The Ultimate Incentive Threadies go all out!

Cinny91

A couple cheap recipes then:

We use this one more when we have company than just on our lonesome!

Stand and stuff tacos:
250g Mince - 60p
400g Carrot - 21p
Chopped Onion - 10p
Tin of Chilli Beans - 48p
Taco Shells - £1.58
Bag of Salad - 49p
Total Cost - £3.46 to make 12 tacos.

Fry the mince with the onion - drain the fat. Add the chilli beans (come in a chilli sauce) followed by the grated carrot. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes, and add some extra chilli powder if you like! Then stuff the tacos with the filling and salad. You can add cheese and sour cream too. And just munch on extra salad as a side.

I actually buy taco shells for 20p and chilli beans for 10p from a discount shop near my house, but I checked Asda and those are the prices! You could cut it by making tortilla wraps with it instead - which are about 82p for 10 and you can use left overs for lunch the next day.

Carbonara (for 2)

250g tagliatelle - 49p
2 slices of bacon - 36p
125g Soft Cheese - 28p
25g Grana Padano Cheese - 34p
Garlic Bread Baguette - 39p (These were 27p once, pssh!)
Total - £1.86

Set the tagliatelle cooking. Cut and fry the bacon until crispy in a wok or large frying pan. Once the tagliatelle's cooked, drain saving 100ml water. Add this to the bacon in the wok/pan on a low heat. Add the cheeses (is that the right plural?) to make a creamy sauce. Add in the tagliatelle and poke it around until it's fully covered with the sauce. Serve with the garlic bread. This is OH's favourite!

Toad in the Hole. (for 2)

2 eggs - 30p
150g Flour - 5p
160ml Milk - 16p
4 sausages - 49p
2 baking potatoes - 45p
Frozen Peas - 20p
Gravy - 6p
Total - £1.71

In the morning beat the eggs into the milk, adding the flour to form the yorkshire pudding batter. (remember, lumps in the batter don't matter ) Cover with a clean tea towel, and leave in a cupboard.
When you're grumbling for tea, preheat the oven to 200deg. Cook the sausages in the oven for 10 minutes in vegetable oil. Mix up the batter again, and add to the tin with sausages when the oil is popping and steaming like you normally do. Cook for 35 minutes, serve with mash and peas. I also make gravy using 20p smart price granules, and a tea spoon of mustard powder. Sometimes I'll make OH mash and peas, and make my share of the potatoes into wedges. Which is different and works oddly well We're cooking this on Monday with 2 extra sausages as my Brother is coming over, so it does adapt too.

And for other meals, I tend to have tea and jammy or nutella toast for breakfast. OH has either muffins or porridge depending with his coffee. I don't have a proper dinner, I eat a lot of fruit and drink water during the day in the week. Maybe have a cheeky taxi bar when I get in from work with a glass of peach juice. OH has sandwiches, fruit, lots of water and a yogurt when he takes a lunch. If he doesn't and buys a dinner that's from his own spare money. And that's about it I'll post other recipe and costs if anyone's interested.

Cinny91

Oh! I should also add prices will differ a lot depending on what you can get on offer. What's in season, so we work around this. Like today, I went to get chicken for tea. Had £3 of coupons so it only cost £1, and while I was in the store they labelled fresh breaded haddock fillets down to £1.58 for 4. So that's 2 meals sorted, with either chips and peas or chips and beans for about £1.30-40.

And Tink, I really don't have any plan! I was tempted to put our shopping savings in there, but now we're kind of saving just because the money isn't really there now. I guess we'll all figure it out as we go!!

Good luck for tomorrow Tete, my Nan said it's meant to brighten up again after today so fingers crossed.

OH is currently pretending he's a serial killer clown in the attic. I've had 2 texts to the house phone, and 3 calls of muffles and shuffling. Poor dear, I don't think he's really thought it also comes up with his number on caller display. This tops the time he curled up in a blanket for 10 minutes before jumping out as a 'beautiful butterfly' He's not quite fully baked sometimes.

Dinah93

Tete_en_l'Air wrote: »

Ooh also - don't protect your no claims bonus (if you do) - that took about £95 off my bill!

tinkerbel wrote: »

I forgot to say though as well.. Dinah that car insurance IS high! I've got me and OH who is male and under 25 on my car and its only £450 for the whole year (which would be approx £38/month (half what you pay) so I'm astounded! What insurance group is the car? Adding my dad saved me about £50 and sometimes when you make a change they charge you an admin fee so if you're making it fully comp, I would ask about adding your dad at the same time if you can - also it saves you a phonecall further down the line!! If you can try to budget for car ins for next year too I would because paying it annually does save you quite a bit. This might not apply as the % might not be that bad compared to some of your other debts but it is worth looking!!

