Week 7...I think

After a bout of norovirus, a chest infection and just general spinal injury crapness I'm back.

Mr ATL and I are well into the swing of our month at £100 or less, having saved £ from last month's budget. Presently we're cooking in two week cycles meaning 2 weeks of 4 we're only buying milk, peanut butter and eggs (for Mr ATL's breakfast shakes).

This week was the proper shop week meaning our shopping included:

	Week 2
Basics Peanut Butter	0.65
Basics Pasta x2	0.7
Basics Eggs	1.25
Whole Milk 6pts	1.48
Basics 4kg Potatoes	1.9
Basics Cooking Bacon	1.15
Basics Chicken 2.5kg	4
Basics Carrots	0.75
Basics Mushrooms	0.85
Basics Courgettes	1.75
Basics Onions	0.9
Basics Aubergine	1.3
Basics Kidney Beans	0.6
Pumpkin	3
Sweet Potatoes	1.5
Basics Stock cubes	0.3
Total	22.08

I'd already planned the meals we were having and with that in mind we have 61 meals in total of the following mixes:

1. Roast chicken with roast potatoes and veg
2. Fajita chicken
3. Veggie curry
4. Veggie chilli
5. Pumpkin soup
6. Tasty extra: Roasted pumpkin seeds.

 

 Mr ATL is very much responsible for the knolling in the second picture as he clearly has far too much time on his hands.
Only problem we currently have is a massive lack of freezer space - so the overage for the next couple of months may have to go towards a new chest freezer to store these. In an ideal world I would like to do the majority of a half term's worth of meals in one hit (although that would be anywhere up to 224 depending on the half term)

Something for Nothing (Ish)

Growing your own can be a massive help when trying to work to a budget.

Our season wasn't without issues, and we're really only just getting to the point where we have veggies that are ripe and ready. Rainbow chard has been our biggest gardening win this year as it continues to put out after a chop - I think I read that if we cover it before the frosts it should come back next year too.

The chillies are just starting to ripen which means soon they can come in to dry and I should have a year's supply if not more of them sorted.
The massive fails in the garden were the aubergines and anything we left in the cold frame - someone decided all of these were really tasty and that was the end of that. Oh and the Nero, damn you cabbage whites!

Next year we have a plan to get the garden fully operational with some self constructed pallet beds round the back of the sheds in the garden - which should make next year's budgeting a bit easier, especially when Mr ATL gets back to bulking. The pallets we have got essentially either for free (from Mr ATL's work) or we have found a local centre that will drop off a lorry load of them for 99p with delivery for free - RESULT! It's now a case of waiting for another dry weekend to start the set up.

Hedgerows and forgaging
We're lucky that Mr ATL and I live in an area where we have loads going on in the hedgerows. Opposite the house we have cherry plums, mirabelles, sloes, bullaces, damsons, blackberries, cherries, apples, figs and elder.
In the garden we have blackberries and damsons that have grown wild over the year.

For us it's a case of remembering to utilise this 'free' food source. I fully intend to go blackberrying in the week to make use of the glut that we have in the area presently. The cherry plums, damsons and mirabelles we tend to pick and send to my folks so they can make them into jam - that's obviously without the ones we munch as we pick.
Bullaces and sloes are really helpful for making Christmas presents in the form of flavoured spirits and chutneys.

The Importance of Meal Prep: Budgets, Time and Nutrition

 By now it should be quite clear that I meal prep for two main reasons; to keep to budget and to hit certain nutrition through the week.
Meal prep also means for Mr ATL and I (mainly me), that we only have to spend one day cooking meals for the week and we can do them in bulk.

In the pictures are all the meals that we have made so far and the surplus of veggies that we have from this week's shop.

Prep and cooking day is usually a Saturday as that's my main chore day. One batch will go in the oven and the other will usually go in the slow cooker. As a general rule this means we will have 2/3 different options for lunch or dinner, which granted won't work for some people

Why Meal Prep for Budgeting?
In my main weekend post I highlighted how much I spent on our weekly shop and how much our lunches worked out to per portion. In the end for the casserole it worked out to £0.30 (without rice) per portion (with rice as we bought in bulk it averages about £0.33 per portion).

