Cleggie's frugaltastic journey to financial freedom!!

Long_tall_sally

Well done Cleggie. Now breath & relax & start looking forward to your holiday! x

MunniMuncha

Go girl:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

Now maybe there is time for you to relax and get ready for your holiday - you certainly deserve it.

Well done Cleggie :j:j

cleggie

Thanks everyone for your well dones

I must admit that it feels strange not having any revision/essays/exams to do today! I woke up and didnt know what to do with myself.

But i am slowly making my way through the mountains of ironing/washing/cleaning/dishes that needs doing around the house. Its such a beautiful day outside that i also wont to go out for a walk.

I can now start saving money on petrol, as i wont have to go into uni for exams or revision dates, so will only use my car for the weekly shop, and to go and visit friends, and to go to appointments.

BUT i really need to rein in my spending! It seems to have gone MENTAL! Someone tell me off!! I am now getting to the point where i am too scared to log into my OLB, as i dont want to see how little money i have

Trying to decide what to do re food shopping.
I have printed out lots of the GC recipes, for biscuits and cakes etc,as i have noticed that many times i just fancy sweets and stuff, and end up spending lots of money. So my reasoning is that if i aready have lots of that stuff in the house (by baking it myself), i will go into the SMs even less.

BUT (the big but) is that i will need to do a fairly big shop to get the ingrediants for everything to be baked, and also buy some baking trays (i'll make do with the cheap ones for now).

What do you all think?

PennyGrabber

cleggie wrote: »

Trying to decide what to do re food shopping.
I have printed out lots of the GC recipes, for biscuits and cakes etc,as i have noticed that many times i just fancy sweets and stuff, and end up spending lots of money. So my reasoning is that if i aready have lots of that stuff in the house (by baking it myself), i will go into the SMs even less.

BUT (the big but) is that i will need to do a fairly big shop to get the ingrediants for everything to be baked, and also buy some baking trays (i'll make do with the cheap ones for now).

What do you all think?

What have you already got in, ingredients-wise? Why not buy the things for one recipe now, then the next recipe when you have a few more £ at the ready? If you already have golden syrup, flour, vanilla essence, eggs and sugar, you're ok for a lot of recipes, then you can just gradually add to your ingredients as you can afford it. I also make a batch of cookie dough, then freezer it ready for when I want to bake it. I tend to freeze it in quarters or so, so I can have fresh cookies. If you want the recipe I can give it to you, I don't think it needs any special ingredients.

To sum up, I would try and work out what you can bake with what you have in, and add ingredients slowly, so that you can increase your range of recipes. After all, running a home is like running a business - would you go all out straight away, or would you start small and see how you grow?

PG x

cleggie

Thanks PG- i saw what i already had in the cupboard, and what i needed to get for all of the recipes, and realised i didnt need that much at all!

So bought a few bits and bobs (desiccated coconuts, ground almonds, baking powder etc) which came to just under £30, so not as bad as i expected.
So i now have ingrediants to make loads of stuff.

I have also managed to make £120 this week, from a girl who emailed me asking if i had any final year books from my degree as she wanted to buy them
I am hoping that i can use this as my food shopping money
for the majority of June, as its going to be a very tight one. Talk about a massive challenge!


Things i must do this week:

Fill in my TC renewl form
Set up DD for DWP
Pay for book lost from library
AVOID SMs
Stick to meal plan
Take stuff to the local recycling centre



The kids beds arrived from Argos (FINALLY) today, so have put 1 of them up, and will be doing the other one this evening.

I was sorely tempted to buy a kitten today for £20. Oh my god, its the cutest thing i have ever seen, and i have been thinking about it for a while, but i had to decide against it in the end as i just think i cant afford it, not with the financial situation i am in at the moment and not knowing how well (or not) the business i set up will take off.

PG- the business i am thinking about setting up came to me in a flash of inspiration on the way back from Mr T the other week. I am going to try and set up a general service to include ironing, pet sitting, cleaning, food shopping etc, in the local area. It is quite rural around here, and there are quite a few elderly people, so thought there may be scope for it. Nothing to lose, so going to try it!

cleggie

Have spent the day baking some goodies from the GC thread

Made:
Millies cookies
Twinkies hobnobs
Bounty bars (they are in the fridge, setting)

The kids like the hobnobs but havent tried the other ones yet..fingers crossed!
If they like these, then i will be making some other bits and bobs next week. First on the list is a bakewell tart

Am helping my friend move house tomorrow morning. I think i'll actually be doing the cleaning out of her old place whilst stuff is being moved out.

Both the kids were out at friends houses for dinner today, so i didnt bother cooking. They have just got back and are tucking into hobnobs!

Suffolk_lass

Just wanted to add another well done Cleggie. It's a brilliant achievement. :T:T:T

I was wondering if you're any good at gardening too as my friend took early retirement about two years ago and he cuts the grass, weeds a bit and pops in the odd plant for a collection of elderly residents near where he lives and he could be full time if he wanted to be. Lots of demand among the elderly who aren't ready to give up their gardens but can't manage on their own - some would be happy to supervise (chat) you through it if you aren't knowledgeable and they love the company.

Just a thought

All the best
SL

Barbeduk

Oh Cleggie well done :T:T. What a relief it must be to have all those exams out of the way!

I've just made Twinks hobnobs too, flippin' gorgeous! And blimey, you get loads!! Even fussy DS made his happy noise when he was tucking into them!

Weather is so fab, hopefully going to hit the beach on Sunday so might be heading across that bridge to Kernow. Will leave the swimming to the kids though!:)

Suffolk_lass

2 quick things!

Barbeduk - just noticed your debt free status in your sig. Wow! :T:T:T

Cleggie - I saw your post on GC about not having any icing sugar and I thought I would share this with you.

If you have a coffee grinder (the bottom of my liquidiser is a coffee grinder) you can make icing sugar from caster or granulated sugar (and you can make caster from granulated) - just whizz it in the grinder and it turns to powdered sugar (which is what the americans call icing sugar).

Best of luck - and don't use all your baking supplies up before the weekend!!
SL

cleggie

Morning all
We are off to Bude today, to go to the beach. We arent going for the whole day, as its just TOO hot, and we havent picked a picnic. So we are going after we have had lunch, and will be back in time for dinner.

Barb- well done on being DF!!