Hello. New to board & a budgeting question?

wigglywoozle

Hi! I'm new to this board. Have only really posted on Tax Credits and Student boards so far.

I wonder if anyone could help me? I am trying to sort out my budget and don't know how much I should budget for food. There is myself and my 2 year old daughter. I feed her breakfast everyday, lunch two days a week and tea 4 days a week. This is due to her attending nursery and time with my exH and exPILs. I want to try and get it down as low as possible as really, it's just meals for me with a small bit for dd. She loves porridge for breakfast which is good, because it's cheap as she only has a tiny amount and eats the (normally slowcooked) meals that I make, preferring proper homecooked food to chips and processed rubbish which is good. I would want to include cleaning products in the amount. I only use soda crystals for washing, white vinegar, bicarb and vanish oxy action for soaking dd's stained clothes and clean most things with microfibre cloths and plain water. The only things that are cleaning 'luxuries' would probably be Ecover washing up liquid, loo cleaner & multi purpose spray cleaner but I notice that Tesco now do their own cheaper version so that might save a bit. I don't need to factor in nappies or sanpro as I'm a clothie but would need to factor in some toiletries.

Well done if you got through that lot and it actually made any sense!! What do you think? What would be a feasible figure?

Thanks for any advice.

Kate x

sammy_kaye18

Hi wiggly

Welcome to the boards! Im a total site addict at the minute.

Well in my house we have 2 adults, our 2 year old son and a 3 year old jack russell dog.

im home most days bar two eveings as i work part time
bf works in the day so has breakfast and dinner every day
2 year old who isnt in nursery yet so is here for breakfast lunch and dinner - also he is still in nappies although trying to rectify this.
and pooch whos here 24/7 obviously

our monthly budget for food is about £100 including nappies and cleaning products. This also includes pet food (biscuits/tins and treats) - then i have £10 aside for bread and milk money if its needed.

granted we tend to buy the big 3kg bags of pasta for £1.44 from our local supermarket (the big one beginning with T) and that lasts us ages. plus i tend to make alot of things from scratch. Also im very lucky to work in a local coop so i get our bread discounted at the end of my shifts there.

you could maybe start your food budget at £65 - 70 for everything and work it down gradually - theres a shoppign challenge on the boards somewhere how about joining that??

freda

How much do you spend at the moment?

Its no good aiming really, really low if you're just not used to it - you can't do it all at once! Try reducing spends by a small amount each week, and monitor what you are spending, and what on.

Then, you'll have the info to hand to work out what you can save money on.

Gingham_Ribbon

Hi! Welcome to old style!

Why don't you give us some ideas of the kinds of things you normally buy and we can suggest some cheaper ways of doing it maybe?

Rallya

sammy_kaye18 wrote:

granted we tend to buy the big 3kg bags of pasta for £1.44 from our local supermarket (the big one beginning with T) and that lasts us ages. plus i tend to make alot of things from scratch. Also im very lucky to work in a local coop so i get our bread discounted at the end of my shifts there.

Asda do a 3Kg bag of pasta for £1, 3 different types, the twists, penne and another

wigglywoozle

We eat a lot of pasta and mainly slow cooked food like pork & pineapple curry, sausage casserole, stew etc I cook chicken and joints of beef in the slow cooker. I also buy a lot of salad stuff and can't eat it without coleslaw and potato salad (the Lidl one is lovely!). Dd also loves baked beans and tinned spaghetti on toast for lunch but isn't keen on sandwiches. I love making pizza so we have bagel pizzas or muffin pizzas with home made oven wedges sometimes. Home made breaded fish is another favourite. I've watched my bill creeping up slowly as dd loves Mini Babybel cheese and those Dairylea Triangles and dunker things and I've been a bit naughty of late buying snadwiches instead of taking my lunch to work. Dd loves yoghurt so I do buy some and make some sometimes but haven't recently. We eat a bit of bread, not huge amounts but probably at least 1 loaf a week. I can't stand value bread so I buy the nicer bread from the in store bakery. I did consider making my own but not sure if the cost of a breadmaker would be justified when we don't eat that much bread. I don't bake because we don't really eat biscuits or cakes and if I made them I's sit and eat the lot lol! Dd loves fruit so I buy a bit of fruit too. I'm trying to maintain my (and lose a bit more) weight so I need to think calorie conscious too.

I need to budget packed lunches for myself 5 days a week (3 in uni, 2 in work), lunches for dd 2 days a week, breakfasts for us both 7 days a week, dinner for myself 7 days and dd 4 days a week.

Would £25 a week be feasible?

Linda32

Hi, welcome to OS.

It sounds as if your doing alright as it is to be honest.

You could try the £25.00 a week and see how you get on. What I do is keep a spreadsheet, which spans 4 weeks (that just works out for our budget, you taylor it to your own)

This way I see what I spend on each item, the work out if its worth buying in bulk. I understand about the breadmaker, if you don't eat alot of bread or cakes this it isn't worth it. You might well use it but you'ed end up spending money on ingredients for cakes that you don't eat anyway.

