SeriouslySeekingtoSave strongly strides straight into slaying her mortgage!

SmlSave

Good luck with your To-Do List!

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Two hours of overtime clocked up tonight. Nice nice

mummalove

Very nice indeed...kerrr-ching!!!

weezl74

gallygirl wrote: »

The only downside, which Weezl admits, is that although the meal palns give your 5 a day it is mostly canned or frozen. There are some lovely recipes there, though once they've been frugalised & the expensive ingredients taken out there is not enough variety for me.

I'm slightly confused Gallygirl! I don't think frozen, canned veggies are a downside because they retain more of the nutrients than the fresh ones. Some even have extra because of being canned, ie lycopene is increased in tinned tomatoes).

Variety-wise it may be worth continuing to check, we have 76 published recipes, but another 65 ready to go up, once we have the person power to do it.

SmlSave

new recipes weezle? Ohhhh,,,,gonna have a look....

weezl74

we would particularly value your feedback on the lemon cheesecake and marmalade cake

Sorry for being off topic

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

weezl74 wrote: »

Sorry for being off topic

There is no such thing as 'off topic' in this diary

I'm hoping to be able to contribute some recipies myself when I come back from NZ - my mother has some good, filling and very cheap recipies that were family staple meals when I was growing up. Now I'm grown up (reluctantly) I will steal them and spread the love!

P.S. £40 for 4 people in January? Not even a shorter month like Feb! 'Faints'

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Well it's been a long and tough struggle between work and myself today. I've put up a valient fight but I acknowlege that the bigger workload won. No over time for me tonight and I even went to the local chippie and bought loads of fatty food (so as to damage both my exercise and my money goals).

Now I'm going to crawl into the bath and read a book with no educational value whatsoever and that doesn't challenge me in anyway. Maybe a few episodes of Agatha Christies 'Hercule Poirot' after that. That shouldn't demand too much of me...

Sepa74

HI SStS, I'm enjoying your diary. I also live in London in a flat on my own... and I'm from Oz, so totally understand the need to go home every year. I'm lucky because my mum loves travelling to Europe, so she comes here a lot which means I only go home every few years, not every year.

I find there is an art to managing a food budget for one person. Luckily I don't mind eating the same thing several days running, so I often cook up a big pot of soup or stew on a Sunday evening and heat it up at work each day for the week. Recently a group of girls started a lunch club which is working really well, but you need to have a group of like-minded people who aren't fussy eaters.

I find you can freeze lots of stuff that people don't normally think of which is really helpful if you live on your own. If I cook rice I make enough for 4 or 5 portions and freeze them - the trick is NOT to thaw rice in the microwave, but run hot water over it! Otherwise the rice dries out horribly. Bacon freezes really well - I put greaseproof paper between the rashers and use it up by the slice. I also buy 4 of 5 litres of milk at a time and freeze them so I don't have to worry about running out.

I even have frozen portions of stewed apple and crumble mix in the freezer for when I want a little treat. The only problem there is it's hard to store custard or cream in single portions!

I eat lots and lots of chunky vegetable soup for dinner - just chopped up veggies in water with a stock cube. It's seriously healthy, pretty quick to cook, and I like it. I buy packets of fresh tortellini which then gets frozen in portions which I then just chuck in the soup to make a very filling meal on these cold winter nights.

Porridge is brilliant for breakfast - very warming and dirt cheap! I sweeten mine with jam which also gives it a bit of flavour and is cheap. Don't buy expensive flavoured porridge mix, all you need is rolled oats, water, a microwave, a bit of milk and some jam. MUCH cheaper that way, cooks in exactly the same length of time. Those flavoured porridge mixes are such a scam!!

Because I have no car I do regular internet shops - on average one every couple of months which gives me the staples, and then I buy my fruit and veg every week from the local greengrocer. Otherwise I struggle with all the heavy / bulky stuff. Not being tempted into impulse buys more than makes up for the delivery charge.

I laughed when I saw your experiences with British Gas. Very similar to mine! If you're interested, I described my experiences in one of my earlier posts. I'm also with nPower and don't care if they are a little bit expensive, I am willing to pay for their service.

Keep up the determination, and have a great trip home

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Going well on the weekend tasks so far. Living Room and Kitchen are looking much better, Eyebrows have been tamed, Recylables sorted and present shopping finished.