Prue Leith in the Daily Mail - £50 a week menu

ash28

quintwins wrote: »

Ash have you tried working out the cost of what you need online before you go and only bringing cash? works well for me when i'm just topping up. Or i send hubby if it's just things like milk and bread and not a huge list, he does have a habit of buying expensive bread tho.

I have to admit I haven't checked online beforehand and taken cash.....what if I saw a bargain??!!

The the thought of going out of the house without my cards is almost the equivalent of going out naked. I'm a bit like the queen, I rarely use cash, I'm sure there must be some deep underlying psychological reason for this - well almost sure.

And as for sending OH, he has a habit of buying anything that catches his eye - normally custard creams, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate hobnobs and wine gums.

He is banned from the normal shopping....and if we go to Costco he has to wait in the cafe.

quintwins

ash28 wrote: »

I have to admit I haven't checked online beforehand and taken cash.....what if I saw a bargain??!!

The the thought of going out of the house without my cards is almost the equivalent of going out naked. I'm a bit like the queen, I rarely use cash, I'm sure there must be some deep underlying psychological reason for this - well almost sure.

And as for sending OH, he has a habit of buying anything that catches his eye - normally custard creams, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate hobnobs and wine gums.

He is banned from the normal shopping....and if we go to Costco he has to wait in the cafe.

Is it really a bargain if you don't need it? i'm all for bargain hunting and whoopsie shopping on my main shop but once thats done the meals are planned, so anything extra will be a snack/treat (like cakes and buns) or will mean i have to change my meal plan which may result in things being binned.

I regularly go out with no purse i just grab my phone and car keys if i have enough desil i'll be fine (we keep our car full most of the time anyway) if i breakdown someone will have to rescue me anyway so i'll have to phone them, if it makes you feel better you can get wee ky fobs you hide a note in for £1 off ebay so you have emergency money, and it's such a pain getting it in and out you won't dip into it unless you have to.

fannyadams

I like this website
the recipes are easy and won't break the bank and there's two menu options for you to look at to ring the changes.
The risi e bisi is really lovely and quick to make, and the Carrot Cake is now a staple in our house (2A & 2 'growing boys') along with Twink's Hob Nobs.

ash28

quintwins wrote: »

Is it really a bargain if you don't need it? i'm all for bargain hunting and whoopsie shopping on my main shop but once thats done the meals are planned, so anything extra will be a snack/treat (like cakes and buns) or will mean i have to change my meal plan which may result in things being binned.

I regularly go out with no purse i just grab my phone and car keys if i have enough desil i'll be fine (we keep our car full most of the time anyway) if i breakdown someone will have to rescue me anyway so i'll have to phone them, if it makes you feel better you can get wee ky fobs you hide a note in for £1 off ebay so you have emergency money, and it's such a pain getting it in and out you won't dip into it unless you have to.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm actually quite a poor shopper, though my intentions are always good, I take the list and I don't shop if I'm hungry (even if it means a quick trip into Costa) but it seems although the spirit is more than willing, the flesh is more than a bit weak.

I can do meal plans along with the best of them, but I find it hard to stick to them. Something will often catch my imagination during the week - on Sunday it was chilli jam - I just had to go and get the stuff to make it - and ended up spending £16 (about the same as I would have spent if I had actually gone out and bought the chilli jam).

Funnily enough not much gets binned, very little in fact.
And one of things about being quite a poor shopper is that I have a very healthy store cupboard and freezer.

I can do budget shopping - I even drew up a meal plan for feeding two on £7 - I didn't post it though - my daughter was stunned - she said she didn't realise I could do "stuff like that"!

There's a lot she doesn't know!!!

I can't get my head round going out with no money or cards....I mean I would be happy to pop to a friends but not "out" if you know what I mean.

oldtractor

my problem isnt meal planning its snacking! I tend to eat tonnes of tinned and fresh fruit as well as sandwiches here and there throughout the day.

thumbeline

Have just got the new How To Feed Your Family For £5 A Day by Bernadine Lawrence, updated with more recipes, a Good Budget Guide and Top Shopping Tips.

The recipes are inspired and truly delicious and very satisfying. And there's even a List of Uses For Leftover Ingredients!

valk_scot

ash28 wrote: »

I have to admit I haven't checked online beforehand and taken cash.....what if I saw a bargain??!!

The the thought of going out of the house without my cards is almost the equivalent of going out naked. I'm a bit like the queen, I rarely use cash, I'm sure there must be some deep underlying psychological reason for this - well almost sure.

I carry mostly cash, I take my housekeeping money out on a Monday and put it in a seperate purse for house purchases. I've always got my cash cards though for when I see a bargain, I'm quite happy to dig around for my other purse and pay for said bargain with a card. Keeping the two things seperate makes me stop and register the difference and stops me just throwing things into the trolley. It's a fact that if you pay for everything by card the extra few pounds for impulse buys can just drift past unnoticed.

The other thing about having seperate housekeeping cash is that you notice pretty fast that you're down to your last £10 note and get much better about only buying the things you really need for the rest of the week. Conversely you get a boost when you get to the end of the week and you've still got £10 left! When that happens to me I put the leftover money in the back compartment of the housekeeping purse, ready for the next good buy or special treat purchase.

quintwins

thumbeline wrote: »

Have just got the new How To Feed Your Family For £5 A Day by Bernadine Lawrence, updated with more recipes, a Good Budget Guide and Top Shopping Tips.

The recipes are inspired and truly delicious and very satisfying. And there's even a List of Uses For Leftover Ingredients!

I see it's on offer on amazon but it's against my nature to buy a cook book when google has so many good resources.

I do wonder if theres much fruit/veg in a £5 a day diet, generally i aim for £1 for breakfats and lunch and £1-£3 for dinner, then i'll have a take away or a meal out which brings our budget up, however i then have about £10-£15 a week fruit, milk and yogurts for the kids, even when i make my own yogurt it's still expensive adding these things, i know i could bake and i do but i'd rather my kids ate an apple than a bun, and yogurt doubles up as pudding

Saying that i'm happy with my budget and don't need or want to lower it.