I’m a terrible adult. I know this is the truth. The main reason? I spend most of my money on food. That’s pretty much my only outgoing after all the other adult bills I have and to say it’s gotten out of control is an understatement. I’m embarrassed to even tell you how much I spent on food a few weeks ago. It was a one off, or so I like to believe, but it made me realise I have to stop.
When I decided to phase into a minimalist lifestyle [slow going but I’m going…] I stopped buying things I didn’t need. Clothes shopping is now something I’ll only do when I know I’m cleaning out old stuff and I want to invest in my wardrobe with an item that will last me a long time. I stopped buying books and started using the library – I just started thinking about the way I spend, or overspend.
Because I don’t have many outgoings [I don’t go out drinking or socialise at all, really, because I’m old and bitter] I always spent freely on food but it also meant I was going to the shops almost EVERY DAY and buying food I didn’t need, it also encouraged me to buy snack food and junk. Blargh.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing something about it and, whilst this is obvious and you might think I’m dumb for blogging about it, I started planning my meals…?!
I would normally know what I was going to eat during the week but I’d still get to 7pm on a random week night and think to myself ‘what do I feel like’. An hour later I’d run to the shops and come back with two bags full of stuff; one dinner might have cost me over £20. Eek. Like I said; bad adult.
My new thing is working out my weekly dinners on a Saturday night, writing them down, and then my weekly shop on a Sunday has more focus. I’m stocking my fridge every week with stuff I’ll eat until it’s gone. My vegetable consumption has gone up a butt load and my junk food consumption is way down. At the end of the week I am finding I don’t have much left in my fridge because it’s all been used up, which is perfect; less waste! I’m also making soup out of any left over veg [if there is any] – I love soup!
Here are some lovely shots of my fridge. I think you’ll be impressed at how much fruit and veg there is. This is my entire week’s shopping! Also… I enjoy condiments more than anyone should.
It really does sound like a silly thing to say but preparing the week’s meals in advance, mentally, means I am in control of my nutrition and my money and it’s great! Really. I used to try to do this but always failed; turns out having it written down in the kitchen makes it a whole lot easier to follow!
What simple adult hacks do you implement?
Sam
Pretty Thoughtful Blog 
I would love to get into the habit of meal planning! I’m pretty good about making healthy dinners, but I never remember to pay attention to what needs to be eaten first so sometimes I end up throwing away a bunch of veggies that have gone bad before I have a chance to use them 😦 We’ve been trying to implement a rule that we eat everything we can before buying more food and that has helped us waste less!
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Literally exactly what I was doing. I was throwing away so much fruit and veg it was awful. I can honestly say this is a habit I’ve picked up easily now I’ve done it for a few weeks!
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My brother suggested I might like this website.
He used to be entirely right. This put up truly made my day.
You cann’t consider simply how so much time I had spent for this info!
Thanks!
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I generally don’t buy my own food / cook my own meals — one of the perks of living at home. But when I house sit, or when my mom is away for an extended time, I do try and think about the things I’d like to make, instead of just going to the grocery store and making it up as I go. My biggest thing is that I try to eat a healthy vegetable with every dinner (not just my beloved potatoes), because I picture my mom teleporting over from wherever she is and kicking my butt for not eating enough greens!
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When I lived at home my eating was generally terrible because my parents never really bought me proper food claiming they didn’t know what vegetarians ate so there were a lot of pasta meals and premade stuff! It’s taken me a year of living on my own to nail my eating habits and shopping habits but, God damned, does it feel like I’m winning this adult game 😂
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I love this post and plan to try meal planning in the future. Totally not crazy to blog about it. I’m glad you did because you seem to be in a similar place as myself and I love reading what other people are doing. I’ve been slowly trying to minimize the stuff in our lives and my grocery spending is out of control. I’m currently blogging about a pantry challenge for the month of December. Might be silly, but oh well lol. I enjoy it and hopefully it’ll keep me on track.
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Glad you enjoyed the post! My shopping bill has come down so much (even more so now I’m buying my vegetables from the local farm) and I’m eating so much healthier so I hope you get the same results!!! Good luck with your pantry challenge!!!
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Same! Meal planning is SUCH a money saver…why can it be so hard to sit down and do! The other thing that’s saving me a ton right now is using a service here that lets me come pick up a predetermined list. I go online and make my list, set a time to pick it up and as a result, I stay out of the store where all the “extras” can’t jump into my cart!
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Ooh I need to get into online shopping!!! Those little extras still find their way into my cart! 😂
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