is nothing wrong with the odd treat of a sausage roll. But you are buying a lot of chocolate, biscuits and crisps a good couple of times a week. You don't say if the children eat those things of not.

No one is saying you are living in prison and everyone should have a little treat. But if you want to get a grip on your spending and get more for your money it is about spending a little time to get organised. And that means not wasting time or money. If you where only buying chocolate/biscuits/Crisps/Sweets as a treat once a week then fine.

But since keeping your dairy out 3 shops, twice it seems that lots of sweets and biscuits etc have been bought.

I agree with another poster you should not be going to the supermarket everyday for milk as it makes you spend more money. I know it does me. Pop in and then take a look at the reduced to clear. And that is me gone for a burton. Buy a couple of 4pts at a time as they normally have a weeks date on them.

I suspect this is where you are slipping up. One of you keeps popping in to the supermarket for just one thing. And the one thing turns in to a whole shopping trolley. I was once told a trick to stop that and that not to pick up a basket at all if you only want one or two things.

If your wife gets bored then why does she not go for a walk rather than to the shops. I am not a typical woman I hate food and clothes shopping. But on a nice day I don't mind going for a walk.

Yours


Calley

dazzanator

hi thankyou all for your replys i will try to answer them the baccy thing i dont know anyone who can get it cheep for us i do get the odd bit at work somtimes but not very often
the suppermarket my wife is a great beliver of you helped eat it you can help buy it so we all do go on a weekly shop together the kids are good they dont ask or pester for anything but then they dont need to with the amount of junk we buy the kids do eat some of it they are alowed one thing after dinner like a choc bar or crisps me and my wife are the main eaters of the junk my wife admits its lazzyness as its easyer to open a bag of crisp than make a sandwich but is quite keen to change this as she feels tried all the time and knows this is down to the junk she eats

we do have a three tier steamer and when i sugested cooking in it she said that she didnt know you could cook meat in it and dose it cook it ok she says that she might get it out of the cuboard and use it if you can she also says that she likes fish but dosnt know how to cook it so any ideas would be good

i have asked her to sit down tonight and have a look at this threed so she can see what she has been spending this week and mybe she might see this and calm down a bit next week she says that if she feels ok she will have a look but not if she still feels rough as she thinks everyone will be slating her for her spending habits she dose most of the spending and i have been driving her mad phoning her from work at lunchtime to find out what she has spent today
she has also informed me that she dosnt feel well today cold and we will be having takeway tonight as she said there is no hope in hell of getting her near the cooker today she will cook the kids some tea though she is quite good like that they dont have many takaways

i think the idea of having ready made meals in what could be microwaved is a great idea and will look for some when we go shopping on monday as if we had some in the frezzer we could of had them today in stead of takaway anyway what been spent today

june 2

suppermarket
soup chiken 45 coop own
soup toms heniz 60
paper the sun 35
chicken slices 2 45
bacon 4 slices 96
6 pk of coke 245
milk 120

bakers
2 sausage rolls 160 she brided the kids to help her tidy up as she is not well
1 prawn sandwich for her mum 160
1 choclate muffin 80

takaway 15.00 appox not sure what it will be yet
total 25.46 :eek: will see if i can get her to cook today;)

lynzpower

Yes you can definatley steam fish. Its the only way Ive managed to cook fish myself as I alwas stuff it up every other way possible!

You can put the fish in a bit of greaseproof paper or tin foil, maybe with a bit of pepper, or lemon juice, whatever flavour you like, or just plain, and bang it in the steamer. If you have a look on the streamer there may actualy be a picture of a fish & how long it takes as there was on my old housemates one. Steamed fish is great as it doesnt go dry as much as ovening it can do

She might want to have a look on the OS board I bet theres loads of recipes & stuff you can use the steamer for. Steaming is the most healthiest way of cooking too as theres no fat or additives or anything :j

I dont think anyones having a go here, but if your wifes knowing that shes feeling rough from so much junk, then theres the answer. Believe me, im no saint, but the less cr*p I eat, the better I sleep the more awake I am and the "lighter" I feel, and i dont just mean my fat! It just makes you more motivated, especailly eating lots of veg.

