Mummytogirls - 100 years to be debtfree - I think not!

debtfreeoneday

I put away £60 for each week, but average this over 12 months, so £260 gets put away and some months I'm over and some months i'm under, but it works for me with 4/5 weeks months..

louby40

There are 4 of us (2 adults & 2 teenage boys) and I budget £260 a month but like you I run out of ££ by the end of the month. We tend to spend about £50-55 in Aldi then £5-10 in Morrisons. We cook a lot from scratch but have the same things and are very boring.

I know we should probably batch cook more but we have a really small freezer and cooking isn't my favourite thing. We use our slow cooker a lot!

mummytogirls

Thanks for your suggestions DFOD and Louby. So I am spending quite a bit more than you 2 then! Its the meat that costs me but I can't bare it from the supermarket which is why I go to the butchers or farmshop.

I do cook from scratch too, my DH doesn't feel like its a meal if it doesn't include meal which is annoying. I love a quick an easy tea when he's not here ha!!! I do like to vary our meals so we don't get bored.

I might try the average like you do DFOD and see how it pans out for me. The next couple of months work out at 4 week pay too so I should have money left to carry forward.

Louby I do use my slow cooker quite a bit too. I have quite a large side by side fridge freezer so quite lucky that way. DH usually tries to get his next day's lunch out of the meal too.

Next weeks meals for us are:
S - HM chicken and bacon burger with HM oven chips and salad
S - Sausage, mash and veg (have 7 sausages in the freezer already)
M - Slow cooker chicken curry with rice
T - Roast chicken and trimmings (MIL and BIL coming for tea)
W - Something from the freezer
T - hot beef baguette (from freezer), HM oven chips and peas
F - Cant remember what I've put down ha!

Using a couple of items out of the freezer which helps.

Will put these new things into practise from end of Jan and il report back. Thanks ladies xx

mummytogirls

Finally got round to updating my signature :j

Forgot to say I spent an hour tidying out the bottom of my wardrobes this afternoon. Nothing worth selling!!! Feel better they're all back straight again x

louby40

We always do a meal plan. Sometimes we are mega organised and have it sorted before we go, today wasn't those days. I'd bought some Schwartz mixes 4 for £2 from Morrisons on offer (usually 70p plus) so we were walking around Aldi and trying to plan using those.

So we're having
S - cottage pie and green veg
S - pork chops, mash, veg
M - sausage casserole
T - boys go to their dads so it's wing it night, usually egg on toast
W - savoury mince and rice
Th - chicken curry slow cooker
F - boys go to their dads so who knows.....steak maybe?

We sometimes do a home made soup with crusty rolls, lasagne, bolognese.

pennywisepoundstupid

Hi Mummy.
I try and have a veggie night once a week to keep costs down usuall HM soup or JKT spud and beans, sometimes I will make a pasta bake with lots of veggies and add chopped up salami or crispy bacon bits so a little goes a long way but the man still feels like he is getting some meat.

My meal plan for this week -

sun -Rst beef and all the trimmings. Leftovers for sandwiches.
Mon- HM fishcakes rst veg and cous cous.
Tues - bacon, scrambled eggs, hash brown, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Wed- Lasagne
Thurs - HM tomato an lentil soup + cheese toastie
Fri - chicken wraps, wedges and salad.
Sat - chick casserole (use thighs) mash and veg.

I'm trying to base meals around whats in season and keeping it simple, fruit for next weeks packed lunched with be pineapple/mango and kiwi chunks in little pots as these are on offer in aldi, spinach was also on offer to will be used to bulk out salad leaves and I will also layer it in the lasagne for extra veggies.

Sun_Addict

Some brilliant ideas re meal plans MTG. I can't give any advice as I struggle to stick to my budget of £400 a month for 3 adults, a dog and a cat. However, this isn't just for food, it's toiletries, household stuff, alcohol, etc. My problem is none of us eat the same meals. I don't eat meat and like healthy food, Mr SA is a meat and two veg, nothing different or too healthy, type of person and DD lives on whatever she can cook quickly when she gets back from work at 9pm.

