keeping account

earwig

hi yes the ham is pre cooked and then sliced i buy it out of habit ithink my ds eats it as well but when you look at it in that amount its a lot of money just to make a sandwich i am going shopping tonight and am going to buy some cheese and some tunna and start eating that for lunchs instead and just buy ds 1 slice every now and then instead of everyday

the bread i get through a loaf everday and it cost 115 per loaf i will have alook tonight to see if its any cheeper in the suppermarket

the takeaways this has allways been my downfall i can cook but never seem to have anyideas what to cook i have meal planned for this week but it seems quite borring dinners so see how i go with that i have also made a list to take with me to the suppermarket

meal plan for this week

thursday pizza
firday beef stew
saterday pork chop and chips and peas
sunday roast lamb
monday home made mincebeef pie
tusday chicken and chips
wednesday spag boll

lunches cheese or tuna sandwich with tea cake

breakfast toast or cornflakes

i have so far spent today 8.65 :eek: and i still have the weekly shop to do

20p paper
2.35p ham
1.15p bread
50p rolls
40p doughnut
1.60p dd school dinner
2.00 dd after school club
45p smarties ds
right so i need to cut back on this as this is a typical days spending for me and i had no idea i was spending the best part of a tenner just while i was out and about

consultant31

If you have a Morrisons near you, have a look at their gammon joints. I have just bought one today (buy them about once a month as a change to beef or pork). They usually cost about a tenner, and I roast it in a terracotta pot in the oven.

They come out of the oven pink and juicy and absolutely yummy every time. It lasts all week for DH's sandwiches for work and I also get a couple of meals out of them too. Far better value than bought cooked meat.

Also Morrisons fresh bread is lovely, specially the Tiger loaf (do we have a drooling smiley?) and at the moment is only 69p a loaf (usually about 90p I think). I always use the nice bread for sandwiches and buy a cheap loaf for toast (only about 30p a loaf).

Look on the Money Saving Old Style board for cheap recipes which will save you money and give you some variety.

There are lots of changes you can make, the savings will be piling up in no time, you'll see

Floss

:drool: is that the one you mean, consultant31?

Earwig, have you thought about a breadmaker? Even after buying the ingredients, i'm sure it would work out cheaper for you. And the smell of fresh baked bread is heavenly! :drool: :drool:

I think your meal plan sounds fine - what's boring about it? Maybe when you have time, write down every meal that the family enjoy (from curry to roast dinner & all things inbetween) and then you can select from that master list to vary your weekly plans. Do you make your own pizzas, pastry & bolognese sauce? And will there be any leftovers from your Sunday roast, maybe you could make curry or sweet & sour with them & serve with rice?

TOBRUK

Floss is right Earwig, your meal plan is fine and you are now aware after just one day of keeping a spending diary of how much and where your money is going - scary isn't it. Try and do some batch cooking and put them in the freezer that way when you don't feel like cooking you have meals in the freezer. If you're stuck for ideas there are plenty on the OS forum and plenty of recipes.

Don't go without your ham just get a joint and boil it, or you can cook it in the oven. You don't have to go for an expensive piece of ham, perhaps ask your butcher for a piece to boil - it will work out a lot cheaper than buying cooked ham.
You are doing well, keep it up because as it's new to you you're probably finding it hard work, but once you get used to it you will surprise yourself - and save money.;)

earwig

hi everyone and thanks for your replys right fridays and saterdays spending

friday
weekly shop not inculding meat 33.00
butchers 23.00 dinners for meal plan total 56.00 from shopping buget
paper 20p
rolls 50p total 70p from spending buget

saterday
paper 55p
stock pot 4.00
trousers dd 6.00
top dd 5.00
money for dd trip out 10.00:eek:
toy for ds as he didnt get a trip out 10.00:eek:
toilet wipes 99p
pizza x 2 4.00
choc for ds 54p total 41.00 from spending buget

ok so i am going to have to slow down my spending or i will run out of money i have 29.00 to last untill firday thats about 6 per day should be ok just need to watch it

