Help for the Desperate

gizmo111

I'd start with a list of meals that you will all eat, and batch cook them.
I have 2 teenagers who are not exactly faddy but only like a few things, each and most not the same. Also the eldest works odd hours etc, as do I
For quick meals I have in freezer jacket potatoes, cooked and frozen just need reheating. I have lots of portions of chilli, bolognese, lasagne, HM chicken and meat pies. Mashed pototoes, HM burgers and HM fishcakes as well as HM potatoe croquettes. And a bag of frozen oven chips. Then joints, steak, chicken etc. These are all things they can reheat themselves without having to wait too long. The SC is great for cooking things without too much bother. The thing is you need to build up a stock of ready made meals that will take a few weeks and then will just need topping up. Right now it probably seems like a huge task so try breaking it down in little bits.

For lunches, I keep tortilla wraps, HM rolls etc in the freezer that can be taken out the night before and filled with anything of your choice. Our favourites are chopped chicken breast (which I cook and just bag in freezer and fill roll from frozen) and prawns, or ham, meat left over from roasts etc. Also sausage rolls and little pasties and mini quiches are always handy to make and keep in the freezer.

maman

Suffol wrote: »

We seem to spend an awful lot on what I regard as non-negotiable staples - milk (£50 / month alone), bread, tea coffee, bananas, potatoes etc.
Please keep the advice coming - I'm open to all suggestions, and have started a list of things to do this weekend

I don't know what shops you have available to you or freezer/storage space but, as examples: Farmfoods have good quality (Hovis etc) bread and milk at excellent prices. Potatoes can be bought in bulk, tea and coffee from Poundshops/Farmstores or when on offer. It's definitely worth stocking up if you want to save. I'm a great believer in a good storecupboard/freezer of things I have bought when on offer. I hate having to pay full price because I've run out.

Obviously if time is more valuable to you and you'd rather pay a bit more to save time to spend with your family than go shopping then that's fine.

ubamother

My advice as follows:
1. don't feel overwhelmed with all the advice and opinions you're getting - pick a few things you think you can achieve this weekend to work on - if you try and change everything in one fell swoop you won't get the family on board and you'll get tired and jaded very quickly.
2. when you make enough food for two meals, hide the second meal portion before serving the first - otherwise they'll pick at it and then suddenly you've got no second meal portion.
3. slowly invest in fillers such as barley, oats, lentils - add these in to mince dishes to bulk out or beef casserole/soup type dishes to thicken out. These will help your meat portion go a lot further.
4. Check out your waste bin - if usable stuff is going in think about not buying it or buying differently. e.g. if halfeaten apples are going in, buy smaller apples! if some fresh goes off, make soup and freeze, or cook and freeze to use later.
5. Shop seasonally if you can - e.g. potatoes are very very cheap at the moment - you can get lots of variety out of them - jackets, stuffed jackets, wedges, chips, mash, blah blah blah.
6. treat it like a project or a mission and you will really feel you've achieved every penny saved.
Good luck

mum26

I think a budget should be whatever you can comfortably afford really

I am another one who buys their milk from Farmfoods now 2 4pt bottles (mix and match from whole, semi or 1%) for £1.50! And it freezes fine too. I also buy bread from there now too which is £1 for two hovis loaves (white, best of both or wholemeal and freeze that too, their loo roll is good too and they are often excellent prices for frozen chips etc and frozen veg, fish etc too but not always the cheapest. Well worth checking out if you have one fairly local - as is Aldi for their fruit and veg offers. I have cupboard gobblers too so I know what it is like, it is as if they have empty legs!

Maybe it might be an idea to have a help yourself shelf in the fridge or cupboard where it doesn't matter if they chomp through those bits, stuff like malt loaf, crumpets, cream crackers, some fruit etc etc.

BitterAndTwisted

Another thing I would suggest you think about is to have a really good look at the amount of money you're spending on household cleaning materials. It's just not true that you really, really need a different product for each job.

If you have a Lidl near you check out their prices I think you'll find that they're excellent value, especially for laundry detergent and some of them go on special offer from time to time and become very cheap indeed.

