Healthier, wealthier and wiser – My DFW diary!

The_Dragon

Marty82 wrote: »

Mmm, sounds yummy although I'd just as easily drink the red wine. Will try doing some kind of casserole with the chicken as it's the season for warming dishes like yours.

Ah but you don't have the wine in - hence the suggestion about using stock (oh and I should have said that serves 6)

Marty82

The_Dragon wrote: »

Ah but you don't have the wine in - hence the suggestion about using stock (oh and I should have said that serves 6)

It may be a case of one glass for me and one for the pot then! If I did the recipe on your scale I'd have to portion it up and put it in the freezer so I wondered whether it froze ok?

Do you have a diary of your own btw? Sorry if I've already asked but I find it difficult to keep track what I've said to whom and in which thread!

prettypaula

Hey Marty

crikey there is LOADS of stuff there!!!

fancy swapping cupboards?

is there anything u arent a fan off?

one thing you could do is a big vat of pasta sauce, using carrots tomatoes, green beans, garlic, seasoning and passata. itll freeze well in portions. itd be nice over pasta or cous cous or rice!

youve got loads of stuff to make various stir frys....

The_Dragon

Marty82 wrote: »

It may be a case of one glass for me and one for the pot then! If I did the recipe on your scale I'd have to portion it up and put it in the freezer so I wondered whether it froze ok?

Do you have a diary of your own btw? Sorry if I've already asked but I find it difficult to keep track what I've said to whom and in which thread!

I would think it would yes, but personally I would be inclined to scale it down, same amount of frozen veg as frozen cubed meat and enough liquid to cover.

My thread is here , second diary as I am starting over again

Marty82

prettypaula wrote: »

Hey Marty

crikey there is LOADS of stuff there!!!

fancy swapping cupboards?

is there anything u arent a fan off?

one thing you could do is a big vat of pasta sauce, using carrots tomatoes, green beans, garlic, seasoning and passata. itll freeze well in portions. itd be nice over pasta or cous cous or rice!

youve got loads of stuff to make various stir frys....

Haha - well I did warn you!

I'd agree to swapping cupboards if your ones were filled with banana bread!

I'm a fan of most things apart from onions, shell fish and mushrooms.

I generally make my own pasta sauce anyway but tend to do it as and when needed as opposed to a vat of it!

I think it will indeed be stir frys a plenty for the coming month. Last night's chicken fried rice was lovely and far cheaper than the takeaway.

Tonight's tea is lazy; southern fried breaded chicken baked in the oven with boiled potatoes and leftover baked beans. Will post about my day after dinner; a mixture of positives and negatives again.

RosaBernicia

Marty82 wrote: »

Well you seem to be doing well without a diary; £1500 is quite an achievement. What kind of things have you changed in your life to manage this?

Ooh good question. I haven't made any drastic changes as I've been swamped with work and study, plus I reduced my hours while I was studying so had limited options. It should go down faster now I'm back to full time hours and not having to travel - it was the days away that were killing me as I couldn't take all my meals and got back very late, so would end up spending far too much in M&S as a slight improvement on takeaway. Now I have time to cook again :j .

I think one of the things that have made the most difference for me is setting up a spreadsheet that worked the way my own mind does. Everybody does things slightly differently and having things organised on screen the same way as in my head makes it much easier to juggle things and balance than when I was working around a standard format. I also worked out a rough budget and started putting aside money for things like car insurance. It's not entirely sorted yet but it really helped to get used to the idea of budgeting - and try the fabulous feeling of being able to pay something from savings!

Marty82 wrote: »

No Emmaus near me (nearest is Glasgow) but it sounds like a brilliant charity. How did you hear about them? The British Heart Foundation has a large electrical and furniture shop here so I'll try there or a local charity called Instant Neighbour who also sell furniture.

I heard of them through a friend who was moving, I gave her a lift to the store. The branch here is fab, very friendly.

Casserole sounds like a fab idea to me, so does freezing portions. I try to always have something passably healthy in the freezer or cupboard in case of days I can't face cooking properly or get detoured - lessens the temptation to just pop to the Chinese and end up coming back with extras!

Rosa xx

Marty82

RosaBernicia wrote: »

Ooh good question. I haven't made any drastic changes as I've been swamped with work and study, plus I reduced my hours while I was studying so had limited options. It should go down faster now I'm back to full time hours and not having to travel - it was the days away that were killing me as I couldn't take all my meals and got back very late, so would end up spending far too much in M&S as a slight improvement on takeaway. Now I have time to cook again :j .

I think one of the things that have made the most difference for me is setting up a spreadsheet that worked the way my own mind does. Everybody does things slightly differently and having things organised on screen the same way as in my head makes it much easier to juggle things and balance than when I was working around a standard format. I also worked out a rough budget and started putting aside money for things like car insurance. It's not entirely sorted yet but it really helped to get used to the idea of budgeting - and try the fabulous feeling of being able to pay something from savings!



