Splurging on purple dye when an OAP

anotherMaggie

I think getting rid of the mortgage is of paramount importance so that we can start putting more into the pension pot. Otherwise I will be in that horrible twilight zone of not being able to afford a purple rinse or a trip to bingo.

We've been overpaying from the start and I'd be a saver in general. My Achilles heels would be laziness when trying to stick to mealplans and impulse Internet buys for the kids (books and clothes).

my grocery shopping of £160 a week for family of 4 with one being just weaned obviously has room for improvement but I'm not willing to compromise on health (eg bulking out meals with non-meat alternatives when I want us to have the protein from the meat).

I am going to list my accomplishments towards my goal of being mortgage free in this diary.

Today I didn't eat a choc bar I found in my bag thus keeping me off choc (when I eat choc I eat lots which wreaks havoc on the ole grocery budget)

anotherMaggie

Ooh what a splendid start.....letter arrived telling me our council tax is being put up a band :-(
Pesky 7k over the upper limit of our old band according to the mse value calculator so looks like no point in an appeal either

Oh and the mince I was taking out from the microwave after defrosting fell on the floor as I tried to put it in the pan so I'm looking at 5per cent mince (scraped off the top bits that hadn't touched the floor) spag Bol for lunch. Nice!

cb4fwh

Or another way of looking at it is that you have actually saved money on council tax over the years!?

chunkychocky

anotherMaggie wrote: »

but I'm not willing to compromise on health (eg bulking out meals with non-meat alternatives when I want us to have the protein from the meat).

Good luck, though I find it baffling that you think it is compromising health to bulk out meals with vegetarian sources of protein such as lentils and beans. Too much meat is a known cause of cancer. It used to be considered that meat was a luxury, not an everyday essential.

anotherMaggie

We have only been here 6 months so not a huge saving but yes I suppose that's a good 'glass half full' view of things cb4fwh.

I don't know where I mentioned anything about eating lots of meat. What I said is that for those dishes that do have meat content I would not be substituting. These dishes are needed for balance for good quality protein.

Bufger

anotherMaggie wrote: »

We have only been here 6 months so not a huge saving but yes I suppose that's a good 'glass half full' view of things cb4fwh.

I don't know where I mentioned anything about eating lots of meat. What I said is that for those dishes that do have meat content I would not be substituting. These dishes are needed for balance for good quality protein.

You dont substitute to save money. You bulk it out further with other things and batch cook it therefore making 1 meal into 2 or 3.

£160 per week is £100 over what we spend for a family of 4 and we have meat nearly every night. Tonights its quesadillas, yesterday we had chilli con carne, the night before shepherds pie... Thats £400 per month you could be overpaying just from controling your branded items and luxuries.

Branded rich tea biscuits? Asda or tesco own brand are 27p and taste the same.
Branded Jam at £2 per jar? Asda or tesco are 32p.

It all adds up. You'll be suprised by how much you can save without any comprimise.

anotherMaggie

Yes I know my current amount is way too high and I need to use more own brands and shop somewhere other than Sainbobs. Just for now with a 6 month old and another smallie I'm being lazy going to the nearest store which I know I can get to and navigate round ok (am new to the area). A few months time and I should be able to cut further by shopping somwehre else but the other shops aren't that close.

I genuinely don't understand how bulking out to make 2 or 3 meals out of 1 is not money saving? I can't really do much bulk cookign as don't have a big stand alone freezer and to be honest I don't really like freezing much.

edinburgher

I genuinely don't understand how bulking out to make 2 or 3 meals out of 1 is not money saving?

Do you mean you don't understand how it *is* money saving?

It's all down to economies of scale. I.e. if I bought enough mince and veg to make 5 batches of pasta sauce at once, the larger bags of veg etc. almost always work out as considerably more economical per portion.

anotherMaggie

edinburgher wrote: »

Do you mean you don't understand how it *is* money saving?

.

No, bufger said that you don't substitute to save money.

Bufger

anotherMaggie wrote: »

No, bufger said that you don't substitute to save money.

well you can substitute to save money but most people dont, instead they just make more of what they were going to make anyway and add additional ingredients in to bulk the meal out.

ie, if you were using 2 chicken breasts in a curry for 2 people you could do a single meal from it but if you decided to add peppers, onions, mushrooms, potatoes or anything else you fancied then you could make 3 meals out of it, eat one for dinner, seperate the others out so you effectively have 'ready meals' whenever you want them. Ideal for work or nights where you dont have a lot of time.

I have a 2 year old and a 6 month old. We batch cook at the weekends and have quick meals in the week and its so much easier and you know whats in your food.