£5000 by hook or by crook

ILGPink

Another day another savings update.

So I am on track with the sorting out and selling of things and today went to sell my old and broken jewellery and managed to get....... £55:D:D:D. Really pleased with this and put in the savings straight away.

Got an envelope on the way from music magpie so once thats done and paid will add that in also. Still need to put the things on e-bay but im waiting for OH to go fetch the boxes from the loft; then will put on e-bay asap.

Looked around the house for broken mobiles ect and found 3 all OH. Did all the re-search on how much they would be worth ect and told OH and asked can we sell; typically he said NO i dont really fancy doing that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!! im doing EVERYTHING I can to find extra money get us to the £5000 target; spending hours on comparison sites ect getting the best deals and getting food cheap as possible and he cant even bare 2part with 3 old crappy broken mobile phones............:mad:. Is it me am I taking it 2seriously or is he just tacking the P**s? Honestly the phones have been here doing nothing since we moved in 2years ago, they DONT work and are complete useless 2us.

Anyhow not much else to report.

Hope your getting on ok, are you still planning on doing a carboot this weekend keelni??

TTFN xx

ILGPink

Well I am starting the month as I mean to go on!! another £40 in the savings today :j:j:j.

OH is going to up in the loft tomorrow and get the boxes I need for stuff to sell on ebay. Will list these on tomorrow then.

Can not believe how positive I feel at the moment; really feel like we are turning a corner and just need to keep on chipping away like we are.

I really hope that the good life and break we are having at the moment will last.

MaryMurphy

I know how frustrating it is when OH is not on the same page, the last time it happened to me I felt like just giving up, an uphill struggle is even harder if you feel you're doing it alone.

But as you can see the feeling doesn't usually last long, so good to hear you're feeling positive now

Your pot is slowly growing which is great to see (I know the feeling!)

Keep chipping away, you'll not know how you did it once the target's reached

MMx

ILGPink

Thanks MM. Always nice to hear from you and your support is always much appreciated x

Well managed to put another £80 into the xmas fund so that now stands at £240

Went shopping with OH and DD today to sort out the rest of the mothers day gifts ect ready for tomorrow and I managed to find a £5 note on the floor. No one around 2ask if they had dropped it so this is now sat waiting to go in the savings :rotfl::rotfl:

Nothing much else to report so.....

TTFN xx

uk1

ILGPink wrote: »

So I want us to save £5000 and we have already managed £1065 since june. And please feel free to give any help/tips advice ect

I know your savings have moved a bit but well done on the extraordinary achievement of saving through such tough challenges. You sound really positive and determined.

I guess the best tip I can give is that as you know the way to eat an elephant is a small bite at a time.

There are several things you can do - you probably already are by the sound of you - but I say them just in case they're helpful. The way you make up the £4k or so is to make it from dozens or hundreds of really small savings. What I mean by this is for example:

1. Only go shopping when you have a completed shopping list mapping out each meal you are shopping for. In other words - don't go to the supermarket without knowing exactly what you are going to buy and don't just put stuff in the basket that isn't on your list.

2. For every item on the list ask yourself whether (a) you really need it and (b) will it actually get used before the use by date.

3. Cut out all prepared meals and make them yourselves. For example, if you love the odd indian takeawy , then if you have a slow cooker then buy some curry pastes from your local Thai supermarket and slow cook a delicious curry overnight rather than a take away or prepared meal. Keep a few tins of coconut milk in for your curries. Also - simple stir fries require some bean sprouts noodle and very little protein. As it happens all of my favourite meals are made from cheaper cuts of stuff and we try and buy what we need and try to achieve nil left-overs.

4. You may find online shopping easier and cheaper because you can plan menus calmly at home without making last minute changes in the supermarket and you can make your starting point for menu planning the current offers. You can also reconsider and change before the delivery. You also save on petrol so the delivery isn't expensive. Sometimes - Ocado can be cheaper than Tesco if you only want say 3 4 sausages for a meal - because they have a service counter. So don't believe the rubbish about Tesco (etc) always being cheaper.

5. If you drive - try and cut out as much unnecessary travel as possible. A fillup trip to the garage avoided can add £50 to your target.

Anyway a few disjointed ideras to encourage you in your mission.