So I'll probably be picking up some tips from you

mummytogirls

Morning Diary,

We have a poorly DD here. She's been sickening for something all last week and we actually thought she was making things up cos she didn't want to go to school :cool:. She was well in herself though, she's now boiling hot complaining of feeling sick, dizzy and aching neck etc. DH took her to the drs last week and they said it was her congested nose causing the ear and head pain. Now I think she might have tonsillitis :eek: not got any experience of this but there was defo something on her tonsils yesterday. Will keep her dosed up today and then get her back in at the doctors tomorrow. Weve already made a plan for work the next few days as I doubt very much she will be going to school.

So back to the grocery shopping!
Pennywise, thank you for your suggestions the seasonal one is of interest! I just buy what I buy and never consider the season so will do that thank you. We have a bit of a joke in our house about jacket pots... DH hates them! Meanwhile the kids and I absolutely love them ha!!! My 2 have chopped up fruit in pots in packed lunches too.

SA, Mr SA sounds like my DH with the meat and 2 veg! My shopping includes all toiletries too. I wonder if people split this out of their budget?

My HM chicken and bacon burgers were sooooooo nice last night, will defo be making those again.

Food:
Breakfast - weetabix
Lunch - scrambled egg on toast
Tea - sausage, mash, carrots, broccoli, peas and yorkshire puddings

Today will be NSD4 :T xx

Eager_Elephant

Just thought I would pop in to say that we are a family of 3 (2 adults and a very hungry teenager) and 1 at Uni.
We have kept the food budget the same at £350pm (it was this when DS was at home and not at Uni) - this includes toiletries and school dinners but not animal food or even meat as we rear our own.


I did have quite a bit in the food account but yesterday DS went back to Uni and I spent £100 on food to start the term so that has reduced the account a bit.


I did a part month shop at the same time as I did Xmas food shopping so I am hoping to make it last.


My problem is lack of time so I do quick and easy things (I don't get in from work until 5.30pm, then walk the dogs so I don't start preparing tea until at least 6.15 - 6.30pm and we don't eat until gone 7 and by then I am so shattered and want to go to bed!!) - I really need to get the slow cooker out but we are a complicated family - I only eat meat we rear and don't eat gluten and DH can't have onions so doing things in the slow cooker is a nightmare because we all have a different gravy.


I need to get DD involved in helping with tea - even if its to put the oven on for jacket potatoes so they are ready when we get in.


Looking forward to more ideas from everyone.

LauraB89

Hi M2G - just on the food stuff a few tips;

*checks the OH isn't around and leans in*

- replace half your minced beef with lentils cooked in stock - I SWEAR TO GOD, my OH and the 2 other rugby lads that I live with haven't noticed I do this. They literally just disappear! Chilli, cottage pie, meatballs - you name it.

- check what is on offer when you are making your meal plan, and build it around that. I shop at Lidl and each week they have different meat/fish/veg offers and I generally try to make at least one meal from that.

- Shoulder of pork - it's so cheap and tasty. We have this all the time, I have one in the oven now! I cook it with very little seasoning (slow cooker/oven) and then we have pulled pork in so many ways! Stir fry, pork rolls, with roast potatoes, in a pie, in pasty - anything you have laying around! It does us for 2 meals (for 4 people) and usually a sneaky lunch for little old me as well!

- tins - kidney beans, tomatoes, butter beans - I use loads of tinned food to bulk out our meals. It has me losing weight and saving money!

- batch cooking - I am sure lots of people have mentioned it, make up all your fave soups/curries/chillis/etc in big batches and freeze for lazy nights

- eggs. We just eat sh*tloads of eggs. Add a fried egg on top, and people are much more likely to feel full from a meal without much meat. For example - bubble and squeak (mash + leftovers + breadcrumbs + anything else needing to be used up + bacon) sounds like a side dish, add a fried egg and BAM you have yourself a main meal.

- no top up shopping - I know this isn't practical for everyone, but I will not go to the shop to top up. Once it is gone, we wait until the next planned shop - it makes everyone much more thoughtful (ie, do I need to use that much milk on my cereal?) and saves you going to get milk and spending £20. It also means that when you do go shopping you get better at realising how often you are buying things!

- meal plan for all meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Factor in leftovers as well - this saves anything from going to waste and also helps prevent mindless 2nd and 3rd helpings!

I hope these are helpful, feel free to ignore if you have heard it all before I feed 4 people for £30-40 a week (2 for all meals and 2 for just dinners). And they are not, in any sense of the word, "light eaters".

Hope this is of some use xx