Its tough, it will get better and guess what its freezing brrrrr!

gailey_2

jackieglasgow wrote: »

Gailey, sometimes I look at your lists of what you've bought over the week, and wonder how on earth your we family will eat that much food. Maybe its just the way you write, but you do seem to buy an awful lot on impulse. Now, I am not the best organised person in the world by any means, but maybe you need to plan your menu more rather than less thoroughly. You must have a lot of stuff in the freezer by now, why not do a proper inventory and do a mini storecupboard challenge? I'd also suggest you check out weezl's website for some cheaper recipes, and plan one or two vegetarian meals - without quorn - a week, to see if that helps bring the budget down a wee bit. Soon you will be heavily pregnant, never mind the winter coming, and you won't be able to do as much trolley dashing. The other advantage of winter, is lots of homemade soups, which don't cost a lot but are filling and nutritious, and could also go to work with your OH for his lunch. I've found my shopping creeping up in price too, and I am not buying meat, so I can sympathise entirely about you seeing yours creeping up.

Thanks jackie.

My shops ie frozen/grocery nomrlaly quite methodical.
But quick shops in week or co-op quite impulsive.

My point was when I started the grocery challange I was writing say 30day meals plans of thinsg family liked and buying accordingly.
But in order to get everything required on my list to fulfill meal plan plus essentials I had to

buy a lot of value brands
shop around
find reductions

This has brought grocery bill down some of this I accredit to farmfoods recent months as we get through 4pints a milk a day and a loaf of bread every other day.

I do think last 2months gone bit ott on frozen but thars because
nearer xmas wasent sure howmuch money we would have as hadent put any any money away to cover additional xmas costs.

weathers got colder, im get tireder wasent sure if we get snow so thourght bit extra frozen just incase.

There are the odd nights in week we have breaded fish and chips or sometimes I have ww readymeal, hubby has frozen pizza.
Kids have nuggets or fishfingers and chips once a a week.

But I couldent sustain that 7days a week we like our homecooked meals and hubby likes his meat.

we spending 250amonth sometimes less for 2kids, 2adults including toilietries and household.

But last few months the non farmfoods buys have gone up.
even the value stuff cant downsize anymore than value!
inflations rising and things seem to go up each month.

So thats why im thinking mad idea of mealplan to what I can buy cheap rather than set ridgid meal plans that state I need mince for tue chicken for thur ect!

Of course I run risk of some weeks not much reduced and living on beans on toast or backup frozen!

The only way I can see to beat the current rises and more rises in jan is

buy more reduced
shop around even more
maybe bake even more must admit biscuits and cakes not my strongpoint need more practice!

When the going gets tough the tough gets going!
I cant control the rising foodprices but I can control how we shop.
making hm chicken soup tommorow out of todays chicken caracass.

I do love cooking just been so tired and poorly to do as much last few months but normally 2nd trimester/3rd trimester I get more energy plus got bit more time now eldests in school!

I wish hubby would eat more veg hes so blooming fussy.
luckily the mobile meat machine is in pub opposite my house every friday morning and hes cheap but tend to go to him for meat, bacon and sausages think hubbys sick of sausage casseeroles but poultry is still quite pricey at supermarkets whole family likes their chicken!

I feel confident with the shop I did last week have enough herbs, spices, tinned tomatoes, packet mixes, passata, pasta and rice to manange to whip up a decent meal from anything I can find reduced.

generally we eat toast/cereal for brekkie kids sometimes have added fruit/yogurt.

Lunch quite snacky so pasty,quiche, sandwich or soup.
Hubby takes packed lunches.
eldest sometimes takes packed lunches.

I do large cooked evening meal which 4 out of 7days includes meat or fish.
we dont always have puddings .

try to keep fruit bowl full for healthy snacks.
crisps and biscuits are probably my familys weakness

I need to index my cookery notebook much better.
I look up stuff online.
have tonnes of cooker books too.

Kidcat thanks will try get over asda as love chesnuts but we hate our local asda plus its not exactly close so puts us off going,
I get so lost in there, some people so rude and get no help at checkouts.

