Newbie - Just trying to make sense of it all.

smattie

Hi you sound just like myself, pop to supermarket almost every day and end of spending a small fortune on stuff we dont need. Have decided to tackle this,(have about £10,000 of debt:eek:) and am now keeping a spending diary, only going to the supermarket once a week, and have also told the kids that no longer having pudding every night( was sometimes just custard or jelly) just at weekends as a special treat and they are enjoying it more.
Im also overweight at 11.5stones and 5ft4, eat when i am feeling upset or worried, so am trying to eat healthly, i tend to get frustrated when dont see a quick result so am now am to have lost weight by august. Am very good during the week and tend to allow myself a few treats ,within reason, at the weekend.
I am going to subscribe to your thread and prehap we can help keep each other motivated.

his_missus

Hi!

Have you tried planning your meals for the week and only buying what you need? Sit down and decide on meals you can either throw in a slow cooker/oven or are quick to cook if you feel short on time. I'm still trying to decide if online or supermarket shopping is best for me. Online - you can see exactly what you're spending and stop when you reach your limit. Instore - you can pick up bargains/reduced items but it's more tempting to go over-budget.
Remember - A bargain is only a bargain if you actually use it - no point buying a yellow stickered food item if all you do is throw it in the bin after a few days:o
Also have you considered packed lunches?

I would recommend you look at switching gas/electricty or try to cut down on your usage (turn things off, not standby/turning thermostat down a touch/ heating on for a little less time etc)

Also if Hubby needs van for work, won't they provide him with a work's van? Or is he self-employed? My Hubby now has a van for work and his insurance, tax and upkeep are paid for, well he pays for the privilege through tax but his tax has gone up about £700 a year - compare that to what he was paying before..

wear280902

I have worked an extra 12 hrs this week in top of my normal 28hrs which should give me an extra boost for a wedding and a 40th birthday we need to attend in March plus the servicing, taxing and MOT on my car. Have used up lots of my freezer items and my stock cupboard which has meant we have all eaten the same as a family as my extra hours have been in the evening.

But now I have come unstuck I have not got a freezer full or anything other than flour, sugar, herbs and spices, pasta, lentils, chana dahl and this weeks xxl pork shoulder joint for this sunday and a leftover meal and a beef joint and rice.

My problem being one of my timesheets did not go in on time for extra work so will not be received till the end of Feb. I have no choice I have to budget for food and quite drastically i(I was previously spending £150 a week). I might manage to get £200 for the family of four and I know for those of you who have done this regularly are now used to this but I now need a Crash course on this. My DD has school dinners (paid for by my mum) and my DS pack lunch. This month includes half term holidays for a week.
I have looked through some of the meal plans but find that some of them are v. low in fruit or veg. My son gets constipated easily due to a health issue so like to keep a certain amount of fibre in his diet although this could be tinned pears and I am trying to maintain or lose weight. I have borrowed a 6.5litre slow cooker PLEASE help.

pennypusher

Hi how about Winter Sausage Stew. Use 1 ib sausages, potatoes, carrots and a tin of tomatoes. Fry the sausages, add sliced carrots and cook for a further 3 mins, stirring. Drain off fat. Add 1/2 pint stock and tomatoes and simmer for 30 mins. Cut potatoes into small cubes and add to sausage mix and cook for a further 30 mins. Serve when carrot and potatoes soft. Serve with peas or green veg. Maybe more sausages if other half has big appetite.

joedenise

Have a look on the Old Style board. There are loads of slow cooker recipes on there.

Also if you google "slow cooker recipes" you'll get loads of websites come up. I've got a couple bookmarked, including one called something like "a year of slow cooking".

Denise

katsu

can the kids help you peel and chop carrots? Get a big bag of cheap carrots and peel and chop them into the freezer so you can throw them on to boil for 5 mins to serve with dinners. You can do this with other veg too.

Get some pearl barley and throw a handful of that into soups and stews, porridge oats go into mince - all bulking out for less.

