Walking the walk...

LivvyLoo_2

Hi Em,

Aw how annoying about your lunch. I bought lunch from the work canteen on Monday and it cost me £4.50!!! I worked out that would be £90 a month if I did it every day...and like your lunch mine was awful too!! If it was nice though it wouldn't teach us a lesson ha ha.

Hope you had a nice relaxing bath

x

E2006

Hi LivvyLoo,

I cant believe that some people buy their lunch every day, how do they afford it?? Even at the height of my spending thats not something I ever did.

I really enjoyed my bath. I dont get to relax in the bath very often. Im usually in and out because something else needs doing, so it was lovely.

Its so cold and windy again today - I also cant believe how dark the nights are already, but I guess it is October. We've had no summer! On a plus side I never want to go out as much in the winter, which means less spending.

Not a NDS today because DS needed a new toothbrush and we needed some bleech. It was a low, essential spend day though. I need to pop out for sandwhich filling when DH comes home too as we have nothing left in for him tomorrow. Its a shame because its only one day, but there is literally nothing left. Al** do sandwhich fillers for 89p and that will do him a sandwhich on Saturday lunch time too.

E2006

Happy Saturday :beer:. Love the weekends! We've had a lovely one so far. Took DS to his swimming lesson this morning, then I had to pop to Al** for the weekly shop - £17 so not bad but I had already spent £35 in Mr A (but that included some beer and wine, and some cleaning products) so in total £52 this week. Much more than intended but bang on the usual weekly budget (although this week is obvioulsy not a 'usual' week in terms of the budget, given the limited amount of cash Ive got left). Oh well.

Then popped to a local shopping centre and bought DH some new trainers. He was desperate. His others were getting too small, and he had taken the fronts out so his feet were getting wet. He plays football twice per week so I couldnt even leave them much longer. I was hoping to hold off until pay day but he was complaining that his feet were sore on Wednesday night, so I couldnt make him wear them for another 2 weeks. They were only £12 so not a big spend.

Im finding the middle of the month very frustrating in terms of debt busting. Its fab seeing the numbers go down on payday, but then not being able to pay any extra for the rest of the month drives me nuts. Ah well, at least they're going in the right direction.

DH has taken DS up to the local field to play football and Ive managed to whizz round and tidy and hoover the downstairs and wash and dry the dishes. Ive also prepared the mixture for some jammy biscuits and Im just waiting for DS to come back to help me roll them out and cut them (he will go mad if I do it without him!). So im just sitting enjoying the peace. Its freezing and dull today and Im nice cosy in the house. Love it!

Anyway, meal plans this week:-
Tonight: Fajitas (already had chicken in the freezer)
Sun: Sun lunch at DH's mums, tea (small portion of) Prawn curry
Mon: Pork casserole & veg
Tue: me: roasted veg couscous, boys: Chicken, home made wedges and peas
Wed: Jacket pots, cheese and beans
Thur: BBQ style pork steaks with either HM wedges and salad or rice & sweetcorn
Fri: Veg pasta

Breakfasts are cereal, and lunches: salad and fruit for me, ham sandwhiches and fruit for DH, and cheese wraps, fruit and home made biscuits for DS.

Em x

E2006

Have been reading this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2116179 (if the link works)! Im so inspired. I found the link in another diary I was reading, and have had to read it from start to finish. Some absoutely fantastic ideas in it, and its made me realise that I can make it to the end of the month without any further (or minimal) spending (foodwise - still need petrol). Ive been through my cupboards and freezer and have meal planned up until payday (21st). We should eat well too. The meal plan has changed from the one I posted earlier as Ive re-jigged some of this weeeks meals. The next 2 weeks should be as follows:-

[STRIKE]8th: Chicken Fajitas[/STRIKE]
9th: Prawn curry
10th: Pork casserole, roasted carrots and potatoes, yorkshires and peas
11th: Fresh egg (currently frozen) tagliatelli and veg pasta
12th: Pork steak, poached eggs and home made chips/wedges
13th: Salmon & couscous for me/Chicken, veg and yorkshires for the boys
14th: (remainder of) chicken curry, rice and pittas (remainder of the chicken from 13th)
15th: (only day im not sure of but probably pasta and garlic bread)
16th: Cheesey wedges
17th: Pork steaks bbq style, mushroom rice & sweetcorn
18th: Salmon & couscous
19th: Jackets, cheese and beans
20th: Bacon & mushroom pasta
21st: Payday :j

All I will need to buy is fruit, milk and maybe cheese for packed lunches next week :T

The biscuits I made yesterday were absolutely scrummy. I will definately make them again!

Just need some petrol money now

LivvyLoo_2

Hi Emma,
Well done with your meal plan, I find it so much easier knowing what youre going to have every day especially when you have to get things out of the freezer to defrost and you don't have much time on a night, I am going to have a look at the link for ideas.

Have you always shopped in Al***? I haven't but I reckon I have saved loads on the weekly topup shops.

xx

E2006

Hi LivvyLoo,

I didnt shop in Al** until very recently. Im ashamed to say I was one of those who 'couldnt be bothered' to shop around on a Saturday. I knew I was paying more than I needed to but thought that it was worth it for the convenience of getting everything I needed all in one store.

I recently started getting bits and bobs in there, but still the lions share in Mr A, however the last couple of weeks I have tipped the balance and now get the majority in Al** and just bits and bobs in Mr A that I cant get in Al**. I reckon its saved me a fortune. I only wish I had had the motivation [read sense] to do this before.

