Money money money

Nomes

Nomes

Gold Member
Don't know if anyone watched panorama other night about paying with cash instead of card and really got me thinking. I never have savings and don't have children so no excuse!

Wrote out a budget and looked at how much I spend on getting thin and healthy and was shocked to see that I was spending more on takeaway that losing weight :0

So, despite the fact the Chinese was within syns and' allowed' I'm going to cut down. Healthy food is def cheaper!
 
Nomes said:
Don't know if anyone watched panorama other night about paying with cash instead of card and really got me thinking. I never have savings and don't have children so no excuse!

Wrote out a budget and looked at how much I spend on getting thin and healthy and was shocked to see that I was spending more on takeaway that losing weight :0

So, despite the fact the Chinese was within syns and' allowed' I'm going to cut down. Healthy food is def cheaper!
Click to expand...

Watch Channel 4 on Monday - there's a programme on called something like 'Jimmy and the giant supermarket' which is a man campaigning to get supermarkets to stock healthy free range meat at cheap prices. I know the cost of takeaways mount up but I have real issues with the govt telling us to eat healthily and then fruit . veg and meat being sold at shocking prices....
 
The one thing that put me off having a synned takeaway when I was losing was that I had no control over what went into it. Also, having done it once and having had the foresight to weigh the portion I found that what I was given weighed over double what SW was saying was a portion. So despite having chosen something that was relatively low syn thinking I was being good, I was effectively having something with at least twice the syns that I thought it was going to be.

After that, if I wanted something takeaway like, I would make the fanta or diet coke chicken, the syn free KFC, or the salt and pepper chicken/chips recipe that I modified to be syn free.
 
stivesliz said:
Watch Channel 4 on Monday - there's a programme on called something like 'Jimmy and the giant supermarket' which is a man campaigning to get supermarkets to stock healthy free range meat at cheap prices. I know the cost of takeaways mount up but I have real issues with the govt telling us to eat healthily and then fruit . veg and meat being sold at shocking prices....
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean. I can't believe the level my food bill is now running at.

I don't really have a direct comparison as I've always eaten a lot of fruit, veg and good cuts of meat. However, my mum has started SW as the dr has told her if she doesn't lose weight she will be immobile. Their diet was atrocious (apart from the fact they always ate good quality meat). My dad said that since starting SW their food bill has gone up £40 a week due to cost of fruit, veg and mullerlights.

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
 
I very rarely get take-away, usually have it if we're having it with friends or something, I've never bothered weighing it but don't worry too much as I'm getting it as a treat, so don't mind if it's double the weight as I know I've gone for a low syn option, having something for 7 syns... that is actually 14 syns is much better then going for a higher syn option which is then also double the weight so double the syns. I can't remember the last time I had take-away though, it was possibly Christmas eve.

As for healthy eating I don't find it that expensive at all, I get most of my shop from morrisons, get fruit and veg when its on offer from either Morrisons or the fruit and veg shop in town. We pop to Asda for some things but find its rubbish for fruit and veg and very rarely go to tesco as we find out of the three its the most expensive for most things at the moment.

I only buy things when they're on a good offer though, like at the moment I have no muller lights in, I'm on ww yoghurts and natural yog as they were what were on the best offer. I'd spend a lot more if I just bought what I fancied without looking at the price.
 
I find that healthy food is so expensive in comparison to junk food :( so annoying and they government wonder why people are becoming dangerously obese!
 
I don't think SW has made a big difference to our food bill but in general over the last year it has gone up massively.

I couldn't believe my eyes in Tesco the other day when I saw a 500g punnet of cherries for 6.99!!! Time to start shopping around a bit more!

We've managed to save some money by buying our household cleaning products from places like poundland instead of the big supermarkets.
 
Wegle said:
I don't think SW has made a big difference to our food bill but in general over the last year it has gone up massively.

I couldn't believe my eyes in Tesco the other day when I saw a 500g punnet of cherries for 6.99!!! Time to start shopping around a bit more!

We've managed to save some money by buying our household cleaning products from places like poundland instead of the big supermarkets.
Click to expand...

£6.99 for a punnet of cherries?!!??! were they made of gold? :eek:
 
I was chatting about the price of fruit and veg with a member of home economics and they said if you only bought in season produce it shouldnt be as high in price.

