*sigh* this may take a while

ohdearhowdidthathappen

She's 15.... next summer, she'll be able to get a job. Her younger brother has a paper round, earns £100 a month. I've suggested she do the same if she wants extra money, that went down well. Apparently, she can't see why she should work as it's our job to provide for her etc etc :mad:... not sure where she's got this unpleasant attitude from, the others aren't like it (yet anyway!).
Been at work today, so a NSD as OH doesn't venture out with the kids if I'm not there

ohdearhowdidthathappen

In my quest to bring food shops down, I'm switching to Mr A. Will give it a go for a month and compare....
I have an aim of £600, we're still coming in at more like £800/850 at the moment, which is annoying me. That extra £200 is one of my side jobs incomes!! Back to basics; meal planning, batch cooking etc
I've gone back through my DDs and they're all as low as I can get them... food bill is my next main target as there's definitely wriggle room there. We don't get takeaways and rarely eat out as a family (really only if on holiday)

[Deleted User]

Ah, I think 15 is just a really hard age, especially for girls. I hear similar things from my friend with a daughter that age.
You'll probably notice a huge difference in price going to Aldi. I always pay less at the till than I thought.

enthusiasticsaver

Wow. Your daughters attitude certainly needs a reality check. Hope you manage to get through to her. I don't remember my girls ever saying things like that but I do know little weekend jobs made them appreciate the value of money and that it does not grow on trees. Added bonus was they realised how hard they had to work for a relatively small amount so it incentivised them to do well in exams etc to get good jobs. Maybe it is the kids she mixes with? All the people I know who had children who seemed very entitled either went to private school or mixed with children from very well off families. Living in Cornwall there was no risk of that here

mark55man

ohshithowdidthathappen wrote: »

In my quest to bring food shops down, I'm switching to Mr A. Will give it a go for a month and compare....
I have an aim of £600, we're still coming in at more like £800/850 at the moment, which is annoying me. That extra £200 is one of my side jobs incomes!! Back to basics; meal planning, batch cooking etc
I've gone back through my DDs and they're all as low as I can get them... food bill is my next main target as there's definitely wriggle room there. We don't get takeaways and rarely eat out as a family (really only if on holiday)

we struggle with this in our spends - mainly disorganisation and lack of putting it as a priority. Plus we probably end up buying too many extras/treats.

So this month has been a success for us (despite having 37 supermarket related transactions) coming i at £620 for 5 adults rather than £800+. This was mainly because OH had a quieter month and was able to focus us all a bit more. Some thoughts although Old Style money saving is your friend here

Successes - better use of leftovers (mainly in my packed lunches - I don't care)
Using less meat - so jackets and beans (cheese/coleslaw if you like), plus salads (eg tuna nicoise with cheap tuna and eggs is reasonable) - chickpeas rice and korma sauce (or satay 65p coconut milk and £1 peanut butter cooked up
Chocolate and biscuits much less often - ie more a treat than previously
Jam sandwiches as a treat instead of the above

But generally we got the budget down, by leaving habit foods off the list and making do with simpler meals

good luck with it OSHDTH

Definitely in my case using Liddle was a major factor

Drawingaline

Omg at your daughter! Makes me realise how lucky I am with my teens attitude to money. What a had attitude to deal with though. I hope everything has settled down now.

I am also attempting to bring our food bill down. By increasing the budget lol! But meal planning for two weeks at a time with two deliveries per month rather than one. I am hopeful.....

ohdearhowdidthathappen

I've finally worked out how to multi-quote.... exciting times in the OSH household :T

Moguline wrote: »

Ah, I think 15 is just a really hard age, especially for girls. I hear similar things from my friend with a daughter that age.
You'll probably notice a huge difference in price going to Aldi. I always pay less at the till than I thought.

I was thinking Asda, but Aldi would probably be even better :rotfl:

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Wow. Your daughters attitude certainly needs a reality check. Hope you manage to get through to her. I don't remember my girls ever saying things like that but I do know little weekend jobs made them appreciate the value of money and that it does not grow on trees. Added bonus was they realised how hard they had to work for a relatively small amount so it incentivised them to do well in exams etc to get good jobs. Maybe it is the kids she mixes with? All the people I know who had children who seemed very entitled either went to private school or mixed with children from very well off families. Living in Cornwall there was no risk of that here

She mixes with loads of rich kids, but also some not so well off ones. She (unfortunately) chooses to compare herself to the rich ones. I really think that working in a part time job will show her how hard it is to earn. Maybe a false hope? She's just so scathing... we both work hard and earn decent livings, but she always seems disappointed. My younger ones are always bemused at her attitude, so hopefully it's not a genetic trait!

mark88man wrote: »

we struggle with this in our spends - mainly disorganisation and lack of putting it as a priority. Plus we probably end up buying too many extras/treats.

