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

gailey_2

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Happy New Year Toughies!! I have been catching up on real life over the festive period and am back with my nose to the grindstone and juggling the finaces in the joyful world of self employment.

Am being so careful with money atm in the hope of building some more savings. OH has plenty of work coming in but we have had serious problems with non paying clients recently so I want a back up for when that happens. We have done the unimaginable though and booked a holiday!!! :eek::j_pale_ Two weeks in the sun at a lovely resort and going all inclusive so you can be sure we will get our money's worth. :money:Scrimping like mad to make up for it just now though as it's not like we have pots of extra money to pay for it. Keep telling myself we deserve it.

Hope all are well and as happy as you can be in these austere times.

Haribo x

You sound really sensible and a holiday do you good.
hoping to do same as went now where last year.

on bad news toddler chucked 3toiliet rolls down toiliet hate waste need to find safe place stash them as she cant be trusted.

On good news popped into spar with £1.50 dident expect miracles.

They had about 20loaves of bread reduced from £1.00 to 14p.
if i had more money on me might have brought 5.They were spar farmhouse so decent stuff.
but still they always have reduced bread and we have plenty bread in freezer so only brought 1.

spotted some bananas 50p was intending to get them.
nothing in reduced chilled section shelf no reduced meats then hidden treasure caught my eye gammon joint dated 12th £4.49 reduced to £1.13! they had 2 but could only afford 1.
so thats kids tea sorted and thur/fri sandwiches too .


feel like had ok day as spent 3 on reductions today getting gamoon, 2laoves bread, crumpets and pancakes so tonights dinner, brekkie and packed lunch sorted.

Not acheived much round house so best get on think mates over at 6pm want to get girls in bed early .

feeling positive today made another milk carton box now cant wait to get sandwich bags , batchcook and freeze!

Byatt

saratoga wrote: »

I know £3 and over sounds a lot for a packed lunch but they were having(on their requests!) two sandwiches full of some nice meat(their words not mine!) two packets of crisps ,some form of fruit,normally banana or apple,a couple of snack size chocolate bars and a drink(and anything else they could grab on the way out!).None of them are overweight ,in fact my daughter has gone from a size 14 to a size 8 in about a year,but they all claim they are starving all the time. If they just get the £3 thats all they get they don't take anything out of the cupboards and have to budget it for lunch and a snack at breaktime.
The decision was made to do this after my 14 year old confessed he ate most of his packet lunch at first break and was starving again by lunchtime!!!

I used to have school dinners and take sandwiches! I was thin as a whippet and didn't really eat that much, but it's a long day and also teens can eat as a national past time! I don't know how you all do it nowadays; it's just so expensive. I think you are doing really well with £3 at college. At least they can have something hot and from what I remember of college there's lots of filling foods, like baked pots.

[Deleted User]

I am another big 'Survivors' fan and have all three series on DVD . Its got some good storylines , was always surprised thry didnt make more of wild things and foraging etc. Its still worth watching though.

Byatt

This may seem an odd question, but as I've started listening to the radio more rather than have background noise of tv on, I have noticed that I can't listen and do other things. Now as once upon a time I could study and listen, I'm not sure if my concentration is shot because of too much tv, or whether there is a knack, or do you just listen and not do anything?!

gailey_2

saratoga wrote: »

I know £3 and over sounds a lot for a packed lunch but they were having(on their requests!) two sandwiches full of some nice meat(their words not mine!) two packets of crisps ,some form of fruit,normally banana or apple,a couple of snack size chocolate bars and a drink(and anything else they could grab on the way out!).None of them are overweight ,in fact my daughter has gone from a size 14 to a size 8 in about a year,but they all claim they are starving all the time. If they just get the £3 thats all they get they don't take anything out of the cupboards and have to budget it for lunch and a snack at breaktime.
The decision was made to do this after my 14 year old confessed he ate most of his packet lunch at first break and was starving again by lunchtime!!!

lidls this weekend cooked chicken tikka 99p!
brought some reduced in co-op other week brought 6
they freeze nice just take them out of freezer night before.

guess teenagers harder

im always getting reduced rolls and bread.
my 5year old has value pitta breads 25pack 5
wraps on offer at moment for 97p for 5
I always try get offer cheese and try to spend around £2 on 400g.
fruit cheap aldos and lidls usually apples/bananas are cheapest
value raisens good stand by
value mouse/fromage frais

Not sure what your lot like to drink but things like crisps/drinks best to buy in bulk so

cans on bog offer
huge pack juice carton drinks was 4/5quid at farmfoods.
on offer crips asda do huge box walkers as do farmfoods.

im thinking if you stocked up on offer chicken and brought in bulk
got some reductions

you could so it for £1.50/2quid.
saving you £1 per day=2kids=saves you £10 a week
£40 a month
£480 a year!

