The hardest challenge yet

elantan

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Hi El - good to "see" you!

Food spends - our basic grocery budget is £175 a month - that includes oddments of toiletries and the main household stuff although things like water filter cartridges come from a different budget. On top of that we have one, and sometimes 2 takeaways a month - £15 - £20 each depending on what we have. The alcohol spend isn't really factored in anywhere as we tend to budget for that from our own spending money rather than from central funds - and it mostly happens out and about in a social setting too - we drink a small amount at home but it's likely to be a couple of drinks each on a Friday and Saturday night if we're at home, no more.

This is for two of us - we buy good quality meat from farmers markets - and use it more as a "seasoning" than as a starring ingredient. A smaller piece of well flavoured, good quality beef for example in a stew will go further than a larger, lower quality (and thus lower in flavour) meat - saving both the budget and the planet! Chicken is bought from the supermarket but is always free range - ditto eggs. Shopping basics come from a mix of Aldi and the mainstream supermarkets - and things like pulses (tinned or dried) tend to be from the ethnic type supermarkets - I have a good Turkish one near my work, and we have an Asian (mixed Indian/Chinese/Thai etc) one nearer to home. I probably cook meat-free a couple of times a week at least.

Hey EH wonderful to see you again, it seems like ages since I caught up ... seasoning not starring ingredient is a brilliant way of looking at it, we do tend to have the meat innthe starring role, would be a good idea though to have it as a seasoning, maybe that way we can keep affording to eat the good quality stuff, and I'm really getting my head around meat free days, mr el might go into a panic though lol

lessonlearned wrote: »

hi El.

Thought you might be interested in today's menu

Brunch.......full English, no toast
Dinner .......wild Atlantic salmon, quinoa, tenderstem broccoli, roast tomatoes

Salmon was on offer at Sainsbury's..£5.75 for two portions. One for now, one to freeze. I know farmed fish is cheaper but I try to avoid it.

Supper will be raspberries and yoghurt. Snacks will be fruit.

F&V. Will be 8 portions today.

I have decided to try and reduce dairy a bit more to help my tummy. . Lacto free milk just to splash in tea, almond milk for smoothies etc then I'm going back to vegan cheese for a while.

See how it goes.

full breakfast I could easily go, salmon not so much, just cant eat fish, but I did have chia seeds the other day, I had had them before and found them horrific, but someone in work brought some in and let me try it and it was edible, I hey a runny nose and respiratory problems with cheese, I love it but shouldn't eat it, it does seem a lot of people do have these sensitivities to dairy.

have you tried oat milk ? do you make your own almond milk ?

elantan

I'm on call tomorrow so wont be drinking this evening, and need grab to go foods for tomorrow .... I'm working with a hard working conceintous person, however they are ribbingly referred to as a s**t magnet cause if its gonna go wrong its gonna go wrong there. Last time they worked a large portion of a 24 hour shift, so its rest tonight, early bed, up early and grab what's in the fridge just incase

Siebrie

Re: meat, I think the current advice is the size of a deck of playing cards for a main meal.

elantan

just about to finish on call, it surprisingly wasnt busy at all, goes to show you I spose you never can tell.

gonna get some shut eye and then start, being wakened at 3.30am does not make a wide awake El

elantan

I'm currently night shift, but so far since december1st, its been meat balls with rice ( cauliflower for me) indian curry with rice ( home made) and mince with veg.


Spends have been


Takeaway £5, Mr El had taken food to work with him, but he didn't fancy it so went out and bought a takeaway... I wasn't very happy and explained why I wasn't but he has spent the money and that is that.


Last months spends were beyond a joke and I was livid about it, I can see some home truths conversations will need to be had shortly,

Wednesday2000

elantan wrote: »

Hope the phone call to HMRC isnt too painful, do you find a frozen pizza does the same for you as a takeaway .? I do love Mr els pizza but it takes ages to make, a frozen pizza might be a worthwhile alternative

I haven't got around to calling HMRC yet.:o

I really fancied pizza yesterday and was tempted to get a takeaway. I remembered I had the frozen one in the freezer. I will have that today instead with some salad.:)

Wednesday2000

elantan wrote: »

Spends have been

Takeaway £5, Mr El had taken food to work with him, but he didn't fancy it so went out and bought a takeaway... I wasn't very happy and explained why I wasn't but he has spent the money and that is that.

Last months spends were beyond a joke and I was livid about it, I can see some home truths conversations will need to be had shortly,

That is annoying if you are trying to save money and he is ignoring you.:(

lessonlearned

elantan wrote: »

I'm currently night shift, but so far since december1st, its been meat balls with rice ( cauliflower for me) indian curry with rice ( home made) and mince with veg.


Spends have been


Takeaway £5, Mr El had taken food to work with him, but he didn't fancy it so went out and bought a takeaway... I wasn't very happy and explained why I wasn't but he has spent the money and that is that.


Last months spends were beyond a joke and I was livid about it, I can see some home truths conversations will need to be had shortly,

That is frustrating......but before you completely lose it, I think you need to find out why, and see if you can't work round it.

Was it because he was cold and wanted something hot......was it because there wasn't much choice of food to take into work and when it came to the crunch, it just held no appeal. Was it because he didn't take enough and felt he needed something more substantial.

If you can find out the why you then you should be able to circumnavigate your way round the problem.

What facilities does he have at work. Does he have access to a microwave so he could reheat some leftovers, or a toaster or mini oven.

I used to do this with my son......He worked in a garden centre and even when he was working indoors it was still cold. Sandwiches or salads just didn't cut it.

They had a toaster, a mini oven where they could heat things like pasties, steak pies etc, and a microwave.