Good luck.:)

ILGPink

Thank You for your kind and supportive words uk1 **blushing**

Do you mind me asking what cuts of meat do you buy/use?? I often struggle thinking what are good cuts of cheap meat

Had a lovely Mothers day. OH had got me a lovely present and DD had made me a card in nursery (lots of help!). She had made it on Tues but OH had hidden it and gave it to me as a massive suprise this morning. Was sooo pleased my 1st ever hand made anything from DD :j:j

Did you have a lovely day Keelni?? hope your 3 had spoilt you allday xx

uk1

ILGPink wrote: »

Thank You for your kind and supportive words uk1 **blushing**

Do you mind me asking what cuts of meat do you buy/use?? I often struggle thinking what are good cuts of cheap meat

Had a lovely Mothers day. OH had got me a lovely present and DD had made me a card in nursery (lots of help!). She had made it on Tues but OH had hidden it and gave it to me as a massive suprise this morning. Was sooo pleased my 1st ever hand made anything from DD :j:j

Did you have a lovely day Keelni?? hope your 3 had spoilt you allday xx

A man's not suppose to know these things .... but I've been fortunate enought to have always been the cook in the house and for a large chunk of our life we both worked together from home and so lunch has been the main focus of our lives .........

The best part of the lamb for flavour is the shoulder. It's normally about 50 - 60% of the cost of the leg - but it's fattier and therefore dries out less and has more flavour. Don't know how large your family is but it's quite easy to feed a family of four or so on a half shoulder that if you want to make it go a touch further you can take the bone out and stuff it with some paxo.

The cheapest cuts of beef are all largely the same (eg skirt, brisket, chuck etc) but the key thing with this meat is to have a slow cooker and cook it on low for a long period. If it boils it tends to toughen the meat but if it's ccoked very slowly and gently will become soft. If you don't have a slow cooker then many supermarkets have offers - Tesco sells one for around £16 currently. The art is to prepare the meal the previous evening (if it's lunch) or during the day if it's an evening meal. It doesn't need to be overly meaty - add some veg depending on the meal. If it's a curry for example add some sweet potato.

The best part of the chicken are either thighs and Waitrose and ocado currently sell chicken wings. The chicken wings are just the meaty part not the tips. These are great for loads of different chicken dishes - the favourite being braising them in foil in a home made bbq sauce (tomato ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, chilli, 5 spice powder, ginger or whatever) and then open it up for the last half hour to get sticky. A large pack of these wings (475gms) are currently £2.09 at Ocado. They have two packs of 800gms (ie 1.6kg!)of chicken thighs for £5 .... enough for a few meals .... These are great flattened dipped in egg or milk then breadcrumbs and fried - or used in chicken casseroles.

Anyway some ideas ... hope they're of interest.

keelni

Thanks yes I have been spoilt, the mse way lots of homemade cards and quite a few bottles of Turners Road donated from Mr T's dtd.

put a lot of effort into getting ready for the bootsales but thanks to the lovely welsh weather they were rained off now have boxes of stuff everywhere, on a plus point listed a few things on e bay and sold an old phone for £10.
I know how frustrating it must be with OH but don't know what to suggest sorry.

I have looked at music magpie but my cds are only worth 30p each so can't decide wheteher to bother or not.
Congratulations on finding £5, I found 20p last week and was well chuffed.
Hope you have a good week.

Barros

hi guys

quick update to say im still alive and sorry ive not been on in a while! i had to take a step back from MSE as i was getting a wee bit down from it - have stil been saving but havent been checking my accounts EVERY day lol

i have slowed down a bit but still pleased - i am now at about £25,600, just need to focus and keep my head down, work for bonus at work etc

i have started back at the gym so my costs have went up quite a lot these past few months, but i feel amazing now and much happier so it has definitely been worth it

congrats on the extra £2k ILG, its always nice to be surprised and as someone else has said these are trying times and i admire you all for managing to save anything at all and sticking to the goals you each have set so well done guys xx

ILGPink

Hi everyone welcome back Barrows glad to see you are ok, was getting worried x

Didnt realise you were in Wales also Keelni, im in the north. My CDs were also largley made up on 30p ones but I came to the conclusion they were better of sold gathering dust elsewhere rather than my house x

Thanks uk1 that's really useful. I have got a slow cooker and do use it a lot but never know what cuts to look out for ect. have used stewing beef most when making stews ect, but will now think about what you've suggested. We use to eat a lot more meat but since having DD ive really cut this down (me and OH that is, DD still get hers everyday) and if I'm honest we havent missed it that much but can really tell the difference with the food shopping bills.

Well savings havent been increased since last post but I have bought one of the pre-loaded Asda cards I had previously mentioned. So we are now going to benefit from another 5% off our food shop from there.

One of e ebay items has also got a bid and 6ppl watching it. So that looks promising with another 4days left

TTFN guys
xx