Cleggie's frugaltastic journey to financial freedom!!

cleggie

Hi everyone, i hope its just as nice for you all as it is here! Its so sunny and hot, its lovely!
I went for a nice long walk this morning to try and get those endorphins pumping and get some Vit D on me. I have been so tired and fed up of sitting at my dining table writing my dissertation for the ast few weeks, and it felt great to get out in the sunshine!



Thanks PG I am pretty sure i CAN do it, its whether i WILL do it thats the concern . I have plenty of stuff to make fruit flapjacks and my youngest and me love them. I dont have any cheese, so cant make cheese straws, but have things like flour, caster sugar, golden syrup and marg, so am sure i could knock something together to bake for snacks.
Although, that said, my older son was raiding the cupboard last night (the store cupboard) and came across 6 packets of L!dl choc chip biscuits (40p a packet, and taste EXACTLY the same as Maryland which are about £1 a packet!!), and 3 huge packets of bourbon biscuits, so i think that'll last for a few days (my kids eat LOADS).

I have just saved myself £60 a month by asking my counsellor if she would consider charging me on a sliding scale. She told me that she already does this for other clients and wasnt aware that i needed to, so she has lowered my fees. This helps enormously!

Making chilli con carne this afternoon for dinner. Aready had everything i needed, so didnt have to spend on that. I did go and get some beer for £3 though..but honestly, that IS necessary right now :rotfl:!!!


Also, i am VERY happy that i went into L!dl the other day to get some snack bits, and found that they have vanilla syrup to go in coffee! It was £1.99 for a big jug of it, which is about the same amount of money i pay for 1 vanilla latte from starbucks, so its a bargain!
They had hazelnut ones, vanilla ones, all different types, so if anyone fancies saving money on their lattes from starbucks, you can pick some up!
I am just going to copy and paste my grocery shopping ist over to here from the GC as its a good idea to keep in here so i can see it before going shopping on Friday.

cleggie

Am hoping to only have to go food shopping once this week, and spend a max of £20, as i need to rest of this weeks money for something else that i dont want to miss.

I am not worried about meals, as i have loads of food for dinners, and loads of bread/rolls (picked them all up for about 17p- YS) for sandwiches.

Trying to work out what i may need, and my list so far is:

Milk
Ham
Eggs
Jacket potatoes
Crisps

Spiggle

Hi cleggie,

I've been having a really busy month and so have been MIA from the GC and your thread I'm afraid. But I did want to say well done to you for being so determined and finding strategies to reduce spending that suit you. You're doing really well.

It made me laugh when I read about the beers above, they are an essential when finishing a dissertation I fear!!!

Good luck with it and keep strong, you can do it.

All the best,
Spigs

cleggie

Thanks Spigs- i am feeling much more positive now that i can see its do-able.

I hope you are OK?

PennyGrabber

Well done Cleggie - it's funny that people don't really talk about money in real life, but by talking to your counsellor, you have saved over a week's worth of food money every month!

Also, don't forget, we're already 20% through the working week, the day after tomorrow is hump day, so if you can get that far, you're then on the homeward stretch! Good find on the bikkies btw, I dread to think what I'd find (actually, I did see ten packs of 6 chicken 0x0 cubes the other day! That was when they were 10p each in tesc0 - I stopped reading that 1p thread then, as I was buying too much!!)

My stash is still decreasing, although I've taken more out of the freezer than I've put in, and it's still full to bursting. How does that work?!?!?!? This is my aim over the hols - to drastically (for me) reduce the amount of food in there and the pantry, and I can only do that by buying less than I eat. I must buy less than I eat, I must buy less than I eat........

Glad that the walk made you feel better, I was on duty outside this lunchtime, and it felt so good!

PG x

cleggie

Morning all

My fridge is almost bare! I dont like it very much!
Its only 4 weeks till student loans day, and i will do a big shop as usual then, so i still have plenty of food to make do until then.

Off to get the kids ready for school, be back later!

Piquant_2

Hi Cleggie

You're doing so well, you should be proud!

Doing a dissertation is a long drawn out hard slog, to stick with it is proof of a strong character.

There's no harm in an emptier fridge, easier to clean

It's all small steps and you're going forward girl!

Piq

cleggie

WOW!!!

A miracle happened today- i saw the bottom of one of my freezer drawers! I havent had space in my freezer for a very very long time, so i am definitely getting through my stocks!

This evening for dinner, we were going to have the leftover chilli from last night, with JPs, but i remembered that we are trying to use stuff up, so we had it with roasties, hash browns and potato croquettes instead!!

Almost at the end of my dissertation (thank GOD!) and will be handing it in tomorrow! Woo-Hoo!:j

Hi Piq- thanks for popping in! Hows Captain (and yourself)?

Piquant_2

cleggie wrote: »

WOW!!!

A miracle happened today- i saw the bottom of one of my freezer drawers! I havent had space in my freezer for a very very long time, so i am definitely getting through my stocks!

Almost at the end of my dissertation (thank GOD!) and will be handing it in tomorrow! Woo-Hoo!:j

Hi Piq- thanks for popping in! Hows Captain (and yourself)?

See! I told you an empty fridge could be a good thing! It's great to use up things. I once found a very old turkey in my freezer, the family worked out it was at least ten years old

Both the Captain and I are fine, he is as naughty as ever and still romancing the ladies!

Well done on the dissertation, that deserves a glass of wine Cleggie!

Piq

PennyGrabber

I couldn't even tell you what my fridge and freezer shelves look like! Don't think I've seen them since the day they were delivered! I'll see them before too long though. Maybe by the end of April? There, I've said it now, so I'll have to do it!

Well done on staying positive. It's the way forward, I'm convinced of it. And just think, when you do your stock up in four weeks' time, you'll have a really good idea of what to actually stock up on, ie the things that have run out/you have used most over the course of the last few weeks. I have a list now, of things and quantities I'm allowed to stock up on - I really don't want to go back to the days of 36 tins of beans and 28 tins of tuna!!

Take care,

PG x