Minimum outlay year 2007

hypno06

Hi Topher, your ideas are exactly what we are trying to do.

As you can see from my sig below we have a huge debt still to work through but the determination to pay this off is overwhelming, but at the same time, the need for us to be able to keep our lifestyle without our circle of friends knowing how hard things are for us is important too. (not quite keeping up with the Jones' but.....)

So the discovery of the OS board over the last few weeks has given me loads of reasons why I can make significant in roads into the debt without giving up life - just making adjustments!

So, I am right behind you with your challenge and hoping to pick up lots of tips along the way!

Good luck.

larmy16

I am in on this one too - mainly the indiscriminate buying, just because I go into the shops (albeit the charity ones!).

I am keeping a record of forward thinking budgeting. For example I got 9 pairs of socks for £2.97 which works out about 30p a pair. Also got all my Christmas cards and paper for next year.

I have a credit card debt of about £600 which I am determined to clear.

I know it sounds dumb, but I just dont know how to do spreadsheets! I shall have to sit down one night and just have a go. We do have MS Money programme.

Flymouse

great to hear from others who are doing the same as me! Apple-mint, for years we've kept notebooks with everything we spend, I like to try & spend less than same month in previous year (not always poss!) Knowing where every penny goes enabled me to make the big decision couple of years ago to reduce working hours, cos I knew I could manage financially. Why should we play into hands of multi-million £ companies who want us to spend for sake of it? we,re too clever for that hee hee.
RE veg in garden Ive grown tomatoes, runner beans & herbs, they'll all love a bit of sun Topher & look good in the borders. Raspberries & blackcurrants are easy to grow & just think of all that lovely jam! got to go now but I've enjoyed reading everyones posts on here this morn.

Topher

Thanks for the replies and support, its especially heartening to see so many people trying for very similar things.
I've been raking through the cupboards and fridge today to see what I would be going to throw out due to not thinking about its use.
I then had to spend the bulk of the day baking and cooking to ensure that the only thing I finally threw out was a carton of cream. Funny how I felt a bit cross that it tasted metallic and off, and had foiled me in my attempt.... well O.K. I'd foiled myself with bad planning & buying it as an unplanned-for purchase.

Ready for the freezer & tomorrow's lunch... Chicken and Barley soup from the bones of the Christmas chicken (don't worry I'd turned it into stock two days ago, not just found it mouldering in a corner of the fridge.
1 Breadmaker loaf
Batch of chocolate chip cookies (30 small ones)
12 mince pies (all butter, all organic, all home made pastry). Jar washed & saved so I can make my own mincemeat next year.
Cauliflower cheese with potatoes. (Cauli 20p whoopsed at Asda last week, cheese left over from Christmas cheese selection, potatoes just starting to sprout in potato box.)
Cheese straws to go with tomorrow's soup. (Cheese set aside from that grated for Cauli dish. Pastry, left over scraps from mince pies.)

Guess who didn't get around to doing their planned gardening today?

Made some more Christmas cards from scraps for next year.

Need to make three birthday cards... all the rest sorted.

32 birthdays next year, not all to have gifts.

Ahead of you with the Christmas stamps B.T.W. the Optimist, although not sure if you were being tongue in cheek.

Anyone know where I can buy a mini hot water bottle total length 30cms?
I bought an Edwardian Lady cover from M&S sale & I've earmarked it for one of my outstanding Birthday gifts. (Outstanding in the not-yet-dealt-with sense, as I don't do outstanding gifts any more)


Topher

Flymouse

topher you did really well with the baking & meal planning yesterday, time well spent methinks. its been too wet & muddy for me to get in the garden yet, hoping for a nice crisp spell of weather soon. theres a new TV prog on tonite (fri) BBC2 8.30pm "Grow your Own" about organic veg gardening. Carol Klein is presenter & knows her stuff i think so it may be worth a look.
treated myself to some organic mince from sainsburys yesterday ( I try not to go too often) & plann today is to make HUGE batch of chilli & shepherds pies bulking it up with home grown veg, beans etc so i get loads of healthy meals to freeze for my money. then I can do a menu plan for next few weeks - saves me a packet as I know exactly what food I need & stops impulse buying, aimless wandering around shops etc. I also had a go at making new xmas cards from old ones cut up & using some card I'd had for ages, its amazing what you can do with a pritt stick & a bit of ribbon! quite pleased with the result. well done to everyone on this thread, I think you've all made a grand start to the new year. I cant believe I'm up SO EARLY, will need a lie down later.....

