1 mortgage, 2 babies, 3 years to be MF, 4 goodness sake!- weezl's diary

LilacPixie

weezl74 wrote: »

Shall I? :rotfl:How funny! We could have car stickers emblazoned with, 'set fire to your money! It's only paper!'

*shakes head sorrowfully, an unaccounted for splash of soy....... tsk tsk......*

See thats the reason I could never ever ever cost out a meal. I fling things in all the time. Today for exampe the slow cooker is on, 1kg diced beef steak, 4 potatos peeled and sliced, tin of chopped tomatoes, tin of beans, 3 chopped up carrots and some left over veg pasta sauce from 2 nights ago. I will end up adding some suet dumplings from a packet I got from Approved foods in November. Wouldn't have a clue where to start with it.

phizzimum

I know what you mean Lilac - I've often tried to cost out a meal...but quickly given up. I'm just curious to know how my meals measure up to those doing a challenge - I guess I roughly know how much the main constituents are - but store cupboard stuff, I wouldn't know where to start.

Weezl - I think that's why your threads have captured our imaginations - your "geeky" analyses have silenced any accusations that you're compromising on quality or the healthiness of your meals. it shows that we can be frugal and healthy (in fact I think the word frugal comes from the same root as the word fruit - or did my English teacher just make that up?)

LilacPixie

See I would love to know too Phizzimum, I fear i would be labelled a cheat as my OH gets lots of cheap meat via his work and I often shamlessly raid my dad's allotment or the dark cupboard that has the hessian sacks of tatties . I suspect if i did it with the meal i'm doing tonight it would work out at 20p a portion or something silly.

HowlinWolf

Weezl, I have read this thread from start to finish today (and I've subscribed so I will be lurking religiously). I am nowhere near being MFW I and way too DFW at the moment but you have given me some inspiration and an awful lot to think about.
So a BIG thank you from the Wolf house.

BigMummaF

weezl74 wrote: »

following on from susan's thoughts there, I think the most surprising thing was Mark being challenged that perhaps his figures weren't fully inclusive, because posters elsewhere were feeling a failure because they couldn't match his budget.

My feeling was, 'well they're in the right place to learn!' rather than 'well, Mark's figures must be wrong!' I sometimes think there's a bit of an attitude on that part of the forums that if someone can do something more cheaply then they must be doing it wrong: unhealthy, cheating.... etc.

I guess it's ok to think that, but it seems kinda defensive to me, and like it would get in the way of people learning how to do better and therefore not feel like a failure!

I remember joining the grocery challenge thread in 2007 and being so impressed at some people's budgets and posting asking how they did it, and everyone seemed to swoop in and do a kind of don't worry about it, just do what's right for you, we're all different, etc...

I was a bit frustrated at the time though, because I was there to save money! Not to be told it was fine as it was!
....getting a bit ruffled....

Know what you mean, as I've been on the receiving end of some 'helpful' posts in my time! I know it can get a bit frustrating when the same question is asked over & over, but it takes a lot less effort to suggest reading back a little further in the thread than to try & be superior :cool: Some others also forget that we have regional differences in prices, access to various stores, planting times, etc without adding in family dynamics & previous knowledge. I'm really hopeless at growing things so really do need an idiot's guide, but that doesn't mean I'm happy to be treated LIKE an idiot; a subtle difference maybe, but a difference all the same.

phizzimum wrote: »

I know what you mean Lilac - I've often tried to cost out a meal...but quickly given up. I'm just curious to know how my meals measure up to those doing a challenge - I guess I roughly know how much the main constituents are - but store cupboard stuff, I wouldn't know where to start.

Weezl - I think that's why your threads have captured our imaginations - your "geeky" analyses have silenced any accusations that you're compromising on quality or the healthiness of your meals. it shows that we can be frugal and healthy (in fact I think the word frugal comes from the same root as the word fruit - or did my English teacher just make that up?)

Again, a very similar situation to my own plus substitute cash for calories too No2 & I are trying to follow a medically endorsed diet & it's driving me trying to work out our meals. It doesn't help that my recipes are 'a splodge of this & a bit of that' cuz I don't weigh a lot of it /SIZE]assuming I can find their calorific quantities in the first place[/SIZE but something must be filtering thru cuz our trousers are definitely looser :rotfl:

SusanC_2

weezl74 wrote: »

following on from susan's thoughts there, I think the most surprising thing was Mark being challenged that perhaps his figures weren't fully inclusive, because posters elsewhere were feeling a failure because they couldn't match his budget.

My feeling was, 'well they're in the right place to learn!' rather than 'well, Mark's figures must be wrong!' I sometimes think there's a bit of an attitude on that part of the forums that if someone can do something more cheaply then they must be doing it wrong: unhealthy, cheating.... etc.

I guess it's ok to think that, but it seems kinda defensive to me, and like it would get in the way of people learning how to do better and therefore not feel like a failure!

I guess (quite naturally really) people like to feel that they are doing things as well as they can (so in this case as frugally as possible). If someone pops up who is doing it "better" then that challenges their perception of how they are doing and the easiest way to put that right is to claim the person doing it "better" isn't really. Obviously nobody is thinking it through like that but it could explain why a lot of people react in a particular way. Personally I know that although I am reasonably frugal with food, it could fairly easily be done for a lot less and whenever I come across someone (such as you) spending less than me I like to read about what they are doing to pick up tips on how to save more money. I also know that I am making choices which cost more (such as some free range/organic items, more expensive things which I choose because I believe them to be healthy and I don't buy pre-made stuff even if it would work out cheaper) so I know that other people will be able to make things cheaper than I do and accept it because I know I have made that choice.

mooomin

SusanC wrote: »

Personally I know that although I am reasonably frugal with food, it could fairly easily be done for a lot less and whenever I come across someone (such as you) spending less than me I like to read about what they are doing to pick up tips on how to save more money. I also know that I am making choices which cost more (such as some free range/organic items, more expensive things which I choose because I believe them to be healthy and I don't buy pre-made stuff even if it would work out cheaper) so I know that other people will be able to make things cheaper than I do and accept it because I know I have made that choice.

I agree completely.

One of my friends is in a similar amount of debt to me (Hence why I lurk on the MFW board but don't participate - YET!!) but when I mentioned my new groceries budget (£150 for myself, Mr Fresian and two old and will-not-change-their-brands cats) she looked horrified at how low it was. Yet I know that there are many people on here who could do a lot better!

We then went to Tesco and I was picking up whoopsied mince for £0.89 while she was buying lamb escalopes for £4.40 :rotfl: Methinks the difference in our budgets is evident!

Tesco_points_addict

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tesco points addict
I'm confused whats whatnot:A

That thing people do that results in babies.

Ah you mean look under the goosberry bush!

What does everyone else spend on gas/electricity we are at year end and combined it comes in at £53 a month. We live in a late 1980's smallish detached three bed house. Should we be able to better this?

TPAx

Cazzdevil

I wish my gas & leccy was £53 a month. Mine averages out at more like £80 a month over the course of the year. Mine's a 1950's semi.

taka

I think mine worked out at ~£23 a month combined cost last year... but I live in a 1 bed flat!