silly tip thats working for me ..

janb5

JackieO wrote: »

I make a point of menu planning every Sunday morning and using up the fresh stuff before buying anything else in.I shop about every 10 12 days ,or if I can about twice a month for fresh stuff fruit, veg etc. I don't eat bread so crackers store for without going off.I normally use a philly type spread on the crackers so rare need butter, although I keep some in the fridge for baking. My late OH used to call a top-up shop the five pound loaf :):) as you would always get tempted by something else. I am more of a make do with what I have got in stock now than I used to be .I am not a lover of shopping much anyway I went last Saturday and have enough now to last at least another week to the end of the month. Different I guess if you have a house full of mouths to feed though

Jackie- if you have money left in your food purse- does it go in your " happy purse" or do you add the remainder to next month`s buys?

[Deleted User]

Hi jan5 no it gets swept into my holiday fund for our family holiday treats in August

I keep a Happy Cash stash in the back of my purse for those treats during the month that I may buy for my DGS or even myself at times Last month I treated myself to a top that I spotted in a CS at £2.00 it was new as it still had the original price tag on and it was 15.99 I was quite pleased with my little treat I probably have during the month a HCS of around £20.00 but some months it doesn't get used and its only when its getting under a fiver do I top it up from the bank .
I have found even a small treat now and again will make you feel better about sticking to a budget, and my food budget I keep in a seperate purse, and only use it for food stuff.

It works for me and I don't go without, bigger things that I may want I save for, and I still have my Rainy Day cash in another account that rarely if ever gets touched (its for emergencies or unexpected bills) .

I will draw some of it out to give to my DGS Ben as he is off to Canada in July for a month and I will treat him to some extra spending money as he is a student , but he has worked hard and saved for the trip
The DGS all know that a treat is a treat, and never expect anything, or ask for things .
DD has always taught them as she was taught that you have to work for things and never expect anything for nothing.

DGS Henry is in the middle of his GCSE's and when finished I will treat him as I have both of his older brothers when they were doing them.
Stick and carrot approach :):)as I have helped them all during their revision every night I think I could probably do their exams for them :):) I know far more than I really want to about physics , biology and chemistry than I ever knew at that age :)

JackieO

janb5

Hi Jackie-thank you for the inspiration! It`s always good to see other people`s ideas and they get neatly copied! Somehow all these acronyms are swallowed up in MSE culture...like NSD`s etc!

C_J

I am pleased to announce that I did split the white and wholemeal loaves and froze half the slices last weekend. I'm so proud of myself

jackyann

I also love reading others' ideas. I do think the bit about milk is interesting. I too belong in the 'ugh, long life' category so I freeze milk. I buy extra-rich to make my own ice cream, and freeze in the 300ml. portions needed.
I make my own bread, and freeze slices or rolls.
Having said that, I mostly do small shops anyway, and have no problem in just buying what I need, with the occasional offer.

When we retired and did our budgets, we decided that we would, as far as reasonable, buy ethically and locally, and make from scratch. It pleases us to spend that way, rather than other kinds of treats, and of course not everyone can do it, for time, financial or logistical reasons. However, it is not THAT expensive, and it is not VERY time-consuming either, but partly becuse we can do the shop whenever we like:
Monthly wholefood co-operative stock up, in which I now include spices as theirs are fresh & cheap.
Monthly cheese & butter shop at the farmers' market, also cream for the ice cream.
Small amount of very good meat (with provenance) from local butcher. Eggs from the farm up the road.
Lovely local fruit & veg from a small business, who mostly supplies restaurants & pubs, which means his 'private' customers benefit from quick turnover.
Co-op supermarket for tea, milk, creme fraiche and a few oddments
Occasional forays every few months a greater distance to Lidl, Waitrose, Asian shops, when I stock up with their 'specialities'. I do try to keep some Lidl part-baked rolls by me which I find very handy at odd times.

mumofthetwins

So guys I have even managed to save a few more pennies ... My mam is terrible for dates and I found out that she throws her bread away when they get with 2 days of best before !! So I have said I will have all the half loaves of warburtons that she normally throws away and I'm just freezing ready for use later

Lisa.

jackyann

I try very hard not to throw bread away, it keeps very well in the freezer, and even the dry heels can be used to make crumbs for stuffing or topping.
Something else that I do is to save bits & pieces in the freezer, and then do a 'tapas' (aka unidentified frozen objects) night. With the kids, I used to make a vege paella or 'patatas bravas' to pull it all together.

I am of the generation that grew up without freezers, and am so glad that we now have them!

MMF007

Jackyann, I freeze small leftovers in ramekin dishes and we sometimes have a selection of random things which we call meze (apologies to genuine Greek food!). I often say that my MIL would go mad if she knew what I fed DH!

jackyann

Do you think 'odd bits & pieces' sounds as romantic to speakers of other languages as 'tapas' or 'meze' ????
I just read a piece (can't remember where) about 'Wednesday night pudding' (we can guess what went into that!). My mother made 'concoction' which was all the bits and pieces, fried onions, tin of tomatoes (only time she used tinned tomatoes) and topped with left-over stuffing, or of course, breadcrumbs and herbs.