Vodkabarbie's DFW diary

Fire_Fox

Unsubscribing from mailing lists is an excellent idea! :T What is on your meal plan?

ClootiesMum

I wonder how long it takes for being frugal to become a habit?

In my case - a long time, I'm afraid. But it's amazing how quickly small things change - I feel guilty when a planned NSD fails and if I have to buy lunch at work.

It's a total mindset change & you've started well.... unsubscribing from mailing lists is a brilliant idea - I must do that.

Best of luck - and the user name's brilliant

Woohoo - just got my second star

vodkabarbie

Hi ClootiesMum, glad it's not just me who finds it hard to make this a habit!

Meal plan for the week is:
Sunday BBQ - nothing bought as loads of odd sausages etc in freezer, & pots of salad
Monday: Tuna & noodles - husband cooks as this is my study night - did get tuna steaks cheap as they were best before, and chucked them in the freezer
Tuesday: Macaroni cheese & salad - just had to buy the cheese
Weds: salmon risotto - bought a bag of watercress but have everything else
Thurs: Chicken , runner beans and mash with gravy - bought chicken legs instead of breast, super cheap!
Fri: I'm out with the girls for a birthday so hubby is having frozen cottage pie

Lunches for us both are sandwiches so not too bad there either!

Also waiting for pay day on Weds so I can have a look at my 'totals' for this month.

cookiecrunch_2

Love the diary, wish i loved chicken legs- they're too chickeny for me. You've inspired me to unsubscribe from all those lovely websites that offer me 'deals'
Cookie crunch

yukkibear

Hi I found your diary! Duly subscribed.

I have just started the meal planning this week, and so far it's working well. Did a risotto for the first time tonight and it was a success so that was good.

Are you doing the free scratchcards?

vodkabarbie

Hi yukkibear, I've missed the free scratchcards, is this an easy way to make money?
Cookiecrunch, glad it has helped - I just can't resist temptation so I'm better off not seeing it!

This week so far I've not done anything Moneysaving except for calculating my new totals before pay day tomorrow - in my signature. My Pocketmoney on my phone tells me I have 'beat my budget' by £80, and once all the interest is added back in I've still managed to reduce my overdraft by £92 and my CC by £13 (I paid off more than this but got clobbered with interest)

So that's a total of £105 saved in a month where we had our holiday, all good news! I still finish off £122 over my £1000 overdraft limit (though cleared at the bank I was only £20 over so my aim for next month is to save £122 off the overdraft and get back into the limit.

Catzpaws

Hello vodkabarbie... well done on your progress so far. Sounds like you have done great.... and will be sorted in no time x

yukkibear

Wow well done. The scratchcards are easy. You can do Take a Break but they only give you bonus money (which you can use to play bingo)
Virgin do one and then there are plenty of St Minver sites (littlewoods, butlins etc)

ONLY do one ST Minver as otheriwse you risk your account blocked.

Basically sign up to them, deposit £10, play the free scratchcard then withdraw the £10 (leave the scratchcard winnings in and don't worry about losing the bonus money)
You can then play each day (st minver do double scratches on sundays), and when you meet min withdrawal you can withdraw (usually £10 and leave a positive balance of about 10p in otherwise you'll have to start again).

I generally buy a bingo card or two at every £2 gained to stop the site blocking me for abusing the free scratchcards.

Hope all that made sense.

vodkabarbie

Thanks yukkibear, I'll have a look!
Got paid yesterday, didn't have a good moneysaving day.
I paid my credit card but I also treated mysef to a new pair of jeans and I feel a bit bad about it - though I really need them as I don't have a single pair smart enough for going out or work 'casual days', all my others are only really fit for the gardening!!
At least I made my purchase in a moneysaving way - bought some lovely 7 for all mankind jeans in TK Maxx for £40 rather than the £100+ they would be new. And it does fit into my clothing budget for the month, so not too bad.

vodkabarbie

Update: had a shocking Friday night - friend's birthday - by the time you'd added in present, food & drinks it was VERY expensive - I should have driven I think! Very cross with myself.
The rest of the weekend was pretty good; we had a barbecue on Saturday, hence the high grocery spend already this month, but we used everything up - had a second barbecue on Sunday and have nothing spare that isn't in the freezer. So no waste, maybe a few meals made out of sausages this month though.
I've just also signed up to the grocery challenge - eeek!