I chose my user name with great care. I am truly Frugally Challenged. I know all the theory and quite a lot of the
time I put it into practice. But not all
the time.
And I’m going to stick my head above the parapet and say
that I am quite enjoying “Eat well for less” and I haven’t read that comment on any other blogs.
I have been totally staggered at just how much the families
spend on their weekly shopping but to be quite honest I don’t think they are
exceptional. Go around Waitrose,
Sainsbury or Tesco and you will see many people making the same mistakes. And many of us have made them too, probably
not every week but we’ve made our shopping mistakes. We’ve failed to menu plan and make a shopping
list. We’ve been seduced by phoney
offers. We’ve gone for convenience rather
than economy or even quality.
The families which agree to go on the programme are
presumably aware that they have a problem and they have indicated their willingness
to change. However, if they were to
watch the really frugal people who blog they would be deterred before they even
started. It’s like telling me to get fit
and expecting me to emulate an Olympic gold medallist. Not a pretty thought.
We have had programmes about the difficulty of managing on
benefits or minimum wage and I take my hat off to those for whom frugality is
not a choice but a life sentence. But I
also feel for those people who know there must be a better way but haven’t much
of an idea how to find it.
I think I’ll don my asbestos vest before I publish this post
I agree with everything you've said. I think most 'frugallers' like me have found the program hard to digest because they don't feel the hosts are doing the people justice. One of the hosts is a TV cook but very little cooking takes place in the program and they certainly don't advocate going back to basics, merely swapping one convenience food for another cheaper version. So far none of the couples are attempting to save money because of extenuating circumstances such as losing a job, they merely want to undertake work on their homes. There is nothing like having a limited income to make you do the math.
ReplyDeleteI think there's always something to learn from other people and the decisions that they make. Mark and I spent far too much at Waitrose for years. Jx
ReplyDeleteI certainly feel that they cherry pick the people who appear, after all this is about cheap telly not education. The country is full of people with more money than sense, I have dabbled my feet in that stream, luckily the sense kicked in.
ReplyDeleteI will join with you and say that I like the show (have only seen one episode though). The family I saw wanted some improvements but didn't quite know how to go about it. The hosts showed them through trial and error that they could make substitutions and save a ton of money. Perhaps the family stays with just the new ideas for shopping. If so, great because it means they aren't wasting as much money. Perhaps they now may be more willing to stretch themselves and will try to incorporate new ideas - even better. Overall, it was entertaining and the family that participated seemed to have learned something. Win-win for television. I need to see if there is another episode out that I can watch ~ Pru
ReplyDeleteI hadn't realised that you would be able to see it in your part of the world, Pru. I've seen three episodes now and I am still staggered by the families' shopping habits. The lack of cooking skills is, I'm afraid, all too common.
Delete