July benefit challenge -here we go

Emmzi

£25 for a weekly shop for all of you seems great! What meals are you doing? (Just nosy!) My Aldi opens in a few weeks, getting quite sadly excited about it! They do yummy tomato cous cous and black olives, which are fab together and very filling.

Brown rice lasted until lunchtime!! Then caved in and had a sarnie (at meeting, not bought by me!). Stayed off spicy food though and have felt better.

Had interview near b/fs place today so b/f provided food last night and today. Nice mushroom burgers for me, while he had pot noodles. Eww. He was a bit squiffy though.

So that's 2 no spends. £79.19 left. Back to £3.96 a day. However its thinking about annoying little things I need while is a bother - like I need a black reel of thread, instead of e.g. quorn fillets one day.

Working at home tomorrow, think it'll be sausage casserole.

I miss fizzy diet soda! However diluting orange is way cheaper. And probably better for me. Bah.

Job interview today was ok but I won't hear for a week. I also miss being able to blow a fiver on ice cream to comfort myself after the stress of it. Might make some tonight, but I'm working until late, so it won't be ready until tomorrow. So I may give in and get a snickers for the drive home.

tru

Mr troo loves their cous cous too, I can't stand the stuff

Our low spending isn't as great as it seems, we had loads in the cupboard and freezer left from last month. By the end of july we'll have got through most of it so the real test will be august. Don't forget, this is our first month

We eat a lot of pasta, baked potatoes, cereal, rice and bread. Also at this time of year we're eating veg from the garden, so that's free. The food bill goes up at the end of the autumn

Prudent

I have finally got round to adding up what I would be entitled to. I have been keeping track of my total monthly spending for the last 15 months (personal challenge!) and found that on average I only live £2 above benefit levels anyway per month! However what I did notice by keeping a monthly log was how big the flucations were. One month I spent a whopping £1200 and another month just £585. The high spending month was one of those months when everything comes at once - car insurance, road tax and a couple of electrical items broke down and needed replaced. I alway noted any reasons fot higher spends and found it interesting looking back. All of my figures included council tax which I deducted from the average when working out how close I lived to benefit levels as obviously I wouldn't have to pay this on benefit.

Emmzi

Prudent,

you clearly suit your name :-)

Emmzi

Woohoo!

My £12.50 electricity switch cashback came through!!

AND a new curry house opened locally and is doing 99p curry tonight to woo customers!

AND it's orange wednesday!!

It's a sign, surely!

Emmzi

Right.. was 79.19, plus 12.50 from USwitch = £91.69

Yesterday's spend..

£6.50 2 cinema rickets on orange wednesday
£2.79 decent shampoo (praise be!)
£3.60 cinema beer for b/f (cinema my treat as I have been a stressed out mare lately)
and today, £1.75 for sarnie.
didn't go for curry last night - fully booked! - so had odds and ends of veg with pasta and nice sauce from that big farm foods shop last week

Total left = £77.05 = £4.05 per day. Luxury!

Emmzi

B/f treated me to dinner last night (think it was for doing his laundry and forcing him to find out about college - he's happily reseraching courses to start next month and looks *lots* happier than when investigating jobs of doom)

So I have yesterday's cash as a carry over. I need a fiver for Saturday night for cinema - this is with a mate who sometimes has job leads for me, so it's kind of a job hunting investment, and cheaper than loads of beers. so I reckon budget for the rest of the weekend is about £15. Minted!

I have whole weekend's food in already. But I'll have a wee Aldi on the way home and see how I go for next week's shopping list.

Still waiting on interview result from Tuesday, but have another one for a more local job in a couple of week's time, so things are starting to move, albeit very slowly. And current boss is putting in a bid to extend my contract (although I don't think he'll get budget for me!)

So all in all, a good day so far. I'll post the shopping list when I get home. Being reckless and not having a meal planner, but I want to see what's on special and looks nice :-). I'm sure it helps eating veggie.

Emmzi

Right.. let's see if this sounds likke a decent week's shopping and meals!

non-food - 2 carriers bags (forgot mine, oh the shame!!) and microfibre cloths (windows are minging, not paying window cleaner a fiver a fortnight though, too tight)

brocolli, mange tout - add ginger, garlic, soy sauce for yummy stir fry (dinner 1)

2 packs cous cous, one tomato, one roast veg

feta cubes in oil with herbs - will last for ages, add to cous cous with some olives I already have (dinner 2)

2 lots walnut and gorgonozla pasta - one for this week, one for freezer (dinner 3)

2 cartons cream, 1 jar sour cherries in syrup - to turn into ice cream

pack cheesey potato bake - I know I have one late night this week and will want something to sling into the over.. this with baked beans might be nice
(dinner 4)

6 free range eggs (could get cheaper than FR but wouldn't be able to eat them) - reckon that'll turn into cheese souffle, (dinner 5) and pancakes.

maple syrup - to go with pancakes :-)

jar of mixed wild mushrooms - again goes great with beans on.. or maybe an exotic mushie omlette (dinner 6)

leaves me with one night of leftovers or dinner from freezer I think (still have sausage casserole left)

Also bought some junk.. toffee chocs and diet cola for cinema.

Total = £14.96. £62.09 left, cinema still to pay for. But at least I am almost half way through the month.

The tough bit is going to be no non essential spending next week. I'm feeling all calm I'll make it, but I *know* something will crop up on day 30.. as usual...

tru

Emmzi, I need your opinion

I have some M&S vouchers and I want some shirts. Usually I would buy them in Matalan so do I count the M&S price, the Matalan price or not include them in the budget at all?

The vouchers were free but mr troo got them from work, if we were on benefits he wouldn't have a job and so wouldn't have been given the vouchers :think:

gallygirl

Mr Troo causes more problems on here than anything else .

For what its worth if these are shirts only for work I would let you have them free, assuming Mr Troo already has at least 1 decent shirt he could have worn for a job interview. But deduct any money you put towards it.

I've just read this from start to finish - don't know how I missed it before! I've found it fascinating. Goes to show that theoretically it is possible - however would be a lot more difficult to do Mrs Troo if you had to get bus to shops and then carry home etc. Also, doing it to cut back & pay off debts is one thing, at least you have the choice to spend a bit more. But the relentless week in week out slog could be soul destroying. And then when one of you does get a job you're faced with the M & S / Matalan debate, but with no handy vouchers to fall back on.

What is interesting though is what Emmzi is eating. I remember seeing a TV prog years ago, chef cooking v cheap meals, but with offal cuts etc not available unless you have a proper butchers nearby. Doesn't become a cheap meal if you have to spend £2 on bus to get your £0.50 hearts etc. But the likes of Aldi & Lidl have given access to interesting 'foreign stuff' still within budget.

Keep going both of you. Would love to join in but am far too greedy - I'd have had Emmzi's dinner 1 & dinner 2 together!!!!!