The hardest challenge yet

elantan

unrecordings wrote: »

Based on my spending, I think you could half your at home alcohol spend, or at least cut back significantly without too much heartbreak - and I definitely agree with Pattypan's first comment - you've earned it so don't beat yourself up too much about spending it while you can enjoy it, not frittering, but in a prudent way. So my tuppence:

1) Wean yourselves onto cheaper wines- - Waitose for example have a fantastic range at £5.99 and

2) often have the 25% discount campaigns on six bottles (I think Asda has one of these going at the moment). Just be reassured that it's not extravagant to buy 6-12 bottles at £5.99 with an extra 25% off

sounds like great ideas, sadly living in Scotland we dont get alcohol deals ... but we should try halfing the price of a bottle we buy and I think it would do us no harm to maybe not drink every weekend, i was thinking of joining a wine club, maybe try and see if it is decent wines at discount prices ? that way when we saved enough up in the club we could treat ourselves.

thanks it's great advice and your bang on

elantan

boultdj wrote: »

You say you struggle with meal planning and shift work, why don't you give doing a double batch of your meal's on the day/early shift for a week and freeze half to have the week that you are pushed for time.
Good luck with your challenge.

I'm deff going to try this, just now we have a tendency to just eat what we make but making a double batch would help so much for those times when I have no energy

buildersdaughter

Well, elantan, you asked (and good for you). It does sound as if you are bit undecided about exactly where you want to be (spending now or saving for retirement) but in terms of saving, here goes:
avocado oil, coconut oil, olive oil? I use our local cold-pressed rape seed oil for everything and it is lovely. I'm not asking you to agree, just suggesting that you try.
Definitely 'cook once, eat twice'.
Look at why you like take-aways. Is it the convenience, or the taste, or the variety?
There's a thread on here about 'fake aways' and I also recommend the various dieting books by the Hairy Bikers. We will freeze portions of things as we cook, so we could pull out the equivalent of a take-away.
Hope that helps a bit - keep asking!

unrecordings

elantan wrote: »

I'm deff going to try this, just now we have a tendency to just eat what we make but making a double batch would help so much for those times when I have no energy

There's a bit of psychology to use on yourself here. We tend to eat what's put in front of us and tend to make meals based on the way the ingredients are provided. If that makes any sense. To put it another way, my standard chilli is a 400g pack of mince, 400g tin of tomatoes (or equivalent fresh) 250g tin of kidney beans, fresh onion, chilli, pepper, garlic etc plus rice on the side. I've been known to be a piglet and eat the whole damn lot, but generally these days, this is two meals. The psychological bit is not just making too much for one sitting, but making way too much so that it's not tempting to finish what's left in the pan. Of course you can pad out your standard favourites with more onion, more tomato, or simply alter the rice/chilli ratio when you come to serve

Siebrie

elantan wrote: »

I take on board what your saying and think you make very valid points which I do need to incorporate, but I do also believe that we shouldn't put off living today for a future several years down the line, I see first hand how lives can change in quite literally heartbeats and I talk to people and there are some recurring themes along the lines of regrets if not doing stuff, of not enjoying themselves more. I totally agree in that we are I have no doubt on one end of the scale compared to many, but I dont want to be at the other end either, what we need to work out is where in the middle we can sit, and that's definitely one of the reasons I'm here as I'm well aware of how great this board can be

thank you for your support

Please have another look at what you just wrote here, because the choices you are making now could seriously harm your future. Overweight and more-than-average alcohol may lead to problems your body cannot cope with when you are older; then you won't be able to do all the things you are planning for in FIRE (what are those plans?).

bouicca21

Before I retired I worked out what my income was likely to be and started budgeting accordingly.

Actually once retired spending patterns change. I still work but mostly unpaid so have expenses connected with that, but they are fairly minimal compared to the cost of commuting.

I also go out a lot more. One group of friends used to meet up at each other’s houses and have a takeaway because we couldn’t afford anything else. Now we have turned into ladies who lunch (and lunch out). I go to the cinema, theatre etc far more than when I was working. I have more holidays.

But I still budget carefully. I cook from scratch (and yes, as others have said, cook once, eat at least twice) and have a few super frugal meals in my repertoire for when things get tight (don’t turn your nose up at offal). Portion control - Unrecordings’ chilli recipe would do me at least 3 and possible 4 portions. Bulk out meals with lots of veg. I do buy expensive wine, but drink less.

elantan

Siebrie wrote: »

Please have another look at what you just wrote here, because the choices you are making now could seriously harm your future. Overweight and more-than-average alcohol may lead to problems your body cannot cope with when you are older; then you won't be able to do all the things you are planning for in FIRE (what are those plans?).

I genuinely hardly think that 1 glass of wine and 2 to 3 pernods or baileys a week constitute drinking more than average, it's less than the recommended limit . unless you know otherwise?

yes I am overweight and have been for a long time, it's a never ending battle and something I am very aware of and try as best as I can to deal with,

our plans are similar to now, hillwalking, kayaking, camping and exploring two things of which my weight does not Interfere with and my " more than average " ( how did u work that out?) alcohol consumption is ok with.

elantan

so breakfast today was two boiled eggs with butter, spinach lightly fried in coconut oil and added to the eggs ( very tasty) and coffee, I am a bit of a coffee snob in that I like a ground coffee, I only have one or two a day but really like a quality coffee
lunch is the soup plus oatcakes and a chicken salad. Dinner so far appears to be burgers and veg but we will see as that may change as I have chicken looked out as well, so far it's been a no spend day but I think I may need to buy salad stuff for tomorrow for work

elantan

unrecordings wrote: »

There's a bit of psychology to use on yourself here. We tend to eat what's put in front of us and tend to make meals based on the way the ingredients are provided. If that makes any sense. To put it another way, my standard chilli is a 400g pack of mince, 400g tin of tomatoes (or equivalent fresh) 250g tin of kidney beans, fresh onion, chilli, pepper, garlic etc plus rice on the side. I've been known to be a piglet and eat the whole damn lot, but generally these days, this is two meals. The psychological bit is not just making too much for one sitting, but making way too much so that it's not tempting to finish what's left in the pan. Of course you can pad out your standard favourites with more onion, more tomato, or simply alter the rice/chilli ratio when you come to serve

I agree totally with the psychology aspect here, as a child I wasnt allowed to leave the table unless my plate was cleared, something I really still struggle with, I will try this approach and see if it helps ... maybe smaller plates as well ?

elantan

bouicca21 wrote: »

Before I retired I worked out what my income was likely to be and started budgeting accordingly.

Actually once retired spending patterns change. I still work but mostly unpaid so have expenses connected with that, but they are fairly minimal compared to the cost of commuting.

I also go out a lot more. One group of friends used to meet up at each other’s houses and have a takeaway because we couldn’t afford anything else. Now we have turned into ladies who lunch (and lunch out). I go to the cinema, theatre etc far more than when I was working. I have more holidays.

But I still budget carefully. I cook from scratch (and yes, as others have said, cook once, eat at least twice) and have a few super frugal meals in my repertoire for when things get tight (don’t turn your nose up at offal). Portion control - Unrecordings’ chilli recipe would do me at least 3 and possible 4 portions. Bulk out meals with lots of veg. I do buy expensive wine, but drink less.

thanks for your input, were trying to work out a retired budget as well, like you we want to be active so feel that needs to be budgeted for, do you find you have more time to cook from scratch now that you are retired?

can I ask also do you find you spend less more or approximately what you budgeted for as well ?

thanks its great to read about people enjoying their retirement