A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

ifonlyitwaseasier

Rachel_G wrote: »

Evening!! Lurker here and telling me not to google something is bound to have the oppostie effect........I can safely say I have learned something new today!!!!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Wonder what happens if you google 'twinks' AND 'hobnob'........!!!!!!:eek:

By the way, great thread!!!!

LMAO!!! welcome and i warned ya!

olibrofiz

Need to tighten my belt and sort myself out so hope you all don't mind me joining in Spent £75 each week over the last two weeks on food for two of us, absolutely ridiculous as I end up chucking stuff away - biggest problem is DD liking something one day and hating it the next :mad: The ideas on soup and a pudding are great!

My favourite soup is carrot & coriander based on a WW recipe - it includes a de-seeded chopped red chilli & 1 sachet of creamed coconut (£1.20 pack 4 from tesco) - serves 4, 135cal per serving, yum!

Off to look at the cheap family recipes link

charliemaine1bee

Hello..Am a very long time lurker and avid reader of these threads and so keen to learn all new ideas on how to tighten our belts even more..We are in our mid 30s with 3 children (17.13 and 4).

We live very frugally for me to be a SAHM.But finding the increasing bills and fuel prices incredibly scary and constantly trying to make cutbacks elsewhere.We've no savings and some CC debt accrued from a very quiet period with DH work a few months ago..on top of this i have a very poorly mum who is 200 miles away and awaiting her to pass over at anytime..to top this off she has no life insurance policy etc so when the time comes we have to pluck several thousand pounds out of thin air(laughs hystericallly:eek:) for funeral costs etc.

So far to save money ive switched the timer off on the central heating and only turn it on when i feel the temp really drop..ditto with hot water..We all have slippers & slipper socks/hot water bottles for bed.

DH works away mon-fri staying in various hotels so i never have to buy tea/coffee/hot choc etc as he brings the sachets home with him from his rooms..he also brings me the toilettries samples as a little luxury treat for me:o ..and occasionally toilet rolls:o.He also has a £15 a night food budget to use and luckily his work are happy for him to use it up in a supermarket so he gets us non perishables that he can keep in the van all week,so never have to buy kids cereals,crisps & lunch things.

I tend to shop around for things instead of one big shop in one place.We have a warehouse that is very similar to approved foods that is a godsend.Large sack of potatoes is £4 and lasts ages..large bags of Iams for the cats 59p..then home bargains for anything else we need.

Kids clothes are all from car boot sales and they have some beautiful clothes..I seem to be very lucky with freegle and had some wonderful items given that have saved us a fortune..

I ebay whatever i can if we need extra pennies..so to cut back anymore is going to be hard but i seem to step up to the challenge every time..although when the time comes mums funeral is going to be a real struggle and still unsure how we will overcome that one..especially if it happens sooner rather than later when DH work is quiet after xmas..

Looking forward to getting to know everyone on here and loving the threads so far x

ginnyknit

Fuddle now you have stepped into the land of Twinks addiction, they can be thrown quickly in the freezer when cooled so as to avoid eating a whole plate full - however they are nice to eat frozen in an emergency - so that ship don't float :rotfl:

As to the serve yourself in supermarkets, I counted, whilst standing idly waiting to be served by a human, there were 30 customers waiting to be served! So its not just quiet times they do it - I think it may be the result of the stocktake they did on Wednesday, the store has only been open 4 months and Im guessing it did not go well so cost cutting in force. I refuse to use the damn self serves too as I loathe them and despite, like most of us here being reasonably intelligent, I cannot work the flipping things!:mad::mad:

emmad5689

Hi all, I would like to join in too although I am having problems getting the OH to understand, at the beginning of each month I go round all the supermarkets/discount stores and stock up on the offers and cheap stuff for the month such as super noodles which my daughter loves 69p in supermarkets 35p in discount store.

I have heating on for 40mins on morning and 40mins on night, cut it down from an hour and at the moment thats fine, my youngest daughter has a very cold room and we have a small elec heater to heat that before she goes to bed when it gets too cold, if needed we have the fire on low in the front room. I personally would turn it off once the chill has gone and keep warm with a blanket but once it is on OH will not turn it off again til we go to bed.

OH just seems to need to spend money and it drives me mad, he will find a reason to go to the shops even when we don't need anything and he thinks nothing of treating the eldest when there is no need such as a macdonalds the other day when her tea was already prepared.

