Can you do OS and work full time too?

Olliebeak

Hi katylou - I think we all take from OS what we can - well I know that I do .

We still occasionally have ready-meals - sometimes whoopsied (reduced in price for quick sale) which have been bought and then frozen for when needed.

Sometimes these ready-meals are left-over home made casseroles that have been portioned up then frozen for another day.

Have you considered making all the sandwiches on a Sunday evening and then freezing them in bags individually - just need to take a pack out each day for each person - they'll defrost by lunchtime. Doing that on a Sunday should save you some time every evening.

It hardly seems fair that the shopping for you and your son's 'needs' comes to so little, when your OH's 'likes/wants' take up so much - have you actually shown him the figures for the grocery budget and where it all goes to? Maybe he'd like to be a bit more involved in the choosing/shopping etc.

Good Luck with reducing your grocery spending and DON'T give up your bottle of wine - we all need a little luxury in our lives or else we give up and entirely BLOW the budget.

katylou6180

Thanks so far all, I was just sinking under it! We all know (I think) how to do right by our families and do things properly but it's just really hard to try and keep it all going when you see no improvement!! I have retired parents also, who are always nagging about what I have done and haven't done, and if my mother does not see my mealplan on my wall, or if I have missed a bit with the hoover...I am not doing things properly, and it has all gone to the dogs! It just seemed that all this o/s lark was making me feel a faliure...

rosieben

Katylou, I heartily agree with everything Quackers said, especially this - "Now go add that bottle of wine back to your shopping list - sounds like you deserve it to me"

It sounds to me like you're doing a good job under difficult circumstances so give yourself a huge pat on the back! :T

I'm retired but occasionally get a take out or have a ready meal; none of us is perfect, we're all just doing the best we can

katylou6180

CRANKY40, thank-you so much for the perspective.......I don't really need to say any more than that x

Butterfly_Brain

I used to work full time when my kids were small but luckily I have a very supportive husband - why not give all the household accounts over to OH and maybe it will open his eyes to how much it actually costs to run a home these days - I only had to do it once with DH after a row about money and he gave it back after a month, he soon realised that most of our wages was going out on bills and necessities with nothing left for anything else - nowt changes.
I used to spend a whole day in the kitchen when I had a day off and cooked all the meals for a week including biscuits and cakes, then they only had to be taken out of the freezer in the morning and the first one in would pop it in the oven.
Have you got a slow cooker? saves so much time - prepare everything the night before and put it in the slow cooker before leaving for work, job done meal ready when you get in.
Don't want to pry but do you have a joint account or are all the bills and shopping left to you from your wages? If this is the case and he likes junk food so much let him pay for it!

Souk08

[QUOTE= I just feel frazzled, worn out, and that o/s is not really helping me......or my finances....I'm 30 going on 65!
I was just hoping to get some inspiration before I get home after a days work tomorrow, ring for a takeaway(which won't help the weightloss) or resort to a ready meal in the hopes that it will free up precious minutes of my day!
Can you really be an oldstyler and work full time/run a home/be a proper parent?? I don't want to give up trying......[/QUOTE]

Hi OP. I'm 30, work full time and do OS so that I can keep my food budget right down and have money left for fun stuff!!! I'm not anywhere near as OS as many on here but it has helped me to reduce my food budget drastically and keep a budget for entertainment going. The only way to do it is to be organised and batch cook when you're off, use a slow cooker (get OH to buy his own food :rotfl:) and don't worry when you slip. It's still better than eating carp and wasting stuff. Don't give up X

katylou6180

Thanks again people, his wages pay the "household bills" just! anything else is my business, I am quite lucky in the fact that he just gets it paid into our joint account for bills and doesn't really ask any questions as long as he is not denied anything!! lol If he was to say "I'm off for a beer with a friend" which is pretty rare....only happens about once every few mths, and I couldn't give him a tenner he would then create merry hell, same as if I said "no...you will have beans on toast if you are not eating what we are eating" I would then get "well I pay the bills...why won't you buy my food" which in man logic would open up a can of worms and overcomplicate things!!! NB...that does not mean that he has no access to my wages lol, he just goes and gets from a cash machine!

