Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 (Oct - Dec 2008)

shaz_mum_of__2

Hi everyone

Really excited for you Nyk on the housemove i hope you will be really happy there

Sounds like my kind of place

Shaz

got to go 24 bottles of wine to bottle !!

taka

CW - I hope your DH is home soon and I'm glad he is letting you find out what is on offer in terms of support. ((((Hugs))))

SM - Glad DD's leg is hopefully on the mend.

Nyk - sound like the new house will be a much more frugal friendly house! Have you any idea what you will do with the money (hopefully) not spent on utilities? Or is that the kit out the house/kitchen fund as this house is unfurnished isn't it?

I'm glad everyone else is decluttering I've taken this week off work to tackle my chaos. Its operation declutter all week... yep its that bad My wardrobe is actually very tidy - its not got much in it as I need to move stuff to get into it. Actually thats the case with my cupboards too :rolleyes: Hmmmm that explains a lot...

I'd love to know how to combine loosing weight, stockpiling, grocery budgeting, batch cooking and health eating too as I sooooooooo need to get more organised at this too. :rolleyes: Sophiesmum - I'd love to see your batch cooking step by step too if thats possible?

I'm going to start keeping a price book for groceries. Has anyone got any tips on how best to keep it organised?

PS I've finally found stardrops for sale here :j Will be testing it in my kitchen shortly!

PPS welcome IGiveUp :hello: and well done so far Paul!

twinkle_star_2

Well I havn't done too badly for my first week. As I haven't had to do any grocery shopping this week I've come in nicely underbudget (despite totally failing at my attempt to not spend money at the Coen concert last night).

£9.22 spent at Hobbycraft on wool for knitting tea-cozies (Christmas presents) and some christmas craft bits (felt, gold thread etc)
£9.64 spent at Mr. T on a baking sheet, rolling pin and s&p grinders so I can cook more easily.
£10 approx spent last night at the Leonard Cohen concert on drinks.

Plus whatever it is about to cost for some custard to go with the apple pie I made (HM pastry and free windfall apples from a tree at work) .

So about £30 total from a buget of £60 is pretty good. Will probably put £10 into my Christmas savings and the rest can just stay in the bank for unexpected expenses (although this month i'm fairly sure it will be spent on sending my now very large kitten for the snip!) :eek:

All this talk of organising has inspired me. :T I'm off to sort out the sitting room.

sophiesmum_2

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

sophiesmum,

I would like to know the recipie for your bolognaise sauce. I can do a great chilli, but have never done HM bolognaise, it is always out of a jar:o .

Look forward to the step by step guide,

SL x

Hi SL
As I said I do big batches of sauce and add ingredients to taste as i go along but basic ingredients for my basic sauce are:

chopped onions
tinned or fresh tomatoes
passata or tomato puree
dash worcestershire sauce
beef stock cube
salt/pepper
oregano, basil,mixed herbs or italian seasoning
garlic to taste ( i use easy garlic in jars)

In addition I usually add
chopped bacon pieces( brings out flavour in toms)
sliced mushrooms
sliced peppers
(red wine if any hanging about)

I also cook minced beef or soya mince or even mix the two - this is then split to add to the mix above and also added to chopped onions/gravy etc as a base for shepherds pie or a filling for mince and onion pies.

If you were only making one meal for a couple this would work out more expensive than a bought jar but I batch bulk cook and usually do about 70 portions or more at a time which brings the cost right down. This can be brought down even further by bulking the mince out with some red lentils , veggies etc to make the meat go further.
I make a huge batch of the above, set some aside for other pasta sauces , for example perhaps bacon and pepperoni sauce, or a vegetable based one,
then add the mince - set some aside for bolognese sauce for pasta.
With what is left I split it in half and use half for lasagnes, and then add chilli powder , kidney beans etc to make chilli sauce with the other half.

At the end of the batch cooking sesssion I will have stacks of meals for freezer
bacon and pepperoni pasta sauce
vegetarian pasta sauce
bolognese sauce
lasagne
chilli sauce
shepherds pie
mince and onion pie

these then only need rice, pasta, or veggies adding to them to make meals - easy peasy:D or the chilli and pasta sauces can be had with jacket potatoes, or even with tortillas/nachos etc.

You can repeat the process batch cooking other groups of foods,eg a slowcooker full of vegetable stew can be split and turned into veg soup, stew with dumplings, add gravy to thicken and use as pie filling, add chopped cooked sausages or left over chicken pieces to make casserole. It all helps to stretch out the meals and fill freezer up for little cost. Saves time too when you cook tea as most of work is alredy done.:D