it wouldnt of been so bad but i said dd age 8 could have ten pounds to go shopping with two of her freinds and there mums before i decide to get controll of this money and as i gave her ten pound i felt i had to let ds age 3 have ten pounds to spend on a new toy and i had to buy dd some new clothes has she wont stop growing :rolleyes:

i have changed bank accounts so i can transfer money out the main account into the a bills account so when i go to the cash point it dosnt mislead me into think theres more money than there is :rotfl: i have canclled the old direct debits of the old account and will put them on the new bills account in the week oh also getting his wages paid into this new account :T

i have also got a box of stuff to ebay so i will try and get on with that this weekend have to wait untill ds is in bed or he will try and take all the toys out even though he hasnt shown any intresst in them before:rolleyes:

gerturdeanna

earwig wrote: »

toy for ds as he didnt get a trip out 10.00:eek:
toilet wipes 99p

it wouldnt of been so bad but i said dd age 8 could have ten pounds to go shopping with two of her freinds and there mums before i decide to get controll of this money and as i gave her ten pound i felt i had to let ds age 3 have ten pounds to spend on a new toy and i had to buy dd some new clothes has she wont stop growing :rolleyes:

i

Hi I understand about trying to balance out how much each child has, but I spend about 20pound on their b'day, 20 at xmas and thats about it. If they want extra toys etc, we go to the toy library and borrow. Kids get bored of stuff after a few weeks anyway.
Another thing, I see that you are trying to do everything at once, ie, sell ebay stuff, change D/D's, do spending diary etc etc.....my advice is go slow...or you'll burn out and give up!!
Does your 3 year old not get the government grant for a nursery place?
I'm sure this is 5 2.5hour sessions per week during term-time, could you not get a job whilst he's at nursery?

Apologies if I've offended anyone but I do tend to write before I think!!

earwig

hi no need to appolgise here i welcome all imput as im so bad at this kind of stuff the trouble with me is iam a tomorrows child so if i dont do now it never gets done as you know the saying tomorrow never comes :rotfl:

the money for my dd i dont usally give her money like that but she suffers from ocd and has had a bit of a battle with it she has worked really hard at giving up most of her rituals and i felt a reward was needed and she has never shown much interest in going out with freinds (this is the first time) so when she said about it it was great to have her interested in normal things other than sitting around the house talking about her master

i will slow down a bit and thankyou for your input

lynzpower

hiya hunny!

Im so glad to see you are still plugging away.

I think the breadmaker idea is a fabulous one. I know you constantly are buying bread etc, and with this you can set your BM off in the night time befreo bed and a brand new loaf ready for you in the morning. Also it will do pizza dough so you only have to pull it out shape iton a tray, stick some tom puree and cheese & veggies on top and your done. So cheap- a pizza at our house costs half what one bought pizza costs and is MUHC nicer.

Do keep plugging away, you WILL get there.

Im looking also you have sky & BT & AOL . Im sure something can be done here. can you not get free broadband with your SKY?

In_Search_Of_Me

wow you have been busy! Its amazing where the oney goes when you work it all out isnt it!! I would def get a breadmaker - I got one 6 months ago and love it! Takes 5 mins to putthe ingredients in & there is nothing like the smel of freshly baking bread, esp if you set the timer for bread to be ready when you wake up! Delicious, esp with homemade strawberry jam!! Keep on makig the changes & you'll be there in no time. Well done for sorting the accounts - it will make it much easier to manage that way as long as you make sure the money is there when it needs to be! Hugs for you & well done so far.

earwig

thanks for your nice comments i will look at getting a bread maker the only prob is cutting it but im sure i can get round that a bit of a blonde moment (its ok im blonde so i can say it ) can you do wholemill bread in a breadmaker as that is about the healthest part about my diet:o

lynz havent seen you on here for a while im still here but you know me it takes me ages to do anything and i have come along why since my 140 :eek: per week shopping bills and my 70 per week takeaway bills:eek: i only have one takeaway now a week so im getting there i sat here the other day i thought to myself if i had done this dfw properly from the start i would be debt free now :mad:

so i decided once and for all to get rid of this debt and i worked out that in three years we could be debt free with out a great amount of hardship if i do it the ia way it could be two years but im not as strict as ia (i dont know how she dose it)so three years will do me fine