SeriouslySeekingtoSave strongly strides straight into slaying her mortgage!

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Sepa74 wrote: »

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

Hi Sepa :wave:

Yes cooking for one does present a whole different set of challenges doesn't it. I do everything you've said up there apart from sharing the work food. That wouldn't really work for me, not only because I am a bit of a fusy eater but I also do different shifts at work so my hours range from 6.30 - 3; 9 - 5.30 and 11 - 7.30.

Regarding your rice drying out that doesn't happen to me. I use Thai rice though which is a lot more moist (glugy) than the (horrible) plain white rice that my parents insist on cooking. I have tried to move them from it but they insist they can't taste the difference! When I have tried microwaving that stuff I do find it dries out awfully because it's so dry to begin with.

Pennypincher2

Hello,
I have read yours and think you are very determined and doing fab. They were very naughty mice indeed but their mission was to lead you to now.
Byeeee PP

Emsky123

Hi

Thought it was only fair to drop by and say hi, I remember reading your diary earlier in the month - Well who could forgot those Mice!

I have to say i am another one who is guilty of reading rubbish in the bath, So many times i have thought i really should read something a bit more educational but end up reading the Tv mag.

I hope you have a fantastic time in NZ, i would love to travel that far but dont think i could cope with being on a plane for that long.

Good luck with your food mission and your MFW mission.

Emsky

Sepa74

I usually eat brown rice. But I don't eat much, so it sits in the packet way past its best before date - it's still perfectly edible, but doesn't absorb water as well when it's that old, which is probably another reason to avoid the microwave.

I am quite good about not chucking much food out, but only because I am willing to eat things way past their best before / use by date if they pass the sniff test!

One of the best investments I ever made was a Which? best buy fridge / freezer. Food keeps much longer in my current fridge than in any other fridge I've used (you can imagine some of the fridges I was forced to use in share houses!) and my freezer is always packed to the brim, storing away portions of food so I don't waste them.

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Not sure if this is a guilty confession or not? I've been waiting for my ISA with Santander to come through - I've told them that I'm going to be paying £2,000 as a starting point. The trouble is it's taking ages and I still haven't had it confirmed. So, I just got a little frustrated with the £3,000 sitting in my account earning no interest and made a payment of £800 off my mortgage...

I know that I will shortly have my FD account set up, get my savings accounts sorted and be basically where I want to be with my money but it's just taking ages!!!! (I'm so impatient ). I figure it's near the end of the month now and I'm soon going to be paid again (and it will be a lovely big one this month) so I just need to be a bit careful and organised as FD is taking over my payments from the 14th of next month. I'll need to have money in both accounts just in case. Not sure if I can get my work pay transfered over to my new account that quickly or if I'll have to do an actual transfer.

The ISA won't just take the money out of my account will they? They will need me to transfer it or send them a cheque?

P.S. Cleaning is currently in progress. The cat just distracted me by giving me the MoneySavingEye and making me feel guilty about the daily interest I'm wasting on that money sitting in my account... Damn cat!

Sepa74

Ha ha! A Money Saving cat! I like it. Sadly, mine are definitely NOT money savers - I got hit by big vet bills last month!

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Tired, very busy, a bit stressed and sick of customers lying to me and causing me even more work because I don't have the right information!

Soooo, having a pub lunch. Because I'm worth it :-)

SmlSave

Death to all customers!........oh bug*er, I take that back.....we need customers to keep our jobs....poo

Enjoy your pub lunch

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

• Totally clean Living Room, Kitchen and Bathroom - Not completed. Got a good amount done but more to do.
• Pack my suitcase - Not done
• [STRIKE]Do at least two loads of washing[/STRIKE] - Yah first one that's actually 100% done! :j
• [STRIKE]Sort out my recyclables and put them in the recycle bin[/STRIKE] - Done
• [STRIKE]Go into town and shop for some gifts for my young nieces (ideas on where to go will be gratefully received!) [/STRIKE] - Done
• [STRIKE]Get my eyebrows done (I look like Mr Munster…) [/STRIKE] - Done (thank goodness!)
• If I have any spare time after that I need to sand down some of the plaster that should be dry by now and keep painting my bedroom. - :rotfl:

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

SmlSave wrote: »

we need customers to keep our jobs....poo

Do we really? Damn...