I need to stop spending on food, its getting stupid please let me know how u plan

[hulahoopsilove]

I'm quite good at initial shop will do morris, aldi or asda depends where I am, then I find myself going two or three times to local supermarket for this that and the other I'm spending stupid money. I need to stop :(

[MrsPennyapple]

Am I the only one who finds meal planning really, really hard? I do do it, but I normally only plan about four days ahead. We seem to have the same few meals on rotation, and I just get sick of them. I sit down to think about what meals to make in the next few days, and feel like I will actually weep if I have to cook / eat yet another tomato-based pasta dish.

[AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore]

MrsP yep - I struggle with it sometimes. One of the things I've done to force myself out of it is to buy a different type of meat that I don't normally buy - just once a week. Like pork chops, steak, or even the same type of meat a different way. I bought lamb meatballs a month ago and made them the other night (were in freezer). Kind of forces me out of my comfort zone IYSWIM.

[unrealhousewife]

Food is expensive. If you're already shopping at Aldi I would cut out internet, TV or mobile costs. If you live in town, ditch the car.

[Mini05]

I too am finding meal planning hard, I'm not very good at eating fancy things I'm a very plain eater really. but there's still some things either I won't eat or DS doesn't like DP will eat anything
We tend to have the same thing week and week aghhh, it sometimes comes to meal times and I think god I don't want that!!

I've been looking for plainish meals, easy/quick, it's just hard to know where to look and what for. Even Jamie Oliver 15 mins meals are fancy or you've got to have loads herbs and spices in your cupboard!

[outtolunchagain]

Mrspennyapple, I feel the same , I wouldn't say mine were especially fussy but at the end of the day finding something that suits all five and can be kept hot for dh, he doesn't get in until 9ish win the evening is so,e destroying and repetitive.

I used to love cooking , it was my hobby, now I hate it

[outtolunchagain]

Also a large chicken just about does one meal for us , three teenage boys and 2 adults

[nbee84]

For me changing the day I shopped has saved me money (and meal planning to some extent)

I always used to shop on a Sunday morning. I work full days Monday to Thursday and always ended up needing to pop to the shops on a Friday and come out £20 - 30 lighter. So I changed my shopping day to Fridays and think ahead to what we'll be eating on my work days so that I've got all the ingredients I need.

[MrsPennyapple]

Thank goodness it's not just me. I used to love cooking too, but these days it's just another chore. I don't think any of us are particularly fussy. DH makes things difficult though, for example by insisting on having meat every meal, and refusing to acknowledge soup as an actual meal, that kind of thing. I make a mean lentil dahl, which I love, but he says it needs something with it (ie meat). I keep joking about slapping a slice of ham on the top for him. The reality is that it's quite an easy meal to make, but if I have to start faffing about doing something extra for him, it's no longer an easy meal.

[unrealhousewife]

In my family of 5 active males and two active females, we had a big lump of meat most nights which kept us all quiet. calorie needs are massive as teens. It was fairly easy to cook, often pressure cookered cheap cuts of lamb or a roast chicken and was economical per head. Tongue was sadly also sometimes on offer, the whole thing. Liver as well, but that was good.

[Frontier]

I just don't go back.

Shop once a week, to a list which includes the meal plan stuff and anything anyone else has written on during the week.

If it wasn't on the list this week it waits 'til next week. No-one's going to starve, they just might have to have something different to their first choice.

I reckon our breadmaker has saved £100s. Firstly we get really nice bread at a fraction of the cost of similar stuff in the shops but mainly because we always have fresh bread without having to go near a shop and pick up loads of extras at the same time.

Mrs Pennyapple, I keep a bag of homemade meatballs and/or chicken nuggets in the freeze for vege nights, so people who think meal's not a meal without meat have a meatball or two on top of the vege meal.

[MrsPennyapple]

We have a breadmaker too, but I'm not sure it saves us any money, apart from the actual cost of the bread. I still seem to find myself going shopping most days.

