Quids in for a Limited Time

Jelllibeanz

Hello

I've enjoyed catching up on your diary and can completely relate to the trials and tribulations of feeding a family that have issues with food. Two out of my four were just plain fussy! One wouldn't eat anything wet and the other anything with veg or even a trace of onion. As they've got older it has got easier. I've also got to the point where I am not so hard on myself anymore, but have made meals a little more flexible e.g. when I do meatballs with pasta and cheese I keep three meatballs aside for the one who won't eat tomato based sauces and open up a can of tuna for the other (I make them their packed lunch the night before so the tuna gets utilised that way). Some would say that I shouldn't pander to their demands. However, meal times with the older two became a battleground and has, in my opinion, lead to some of the fussiness. Whereas the younger two have been pretty chilled out with food will eat a wide range of things pretty much.

I second what Silence was saying earlier. Having spoken to my DS1's GF this weekend she was saying she did an online shop to prevent my darling DS putting loads of extra bits in the trolley and manage their first few weeks of independence. She found it cheaper than the previous week. I was telling her how overwhelming I now find going into a large supermarket. It's like over stimulation with all these different versions of products and prices trying to find the best value deals and it takes three times longer than going into my local Aldi as I am forced to walk so much further. By the time I come out of Mr T my head is spinning usually. So I try to avoid it all costs and only go in to look for something specific or ys bargains.

daisy_1571

enjoyyourshoes wrote: »

Why not do a daily reconciliation of your main bank account ?

Excel or pen and paper.

List all monthly bills and annotate a month before they are due for renewal. (allows time to renegotiate and investigate better deals)

Identify all annual (car insurance etc), 1/2 yearly (Oil fuel etc) and 1/4ly bills. Produce a cash flow to identify what monthly accrual you need to account for to pay these off when due, then add this into your bank reconciliation.

Daily calculate new reconciled balance as a result of what you have spent (don't forget, switch, CC, Pay @ pump, all cheques, contactless etc) This will sow what has been spent and ensure you do not go into OD. Allows you to plan better (savings, holidays etc).

Once the statements arrive check off everything and continue for the subsequent months.

Have a monthly 'pow wow' to beat long term and medium strategies and put these into financial terms and then act upon the results (start high interest bank account, do a regular savings account, get kids into work to start saving for Uni, start own SIPP etc etc )

Silence101 wrote: »

One thing that helped us when we had to keep food costs down was to meal plan for a whole month. I wrote down 30 meals that I knew we enjoyed /were easy to cook. The kids could help with the list.
Then I divided the meals into 4 weeks, and wrote all the ingredients down needed for each recipe. But it was in a table format so a column per meal, and each row was a specific ingredient (for example 3 meals needed potatoes, 2 needed onions etc) and then I collated each week in a list. It made it much easier to cross reference what we already had and how much we needed to buy.
So I had 4 master shopping lists, and we kept following them for about 6 months, just alternating which weekly meals we were eating. It takes a while to set up, but it act saves a lot of time in the long run, as it could last 6 month or so, and it saved us lots of money.
The hardest bit was coming up with the meals but your children are older so they could be responsible for a week each or something.

Maiden_Mum wrote: »

Enjoyyourshoes - I have to confess I had to read your comments twice & it still blew my mind a bit!
I find it so difficult to do anything like what you have suggested partly because there seems to be so many outgoing and partly because some of the incomings are weekly and some of the monthly ones come in on different days every month.

Re food - rather than try to think what you WILL have, why not just write down what you DO have? In a week you will have a weeks menus. In a month you will have a months worth. Then you can get a bit more organised. I know growing up in my house it tended to be the same and although some were more tasty to individual tastes than others I'm sure we each had different favourites. We ate what was given cos there was no alternative offered. That's because there was no money to offer alternatives not because mum and dad didn't love us! Lol. Stew, fish fingers, mince, roast chicken, boiled ham and chips, that's my memories but I'm sure we must have had more than that ? Even with chicken Sunday and Monday that leaves a night with no food?? Lol, will have to ask mum see if she remembers.:rotfl::rotfl:

Re the money. I'm not sure I understand how you find it difficult when things come in and out the bank account on different days? Everyone has this as far as I know?? Oh hold on, I wonder if you are trying to run everything through just one bank account? If so can I offer another solution ? The account you get wages and other payments into should (imho) be allowed to run and build up monies ready for the annual, quarterly and monthly 'bills'. It should also (again imho) fund an account where you buy your 'variable' stuff from ie food, petrol etc. (In our case we fund that account weekly but you may prefer to do it at a different rate. I just find it too hard to work on a monthly basis, a week is long enough to budget.)

That way you can start to build up the 12ths of annual bills and towards Xmas etc without thinking you can spend the ongoing balance or try to remember what is still due to come out cos you know it's not 'available' money but is earmarked for a task.

