Time to take stock...

Some months ago a blog post from this lady caught our eye, and has stayed with us ever since... How many of us have complained that we've nothing in the larder for dinner? How many of us have dashed into the local shop for something quick for tea, often spending far more than we'd intended? And worse still, how often have we reverted to an expensive and unhealthy takeaway, unaware that the makings of a lovely meal lies deep within the deep freeze... Well, follow the advice set out below and all this waste and expense just might become a thing of the past... 


We are beyond delighted to present our first guest.... Caítríona of Wholesomeireland.com !

A guest blogpost and my first one at that. It feels like I should introduce myself.

Hi, my name is Caítríona, I'm a reluctant stay at home mother. Well I was originally a Personal Assistant but thanks to the decline of the building industry I found myself, with a 6 month old, no job and a house to run. Not exactly the way I intended my life to end up.  We depended on my salary to keep us in style.  Holidays, nice gifts for each other, fancy clothes, take away meals, dining out; all of these were second nature back in the day.

Three years on much has changed. We added another child to the brood and we've had to learn to live with what money we have. I remember at one point somebody telling me I should run my household like a business.  It's not bad advice and I'd certainly not be adverse to employing a hygiene subcontractor to take care of the cleaning!  

All joking aside, if you want to take control of the finances of your household the grocery bill is a good point to start. Which is where my stocktake comes in very very handy. Most businesses do a stocktake at least once a year if not more.  It's a great way to assess what stock you have in your "warehouse", what you may need and figure out how much you spend on a weekly or monthly basis. It's also a good idea to rotate your stock so that you don't get stuck with items that are out of date.

You can find the stocktake sheet to download and print here on my blog: Wholesome Ireland 

Grab yourself a pen, roll up your sleeves and get counting and writing. Once you have your stocktake completed then figure out what you need to buy for the week ahead. The idea here is that you only go to the shops the once saving yourself precious fuel and/or shoeleather. Also if you overbuy for 3 other weeks of the month then you should theoretically be able to save yourself the grocery money once a month for major projects.  A holiday? A new pair of designer heels? Or as my husband calls it your "knocko" fund.  

Take the stocktake challenge, check your cupboards, use what you have and only buy what you need.  It's liberating. I promise and it will save you money.  Post back and let us know how you get on!


Caítríona


Footnote from the Dinner Ladies...
Firmly believing in 'practice what you preach' we are going to take on Caítríona's challenge. Keep an eye out for a full report on exactly what we have in our kitchen 'warehouses'....