One of the plans on my argos card ends this month (today actually). The remaining balance of that plan is £170. The estimated interest for next month is £33 :eek::eek: . I need to pay this today. There are bills in the bills acc that dont come out until 29th of the month, but I get paid on the 21st, so I will have to 'lend' the money from there and juggle the cc payments to cover the larger argos payment this month :mad:. Ah well, at least it will be gone soon!

Em x

E2006

Pork casserole was yummy.

[STRIKE]
8th: Chicken Fajitas
[/STRIKE][STRIKE]9th: Prawn curry
[/STRIKE][STRIKE]10th: Pork casserole, roast potatoes, and sweetcorn
[/STRIKE]11th: Fresh egg (currently frozen) tagliatelli and veg pasta
12th: Pork steak, poached eggs and home made chips/wedges
13th: Salmon & couscous for me/Chicken, veg and yorkshires for the boys
14th: (remainder of) chicken curry, rice and pittas (remainder of the chicken from 13th)
15th: (only day im not sure of but probably pasta and garlic bread)
16th: Cheesey wedges
17th: Pork steaks bbq style, mushroom rice & sweetcorn
18th: Salmon & couscous
19th: Jackets, cheese and beans
20th: Bacon & mushroom pasta
21st: Payday :j

Im really chewing about money at the minute. I think its this bill from argos thats thrown me. I need to pay it before 6.12.11 as I will start to pay interest on the other plan which ends then. So basically I have to pay off £370 in 2 months as opposed to 3 which I had budgeted for. Throw into the mix Christmas, all of the other bills, the payment that we need to make for our holiday that we've booked for January (£220), and its just soooo tight. I know that Ive set the payments, but I really dont want to drop down to the minimum payment's. I work for a local authority and the next rounds of cuts are coming up. If im made redundent Ive only been there 3 years so get a minimal amount of redundancy and I just dont know how we would cope if the debts are not paid off in the main. This plan that Ive got aims to pay off all but one card by April (which is when I assume I would go if I was).

I know the holiday is a luxury but if I cancelled now I would lose everything that we've paid so far. Its self catering and we use it to the full and spend a minimal amount when we're there as we eat in the lodge, and all of the facilities are free.

Im just trying to juggle the figures and see where I can shave from. Its likely that I will reduce the payments from one of the cc's (which will still be above the minimum) and pay that to argos this month and next to pay that card off (the other £170 will come from the bills acc tomorrow and be paid back out of this months pay too).

Food and petrol (and entertainment) budget from October pay will be £440. Not that much when we use around £55/60 per week petrol, and from the budget will need to pay for DS's snack money and breakfast club (Im dependent on this to get into work on time so cant even save there) which is £3.50 per week. That leaves around £50 per week for all food, cleaning products and any extras. Doesnt sound too bad I suppose, especially after reading the thread about feeding a family for a month on £40. I think I may read it again from start to finish as left to my own devices feeding my family on a budget means beans on toast and jackets and beans

Half term soon. I need to come up with some ideas for free days out :think:

E2006

Feeling a bit more positive today. Ive re-worked the payments this side of Christmas and it means we have a bit more to play with in terms of money for xmas pressies etc. The food and petrol budget is still fairly tight but I will still have paid off virgin and argos by xmas, and with a bit of re-jigging should still have paid off everything other than one card by April as planned. The bonus is that my travel expenses due ths week can be used for half term week. It wont be much, maybe £30/40 but it will stretch to allow us to have a couple of nice days out as well as some free days. It will be a challenge to see how much we can eek out of £x amount of money over a week. This will be an eye opener as the last time we had a week off and didnt go on holiday (february) we spent around £400 doing 'bits and bobs' :eek::eek: It makes me shudder just thinking about it now!

Also, on a plus note, in their 3 for £10 range, Mr A includes whole chickens. My monthly meal plans for next month includes 2x whole chickens which Im hoping to stretch to 4/5 meals (10 portions each min), as well as mince which Im hoping to stretch to 4 meals worth (12 portions) of shepherds pie, so I can get the three of them on that deal, making my meat cost around 31p per portion :T (see what ive learnt from the OS boards ).

E2006

This day is getting better. DH got a letter today confirming that our car is paid off and they will be taking no more payments :T

I then popped to Mr A, and for the first time ever (cos I never get bargains) I got loads of bargain whoopsies. I got:
2 packs of turkey mince, was £2.65 reduced to 70p
1 pack of extra special pork and chorizo meatballs, was (around) £3 reduced to 70p
2 fresh 10'' meatball mania pizza was £2.98 - reduced to £1.40 each
1 fresh 10'' texas bbq pizza was £2.98 - reduced to £1.40
2 packs of bacon, was £1.50 - reduced to 50p
6 pack of fresh bread buns, was 65p - reduced to 20p
1 cream cake (there were loads of these but couldnt freeze them and only DH would eat it) - 9p

Im chuffed :T:T I never catch the good bargains.There was loads of other stuff but it was things I wouldnt use, tubs of salsa etc.

To celebrate our good fortune DH and I are having a :beer:. Just the one though as its work tomorrow!

Good night all

LivvyLoo_2

Hi Em,
Those whoopsies were brilliant, you normally only get 50p off things so I guess it depends when you go. I do like to stock up on them though and its normally a fight to get into the section as everyone is desperate to see what there is, it makes you feel good when you get so many bargains doesn't it?

Well done x