Now working this out if you bought your lunches on a supermarket meal deal:
£3 x 5 = £15 per week
£15 x 4 = £60 per month
£60 x 12 = £720 per year

So that would mean for Mr ATL and I, if we bought our lunches for a year that would cost us at least £1040 - I say at least because it really depends where you buy your lunches. For us that would be a good chunk of a holiday, just saved through not buying our lunch.

Nutrition
This one is really a no brainer. I control what we eat. Ratio of carbs/fats/proteins can all be worked out easily and stuck to - something that will fluctuate if you are buying your meals. There's also salt etc that need to be taken into account - I can vary ours as we need or we can add as individuals, if it's pre bought we really have no control over it.

This week's lunch and dinner meals include:
Left over risotto from Saturday night with chicken - for Mr ATL post gym (x2)
Sausage casserole with rice
Roast chicken with garlic and herbs and veggies
BBQ chicken with veggies

I batch boil our weekly eggs - so I will prepare 3 days worth at a time and I make Mr ATL's little snack of celery and peanut butter the evening before.

Our fruits this week from our £1 bag buys at our Asian supermarket included 4 mangoes (yes 4 for £1!), limes, bananas and flat peaches.

Breakfast is easy enough in the ATL household. I have 2 boiled eggs (and maybe some fruit/a piece of toast - if bread was cheap enough) and that's me done. Mr ATL needs a bit more with the gym so his works to:

1/2 cup oats
200ml milk in oats
250ml milk to drink
On training days 1 scoop protein in oats

In summary, it really isn't that hard a job to meal prep. I'm no expert but I manage to keep someone who is training and myself who is dieting fed without starving ourselves on a budget.

Reduced foods FTW

Being frugal and cutting on a budget doesn't have to be all chicken or supermarket own meats. If you are not fussy about what you eat it is easy to save by hunting through your supermarket's reduced sections.

In more recent years, the good old reduced section has had more people around them looking for bargains, and why not. The problem Mr ATL found (especially looking at how much we spent in Sainsbury's in June and July), is there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Our best haul to date was getting nearly £150 of meat (we're talking joints and bits from the butchers) for less than £30 - obviously that was pre budget challenge, but you can still get reduced items. Our budget is about £5 for reduced foods a week if we feel we need them - as the budget for the two of us is a maximum of £25 a week. For example the fact that last week we picked up 8 packets of sausages at 55-59p each, means we don't have to buy fish or bacon this week and we still have a glut of them in the freezer.

Now, most supermarkets will have more than one reduced section. In my local Sainsbury's we have the following:

1. Reduced raw meats and fish - usually in the meat aisle where you find your joints
2. Reduced chilled produce - ours is under the quiches in the dairy aisle
3. Reduced fruit and veggies
4. Reduce 'food cupboard' staples - usually at the end of aisles
5.Reduced freezer goods - look in individual cabinets
6. Reduced bread goods - in the bakery area

Tricks of the reduced section

1. Timing is everything
While you may get a trickle of reduced goods through the day, the main bulk of reduced goods will tend to be put out between 4pm and 8pm. Usually, they will be reduced further in the evening if they were put out between 4 and 6, as there is still the opportunity to sell the goods. I've picked up things reduced to as low as a penny (spring onion bunches), and find that the fruit and veg will usually have a few more days on them in the fridge.
Obviously meat and fish will need to be frozen ASAP.
2. Do you really need it?
This one is key. Do you really need a reduced sandwich? Are you going to eat 6 yogurts before they go off the next day? There is the temptation to buy what is there because it seems like a good deal. Remember, things you can keep in the freezer are much more worthwhile than things that have a limited fridge life.
3. Can you use a voucher with it? 
If it is a branded item or you have vouchers, you can still use your coupons against them. This can be the difference between paying pounds and pennies between some more expensive items.
4. Ask
Now this depends how blazon you are, I have seen people go up to the people in charge of the yellow stickers and asking if they are planning on reducing it further later in the either and getting them to do that price then. I'm not quite that blazon, nor am I a sweet elderly lady so I don't think I'll get away with it. You can try though!

Cutting on a budget: Week 2 Meal Prep

Having gone through mine and Mr ATL's bank accounts - I was horrified that we have spent so much in Sainsbury's over June and July (I couldn't cope going back further). Horrified. Needless to say cutting on a budget needed to happen, I'm just glad we planned it before going to look through the finances so the motivation was there before the need.