I try and meal plan where I can but i work shifts and I am not preparing meals for when I am not there as I get meals at work so half of it would just go to waste. I don't batch cook as meals from the freezer aren't nice so i don't think our freezer is very good. I don't cook from scratch as i buy the sachets for sauces at 4 for £1 i don't think it's worth the effort of cooking from scratch.

I close all curtains at the start of dusk to keep every bit of heat in i can and I have showers to save on water, the girls have baths twice a week unless dirty and to be hinest I don't know what else I can do especially when living with someone who has the attitude we will manage whilst spending money we don't have.

I am going to have a go at homemade soup and my mam has a breadmaker so we can have homemade bread to go with it but OH is so fussy he probably won't eat it. I have just changed gas and elec provider for a cheaper deal and have a water meter which is cheaper for us. I have to use my dryer to get jeans dry as they smell fosty before they dry in our house although I must stop using this as an excuse to dry things that could be put on an airer.

Sorry all rant over xx

VJsmum

ifonlyitwaseasier wrote: »

fuddle go do a forum search for twinks hobnobs (not google!! DO NOT google Twinks!! :eek::eek: ) the hobnobs are better than shop bought but i warn you, you can't eat just one....

Rachel_G wrote: »

Evening!! Lurker here and telling me not to google something is bound to have the oppostie effect........I can safely say I have learned something new today!!!!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Wonder what happens if you google 'twinks' AND 'hobnob'........!!!!!!:eek:

By the way, great thread!!!!

:o:o:o - yep i couldn't resist looking.:rotfl:

Softstuff

7_week_wonder wrote: »

Softstuff - is there any chance of your pea falafel recipe?

Sure, I've PM'ed you of its origins, and here it is:

Pea Falafel
Makes 8, enough for 4 wraps


250g frozen green peas, blanched for a minute in water
4 heaped tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp mint
a big pinch of salt
1/2 a small onion
1 clove garlic
oil to fry (or even ghee)


Whizz up all of the above until it forms a soft dough (I used my stick blender). Form patties 1cm high, 6cm diameter and fry on a medium heat until golden brown on each side.


I served these in wraps, with a cucumber, mint and yoghurt dressing, lettuce, grated carrot, grated zucchini and a little cheese. They were fantastic!

clareg100

Just read through this thread and feel this is the place for me.
Am recently single mum of 2 DS 4, DD 2.
Am in an IVA from debts accrued from !!!!less ex .....
Was brought up in a very frugal house of make do and mend, never throw away food it can always be turned into something (spag bol sandwiches in lunch box as a child).
I have a good job which is relatively well paid but ex contributes nothing and get only child benefit and childcare costs is more than my mortgage!
I cycle the littlies to school and nursery and then work so no petrol costs.
Cook everything from scratch apart from the afore treats to dunk in tea (mam2b).
I cannot compete with my family when it comes to buying crimbo pressies and have done hampers with a mix of bargains and homemade goodies for years and now they have started to copy me as they think it is such a good idea :cool:
I just like others have those dark moments of thinking how long can you keep this going with prices keep going up for everything and not living extravagantly but have a place to air these thoughts and know there is a group of similar minded and situated people out there too!
My extravagances are the internet and the odd £3 bottle of vino from Aldi. I rarely go out as cannot afford it let alone a baby sitter! This week trying to make arrangements for childcare on Wednesday for the strike which affects my sons schools has meant that the annual leave that I booked was cancelled by my hospital CE, any "short notice" leave for childcare would have to be taken for as unpaid carers leave! However another local District General have given their staff an additional annual leave day or they can strike! Lucky for me my niece works there and has taken the annual leave day and is going to look after my son and take him to the cinema lucky boy:T Oh I forgot to say that I cant get a refund on the £10 after school club fee which will be close as so is the school!!:mad:
Sorry for my rant but it seems at times things can be a little frustrating even you think that you are doing your best. There is always tea and biccies to keep you going

fuddle

I resisted looking but ever so sorely tempted now!

My DH used to spend a lot, squander money on rubbish or bargain buys that were'nt really, just impulsive. When faced with dire straights he learned very quickly how to be frugal and is embracing the money saving ways without so much as a grumble (most of the time!) B & M Bargains is his favourite store now, weird bloke that he is lol He's sat here now with his pale blue fleecey blanket on his knees and not turned the heating on. They can change with a bit of a scare (of what might happen!!) and a nudging, knowledgable other half

ifonlyitwaseasier

Fuddle - all i say is i'm glad i didn't once i'd been told what it could mean ....