early 40s and not fabulous at all

Plush

@Essex: you're so organised, so many good tips! When would I have time to do all that planning and lists?

Also, re: school lunches. We live our home at 7:30am and we return at 6:45pm. DD does homework while I cook something quick, then bedtime, bath for DD and after that it's my time to relax a bit (normally read, or watch films on Netflix, or browse the Internet). I do prepare our bags for the morning but I don't have the energy to cook more to ensure DD has a nutritious lunch. I don't want her to have sandwiches and cold food everyday, or yesterday's leftovers (which cannot be heated at school); I think it's better if she gets a cooked meal at lunch. It's £2.20 per day.

I do work from home 2 days now, but I use the lunch break to do laundry or go for a short run...

Oh, and I waste food because I tend to buy too much! I think the meal planning should save some of that...

117pauline

On your two days working from home could you make a start on making an inventory of your fridge, freezer and cupboards? I imagine you won't spend so much time commuting.

If you haven't menu planned for a while, start of small.
For example, aim to use your fridge foods before they need binning. Then write a list of meals you can cook quickly and easily using as much stock from home as possible.

I am a fan of batch cooking but again start small. Make a Bolognese sauce or stew enough for two days then freeze one. Not much difference in time preparing and clearing up for two portions and four.

Next time you have another meal, do the same again. Gradually you will start to have a bank of home prepared frozen meals.

Consult with your little one about meals to add to your meal plan so they feel involved.

Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Most people have just a few meals they rotate. I have a list of meals we enjoy and just choose from that. Every two or three weeks, I experiment with a new dish. Some make the master list!

EH has made some great suggestions but they might feel a bit out of reach to begin with.

Also I often prepare a whole load of onions, mushrooms etc so I can use them later in the week. I put them in the fridge or freezer, depending on the menu plan.

Not long till the weekend now, take care
Pauline

Tea&Kittens

EssexHebridean wrote: »

OK - step-by-step for saving money on groceries.
1) Grab as many receipts from shopping as you can find - and analyse them to work out what are your "expensive" items as a starting point. That's as good a place as any to look at making savings to start with.
2) Put a mark against everything you bought a brand label for - and then look to "drop a level" on them next time you shop. NEVER flag this up to other members of the household - just serve it as normal, no bells or whistles. Mostly likely it'll vanish with no comment.
3) Choose a couple of regularly bought items to drop to "value" products on and see how they are each week. Some will be great, some will be OK, some will be so disgusting you'll laugh over that experiment for years to come.
4) Go through your cupboards, fridge, freezer. Make 2 lists - the first is for anything you have that could probably do with being used as a priority - eggs nearing the end of their date, veg going a bit bendy, that sort of thing. The second list is for everything else - you can ignore basic condiments but anything that classifies as a "building block" to make a meal from.
5) Taking list 1 - write a week's meal plan - remember to think about breakfasts (that might use those eggs) lunches (Cheese & coleslaw sarnie with the bendy veg?) and dinners. Your aim is to use EVERYTHING on list 1.
6) Looking at the meal plan in conjuctions with both lists, work out what you need to buy to make those meals. You've got the eggs, but do you need a load for toast and lunchtime sandwiches? Cheese to go with the coleslaw? You get the idea. ONLY the stuff you're short of goes on the list at this point though.
7) use your receipts, and list 1 to note any routine purchases like milk, fruit etc that are needed, and add those to the shopping list. Factor in everything you need for the week - so you won't be tempted to go back again. (An exception to this might be milk, which is heavy, but I have a plan for dealing with this...)
8) Go shopping, and purchase ONLY the items on that list.
9) Take it all home and eat for a week knowing that you have all you need, and that nothing will be wasted.

Stealing this step by step thing ... getting there a bit at a time!

Plush, I know what you mean about the dinners. When Kitty was smaller she had the hot meals in the winter, but took in packed lunches in warmer weather.
Since I've been on here, I've started making a big batch of something at a weekend, when there's a bit more time, then I know I've got at least one dinner sorted for a busy day during the week. Would that kind of thing be helpful to you?

Plush

The meal planning and batch cooking are indeed great ideas. I've never really batch cooked so that's another thing to explore, I need to think about foods that can be frozen. I tend to cook very simple, quick things that don't take a lot of time but you can't exactly freeze (e.g. steamed veggies with fish, spaghetti carbonara, stir fry, some noodle dishes, warm salads, and so on).