For example I've got until the 5th October on my challenge and just to show you a few examples (two adults)

Bread - £7.55 - we both have sandwiches and cobs for packed lunches

Cooked meat - £9.49, so these an obvious area where I need to think up cheaper sandwich fillings.
Its still cheaper than buying sandwichs, but could be better

Over a period of time you will get to see what you spend alot on and find ways of cutting back.

For instance OH likes mixed fruit and nuts, we used to by the ready mixed ones, but now we pay a pack of plain nuts (morrisons do redskin nuts) and a bag of dried fruit, far cheaper way of doing the same thing.

You've got your cleaning things right down, and yes Tesco do now do a range to compete with Ecover. I've used the washing up liquid and its fine. I now use stardrops (after being prompted on here)

These a tip with the washing powder, buy supermarkets best brand and bulk it out with the really cheap one, Basics, Smartprice or Value, depending on which supermarket you use.
Works out about £1.50 for the posh one and about another 50p for as much again, mix it up and use that.

As I say it sounds as if your doing alright anyway but this is what I do.

the_other_mce

wigglywoozle wrote:

We eat a lot of pasta and mainly slow cooked food like pork & pineapple curry, sausage casserole, stew etc I cook chicken and joints of beef in the slow cooker. I also buy a lot of salad stuff and can't eat it without coleslaw and potato salad (the Lidl one is lovely!). Dd also loves baked beans and tinned spaghetti on toast for lunch but isn't keen on sandwiches. I love making pizza so we have bagel pizzas or muffin pizzas with home made oven wedges sometimes. Home made breaded fish is another favourite. I've watched my bill creeping up slowly as dd loves Mini Babybel cheese and those Dairylea Triangles and dunker things and I've been a bit naughty of late buying snadwiches instead of taking my lunch to work. Dd loves yoghurt so I do buy some and make some sometimes but haven't recently. We eat a bit of bread, not huge amounts but probably at least 1 loaf a week. I can't stand value bread so I buy the nicer bread from the in store bakery. I did consider making my own but not sure if the cost of a breadmaker would be justified when we don't eat that much bread. I don't bake because we don't really eat biscuits or cakes and if I made them I's sit and eat the lot lol! Dd loves fruit so I buy a bit of fruit too. I'm trying to maintain my (and lose a bit more) weight so I need to think calorie conscious too.

I need to budget packed lunches for myself 5 days a week (3 in uni, 2 in work), lunches for dd 2 days a week, breakfasts for us both 7 days a week, dinner for myself 7 days and dd 4 days a week.

Would £25 a week be feasible?

The pork and pineapple curry sounds delicious - do you have a recipe for it please?
I think my two fussy DD's would try this. Thanks in advance!!!
Eidted : to say sorry I don't have any tips that you don't already do!!!

Felicity

It sounds like you are on the right tracks already.

Here are some of my tips:-

1. If you have any land, why not try growing your own veg? We made a start this year and it has been an interest for us (I should imagine for your daughter too), we grew beetroot, sweetcorn, green beans, tomatoes, broad beans and lettuce. Not only is it very cheap but it took very little effort and we just harvest things as we need them. We don't have a lot of space and these veggies took up very little.

2. Soups, these are great. Easy, cheap, nutritious, portable (if you have a flask for lunches etc), filling and they freeze well.

3. To maximise your time and spending, whenever you make a meal make doulbe (or x 4 as I do) and freeze. Works well with most casseroles, stews, bread etc.

4. Vouchers. Look out for these. I used to throw them away, but now save them up (look at the money off coupons section on this site for tips on where to find them). You should definitely be able to get 10% off your shopping using them. I have saved anything from 10% to 95%; I saved over £1,000 over a 3 month period (stocking up on store cupboard items). They are a lot easier to come by then most people thing, but worst case scenario, you can buy them on ebay and still save.

I don't know how much to suggest for the two of you (we don't have any children yet much to my distress) but imagine that £25 per week is perfectly doable with a little preperation and planning.

I have a strapping husband who literally could eat a horse when he gets going, and I know we could manage on that.

Good luck with everything!

Felicity.

Felicity

the_other_mce wrote:

The pork and pineapple curry sounds delicious - do you have a recipe for it please?
I think my two fussy DD's would try this. Thanks in advance!!!

Me too, that sounds lovely. Please post if you get the chance.

wigglywoozle

Here you go:

Pork and Pineapple Curry (from Morphy Richards Slow Cooker Recipe Book)

4.5 litres (to fit in 6.5 litre slowcooker)

2kg lean pork cubed
100g flour
2tsp salt
3 tbsp oil
2 large onions
3tsp curry powder
2tsp paprike
1 litre chicken stock
3 tbsp mango chutney
3tsp worcester sauce
400g can pineapple cubes with juice
4 bay leaves

Toss pork in flour and salt. In a pan heat the oil and brown the meat. Add the onions and fry until soft. Stir in the curry powder and paprike. Stir well and cook for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and transfer to the crock pot. Place crock pot into the base unit. Cook for approx 4-7 hours. Remove bay leaves before serving.

I must say that I don't brown the meat, just toss in the flour and then chuck everything into the slowcooker and leave it 7 hours on low and it comes out lovely. I also don't use that much pork, it's far too much!!!! I normally half the recipe and use only 1 package of diced pork from tesco and it's plenty of meat.

Enjoy!

Kate x