Kymbogs' long slow (and possibly painful) debt-free journey!

Karmacat

Hi there

Yep, you've got the kind of detail you need for a spending diary - bus fares really do count! Good idea on taking a bag for the blackberries - and as for no rose hip jam in the shops, I can guarantee you its not because of the taste, its because of the low level of profit involved in rose bushes - remember what Martin says, the object of commercial companies is to make money, not to serve the consumer. The only rose hip products I've ever tasted - it used to be a vitamin c product in this country - and rose hip jam in Turkey in the 1990s - they've been very very sugary, so I'm not sure if they wouldn't need to be combined with something naturally sugary like apples. Best get googling! I sympathise with the hill, I live in a really hilly area, but fortunately for me I'm too old to have a pushchair in tow!

amyandjon

morning kym you sound like you have a busy day ahead i now call in at my mums more for tea hehe another way to save money unsuspectedly hahaha i will be taking my ironing pile over for using the electricity and sky every little helps ..... how you finding the journey so far feeling more positive, this month is the first month we can notice a difference well it will be september for me but oh gets paid 15th of every month and hes infront with credit cards woo hoo good luck with journey :pxx

cady

sounds like you have the right start to get you up and running good luck with it all i hope your good uck continues!!!

kymbogs

Back again

The fruit-picking didn't go well at all! We walked as far as we could with the tandem and I only spotted one fruit bush and it looked pretty poorly. The leaves were covered in red patches, and the few berries that were on it were rock-hard and looked all dried out. There were some other bushes that looked like they might be just about to get fruit on them so think we'll take another walk down there in a month or so.

I will still get some rose hips but as it's right next to the main road I'm going to do it under cover of darkness cos I'm embarassed lol!

Managed to be restrained at the shops and just buy what we needed. Got kitty litter from Aldi which was half the price of Pets at Home's cheapest one next door. Got a bargain 1kg bag of Iams complete dry cat food from Home Bargains for £1.49 which has about 40 servings in (but probably a few less cos my cats are bottomless pits). I didn't get any veg in the end cos they didn't have any loose veg at all and I didn't need 1kg of carrots!

I did get a bag of lemons and limes for 69p in their Aldi Fruit & Veg Pledge thingie and have made some lemon curd and will be making lemon buns with Molly when she gets up from her nap. And to think I was considering paying 90p to buy a jar of lemon curd

K,M&Mx

hypno06

I have noticed that the fruit in the lanes near us is pretty poor at the moment too - I was going to send the children out on their bikes armed with tubs and bags but will save that for another day.

Last year I picked loads of blackberries and plums and made some fab jam as well as some blackberry vodka :cool:

Have a search on the old style board for things to do with rosehips - they will have you making all sorts of wonderful things with them!

amyandjon

when people say the old syle board what do you mean... ive been on there and i cant see what people are talking about tips for saving on groceries etc i get lost and give up ... kym well done i love aldi im a convert and when im debt free i still shall shop at aldi ive seen the light of the supermarkets that rob you of your pennies :P the scandal !! im planning on doing an excell thing when i get home to work out all my intrest etc something simple hehe :P the colums will consist of what i owe what i paid whats left whats left times monthly intrest rate = bla bla sounds ok i think haha i enjoy playing with numbers on the computer saves me from spending ... got the mother in law to be over shes always in a flurry to buy us things even when we dont require them grrr!! every little helps eh :Pxx enjoy making buns hehe x

GeorgeUK

I remember being told never to eat fruit from bushes near a main road - that was probabbly because of the lead from the petrol fumes, but not sure if there's anything toxic nowadays that you need to be careful of. Thought i'd mention it just incase. The oldstyle board could probably tell your though.

Glad to see you're making some progress and keeping an eye on what is spend where. Keep up the good work.

savingholmes

Congrats on starting a diary!

kymbogs

amyandjon wrote: »

i love aldi im a convert and when im debt free i still shall shop at aldi ive seen the light of the supermarkets that rob you of your pennies :P

Hey Amy

I just can't get much enthusiasm up for Aldi. Maybe I should make a list of prices I am paying from Tesco - like the price of baking potatoes, tins of beans, porridge oats, y'know basic stuff, and compare them. Cos whenever I go in there a lot of the prices always seem pretty high (and sometimes really hard to find lol). For instance yesterday I wanted a jar of jam and ended up paying 79p for it cos it was the only type available - yet there were about 5 types or marmalade...if I'd been getting it at Tesco's I'd have got the value jam, and with Aldi I don't have that option.

Will have a look at doing the comparing thing though but I can't see me ever doing my whole shop there, and the ease of having my shopping delivered is a huge bonus for me with the 2 babies and not being able to drive.

kymbogs

Here's my update for today

Yesterdays' lemon buns were a complete success and absolutely gorgeous. The lemon curd is nice but a bit creamier than I'm used to and not lemony enough, but that can be worked on in future. Also made my most succesful batch of bread yet.

Yesterday afternoon I discovered an invite to do a survey for Pinecone Research in my inbox, it took absolutely ages and I was going crazy by the end of it but it's another £3 (or is it £4? I forget) I didn't have before.

Today has been a No Spend Day for us, we've been in all day which has been a bit trying as Molly wasn't in a very good mood, I think she's a bit under the weather poor love. She was off her food too so some wastage there but I can't force her to eat it...haven't got any plans to go out tomorrow (or the day after for that matter) but won't be able to put tomorrow down as an NSD as The Husband has to buy his week bus ticket in the morning.

Am off to go and work on our Big Grocery Shop now on tesco.com, I haven't written a list or a menu plan yet as I haven't had a chance so I'm just going to put on the things that stay the same each month for now (nappies, wipes, laundry stuff etc). Do need to crack on with getting a proper list written though as I want it delivering on Thursday!!!

Hope everyone is well and thankyou for reading

K,M&Mx