So in the winter I would give him things like shepherds pie, chillis, curries, casseroles, stuffed jacket potatoes. He could just zap them in the microwave and then have something hot. I also gave him sachets of porridge so he could have a hearty mid morning second breakfast, again to warm him up.

I also used to keep a few ready meals in the freezer in case the evening meal wasn't really suitable for reheating.

Maybe MR El just wants something "tasty" and a bit more exciting than what he had in his pack up. If that's the case then either he or you (whoever is responsible for deciding what to take to eat in work) needs to up their game.

I'll be honest and say the average packed lunch of a sandwiches or salads would bore me to tears.

I can well understand your frustration though but try not to make it a huge stumbling block and end up rowing over it. You know the old saying....."you can take a horse to water.......".

However, its all very well him paying lip service saying he wants to retire early but it ain't going to happen unless he gets on board. If he truly wants to retire early then he needs to get a grip.

He needs to grasp that by frittering money away on things like takeaways he's shooting himself in the foot. It's getting him to see it, isn't it.

Show him the maths.......:rotfl:

£5 a day is £100 a month, £1200 a year, over 10 years its a staggering £12,000, plus interest.

Really it's an easy win isn't it. And let's face it, quite apart from the money saved, home cooked food will taste better and be healthier. A triple easy win.

If those figures don't ram it home for him, then I'm afraid nothing will and you are just bashing your head against a brick wall.

slowlyfading

Just found your thread - I'm aiming for FIRE too (and blog about it over at http://www.thefrugalcottage.com ) and so it's always nice to hear about other people attempting the challenge!



An £800 spend a month for two people seems so big - we currently spend £250 a month on a family of four - but it's all about taking those small steps and making changes that add up over time. Try and aim to reduce this by £100 a month to start with; so it's not a big shock.



Can you shop your food cupboards for this week? Have you got things in you could make meals with already? Most of us do and it will save you some money I regularly make store cupboard meals, so to keep our food costs down.



Do you genuinely enjoy having a takeaway every week? I only ask as we get them as a treat, but too often and it ceases to be that and often they're not as nice as I think they're going to be! How much does your takeaway cost each week?

elantan

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

I haven't got around to calling HMRC yet.:o

I really fancied pizza yesterday and was tempted to get a takeaway. I remembered I had the frozen one in the freezer. I will have that today instead with some salad.:)

Get that phone call made, or as we used to say in dfw eat that frog lol, I would deff prefer a home made pizza to a takeaway

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

That is annoying if you are trying to save money and he is ignoring you.:(

its frustrating to put it mildly, and I have no excuse I can give him for that day

lessonlearned wrote: »

That is frustrating......but before you completely lose it, I think you need to find out why, and see if you can't work round it.

Was it because he was cold and wanted something hot......was it because there wasn't much choice of food to take into work and when it came to the crunch, it just held no appeal. Was it because he didn't take enough and felt he needed something more substantial.

If you can find out the why you then you should be able to circumnavigate your way round the problem.

What facilities does he have at work. Does he have access to a microwave so he could reheat some leftovers, or a toaster or mini oven.

I used to do this with my son......He worked in a garden centre and even when he was working indoors it was still cold. Sandwiches or salads just didn't cut it.

They had a toaster, a mini oven where they could heat things like pasties, steak pies etc, and a microwave.

So in the winter I would give him things like shepherds pie, chillis, curries, casseroles, stuffed jacket potatoes. He could just zap them in the microwave and then have something hot. I also gave him sachets of porridge so he could have a hearty mid morning second breakfast, again to warm him up.

I also used to keep a few ready meals in the freezer in case the evening meal wasn't really suitable for reheating.

Maybe MR El just wants something "tasty" and a bit more exciting than what he had in his pack up. If that's the case then either he or you (whoever is responsible for deciding what to take to eat in work) needs to up their game.

I'll be honest and say the average packed lunch of a sandwiches or salads would bore me to tears.

I can well understand your frustration though but try not to make it a huge stumbling block and end up rowing over it. You know the old saying....."you can take a horse to water.......".

However, its all very well him paying lip service saying he wants to retire early but it ain't going to happen unless he gets on board. If he truly wants to retire early then he needs to get a grip.

He needs to grasp that by frittering money away on things like takeaways he's shooting himself in the foot. It's getting him to see it, isn't it.

Show him the maths.......:rotfl:

£5 a day is £100 a month, £1200 a year, over 10 years its a staggering £12,000, plus interest.

Really it's an easy win isn't it. And let's face it, quite apart from the money saved, home cooked food will taste better and be healthier. A triple easy win.

If those figures don't ram it home for him, then I'm afraid nothing will and you are just bashing your head against a brick wall.

what he had prepared for work was something he bought in Costco, hot dogs, yuck, but when he bought them he said they are for work, he prepared them, cut up an onion etc and got rolls, but he just didn't want them when the time came, so that did kinda annoy me, we usually try and organise soup for work but in this instance he didn't want soup he wanted hot dogs, only he didn't...grrrrrrr


Then today (well yesterday) he left the house at 7am and didn't get home till after 10pm as he was helping his parents with stuff, so once again another takeaway was bought as he couldn't be bothered to even ping something in the microwave, I could literally scream, but at the same time that is an awful long time to be out the house and dealing with stuff, he is exhausted, I could see in his face today he is done in and starting to look as if he is mentally drained as well ( has a lot of stuff going on with work just now as well)


So I'm breathing deep and trying to be kind, I'm off nights on Saturday morning so hopefully we can get something sorted on Sunday, although I do think we will need to go and do something for sanity.


So spends all together takeaway £10, shopping £2.50 ( bread and milk)


sanity levels leaving