Lightbulb moment......

Skintandscared

Well, today was SUPPOSED to be a NSD, but unfortunately my ravenous wolves of children decided to eat the last packets of crisps and mini-biscuits after school (was supposed to be for packed lunches!) so I had no choice but to go into Iceland and buy some more.
Whilst in there I noticed that the Birds Eye "Stir in Senses" range (think it's called that!?!) had an offer on of "Try me free", and after a bit of investigation it does just what it does on the packet! AND then I remembered it was also being offered for FREE on one of my cashback apps, so effectively myself and my OH are having our tea courtesy of Mister. Birds Eye, and we're being paid £3 for the privilege! Happy days!
We're having FREE carbonara, using up the last bits of cooking bacon (80p a pack in Tesco), and a sprinkling of value cheddar cheese, accompanied by the YS 10p garlic flatbread we bought from Asda - Yummy!
My total spend was:
*12 pack of Walkers crisps - £2 (not bad considering you pay 55p for one pack!)
*6 pack of Pepsi-Max - £2.29 (not as cheap as I'd have liked, but had a funny turn in the town centre and needed a drink, and better value than buying one can for 70p)
*Pack of 6 mini-cookies and 6 mini-digestive packs - £1.50
*Birds Eye pasta thingy - £3 (will get this refunded and paid an extra £3 cashback)
*2x packs of Space Raiders crisps - 40p (for the fussy mini-me)

Total spend: £9.19

With change leftover from £10 to pay for print outs at the library tomorrow to return a faulty dress, and a letter of complaint for shoes my OH had for 6 weeks and they basically fell apart!

Didn't really want to spend any money, and I've noticed that we seem to spend a lot on packed lunch items (as the kids eat them as after school snacks instead!), so I told my wee one's that when we go shopping they have a budget of £2 each to pick their multipack of crisps and enough cereal bars or biscuits for the week - It takes away the constant replacing of them, as they know there will be a limited number and they will have to eat fruit instead, and also I'm hoping it gives them an opportunity to glean some financial savvy from it!lol

How is everyone else getting on? x

Ps Meant to add that my Mum and Dad are giving the wee one's tea over their house, so a little saving over here - every little helps!!lmao x

Bobarella

Hi SS
Dont get me started on kids and food. I call my son The Locust, as it sounds slightly like his name, and its funny. But no word of a lie. That boy can strip our house down in a day. And he eats 3 meals as well. He is only 6!
I think thats a great idea about giving them each a snacks budget.
I used to find Lidl great for crisps. You can get about 24 packs for £2 something, as opposed to 6 packs of Walkers for £1.

WantToBeSE

I feel your pain! My 15 year old is awful for eating all of the packed lunch stuff, and my 11 year old isn't much better either.

Just been and spent £10 to replenish the packed lunch cupboard. B'ah, it annoys me so much!

RosaBernicia

Happy new diary :beer: and good luck on your journey.

I highly recommend filling the freezer with whatever suits you for fallback meals - there's always days when STUFF just happens, and if you've got something easy that's done in less time than waiting for the delivery it removes the takeaway temptation. And it only has to be cheaper than the takeaway - I used to buy favourite frozen pizzas when they were on offer.


Rosa xx

Willowpop

Hello S&S, and congrats on your new diary...something I've never quite got round to starting!

Sounds like you're quite determined which is good.
I can second the comment above about Lidl crisps....they are lovely and we actually prefer them to Walkers. They also do a multipack of Quavers called cheese curls I think that are also really nice. Oh, and a monster munch equivalent...they are not exactly the same flavour as monster munch, but they're really good too, so definitely worth a try.
If you think your kids will notice a change in brands, and I know some kids can be quite fussy, then buy some 'in secret' and have a movie night, or a games night and tip crisps into bowls like at a party. Don't mention they are 'different' and watch them all get eaten with no complaints.

