Frugal Living 2011 - the preparation stage

Lily_The_Legend

Ooo I am v excited! :j My DH has planned a trip away for Valentine's Day but wouldn't tell me where... he said I'd get some clues at Christmas...

So, I was just sitting here working out some frugal recipes to make, and said I'd get some Quorn and make some bolognese sauce. Well, DH couldn't keep a straight face! I said 'what's the matter? don't you like my bolognese?!' :mad::mad::mad:

'No, I do, I do,' he says. I don't believe him, and ask him why he's laughing at me! :mad:

So he lets me open one of the smaller Christmas presents and it's a pack of spaghetti! Took me a minute to twig we're going to Italy! :j:j:j

I can't wait, I've never been before! He won't tell me where in Italy yet, there are more clues to come!

So I guess the money I'll be saving for the first couple of months of next year will be going on Euros for spending money! :T

Funny thing is, neither of us like spaghetti, we both prefer pasta shapes. So now I'm thinking I'll have to feed it to guests when they come round, as it can't be wasted even though it is value spaghetti! :rotfl:

blondemuppet

Hello all,

Stil trying to put together a budget for next year. Have been reading the posts and picking up lots of ideas from everyone. My budget includes provisions for two moggies.When Ive worked out how much Im spending on cat food it seems a lot! Ive tried to give them just dry cat food because this seemed to work out cheaper but they protest in the extreme! They get half dry food half wet food at the moment. Does anyone have any advice about the cheapest place to get cat food/cheapest way to feed cats? I tend to get cat food from Aldi but it still seems dear. Ive thought about bulk buying but I'm not sure where to start.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and warm

mooomin

Lily_The_Legend wrote: »

Funny thing is, neither of us like spaghetti, we both prefer pasta shapes. So now I'm thinking I'll have to feed it to guests when they come round, as it can't be wasted even though it is value spaghetti! :rotfl:

Lucky you!!

Could you break up the spaghetti and put it in some nice warming minestrone?

cw18

Ended up in Italy for my honeymoon (though I should have been in Greece - long story which involves last minute cancellation by the tour operator!), so didn't really enjoy it as much as I think I would had it been first choice. But it's a lovely country, and most people are very friendly Just watch out for the taxi drivers and moped riders who think they own the roads and totally ignore pedestrians trying to cross over on official crossing points

We did a couple of nights in Venice, followed by a week in Cattolica (with visits to Rimini and San Marino) then another 5 nights on tour including two nights in Rome as well. Can't recall were we spent the other 3 nights, but we visited Florence (have a feeling we had a night there) and Pisa

Kerfuffle

flying_fresian wrote: »

Click here! I'm still on the DFW forums even though I became debt-free this year

It was ok.....oddly it needed more salt! The ham was lovely though - had it for dinner and the soup will be lovely for lunch tomorrow if I can keep Mr Fresian away from it!

Good to hear it worked out ok, at least if it needed more salt then that's easy enough to rectify.

Well done on becoming debt-free. I've had a peek at your diary so I've been getting my UK weather updates from there. Looking forward to reading more inspiring ideas regarding saving money now.

Toodles

Kerry_Woman

Lily_The_Legend - That's great news about your trip to Italy. Something to look forward to in 2011.

NualaBuala

That's so romantic Lily! But don't waste that spaghetti!

Lily_The_Legend

flying_fresian wrote: »

Lucky you!!

Could you break up the spaghetti and put it in some nice warming minestrone?

What a fab idea, thank you! :T

I just found this recipe, and it sounds delicious! :j

Minestrone soup

cw18 wrote: »

Ended up in Italy for my honeymoon (though I should have been in Greece - long story which involves last minute cancellation by the tour operator!), so didn't really enjoy it as much as I think I would had it been first choice. But it's a lovely country, and most people are very friendly Just watch out for the taxi drivers and moped riders who think they own the roads and totally ignore pedestrians trying to cross over on official crossing points

We did a couple of nights in Venice, followed by a week in Cattolica (with visits to Rimini and San Marino) then another 5 nights on tour including two nights in Rome as well. Can't recall were we spent the other 3 nights, but we visited Florence (have a feeling we had a night there) and Pisa

Thanks for the tip! He revealed last night that we're going to Rome :j:j:j:j:j and our hotel is fairly central. We'll probably be getting around on foot so I'll watch out for the all the crazy drivers! :eek:

Kerry_Woman wrote: »

Lily_The_Legend - That's great news about your trip to Italy. Something to look forward to in 2011.

Definitely, can't wait! :T

Lily_The_Legend

NualaBuala wrote: »

That's so romantic Lily! But don't waste that spaghetti!

Ooo I definitely won't! I want to reduce food wastage this year! That reminds me, I need to look up a recipe for banana bread to use up over-ripe bananas!

mooomin

Lily_The_Legend wrote: »

What a fab idea, thank you! :T

I just found this recipe, and it sounds delicious! :j

Minestrone soup

No problem!

That recipe looks lovely, I've bookmarked it and will probably make some today/tomorrow.