Cleggie's frugaltastic journey to financial freedom!!

Suffolk_lass

cleggie wrote: »

I am not doing very well with the GC. I went into morrisons and tesco today and ended up spending too much money again
I am quite disappointed to be honest, as it was going so well, and now i feel a bit like i have been defeated.

cleggie wrote: »

Hi guys.
I am feeling a bit better today, but unfortunately i really have gone overbudget

So, the question now is: should i carry on totalling up my grocery spend for the month, or foget about it until June?

The main problem i am having is that the kids eat so much! Especially my oldest, he is 12 and seems to be constantly growing at the moment, and of course i dont want to stop him from getting enough food, so any suggestions for cheap snacks? I have made flapjacks, but he isnt too keen on them. He ate one when he was going down with a stomach bug, and was sick shortly after, so now thinks that its the flapjacks that made him sick (seriously, my baking isnt that bad!!!:rotfl:), so wont even touch one!

I am going to trawl through the GC recipes in a minute, to find something quite quick, easy, and cheap!

My view is that you just have too much going on at the moment. You can bring it back on track next month, don't give up. You have a lot of pressure on you and something gives! This month, it's the grocery shopping. I would keep tracking it, however uncomfortable that is; it will be a small deterrent if you can see it (at least you have guilt, in a positive way!).

In terms of snacks for DS12 - I make a cheap fruit loaf with no fat - 400g value mixed dried fruit soaked in a mug of black tea until it plumps up. You can add things like nuts, seeds and berries (I used to add Goji berries which are meant to be a brain superfood when DS was doing his exams). Then add 2 mugs of flour, less than a full mug of sugar (I use soft brown) and a beaten egg. Mix it all together until it plops off the spoon then into a loaf tin (I use the paper liners so I don't even grease the tin) and into oven at 180C for an hour. A slice is filling and yummy and it gets more moist if it lasts a few days (it's also lovely with a bit of butter on).

If savoury things are his thing, some cheese spread in the groove of a stick of celery is healthy and satisfying. I peel the back of the celery with a potato peeler so DS can't complain about it being stringy - so it is just the green thing...

Worth a try - and if the celery doesn't get used, chop it up and freeze it as a padding out ingredient for savoury dishes!

Good luck with the exam Friday if I don't catch up tomorrow

All the best
SL

PennyGrabber

cleggie wrote: »

Hi guys
Having paella for dinner tonight, so using up some prawns, chorizo and onions from the freezer, and starting to use up the mass amounts of rice i have bought over the last few months!

Paid an extra £20 off the CC today.
Have decided to phone the DWP tomorrow and request that the £15 a week is taken my DD as i keep forgetting to phone up and pay! Oops!

My next exam is on Friday, and the revision is going well, i am quite confident that i can do well in this exam , its all about Evoloutionary Psychology, so not too bad really.

I havent been on my ADs for a few days now, and besides a bit of a headache, i havent had any symptoms of withdrawl, which is odd since i was apparently on quite a high dosage. But its all good

Hope everyone is OK and doing well?

Well done for paying a bit off the cc. And it's a good idea to pay the dwp people by dd, like you said, then you don't have to worry about forgetting it. I wouldn't pay anyone if I didn't do it by dd, which reminds me, I owe my friend £30 for the rest of the holiday!

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

My view is that you just have too much going on at the moment. You can bring it back on track next month, don't give up. You have a lot of pressure on you and something gives! This month, it's the grocery shopping. I would keep tracking it, however uncomfortable that is; it will be a small deterrent if you can see it (at least you have guilt, in a positive way!).

This is so true. You (and I really mean 'one') can't do everything all of the time. It's like I've always said to myself - I can't be a good mother, a good housekeeper and a good teacher all at the same time, something has to give. (For me, it's always housework!!!) Those people that look like they're all sorted, with lovely jobs, beautiful houses, and time for all their hobbies, are probably hoping you never open one of their cupboards otherwise everything would fall out! What I'm trying to say, is that no one is perfect, even if some people try to look like they are. Unfortunately, it makes those of us who know we're not perfect feel worse, because they do such a good job of looking perfect! In real terms though, we're the ones who are better off, because we know we can't achieve everything all of the time; we know we're not perfect, and we recognise that our best is good enough.

Wow, I don't know where all that came from, must be feeling very philosophical tonight!!

Chin up,

PG x

cleggie

Thanks both of you, for your lovely words of wisdom.
I do try too hard to be perfect at everything, so i need to just be less strict with myself SOMETIMES and accept that i CANT be perfect.