So this month has been a success for us (despite having 37 supermarket related transactions) coming i at £620 for 5 adults rather than £800+. This was mainly because OH had a quieter month and was able to focus us all a bit more. Some thoughts although Old Style money saving is your friend here

Successes - better use of leftovers (mainly in my packed lunches - I don't care)
Using less meat - so jackets and beans (cheese/coleslaw if you like), plus salads (eg tuna nicoise with cheap tuna and eggs is reasonable) - chickpeas rice and korma sauce (or satay 65p coconut milk and £1 peanut butter cooked up
Chocolate and biscuits much less often - ie more a treat than previously
Jam sandwiches as a treat instead of the above

But generally we got the budget down, by leaving habit foods off the list and making do with simpler meals

good luck with it OSHDTH

Definitely in my case using Liddle was a major factor

We definitely have the tendency towards too many treats and a lack of focus. I'm wondering about a weekly rather than monthly budget so I can keep a closer eye.... we have a Lidl and an Aldi close to us... I must admit to a certain aversion, they always seem so crowded and I hate having my shopping lobbed down the checkout at me. Might be time to ignore the inconvenience and suck it up if it saves some dosh!!

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Drawingaline wrote: »

Omg at your daughter! Makes me realise how lucky I am with my teens attitude to money. What a had attitude to deal with though. I hope everything has settled down now.

I am also attempting to bring our food bill down. By increasing the budget lol! But meal planning for two weeks at a time with two deliveries per month rather than one. I am hopeful.....

It is a hard attitude to deal with... we've tried the 'we're the adults, suck it up' method, I've tried the 'I'll explain where the money goes, look at our budget' method and both unsuccessful.... she just thinks we should/could be working harder, earning more! Even my mum, who usually thinks the sun shines out of her !!!! was shocked recently at how she was talking to us

I upped our deliveries to every 5 days, thinking it would stop the top up shops... it hasn't worked and has made us crapper at meal planning. I'm thinking of weekly shops of £100 with a weekly top up budget of £25 (so £125 a week overall).... that's a 'fingers crossed' budget, but a starting point. Our trouble is finding a meal that all 7 of us will eat! Entitled teen is the fussiest.... noticing a theme? :rotfl:

mark55man

ohshithowdidthathappen wrote: »

I must admit to a certain aversion, they always seem so crowded and I hate having my shopping lobbed down the checkout at me. Might be time to ignore the inconvenience and suck it up if it saves some dosh!!

So I find it easiest just to put the shopping in the trolley and then pack it into bags at the car - not quite so stressy

so I find with Liddle I don't do all (not even most) of my shopping there but there are certain things that we like, and they are almost always cheaper - eg Freeway Diet coke 39p for 2l just as good as the real thing, brown seeded bread (75p), and there are usually several vegetable offers that are good. Plus more exotic things coconut milk 70p, tuna 65p a tin, sweetcorn 40p, beans 25p, tomato sauce and mayo 70p.

plus some things the kids like as treats that are still cheaper - 40p pretzels, or various sticky buns 50p each or chocolate for 40p a bar.

It might not be quite as nice, but its all OK, and much cheaper

good luck and don't be too proud - noone can afford to be these days

ohdearhowdidthathappen

mark88man wrote: »

So I find it easiest just to put the shopping in the trolley and then pack it into bags at the car - not quite so stressy

so I find with Liddle I don't do all (not even most) of my shopping there but there are certain things that we like, and they are almost always cheaper - eg Freeway Diet coke 39p for 2l just as good as the real thing, brown seeded bread (75p), and there are usually several vegetable offers that are good. Plus more exotic things coconut milk 70p, tuna 65p a tin, sweetcorn 40p, beans 25p, tomato sauce and mayo 70p.

plus some things the kids like as treats that are still cheaper - 40p pretzels, or various sticky buns 50p each or chocolate for 40p a bar.

It might not be quite as nice, but its all OK, and much cheaper

good luck and don't be too proud - noone can afford to be these days

Good tips, putting it in the trolley and packing later sounds like a plan.

It's more laziness than pride, I like shopping by not actually going shopping :rotfl:

I'm very happy not to waste money on food, there are many things I'd rather spend it on

Family lunch today, cooked for 15 of us. All pre bought, so I'll count it as a NSD! Was nice to see everyone, although a bit hectic at times. They've all gone now, so a chilled evening is the plan.

Might go on YNAB later and do the 1st of the month things, it's going to be a treading water month though as need to recuperate the holiday spending