% is similar to our cards, so tbh while I know its better, its all going the same way.

Nooooo I'm keeping it protected! I have 7 years NCB, NIM went into another car 2 years ago and if he did it and we lost the NCB our insurance would be over £4000 a year!!!

Flower08

Cinny - you are a star will be trying all of those out thank you! And they look fairly simple so even someone who is as useless as me in the kitchen should be able to manage it.
Going food shopping tomorrow so will make a list and stick to it for once!

Dinah93

If you like fish flower NIM has a dirt cheap, easy and delicious fish and chips recipe

Flower08

Dinah93 wrote: »

If you like fish flower NIM has a dirt cheap, easy and delicious fish and chips recipe

Ooh yummy love fish and chips, would love to hear the recipe!

Cinny91

Dinah93 wrote: »

If you like fish flower NIM has a dirt cheap, easy and delicious fish and chips recipe

If Flower doesn't, I'd like! Be good for the times we can't get fresh breaded fish cheap. Though with what I got in today it'll be a while perhaps. But I can add it to my folder if you wouldnt mind posting it

Glad you like the recipes too. Hope they turn out well for you! Trying a new recipe this week for puff pastry cheese and tomato slices so I'll report back on that. About 50p a head served with salad, so I hope it's nice!

shrimpy_80

Probably a bit late but good luck for tomorrow Tete.

Also thanks for the recipes Cinny, I didn't know you were meant to make the batter mix in advance - would that explain why my Yorkshire puddings are always like small paperweights? OH loves them but prefers the frozen ones to mine, I feel like such a domestic failure! Also your butterfly story made me laugh, I don't know if you watched any of Britains Got Talent with that french dancer who did the matrix stuff and ran in on his knees? After his audition OH came running into the lounge on his knees shouting 'look at me, I'm the man from TV!' before curling up on the floor and whimpering over his carpet burned knees (he only had shorts on). Boys are silly.

I can't really see anything else on the SOA that no one has already mentioned Dinah - would a spending diary help at all? It might help you to identify something that you've missed, although you seem so in control its hard to say.

I think I had lots more to say, but have forgotten. But I will just say in unrelated news that I saw Harry Potter last night and it was brilliant. I wanted to see it again before it had even finished! Will contain the rest of my excitement for now as Birdie doesn't seem to be around for backup

Back to eBay listings!

Tete_en_l'Air

Yoohooo, thanks for all the good wishes - finished the 10k in 1:18:17 which I was pretty pleased with considering the distinct lack of preparation! It's 13s faster than double my time for the 5k Race for Life (if that makes sense) and I would have expected it to be more than double so am pleased. It's a hilly course and some SADIST put the last km on a massive hill so that was a bit of a killer, but the finish line was on the actual track of the Gateshead Stadium so it was pretty cool to run on that! It was a brilliant race, fab atmosphere and lovely to run along the quayside (apart from the odd fishy smell) so really looking forward to the Great North Run now - 9 weeks and counting!

I'm off the blocks with my £1000 savings - have transferred £20 into my Project 101 savings - every time I complete an item I save £10, so the £20 is for opening my Etsy shop and doing the 10k. Now how do I update my ticker??? Have looked all over the ticker factory site for a sign in but can't find one - help! [cancel that I found it!]

Cinny some of your recipes sound yum - but some of your prices! I'd be lucky to find 125g soft cheese for 28p and I'm supposed to live in one of the cheapest towns in the country! I love carbonara with mushrooms in but they do turn it a bit grey-looking

Ah Shrimpy, glad you said that, I managed to find a friend to accompany me to the cinema in a couple of weeks so getting excited, was watching the making of last night - I think I really fancy Neville now! Hasn't he grown? And his sexy Yorkshire accent! And I've always fancied Draco too, am such a perv aren't I?!

archersluck

An absolute perv tete! But with you on Draco, yum. Congrats on the run, that's incredible.

Dinah, nothing to add to your SOA. Student living means I'm pretty out of touch with the real world of commuting and council tax etc. I do know that we only paid £55 a month for electric and gas in the house I've just left with 3 of us but I think your house is quite big so maybe not much saving to be done there?

Will just read through everyone elses replies as I've a bit to catch up on. Anyone else totally sick of the rain!?