If that's not what the problem is please reel free to share, the collective wisdom on here can often offer a solution as so many people are likely to have had the same and generally you will get a couple of suggestions and hopefully one will strike a chord

Daisy xx

Maiden_Mum

Thanks for all your replies.

I have asked DS & DD tonight to write down 5 meals that they would like me to make as family meals but so far nothing received from either of them. I do actually have my doubts that they have 5 meals that they actually like without me then trying to make family meals based on them! Silence101 would you mind giving me some examples of your family meals? I think I really need some inspiration! In some ways I don't pander to them (other than the need for gluten-free obviously for my DS) & do often serve us all the same thing but they then often leave a lot of it and will end up snacking on rubbish late in the evening. They say "but you know I don't like such and such". Tonight they both had waffles, scrambled eggs and beans & OH just had some nice home made bacon & lentil soup (which I got off someone on the November grocery challenge on the Old style Board) and bread because I was so fed up with cooking, cooking , cooking!

daisy 1571 - yes I do try to do it all out one account! I do have two other current accounts with my bank plus a savings account but I'm not sure if I have debit cards for the 2 other current accounts & if I do, I certainly don't know the pins for them. I'm now wondering though whether I could do it the other way round somehow, i.e. put the money into the other accounts but transfer it back into my main account for food spends and bills as they come along?

Jellibeanz - do you also have some meal ideas you could pass on?
I shop in a variety of shops but like you I generally prefer the likes of Aldi but there are some things that I prefer and have to get from the big four, e.g . ham & DS's cereal from Asda (my local one which isn't huge) , dog food, gluten-free bread, biscuits and pizzas from Tesco's or Sainsburys and toilet rolls (Nicky brand) from Home Bargains and chicken breasts, mince and kitchen rolls bought in bulk from Makro.

daisy_1571

Programme I watched tonight (taped from earlier in the week) had a nice looking recipe for meatballs made with mince, grated carrot white onion and courgette baked in a white sauce with mashed potatoes made with potato and cauliflower. The whole family ate that and enjoyed it and she had a husband who never ate any veg at all and 4 children who all had a variety of likes and dislikes. Even when she made lasagne she had to leave a bit with no grated cheese cos 1 son didn't eat melted cheese (although he said he liked melted cheese on pizza) and she had to make a separate one for her husband as he "couldn't eat anything with tomato sauce". So she made his with a can of baked beans. And there was me thinking they had a tomato sauce lol. Jeez, go figure. Anyway have a look at the website, they said recipes would be on both itv.com or stv.com I think. It was one of those eat better save money type progs and may give you some inspiration.

Daisy xx

Silence101

These are the meals we had initially.
Week 1
Lasagna, risotto, lamb stew, sausage and mash, fish cakes, Spanish omelette, roast chicken.
Week 2
Bolognaise, curry, chicken catalan, pork and apricot, salmon stir fry, lentil stew, roast beef.
Week 3
Meatloaf, stuffed peppers, tomato soup and cheese toastie, beef and ale pie, salad niçoise, homemade pizza, duck roast
Week 4
Shepherds pie, hot dog and noodles, beef stew, chicken and chorizo, fish and chips, savoury stuffed pancakes, fry up

Some would have to be adjusted for gluten free stuff, and I’ve got the list of ingredients if you want them for any of the dishes.

Maiden_Mum

Thank you Daisy. I'll have an ask around to see if anyone knows the name of the programme to have a look.
Well my daughter has come up 7 meals that she likes. These are:
Fish pie
Noodles in a sweet chilli sauce
Steak
Lasagne
Enchiladas -we've only had these once at home due to g/free issies
Jacket potato
Sunday dinner - I presume she means roast chicken as she doesn't like pork or lamb.

In some proper money saving Mortgage-free wannabe news I made a payment of £200 to the mortgage this morning! This was because there is not too much time left until the end of the month and there was some money left in the bank account. I would like to pay this amount every month.

Silence101

Well done on the OP! And a great start from your daughter with meal suggestions!

VDOT47

Hi Maiden Mum - I have to eat gluten free, so can relate to the fact that if you buy the specifically GF branded products it does mount the cost up. We do buy GF cereal, bread, pasta and biscuits but try to make everything else from naturally non-gluten containing ingredients.


We also meal plan each week and do our shopping online (click and collect) so that it is more difficult to be tempted by impulse buys.


We always bulk cook too, so that our freezer has at least 4 or 5 meals in it at any given time.


Meals that we make that are either naturally GF, or can be easily adapted, are:
Bolognaise
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Mexican Chicken (can then be used with rice, in fajitas/enchiladas using GF wraps etc)
Chicken Curry
Chicken & Leek Stroganoff
Paprika Chicken ....................... we eat a lot of chicken, can you tell!
Burgers (check they are GF, but you don't have to buy them from the GF frozen aisle, most supermarkets have one brand which is naturally GF, same with sausages)
Sausage & mash
Mediterranean veg & chicken on a GF puff pastry (shop bought) base
Mushroom risotto
Chicken & chorizo paella
Roast Chicken/beef
Meatballs & pasta/rice
Chicken pesto pasta


As you can see, we eat quite a lot of rice and pasta dishes, which we find relatively cheap to make.


