My Diary to B-Day! Help appreciated!!

funkypriest

Before we begin, B-Day is baby day!

Me and my fianc!e are expecting a baby boy on the 6th December, I am currently in a DMP and slowly chinking away at my debt.

I am still struggling to not spend all of my money every month so have decided to post here, warts and all to get some advice and maybe even a stern telling off!

My better half is now 20 weeks pregnant so we need to eat good food but it needs to be on a budget.

Any tips for better food budgeting? Is it better to take a finite amount of cash or does that not work?

Cheers, i'll post again tonight with today's activities!

funkypriest

Done well so far today. Used breakfast from the cupboards and only bought petrol so far!

in_need_of_direction

Do you currently budget and shop with a list? How's the menu planning?

beanielou

Well if you only take a certain amount of money you cant spend any more.
So you have to be rather focussed.
Depends if you think you can do it.

MrsSmith2013

Hi funkypriest, not sure what you currently do, but for our weekly food shop, I write a list of seven meals and the ingredients we need for each. Plus standard things like bread, milk, cheese, juice etc. I always tally it up as I go round the shop, and TRY to take out cash first, but that doesn't always happen!

I would also recommend trying Aldi or Lidl if you have one close to you, I find that if I shop at either of these I spend around £50/£55 per week, where at Tesco or Asda I'm looking at nearer £80/£90.

Good Luck!
Mrs S x

funkypriest

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Do you currently budget and shop with a list? How's the menu planning?

Started a budget this week with a meal plan for 5 days and 2 days we make up for ourselves.

funkypriest

MrsSmith2013 wrote: »

Hi funkypriest, not sure what you currently do, but for our weekly food shop, I write a list of seven meals and the ingredients we need for each. Plus standard things like bread, milk, cheese, juice etc. I always tally it up as I go round the shop, and TRY to take out cash first, but that doesn't always happen!

I would also recommend trying Aldi or Lidl if you have one close to you, I find that if I shop at either of these I spend around £50/£55 per week, where at Tesco or Asda I'm looking at nearer £80/£90.

Good Luck!
Mrs S x

Hi Mrs S,

That's what we have started doing this week, and it's worked well so far!

We used to shop at Sainsbury's every day! We did an Aldi shop on Sunday and it was £37 for what we would have easily spent £60 on in Sainsbury's!

funkypriest

Started the week well with a shop on Sunday for the meals in the week.

OH is really on board and is helping me out with budgeting and the baby is doing really well too

On the other hand, we have a letting agent inspection next Tuesday (bit late, our tenancy is up on the 8th August! :mad:
So we have to budget some money here for repairs etc

Managed to negotiate a nearly new moses basket from Gumtree for £25 so bargain there.

Also made a small (£7) overpayment on a loan.

Heres to the rest of the week being frugal and free of worry :rotfl:

Nintud

hi funkypriest, congrats on impending fatherhood :-)
Aldi and Lidl are definitely the way to go.
Do you cook meals from scratch? Avoiding pre-prepared meals can help save on groceries and you can batch cook and freeze meals for when baby comes and you're too tired to cook.

Also try car boot sales for baby essentials, you can get some great finds on equipment that's been gently used.

funkypriest

Nintud wrote: »

hi funkypriest, congrats on impending fatherhood :-)
Aldi and Lidl are definitely the way to go.
Do you cook meals from scratch? Avoiding pre-prepared meals can help save on groceries and you can batch cook and freeze meals for when baby comes and you're too tired to cook.

Also try car boot sales for baby essentials, you can get some great finds on equipment that's been gently used.

Thanks Nintud

I think you're right. The quality is there and the price is really good.

Need to get some freezer quality food storage boxes to make some batch meals in - that's a great idea.

Been scouring Gumtree for some baby essentials on the cheap, might take a look for some local car boots.

Nintud

I freeze in empty ice cream cartons, just remember to label and date everything. Avoid the disappointment of bolognese when you were anticipating chilli!!