TYO's 2011 kicking the mortgage into shape...

CathT

I'm sure I saw on grabbit vouchers sent/available Oct 31st and people that checked points balance found that it had reduced down to just a few points. Looks like they might be on their way!

wantabetterlife

Hi TYO, i find the groceries my biggest downfall too...i can search the internet for ages to save a pound and then i get into the supermarket and it all goes to pot. Apparantley tescos are starting their double up promotion tomorrow on clubcard points...there is a thread on the grabbit board about what is included in it...might be a good opportunity to get some xmas presents.

[Deleted User]

Cath - oooo hope they arrive soon!! may try and use them for rewards like cinema hope you and youre littles are doing well

wabl- totally hear you on that one, I pop in for "milk and bread" and come out with about £5-£10 more stuff! am starting the xmas countdown soon so double points sounds fab!

shopping for the month amounts to around £100 and have a hovis homebake voucher to use the next time we run out of bread!

wynnvegas

Hi TYO,

Afraid the big house is progressing painfully slowly. May be a wee bit further down the line than planned due to an inexplicable land shortage.

Can I ask what the deal is with estate agents and lawyers when selling a house? How much does it generally cost and what needs to be paid for. At some point we'll need to consider offloading the squalor (although renting may be a better option for a wee while) and I wouldn't know where to start.

Cheers,

Billy

tootallulah

Food glorious food, yes well although I am eating out of the freezer and supposedly not spending much my food spends come to a huge figure. So I am with you on a grocery, freezer, general food shopping lock down. Getting it down to £200 per month would be good for me, and is less than half what I am currently spending, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkk.

[Deleted User]

Hey Billy
sorry the land is moving slowly - hope the questions about estate agents etc.. cleared things up , tho I have no idea if scotland is different!

Toots- good luck on the food challenge .... I keep aiming for £120 for 2 of us for the month- perhaps a bit low really as I never seem to make it! was ok when we *had to* but have losened our belts a bit now (in more ways than one in my case!) so I suppose its not the end of the world!

On the subject of food shopping, maybe I totally underestimate how much food costs nowadays!! In my head I always feel £100 p/m to feed both of us is "doable" without too much of stretch.... for a while, when I was at home to cook from scratch and hunt for bargains (and probably buying many less snacks and getting some given to us if we had any!) it probably was! Now I find myself feeling guilty almost every month when I get nowhere near the £100 target (though mostly £140-£170 which is probably still less than when we shopped mindlessly!) I think maybe my maths is just a bit rubbish- despite thinking we had enough food in to feed a small army I "just popped in for milk" to the supermarket earlier and ended up £27 worse off!!

Granted- I got the milk!
Also needed dinner stuff to feed 6 people over weekend (bought chicken fillets so more expensive!almost £10) and got some big bags of crisps (2 for £3) and bottle of wine (£5) too ...but nothing that in my head added to almost £30!:eek::eek: perhaps I am being too optimistic with what I think is achievable!

Am finding the colder darker rainy weather miserable and making moneysaving and healthy eating much harder! those nights when its dark I cant be as bothered to cook and am ending up eating (expensive) junk thus delaying my plans of fitting into my *new* (free) wardrobe! also end up throwing more food out which I have bought/defrosted with good intentions but then not fancied/got around for using! I wouldnt throw £1 or £5 in the bin but this is what ends up happening food wise sometimes!

Must up the ante again on that front!! ...starting tomorrow morning of course :rotfl:

On an MSE note sold an old phone for £10 , musicmagpied a load of old cds I never listen to plus tcb, listed a few bits on amazon and paid in some change to current account , also obsessively checking tcb to see if any joy on a payout! Also exchanged some clubcard vouchers so enough for a free meal out!

Radish72

My BF doesn't waste food he has just made me some toast with mouldy bread

Food wise I'm spending about £90-£100 a month (mostly that is only 5 day weeks) so maybe your estimate is to low for 2 people. When you throw any food out put the same amount of money in a jar, having something visual might help eating up things you have defrosted

Enjoy the weekend :j:beer:

[Deleted User]

Thanks Radish
Yep I think youre right we are possibly trying to stretch ourselves a bit too thin- I think I am going back to a time where every penny counted in a much more literal way! plus I had the time to cook /plan a LOT more!
Like your idea of money in the jar if things are chucked out! - put some chicken into the freezer and used just ood eggs (they didnt float!) to make some cakes today so nothing chucked! only prob is 4 leftover rashers of bacon from earlier, may make into a pasta salad or something not sure if can freeze cooked bacon or reheat! .....
listed a couple more things on amazon and have re-jigged the money so should be in the black till payday now!

Sepa74

Hi TYO, of course you can re-freeze cooked bacon - just like any other meat, make sure it's been cooked through.

I would be tempted to chop the rashers up and fry them with a leek or an onion, ready to make some tasty leek and potato soup (just need to add potato) or a casserole at a later date.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Sepa figuredI probably could! .... was also contemplating microwaving it for instant bacon rolls later....assume I can also do that if I nuke it?!..... though your soup idea also sounds yummy!! mmmmmm