The veg that is available locally doesn't seem to keep very well, so I don't buy more than I'll use in the next couple of days, I think that is part of the problem.

The meatball idea is a good one. I must confess I don't know what meat DH thinks would go well with dahl, I love it as it is.

[AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore]

MrsP I think you should just whack off a slice of Spam and put it next to his dahl. "There's your meat, dear."

[Frontier]

We have a veg box, so veg is only delivered once a week. When it arrives (sometimes the highlight of my week ) I write the meal plan so everything is used and what needs using first is used first. Salad/strawberries today, carrots/swede end of the week. You can't be buying carrots that only last a couple of days?

[hulahoopsilove]

Ok an update...
Im so pleased with myself I have gone to the shops well local ones twice this week only for bread - came out with bread and a pot of jam - the Jam was on offer and I had run out so I dont see that as cheating.

Today went and got 2 x jacket pots for 89p as the ones we were going to have tonight were bad, I didnt buy anything else

[hulahoopsilove]

this week will be the challenge as I get paid Friday so will do my weekly shop - after Ive meal planned or I may do a shop online. Im setting a budget for myself (money is tight this month) and will try and not go over.

[DoristheCamel]

I think I am going to try thus meal planning nwxt week when the kids go back to school. We spend an obscene proportion of our income on groceries with too mamy random visits to the shops on a whim just because we fancy something specific tjat evening.
I find it really hard though as Dh often works away last minute - calling at 2pm to say he won't be home for 2/3 days.
DH also is a nightmare for bulk buying offers. I have a cupboard full of Lloyd Grosman jars in only 2 varieties atm!!

I was recently diagnosed anaemic so bought liver for the first time in about 10years and found a pack costing £1.30 did a huge meal. I added onions ang gravy granules (last minute meal) and served with mash and carrots. It was such a cheap meal and there was enough left to freeze a large portion/2 small portions. There are 2 adults and 2 teens in this house.
I know liver is not everyones taste but seeing how far it went it will be appearing a little mire iften in our house from niw in. Its also made me consider what other offal and cheap cuts maybe worth considering.

[PinkAndBlueBedtimeBears]

I meal plan pretty well, anyone struggling with the same meals on rotation, or like me (sitting down to do the meal plan and only being able to think of 3 meals..) I've got a list in my kitchen of all of the recipes I've cooked and my family like- so when I'm lacking inspiration it reminds me of the stuff we like!

Also, what are the cheaper cuts of meat? We have mince a lot as it's cheap, and chicken occasionally, and veggie meals a few times a week- but I'd love to cut down our mince and replace with more exciting stuff in the same price range? I just never seem to think anything is as good value..?!

[AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore]

Not sure what the cheaper cuts of meat are, but I do cut the mince in half when I make spag bol, chili, anything really that there is mince in where it can feasibly be cut in half. Nobody's noticed it yet.

I also used to chop up chicken in the veg soup that I made, one day I didn't. I used the chicken carcass to make the stock, but used the leftover chicken for another meal. Nobody even noticed there was no chicken among all the chopped up veg and dumplings. So I haven't put chicken in it since.

[madamemuddle]

Last week I went through the fridge and noted all the bits and bobs that were lingering. I then went onto BBC Good Food website, planned the dinners we were going to have then wrote a shopping list for all the extras. It's been so much easier as I normally make lots of visits to the supermarket which is such a waste of time.

Things that save us money...
Roasting a chicken or a joint of meat and using up the leftovers
Egg based dinners (i.e. omelette)
Bean based dinners with chorizo
Not going shopping until you really have to

[MrsPennyapple]

I agree with madamemuddle about roasting a chicken. We had one on Sunday and used the rest of the meat in sweet & sour chicken the next day, cheaper than buying breast fillets / diced chicken for the sweet & sour, and had a lot more flavour too. The carcass is now in the freezer, and when we have two or three I'll make stock. (It's worth having a slow cooker just for that.)