Weekly Spend Challenge w/c 9th October 2011

elsiepac

Weekly Spend Challenge W/C 2nd Oct 2011
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Weekly Spend Challenge. This challenge is open to anybody, no matter what financial place they are in.

On this thread please post an amount of money you wish to stay below within the week (Sunday to end of working day on Friday). This can be pennies or thousands it depends on the individual. Then next Saturday report back and pledge for the following week. The challenge runs from Sunday to Friday so we don't include Saturdays but feel free to change the rules to suit you and include Saturdays or start on a different day.

Feel free to update this thread with daily spends if that keeps you on track. We colour code the results as below:

Green - within budget
Red - overbudget
Purple - zero spend
Yellow - made money over the week

This is a little bit of fun but for many it highlights the fact that maybe that magazine/chocolate bar isn't needed. Hopefully your spending habits can be changed forever.

Moozie was the founder of this challenge and here is a quote taken from her:

Originally Posted by Moozie:
"Good afternoon lovely DFWs Now for anyone looking in, please feel free to join - the more the merrier! Basically, decide on the amount you want to spend up to from Sunday until the end of the working day on Friday then pledge it here and off we go! The challenge is about incidental spending and not for stuff that should be budgeted elsewhere such as bills, groceries, debt repayment etc but you decide what to include at the end - this is about changing your habits and improving your recording of your spends more than anything else. Have a great week everyone and keep it low!!! Moozie x"

Good luck everyone.

W/C 2nd Oct Challengers / Pledges /Total Spent
pointypenguin £40 / £39
elsiepac £40 / £49.67
destroyerofdebt2011 £36.60
ms_night_ryder £55
kiss_me_now09 £55
Kellylouise88 £25
Frogletina £48
L7oopys £20 / £18.60
antonia1 £7
kare is trying £20
chris81418 £50

link to last week's challenge

W/C 9th Oct Challengers / Pledges /Total Spent
pointypenguin £30/£22.50
elsiepac £45
emylou £30
cleggie £30
destroyerofdebt2011 £40
karen is trying £25
frogletina £48/£38.89
666paw £35
L7oopys £5/£3.96
antonia1 £50
chris81418 £50

elsiepac

Hi everyone

New thread ready for the challenge beginning tomorrow.

I'm pledging £45 for next week. Don't think I have anything planned but my memory is shot at the moment so we'll see!!!

I'm working on a mammoth project this weekend - starting a monthly meal plan.

I've set up a spreadsheet with 3 tabs - one for "this" month's meal plan, one for the shopping lists each week and one at the end that has a list of all the menu items possible, so it's easy to see in one place.

I've been putting all my tatty recipes on scraps of paper onto the laptop as well, have done 65 or so!!! So that's the worst bit out of the way!

I'm doing it to try and get in the habit of spending less frivolously on food - I'm not terrible, but I'll tend to buy ingredients for like 4 recipes at once, when I find them, and each one might be 3 or 4 portions, and it's only me, so by the time I get to doing the last recipe the ingredients might have gone bad. So really it's to try and sort out my shopping I guess, rather than my actual meal planning!

I do want to massively cut down my spending on food though. I'm mostly veggie so I don't spend tons on meat which is good, but I do seem to like the expensive things

Anyway, off in a min to do this week's shop. Haven't finished the meal plan, but have done this weeks to enable me to do the shop today.

Have a great Saturday evening everyone

LC x

emylou

Hi,
I need to do this rather than lurk so I can increase what I'm saving.

I'm going to try to keep under £30 this week;

OH and I did a big shop today for the freezer but I still need fruit & veg- anyone seen any offers on? I went to the local market last time but most of it went to waste cos I didn't plan my meals very well
I'm hoping to go to zumba twice this week and maybe for a swim depending on how my back is cos having chronic pain at the moment. Hopefully I'll stay under budget.
Have a good weekend x

cleggie

OK, i am pledging £30 for this week please!

destroyerofdebt2011

Please can i be put down this week for

Busfare £27.00
Food £8.00
Pocket Money £5.00


£40 this week thanks

D.O.D

karen_is_trying

Can i be put down for £25 this week please, bit more than last weeks budget but hopefully will stay in budget!!!