This week's shop is going to be a little bit different as we picked up some reduced sausages in the week and they are in the process of slow cooking so lunch meals. Just a reminder we already had some staples in the cupboard such as rice and oats so we don't have to factor those in for the next three months.

Leftovers from last week to be used:
1 courgette from Sainsbury's, 1 donated courgette, 1kg carrots, 1/2 bag mushrooms.

Our list is as follows for this week:

Sainsbury's
Basics Chicken Portions - 2.5kg £4
Basics Courgettes - 1kg £1.75
Sweet Potatoes - 1.25kg £1.50
Celery - £0.60

Asian Supermarket
Canned tomatoes x4 (on offer all the time) £1
Mushrooms - £1
4 x fruit/veggies bags - £4
Milk 6 pints - £1.79
Eggs x30 - £2.69

Week Total (without any reduced goods): £18.33
NB - We spent £22.50 this week in total, bring us £2.50 under our weekly allowance of £25

Lunches for the week: Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole


(Image Step 1: Cook veggies on high for 1hr)

Ingredients:
32 Sausages (55p x4 packs of 8) = £2.20
Onion - FREE
Courgette - FREE - with still over 3/4 of it left!
Carrots - 200g from a 1.5kg bag = approx. £0.05 (6% weight ish of a 75p bag)
Canned tomatoes x2 = £0.50 (from last week's shop)
Black beans - From cupboard store - was £0.25 when on offer a few months back
Price total = £3.00

It really depends how many sausages you want per lunch and if you wanted to bulk out with some rice but the breakdown is as follows:
At 4 sausages a lunch = £0.37 per meal (8 meals)
At 3 sausages a lunch (with 2 sausages spare) = £0.30 per meal (10 meals)
At 2 sausages a lunch = £0.19 (16 meals - you may want to add rice!)
At 1 sausage a lunch = £0.09 (32 meals - you may definitely want to add rice or pasta!)

We'll be working on the 3 sausages approach so we'll be eating at £0.30 per lunch.

I'm in a mood for limited faff today with the cooking and meal prep so all that's going to happen with this is:
1. Chop veggies
2. Open cans
3. Cook veggies on high for 1 hour
4. Add sausages (if you prefer brown them off first)
5. Cook for further 3hrs
5. Box up and pop in fridge or freezer

Evening meals
The plan for these is to either have zoodles or coodles with the chicken and some of the vegetables from the week. Tonight I am making risotto so will post that a bit later - and work out if we can make enough to freeze for in the week.

Cutting on a budget - £100 a month for 2

Ugh, I literally suck at keeping this blog. Millionth time is a charm right?

After a beautiful holiday in Mexico (picture below - I was right hey?!) with Mr Amazing Tattooed Lady, he did a much better job of the whole clean eating while away, while I got a little carried away with the carbs. Damn you hash browns!

So with us both planning on cutting for a while and Mr ATL probably cutting for the majority of the time until our next holiday and us saving, the challenge is cutting for £100 per month combined for both of us.

To hit my IIFYM and calories I need to hit approximately 1600, and Mr ATL has to hit 2000. I'll be sticking more paleo, he's mixing it up a bit.

Our weekly shopping at the moment comes from Sainsbury's and our local Asian supermarket, as these offer us the best value for money in terms of a cut. Our Asian supermarket also does £1 bags of fresh veggies and fruit, which means as long as were not fussy about what we eat we're fine. Now it should be a bit easier for us as we already have in bulk rice and oats for Mr ATL - we will also probably mix it up and visit Costco. Here's our shopping list:

Sainsbury's
Basics Chicken Portions - 2.5kg £4
Basics Cooking Bacon - 670g £1.15
Basics White Fish - approximately 8 fillets £1.70
Basics Courgettes - 1kg £1.75

Asian Supermarket
Canned tomatoes x4 (on offer all the time) £1
Mushrooms - £1
4 x fruit/veggies bags - £4
Milk 6 pints - £1.79
Eggs x30 - £2.69

Total:  £19.08

For our budgeting sake that means we have £5.92 to play with on reduced foods from the supermarket or any other variants on canned goods or fruits/veggies from our usual shopping haunts.

Using the bacon and the white fish, with some canned goods (1 can tomatoes, 1 can chick peas) and the help of a lonely onion that was lurking in the fridge - we made 8 meals which covers the majority of my meals for the weekdays, while we used the chicken portions for Mr ATL as he is still lifting while cutting.