Skintandscared

Thanks guys

Food is a major sticking point here - the catch 22 of trying to do a "budget" shop (never really buy enough realistically!), then running out and topping up, or not having enough meals prepared for easy cooking and serving, so ordering a takeaway!
Plus, I have a 9 year old who is really fussy and will literally refuse to eat certain things, so meal planning is a nightmare

However, tonight myself and OH were bloomin' legends!lol I used our two "Try me for free" Birds Eye senses thingys (as one pack was just enough for one), with the garlic flatbread (just my OH and half left for lunch tomorrow), bacon (just my OH), tad of cheese and I had one Quorn escalope (pack of two, reduced to clear for 52p in Tesco). Haven't eaten a meal properly since Sunday night, and for once I actually feel half decent, and haven't been snacking on (costly) crap all night - for dessert I had a few scoops of value fat free natural yoghurt (45p for tub), a chopped up banana and a little drizzle of honey and am full as an egg.

Had a really nice chat with my OH regarding finances, and he's onboard 100% with it, and even admitted that when we had got more sorted with money in the past we splurged on a ridiculous TV, Sky (cancelling at end of contract in September, and trying to re-negotiate a cheaper deal on the weekend), laptops, tablets etc etc etc, so on the weekend we are going to sit down and do a reality check of our finances.

Feeling so positive about everything, and this board and MSE in general has literally helped me feel like this weight is slowly evaporating from my shoulders. Thank you to each and everyone who has read, commented or thanked me on a post, you have truly made me feel supported and that people actually care and want to help. You guys are the best! :T:T:T

Skintandscared

Ps Thanks for the advice regarding Lidl and Aldi, I like their products, but my kiddies and OH aren't keen on a lot of their products :-(
So we value shop at Tesco and use coupons/cashback apps.

Skintandscared

Bah! My NSD has been broken already! BUT just bought 4 Xmas gifts for nieces and nephews, coming in £3 under budget, at £2 each for a book box set and soft toy - that's them done!
Included a reserve birthday gift for one of my youngest's class mates, and it came to £10 with free super saver delivery....
Kinda feel bad tbh, but then for the price of what I'd budgeted for just two nieces and nephews, I bought 4 of them.....

I am on the fence as to whether this mindset is a good thing.......?? Hmmmmm...

LastFewSteps

You're doing well keep at it
I know how you feel about the shopping and lunchbox filler thieves, I have three of them myself
I used to shop in tesco and Morrisons popping in every day sometimes but I got fed up with all the constant spending and made myself do a meal plan and shopping list, only allowed myself two shopping days one for weekly shop one for a top up, I won't lie it was a shock to my system and took the kids a while to realise I wasn't refilling the biscuit tin constantly but they're ok with it now, it's easy for me because I'm able to cook their tea as soon as they get home from school which has cut the snacking, I've also stuck it out at aldi and tesco, it did take a while to get used to their brands, but I've slashed my shopping bill so much I won't be going back
Don't be too hard on yourself if you have to spend, life still has to go on

WantToBeSE

At the moment, i wouldnt concentrate too much on WHERE you shop, but just how OFTEN you shop.

I dont do much shopping in Aldi, as they dont stock much of what we eat, and not much Organic stuff either, so we shop in Sainsburys. I do 1 big shop (about £65) a month of tinned and dried foods, then go to the fruit and veg shop once a week and spend about £20. I also get some top up shops at Tesco during the month.

Ideall, i would like to do 1 MASSIVE shop at Sainsburys on payday, then only do the fruit and veg shops in between, and cut out the top up shops at Tesco.

I was doing really well for a while, but have slipped back into bad habits.

Re the presents that you bought. Don't agonize too much over whether it was a 'good' thing or a 'bad' thing- it is done now.

Maybe work out a way of budgeting that works for you, like not browsing the shops if you dont need specific things, not going food shopping as often etc. You'll soon work out some tips and tricks that works well for you