Best go babys so grouchy as missed her nap due to party was hoping she drop off in buggy.

so hungry can smell the chicken in oven.
will make pastry and do quiches after diner as both kids being demanding and hubbys been in work not sure hes home until 6.

parsonswife8

DH and I ventured out to Mr T earlier on....got two packs of smoked salmon, 4 pork steaks and a pack of cooked savoy cabbage and chopped greens (LOL Mardartha :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:), in a cream sauce..all whoopsied.

It was quite a little rugby scrum going on around that fridge.
:eek::eek::eek:

The smoked salmon and the pork steaks are in the freezer and the creamed cabbage is in our tummies and very nice it was too.:D

Charis

Am I missing something with Mindapples? I did the quiz, sent in my replies and they seemed to have been swallowed up (briefly appearing at one point). What else is there to this site? I thought I'd be able to access the other 8,000 or so Mindapples, but I can't find a way to do so. TBH I feel cheated - is someone gathering all the info to make a profit for themselves or am I being dense?

Margaret54

Re: reductions When I worked in Tesco on the checkouts several years ago, there were always people coming into the store but especially around 1/4 to 9 in the evenings if I remember correctly. The poor assistant would be pounced on while she reduced the items. There were a lot of people who were better mannered than some of them, pushing and shoving to get more, really greedy. I can remember one night a woman had been shopping with her trolley had bought a few items and had gone over to the reduced part and got a lot of items. She left it for a moment to look at something else and a woman came along and chucked all her stuff with the stickers on them into her trolley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a cheek!!!!! The woman went over to tell her they were her items and she had taken them out of her trolley, and the cheeky madam said "tough" and walked off leaving the poor woman upset. We couldn't believe our eyes. I would never have done that. The best of it was the woman who stole was very well dressed indeed, lots of jewellry etc on, and the other poor wee woman didn't look too well at all.

seasalt_2

I can't do the meal plan and then shop for it either, partly because I don't have the right mindset and partly because we only have the one shop and if, like last week they missed two deliveries out of three because of weather then you don't know what will be on the shelves. So I shop for the store cupboard and to take advantage of reductions and then look in the fridge/freezer/cupboard/garden and see how far I can go on what I've got, making sure i use up left overs etc first or for lunches, and then jot down a list of what I plan to cook for our main meals about a week ahead (usually on the back of an envelope) and stick it on the fridge to remind me. Like ceridwen (but not so organised) I also have another set of lists (rather than actual recipes) which is just a memory jog of possible meals, vaguely organised under headings eg meat, eggs, cheese, vegetables, pasta, rice dishes etc. And I always, always have soup made.

I do sometimes wish we had a lidls/aldi etc but am also grateful, reading kidcat's post of all the shops she has to go into, that I don't!

Having said all that, I still spend more than gailey per month for four of us, plus working dog, although my kids are 15 so more like feeding four adults. DS1 is bottomless pit. Wanted to get it down to £275 this month but not sure I am going to manage it. I am also noticing how much and how quickly prices are going up and I also noticed this weekend that the Co reductions which are usually very good were not reduced by nearly as much as usual. Maybe because I was in earlier than usual though.

re mindapples, I didn't realise there WAS a quiz charis - just thought it was the five things a day to help stay mentally healthy.

sammy_kaye18

ceridwen wrote: »

Now that is what I call being focused and specific:rotfl:

At first glance - ie the front of the house i went "blah..." - but then I looked round the inside:) and round the garden:D and thought "Yep - can see why Sammy would like that one. Looks pretty good to me - and she could always plant stuff by the front of the house to soften/wild it up a bit". Nice choice.

Re the guest bedroom - hmmm...3 bedrooms...but it would be possible (from a glance at that hallway) to make up an occasional "Pirate Den" hideaway that a kid would probably love in the "nook" by that stairway - with a sorta "skull and crossbones" flag and olde-worlde lettering notice saying something like "Visitors will walk the gangplank if I don't like them....<joke>"

Crikey - you CAN get a lot more for your money in your area than I could dream of here....