Brighton_belle

Back from walk: didn't take purse so didn't sprend any money, but got some exercise:A .
White wing -very good question re weightloss etc. One simple trick is buy smaller plates - I found some nice plain habbitat ones in a charity shop that have the central dip the size of a side plate soit can be piled high with food but not be took over large a portion. (but the whole plate is the size of a dinner plate.) Secondly - remember to give yourself less than your DH. This can be hard if its's your favourite meal, but we just don't need as much as them calorie wise, unfair as that is:rolleyes: . If necessary, just use the smaller plates for yourself. Smaller plates mean you can have a nice lage plateful but not be hvaing waayyyy to big portions. Our previous plates had not crentral 'dip' but were virtually flat dinnerplate size so to have a full looking plate took much more food.
I have found there is a danger with good old home cooking too that wonderfull as budgetlicious biscuits/cakes and flap jacks are, they get eaten very quickly(by me:o ). I now personally try & cook OH pudding/cakes that I don't like! (Easy for me with cakes as I have never liked them.) I need to keep sweet treats I like out of the house as much as possible, so they stay as 'treats'.
Bulk cooking is good as having meals I like on tap in the freezer does help to eat sensibly when tired or time pressured. Oh, and keeping a food diary can give you clues as to what you eat and when to help you see patterns you might then want to break.
Hope that helps.
On with the wardrobe clearout...

purplevamp

:hello: Afternoon everyone. I'm in such a bad mood today and I don't know why . Everything is just annoying me and I feel like screaming. The house is a total mess, my hubby hasn't done anything to upset me (not that he ever does) but he's winding me up, as is DS1, but he's a teenager so that's his job :rotfl: .

My DD has been an today though, she's been singing and dancing to her HSM CD, and she washed up for me, including the gunky porridge pan. She's only 6 but loved helping so I gave her 50p. Slave labour, eh?! My DS2 has been good but loud!!

We visited my Mum yesterday after her op and she's doing really well :j . They had to shave half the back of her head to "get in", she said she only had a haircut the previous Monday :rolleyes: ... We took her some chocolates and a bunch of roses, but the hospital won't allow flowers anymore , but she ate the chocs though.


CW18 - hope you DH feels better soon, xx

redglass - I put my confidential paper waste in the recycling, I think you can put most types of paper in, except photo paper or glossy mags. I did some today and whilst I was stirring the compost (badly) I found my DD's Polly Pocket coat hanger in there. Only 2cm wide but bright pink!

Actually I'm feeling a bit better now I've had a moan to everyone, and also my DD has just brought me in the last mini muffin because "you haven't had one yet Mummy and you like chocolate" aww!!

Cat_Addict

PurpleVamp,

I just want to say hi and I hope you feel brighter soon - muffin must have helped! Kids can melt you or break your heart (teenagers) can't they?

I have a 13 year old DD that is so typically teenage, an 11 year old DS and a 9 year old DD. My Dad is very sick and currently in hospital. You just struck a chord of similarity so I wanted to stick my head in and send you a smile.

whitewing

Hi again,

yes please sophiesmum for all info relating to batch cooking.

BB, the plate idea is something that I have been thinking about ever since I said a lady on the TV who did one that was all split into the various portion sizes (ie a space on the plate for veg; another space for carbohydrates). That plate was too expensive and doesn't work so well for pasta type foods that we eat. But I think I will have to get myself a nice smaller plate.

It's a good point about serving myself less than DH. I actually feel quite genuinely sad and deprived if I have less of something I love on my plate. (Unfortunately for me having nice food is associated with being loved). Again I think a plate would help with that. I shall potter up town tomorrow to have a look. I have some stuff for the charity shop.

I am decluttering like mad too. Not pregnant (can't remember if I wrote this before) but have the urge to nest like no one's business. Am shredding, filing, chucking out etc. Want to set up a file for 2009 challenge to incorporate the ideas and goals properly. So will have a batch cooking section. This year's challenge has been brilliant but I know there's a wealth of info that I can't find as it wasn't appropriate at the time. Love it that everyone's at different stages though as the ideas get recycled and it can pick them up next time round.

Brighton_belle

whitewing wrote: »

BB, the plate idea is something that I have been thinking about ever since I said a lady on the TV who did one that was all split into the various portion sizes (ie a space on the plate for veg; another space for carbohydrates). That plate was too expensive and doesn't work so well for pasta type foods that we eat. But I think I will have to get myself a nice smaller plate.

I have that plate whitewing - pre frugal days:o . However, it's only good if you use it properly. And I now prefer our habbitat ones. Believe me - there are times for me too when I simply can't give myself less of something love than OH or I feel a bit resentful. But as an over all principle it is good. For pasta dishes, I often use a (shallow & wide)pudding bowl for me and see how full I feel at the end of that. I don't do and can't do going hungry. I find it helps eating of crockery I love, so good luck with the hunt.

purplevamp

Cat_Addict wrote: »

PurpleVamp,

I just want to say hi and I hope you feel brighter soon - muffin must have helped! Kids can melt you or break your heart (teenagers) can't they?

I have a 13 year old DD that is so typically teenage, an 11 year old DS and a 9 year old DD. My Dad is very sick and currently in hospital. You just struck a chord of similarity so I wanted to stick my head in and send you a smile.

Hi Cat Addict - Thank you! I'm just having a bit of an off day, they don't happen often, but when they do I just want to stay away from everyone and eat chocolate :rotfl: . The muffin did help! I hope your Dad gets better soon, there seems to be a lot of poorly people on this thread and it's lovely the way everyone asks after them and sends their best wishes.

Welcome to the thread btw!!