PennyGrabber's Path to Pecuniary Positiveness!!

Teatime

Sorry, what's the crop, PG?

Well done on not going to Lidl. Maybe with all your food stores, you could open a canteen?

Suffolk_lass

Teatime wrote: »

Sorry, what's the crop, PG?

I don't know either. It's a bit "spot the brain cell" round here so not up to working it out.

We've had around 40 people round the garden today and both of us spent the majority of the day out doors. We were to be seen tending the veg plots and weeding paths, raking stuff and finally planting out the runner beans that look brilliant. Where the old laurel hedge was, they will be ourfront-back garden screen once they grow up, until we can plant the new beech hedge next spring. God I ache! Sent DH for a curry - we deserve it. It just means it won't be the expensive place for DS's birthday this year (he will be 20 at the end of the month).

When I saw your post about more stores than the school kitchen, I was wondering if between us we could feed the local High School as my siege planning seems to have resumed the last two weeks. Definitiely a TOTM thing.

I hope you're having a lovely weekend, the sun is still shining here.

All the best
SL

PennyGrabber

Sorry for being cryptic! A crop is a get-together of scrapbooking friends, where we all do work on our scrapbooks (in theory, but what we actually do is sit and chat!!).

Well done on the bargain ys stuff SL!

I did cave in the end, went to lidl for my weekly shop rather than asda or tesco. Ended up buying more than I should, but spent about £18 on a week's food. Put back two 1kg ham joints, which I'd picked up because they looked good!! Did get bread milk and fruit, but also got the beef and some cream and mushrooms. Last night I actually cooked for myself. I had new potatoes, with the steak cut into strips and friend with mushrooms and onions, then cream stirred in. It was lush, and I could've eaten it all over again! I think I may have to cook for myself more often!

Off now to have a 2.5p bagel with some nice chicken and salad filling, as a celebration for selling my motorbike this morning!

Jobs for today
- make pizza dough for dinner
- get pizza toppings out of freezer
- eat lunch
- tidy and clean kitchen
- sort out hoover (it's blocked)
- hoover the house
- do two loads of washing
- bin 30 things

Catch you later!

PG x

PennyGrabber

PennyGrabber wrote: »

Jobs for today
[STRIKE]- make pizza dough for dinner[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- get pizza toppings out of freezer[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- eat lunch[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- tidy and clean kitchen[/STRIKE]
- sort out hoover (it's blocked)
- hoover the house
- do two loads of washing
- bin 30 things

Hmm, there's a pattern here. I did all the foodie things, that needed to be done anyway, but not the houseworky stuff! However, I did set up 30 bottle's worth of wine - my best friend and I went in halves on a home brew kit, and we'll have the wine ready in two weeks! We've set aside the weekend to 'sample'...

Positives for the day:
- sold my motorbike, and have the money in savings already
- had a laugh with my friend setting up the wine
- didn't feel too bad muscle-wise, considering i did my first zumba class yesterday
- enjoyed my dinner (doesn't happen too often)
- NSD for groceries. I only stepped foot inside a sm to get the sugar for the wine, which my friend bought
- spoke to my dad on skype, haven't seen him in person since 2011, and not on the phone for a couple of years. He lives in NZ ... Anyway, we've organised that my children are going to 'meet' him next Sunday morning.

Dinner tomorrow is poorly dinner, and I have everything in for that. Tues and Weds is just me, not sure of the plan yet, then Thurs and Fri we're having chicken casserole.

Hoping to go the the beach for the day next Sat, with my wine friend (!), and we'll be taking a picnic for lunch, then having fish and chips on the beach for dinner. Lush! Just need the weather to hold out.

Feeling quite positive tonight, now time for bed!

PG x

ps - aiming for a fiscal fast until Saturday... !!!

PennyGrabber

Shan't get a chance to post tonight, i don't expect, as I have housework and marking to do...

Have already checked the olb, and I have £20 in there from two lottery wins! Shame it wasn't five more zeroes on the end, but still, good news. Other than that, ticking along nicely, everything in the black!

I have started a fiscal fast as of today. Bread and milk will be fine, I don't think I'll need fuel, and I'm not planning on going anywhere that will require money. The fast will run from today until Saturday morning. We're going to the beach then, so I'll be getting fuel, fish and chips and prob some little nicknacks.

If I get a chance today, i will study my finances a bit more, in prep for next month. I like to feel organised, and I run my finances on a 1st to last of the month basis, but get paid on the 23rd, so a little bit of juggling required, but it actually works better since I did this. Still needs a minor tweak though.

Have a good day.

PG x

PennyGrabber

Oops, here I am, instead of doing my work! Well, I'll only make it a quickie, I promise!