Sounds like things are getting better Dazza, you'll be getting that holiday in no time once these issues are ironed out :T

dazzanator

I dont think anyones having a go here,
hi lynzpower please dont miss understand my wife she dosnt think you are all going to be attacking her i think she will be quite surprised by the amount of support here and how nice people are when she said that i think its because she knows deep down that it her spending behaver what is causeing problems and poeple will be thinking that daft cow cant even get the shoping right she hasnt got a lot of confidents in her self and is one of these people that think that everyone is out to make her look daft when in fact she is is capable of geting this under controll if she just faced it that why i want her to see this so she can see its agood thing rather than a bad thing so sorry if offence was caused by that remark

lynzpower

Dazza

Heavens, believe me, I was spending 75 a week for YEARS plus the odd fiver here and there in M&S /sainsburys, we need a loaf etc. If you have a search theres a thread started by earwig "please help me stop doing this" where all us supermarket junkies came forward going :eek: we were all doing it!!

She doesnt even need to log in, but have a look on the Old Style board and week in week out theres plenty of people doing the same thing. Lets face it, supermarkets & food shopping its advertised all the time, and to be completely honest I went there sometimes as something to do. If she is then look on the days out board theres vouchers for cheapie things to do adn often swimming lessons or other bits like that on cereal packs to give your nippers something to do that doesnt involve spending.

I have got this spending 100 a month down to a fine art quickyl as quite frankly something had to be done as I was always skint and ended up here. I think Calley said it right when she said some people can feed thier families for 2p, down to practice, so baby steps are the way to go unless you benefit more from cold turkey like I do, challenges, how long can I go without going in a supermarket. I will not spend more than a tenner this week etc. I thought it was impossible too, but Ive got so much confidence now to cook nice food and impressive food, while not slaving over stoves all day. It can be done

calleyw

I have found this link

http://www.tefal.co.uk/tefal/magazine/recipe_results.asp?RelatedProducts=
1&dept%5Fid=220&mscssid=XCT9LQE0AAQD9K9RSJ7LAJWMGKK59JM6

I have no idea how to make a shorter link as since the upgrade the link button does not work how it really should.

This is a link to the tefal site and recipes for a steamer from chocolate cake. it is rather delish. Suet pudding etc. As lynzpower fish is lovely and moist. When I had tefal steamer you could take all bottoms out of the baskets and I have cooked a whole chicken. Even Gammons. Which could be used as mean course or instead of pre-packed meat for sandwiches.

With out wanting to be rude but I wonder if there is more to the way your wife feels. Maybe a mild depression. I wonder if it is worth having a quick chat with your Dr. Just because you have depression does not mean that you have to take pills. I know that as it something I am working my way through at the moment.

Apart from my husband and my counsellor and my Dr no-one else knows. Well you lot do now but as you don't know me it does not count .I have had feelings of hopelessness and being usesless and total lack of confidence in my abilities even to the extent of not having worked for the last 3 years. I can't even use the excuse of children as we have none. And due to that I having counselling at the moment. With a view to getting these feeling uncontrol.

Mind you I start a 2 week trial for a job on monday and I am only two weeks in to my counselling.

Yours


Calley

CAFCGirl

Willsnarf1983 wrote:

actually 1 in every £7.80 is spent at tesco

Will

Still a lot though!!!!

thyme_2

I use the microwave a lot to cook food from fresh which is speedier and then use the grill or frying pan on the cooker to finish off items that perhaps need browning or crisping. Fish is excellent cooked in the microwave as also are steamed puddings and custard, and sauces. This saves money - I use very little made up meals - one because of costs and two because they have too many additives in them which IMO are very bad for young children.

You can do roasts and a pudding in the convential oven which does not have to be watched. Towards the end of the roasting time cook vegetables in the microwave again takes a few minutes and make the gravy while you have your feet up! It is just learning to organise time and effort. :cool:

thyme_2

He He! oops meant putting feet up after the roast goes in - not whilst making gravy LoL

Quincifer

I think at the end of the day its all about managing your time and the amount of effort you put in. I used to eat really well when I lived on my own, bought food sensibly, cooked in bulk etc but now I live with my boyfriend and our friends I just can't be bothered!!
There have been so many good suggestions on here, I hope it helps you out Dazza!
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