Sticking to a budget

It's very difficult for young families, when parents are working. There isn't much time for cooking and shopping around.

Plenty of families manage it.

The average person spends 3-4 hours a day watching tv, 2 hours a day on Facebook, 1 1/2 hours a day on instagram and much the same on Instagram and TikTok. www.uswitch.com/mobiles/screentime-report/.

They can find time to make an online supermarket order and cook a proper meal.

Monica, plenty of families don't manage it. You haven't a clue about working parents!
Also one online supermarket order does not allow one to shop around various stores and get the best prices.

Apart from being one for 20 years, and having a son and diL who are working parents. All of us eat and ate mainly home cooked meals.

You become adept at collecting recipes that can be quickly prepared at short notice and you batch cook.

I agree online ordering does not allow you to shop around, but most people do not have enough big supermarkets close enough to them to do that either.

We live in the populous South East, DS and DiL live well into a big northern town. Shopping around would cost them a fortune in petrol and the same for us. Cheaper to choose one supermarket and stick to it.

My approach to cooking was learned by watching Ready Steady Cook. A mix of raw ingredients, store cupboard staples and tinned pulses, tomatoes, fruit. We’re vegetarian which I’m sure saves us money. We don’t buy takeaways but freeze the third helping when dishing out, which means that we can have ‘takeaway nights’.
I buy and freeze small loaves and crumpets. This saves stale waste.
But even so, our food bills have more than doubled over the past few years.

Monica It might not work for your children but shopping around won't cost everyone a fortune. I do it, but working parents won't have the time. Older people do.
My child lives in the SE too, although I don't know how that is relevant.
Up at 6.30. Get children ready, deliver to school, go to work, finish work, collect children, make evening meal , one child vegetarian, do homework, put younger child to bed read to him. Load dishwasher, get clothes, etc ready for next morning, spend some time with older child, flop down for an hour hopefully.
Exhausting day. Many parents will opt for something quick and easy for evening meals. Weekend do housework, laundry, have some quality time with children.
.
Batch cooking?? When? And 3-4 hours screen time daily?

Add to that taxi-ing children to evening scouts, guides etc, weekend sporting to football, archery, etc in fact I’m not sure how they do it tbh.

That's right, WWM2 forgot about karate, swim lessons , etc.

I try to cook well on a budget but have never heard of making butter from double cream as a budgeting trick. I can't see how that would work? A block of butter is - what- £1.89 at Aldi.

Trottoir I don't think it's always cost effective - butter went very expensive for about six months and I could buy cream at cut down prices and use that to make butter. Doesn't matter if it's on it's end date, the butter won't go off like cream will. As the price of butter comes down you're not really saving much so unless you want to do it it's probably not worth it.

nadeturbe That was my life for 20 years. You are fortunate to have so many Supermarkets all within walking distance of your house.

As for batch cooking simples. In the morning, btween doing every thing else, put 2lbs of frozen diced meat in a casserole, in between add other tinned and frozen veg and herbs/spices, just before you leave for work, put in oven on delayed setting. You arrive home to a cooked supper plus an extra portion to freeze.
At a weekend, every so often, have a spaghetti Bolognaise but make with 5lbs of mince. I meal to eat immediately, 4 more in the freezer. Admittedly we all ate the same meals, so no seprate catering for one member of the family.

I did it for 20 years, DS and family do it there way, although since she was 12, DGD has done a lot of the cooking, by insistence. We are nothing remarkable so, most people could do it if they wanted to.

Children do grow and get older year by year, so the worst is over by the time they reach 11 or even a year ot two below that.

All it requires is organisation, and reorganisation on a daily basis.

And a car, and a freezer, and all those ingredients that make that cooked from scratch meal tasty.

Old ground...

Whitewavemark2

Add to that taxi-ing children to evening scouts, guides etc, weekend sporting to football, archery, etc in fact I’m not sure how they do it tbh.

Is it anything we didn't do? I was on the road for hours daily (long trip to and from school) and did all the clubs, sports, etc.

I'm not so sure times are different.

I taxi my GC/GGC to their stuff - seems the same, distance hasn't changed since I went to school or our children either.

I didn't do any activities after school, and my daughter just went to brownies once a week.

Norah

Whitewavemark2

Add to that taxi-ing children to evening scouts, guides etc, weekend sporting to football, archery, etc in fact I’m not sure how they do it tbh.

Is it anything we didn't do? I was on the road for hours daily (long trip to and from school) and did all the clubs, sports, etc.

I'm not so sure times are different.

I taxi my GC/GGC to their stuff - seems the same, distance hasn't changed since I went to school or our children either.