I think I will set myself a savings target of £8,000 as that would be my 5% if I wanted that house and as much as I'd like it I don't think a lottery win will come my way to help me get it but that is my little dream house right there.

Crumbs I'd even settle for my second option with just a nice 3/4 bed with a large enough garden.

Oh and Ceridwen - the PDF for that house says you can fit solar panels, solar heating panels adn a wind turbine in the garden!

On a side note - I am still not being spoken to by OH. Its a rather reason behind it but needless to say it is very petty and he is acting like a child. He hasn't talked to me since Friday night properly so if he's not careful if I get my cheque he will be getting b@gg@r all of it and I'll be even closer to my dream house.

Did find out my prizes are coming courtesy of Little Woods so I will wait in for my phone call to arrange delivery and I should apparently get the money by cheque within 28 days. Apparently I know someone else on the boards had the same prize and had a phone call on friday (the week they won) and they received the TV and DS by the Tuesday but the XBOX bits were out of stock so they were still waiting so fingers crossed I should get them soon enough.

I think tomorrow I will be mostly waiting in though for my prizes to arrive. Have asked a friend of mine if he wants our old TV - he has just had to move in with friends due to a money shortage and has his own room and part rents with them so asked if he wanted our old TV for his room as he currently doesn't have one.

Think I might make some twinks hobnobs tomorrow and do some cleaning. I do need to resort through bens old toys as I did turf out some into black bags that he no longer plays with but he has reopened them all now so need to resort whilst he's out of the flat....

If anyone is candle lighting can they add me to their little prayers that we get awarded a council house for Christmas please!

parsonswife8

Gailey, what about some scrambled egg on toast, or little omelettes with cheese or chopped up ham for your eldest, for breakfast or for tea sometimes?

My grand daughters also like slices of cucumber, strips of red pepper, cherry tomatoes, or strips of pitta bread and some hummous to dip it in to, small chunks of mild cheese, just for snacking on.

ceridwen

Charis wrote: »

Am I missing something with Mindapples? I did the quiz, sent in my replies and they seemed to have been swallowed up (briefly appearing at one point). What else is there to this site? I thought I'd be able to access the other 8,000 or so Mindapples, but I can't find a way to do so. TBH I feel cheated - is someone gathering all the info to make a profit for themselves or am I being dense?

A little unclear on what you mean.

i did the online stress test I spotted there - result good:D

Then thought "Think she probably means the What Are Your Mindapples" thing - so started that and thought - I dont think I'll bother with that. Dont tend to like things that want my email address from me and dont want to go joining any sorta whatever-it-is they are running.

is that the one you meant Charis? or is there summat else?

ceridwen

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

Oh and Ceridwen - the PDF for that house says you can fit solar panels, solar heating panels adn a wind turbine in the garden!

I didnt go into the PDF - but that sounds nice:D. I spotted the outhouse is made of straw bales and thought "IMpressed - very eco-friendly:D". Thought that must mean there would be various other eco-possibilities if I studied it closely. Ooh...bet that means the garden hasnt been touched with chemicals either....I expect they've been gardening it organically.

It DOES sound pretty good to me - liked the view from that garden. Wouldnt it be nice for you if you could have that one?:)

EDIT: Just had a quick look at that PDF - I see - thats the improvements the surveyor suggested. Actually the saving from solar voltaic panels would be not just the £200 odd they mention - there would also be that feedback tariff its possible to get and things would look a lot better then financially. The people I know that have this basically can't believe their luck at this - hence I want them too....

parsonswife8

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

On a side note - I am still not being spoken to by OH. Its a rather reason behind it but needless to say it is very petty and he is acting like a child. He hasn't talked to me since Friday night properly so if he's not careful if I get my cheque he will be getting b@gg@r all of it and I'll be even closer to my dream house.

If anyone is candle lighting can they add me to their little prayers that we get awarded a council house for Christmas please!

Sammy lovey, you hold onto that cheque like a terrrier with a bone.;)
Hide it away. Get it to the bank as a matter of urgency and pay it in.
Do not chuck your money away. Put you and the kiddies first love.

I speak from a very bad experience.:(