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Food shopping and living alone

Wannabehousebuyer
Wannabehousebuyer Posts: 89 Forumite
Third Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
edited 21 September 2023 pm30 2:55PM in Old style MoneySaving
HELP! 
Hey guys, 
I am 33 living alone with my chihuahua, and my food bills are through the roof and I know why but I can’t seem to solve the problem. So hoping some of you lovely people can help. 

Context - I work 13 hour days and I have ADHD, plus I need to lose about 5 stone. 

I will start the month doing a “big shop”, make a meal plan, and then it all goes downhill. I don’t want what I have planned. Batch cooked frozen meals don’t appeal and I am then in a rut of going back out and buying something else at the Tesco express. 

For lunches I usually on a Monday buy sandwich stuff and snacks for the week and leave at work, but I get bored mid week and I can’t face another sandwich. 

I have the “diet starts Monday” mentally and never stick to it (thanks ADHD). 

I have tried shopping for the month, week, bi weekly and each day by day. I throw so much away and I am wasting money beyond belief. I am on a debt free journey so I really need to address this. 

I know this is such a big ramble with lots of different tangents but does anyone have hints, tips or just help in general? Thank you so much! 
«1

Comments

  • If you get bored when you have a stock of food which covers a long period, I would have thought that buying daily should mean you get only what you want that day.  But it seems you have tried buying daily and still found you were wasting food by throwing it away.  Is that right?

    When you go out to get things to eat almost immediately - are they also things which you stock up on but, when you do, still reject before their time comes to be eaten?

    How many days do you work in a week?

    Do you eat just to enjoy what you are eating?  Do you also consider what you should be eating?


  • gwynlas
    gwynlas Posts: 2,053 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You have not said what budget you hope to keep within. Yes it is good to batch cook but then you need to decide what you want to eat in order to defrost in time. Making your own sandwiches saves money but there are other things you can eat for light meals from the simple cheese and crackers, hard boiled aggs, pasta salad with tuna or chicken or use roasted vegetables as a base. Try to not shop more than every third or fourth  day and check yellow stickered items. Try to keep each shop within a budget of say £10 whether that means sardines on toast or yellow srickered fillet steak. If you are trying to diet then plan your shop around what meals you need to provide for. Buy your dog food and household supplies when on offer if you can afford to keep a stock.
  • Here’s a few things to try:

    Stop shopping for a little while and live off what’s in your fridge or cupboard for a time. When your fridge is nearly empty just buy a few foods you really like. Don’t have a meal plan. Just open your fridge when you get home, get all the ‘perishable’ food out onto the table or worktop and decide what you fancy to eat. If anything is nearly out of date cook it and if you don’t eat it that day eat it the next. 

    Always have a bottle of water handy (at work and at home) and take regular swigs of water. Water is good for you and also stops you feeling hungry. It can be a reusable bottle filled with tap water. 

    Decide what the best mealtimes are for your body clock & working hours - maybe try that plan out to see if it works - then stick to it with no snacking. 

    Don’t buy crisps, cake, biscuits, sweets, fizzy drinks or chocolate. If they’re not in your kitchen at home or your workstation at work you won’t be tempted to eat them. 

    On your day off boil some potatoes then store them in your fridge in a box with a lid. You’ve then got something quick to add to a meal and they keep for quite a few days. Also have some lower calorie snacks such as baby tomatoes, bananas, apples, grapes, oatcakes, carrot sticks you’ve prepared yourself (you can buy just one carrot in Tesco), pickled onions, baby beetroot from a jar. 

    Try those. I’m sure other people will come up with plenty of ideas I haven’t thought of. Good luck!



    would've . . . could've . . . should've . . .


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    There's definitely no 'a' in 'definitely'.
  • If you get bored when you have a stock of food which covers a long period, I would have thought that buying daily should mean you get only what you want that day.  But it seems you have tried buying daily and still found you were wasting food by throwing it away.  Is that right?

    When you go out to get things to eat almost immediately - are they also things which you stock up on but, when you do, still reject before their time comes to be eaten?

    How many days do you work in a week?

    Do you eat just to enjoy what you are eating?  Do you also consider what you should be eating?


    Yes, shopping daily was an issue as I’d either forget to pick something up on the way home and order in, or I would pick up
    so many “extra” impulse items and would cost me a fortune. 

    I work 5 days a week, but obviously long hours. I am on the waiting list for ADHD meds but it’s long! I know the spending (debt wise) and food shopping are all “symptoms” of this. I just need to get a best handle on this to not only live healthier, but to cut my waste and actually have some cash spare in my budget 
  • gwynlas said:
    You have not said what budget you hope to keep within. Yes it is good to batch cook but then you need to decide what you want to eat in order to defrost in time. Making your own sandwiches saves money but there are other things you can eat for light meals from the simple cheese and crackers, hard boiled aggs, pasta salad with tuna or chicken or use roasted vegetables as a base. Try to not shop more than every third or fourth  day and check yellow stickered items. Try to keep each shop within a budget of say £10 whether that means sardines on toast or yellow srickered fillet steak. If you are trying to diet then plan your shop around what meals you need to provide for. Buy your dog food and household supplies when on offer if you can afford to keep a stock.
    I think I’m spending £125 -£150 a month, with the odd takeaway on top. The debt free wannabe pages have suggested £75 a month is more realistic which seems impossible but I’m up for the challenge. 

