Realistic budget and sticking to it?

cazj80

oh just meant to add, I've made myself a spreadsheet, which lists all the ingredients I would use. This has a column for the size of the pack (in grams/ml etc), a column for the price per pack. My spreadsheet then calculates the price in pence per gram/ml etc. I then have a column where I can put the quantity I need in a recipe, and the next column calculates the price in pence for that quantity.

I then have a total at the bottom so I can easily work out the cost of a recipe. Hence, knowing that 10 tortilla wraps cost me 34p in ingredients to make, or 18 crumpets cost me 36p last week.

I think I spend too much time thinking about these times, but my husband works a lot of evenings until midnight, and with the girls in bed at 7, I try to do useful things with my evenings, rather than just sitting watching rubbish on the tv, which I used to do!

quintwins

caz i also use value nappies, if you stock up when MR'S has there 1/3 off baby you can get them for 98p a pack i usually stock up with about 20 packs (i literaly clear the shelf and sometimes do 2 visits) but now after 5 years of constant nappies from one child or another i now only need nappies for bedtime for 1 :j

fletch3163

cazj80 wrote: »

lunch - I make my own tortilla wraps,



know.

Hi, can you share your recipe please? I have tried to make them before but they always end up too thick

cazj80

quintwins wrote: »

caz i also use value nappies, if you stock up when MR'S has there 1/3 off baby you can get them for 98p a pack i usually stock up with about 20 packs (i literaly clear the shelf and sometimes do 2 visits) but now after 5 years of constant nappies from one child or another i now only need nappies for bedtime for 1 :j

I'm starting to toilet train our oldest, and can't wait until only 1 is in nappies!!

Have you noticed that recently Mr S hasn't been including their basics nappies or wipes in their baby promotions? They have one on now, and the majority of things seem to have 1/3 or 1/2 off, except their basics products - Grrr!! I was waiting to stock up.

However, I have found that Asda's are still £1.41 for 20, whereas Mr S has recently gone up to nearly £1.60.

It made me laugh recently when at my eldest's two year check with the health visitor, she said to use the value nappies as they don't stay dry to help with toilet training. I've found them better than most brands.... lol

cazj80

fletch3163 wrote: »

Hi, can you share your recipe please? I have tried to make them before but they always end up too thick

of course!!

the trick I found is to really really heat the pan up before cooking the tortillas, as if it is not hot enough, they take longer to cook and then don't stay "bendy", although they are then nice if you put cheese in between them and grill/sandwich press them, so not wasted! with a really hot pan, 30 seconds is all you need on each side.

Also, try and roll your tortillas as thinly as you can. I roll all the segments of dough thinly first, then give them each another quick roll just before cooking, when another is already in the pan.

here it is -



Flour Tortillas
Makes 6-8 tortillas
Ingredients
350g plain flour
100g fine cornmeal (polenta) (I've used coarse cornmeal/polenta and it is lovely too, gives more texture)
2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp olive oil
250ml warm water, plus more if needed

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder. With your hands, gradually work in the olive oil until it is all incorporated. Add enough warm water to make a soft but not sticky dough.

2. Turn out on to a lightly floured board and knead for 5 minutes. Divide the dough into equal portions and roll each ball into a flat round, as thinly as you can, about 12cm in diameter.

3. Heat a large non-stick saut! pan or frying pan over a medium heat. Put the tortillas one at a time into the dry hot pan. Cook until brown on one side, then turn and brown the other side.

Storing Tortillas
Tortillas are best eaten hot right off the griddle but you can refrigerate and freeze them too.
If you freeze the tortillas, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and put them in a ziplock bag. When needed, first thaw them at room temperature and then wrap them in foil and place them in a 120c degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Microwaving is not recommended as this tends to toughen the tortillas.

DundeeDoll

katskorner wrote: »

thanks maman but we can't use bio due to some of my family having ecezma but good tip for those who can!!

my OH and DS cant use bio. We find the lidl nonbio absolutely fine. Will look at price next SM shop

katskorner

I use the lidl non-bio box - Formil 60 wash is £6.49.

chocoholic_chick

I'm trying to get a grip on my spends at the moment. I put £240 into a household pot every month to pay for groceries & cleaning products. At the moment our spends for this month stands at £157.78 which im happy with as I've been buying alot more fresh fruit and veg so I thought it would have been more than that. There's just the 2 of us though, and we have to buy food for the guinea pigs we have as well which is about £6-7 a week. Hoping to drop what we spend so using this month as a guide to see how we do and might drop it a bit for next month. I'm always a bit ashamed of how much I spend when I read about families with children spending less than we do.

cazj80

chocoholic_chick wrote: »

I'm trying to get a grip on my spends at the moment. I put £240 into a household pot every month to pay for groceries & cleaning products. At the moment our spends for this month stands at £157.78 which im happy with as I've been buying alot more fresh fruit and veg so I thought it would have been more than that. There's just the 2 of us though, and we have to buy food for the guinea pigs we have as well which is about £6-7 a week. Hoping to drop what we spend so using this month as a guide to see how we do and might drop it a bit for next month. I'm always a bit ashamed of how much I spend when I read about families with children spending less than we do.

I wouldn't be ashamed at all, everyone has different budgets etc. I need to keep mine really low because I really want to stay at home with my children, after looking into nursery fees etc for the both of them, and keeping our outgoings low is the only real way I can afford to do this. We used to spend more and it got a bit out of control, so we set a limit of £120 a month about 7 years ago, though have had to put it up a bit since!