Eat Well for Less...Live on MSE

VfM4meplse

Did anyone see Greg Wallace’s super-gurning in the supermarket? :eek:

catkins

I just don't know how they manage to find so many people who have no idea how many times a week they go shopping or how much they spend.

I do find it hard to believe that some of them are genuine. This week's mum buys half a loaf and doesn't have the sense to think of getting a full one and freezing some. Or buy a tin of beans instead of the more expensive small pots. It sounded like the two boys ate beans a lot so just use some from the tin, put the rest in the fridge and then use them the next time they have beans.

I can understand her wanting quick meals but, again, why not use frozen or chilled mash if she hasn't got time to make mash? Why would you use instant mash which is pretty disgusting?

You can buy a sack of potatoes for about £7 and make a big batch of mash and freeze it. Much much much cheaper.

VfM4meplse

catkins wrote: »

I just don't know how they manage to find so many people who have no idea how many times a week they go shopping or how much they spend.

She might not be the smartest shopper around, but I thought she was doing a great job with her two boys. They seem lovely

catkins

VfM4meplse wrote: »

She might not be the smartest shopper around, but I thought she was doing a great job with her two boys. They seem lovely

They did seem lovely but she was serving them pretty rubbish food every day. She didn't come across as unintelligent

Wednesday2000

I've found the last two episodes quite boring.:o

janb5

catkins wrote: »

They did seem lovely but she was serving them pretty rubbish food every day. She didn't come across as unintelligent

I think she said that the boys refused quite a few foods and she gave up the fight.

They have the same condition as my grandson SMA type 2. To have two children with this condition is very hard. My daughter in law says she has met the family at a SMA function.

Wizzbang

ani*fan wrote: »

Hi everyone.

I've been inspired by the chat about this tv programme to finally figure out why I can't get my food budget down. I thought we could do a mini version on here, to try and figure out what I'm doing wrong and so me and OH don't end up like one of those families on the programme (:o). I'll post what I know, and I would appreciate any comments or tips you can offer.

There is me, OH and an aged cat to feed. We spend £250 per month, give or take a quid or two (I know, it's too much) on food, toiletries, cat litter and cleaning products. I've tried various things to bring the bill down but it's always the same.

So this is the situation.

We always shop at As** because it's closest, with the occasional trip to Morr***ns because that's second closest and en route home from work. Are these places expensive?

We take out £250 when we get paid, put it in a jar and spend as we need to, or when we can be bothered to go to a supermarket. We both hate supermarkets. Every month I vow there will be £50 still in the jar by the end of the month. There never is. Do we spend that amount purely because that's the amount of cash we take out??

Litter is bought in bulk from a pet shop and costs about £10 every 2 months. My cat eats 2 pouches of food a day, As** own brand at £2.47 for 10 pouches. He's not too fussy as long as it stinks of fish.

My OH is a cleaning freak and likes own brand cleaning products. I don't know how much of this we buy.

I can't tolerate cow's milk so we buy soya, the expensive one, which seems to be the only one that doesn't curdle in coffee. I also like nice coffee, not always ground (but sometimes), just a brand coffee that I really appreciate. I drink LOTS of coffee.

Toiletries are the cheapest own brand.

So, the food:

We're vegetarian. I buy quorn fillets and pieces and mince when it's on special offer (and often when it's not)

We cook every night.

Most veg we buy is frozen. Is this a good idea? It helps with no waste which is why I do it but maybe it's more expensive?

A typical day

Breakfast - weetabix or a couple of boiled eggs and a veggie sausage for breakfast (OH skips breakfast)

Lunch - Sandwich with peanut butter, jam or cheese for lunch, or leftovers from dinner the night before, and lots of fruit. (Ooh, is that expensive? I like grapes and can eat a whole punnet in one sitting) OH takes cereal and alpro soya yogurt to work for lunch every day, roughly one box and one big tub a week.

Dinner - quorn fillets, roast potatoes, broccoli, carrots, gravy (brand one, granules)
Fajitas, wraps, quorn pieces, yogurt, frozen peppers, onions, cheese (We skip the trimmings like guacamole, salsa, too expensive.)
Chilli or spag bol with quorn mince, kidney beans, tins of toms, pasta or rice
Stir fry with noodles, quorn pieces, packet sauce (satay or black bean, own brand) and veg

Sometimes we get a frozen pizza and some garlic bread, not every week.