Topher

Thanks Flymouse. I need to do another freezer audit, and the batch cooking is a good way forward. Sometimes hubby makes a load of tomato base (onions, tinned chopped toms, tom puree, garlic, little sugar, then divide and add fried off mince (often soya in our case) to about half, as easy bases for lasagnes, pizzas, pasta dishes etc. Sometimes we freeze blocks of this base, sometimes I make them up into the complete dishes for freezing. I haven't worked out which is most efficient yet. We certainly have lots of freezer space so that isn't a big issue.
We also make large quantities of cheese sauce.
Sometimes we portion and cook two large chickens as well. (organic these days).
I've never really attended to desserts, yet have discovered that if I have a main course followed by a dessert, I generally eat less, including in between meals, or my returning-home-at-the-end-of-the-working-day raids on the fridge.
I'm finally clearing away Christmas today. I'm packing various organisational notes with the stuff so that next year I may be a bit more efficient, and a little less panicky. (The panic induces me to throw money at anything seen as a problem.) It's a bit like having Christmas in kit form. I've made a Christmas countdown list, and its amazingly brief, we decided to knock out all sorts of details and simplify the whole deal.

I've not yet ever tried meal planners, I guess the freezer audit should inform that.

See y'all

Topher

Topher

Article about a group trying to do similar (reference from Green & ethical board.) Includes links to yahoo group.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/13/BAGH3H7DH71.DTL

T

Flymouse

do you remember that tv programme "Pay off yr mortgage in 2 yrs"? just noticed it's on this thurs 11th BBC2 7.30PM, reviewing how the people who took part got on. I found it quite interesting last time so will tune in.
finished my massive minced beef cook-in; 6 chillis & 5 shepherds pies (each portion enough for 2) main cost was mince £10, allow a bit xtra for spices,seasoning, basics tinned toms & chilli beans I reckon about 60p per person per meal, not bad considering meat was pricey as organic. it did help the veg didnt cost anything (apart from labour & the initial packets of seeds!)
not as organised as topher with presents for 2007 but i'm working out what i can make rather than buy (jams,chutneys etc) & got lots of baby geranium plants from cuttings on windowsill - i look out for cheap baskets at car boots in the spring (folk practically give them away!) & plant them up to give as gifts - dont look bad with a nice bow on (recycled from another present of course).cant wait for carboot season- i need curtain rail,door curtain, etc but going to be patient as others are & hunt for bargains instead of throwing money at the problem. To those of you with large debt I say dont give up, the savings will soon snowball & you'll be debt free sooner than you think! there are lots of good things in life that are free; reading, walking in the countryside...avoiding the w***ks xmas party....

apple_mint

We just love car boot season! My kitchen has practically been kitted out by 'finds' over the last couple of years.

Yesterday I made fridge bottom veggie soup. I've also been saving the stalks off the broccoli, ends of cabbage and the tops off leeks (washed, chopped and popped into the freezer until I have enough). Just popped them in some boullion veggie stock with some carrots, herbs, seasoning and a couple of handfuls of pearl barley and lentil and we had a good panful of chunky veggie broth. Enough for a couple of lunches for two of us. Rachel Allen does a lovely recipe using the whole of a head of broccoli (she chops the stalk up and cooks it with some onion before adding the florets), so now I always save the stalks (in the freezer) when I'm using broccoli for main meals.

Flymouse

this sounds good! i make soup using veg but i'd never thought of using the stalks etc that normally go in the compost bin - apple-mint do you put this in a blender afterwards or just cook it in the pan & eat it "chunky style"? I should imagine there's just as much if not more nutrition (ie vitamins etc) in the stalks & leaves.