But you didn't have a 40 hour job to fit into all that. Many of us did.

As for batch cooking simples. In the morning, btween doing every thing else, put 2lbs of frozen diced meat in a casserole, in between add other tinned and frozen veg and herbs/spices, just before you leave for work, put in oven on delayed setting. 😃

I would love to hear my DDs response if I told her to do this. She already does as much as possible with a 6.30am start.

Also you assume young parents can buy 5lbs of mince and have a large freezer.
I don't think you have much idea of how many families live.

That post is to Monica.

growstuff

Norah

Whitewavemark2

Add to that taxi-ing children to evening scouts, guides etc, weekend sporting to football, archery, etc in fact I’m not sure how they do it tbh.

Is it anything we didn't do? I was on the road for hours daily (long trip to and from school) and did all the clubs, sports, etc.

I'm not so sure times are different.

I taxi my GC/GGC to their stuff - seems the same, distance hasn't changed since I went to school or our children either.

But you didn't have a 40 hour job to fit into all that. Many of us did.

I'm well aware I had no job, but thank you for reminding all of us.

I just drove an exceedingly long distance to and from - they went to school in town, as do their children (Catholic schools are not in every part of the county).

My point is simple, I don't believe life is busier for parents.

Everybody is busy, everybody makes choices.

When I was young many mothers didn't work and also more people lived in extended family situations. So there was always someone to help. Many like my DD moved away for work and have no family nearby.
Many couples need both partners to work as cost of living is so high. They don't all have choice.

In my DDs last office (government job) almost all those with children were in receipt of universal credit.
I don't know how anyone can dispute that many are struggling and food prices have soared. Its bound to affect those with children more than others.

Floradora9

paddyann54 I am astounded by the amount you spend on groceries . We eat well and include wine now and again but do not spend anything like as much as you are quoting . I cannot imagine what you are buying would you like to give us an idea .
By the way someone mentioned private pensions. I took out one before my mean employer decided to include part time workers in their scheme . When I retired I opted to take some of my pp as a lump sum though I had no plans for it . This was a mistake I wish I had just taken the greater amount than I get in monthly pension.

I'm astonished too.

I know the cost of living has gone up recently but to have been £779.95 in 2023 without meat or fish and missing things from the supermarket shelves, whatever they might be, is more than ours and we are not parsimonious, and include wine in our shop. Sometimes our bill is higher but averages out much less than that.
This doesn't cover my butcher or fishmonger - that is a large proportion of the cost for non-vegetarians.

Perhaps it's far more expensive to live in Scotland? 🤔

nadateturbe

Monica, plenty of families don't manage it. You haven't a clue about working parents!
Also one online supermarket order does not allow one to shop around various stores and get the best prices.

Many of us were working parents. I think M0nica was one of them!

We still did manage to cook.

Whitewavemark2

Add to that taxi-ing children to evening scouts, guides etc, weekend sporting to football, archery, etc in fact I’m not sure how they do it tbh.

But most us did.
And I managed it on my own as DH worked away. And cared for an elderly disabled parent some of the time.

"How did I do it" I sometimes wonder.

M0nica
If only slow cookers had been invented then 🙂

I know very well how most people live in this country. At one end some are poor, struggling, juggling with several jobs. At the other end they are very wealthy, have staff, nannies etc etc .

In the middle the majority of households have an adequate , income, and are not desperate to make every penny work for 2, albeit they need to budget carefully - and cooking from scratch is cheaper than ready meals or take-aways, even if all your provisions are obtained from one supplier.

Why spend hours flogging from shop to shop saving 10p hear 15p there, when you can be at home with your children and a delivery from Sainsbury quickly putting a meal together cheaply from scratch?

Families affording 5 lbs of mince? Where is the difference between buying 5lbs of mince one week and buying no more for 5 or 6 weeks and buying 1lb of mince a week? Take a walk round Currys and see the size of fridges and freezers there. Lots of large fridge freezers, so somebody is buying them.

nadaturbe I understand your concern about those in poverty and very small incomes, but so often I notice on GN many people are so concerned for this group they think they comprise the whole population, bar poverty stricken pensioners. Thankfully, they do not, and discussing issues like this one, we need to look at how they fit the majority of the population, not just one small, though too large, group.

Norah I always think your claims of being a stay at home mother are deceptive. The impression I have is that you had a virtually full time job as an adminstrator for your husband's business, which happened to be based at your home.

Monica the OP said I don't know how people with kids cope. That is what I'm addressing.
Some families can't afford to buy 5 weeks in advance.

Well some people with kids cope very well. Others don't. Whats new?