2020 Frugal Living Challenge

ldee2111

With you on aiming to reduce the food budget @Bluegreen143. We’re a family of 3 and spend around £70 per week on groceries with a maximum budget of £80.
I too have a very picky eater for a toddler - so much food waste as I keep trying to give fresh food without success yet - apart from apples.
To get the grocery shop down, I’ve been gradually reducing OH and I’s portion sizes and meat intake by bulking up dishes with veg and smaller amounts of meat, as well as buying mostly fresh and shop’s own products, and bulk buying branded stuff when I see it discounted. 

Hettyhound

Hello Everyone.  I’m wondering if those who use Olio could answer me a question.  I’ve read about it on this thread and was looking at their site last night.  I don’t have a smartphone but it says I can download to my iPad so I should be able to make it work.  From reading the info am I right in thinking the listings give you a rough guide to where the pick up is?  I live about 2 miles from a 24 hour Tesco Extra store so hopeful there will be some listings in my area (the Olio webpage says they cover my area but as it’s a city I’ll have to see if there are any listings on my side of town).  My main query is do there seem to be common pick up times advertised or is it random?  I’m a single parent with a 7 year old so once he’s in bed I can’t go out.  I’m currently working at home on flexi so could potentially nip out to collect especially lunchtime/end of day but wasn’t sure if this was when food would get listed.  Thanks for any help/advice 🙂

Viking_mfw

Hi Hetty. Items are listed by distance from you and there's a little map which shows roughly where a pick up is. I'm in a similar position re pick up times and have therefore only done day time pick ups. You limit yourself a bit but not that much. I also tend to combine with places I need to go anyway as most pick ups are more than a couple of miles from me. I'm on mat leave at the moment but when I go back to work I'll be checking for things I can pick up on my way home. 

cw18

I put the Olio app onto my phone a couple of weeks ago, but it's fast showing signs of becoming something I ditch

The closest thing I've seen as of yet is listed as being 1.8 miles from me - but that distance appears to be as the crow flies.  (My route planner says 2.46 miles walk or 3.1 mile drive each way from home, and it's not in the same direction as work.)   After work I don't have energy to walk an addtional 5 miles or so in order to collect (even if a vague time suited the other party, as I can't guarantee my finish time), and it would cost me almost as much to drive to collect as the item would cost in a store (plus I'd be pumping exhaust fumes into the atmosphere).

All the items that look to be daily supermarket clearout are 4.1 miles from home or 3.6 miles from work (each way - shortest walking distances, which many not be feasible at this time of year).   I'm afraid I'm not doing close to 8 miles for a loaf of bread that's dated the previous day and would be an 'only if there's absolutely nothing better' purchase in a store (sounds shameful, but white bread doesn't give me enough energy for work).   The bread that was up yesterday evening (some is still up now) was listed early yesterday afternoon (29th) after I should have finished work, but is dated bbe 28th.   Collection was marked as yesterday, so I don't know what happens now with it still showing as available.

However, if I were to find myself out of work again (and as a singleton who can go wherever and whenever) I'd likely be looking to collect stuff - not only would it save me money, it would give a reason to get out of the house and keep my fitness level up.

Hettyhound

Thank you both.  I had the same worries about distance and collection times and also I wouldn’t want bread/cakes/pastries as we don’t eat them.  I’d be wanting fruit and veg so I’m not sure how much of that would be available.  I might be like cw18 download it to see what is available but then maybe not use and just continue with getting YS for the freezer.  The idea is brilliant but the practicalities for my life may not fit ☹️

DawnW

Same here @cw18. Very little listed on Olio, usually on or past date bread products or very small quantities of other things (such as a half pack of noodles) not worth driving more than 4 miles for - and that is the closer items. I do think these things are a good idea though, and would consider acting as a local distribution volunteer if it weren't for covid and the fact that I am deemed extremely clinically vulnerable. I looked at the Too Good To Go app as well, and the only local provider is a coffee shop that offers lots of pastries, sandwiches etc left over at the end of the day. We wouldn't really want to use that kind of thing in any quantity within a reasonable time (there are only 2 of us, and we need to watch our weight). Best left for someone else who could make better use of it. I may use Olio to offer excess garden produce in season though, or spare plants if that is allowed.

Bluegreen143

ldee2111 said:

With you on aiming to reduce the food budget @Bluegreen143. We’re a family of 3 and spend around £70 per week on groceries with a maximum budget of £80.
I too have a very picky eater for a toddler - so much food waste as I keep trying to give fresh food without success yet - apart from apples.
To get the grocery shop down, I’ve been gradually reducing OH and I’s portion sizes and meat intake by bulking up dishes with veg and smaller amounts of meat, as well as buying mostly fresh and shop’s own products, and bulk buying branded stuff when I see it discounted. 

It’s frustrating isn’t it! In our case, the two year old usually eats quite well, but the five year old is terrible. It makes me very sad because until he turned three he was the most adventurous, amazing eater - everyone would comment on him trying everything in ethnic restaurants etc - I was so smug that I’d got it right 😂 and then he turned three and stopped eating well. I think in his case it began as a bit of a control thing as it started around the time his sister was born, plus I think we stopped being as adventurous in our cooking and gave him more safe options cos we were tired and busy. And from last year he’s had lunch and at lot of his snacks at nursery which doesn’t help as they fill them up with lots of easy kid food like sandwiches, toast, cereal and fruit (they give them cheese sandwiches if they don’t want the cooked lunch!) and so now he has no incentive to try any challenging foods cos he’s always full. Nursery is closed til 18th jan at least in this lockdown so I’m using the opportunity to really work on his eating at home.