elsiepac

Thank guys, and welcome emylou - good luck with the challenge :j I've not noticed fruit and veg offers, but regards meal planning I would highly recommend finding a couple of recipes you want to try (I recommend https://www.bbcgoodfood.com - loads of great budget stuff) and then work out how many portions they will make, and how well they will keep, whether it's something you can take for lunch the next day, whether you will have time on the evening you want to make it, to make it (IYSWIM!!!) etc. I've only recently started doing it and that's where my ridiculously enormous food planning project has stemmed from! I'm sure you're not as OCD as me, but I promise it helps. Oh, there's a BRILLIANT recipe for minestrone for you (makes three portions and I take it for my work lunches and reheat, it's great!)

100g wholewheat spaghetti 20p
1 tin chopped tomatoes 44p
1 good veg stock cube 25p
350g any small frozen veg (e.g. Tesco do carrot, sweetcorn and beans for 80p for 1kg which is what I use in this recipe) 30p
1 tin haricot beans 59p
3 tbsps Green pesto (about half a jar) 50p
Total cost = £2.28 or 76p per portion - this could be trimmed down

1. Break the spaghetti into little pieces
2. Put the tomatoes, stock cube, spaghetti and 1 litre of water into a big saucepan and bring to boil
3. Simmer until the spaghetti is cooked
4. Chuck in the veg and beans
5. Veg should be done after 3-6 minutes, depending what you use
6. Dish up into containers and top each one with a tablespoon of pesto
7. When you want to reheat, microwave for about 5 minutes, then stir through pesto

You can top with parmesan if you want, but I've found it's a bit superfluous! This is my work lunch of choice at the moment as it's easy and cheap and healthy and quick!

dod and karen is trying thanks for being so prompt! Hope you're all having good weekends

LC x

Frogletina

£48 for this week again please :j

karen_is_trying

Elsiepac i have a gorgeous recipefor a thick rich soup i took it asa taster toslimming world last week and for this horrible weather its perfect..
red lentil and carrot soup..

3 potatoes
3 carrots
2 onions
1 parsnip(optional)
3 handfuls of red split lentils
1 teaspoon of paprika(add a little more if you fancy)
1 stock cube or a spoon of bouillion
s+p to taste..

chop up the veg and plonk in pan, add all ingredients bring to boil and simmer for 30 mins and blitz up, i fill the saucepan to top with water for this soup and it still blends right down into a thick rich soup.... original recipe has 2 slices of streaky bacon in which you chop and fry with onion first then add it but its just as nice without the paprika is just enough to season it too ..
I use the red split lentils 88p a bag from tesco cheap as chips...

elsiepac

I've updated the first post with your pledge frogletina

Thanks for the recipe karen, it looks brilliant! I use the Tesco red split lentils in virtually everything with a tomato based sauce - massively bullks things up like spag bol and chilli, and count as one of your 5 a day. I'll definitely add your recipe to my list, thanks! :beer:

LC

PS - is it grey and windy and dull out for everyone else today? Very uninspiring...feels like midwinter!!! :rotfl:

emylou

Thanks for the welcome & for the recipes- they sound delicious!! I am not very good in the kitchen- I have mostly good intentions but often reach for the take away menu or microwave meals far too frequently! The other issue I have is that OH doesn't eat fruit or veg so I usually buy too much, e.g. BOGOFoffers and it goes to waste but he has said he will eat veg in soups if it's blended- can all veg soups be blitzed but still taste nice? He is quite good at adding seasoning but I'm no good at cooking like that- I have to follow recipes and don't want to waste it if he wont eat it!
Went to Aldi for their "super 6" offers and spent £5.51 then Mr T's for other cupboard items which resulted in £10.98 so already a total of £16.49!! Should only need milk during week now though!
Also a bit down as not been able to check my Vodafone account online as they've been having issues for weeks, just checked it and my bill was stupidly high (I went on holiday in August and did call home a couple of times but was expecting last month's bill to be high but it wasn't so it's a bit of a surprise now!) so really need to keep an eye on what I'm spending! Off to pump up my gym ball after deflating it months ago to save space in flat- I need to work on my back ache and not pay gym costs!!

It's a bit windy here but the sun has peeped out and kept it fairly warm
Happy Sunday everyone!!