Suffolk_lass

cleggie wrote: »

Thanks both of you, for your lovely words of wisdom.
I do try too hard to be perfect at everything, so i need to just be less strict with myself SOMETIMES and accept that i CANT be perfect.

Even Mary Poppins was only practically perfect in every way! And she is a work of fiction. Think of us as real women without the air-brushing (or Mary Poppins without the umbrella)!

As Pennygrabber says, we all have out faults. There is a thick (and I mean thick) layer of dust everywhere downstairs, my clothing drawers are stuffed with clothes that nearly fit and my paperwork is all over the place. And, well, I'm off to read my book. There's more to life than cleaning and tidying this month. That's my line and I'm sticking to it:rotfl:

Good luck with that exam tomorrow
All the best
SL

cleggie

Morning

Yesterdays exam went OK i think. I dont think i aced it, but am pretty sure i passed, which is fine.
Only 1 more exam to go, and then thats it, no more uni!!

I need to get bread, eggs and milk today, but i think thats it. Apart from that, it should be a NSD.

This evening we are going 'down the road' to The Tamar Bridge to see The Olympic Torch pass from Cornwall to Devon. I already have petrol in the car, so i shoudnt have to spend any money at all, which is good, considering i have blown the budget and have to make what i have left left me as long as possible.

cleggie

Good morning

Well, we saw the torch last night, and only spent £12 for the whole evening, on fish and chips for the 3 of us. I got a kids portion as it was much cheaper than an adults!

I have only just got out of bed, and have noticed that for the last few days i have been sleeping an awful lot, and not being able to wake up. I am pretty sure thats because i am not on the ADs anymore. I am starting to take the new ones today, and we'll see how it goes.

I fear that all my budgeting skills have disappeared
I dont know why, but i seem to be unable to stop spending money at the moment! I REALLY need to get a grip on it too, as things arent getting any better, and i have no clue when i'll be having my next lot of income!

cleggie

Good afternoon, me again!

Have made some attempt at getting back on track with finances today.
Have written a meal plan for the week, using everything i have in the house already (for main meals anyway).

So, my meal plan is as follows:

Today- Using up frozen bits (such as chicken nuggests, vegetable burgers etc) with pasta and frozen veggies

Mon-Quesiladas and avacado salad
Tues-Fish pie & ketchup
Wed-Toad in the hole and veggies
Thur- tomato, cheese & ham tart and veggies
Fri- Chicken korma & rice
Sat- Sweet & sour, rice, prawn crackers
Sun- LOs and/or freezer bits.

My shopping ist for the week consists of

Breakfasts:
Granola
coconut yogurt
2x cereal

Lunches:
Bagels
(plan on eating the rest of the tinned soup and ryvita in the cupboards for the rest of the week, it needs getting rid of!)

General:
Milk-6pts
Bread
Yogurts
Cat food
Eggs
Crisps

Thats it so far. Hopefully i will spend as little as humanly possibly over the next few weeks.

Barbeduk

Hi Cleggie, sorry you've been feeling a bit fed up this week. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself about the grocery stuff, I think the trouble is the more you think about it the more you spend.

Suffolk Lass makes an almost identical fruit loaf to the one I feed DD up on, the weetabix loaf on GC is also really good. Sadly DS will not eat either due to the dry fruit (honestly!) so I make Nigel Slater's black banana bread from the bbc website, don't put the nuts in, and use cheap plain cooking choc cut into chunks. Goes down well with everyone and it's got to be a portion of fruit right?:p

We saw the torch too! Stood between the barbican and the hoe where it was a bit less manic. When we saw the footage on the news we were so glad we didn't actually go onto the hoe proper. Must have been fab on the bridge.

Have a fab week, be kind to yourself.

cleggie

Thanks Barb,
it was lovely seeing the flame go across the bridge, although the kids were moaning baout how disappointing it was, LOL! Typical :rotfl:

This time tomorrow i'll be doing my LAST exam!!! I cant believe my degree has flown by so quickly! I will be giving myself until the rest of the week to relax, then will be ordering the cards for the new business and getting ready for that!
Have sent off our passport applications, and am just waiting for them to come back until i can book our holiday.

MunniMuncha

Sorry Cleggie but haven't posted much but have been following your post. Sorry to hear you haven't been yourself, but hope things are now on the up.

Getting that last exam out of the way will really lift you, as I cannot begin to imagine how you have managed to run a house, bring up two children, pay bills, and general day to day life as well as doing a degree.:eek:

Don't beat yourself up about things that have gone off track, give yourself a massive pat on the back and see what you have achieved even in the short space of time you have been running your own thread. Well done you:T:T:T:T