Hope that gives you some ideas, and good luck with the moneysaving/overpaying!

Jelllibeanz

Like you I sometimes like to buy in bulk from a a warehouse type store. I have a tendency to pick up boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts. I think last week we spent £14 on a pack of 35. I break this down into 5 meals at least by sharing two for me and OH and one for each DS. And usually there is at least meals worth that end up in the freezer for a later date.
I use them as the base to several meals by combining them with different ingredients. The key things I usually add are: stock, creme fraiche, leeks or onions, and season all if I don't have any celery. The meal starts on the hob and gets popped in the over if I want half hour to myself before dishing up.
For example in the past two weeks they have been turned into
- honey and mustard chicken (just add a teaspoon of each)
- chicken and bacon (add some chopped bacon, gammon, I chop up cooking bacon from Mr T at 60p a pack and don't need much the rest goes in the freezer)
- Spanish chicken (no creme fraiche for this one, but use passata and Mediterranean veg)
- chicken curry (just add curry powder, sometimes I put in apples to use them up too (creme fraiche optional))
- chicken in white wine sauce (just add a glug of wine)
Because the kids don't like mushrooms I cook them seperately and add them after dishing up theirs. I also chuck in what ever is to hand to bulk it out a little e.g. carrots, runner beans, peppers. Serve up with pasta, jacket potatoes, rice

Otherwise we also have:
Roast (if it's chicken I get one that is a little larger than we need and cook up the carcas in the slow cooker for stock and it use it to make chicken noodle soup (chines five spice, noodles, left over veg and chicken)
Gammon joint in the slow cooker (again a bigger one and use the remanants for sandwiches, omlettes and salads)
Mince - meatballs with either gravy, pasta sauce (I refuse to buy jars so use passata and herbs and any veg depending on who is eating it), shepherds pie, lasagna (I've tried using leeks instead of pasta sheets in this recently the kids didn't approve, but MrJ and I didn't mind). I have a tendency to cook up a batch of the mince and freeze it with the plan of adding mash later. Any left over meat and veg is used to make an Italian soup.
Beef chunks or brisket if it's on offer - again in the slow cooker before I go to work with stock, herbs, veg and a couple of spuds finely chopped to thicken it. I fish out the beef and avoid the veg for one. The two youngest don't like casseroled veg. However, the other day I blitzed it with the hand blender and turned it all except the meat into a gravy - the kids loved it
Fish - some gets kept and used with new potatoes or in a salad. The rest is often used for a fish pie or fish cakes
Veg - often gets turned into a soup, especially if it's going bendy. That's become our regular Saturday lunch with some part baked bread. Although the kids prefer canned soup.

And I'm a sucker for sweet potatoes as they don't need any butter or oil so the kids can occasionally have chips/wedges and we'll have those instead.

I did see on the OS money thread someone said they bake up to 25 potatoes in one hit and then use them over the next few days for a range of meals.

Congrats on the OP xx

Maiden_Mum

I've just been playing around with the early mortgage repayment calculator. If we can £200 extra every month, we would pay the mortgage off about six and a half years earlier, which would be lovely. It would be even better obviously though if we could pay more than that. £400 extra per month for example would pay it off about nine and a half years earlier. The interest rate is actually very low however so in some ways it doesn't make a huge difference.

DS has actually given me a list of foods that he would like, or at least thinks he would like as I think he has just looked them up on a website! These are:
Pancakes - Aargh! I've never made normal pancakes never mind gluten-free ones!
Barbecued meatball kebabs (?)
Chicken tenders (?)
Scrambled egg omelette (double ? Is that just a normal omelette?!
Roast tikka chicken (?)
Fried chicken - probably unlikely as our fryer has frequently been used for non g/free
Tachos
Butter chicken
Egg fried rice
Salmon
So lots of chicken & some of it I'm not 100 % sure on!

Thank you so much Jellibeanz, VDOT47, Silence101 for your replies, They have all given me ideas for meals to hopefully get me out of this rut that I am in meal wise. Silence101 could you tell me the ingredients for the pancakes, salmon stir fry and catalan chicken?
Jellibeanz - you know for the chicken with white wine sauce, is it just crème- fraiche and a glug of wine or stock as well? You sound so organised and adaptable! I'm a real stickler for recipes as I don't have a lot of confidence to just try it and see!
VDOT47 - which g/free shop pastry do you use? We thought the Genius one was horrible, it didn't seem cooked enough even though it was in the oven for way longer than it said was necessary although when I ate the leftovers for my lunch 2 days later it tasted much nicer for some reason!
Do you know I have never made a risotto? I think I need to try that one!

Quite a bit of xmas shopping done on Saturday but really only a third of the way there so more spending still to be done.