Scott_Weiland_2

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Another member of the "£150 a month for food, cleaning & basic toiletries club" here - we buy very little supermarket meat preferring to shop from farmers markets or direct from the supplier, but a LOT of seasonal fruit & veg from the cheap shops! :rotfl: Love the "super 6" and "Pick of the Week" type offers and frequently build my meal plan around whatever is the cheapest on the veg front.

Almost the only branded stuff we now buy routinely is Fairy (only on offer but by FAR the best in our water) WU liquid, Nescafe coffee (the ordinary stuff, not the gold stuff) as MrEH pulls faces if I give him anything else, and washing powder or liquid as I love the smell of Bold or Surf and never find the own brand stuff as nice. If we were skint that last would go in favour of a discount brand though. Oh Branston beans through choice - but again, on offer only. On other things I'm happy to buy branded if it hits my target for price, but if it doesn't then own brand it will be.

Plush - less alcohol might explain your weight loss all told if you've been out less than usual - there's a surprising amount of calories in that stuff!

Oh - and stick that card in the back of a drawer and leave it there - go on, I dare you to get to the end of the week, to start with, without touching it. ()And then I'll dare you to go to the end of the month!)

Re Coffee i would do the same non brand coffee is vile. I find home bargains and b and m are canny for prices re coffee. My local poundland had loads of that Nescafe Azerra americano in last time i was in for 2quid. Poundland but its 2 quid hmmmmmmmm

Plush

@Scott: coffee is my only addiction so I won't go down brands too much, I have to enjoy my coffee otherwise I'd get depressed! I used to drink Illy and all kinds of more expensive brands, but I've now switched to Lavazza and I buy packs of 2x 250g for less than £6.

On a different note, I got a free trial YNAB subscription for 2 months and I managed to import transactions from the Spending Tracker app and so I'm planning on using YNAB for budgeting. Hope by Christmas to be able to have a good picture of my spending and to be able to create a realistic budget. I can decide later on if I want to continue using YNAB but for 2 months I'm all set.

happymo

I do batch cooking and freeze extra but you are right that the kind of quick food you are cooking doesn't freeze. Now winter is on its way I am cooking food like shepherds pie, stretching it by adding frozen mixed veges. I make a very large one and freeze plenty. As you are out all day a slow cooker would be a good idea. If making a casserole I would chop up the veges the night before, or buy prepared packs if reduced, stick in slow cooker with chicken or cheap cut of beef and let it cook all day. Only needs a jacket potato when you get in from work. Again you can cook a big batch and freeze.

Scott_Weiland_2

Plush wrote: »

@Scott: coffee is my only addiction so I won't go down brands too much, I have to enjoy my coffee otherwise I'd get depressed! I used to drink Illy and all kinds of more expensive brands, but I've now switched to Lavazza and I buy packs of 2x 250g for less than £6.

On a different note, I got a free trial YNAB subscription for 2 months and I managed to import transactions from the Spending Tracker app and so I'm planning on using YNAB for budgeting. Hope by Christmas to be able to have a good picture of my spending and to be able to create a realistic budget. I can decide later on if I want to continue using YNAB but for 2 months I'm all set.

Me too i do not do coffee which is cheap, it would be like drinking lambrini over a nice bottle of wine coffee lovers can tell the difference. Have a look at b and m and home bargains they do good deals on coffee.

Plush

@happymo: very funny coincidence - my family who are visiting have just brought us a slow cooker (they are into fancy kitchenware, their kitchen is amazing)

@scott: I've decided to avoid food shops for a while. Any shops really. Whenever I go out shopping for food I end up buying all kinds of extras. So I buy food online, then only go to buy stuff that I need (milk, bread, whatever I have on a list) without having a look around. In and out in 2 mins. This saves me from buying gourmet overpriced stuff - I once bought a small piece of cheese for £9.

I'm my worst enemy.

Scott_Weiland_2

9 quid on cheese thats mental that is nearly half my weekly shopping budget i aim to spend around 20-25 usually, i live alone btw.

I am not fan of online food shopping or huge supermarkets, i buy a fruit and veg pack from the local green grocers which is 15 quid. The i buy two lean meat packs from the local butchers which are normally 25 each but i get two for 45.

The meat packs contain 2-3 kg each of chicken breast, steak, steak burgers, sausages, mince, lean sausages then a handful of chops etc the only problem is i need a bigger freezer lol.