Pitlanepiglet

Big hugs from me too....No kids here but I've been working away from home for the last year and since I moved digs for the weekdays I struggled to cook and I've spent the last 6 months or so eating M&S ready meals for 4 days a week. Now I've moved again, I'm back to cooking but you have to do what you have to do to get through and keep your sanity.

Try to stay on the "OS wagon" where you can, for me it helps me not blowing chunks of money that I then regret.

I'd echo batch cooking and using your freezer, I make 10+ portions of bolagnaise/chilli/cottage pie and freeze them so that on those "there's nothing to eat" days, actually there is something to eat when I open the freezer.

Don't beat yourself up though, OS is what you want it to be....

WendysWorld

katylou6180 wrote: »

Thanks so far all, I was just sinking under it! We all know (I think) how to do right by our families and do things properly but it's just really hard to try and keep it all going when you see no improvement!! I have retired parents also, who are always nagging about what I have done and haven't done, and if my mother does not see my mealplan on my wall, or if I have missed a bit with the hoover...I am not doing things properly, and it has all gone to the dogs! It just seemed that all this o/s lark was making me feel a faliure...

I think this post strikes a chord with many people to be honest. We all go through moments where we feel like we're constantly battling to keep head above water! I've been a member for two years and it's only recently I'm beginning to feel on top of my grocery budget. Not to mention the credit card that seems to spiral for very little reason!
I now work part time since my second boy but I used to work full time after I had my first son and it's incredibly demanding. At the time I had a cleaner I could ill afford but just couldn't bear to get rid of as otherwise I felt the house would fall apart.
Once I went part-time the cleaner had to go and also any notions of a spick-and-span house! I don't know how supportive your husband is with chores, mine is pretty good at helping out with things like laundry and the odd bit of hoovering, and even then there are definitely days when I feel like a bit of a shopping/cleaning/budgeting drudge and the house is a tip with inches of dust and a toy-strewn floor.
The first thing you have to do is lower your expectations of what you can achieve. You work full time and your husband doesn't support your food habits. Therefore you can't have an exceptionally tidy house and there's no point nagging your husband. If he knows why you're unhappy with his food choices and he still doesn't change, leave it. That's his way and you'll make yourself unhappy trying to change him.
As for your parents, they're obviously bored if they notice things like you not putting up mealplans or leaving a bit of dust around. Maybe they could help out? Might not be practical or work for you but if your mum or dad like cooking maybe you could ask them to do a bit of batch cooking for you if you give them the ingredients?
Also, there's nothing wrong with the odd ready meal or frozen pizza. The whole point of them was to help stressed out working mums with little time to cook. The only trouble is it some people take it to extremes and eat little else. However, you obviously don't - but it might do you no harm to have a couple of days eating convenience food and then after you've had a rest and some breathing space you could feel ready to MSE again!

Chin up, you're not alone and you're doing great. You're giving your son the best chance and a fine example (might be another angle to stop husband eating rubbish - not a good example for your son!).
Hope you feel better soon,

BM

floss2

katylou6180 wrote: »

...you will have beans on toast if you are not eating what we are eating" I would then get "well I pay the bills...why won't you buy my food" which in man logic would open up a can of worms and overcomplicate things!!! ...

I think you need to sit down & have a "cards on the table" talk about your finances. If your hubby's wage "pays the bills" what does he think you do with your wage? Does he see your marriage as a partnership? Does he actually know how much everything costs? It can be hard to discuss money, but I think you need to be hard & tell your hubby the facts that his wage only stretches so far, and won't go as far as buying his preferred food. What is your son's opinion of daddy's meals? Does he want your choice or his?