ZiggyStardust's money diet!

ZiggyStardust_2

Money spent today:

£20.75 in Iceland- got some good bargains and should hopefully have enough food until wednesday when I'll have to buy fresh produce

£1.50 on newspaper and diet coke

Budget left-£27.75 til Saturday

Car has started playing up-was making abit of a funny noise and is now sometimes pulling to one side. Have to get it checked on Monday. I haven't passed my test yet but hubby uses it for work. Don't know what it is or how much it will cost to fix

Also need to sit down and properly sort through hubby's debts. We're going to dispute a debt with Barclays bank that we had been paying.

Not sure how much we've paid exactly (haven't paid in a while) as need to get all the paperwork out but, basically, about 4 years ago (near start of our relationship) hubby got charges on his bank account for going over his limit one day and the debt went from there... he had an £800 arranged overdraft which they took off him and added around a £1000 in charges (at least)

Hubby also has a Barclay card debt, tried to speak to them to sort out repayment but haven't heard from them in about 3 years so don't know what to do about that? Hubby has car finance which was passed to Marlin debt collectors owes about £5000 and doesn't even have the car anymore! We pay £150 a month on that. He has been terrible with money in the past (mostly due to him travelling before he met me and really letting things slip when he met me!) but is really trying to sort it out now.

Looks like we have a fun night ahead of us!

Fire_Fox

ZiggyStardust wrote: »

Hi Fire Fox

My hubby eats meat and we cook some stuff from scratch. Problem is that hubby doesn't like much veg :rolleyes: we do try and have similar meals but would be so much easier if we ate the same stuff! Do find being a veggie abit restrictive ( although have been one since I was 5) as I do eat mostly salad/veg stuff- if I ate meat we could perhaps make food last longer (if you know what I mean!)

Can I ask what you are eating for protein? Does your hubby like/ tolerate beans and lentils, soya or quorn? if you post your usual meals up I would be happy to comment on money saving or healthier/ more balanced meals (I work in healthcare). Please feel free to tell me to go away tho!

ZiggyStardust_2

Thanks for your reply. My eating habits aren't great... have been veggie for most of my life, have always been quite fussy and there are quite a few things I don't eat!
I don't like quorn or soya (don't know if it's possible to have an intolerance to soya but makes me feel ill ) My typical meals tend to be jacket potatoes with cheese, beans, salads, vegetable enchiladas and fajitas, etc, soups, stuffed veg, veggie curry, spicy bean burgers etc. Not very varied

I do eat alot of wholemeal with seeds and eat some nuts, I eat quite alot of cheese (saw a consultant at the hospital one who said that as I don't drink milk to carry on eating my cheese although people say it's not very healthy?!) My problem is that I don't like meat substitutes and never have. Any comments, ideas would be great thanks Fire Fox! Oh, I take iron/ veggie omega 3 supplements as well.

Fire_Fox

You can indeed be allergic to soya. The great thing about eating lots of beans and lentils is that they count towards your five a day!! :j Do you have egg-based meals very often? If you switch your eggs to omega eggs (Columbus/ Goldenlay) and your cheddar to LesKol (vegetarian friendly) you will reduce your intake of saturated fats and increase your essential fat intake. Don't cook with LesKol as it goes a bit odd! IIRC eggs are a good source of iron.

Although eating a lot of full-fat animal products can increase your cholesterol levels, any foods high in soluble fibre - such as oats, beans and lentils - reduce cholesterol. :cool: You might eat more cottage cheese or low fat soft cheese if you like it? Or skimmed milk powder in fruit smoothies or soups? Also you can add wheatgerm to all sorts of meals, especially good in baking.

It's a good idea for a vegetarian to have some form of protein at every meal. A lot of women - veggie or not - tend not to eat much protein at breakfast or lunch then try to play catch up at dinner which doesn't work. :rolleyes: Beans or egg on toast is good for breakfast, or cereal and yoghurt or cottage cheese and fruit.

ZiggyStardust_2

Thanks for the advice Fire Fox. Definately going to check out LesKol, had never heard of this before! I've been veggie for 20 years but would ideally be vegan, have tried but found it really difficult, wondered around the supermarket struggling to know what to buy! people kept telling me it was unhealthy as well and was abit worried about getting the right nutrients. I've always suffered with not having great amounts of energy as it is

Fire_Fox

I hope this won't come across wrong, but I believe being a vegan is unnatural. I do understand that people have very strong ethical views, but the human body is set up to need some animal products tho this does not need to be meat or fish. The only way you can get certain nutrients as a vegan is in supplements (sadly Marmite does not grow on a tree!!) and you really have to regiment your diet to be balanced. If you think you might be allergic to soya then you would really struggle.

Are you a healthy weight, not over or underweight? You obviously do not have to answer that. If over you are probably eating or drinking too much of the less nutritious things, if under maybe too much of the very nutritious but low calorie foods. If you are a healthy weight and don't have any other health problems you might need to sort out your sleep or exercise routine.

ZiggyStardust_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I hope this won't come across wrong, but I believe being a vegan is unnatural

I think alot of people think this and I know it's something i'll never be able to do (I lasted 3 days when i tried, how rubbish is that?!) I did some research into the dairy industry and it broke my heart (spare time and access to the internet is a BAD thing :rolleyes:), felt like abit of a failure that I couldn't do it!

I'm average weight really, have always been on the slim side but put on about a stone and went up a dress size after last year at uni as bascially survived on not very healthy meals (couldn't use the shared kitchen as it was truly disgusting) and got addicted to Dominoes pizza Am trying to lose a few pounds now! And can't sleep at the moment, I would usually be in bed by 10, driving me mad! Have eyes like saucers!

Fire_Fox

My belief is based on biology not a negative judgement. But I would agree 100% that the food industry and the way we treat animals is just as unnatural. So is contraception but most of us use it! I have insomnia, take medication (also unnatural) but still awake. :rolleyes:

ZiggyStardust_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I have insomnia, take medication (also unnatural) but still awake. :rolleyes:

Have you had this long? It's pretty new to me, have never had any trouble in the past sleeping

Fire_Fox

Ever since I was a teenager, much worse when I am stressed. I have always been able to stay up most of the night if I was reading and took an hour to fall asleep: apparently eight minutes in the norm! :eek: I have accepted it, but obviously if it isn't normal for you you might ant to speak to your family doctor.There are some natural sleep remedies such as 5-HTP (protein) but you must never mix this with any other medication, especially anti-depressants. Some people find Valerian (herbal) good, but again not to be mixed with any other medication.