Also ask on os but im sure if you roasted whole fresh chicken then added tikkas spices yourself could be cheaper again!

the trick about anything nice like crisps or drinks thigh is too hide or lock away as my family snack monstors!

Do they not get bored of same things

other tasty fillings

left over roast beef.
eldest loves tuna and sweetcorn
I like smoked salmon and philli

maybe in summer do pasta pots or salads with drumsticks/wings.

cbsexec

Hi Gailey does your mum live in Abergavenny by any chance? I live near there but love it. Has a b&m bargains an wilkinsons. Can't think of any boarded up shops at the moment the ones that closed have reopened as something else. possibly a morrisons being built in the town and Asda & large tesco not too far and do online delivery or free bus. I wouldn't trade my rural life for town but they both have downsides!

Mrs_Chip

Welcome back Haribo!!!

Had a terrible week spending-wise (trip to Mr T yesterday £50, plus home deliver today £47, plus unplanned trip to Aldi today £2. Mostly storecupboard stuff, so in future will need to buy less staples.

If anyone needs cheap shelving, Wickes have wooden shelving racks, 3 or 5 shelves for £12.99 and £15.99. I have got two of the big ones ordered and bought one of the smaller ones. They will go up into the bedroom that we have cleared out of beds (we don't need beds, we need space :rotfl:) and will use them to put all my stores on. I need to do an inventory, but I now have a considerable stash of baked beans, red lentils, rice, oats and flour:rotfl::rotfl:, as well as the 5kg of Value penne for £2.50 just delivered! Our local coop sold off their boxes of AD mints and orange segments for 25p a box, and a considerable quantity of those fell into my basket .

Aldi butter has gone up to £1.25 a block which is bad news. I know Mr T Value is still £1.19, but I don't like it. I got so desperate to try making my own butter I bought two 600ml pots of cream from Mr T for £3, I am hoping that I will still come out on top if I can get the equiv of three packs out, and I want to make so I know how for when I do get some cheap cream! Butter Ladies - can I put it in my Kenwood and should I use the wire or the K whisk?

I put a 'wanted' onto our Freecycle for a small greenhouse, someone has left a message that he might be able to find me one, so fingers crossed for that! We are too exposed for any of those flimsy things, so need a proper one for tomatoes and overwintering herbs and salad stuff.

I am going to have a go at that rug making in Saratoga's linky, it looks easy enough, and more to the point quick, I don't have much of an attention span for things that take an age to make. Just got to make a tool and find some old fabric to try it with.

saratoga

gailey Thank you for all your suggestions!
I have got 3 at college who had packed lunch and 1 of the 2 at school has a packed lunch as well so we were buying in bulk! I did hide stuff in boxes and in unreachable cupboards etc. but got really fed up of shouting "where has the......gone!" and kids raiding them.Sometimes when they have friends around and she has her rather large and hungry boyfriend over there can be 11 or 12 people in the house,so although I claim to have eyes in the back of my head I can't stay awake 24 hours a day and hungry children raid cupboards full of nice things far too often!!

I do think Aldi and Lidl fruit is nicer but we don't have a farmfoods round here.We buy a lot of Smartprice stuff but I have noticed the price is shooting up on that range and it is often cheaper to buy a brand that is on some kind of offer,I think I might have to do a bit of price comparison on own brand products but don't want to waste money going from one supermarket to another.
We live in the middle of nowhere so often we just do Lidl and Iceland and any other town shops one trip and Asda another.

sammy_kaye18

3v3

I have gotten a compost bin for £6 and it holds 330 litres of compost but I need to go and get it asap! so will have to sweet talk my mother in law to come and collect it with me.

As for the apple tree's Ive seen - it is a self polinating one but I will hav a look in £ stretcher and see if I can find anything worth growing in there too. Im determined to save some money on our food shopping bill.

meme30 ~ oh my god toilet roll shortage is another of my nerdy must have issues and its always the thing I end up forgetting! :eek::eek:

Austin Allegro ~ thanks for the tips on the 1970's survivor you tube vids - I will have a look later. And just to add insult to injury ~ In 1970 my mum was 6! So its before I was even a glimmer in my mummys eye!

Right peeps, off to plan what needs updating on my blog and see if I can get my seed box made up - planning on using an old milk box (thank you holly!) to keep them all in.

sammy_kaye18

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

I am going to have a go at that rug making in Saratoga's linky, it looks easy enough, and more to the point quick, I don't have much of an attention span for things that take an age to make. Just got to make a tool and find some old fabric to try it with.

Linky?? where??? did I miss it?? Am in desperate need of rugs and have way too much material.

x