I heard of them through a friend who was moving, I gave her a lift to the store. The branch here is fab, very friendly.

Casserole sounds like a fab idea to me, so does freezing portions. I try to always have something passably healthy in the freezer or cupboard in case of days I can't face cooking properly or get detoured - lessens the temptation to just pop to the Chinese and end up coming back with extras!

Rosa xx

I think I will need to figure out how my mind works when it comes to money although at the moment I don't think it works at all with money! I have various bits of paper and folders with figures written in but perhaps I should put them all onto a spreadsheet or possibly try to find a free or cheap money application for my laptop. I think this diary will help me also and have been considering getting a big black or white board so I can see everything at a glance every time I walk into the kitchen!

I do love a Chinese too Rosa but only tend to have one when I have friends over for DVDs. Going to try to practise and practise cooking a few Chinese dishes as what I try to make never tastes as good as the takeaway!

Marty82

Evening all,


A rather frustrating yet potentially productive day for me.


I woke to find the house freezing which isn't abnormal as I have so far resisted putting the heating on. I went the bathroom and ran the hot tap to find the water wouldn't heat up at all. On inspecting the boiler I noticed there was no pilot light, the temperature wouldn't rise above the teens and the shelf underneath was damp. I tried all the things I could think of to get it to work but ended up giving up, mopping up the water and switching the boiler off. As I mentioned before the boiler was working (sufficient hot water and heating) but there were a couple of issues which I was hoping an engineer appointed by a local charity would fix.


I racked my brains as to what to do as I knew I couldn't ring the charity as they couldn't deal with emergency issues. For some reason I decided to check the booklet for my home insurance to find that it included Home Emergency Cover. I called the company who told me an engineer would visit later in the day. Unfortunately I fell asleep and didn't hear the buzzer or the call from the engineer. I called the company back at about 4.30pm and they arranged for another company to attend between the hours of 6pm and 10pm.


I then had to have a stand up wash at the sink with water boiled in the kettle before dashing out to the Sainsbugs for a few things; very specific things as I am still determined to run down my current food stocks. I returned some unneeded cat food and got a gift card for £3.87 and then spent £3.54 on milk, spread, ham, pasta and rice. I could and would have counted this as a NSD but I also had to buy an expensive HP printer cartridge (£8.47) as I had important stuff to print on my return home; more to follow on this. Once home I received a call from the home cover company to tell me that the contractor wouldn't be attending as they thought it was a plumbing problem rather than a boiler problem and that the first alternative appointment would be on Friday. Great, another 2 days without hot water!


Earlier in the afternoon I rang round my creditors to get up to date information as I was expecting a call from CCCS. Most were around the figures but one bonus was that British Gas said they would be reducing my Electricity direct debit from £42 to £33! The call with CCCS was rather straightforward and basically told me what I knew; I am spending more than I have to spend! I was emailed my budget and my next steps which I have to complete before they can do more. The printer cartridge was needed in order to print these. The steps are as follows:


Cut unneeded spending


Write to creditors to tell them I will be making a token payment of a pound per month while I sort out my finances


Ask Scott and Company to reduce my back payments for council tax and British Gas to reduce my payments to them on a temporary basis


I came away from the call agreeing to do the above but once I have done so I am not sure what I have to do next. Does anybody know what the next step will likely be as these actions are rather temporary?


A cheap tea again; southern fried breaded chicken with mash and leftover baked beans followed by going online and freezing my gym membership (£16.99 down to £3.99 pcm) and calling Sky to cancel my subscription. After a half hour call I decided to accept their offer of a reduced price for 12 months, although I can leave at any time. This has reduced my fee from £24.50 to £18.37 pcm which I know should really be zero but to be honest the telly is “company” for me on my low days when I don't leave the house. Will just have to try to trim something else instead.


Almost forgot to mention that my cat appears to be in heat as she is wailing all the time and making some rather odd movements. I found she had done her business, number one and two, on the bed so I have had to strip it and wash all the sheets and two duvets. I'm not sure what to do with the mattress and memory foam pillow though. I was thinking about a steam cleaner but that would involve spending money. Any ideas folks? I do know that I need to get her spayed but the PDSA have been unwilling to do this, as well as her booster vaccine and flea treatment, as she was a bit unwell when I got her; a delicate tummy leading to an interesting litter tray!


Today's positives


British Gas payment reduced
Helpful phone call with CCCS
Almost NSD


Today's negatives


Boiler knackered and not fixed until Friday
Buying expensive ink cartridge
Cat being generally hard work

Marty82

The_Dragon wrote: »

I would think it would yes, but personally I would be inclined to scale it down, same amount of frozen veg as frozen cubed meat and enough liquid to cover.

My thread is here , second diary as I am starting over again

Off to read your diary with large mug of tea in hand!

Knitting_Nora

Hi Marty

Congrats on the new diary. Will wander in from time to time to have a nose around - keep up the good work.

Nora.