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never ventured into here before

Ive never ventured into this part of the Forum before until today.

Basically, I have bought a house and am moving out of the parents home.
A big step in a way, but equally a challenge that I probaby need.

Just checked out people doing Meal Planners, in advance. I must say at home i used to hate knowing i would have a specific meal on a specific day and cant wait to have my own control over it.

Good tips about when you can buy reduced price food at the end of specific days, which you can simply freeze.

Does anyone have any good Recipes for me.
I could live off Pasta & Rice but im sure the novelty will wear off and so variety. Id like to follow a recipe rather than doing it myself. Great idea I saw for a Lasagne, to add some Chilli to spice it up. cant believe ive never thought of that before. Particularly will look to Cook things and have it again using some of the ingredients or Freeze it for another day. Am I right if i bought frozen meat& cooked it,you cannot refreeze it. only if it was Fresh Meat. Dont wanna make myself ill :rolleyes:

Any Meal ideas would be great. I will have to do my very First Food Shop soon (once i have cleaned the kitchen,fridge&freezer), exciting in itself, moved all my stuff in and bought some Kitchen equipment..

Probs will b a regular to this Board, anything to make sure my Budget and Quality of Life is good now that Im skint and get that dreaded mortgage paid off

Comments

  • comping_cat
    comping_cat Posts: 24,006
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    Forumite
    Hello and welcome to old style!!!! You should be made to feel very welcome here !!!!!
    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=458838#post458838
    Ive posted a link to the recipe collection, you should be able to find lots of lovely recipe ideas there!!!!
  • Queenie
    Queenie Posts: 8,793 Forumite
    :hello: Welcome leeegglestone :hello:

    As well as the recipe links given above, you might find some of our older threads particularly useful:-

    Extract from The Mega Index:- ...... For those of you new to Old Style and wondering where and how to start there are some threads now listed in Getting Started.
    Hope that helps :):):)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    PMS Pot: £57.53 Pigsback Pot: £23.00
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • leeegglestone
    leeegglestone Posts: 2,592 Forumite
    These Links are awesome.

    I think its just the kind of structure I need.
    Before I bought my house, i made a spreadsheet and predicted expenditure.
    For Food I put £100 a Month, obviously i had no way of knowing if that was good or bad, its only for me too.

    Do you think its a good idea for me to do a Shop, to fill my cupboards with things.

    Then maybe after a week or so. Start planning what I am going to have in advance, and then when I do my next Shop, it means I will know what to buy specifically. Hopefully this way will make me stay in Budget.
    Am not sure If I should shop weekly or Monthly. Hmm I may not had enough Fridge & Freezer Storage Space for a Month, we will see.

    Any things that I should buy which have many Uses. obviously Minces & Chicken is great.
    I already have a supply of Pasta & Rice.
  • comping_cat
    comping_cat Posts: 24,006
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    Forumite
    A good idea is to go through your cupboards and freezer, and list what you already have, and then maybe do a shop and stock up on other things you might need. I always recomend keeping your shopping receipts for a month, to see what you are buying, and maybe if you are buying things that you dont use/want or need, you know not to buy them the following month!!! Once you have a well stocked store cupboard you will prob find your monthly shopping bills will go down, it will just be the initial large shop that costs the most!!!!
    Something else i do, is always keep one unopened, one opened and as i open the unopened one, i then know to buy another. That way i never run out of one of essentials that i use regularly.
  • leeegglestone
    leeegglestone Posts: 2,592 Forumite
    I pretty much have nothing, just some Jars of Sauce, Pasta And Rice that my mam has saved up when she has been doin her shopping to help start me off.

    Suppse my budget doesnt start till after next payday, by then i should know what all my Bills are going to be
  • r.mac_2
    r.mac_2 Posts: 4,746 Forumite
    hi there and welcome.

    first point about frozen meat - if it is frozen while raw, once it has been cooked it can be frozen again. just don't do what i do and forget to label the freezer container!

    £100 a month for just you sounds plenty to ensure a balanced diet, include some wine (or your prefered tipple) and all your cleaning products.

    i tend to do a big shop online (i am quite far from a large supermarket and havn't a car) unsing online vuchers on this site to buy my staples for the freezer and storecupboard. then i top up on fresh veg etc once a week or 10days or so. helps me stay in budget too.

    best of luck
    aless02 wrote: »
    r.mac, you are so wise and wonderful, that post was lovely and so insightful!
    I can't promise that all my replies will illicit this response :p
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