Help to keep me honest

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  • Another thumbs up here for slow cooker!

    Hi Happierdays,

    I'm going to give it another go tomorrow, so hoping for a good result! Seems to be a great idea for the autumn/winter months. :)
    Aiming to early retire in April 2025 - DC pension currently £345k 
  • Just read through the whole of your diary and it must feel great to be on the last lap of cracking the debt.

    A suggestion regarding the slow cooker - each one has its own quirks. So I would recommend using it a couple of times whilst you are at home so you can check on it.

    You mentioned not always wanting to cook when you get home.

    Is it possible for you to double up recipes so you can freeze half for another day?

    How about preparing foods in advance? I have a bowl of prepared vegetables in the fridge or I use frozen.

    My menu plan lets me see what I can do in advance. I also often cook a day in advance so if I'm not feeling great, we still get a home cooked meal. It makes me feel a little less useless.

    Hope some of these ideas might help
    Have a good week
    Pauline
    Don't get it perfect - Get it going
    Better Than Before
  • 117pauline wrote: »
    Just read through the whole of your diary and it must feel great to be on the last lap of cracking the debt.

    A suggestion regarding the slow cooker - each one has its own quirks. So I would recommend using it a couple of times whilst you are at home so you can check on it.

    You mentioned not always wanting to cook when you get home.

    Is it possible for you to double up recipes so you can freeze half for another day?

    How about preparing foods in advance? I have a bowl of prepared vegetables in the fridge or I use frozen.

    My menu plan lets me see what I can do in advance. I also often cook a day in advance so if I'm not feeling great, we still get a home cooked meal. It makes me feel a little less useless.

    Hope some of these ideas might help
    Have a good week
    Pauline

    Hi Pauline,
    Thanks for reading my diary and commenting :). Yes, it is good that the end is in sight! Had a success yesterday with the slow cooker, I did a bean chilli and left it on low and it was done to perfection when we got in. That was about 11 hours so that may be the solution. I like the idea of doubling up and freezing. I need to get organised and get some containers to do this. I have frozen the odd meal before, but since I haven't labelled them I can never remember what it is so it never gets used up!
    Aiming to early retire in April 2025 - DC pension currently £345k 
  • Yay to pressure cooker success! :j ;)
  • Yay to pressure cooker success! :j ;)

    Hi Happierdays,
    Yes, I am looking forward to more slow cooked meals this autumn winter. I will need to get up a bit earlier though!
    Aiming to early retire in April 2025 - DC pension currently £345k 
  • glass_half_full
    glass_half_full Posts: 577
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper Debt-free and Proud!
    Forumite
    edited 19 October 2017 at 6:05AM
    Hi diary and all,
    Its been nice to see the supportive posts on the diaries over the last couple of days welcoming new diaries and giving positive support to people who are coming back on after a break. What a great community this is.
    Payday in a week's time and I'm planning to make a decent payment to the debt. Everything pretty much on track to the budget.
    Aiming to early retire in April 2025 - DC pension currently £345k 
  • Good morning diary and all,
    Doing my morning budget as per usual and I notice my BT bill is £95 instead of the usual £75 (this is for Broadband, phone and TV). Just been going through the phone bill and see that DS was on the phone to his GF the day before she went to Uni for several calls of about an hour ! This because his mobile is nearly always out of charge. Oh well! Usually when a bill comes in over budget I juggle and find other categories that are underspent. Seem to be running out of those as we approach the end of the month! I could probably get a better deal than BT. It was a good deal when we switched to them from Sky a couple of years ago, but I'm sure it has crept up since then.
    Looking forward to the weekend, this week has been tiring.
    Have a great day all!
    Aiming to early retire in April 2025 - DC pension currently £345k 
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Community Admin
    DS left you a reminder of himself in the phone bill. Maybe take the extra out of the food budget! Good to hear you had a slow cooker success .

    I freeze lots of meals ,usually in a batch cooking session. If you have labels in your kitchen you can just write them out as you need them .

    Anyhow I received some packaged bank account money back from Lloyds yesterday £410 . Great to get some free funds .

    Enjoy your weekend.
  • DS left you a reminder of himself in the phone bill. Maybe take the extra out of the food budget! Good to hear you had a slow cooker success .

    I freeze lots of meals ,usually in a batch cooking session. If you have labels in your kitchen you can just write them out as you need them .

    Anyhow I received some packaged bank account money back from Lloyds yesterday £410 . Great to get some free funds .

    Enjoy your weekend.

    Hi Cumbria Lass,
    I like your way of putting it about DS leaving me a reminder of him in the phone bill, that made me smile!
    Aiming to early retire in April 2025 - DC pension currently £345k 
  • Good morning diary and all,
    Up earlyish today and I have cooked a vegan shepherd’s pie for later. Phoned DS yesterday and pleased to hear all is well and he is having a great time. He’s looking forward to a Halloween party this weekend. OH and I have both contrived to have Friday this coming week as a day off so we are planning to go out for lunch somewhere. OH has downloaded coach to 5K app so I am going out with her later for that, should be fun!
    On the MSE front, I caught the report on the radio about mobile phone companies charging people for phones after they have paid for them. I’m so fed up with companies that take advantage of people. My phone contract expires in December after 2 years and I’m looking forward to cancelling and moving to a cheaper sim only deal. I have to admire their ability to bump up my bill month after month with little extra charges.
    Anyway, looks nice outside, hope you all have a great day!
    Aiming to early retire in April 2025 - DC pension currently £345k 
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