Trying to catch up..

rosie383

Upsidedown_Bear wrote: »

Do you know about Jack Monroe's blog? Amazing cheap recipes
http://cookingonabootstrap.com/

Thank you so much for this link. I have read as much as I had time for and bookmarked it. Written with so much humour as well as money saving. I love it!
:rotfl:

Valli

MandM90 wrote: »

Also, tell people you're skint. Tell your friends, tell your parents, tell your neighbours cousins friends. Not in a "help me I'm poor!" kind of way, but in an "I can't come shopping/for coffee/out and I'm opting out of gifts because they're not essentials and I'm putting my family first" kind of way. There is no shame in taking control of your finances.

I second this - no "keeping up with the Joneses" and when I was cutting down on gift buying I found that others were relieved to be off that treadmill too!

milasavesmoney

RC
I read your blog yesterday and wanted to say that you are supported here.
I'm glad you are beginning to take the necessary steps needed to sort out your finances. :T:T:T

To get started, try to meal plan for the next three days, or if you are inspired, make out a week's menu. I find that when I'm stuck I can google a few ingredients that I have on hand and come up with a recipe. It's helpful to remember that you can substitute or sometimes leave out ingredients that you don't have.
As others have said, there are some great threads to help you make frugal decisions about what to cook.

Keep posting, as it will help you to have the smart wonderful people on MSE help you out as you begin this journey toward financial freedom. It also helps to put things down in writing. Seems more concrete and real that way.

RedCola

Ok, I'm going to try and plan, out of what we have, up to the weekend. See how that goes

Tink_04

Sometimes meal planning is stressful- I write down all the meals we like in a list and pick from that for the week/ 3 or 4 days what every based on firstly what we have in then shop for the rest.

I always try to cook double for I have one for the freezer or lunch the next day and make sure we have one 'cheap' night a week witch is usually egg, chips and beans with bread and butter or something I've picked up yellow stickered.

Make meal time special too by adding cheap puddings - little kids love jelly and you can make some treats cheaply for packed lunches or snacks.

Good luck and don't feel deprived - it's a choice your making for your family.

RedCola

Haven't been on for just over a week. We are still trying to cook with what we have, and I'm finding it difficult. The pressure is on, and I cant seem to find how to rustle up decent, healthy meals.
My husband is working all overtime possible, and I want to help as much as possible with cutting down our food bills

Pandora_2

RedCola wrote: »

Haven't been on for just over a week. We are still trying to cook with what we have, and I'm finding it difficult. The pressure is on, and I cant seem to find how to rustle up decent, healthy meals.
My husband is working all overtime possible, and I want to help as much as possible with cutting down our food bills

If you're struggling to come up with meal ideas, if you post a list of what you've got then I'm sure that between us all we can come up with a good selection where you would only need to buy tiny bits and bobs.

Plus, having a list of what you have in stock helps when you go shopping as it will stop you buying multiples of things you already have at home. I'm terrible for this and always end up buying tins of tomatoes or beans etc as I can never remember how many I've got at home :rotfl:

monnagran

Don't panic RedCola, you are still learning. Look at what you have and think of what will go with what. It maybe that you have a tin of tuna. Now, do you have pasta,tin of tomatoes, potatoes, onion, cheese., chicken or mushroom soup, mayonnaise?Any of these? So you could cook some pasta, mix with tuna and mayonnaise, put in dish and sprinkle with grated, cheese,pop under grill and serve with any veg or salad. You could bake the potato and stuff with tuna mixed with mayonnaise. You could boil the potatoes, slice and layer them in a dish with tuna, cheese, onions and tomatoes and bake. Cook pasta, mix with tuna, onions, tin of soup, put in dish sprinkle with cheese and bake.
It's a case of gathering what you have and bunging likely things together and seeing what you come up with. Many well known recipes have started life out this way. You may come up with an idea which needs one thing you dont have, if it is something small, bite the bullet and buy it. Better to spend a tiny amount on something to enable you to make a meal with what you have that to throw your hands in the air, burst into noisy sobs and send out for a take away.

You have made a start and that is wonderful. Do you think that you have made enough saving this week to make the tiniest speck of a dent in your debt? YAY!!! You are on your way. Go you!

x

BrassicWoman

the supercook site is helpful for finding things you can make with what you already have in. Or make us a list?

RedCola

I have paid off £50 extra, on top of min payments (debt snowballing) so that was nice, though not enough at all.
If I post what we have, do you all mean everything? Down to flour/spices etc?