Moooooving back to DFW - one Fresian's continued adventures in debt-busting

Hopeful1

DedicatedDFW i'm the same as you re the 2nd purse. Things are tighter than ever. Escaping from a very unhappy marriage has meant me having to incurr extra debt, so money is v tight. What it has made me realise is how much stricter I need to be with my food budget and meal planning. Any leftover food budget money will be PaDded for now. I too am now going to do an inventory I get some money on Tuesday so will be starting with the new me then. It gives me time to build up to the fact that I need to let go of Mr Sainsburys :eek: and move to cheaper horizons

mooomin

Hopeful1 wrote: »

It gives me time to build up to the fact that I need to let go of Mr Sainsburys :eek: and move to cheaper horizons

Aldi is the mutts nuts to be honest. I would go there over Tesco/Sainsburys every time

DFW - I'm a Bad Bad Fresian who hasn't meal planned at all yet. As proven by tonight's planned dinner of fish fingers I love your way of doing it though, so might try that this weekend. No promises though!

girlatplay

flying_fresian wrote: »

the mutts nuts

:rotfl::rotfl:

I laughed out loud at this one!

Off to check out the second purse challenge :cool:

DedicatedDFW

Hopeful1 wrote: »

DedicatedDFW i'm the same as you re the 2nd purse. Things are tighter than ever. Escaping from a very unhappy marriage has meant me having to incurr extra debt, so money is v tight. What it has made me realise is how much stricter I need to be with my food budget and meal planning. Any leftover food budget money will be PaDded for now. I too am now going to do an inventory I get some money on Tuesday so will be starting with the new me then. It gives me time to build up to the fact that I need to let go of Mr Sainsburys :eek: and move to cheaper horizons

Hey Hopeful1 - hope you are ok. The £35 is for 2 adults and because i've got so much in 'stock' then i'm able to spend a bit less than this most weeks at the mo. I haven't been to Sainsbugs in a while but do like to grab a reduced price bargain from there when i can Oh yes - the £35 budget is to cover all food, drink, toiletries and cleaning stuff. Like i say when there is a really good offer i do stretch my budget and stock up - like with the washing liquid and also the reduced price stuff that i can freeze and make a meal with at a later date. My food planning has meant alot less waste too as i checked the dates on the jars and packets The other MSE thing i do is buy a very cheap liquid soap - its 30-odd p but its a big bottle and its really good - nice smell and lathers (sp?) well too - i just decant this into the empty more expensive liquid soap dispensers i have - saves alot :T This worked with the own label soap but sadly the very low cost hair conditioner didn't work for me. i guess its just trying stuff and seeing what you'd stick with

flying_fresian wrote: »

Aldi is the mutts nuts to be honest. I would go there over Tesco/Sainsburys every time

DFW - I'm a Bad Bad Fresian who hasn't meal planned at all yet. As proven by tonight's planned dinner of fish fingers I love your way of doing it though, so might try that this weekend. No promises though!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Om nom nom to fish fingers The thing with meal planning is i kept wanting to do it and didn't know where to start. The other thing that works well is i can see over the week what we're having and can easily swop nights around if need be - i.e. if i want to do something thats quicker to prepare etc. I'm sure there are better ways of planning - i was just so pleased i'd finally cracked it and with how little food waste there's been and how easy it is to keep the shopping on budget i just had to share

tomtombeanie

flying_fresian wrote: »

Aldi is the mutts nuts to be honest. I would go there over Tesco/Sainsburys every time

did you get your voucher today, FF? fiver off 30 in the sun - saw on grabbit & on newspaper thread - rushed back to asda (had already been in this morning to buy a paperback book as a present, i mainly food shop at aldi) to buy a paper :money:

tomtombeanie

also wanted to say - yes yes yes to a freezer list! that's how i do it, as long as you remember to cross stuff off as you use it it saves a huge amount of time when meal planning. i just do a week's plan at a time, with DH working away a lot i find that's easiest for us. i tidied my food cupboard yesterday (DS2 home from school ill so finally had the time!) but didn't bother making a list - apart from a few surprises (how many packets of cous cous?!), i have a good idea of what's in there. nowt wrong with fish fingers, by the way! happy friday all

mooomin

May the gods help me, I've just inventoried the freezer. We could eat till doomsday. Boring mealplan-post to follow

tomtom - I didn't get the voucher, but know that I don't need to spend £30 in there for a good few weeks, so thought it might encourage me to spend badly.

mooomin

Here goes nothing:

Drawer 1:

Fishcakes x 3
Breaded plaice
Breaded cod
Puff pastry
Dumplings
Fish fingers (6 of)

Drawer 2:

Bolognaise x 2
Rump steak
Sausages (pack of 8)
Sausages (pack of 4) x 2
Ice lollies

Drawer 3:

Whole chicken
Mince x 3
Meatballs
Gammon steak

Drawer 4:

Whole chicken x 2
Chicken leg quarters
Chicken breast x 3 packs

A packet of mince is currently defrosting, so the meal plan for the coming week is:

Saturday - slow cooker chilli using pack of mince already defrosting. Should make enough for 4 meals, so eat 1 and freeze 3
Sunday - roast chicken (got friends coming for dinner)
Monday - lazy chicken leftover dish (if none left due to vulture-friends then fishcakes)
Tuesday - Mince, tatties & dumplings
Wednesday - Chilli
Thursday - Fishcakes if not eaten on Monday, cod if it has been
Friday - sweet & sour chicken

Freezer list and meal plan going on the fridge tonight

mooomin

In addition to this, I have an order coming from Donald Russell (half price mince, 8 x 400g packs for £22 and the quality is amazing as well as a pack of venison for stews/casseroles) which will be going into Freezer 2 which is currently empty.

Papa Fresian is also visiting next weekend and bringing with him loads of meat for my freezer. We really should spend the next week trying to eat as many things as possible in case there isn't enough room for it

joedenise

Shouldn't keep your freezer empty - it's really expensive to run. Fill it up with empty boxes and/or bread to keep running costs down. In your situation I think it ought to be empty boxes for the time being!

Denise