100 months to turn the money situation round

GreyhoundAngel

Great news that Mr El seems to have got the food budget idea now :T - I think it's always easier and more likely to succeed if they've come to the conclusions themselves

Whilst I've done meal planning, for my shame I've not been sticking to it partly due to inclination (must try harder) but partly due to finances not matching my plans

Angel xxx

elantan

i really struggle with meal planning as well angel, i have done it several times now ... bought the stuff for it, then changed my mind as i didnt fancy the food that was on the meal plan ... sigh

maybe i need a dummies version of how to do a meal plan

hypno06

Ok, so how about attacking it from a different angle.....

Work out your daily food budget. Go to the bank and take it out in cash, including bags of coins, so you don't end up just "taking out another £10".

Each day, take your food budget for that day, and work out what you want to eat, what you have to buy, what is in the cupboard that you can use, etc etc etc.

So, if you fancy a curry, you might look to see that you've got rice and the spices, but need veg and/or meat and a tin of chopped tomatoes - that comes out of your allocated daily budget, you don't go over, you throw any "change" at the end of the day into another pot for the end of the month when you can then judge how much you are really spending, and can adjust next months's daily budgets accordingly!

Just an idea, but would save you having to think too far ahead if that is causing you a problem.

elantan

i like it ... will give it a try ... it may mean shopping every day but thats ok .... thanks hypno

GreyhoundAngel

Hypno's always full of good ideas :rotfl:

Only issue for me on that one ... I really don't want to have to shop each day ... and I know I'd wind up spending more, as I'd give in to " lazy meals " Though I know it must work well for some :A

I just need a kick up the wotsit, and get on with it & stick to it :rotfl:

Angel xxx

skint_spice

All I want at the moment are soup or baked potatoes - total comfort food for the cold weather! I used to menu plan religiously for the week but now tend to by stuff so I can make a number of meals over the month and work that way so each week there might be a couple of meals for that week but enough pasta or something for the month then I eventually end up with a free week

mizmir

I meal plan for the week and get the food in but most of it is not critical for a particular day so I can decide in the morning which one I am going to do that day. And many things can be adapted into something else - so the other day I had planned for a sausage and lentil casserole but in the end couldn't be bothered so we had bangers and mash instead! I don't think I could be too rigid but I like doing the main shop once a week and getting it over with!

GreyhoundAngel

skint_spice wrote: »

All I want at the moment are soup or baked potatoes - total comfort food for the cold weather! I used to menu plan religiously for the week but now tend to by stuff so I can make a number of meals over the month and work that way so each week there might be a couple of meals for that week but enough pasta or something for the month then I eventually end up with a free week

mizmir wrote: »

I meal plan for the week and get the food in but most of it is not critical for a particular day so I can decide in the morning which one I am going to do that day. And many things can be adapted into something else - so the other day I had planned for a sausage and lentil casserole but in the end couldn't be bothered so we had bangers and mash instead! I don't think I could be too rigid but I like doing the main shop once a week and getting it over with!

Totally empathise with those ladies ... think I'm straying to the " trying to do too much at once " side of the line again by wanting & trying to jump straight back into the bulk cook day / meal plan system I used to do
Back to basics again i think, and perhaps do some per meal (ie spag bol sauce ... cook for the meal & do enough for several more in the freezer) and some that can be altered if plans change ...

hmm, thanks ladies

Angel xxx

elantan

skint_spice wrote: »

All I want at the moment are soup or baked potatoes - total comfort food for the cold weather! I used to menu plan religiously for the week but now tend to by stuff so I can make a number of meals over the month and work that way so each week there might be a couple of meals for that week but enough pasta or something for the month then I eventually end up with a free week

i like this idea ... and yep it does feel like comfort food time to me too

elantan

GreyhoundAngel wrote: »

Totally empathise with those ladies ... think I'm straying to the " trying to do too much at once " side of the line again by wanting & trying to jump straight back into the bulk cook day / meal plan system I used to do
Back to basics again i think, and perhaps do some per meal (ie spag bol sauce ... cook for the meal & do enough for several more in the freezer) and some that can be altered if plans change ...

hmm, thanks ladies

Angel xxx

it so easy to get excited and do too much at the begining isnt it? i'm currently banging my head about investments etc ... i want to ry and understand what it is all about ... the only thing i can liken it to is trying to learn a new language .... its all foreign to me

i feel as if in some ways i am on top of the debt paying finance stuff ( it is just going to take time) but i need to learn to look to the future as well ... that is going to mean stocks, shares etc etc so that i can get the second part of the 100 month up and running in the right direction


i think i need a jargon buster and a very simple lead me around by the nose kinda lesson :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: