CAN COOK, MUST COOK! My challenge: Stop Eating Out! Anyone else?!

hypno06

Perhaps part of this is where the spending diaries come in.

If we were all really good at keeping our spending diaries (I am a bad girl when it comes to this) then we would see where we are slipping into the "forgot to take a sarnie to work" or "too tired to cook so got a takeaway" habits.

If we noticed how much we were spending as a result, it would be a good motivator to get batch cooking, making sarnies or soup for lunches, and heading over to the OS board for good ideas!

So, I'll get mine out if you get yours out........spending diary, that is!

reesla

Hi,

I will join in! I think this is where my OH & I fail! The handy (&yummy) chinese takeaway and dominos delivery at least once a week and then going out for sunday lunch!! :eek:

We did have a dominos on Thursday as a treat as for two whole weeks we have taken sandwiches to work and not had a takeaway either as I have been really strict, but I can feel this starting to wane....

I am using www.spendingdiary.com to log all my spending (however small) and it generates pie charts for me! So far this month I have spent £73.23 on food which is for me & my OH only - I know that I can get this done by the using the O/S board

Count me in!!!I have lurked for so long and now I think that it is time to join in with some challenges as our £30k debt (not incl. student loans:eek: ) seems to be growing :mad: :mad: plus I am trying to lose weight as well....

Dumb_Blonde_3

Hypno06 - I've got my diary out ..... now I don't want to write in it - will stay in for as long as possible today

Anastacia

This is our last big problem area, even though its much better than it used to be.
We used always to have a Friday night Chinese takeaway and are now on to the pay day one only.

OH was a huge KFC fan (they know him by sight in the shop-so sad) and i think went in there for a massive lunch more than once a week.had his first for a month this week and didnt really enjoy it. He has lost 6kg since he stopped going there so regularly.

However we still do fall by the way from time to time and also I am not good at making lunches for work. I make everyone elses just not mine.

So we really need to join this challenge and also join in with the spending diary.

Good luck everyone.:A

pandapaws

reesla wrote: »

I am using www.spendingdiary.com to log all my spending (however small) and it generates pie charts for me!

Mmmmmm...pie....!!!

I have also started using spendingdiary.com, and filled in every penny since 1st Oct, and considering that I don't think we've spent much at all this month, we're £571 down out of a total monthly budget of £800 (half of the budget is for fuel, rest for food and all other householod spending). If you click on the 'custom report' link, you can get graphs and things as well (no pies to tempt you!) It was the size of my Eating Out slice of pie that scared me - it was as big as the one for fuel!

Very good this morning - OH went to Tesco last night and bought loaf & eggs, so instead of the usual Sat lunchtime McD's or worse, we had eggy bread! So therefore a no-spend day so far - hooray!

Good luck everyone else - think of the waistlines if not just the bank balances!

spud30

Anastacia wrote: »

OH was a huge KFC fan (they know him by sight in the shop-so sad)

You think that's bad - we get a Christmas card every year from our local indian takeaway. It got so bad that they knew my voice on the phone, and I didnt even have to give them our address

Things have improved for us though. We had 2 curries that weren't up to scratch and decided we could make better ourselves. We now make lovely curries and havent ordered an indian takeaway for months.

Chinese takeaways are our problem. We have one a week, and haven't managed to perfect the recipe to reproduce at home. :rolleyes:

elantan

spud what you trying to make from the chinese?

spud30

elantan wrote: »

spud what you trying to make from the chinese?

I cant do any of it El.

Just to be able to do a chicken fried rice like they do would be lovely :rolleyes:

elantan

that's quite easy...first get rice wash it in water till all the starch is removed cover it in cold water touching the tip of your middle finger to the rice and the water coming up to the first wee line on that finger ...boil till the water nearly evaporates then turn down put lid on and cook on a very very low heat for ten mins then remove from heat leaving lid on for a further 5 mins ...your boiled rice should be ready then ...now to make the fried rice you whisk an egg and put a wok (or whatever your using) on to heat let it heat right up till its almost smoking add a wee drop of oil then the egg stir around add the rice and mix add light soy sauce (for taste) and dark soy sauce (for colour) add salt and pepper and if you like them chillies and anything else you fancy like ham, spring onion etc ....

(you can do this before hand it might be easier) now for the chicken cut a breast in half (but not right to the end) add it into a pot of water up to half way up the chicken add mixed herbs put a lid on cook for 5 mins turn and cook for a further 5 mins check to see if it is cooked all the way through .... chop the chicken and add to the rice tastes lovely ..do you have a gravy with yours? i can look a recipe out for that



hope that helps let me know how it goes



ooops forgot to add dont stir the rice

earwig

oh this is me i iam the takeaway queen we have two takeaways a week both costing 18 pounds each then we also have half a takeaway chips and salad kebab and i will cook some steak to go with this i have got better though i used to cook one night and have takeaway the next

i used to buy my oh sandwichs for work from the bakers at 2.35 a go and my daughters pack up from the bakers at 3.00 a go i now make the pack up and sandwich myself and am weening myself of the takeaways by reduceing them from 4 times a week to two time a week

iam going to cut another one out at the end of the month the most strange thing was though i was spending 120 per week on the weekly shop now i only spend 60 and have more dinners for my money

it was so bad that i didnt even have to tell the takeaway what i wanted he used pick up the phone when i rung i would say hello and he would say it be with you in ten minutes :eek: and that was our conversation

the thing i found what helps is cooking the foods you really like my favs are roasts so we will have at least 3 roast a week im more inclind to cook a roast than pie and chips also meal planing helps and telling oh what we would be having for dinner the next day cause then i couldnt duck out of it for a takeaway as he would play merryhell:rotfl: i shall be picking up tips from this thread and hopefully soon our famley will be takeaway free mybe we should start up the twfc( takeaway wannabe free club):rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: