My Olympic Challenge

Lewby

We had a really quiet New Years Eve in and invested in a £10 meal deal from M & S which actually only cost us £9 as we had a £1 voucher that I'd forgotten about. It was a great deal for 3 x selections of party food and a bottle of Cava! A cheap night in for 4 of us! Stayed up with the kids to see NY in and all had a lie in this morning. Lovely. It's going to be hard to get back into routine of getting up to go to work/school/college next week!

Went to Mum's for Roast Dinner today and managed my first NSD of the year. Will have to go and buy milk tomorrow but will make sure I get enough to be able to have 2 NSD's at the weekend. Popping to the supermarket for bread or milk is a serious downfall of mine as I always end up spending much more than I planned to.

I'm going to look into Tesco.com to see if that will stop me browsing and buying what we really don't need. Any advice on grocery shopping online gratefully received ....

Must do my meal plan tomorrow so I can buy what we need for next week. Have made a payment into my PAD jar, had a lovely free lunch and a NSD so feeling virtuous .... hope it lasts.

Happy New Year everyone. xx

Lewby

Another break through for me today when I booked my daughter a hair appointment and opted for a dry cut rather than a wash and cut - saved £6! Also chose to buy Sunsilk shampoo instead of Pantene as it was half price .... another first for me. One more first - I said no to OH when he said he wanted a Subway. We were only 5 mins from home and house is full of food! All small steps!

Managed to pay off my M & S card today - it was only £18.38 but felt good to clear it off. Can't remember the last time I had a credit card with a zero balance. The PAD challenege is really making me think about clearing them off and reducing the interest I'm paying.

Just posting odd random things that I have managed to keep me motivated when my resolve weakens! :rolleyes: Hope everyone else is having a positive start to 2009.

:j

MrsPorridge

Lewby wrote: »

I managed to pass another 'test' today when my OH and I went into our local town, M & S was beckoning ... I was drawn into the shop, actually picked up some lovely underwear in the sales .... looked at it for a while and put it back!!! I have read so often on these boards that the 'do I want it / do I need it' pause test is the one to take and I realised I didn't need it!

Hello Lewby - you are just like me:D I LOVE M&S. I did exactly the same as you when I was in an outlet M&S store last week. Mine wasn't underwear though it was trousers and a top (which I definitely did not need). The joy I felt when I walked out of the shop empty handed was fantastic:j

DH and I have also discovered the £10 eat in. I think its a fantastic idea. We have decided to do that on a Saturday once a fortnight as a special treat. Its certainly a lot cheaper than going out as well.

I have been meal planning and batch cooking (with lots of ideas from the Oldstyle board) and now spend around £150 per month on food and that is for two adults and one child. The funny thing is we are eating a lot healthier now:D I don't throw food away at all - everything is recycled - pies and pizza toppings are great for using up leftovers. Every so often we have a "strange combination meal" using up odds and ends and things that you would never really put together, yet it works!

When I watched the closing ceremony of the olympics I also thought to myself that it would make a great challenge to try and be debt free (excluding mortgage) by the London 2012 olympics.

Good luck Lewby!

Lewby

Hi MsPorridge, Thanks for your support.

The olympic challenge bit came from my snowball telling me it's June 2012 that I'll be debt free. It felt like ages away but after Beijing I remember telling my son that those competeing for 2012 haven't got long to get ready now as it wasn't far away ..... so I decided to adopt that as my goal. I hope to make it by the end of 2011 but at the outside edge I know I'll have done it by the time the Olympic torch is lit!

I'm working on the grocery challenge too and have set myself £250 for 2 adults 2 kids and 2 part-time teenagers! I've drawn the cash out on the 1st of the month and hope to make it last to the 31st ... one way or another! We sometimes have those strange meals ..... we call if 'freezer surprise' and the kids love it. After Christmas I'm hoping that with bread, milk, fruit and veg we can get by on what we have for at least 2 weeks.

My main problem is that my OH is a real meat eater ... whereas I'm virtually veggie. Meat is sooooooo expensive. Will look on OS board for ideas. If anyone has ideas on how to eat meat cheaply all will be gratefully received!

I have recently discovered 'corned beef hash'!! :rotfl:

Lewby xx

MrsPorridge

Hi Lewby just wanted to let you know that I went into M&S today for the £10 eat in for two and was devastated to find it was not available.:eek: I asked the assistant who said they were not sure whether it would be available again or not. However, a lot of the food was half price. I did get a main and a pud but just those two came to a tenner:mad:

Lewby

Thanks for the disappointing news! Those £10 deals were brilliant. At least it stops me wandering in on the basis that I'm going to get one of those deals and then getting distracted as I have to walk past all the lovely clothes to get to the food section!

Had a good day today - I'm counting it as a NSD as I only had to pay for a haircut for my daughter that was planned and budgeted for. Avoided popping into Somerfield and thereby avoided spending £20 I didn't need to. I do it everytime I pop in for milk .... or bread .... or just one item!

Have managed to get on with my assignment quite well today but I'm already over the word count and have 2 sections to do yet. Will have to cut it down tomorrow. Last day of total freedom tomorrow, back to work Monday. I have had a brilliant break over Christmas and New Year and most importantly have got back on the DFW wagon. Feeling really motivated ... I think it becomes a bit addictive. I love these boards and could spend all day chatting on them... but have to make the tea now (turning left over chicken into a pie - very MSE) and then off to my brothers to play cards with the family.

Have a good evening all.

Lewby xx

retrocircles

What a lovely NYE! DH & I had a Tesco Value cake, sausage roll & nibbles-fest. Think it came to about £7.

Congrats on paying off your M&S card. Like you say, it's a small one, but a goal to celebrate none-the-less!

TurnaroundSue

Hi Lewby :hello: - welcome back! I have a freezer which I use purely for bread and milk. It stops me popping into Mr T's and coming out with lots of stuff I didn't really need, but, hey, they were on offer/reduced etc etc.

Really need to get my shopping bill down and that is my target for this year. I am going to do meal planning so most probably we will see each other on the OS board as that is where I am heading very soon.

Good luck with your challenge - I will follow it with interest.

MrsPorridge

Sue - can you freeze milk then? I buy full fat for DS and skimmed for DH and me. Will both of those freeze successfully?

Lewby

Hi MrsPorrisge,

I got this off the Food Standards Agency site so guess it's good advice. I'm am going to try freezing some to stop me making such regular visits to the shops. Thanks for the advice Turnaroundsue!

Can pasteurised milk be frozen for a few weeks before use in the home?


It should be safe to freeze milk, providing you do the following things:

• freeze it before the 'Use by' date
• follow any freezing or thawing instructions on the label
• defrost it in the fridge so that it doesn't get too warm – allow about 24 hours for it to thaw
• try to use the milk within a few days of defrosting – it will go off in the same way as ordinary pasteurised milk

When milk is frozen it expands and this can rupture the packaging. Check that the packaging is intact before you defrost it. If it has ruptured it's better not to use the milk.

Remember, freezing might affect the quality of the milk.

Hope that helps!

Not at work today as feeling very 'strange', light headed and nauseaous! I've only had about 7 days off sick in 15 years so don't feel too bad about it. Plus I'll end up doing some work as I always do! Only problem with having an unexpected day at home is that the heating needs to be on in this weather so it doesn't feel very DFW. I have turned it down a notch and put a jumper on but still need to have it on otherwise the cottage is freezing.

Haven't posted for a couple of days but I'm still motivated and following the DFW mantra. I'm making my PAD into a pot to be paid off a card at the end of the week and have kept my spreadsheets up to date each day. For me that is the most motivational thing - not burying my head but keeping a 'penny by penny' everyday eye on my spending. It's amazing how it stops you spending on things you just don't need! Yesterday I didn't buy some biscuits that were on BOGOF as we have some left from Christmas ... but previously I would have bought them thinking they'd save me money in ther long run .... but WE DON'T NEED BISCUITS!!!!!! I'm making cakes etc in the OS style and the kids much prefer them.

My menu planning is going well. It's so much easier when you know what is for tea each day and you have what you need in the cupboards or freezer to make it. My downfall has always been stopping at the supermarket on the way home for inspiration and spending £20 on things we dn't need really. Using cash is truly the most effective way of stopping yourself spending. Counting out the £10 notes to pay for the groceries makes you realise how expensive they are. Simply putting in a 4 digit code and stuffing you receipt in your bag JUST ISN'T REAL MONEY!!!!!

We have sausage casserole tonght and I've added butter beans to it to make it go further. It will be interesting to see what comments I get.

Just wanted to check in with myself so I can look back and remind myself how motivated I am right now when the 'shinyness' has worn off and it just feels like a long slog. I know that happens because it features so often on diaries. As long as we don't all feel down at the same time we'll be fine!!

Thanks everyone.

Lewby xxx