Hubby thinks I am a magician..........

jamespir

floss2 wrote: »

So? Thats a main course, pudding and a mag! Whats the problem?!

it was supposed to be able to alst the weekend

itsallinthemind

floss2 wrote: »

So? Thats a main course, pudding and a mag! Whats the problem?!

£7 dessert? I think that is the problem!

£20 can, depending on your store cupboards/freezer/supermarket finds, feed a family of 3/4 all meals HEALTHILY for a week on a good week with LOTS of planning

Also, why do you NEED a TV Guide when it is online
Additionaly shop quiches are generally inferior and over priced and made cheeply at home if you get good supplier of eggs.

I should imagine anyone on a strict budget or finding themselves faced with significant cuts to the budget would be quite upset at a partner spending £7 on a dessert.

quintwins

itsallinthemind wrote: »

£7 dessert? I think that is the problem!

£20 can, depending on your store cupboards/freezer/supermarket finds, feed a family of 3/4 all meals HEALTHILY for a week on a good week with LOTS of planning

Also, why do you NEED a TV Guide when it is online
Additionaly shop quiches are generally inferior and over priced and made cheeply at home if you get good supplier of eggs.

I should imagine anyone on a strict budget or finding themselves faced with significant cuts to the budget would be quite upset at a partner spending £7 on a dessert.

totally agree i've had to feed my family of 4 (now 5) on £20 a week, and as my boys are still growing i always make sure theres alot of fruit and veg in there diet, and they get meat everyday, it just takes planning

try going shopping just before the store closes you'll be amaved wht you can get cheap, having a big freeze helps aswell, my food shopping is never more than £40

confusedroast

quintwins wrote: »

totally agree i've had to feed my family of 4 (now 5) on £20 a week, and as my boys are still growing i always make sure theres alot of fruit and veg in there diet, and they get meat everyday, it just takes planning

try going shopping just before the store closes you'll be amaved wht you can get cheap, having a big freeze helps aswell, my food shopping is never more than £40

Sorry but can I ask HOW on earth you do this Thats amazing!

foreign_correspondent

doelani wrote: »

Well acually he added to buy " own brand/white label food" I said he would not eat then he added " no for the kids "........

I can't understand that mentaility - I always remember my gran telling me what a lovely mum she had - my gran had 12 siblings, and her dad ran off - her mum used to make meals from whatever she could get in return for taking people's washing in - usually sheeps heads or shin beef, and the small potatoes discarded from the main crop, and intended to feed the pigs... she says her mum made marvellous meals from these basic ingredients, but often there was not enough meat to go round - in which case her mum would share it between the growing kids, and just have potatoes herself. In the few old photographs that remain, the children all looked healthy, clean and happy and my gran is almost 95, so it clearly set her up well for a long and healthy life.

I think, in a family, you all have the same, and if anyone has to make sacrifices, it shouldnt be the kids.

Ultimately, value bread, veggies, potatoes etc are just as nutritious as the expensive ones, but sometimes the veg is not 'grade 1' cosmetically. Once prepared, there is no difference though. However, value sausages, burgers etc are generally junk, and I would not feed anything containing mechanically recovered meat to kids.

Why not start shopping at Aldi or lidl, where there is only one brand, which often looks nicer than the 'value brand' packaging from the major supermarkets, and find a local butcher for some decent meat? Tell the OH he has no option, you are not cooking two meals a night, and serving inferior food to your growing kids, whilst he indulges himself!

Swampmonster

toolittletime wrote: »

My children used to be similar - wanting the cereal with the characters on etc - really sucked in by advertising. So I invested a bit of money in loads of plastic cereal containers, boxes for the fridge etc and now decant the cereal, cooked meat etc into the boxes and they are none the wiser. I also find it keeps a lot fresher too. I just tell them that the boxes have already gone to the recycling!

I've done this and it really works.

lauren_1

All my cereals go in to those clear containers so they dont know what on earth brand it is (morrisons own), they're banned from shopping with me after a horrendous hissy fit that they couldnt have HSM fromage frais at 3x the price of the standard ones that they have always been happy with.

They are also banned from the kitchien, fruit is always on offer on the table (cant whine about brands there). I put locks on the fridges and doors, its 3 meals + supper and fruit in between.
They learn their lesson after turning up their noses at dinner, i threw it in the bin and they went hungry for a night. Its tough as they are 4 and 8 but when I only had £120 a mnth for groceries they had to learn pretty quickly.

Steel_2

jamespir wrote: »

my girlfreinds useless at shopping i sent her out with 20 quid and she cam back with a tv mag a quiche and a £7.00 cheesecake

Sounds familiar! My hubby will spend £20 on a supermarket 'takeaway' meal, pudding and a bottle of wine. One night's food.

He gave me £20 a couple of weeks ago to 'get something nice for dinner' and I did the entire week's food shop.

BitterAndTwisted

I'm sorry but if you're in charge of the shopping and the cooking then you're the one to be making decisions on what can be cut down on and what can be cut out if your family can't agree. Name-brand groceries for the most part are a con, the consumer is paying a huge subsidy for the advertising and marketing and definitely not for the superiority of the products. Do what Martin suggests and go down a level from name-brands to the supermarket's own-brand.

Don't forget that no-one needs more than about 4 ounces of meat a day for a healthy diet and it can be less if you're offering foods with eggs and dairy each day as well. I'd be tempted to offer at least two vegetarian dishes a week.

Reject those luxury, scented lavatory-papers and buy the cheapest recycled ones. I'd also go for supermarket own-brand laundry detergent and substitute vinegar in the last rinse instead of fabric conditioner.

Steel_2

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Reject those luxury, scented lavatory-papers and buy the cheapest recycled ones. I'd also go for supermarket own-brand laundry detergent and substitute vinegar in the last rinse instead of fabric conditioner.

Actually, you forget how much money you spend on cleaning products, laundry detergents and toiletries. It does add up.

Another idea OP is to see what you can do double/triple/quadruple duty with. I buy cheap bubble bath and refill the hand wash dispensers with them. I also use it as body wash and occasionally shampoo if my hair needs a change of product.