Fire Fox's Debt-Free in 2009 Diary

Fire_Fox

Well I made the lentil and bacon soup - which is yummy - and some very bland falafel. Roast chicken and sweet potatoes for dinner, so half a chicken left for later in the week. :T

It's going to be a really challenging week, the fortnightly supermarket run is due Thursday but I am working loads of overtime, am back at college, need to fit in a doctor's appointment AND have two evening meetings related to my community work. Plus Mr. Fire Fox is working six days! :eek:

I'm seriously considering doing my shop on Mysupermarket whilst at work, getting the ipoints and the food delivered free as I have an e-mail from Asda ...

Fire_Fox

Student grant and loan both arrived safely so I feel awash with cash!! :cool: Jolly good job as it's a five week month with my wages. Rang up to order a state pension forecast, need to speak with the NHS pension scheme later in the week.

Fire_Fox

Nipped into town and bought some hair colourant ( two for £7) and female essentials (£4) both with Advantage card points, plus Stardrops antibacterial spray from the pound shop. All items were to replace things I'd completely run out of, plus no real money spent anyway! :money:

Fire_Fox

The falafel ended up being very nice with a dollop of sweet chilli sauce! Also have spoken with NHS pensions and confirmed they know about my previous years service.

Just completed the Asda shop online, provisionally spending £73 including free delivery. :T Expensive items were

£5 on five multipacks of Walkers crisps (offers)
£6.60 on six bars of Extra Special dark chocolate
£2.70 on whole almonds
£4 on two packs of pistachios
£6 on six bottles of orange squash (offer)
£3 on two packets of breakfast cereal
£3 on two packs of strawberries (offer)
£3 on two bags of rhubarb (offer)
£2 on twelve free-range eggs
£4 on two packs of meatballs (offer)
£2.25 on Porkinsons sausages
£2.50 on frozen battered cod

A lot less spent on meat and fish as we have plenty of lamb left and I don't really like not being able to see what I am buying. Still really big spend on snacks, tho I haven't bought any sweet stuff for Mr. Fire Fox this time - if he wants it he will have to get his apron on! :rotfl:

Fire_Fox

Popped to Morrisons after work with a friend and been naughty ... £9 spent on two bottles of wine (one was Australian which I don't even like :mad: ). Plus two large bags of crisps cos I was hungry, and my friend bought me two bars of dark chocolate ... so that's all we've had for dinner!! Mr. Fire Fox and I both work late shifts on a Friday but still.

To redeem myself I have taken the lamb shank out of the freezer to be braised with onion, garlic, mushrooms, a generous splash of Australian wine and perhaps some fresh mint.

Fire_Fox

The lamb shank is in the slow cooker, along with the main leg bone to make extra rich stock. I browned everything first in my fantastic IKEA pan so Mr. Fire Fox will be very pleased with me - usually take the lazy option and throw it in raw.

Decided against mint, went for apricots, cumin and cinnamon instead. Think I might use up some wholegrain kamut cous cous that has been languishing in the back of the cupboard forever. :cool:

Also made more flapjacks with the last of the nut muesli, a little dessicated coconut, the last of the blackcurrant jam and some raspberry jam I have just found in the cupboard. Didn't want to use the apricot jam as there will be apricots in the lamb.

Fire_Fox

Asda shop arrived, one substitution returned and three wrong items should mean a refund of almost £6, but does mean I will definitely need to do another small shop mid-week. :mad:

Stock pot on the go with the chicken carcass and lamb bones which means I can make soup for my lunches: dinner is to be turkey mince chilli.

Fire_Fox

The chilli was lovely, as it always is when I use the Discovery spice mix. Loads of veg went in - grated carrot, onion, celery, yellow pepper AND a tin of tomatoes! I managed to spirit away half before serving so £1.60 of meat will go a long way.

Trying to complete the soup before I head to work - stock, white wine, red onion, celery, garlic, dried soup mix and the scraps of meat. I am quite shocked by the amount of meat left on the chicken that we'd have previously thrown away! :eek:

I am also amazed that two of us are able to get through the larger pack sizes of Smartprice potatoes, onions and even carrots. We do throw away the odd one, but mostly it's just a case of picking out the eyes or trimming off a squishy bit! It's a shame I don't like most root vegetables cooked (texture) and Mr. Fire Fox doesn't like any pulses - I think this is costing us dear. :mad:

Fire_Fox

Just realised how expensive next month is going to be ... cheque for service charges has not cleared (£250), run out of protein bars (£70), my feet and back are niggling so need new trainers (£50), three specialist fitness subscriptions to renew (£100ish), and must stock up on energy-saving halogen lamps (£30). This is on top of day-to-day expenses! :eek:

All the fitness stuff is related to my job, so I don't feel able to do more than moderate my spending in this area. I will be getting cashback on the bars, a referral discount on the trainers, and bulk discount on the subscriptions and lightbulbs. But it's still a lot of money.

Fire_Fox

I got paid! :beer:

Not only that but I received all my overtime from January to March AND an extra 2.5% for inflation AND I have worked loads of extra hours this month so my wage will be up again in May AND I am due an increment in June! :T Now back on track with my goal of earning the equivalent of one extra month's wages during 2009.

I am quite relieved as my daily bus pass has gone up 20p, the second price rise this year. :mad: Given that our buses run on bio-diesel and tax doesn't increase until September I am not impressed.