    £10 every 4 days seems a good idea. That way I haven’t got a chance to get bored, just need to remind myself to go, maybe I’ll just plan it around my days off. 

    Dog food I have on repeat order as it’s cheaper than the shops and means I don’t have to remember it. 

    Household I bill buy at costco twice a year so that doesn’t really matter 
  • Teapot55 said:
    Here’s a few things to try:

    Stop shopping for a little while and live off what’s in your fridge or cupboard for a time. When your fridge is nearly empty just buy a few foods you really like. Don’t have a meal plan. Just open your fridge when you get home, get all the ‘perishable’ food out onto the table or worktop and decide what you fancy to eat. If anything is nearly out of date cook it and if you don’t eat it that day eat it the next. 

    Always have a bottle of water handy (at work and at home) and take regular swigs of water. Water is good for you and also stops you feeling hungry. It can be a reusable bottle filled with tap water. 

    Decide what the best mealtimes are for your body clock & working hours - maybe try that plan out to see if it works - then stick to it with no snacking. 

    Don’t buy crisps, cake, biscuits, sweets, fizzy drinks or chocolate. If they’re not in your kitchen at home or your workstation at work you won’t be tempted to eat them. 

    On your day off boil some potatoes then store them in your fridge in a box with a lid. You’ve then got something quick to add to a meal and they keep for quite a few days. Also have some lower calorie snacks such as baby tomatoes, bananas, apples, grapes, oatcakes, carrot sticks you’ve prepared yourself (you can buy just one carrot in Tesco), pickled onions, baby beetroot from a jar. 

    Try those. I’m sure other people will come up with plenty of ideas I haven’t thought of. Good luck!


    Yes, thankfully that’s what I have doing now until payday just trying to clear my freezer down, I don’t have anything fresh in and I have 1.80 in my bank account to last until next Friday so no option to buy anything. 

    I drink a lot of tea, so I think a swap to water would be a hood thing, might help stop the cravings to snack.how Long would the potato’s last in the fridge once cooked? That’s a handy thought. 
  • Katiehound
    Katiehound Posts: 8,072 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 21 September 2023 pm30 2:17PM
    have a think about the drinks.
    Liquids fill you up so that you eat less so maybe as well as tea & water try a cheapie large bottle of fizzy water, a couple of squeezes of lemon in the water (or some concentrate lemon or lime from a bottle.) Fizzy water is only water but it tastes somehow different.

    Think about what veggies you like. you can always make an omelette with veggies & cheese which are healthy , fairly cheap & filling. Homemade coleslaw.

    if you can batch cook things like cottage pie, fish pie make sure you portion them up as single portions to freeze then you can ring the changes rather than eating the same thing 3 days in a row. maybe one week you don't eat any of them- fine- they will freeze for quite a while

    For your lunches maybe invest in some assorted rolls (these will freeze so you only need to thaw one, or two) a packet of ryvita, some seedy biscuits- whatever so that you don't get the same thing every day. Even if slightly dearer it might be worth buying biscuits & cheeses in individual wrappers- at least they won't get binned

    Don't get too caught up on BB dates.

    maybe if you can ring the changes a bit you won't feel so pressured.

    For budgeting maybe only put the money you can afford to spend that week in your purse- it has to last. try to be a bit inventive & steer away from the convenience shelves... they are there to make money for the supermarket : not to help you with clever choices.

    have a look at Jamies £1 wonder meal series. See if anything there grabs you specially with the addition of spices & herbs.

    above all else don't give up: lots of folk on these boards to help. the old style money saving has some great folk with equally great ideas.
    Being polite and pleasant doesn't cost anything!
    -Stash bust:in 2022:337
    Stash bust :2023. 120duvets, 24bags,43dogcoats, 2scrunchies, 10mitts, 6 bootees, 8spec cases, 2 A6notebooks, 59cards, 6 lav bags,36 angels,9 bones,1 blanket, 1 lined bag,3 owls, 88 pyramids = total 420total spend £5.Total for 'Dogs for Good' £546.82

    2024:Sewn:59Doggy ds,52pyramids,18 bags,6spec cases,6lav.bags.
    Knits:6covers,4hats,10mitts,2 bootees.
    Crotchet:61angels, 229cards=453 £136.4spent!!!
  • sarah1972
    sarah1972 Posts: 19,368 Senior Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Homepage Hero Photogenic
    Ef79 said:
    I think £150 a month is on the low side.
    So do I, £5 a day for everything sounds great to me. 
    I’m a Senior Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Competitions Time, Shopping & Freebies boards, Employment, Jobseeking & Training boards If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
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