Money Fritters 'Enough Now' DFW Diary

skint_spice

Money_Fritter wrote: »

Totally addicted to all this money saving stuff now. Cannot get it out of my head

You're not alone - spreadsheets, snowballing....

TurnaroundSue

Definitely wouldn't buy egg mayonaise to put in my sandwiches - you can make a good few days worth and it tastes nicer if you make your own. A tin of tuna goes miles (especially if you bulk it out with sweetcorn), so that's another sandwich filling saved. How's about just plain salad sandwiches - love those!:j Also jam sandwiches..... and chocolate spread sandwiches ..... and 'sick' sandwiches - sorry I mean sandwich spread sandwiches - always reminds me of sick though - sorry!!!! Sugar sandwiches - love those also ..... well you get the gist. Sandwich fillings are soooooo expensive and they don't taste half as nice as if you make your own. Another is cheese and egg - or just plain cheese - sorry, will stop now, maybe others have got suggestions for you or you could pop over to the MS Oldstyle board and get some great ideas from there too.

Keep up the good work - you are doing great:j

Money_Fritter

Hi Folks,

Right I have been busy this morning and last night.

Last night I changed my meal plan for the month. Now it contains a few repeats, however, that allowed me to cut costs a bit more and gives me some extra money for weekly things.

WEEK 1

Monday - Cauliflower and Brocoli cheese
Tuesday - Risotto
Wednesday - Shepherd Pie and Veg
Thursday - Spicy Red Lentil soup
Friday - Oven Fish, Chips and Peas
Saturday - Jacket Potato tuna and salad
Sunday - Beef Sunday Roast

WEEK 2

Monday - Shepherds Pie and Veg
Tuesday - Lasagne and Veg
Wednesday - Sphag Bol
Thursday - Curried Parsnip soup
Friday - Jacket potato baked beans and salad
Saturday - Beef Stir-fry
Sunday - Turkey Sunday Roast

WEEK 3

Monday - Lasagne and Veg
Tuesday - Risotto
Wednesday - Jacket potato tuna and salad
Thursday - Spicy Red lentil Soup
Friday - Shepherds Pie and Veg
Saturday - Sphag bol
Sunday - Beef Sunday Roast

WEEK 4

Monday - Jacket Potato baked beans and salad
Tuesday - Sphag Bol
Wednesday - Lasagne and Veg
Thursday - Curried Parsnip soup
Friday - Cauliflower and Brocoli cheese
Saturday - Shepherds Pie and Veg
Sunday - Turkey Sunday Roast


So with the menu in hand I went to asda this morning at 8:0oam. I have never been so keen to go shopping :rotfl:
Actually I had to get up early anyway as I had to take my car in for its service.

So the total price for the ingredients for the meals above, excluding meat as I already had that in the freezer was £14.88. That works out at 53p per meal. Awesome :j

So my total spend in asda, including weekly stuff for packlunches and cupboard suff was £25.57. So I have £34.43 left for the rest of the month, hopefully I can keep within budget. Fingers crossed.

Anyway after shopping I dropped my car off for its service. Then got the bus home, as I did not get a hire car. To say that I could of walked home quicker was an understatement as the driver went all around the world. Good job I had dropped my food off at home before I went to the garage :T

So once home I got stuck into the cooking for my monthly meals. I have made the curried parsnip soup and the spicy lentil soup, both smell absolutely gorgeous. Thanks to the people who posted the recipes on the money saving old style thread. I just hope they taste as good as they smell.

Just having my lunch and a break before I start cooking the other meals to freeze.

Then hopefully later on pick up my car, pay off some more of my barclaycard debt and maybe put another matched bet on. Also I might try and fit in some daily clicks as I have not had time to go through the sheet that EagerLearner sent me.

Anyway better get back to it.

Money Fritter.

esbo

Hmmm first thing that struck me was the car, how much is that worth?
I am sure you could sell that and get something just as good but a lot cheaper
For example:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2000-VAUXHALL-CORSA-ENVOY-1-0-12V-SILVER_W0QQitemZ120307746611QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120307746611&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A7%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Looks as good as new and does exactly the same as your existing car - gets you from A to B.
And you would save on insurance, although you seem to be driving quite happily without that (or tax!!) at the moment :rotfl:.
Futhermore it should help you get into the mindset of buying what you can afford, not what you want, which means in the long run you can have more, not less :j

How much did the service cost? It is not rocket science to change the oil and the plugs or whatever.

Money_Fritter

Hi Esbo,

Thanks for the advice.

The car is brand new and this is its first service. I have done 12000 miles in 6 months as my journey to work is 25 miles there and 25 miles back. Also my girlfriend lives about 30 miles away so I bought the car for savings in the long run and saving of the environment. My last car gave 30-35mpg. This car gives 70mpg. Also the emissions are in the lowest brand so my tax per year is £35, hence that is why it is not on the budget. Also the first years tax was free. I have got insurance, done via a cashback site and got £75 cashback, and the quote was about £100 less than my renewal quote for my old car. I do not know that much about cars, but I could easily changed oil,etc. However, with it being under warranty for three years and with this being the first service I needed to get it done properly and my book stamped.

Money Fritter

Money_Fritter

Hi Folks,

Finished another meal on my plan, lovely lasagne.

I AM THE KING OF WHITE SAUCE NO LUMPS :beer:

LOL

Money Fritter

Money_Fritter

Afternoon Folks,

I hope everybody is well.:j

Did not have chance to post yesterday as I was at my girlfriends, we went out to the theatre to see a show called the bloody chamber at the northern stage in newcastle, it was good.:D

Anyway despite going out last night I still managed a NSD yesterday as we had already bought the tickets months ago. So I have now managed 4 NSD for September. Only one more to go, which I should manage today as I am at home decorating. I have updated my signature.:beer:

Friday night, at 11:30pm I managed to finish all the meals for the freezer for the oct monthly plan. I managed to make.

6 lasagne portions
4 curried parsnip soup portions
4 spicy red lentil soup portions
4 shepherds pie portions
4 sphag bol portions
4 risotto portions
4 beef stir fry portions

So 30 meals for 28 days. Also that does not include non-frozen meals for the month such as jacket potato (4) , sunday roast (4) and oven fish and chips (1). So I should have some frozen meals that will roll over to next month, cool.:cool:

Also on friday night I managed to pay another extra £50 off my barclaycard and also managed to pay my normal £25 off my virgin card.
This has reduced my debt free date by one month to april 2016. I have updated my signature.:T

I have also put my october grocery challenge on my signature so people can see how I am doing.

Money Fritter

tealady

Hi Sounds like you are doing well. Just a small tip. If you are cooking with cheese grate it 1st as that will make it go further.
Try a market for meat, go to a stall where there a a lot of retired people, many are used to working to a tight budget.
Also go for cheap cuts of meat such as brisket, invest in a slow cooker and you can make lovely stews (throw some dumpings in to stretch the meat further) ideal for the winter months.

Money_Fritter

Hi Folks

Yippeee!!!:j

I have managed another NSD day today so that makes it 5/5 for the month. Cool:cool:

I have set a target of 10 NSD days for next month. I have updated my signature.

Wish me luck

Money Fritter

Bowski_1011

Wow MF you're doing so well !! I wish I could be as organised as you, the meal plan looks great. Well done on getting your NSD target too, it's not as easy as it sounds.