Help with food shopping - need to budget due to new baby

Yorkshirechick

redmel1621 wrote: »

Congratulations on the new baby..

We lived on quickie meals when i had both my boys.

Heat tin of toms or two simmer down a bit, with some finely choped onion and peppers in it. Thicken with cornflour if needed. Mix it into the pan of cooked pasta (twists or shells are best) and mix in some tuna. it takes about 15 mins......and is very cheap.

Ooh will try this, will have to use chicken for OH though as he wont eat tuna

charleybabes

hiya

congratulations on the birth of your lovely boy... isnt it just the nicest time ever when its just you and the baby... :j

when we had our little boy 2 years ago.. we had a lot of soups that my H made, and things like chicken wraps/tua wraps, spag bolls tuna pastas
oh and lots of bacon butties !!!!

easy things that you could just bung in to a pan and not have to think about

i actually for once in my life lost my appetite.. so i wasnt that bothered about food!!

purpleivy

My midwife gave me good advice when I had dd 17 yrs ago.
1. Try and get washed & dressed early in the day, before you start on anything else... like Baby. Otherwise it will be lunch time or someone will call and you're still in your PJ's.
2. First thing after breakfast, decide what you are eating for dinner, if you haven't done that already. Then do something about it if possible, or make sure you get the bits when you go out.

I used to try and start something ready for the next day while I was waiting for that night's spuds to boil or whatever.

kj*daisy

Don't beat yourself up about not getting up early, you've got tiny baby and it really doesn't matter. I used to feed DS in the morning in bed and then we'd go back to sleep, then I'd wake up he'd feed again while I watched TV in bed. Lovely. Didn't do it every day as had baby groups on Mondays and Wednesdays, but really missed being able to do this when had No2 as had to be up anyway to take No1 to nursery. Anyway I digress....

Food wise, rice, pasta jacket spuds. When you do cook try and do batches of mince/casserole etc that can be frozen. It might be cheaper to make up batches of your own pasta sauces and freeze them.
Tinned tuna, cheese, mayo and a tin of sweetcorn in pasta is yummy.
Congratulations on the baby:)

Yorkshirechick

kj*daisy wrote: »

Don't beat yourself up about not getting up early, you've got tiny baby and it really doesn't matter. I used to feed DS in the morning in bed and then we'd go back to sleep, then I'd wake up he'd feed again while I watched TV in bed. Lovely. Didn't do it every day as had baby groups on Mondays and Wednesdays, but really missed being able to do this when had No2 as had to be up anyway to take No1 to nursery. Anyway I digress....

This is what I do now really.
I feed him at about 6ish while the OH is pottering about getting ready for work, then we both go back to sleep and he wakes again at about 9:30, so I feed him in bed. Then we get up at about 10ish.

charleybabes

hi everyone

havnt been on here for quite a while,

i had a baby boy back in july and have been working out a new budget for us
its going to be pretty tight really
i have to go back to work in january for 3 days a week..dont want to go back at all but there is no way we can afford for me NOT to go back
anyway this means two lots of childcare as i have two children now

have worked it out that after all loans and bills plus mortgage and with a little help from tax credits we should have about £90 a week left to live on to buy everything, food,clothes,anything else holidays etc
just been on the asda website now and just putting in baby milk,nappies, wipes and 6pt whole milk for my two yr old comes to £20...
so really we are looking to live on £70 a week..can this be done and still have a life at the end of it.. i dont want to live some frugal life..
i want my children to have lovely memories of their childhood not remembering it as a hardship or a struggle..
never having holidays or any new clothes..i feel such a failure already as a parent

debbiemc_2

Hi charleybabes :wave:

I'm sure it can be done, to live on £70 a week. There's lots of tips on the site and on the forums to bring down the cost of your outgoings like bills etc, and to reduce your food shopping bill. Meal planning helps to keep track of things, and downshifting to supermarket own brands and value brands can save a lot of money. Worth keeping an eye out on Freecycle and eBay for other things you need.

As for being a parent... as long as your children are happy and healthy that is the main thing, not how much money you have to spend on them. I'm a divorcee with a 3-year-old, and money is tight, and I work full-time, so my "quality" time with my wee one is almost always free, and always fun! Trips to the park, picnics, painting, feeding the ducks to name but a few. Our Saturday morning ritual is taking the recycling to the banks - she loves it :rolleyes: and its just nice to do things together, whether it be gardening, or making cakes. I'm sure you're doing a fantastic job

I'm sure a clever person will be along soon with links to helpful areas of the forum/site for you to take a look at, but browsing the menus at the top of the page will give you ideas and inspiration, and the Grocery Challenge thread on Old Style is helpful to keep you focused.

HTH.

Debbie. x

Penelope_Penguin

charleybabes wrote: »

so really we are looking to live on £70 a week..can this be done and still have a life at the end of it.. i dont want to live some frugal life..
i want my children to have lovely memories of their childhood not remembering it as a hardship or a struggle..
never having holidays or any new clothes..i feel such a failure already as a parent

It can be done My children had plenty of lovely memories of their childhood - many of them done on a shoestring (feeding ducks, picnics, building sandcastles, library). Most of all they had care and attention from their parents, and that, IMHO, counts for far more than money

BTW - they have never had many brand new clothes - I'm more than happy to buy second hand, and they are too, now that they're 13 and 15. Holidays when they were small were mainly camping in the UK - not expensive

Can you tell us exactly what you'd like help with, then we can point you in the direction of relevant threads

Penny. x

lamplady

The first thing I would do would be to check with your local council as to whether they have any schemes for reusable nappies - many councils offer a grant for buying washable nappies or a month's free trial of a nappy laundering scheme which will save you some money.

It's well worth asking on freecycle for baby equipment.

I would see if your local library has a toy library too - I used one a lot with my children and it meant they had lots of different things to play with, and I hadn't wasted money if they didn't enjoy something.

sweetnskint

i think its quite important for kids to realise that money doesnt just come out of a wall in buckets.im sure it will make them appreciate all things more- didnt do mine any harm!its more of a community sharing baby items and helping others.def not a failure... x