I prefer to cook my own version as I know what is in my food exactly :)
 
I can't say I've noticed a difference in my shopping bill, but I defo will save money on not buying takeaways and fastfood at lunch.

I just buy myself stuff for breakfast/lunch/tea and snack on fruit, I've not bought any snacky bits or mullerlights
 
If people bought fruit and veg which was in season and also didn't fall into the Mullerlight/Alpen Light trap, food bills would be so much cheaper. You don't have to buy strawberries all year round and courgettes in winter for example!!
It's about education really - I think as there is such an abundance of stuff in the shops we feel we have to buy it, we don't.

A big bag of potatoes in Morrisons is £1, beans are cheap, carrots are always cheap. Strawberries are a pound at the moment. I always buy bananas, the other day I wanted one for my lunch - it was 13p, cheap as anything! A free range chicken is expensive, but I can make it stretch to 3 meals for 3 of us. I'm tucking into a big bowlful of cous cous salad, it would have cost pence to make, and it's healthy.

Back to the original post though..... I agree, cash is a good way to go. Decide how much you want to spend on your shopping each month, draw the cash out and stick to it. I've done it before and it does make you think!! It's a long week at the end of the month with no cash left from that allowance!!!
 
Back to the original post though..... I agree, cash is a good way to go. Decide how much you want to spend on your shopping each month, draw the cash out and stick to it. I've done it before and it does make you think!! It's a long week at the end of the month with no cash left from that allowance!!![/QUOTE]

It is indeed! I am going to try to use cash only in June to see how it works. There's no reason why I can't save if I just stick to a budget.

What does cous-cous taste like?
 
cous cous tastes of nothing at all - you have to really season it! I used lots of salt and pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, lemon juice and a whole bunch of chopped coriander. Topped with 2 soft boiled eggs.

I could never eat it on it's own, it's just bland!
 
jaylou said:
If people bought fruit and veg which was in season and also didn't fall into the Mullerlight/Alpen Light trap, food bills would be so much cheaper. You don't have to buy strawberries all year round and courgettes in winter for example!!
It's about education really - I think as there is such an abundance of stuff in the shops we feel we have to buy it, we don't.

A big bag of potatoes in Morrisons is £1, beans are cheap, carrots are always cheap. Strawberries are a pound at the moment. I always buy bananas, the other day I wanted one for my lunch - it was 13p, cheap as anything! A free range chicken is expensive, but I can make it stretch to 3 meals for 3 of us. I'm tucking into a big bowlful of cous cous salad, it would have cost pence to make, and it's healthy.

Back to the original post though..... I agree, cash is a good way to go. Decide how much you want to spend on your shopping each month, draw the cash out and stick to it. I've done it before and it does make you think!! It's a long week at the end of the month with no cash left from that allowance!!!
Click to expand...

You're right. I'm one of those that falls into the out of season trap. I'm in the lucky position that I can just add to my trolley and not think about it but I appreciate a lot of people can't.

A girl that helps look after my daughter (I have a back injury at moment, not super lazy) :) manages to feed a family of 4 for £25 a week. She still manages to buy fresh produce...I need to get some tips!

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
 
I am also fortunate in that I don't have to think about what goes into the trolley, but I do think about it. I'd rather spend my money on other things! And I really do love the wait for seasonal veg, asparagus and British strawberries being the prime examples for me :)
 
Yep I need to start thinking about it more, especially as you can't beat the taste of produce in season.

Maybe I should start a kitty and put all the money I save on my shopping into it. When I reach target I could use it to go on a huge shopping spree for some new clothes and shoes :)

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
 
If you have a Aldi near you, its actually really easy to buy fruit & veg cheaply. You can buy the Aldi SUper 6 options each week, and they are only 39p or 69p a go. Very rarely is any veg or fruit over £1 in there.
 
ohblondone said:
You're right. I'm one of those that falls into the out of season trap. I'm in the lucky position that I can just add to my trolley and not think about it but I appreciate a lot of people can't.

A girl that helps look after my daughter (I have a back injury at moment, not super lazy) :) manages to feed a family of 4 for £25 a week. She still manages to buy fresh produce...I need to get some tips!

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
Click to expand...
I can't imagine how anyone could feed a family of four for £25?? There are 5 of us and the food bill seems to be going up and up its scary.
I could really do with reigning it in!
 
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