Risen from the ashes ...

beanielou

Well I know where to come for some bits n bobs
Hope your skin improves really soon.

slowlyfading

Wow, that is a lot of stuff! It'll lat you a while, that's for sure in regards to spending in general, what do you have in your food cupboards? Do you need to go shopping this week or could you manage?

And don't be so hard on yourself - you've been ill and it's very difficult to keep on top of things, especially when you haven't been at home. You're doing your best, that's all anyone can ask x

rising_from_the_ashes

*sigh* thanks for that SF needed a bit of that as stressing a bit ......

Food - have decided not to stock take cupboards atm 1) exhausted and 2) would actually just depress me as there's loads in them (and the freezers) but not allowed to eat much of it just now.

Loads of batch cooked things in the freezer but things like spag bol sauce, chilli etc and it may be quite a while before I'm allowed to eat these.:(

Currently only allowed "white" foods so white bread (which is a novelty as can't say that I can ever remember eating this, even when I lived at home we always had brown), cereals like rice crispies & cornflakes, eggs, white rice, pasta, potato - but only the insides (not allowed the skins??) and to go with it - chicken and fish.

Have a few chicken breasts & a couple of bits of fish that will keep me going until the weekend (not usually a big fish eater!) - but struggling to put things together a bit.

Had chicken breast with rice for lunch but a bit boring with no sauce - I'm sure I have some chicken soup in a cupboard somewhere so may try cooking that with a chicken breast for dinner to make it a bit more interesting!

rising_from_the_ashes

OK so things not that rosy just now ...... still better to have it all laid out I guess

Bills account paid - so pleased that I have a separate account for these - takes away all the worry that something won't be paid.

Must contact energy supplier today re them taking too much d/debit as haven't had a reply to my email:mad:

OD @ 30/10/2012 -£650 :eek:

Not happy about that at all - have raided most of the pots to some extent to try to curb this but don't want to take more out or will be struggling to get things to where they need to be when bills are due.

Have reduced payments to pets account (£10 each for dog & cats) this month as they have a reasonably healthy balance and also some of the "others" pots - really struggling to get these ones off the ground TBH:(

Balances below but still to make transfers back to cover amounts on this months' cc bill so not as healthy as may 1st appear (certainly know I have a bill of £59 of clothes on there and not enough in that pot!).

Will brave that one later:o

House & Car

Pets


Others (not doing well on this one )



Aiming for a frugal as possible November - I guess the good news about being off is that I'm saving fuel costs but will have to make a few trips to the Western over the next couple of weeks which will be offset against this.....

Positive thoughts ..... help & suggestions welcomed!

rising_from_the_ashes

One task down ..... phoned energy supplier & they're refunding the £18 they shouldn't have taken .

I did think about leaving it as a bit of a winter buffer (they always try to put the d/debits up again around Jan time) but they already had an extra £18 in Sept and TBH I'd rather have the money back.

Will put into the emergency fund pot and then it's there if I end up with a negative balance to clear at any point .....


Doing online order - both Mr T & Mr A to see who comes out cheaper;) (pretty evenly balanced atm which is surprising as I thought Mr A would come out cheaper - also have a £6 off £40 voucher for Mr T which may make the difference).

Aiming to stock up on most things to last a good couple of weeks but am going to be struggling with the fresh stuff a bit ..... mmmmm

slowlyfading

You can do this! Can you buy tinned fruit/veg to help you along a bit?

What is vital spends for November? Write these down, then work out what's left, what else needs budgeting for and then see, if anywhere, you can manage without or do some cutting back if possible

rising_from_the_ashes

Thanks slowly great ideas as usual:T

Have just frozen 5 chicken breasts and there are another 5 in the freezer so that's 10 meals down ...... ordered some breaded / battered fish (no idea if I'll like it as not really a fish person but it's one of the things I can have) so that's another 8 meals already

Must sort out the freezer in the morning before my delivery arrives (was going to do today but too exhausted ) and see what else I can find in there!

On the +ive side - not having any veg / fruit will keep costs down a fair bit and cut down on wastage but the -ive of that is that I'm finding it's a proper meal (eg a chicken breast or similar) nearly every mealtime (I wouldn't normally have something like that at lunchtime and dinnertime but hungry without having veg etc to go with it).

Just had a chicken breast done in chicken soup with rice for dinner ..... mmmmm not too bad but a bit odd - at least there was some sauce for the rice tho!

Knitting_Nora

Hi Rising - sorry to read about your recent kidnapping by the NHS.... hope you're on the recovery road now.

On the fresh produce side, go for frozen (both fruit and veg). Equally as good for you as fresh (more so, in some cases), and often cheaper in the long run because you don't waste any...

Nora.x

rising_from_the_ashes

Thanks Nora ... will def be looking into frozen once I can eat fruit / veg again (I did go through a spell of getting stuff at Ice*land a while back and sure it did save a lot!)

rising_from_the_ashes

So ..... we've hit November - quite glad to see the back of October TBH:o and trying to get my mo-jo back:

• Be positive - things could be worse!
• Watch every penny and pound

Having to replace the car & do emergency household repairs and *only* end up with an OD of £650 isn't too bad actually and certainly not the end of the world:o.

Budgeting pots are in place (although a bit battered) and working well .... just need to get back on track, batten down the hatches & not buy anything that's not essential back to basics

On the positive side, car now won't need replaced again until at least 2016 and no MOT needed next year