please please help worried and scared

pania

OK, re the food, Get into meal planning. write down each friday a list of meals you are going to cook for the next week. GO shopping on saturday with your list and buy what you need for that. Check out asda lidl and aldi if you don't already. I found loooads of really top pasta sauces in lidls that were sold by tesco but half the price. I agree that food budget can be reduced dramatically. give it a go. xxx

nadine08

yes it would be much for satisfying, i spent 105 yesterday at tesco, gonna sit down over the weekend and try and do a budget next week for say 50-60, i hardly ever cook from scratch you see so that bumps it up, chilli jars, pasta jars, frozen meals etc. have loads of stuff atcually clearing out our old shed today.
has anyone ever been in the same position as me with oh not knowing about stuff? i wish i had never ever said i would sort the money out over xmas, wouldnt be here now if i hadnt of done!!

nadine08

thanks so much again for all your replies, gotta go now and sort out my daughter, more time needs to be spent with her me thinks. all this had made me feel so low these last few weeks! i will be back on again soon to let you know how i am going, thanks agian so much. x

robpw2

woudl be interesting for you to tell us what you spent £105 on in tesco .

it amazes me how much people spend on food etc in a week

If you post the items you bought ie off your reciept and how much it cost you -i could and im sure others could find you the best price .

You should check the supermarket comparison sites for items .

If your buying sauces in jars thats ok you still can but i would suggest that you look at own brand .

I think that frozen meals are full of rubbish and would never ever suggest you buy these thought you can make food of your own and freeze it for during the week .

Cooking is rewarding and you dont have to cook (fresh every night) you could cook three or four meals on a saturday split into containers and then freezr

LilacPixie

I'm shouting too. Donot touch welcome with a barge pole.seriously.

With regards to food shopping we are 2 adults one toddler and we are less than £50 a week. If you pop over to old style and search the fourm for cheap meals it will help.

One thing i did was emptied the freezer and made a list of what we had then did the same with the fridge and cupboards.

look here with the results for ideas http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/search.html

You can easilly make an 8 portion lasagne for £2 that would give you the main part of one meal and enough to freeze for the next week too. Old style had 4 portion veg currys for literally pennies.

Idunno if your daughter watches big cook little cook but my toddler does and she loves it.It might be an idea to spend a little time with her one day having a cooking session. You will be playing with her and doing the tea at the same time. My Daughter especially loves beating he eggs for omlettes while i chop the veg and peel the pots for real chips

pania

have a good day nadine, imagine how hubbys face will look when you are doing the spreadsheet, you come to the food bit and say "oh no, i don't need all that!"

RoxieW

I bought a basil pot plant for £1.99 - now I can make endless tomato pasta sauces for the price of literally a tin of tomatoes. I make a big batch up, and freeze in portions in sandwiches bags. Then, its so easy to defrost a portion for a pasta sauce, a Bolognese sauce, a soup etc. I've managed to knock about £100 off our shopping bill just through meal planning (less gets thrown away and wasted) - down to £300 a month and we eat very well, finest ranges and all organic. I could knock another £100 a month off I'm sure by not buying organic and buying value or supermarkets own.

robpw2

well done roxiew

singlemum_4

Lilac pixie, I've just looked at the cooking by numbers link, its fantastic don't think I need to hit the shops for ages now!!!

Nadine why don't you look at the grocery challenge on the oldstyle board I find it keeps me on track with my spending. I manage to feed me and two teenagers who are always starving on about £160 pm now by doing it.
We also eat much more healthily by cooking from scratch and they have both learnt cooking and budgeting skills which with luck they will take into their adult lives and prevent them ever getting into debt.

robpw2

i got some recipie cards from sainsbury all of them eat for under fiver if yu want recipe pm me