Please follow the advice about checking out what's available on the Approved Foods website. I placed an order yesterday and they've got WHOLE CASES of fruit in syrup for about a pound each. The maximum weight for any parcel is 30 kilos for a minimum delivery charge of about a fiver. They send a text message to confirm a one-hour delivery slot and your mother could sign for it as she's at home during the day. They get stocks of different things in regularly but the really keen deals go quite quickly so it's worth checking a couple of times a week to see what they've got. Quite recently they were offering a whole case of Walkers Thai Sweet Chili crisps for about a pound or so.

Food Bargains is another site which sells food (and household goods) past the best-before date.

ETA: It's Food Bargains who have the Walkers crisps on sale for a pound a case, I checked the site just now.

[Deleted User]

Try not to worry too much about your children. They will quickly adapt. My husband banned crisps and other treats (junk food he called it unless I baked!). If the children said they were hungry I said "Are you hungry for bread or crisps?". If they were really hungry they would eat bread and butter or toast.

A previous post suggested rice and lentils for bulk. Lentils are not as scary as they sound. If you leave them to soak for 30 mins or so they will cook in about 15 mins and are great for extending stew and casseroles.

I think the children can help. It would be good practice for when they leave home. My son is at uni now and manages a spag bol sauce which becomes chilli the next day and sometimes curry. So if you can get them to make a large batch that is 2 days for price of one and they can choose how they want to eat it that evening.

I think breakfast is often a quite expensive meal. Many cereals are quite expensive and boys can eat half a box in my experience. Try porridge perhaps (quick in a microwave), toast, homeade muesli.

Also soft drinks can be pricey - tea and squash are cheaper.

floss2

Suffol wrote: »

Many thanks for all advice: Wigglebeena - I LOVE your suggestion, but (wails) it's unhealthy isn't it? And I'm getting them into bad habits, and left to themselves it'd be all pepperami and cheese and nothing remotely veg-like.....

wssla00 wrote: »

...-Pizzas are great- you can even buy a pizza base mix in tesco for 30p if you only want to give it a try- very good and the kids can get involved

Make a big batch of veggie-based pasta sauce.....

And would your mum make some cakes / biscuits?

misscousinitt

Hi

I often don't feel like cooking either (even though I love to cook) and I don't work as long hours as you.

The key things I think are:

1. Slow Cooker Idea
2. Make double, freeze half before serving - bbcgoodfood . com has some great (easy) recipes exactly for this reason.
3. Try to pick out some easy meals that only take less than 30 minutes to prepare and cook eg pasta takes just 12 minutes to cook, same with rice - I build recipes round how long these staples take to cook - check out easy pasta flavourings eg bacon bits with mushrooms, fresh tomatoes and shop bought pesto. Stroganoff is another quicky - thinly sliced turkey breast or cheap rump steak, mushrooms, red onions, paprika and a bit of flour to thicken, cook for 10 mins after browning, add carton of sour cream serve with rice or jacket pot. Stir-Frys - these can be packed with veggies, serve with noodles. All these can be prepared and ready in 20-25 mins.
4. Bulk out with cheap ingredients where you can.
5. Meal Plan.

Good luck. One step at a time...you will get there.

seraphina

Excellent post by ubamother.

Personally I think £400 for 6 people is quite good, considering that two of them are teenage boys who IME will eat anything not nailed down. Also tell your mother to get stuffed or show you how it's done - bet you she wasn't working all day as well as trying to run a house in the 50's. Either she'll stop moaning or lend a hand.

I also won't go out of my way to visit Lidl/Farmfoods/insertshophere on a random basis - I'm busy enough trying to get everything done and I don't have time to get my milk from shop A, canned toms from shop B etc. I would however in your situation make an effort to get a big sack of spuds from a farm shop - they'll keep and offer a big saving.

If you're big tea drinkers, make a pot of tea - you can easily get tea for two out of one tea bag, and top ups. It tastes better for being made in a pot! As for every other drink, that's what water's for. And that means more money for wine if you don't have to buy squash etc!

BitterAndTwisted

It seems obvious to me that those teenage kids are loafing about at home for a good four hours after school and before Mum comes home, so they could be enlisted to check shops for reduced items if they were given a shopping-list of things to look out for.