Had a good day today. Work went quickly, I did a good job with a tricky child who was choosing to not behave very well. Completed fiscal fast day one of five, no shops entered. Also, checked my fuel level, and there's easily enough to last until Saturday, so that's good.

Feel like I'm beginning to make a dent in the fridge, except my AP order came today, and I am now the proud owner of 250 packs of special k snack thingies. Well, 249 ! So, need to find space somewhere for all that stuff. 48 penguin bars for lunchboxes, and loads of other nibbly things, but none of it really needed! Still, it's here now, and it's over £200 worth of food, so we'll enjoy it!

Positives for the day:
- almost finished a heavy job at work
- used up some toasting muffins that had seen better days. Thought that I'd end up throwing them out tbh, but the ch had one each for breakfast, and I had the other two toasted for lunch at work. Had to chop off a tiny bit of green, but better than throwing the whole lot out!
- finished the last of the steak, really enjoyed it. £1.24 has done me for three meal meals. Not bad going!
- decided on my meal plan for the next two days when the ch are at their dad's. I'll be having 'roast' pork both days. I'll bake some stuffing the first day, which will do both days, and I'll do roasties for the first day, then boiled new pots for the second. The roast pork bit will be a steamed loin steak, over my veggies, and over the pots on the second day. I'll serve it with plenty of gravy, and a generous mound of apple sauce, which I think I have lurking in the freezer. If not, I'll use up a jar. Delish!
- paid for a school trip today, and the discos. Not a huge amount, but it's nice to be able to pay it, and not worry about it. It was £18 all in, so quite a lot, but not, IYSWIM!

Right, off now to do some housework and marking. I've put a load of washing in, which I'll put on the line after I've done the kitchen and made the sangers. Then, I'll do the marking, and hopefully be in bed by 10! Wish me luck!

PG x

PennyGrabber

I know I said I was going to bed, but now I'm excited! I have just 'bought' my tickets to Longleat with my te$co vouchers. Form now until 11th June, they have reduced some of their prices, so I got the tickets for £6 of vouchers each instead of £8 of vouchers. The tickets themselves are nearly £30, so what a saving! Got four tickets, as we'll be taking one of my mates. Woop woop!!!

Right, now I really am going to bed, or I'll be too tired to do that bloomin' marking in the morning!

x

PennyGrabber

Right, a good day will happen today.

I have already put the bins out that I got ready last night - have to do it on the day or the foxes get them overnight, marked the work, had a shower, read in bed and got the children up. Oh, and fed the animals.

Now I shall finish breakfast, get dressed and head off to work. I must keep my resolve tonight with regard to sms. I drive past about 4 sms on the way home from college, but I don't need a thing. I tend to go and mooch on a Tuesday night, so I'm going to spend part of today coming up with something to do tonight, so I don't feel like I have the time to go and mooch.

OLB checked, and the other £10 from the lottery goes in tomorrow. I have £30 to last me for the rest of the month, if I want to hit a savings target. Hmm. That includes everything, so may not be doable, esp as we're going to the beach on Sat, weather permitting. Def need today to be a nsd, and I would be so proud of myself if I could make it to Sat without spending!

Have a good day all,

PG x

Long_tall_sally

Hi PennyGrabber.
Funnily enough I also booked some days out yesterday using my Mr T vouchers - West Midlands safari park, a park in Kettering, Northhants (which for the life of me I can't think of the name of for some reason!) which were both on the 5 times offer and Drayton Manor which was not. It's nice to know that days out for the summer holidays are sorted as we only going away for 4 days. I would like to go to Longleat but that will have to wait until we are near there on a holiday. x

PennyGrabber

I think I'm going to get some of those West Mids Safari Park tickets too. A few friends have recommended it to me, and they open really late in August, which is when we would go. It's another trip that just costs fuel, so I'm all for that!

My next door neighbour has lent me a wine-making book. It's so old, it cost 40p when he bought it!! I reckon that will have really good recipes for wine in it, as people were generally more frugal in those days.

I'm going to spend this evening looking through my most frugal recipe book, and see if I can find any new recipes there that I already have the stuff for. Just because I want to rest up, and also feel like I'm actually using my cookbooks!!

Having 'roast' pork for dinner, using a loin steak. Looking forward to that, and will have three steak to go into the freezer too. Tomorrow will be chicken casserole, so I need to get the chicken out of the freezer for that, although thinking about it, I have quite a bit of bacon needing using, so may ask the children if they fancy something bacon-related, otherwise that'll have to go into the freezer!!

NSD today, no shops entered at all. I made sure I drove straight home from work, and kept busy since. I may even stop taking my purse to work, and see if that makes a difference. I do feel a bit naked then though, so maybe it'll have to be a random day a week rather than every day!!

PG x