Recipes:

I got this one from Prima - cabbage and pearl barley pot
1tblsp olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic - chopped
4 carrots roughly chopped
squirt of tomato puree (optional)
1 savoy cabbage or dark green cabbage, thinly sliced
1.7l/3pints veg stock (I make using stock powder)
225g/8oz pearl barley
pinch chili flakes (optional and I never use it!)

1 - in large saucepan heat oil and then soften onion for a few mins then stir in garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
2 - add carrots and cook for 2 mins, then add tom puree if using, and cabbage (pan is now very full!)
3 - pour in stock and pearl barley. Bring to boil then turn down to low heat and simmer for 30 mins. If needed add more water (I never need it).
4 - add chili flakes, if using, and taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper.

I am sure you could do this in a slow cooker if you did step 1 on the hob first.

wear280902

I jumped on the scales as I needed to put my weight on a health questionnaire. So was shocked to find myself a whole 7lbs lighter since January. I had been trying to steadily lose weight but had got stuck in a rut and the weight had stayed static for a few weeks with a pound being lost and put on in a week.

Since doing the grocery challenges and facing my weakness for an overspend in the supermarkets ( only area for a minute I could see a vast differance in what money we had leftover each month). I can not however quite pinpoint what it is that has made the biggest differace or whether it has been a combination of a) planning meals so I eat regularly b) making soups out of leftovers (resulting in more natural food , less bread, less snacks) c) visiting supermarkets less so I remember more what I have or haven't eaten d) reduced stress as I actually feel good that I am trying to resolve or do something about our current situation.

FBaby

I'm not into debts, but always felt I should have more at the end of the month than I do. I realise that the one area I was spending way too much was at the supermarket. I tended to go once during the week-end for the main shop and then go another 3-4 times for top-ups, which all together meant the budget was way too much. I also had the tendency to buy little extras, a cheap DVD, a book, a reduced item of clothing, something for the kitchen, which individually didn't seem much, but at the end of the month certainly was. I've changed my ways and I can really see the difference. For one, I actually pay attention to the price of the items I put in the trolley. Seems ridiculous, but I never really used to, I bought what I wanted, which I thought was ok because I was never extravagant with it, but once I actually started to look at the price, I was really surprised to see how easily I was wasting money. One exemple, I used to buy packs of biscuits for the kids, because if I bought a big pack, they would go stalled and the kids wouldn't eat them, however, the price can be 3 even 4 times more, when all I had to do was get a tupperware and put them in that to keep them nice.

I also felt obliged to buy 'quality' meals for my kids... when actually most of the time they didn't care that much for them or couldn't tell the difference. This is the biggest change. I don't cook much as I trully don't have the time or incline to do it, but I've realised that they enjoyed cheaper meals just as much as the others. I also stop feeling that they had to have diversed meals, they are actually quite happy to have the same things weeks after weeks. As a result, I waste so much less.

Today was a first experience...my kids cooked Sunday lunch!!! They did a toad in the hole with vegetables from scratch. It was lovely and couldn't believe how cheap it was all together. They loved cooking. They are 9 and 12, so really proud of them.

Finally, I've stopped browsing in the non food alleys... It certainly make the trip less exciting, but the feeling I get when I get my card out and see that I'm spending so much less is worth it.

I'm now down to £50 a week for the three of us, with only maybe one or two top-ups a week of £5 each. That includes my lunch but not the kids. Still, I don't know how much I spent before, but I would say it is a saving of about £100 a month.

Congratulations on the weight loss, what a bonus!!!

Shelski_2

Hi

I'm also guilty of the supermarket overspend but I've used 2 ways to keep on top of it so far since Christmas.
1. I use Aldi and home bargains more for things I never used to before Home bargains - toiletries, toilet and kitchen roll, packet pasta & rice, biscuits & crisps, kids drinks for packed lunches (once a month)
Aldi - Fruit and veg, joints of meat, cooked meat, fish, butter, OJ, cheese, cereals, bread and milk. (fresh stuff weekly)

2. I do a monthly shop online for the rest which prevents any impulse buys.

It's saving me quite a bit and I find we're eating much better because of the reduction in processed foods. I also meal plan, not to the nth degree but a basic idea. We've had 2 takeaways in 2 months, a cut down from around 1 or 2 per week and no one's complained yet.
Hope this helps