We like biscuits and buy a packet every week or two. These are sometimes branded.

We like Doritos and sometimes get a large packet every week or two. Sometimes a dip too.

We have loads of spices and condiments, and replace them as we go.

Eating out comes from a separate budget. We don't have people over to eat very often, our flat is small, but when we do we always cook from scratch.

On the surface it looks ok to me. There is nothing obvious like ready meals I can cut out. I just don't get it. I must be missing something but I just can't see it. It's also hard to keep exact track of because either me or OH grab a twenty from the food jar and say we'll pick up some food while we're out, which is how we do it and how we want to keep doing it (until kids come along) so we don't have to spend too much time in supermarkets. The change always goes back in the jar, I'm just not always sure what we spend it all on. The thought of a big weekly or monthly shop really fills me with dread and our local supermarkets are not good at bringing what you ordered when you shop online, I usually still have to go in anyway, so we stopped doing that. Meal planning happens together on a Sunday night. Should I start keeping all our receipts?

This is all driving me a little nuts so if you have any thoughts, if you think i'm playing down something that really costs too much, if there's an area I'm missing, please do say.

My hopes for this thread are that I get some good ideas, rethink some of the spending and then you helpful people can walk me through next month as we go. Payday is Wednesday which is when the cash will be taken out, ready to go.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to this! :A

I'd say your biggest problem is not writing a list and sticking to it. You have no idea what you're spending your money on.

Quorn is more expensive than buying pulses in bulk. You could get your protein from them instead. Or at least bulk out meals i.e. add lentils to bolognaise or shepherd's pie, add chickpeas to taco filling, kidney beans to chilli etc. And lots of veg to bulk it out. You'll be able to get at least twice as many portions from the same bag of Quorn this way.

Also stop buying packet story fry sauces, they are killer expensive. Instead use 2tbsp runny honey and 2 tbsp soy sauce. You'll save a small fortune and it tastes WAY better.

You also need to stop grabbing money whenever you feel like buying something. That's a sure way to whittle away your money for the future, even though it may not seem like it to you.

Also, from what I'm reading here - you're heavily reliant on many convenience foods, be they shop bought crisps and biscuits, jars, packets etc etc. You need to start really cooking from scratch, even making your own spice mixes.

motownlady

I have used Asda's own 'Smartprice' unsweetened soya milk for years and it never curdles in freshly brewed tea or coffee.
If you check the details on the side of the pack you can see that this has 12% soya in it where others have only 6% which makes it taste nicer I think.
The other upside of this is that it's only 59pence per litre carton and doesn't have to be stored in the fridge until you open it. Hope this helps. :T

PipneyJane

janb5 wrote: »

I think she said that the boys refused quite a few foods and she gave up the fight.

They have the same condition as my grandson SMA type 2. To have two children with this condition is very hard. My daughter in law says she has met the family at a SMA function.

Given that the boys are physically dependent on her for virtually everything, I think the mum did a great job. The house was tidy. Their lives were organised and full. She'd just retreated to the "easy" for food because she was tired and fed up with fighting with two picky eaters, on top of the other strains of looking after them. (Remember, she directly attributed the break up of her marriage to the physical stress of looking after the twins.)


What they eat is one of the few things that the twins could control (this often happens with children). It was only when Greg, etc, came along and treated them as adults, giving them the option to try new things but the control to say they didn't like them, that the boys agreed to try new foods. I think they were very surprised to discover that they liked them.

eastcott5

I love that program and have Greg in my head 'where's the list' when I go to the supermarket -the nutritionist is good. The problem is that its ONLY food and this is quite difficult to separate from the rest.
I try and bulk buy essentials when they are on offer, toilet rolls etc.
I find I often pick up 'extras' - cheap toy bargains for grandchildren, underwear, socks,:A birthday cards etc.

You do need to analyse what you spend on what - and alcohol is not a food (yet).
Perhaps it should be 'living well for less'

Good luck with it.