One thing that helped me re the waste (though luckily the one thing he does eat in vast quantities is fruit) is I read a dietician talking about it and she said to give very small exposures of food (eg one tiny slice of carrot) and not to consider it a waste if they don’t eat it because it’s still done it’s job of exposing them to the food, it’s all part of their learning process. She also talks about some plate waste being inevitable if people are eating to their body’s cues rather than just clearing the plate (and again giving your kids very tiny portions and allowing them to ask for more reduces plate waste).

Kids eat in color on Facebook and Instagram is a really great resource. I’ve also got a great tiny wee book which is a quick and easy read called Getting The Little Blighters to Eat (it’s laid out as 30 tips, all which take just a few minutes to read over - things like not pressuring them to eat, cutting right back to sugar to retrain their taste buds, doing food adventures with them like pick your own farms or farmer’s markets). 

I’ve just been reading a book this week called It’s Not About The Broccoli which is really helpful. It talks about how when parents over focus on getting specific nutrients into their child at each meal it leads to pandering eg let’s just give them chocolate milk if they don’t drink plain, as it has calcium. Whereas her approach is much more about the habits the child is building and she would see the regular consumption of chocolate milk as setting them up for a habit of drinking sweetened beverages (not to say they can’t have it as a treat though). She takes quite a hard line on what constitutes the “growing foods” that should make up the majority of the child’s diet. (If you home made muffins with veg in she would still class that as a fun food as to a child it’s the same as eating cake, for example). But it’s really resonated with me as I completely believe that the reason my son’s eating has changed because both at home and nursery we started to rely on easier foods and it’s retrained his palate towards carby snack & breakfast foods.

welshspendthrift

I have found Olio only has items 9k and further away and not going to be useful for me as cost of fuel will be more than item. I find Too good to go ( magic bags) a better option for me! Olio only appears to have individual items maybe supermarkets here not signed up to this ( staffs / north Warwickshire border ? 

Viking_mfw

Bluegreen143 said:

ldee2111 said:

With you on aiming to reduce the food budget @Bluegreen143. We’re a family of 3 and spend around £70 per week on groceries with a maximum budget of £80.
I too have a very picky eater for a toddler - so much food waste as I keep trying to give fresh food without success yet - apart from apples.
To get the grocery shop down, I’ve been gradually reducing OH and I’s portion sizes and meat intake by bulking up dishes with veg and smaller amounts of meat, as well as buying mostly fresh and shop’s own products, and bulk buying branded stuff when I see it discounted. 

It’s frustrating isn’t it! In our case, the two year old usually eats quite well, but the five year old is terrible. It makes me very sad because until he turned three he was the most adventurous, amazing eater - everyone would comment on him trying everything in ethnic restaurants etc - I was so smug that I’d got it right 😂 and then he turned three and stopped eating well. I think in his case it began as a bit of a control thing as it started around the time his sister was born, plus I think we stopped being as adventurous in our cooking and gave him more safe options cos we were tired and busy. And from last year he’s had lunch and at lot of his snacks at nursery which doesn’t help as they fill them up with lots of easy kid food like sandwiches, toast, cereal and fruit (they give them cheese sandwiches if they don’t want the cooked lunch!) and so now he has no incentive to try any challenging foods cos he’s always full. Nursery is closed til 18th jan at least in this lockdown so I’m using the opportunity to really work on his eating at home.

One thing that helped me re the waste (though luckily the one thing he does eat in vast quantities is fruit) is I read a dietician talking about it and she said to give very small exposures of food (eg one tiny slice of carrot) and not to consider it a waste if they don’t eat it because it’s still done it’s job of exposing them to the food, it’s all part of their learning process. She also talks about some plate waste being inevitable if people are eating to their body’s cues rather than just clearing the plate (and again giving your kids very tiny portions and allowing them to ask for more reduces plate waste).

Kids eat in color on Facebook and Instagram is a really great resource. I’ve also got a great tiny wee book which is a quick and easy read called Getting The Little Blighters to Eat (it’s laid out as 30 tips, all which take just a few minutes to read over - things like not pressuring them to eat, cutting right back to sugar to retrain their taste buds, doing food adventures with them like pick your own farms or farmer’s markets). 

I’ve just been reading a book this week called It’s Not About The Broccoli which is really helpful. It talks about how when parents over focus on getting specific nutrients into their child at each meal it leads to pandering eg let’s just give them chocolate milk if they don’t drink plain, as it has calcium. Whereas her approach is much more about the habits the child is building and she would see the regular consumption of chocolate milk as setting them up for a habit of drinking sweetened beverages (not to say they can’t have it as a treat though). She takes quite a hard line on what constitutes the “growing foods” that should make up the majority of the child’s diet. (If you home made muffins with veg in she would still class that as a fun food as to a child it’s the same as eating cake, for example). But it’s really resonated with me as I completely believe that the reason my son’s eating has changed because both at home and nursery we started to rely on easier foods and it’s retrained his palate towards carby snack & breakfast foods.

Thanks for this - really interesting as our 3 year old also has changed his attitude towards food in a not wanting to try things - even things we know he likes, way, which has also coincided with our second son's birth. However, we haven't changed the way we cook, so I wouldn't be too harsh on yourself on that front. My brother wouldn't eat anything except spaghetti bolognaise for years and he's completely normal now! Thank goodness the things he reliably eats are broccoli, carrots, peas, and fruit!

patentgirl

Same here @cw18 not so good near me must depend a lot on areas would be 6 -8 mile trip and on!y offering mainly bread and cakes particularly donuts which we don't need not encouraging us to be healthy as you say can't warrant spending diesel and time for load of bread!