Love and Frugality? How do I prevent my budget from being a damper?

[inneedofhelp]

I think I am a bit more budget concious than my bf. I look at prices, always thinking super frugally, etc. He is not at a point right now in his life where he wants to really sit down and crunch the numbers and I am all about crunching the numbers in advance.

My current food budget is $100....and there is no doubt that with such a small budget I end up going over it sometimes by more than double! yes, this ends up affecting other bills, etc.

My bf doesn't like talking about money much, and I am working on biting my tongue more often when he doesn't want budget or financial advice (it is very hard for me to do, though!! It is like sometimes he gets into situations where I worry that he is going to do the dreaded payday advance places. Yikes!).

The issue with frugality is that since his budget is so low, I try to always make sure that I cook enough food so that there is plenty enough leftovers for him to take and eat for a few days. This makes it a bit harder to feed 2 people on such a small budget. I am also not the best cook, so I am not the kind of person that can debone a chicken, make dinner, then chicken soup and chicken salad with the carcass....I know it can be done, but I am just not that good at it.

My idea for next month is to get really bare bones about my food to test myself and see if I can make it. That means that I will be having beans every week (no jokes, please ) and I will be less able to make nice dinners and take home food for him.

How can I do this and not stress him out etc? I think he worries if he thinks I am not eating well.

[Broken Arrow]

Well... sooner or later, "The Talk" regarding money has to come up. Or at least I hope so, and sooner for that matter. Better to work these sort of things out as soon as possible than to have to keep biting your tongue. It's just not going to lead towards a healthy relationship if you have to keep biting your tongue, especially over such an important issue....

As for chicken, I personally never de-bone mine. But then, I'm also a terrible cook. I just kind of throw it into a crockpot or something. Would that help? A change in recipe or cooking somehow?

[GREENBACK]

I am also not the best cook, so I am not the kind of person that can debone a chicken, make dinner, then chicken soup and chicken salad with the carcass....I know it can be done, but I am just not that good at it.

.

It is ridicously easy to google boning a chicken or making chicken soup or whatever else. You need a little confidence and experience. Try it; you'll surprise yourself and amaze your BF with your new found skills.

[disneysteve]

It is ridicously easy to google boning a chicken or making chicken soup or whatever else. You need a little confidence and experience. Try it; you'll surprise yourself and amaze your BF with your new found skills.

I agree. If you keep telling yourself you can't cook, guess what, you won't cook. If, instead, you tell yourself you are going to learn to cook, that's exactly what will happen.

There are some great basic cookbooks aimed at people just starting out, college students, etc. I'm sure there is probably a Cooking for Dummies book, too.

[inneedofhelp]

thank you, everybody.

me and my bf have had a talk about money, but I can't force someone to change if they don't want to. As you can tell from my posts, I have some of the answers, but I don't always do as i say, so I have to be patient while my bf figures out what is best for him in his situation.

We have talked about food and he wants to help me, he also wants me to stop worrying so much and he is not too keen about the 2nd job. where i am physically and health wise in my life, I need to focus more on getting fresh air and exercise, versus what I was doing before---working a 24 hour shift on top of my 40 hour work day.

I am feeling oddly optimistic. I feel like I need to challenge myself to fit within my budget and just make it happen, ya know? I was anxious and panicky and stressed at first, but now I am feeling ok. My freezer is full of food and should last me the next 20 days until payday. I have a couple of coffee gift cards and that can help on the weekends. And I can ask friends to put money on the gas and toll if they ask for rides.

I am feeling better now than I was earlier.....