Fiscal Fast – 7 days no spending (at all)

lilian1977

Hi everyone

I'm planning on doing this but not for 7 days in a row as I need to take my DS to playcentres etc Friday-Sunday due to the rotten weather we can't do free play in the park and he runs riot in the house

So, I'm thinking I will try and do Monday - Thursday each week for a while and see how I get on. This week I will have to just do Tuesday - Thursday though as we need to stock up a bit first so will do that today after I've meal planned based on the freezer.

Looking forward to joining in with the challenge!

lilian1977

Hi again everyone, just reading back on the thread from the beginning and replying to some posts as I think you can only multi-quote three messages at once?

anguk wrote: »

I'd love to try this and I think I would manage quite well but I would struggle to get my OH on board, today for example he fancied some black pudding so drove 8 miles to the butchers he likes to buy some! Now he doesn't know what he wants for tea despite the fridge, freezer and cupboards being full. He drives me mad at times! I think it would be much easier if you lived on your own or had a cooperative OH.

Same here. OH is always on at me to stop spending but he's obsessed with those £6 off £40 vouchers you get in Tesco and wants to use them every time he gets one - I keep trying to convince him we don't need that much shopping. Yesterday I meal planned loads and tried to get him to think about what he wanted for his lunches this week so we could get it from Tesco, by the time we got there he was fuming saying I wasn't going to let him buy anything! Grrr.

catznine wrote: »

Weather is miserable so I've been working on the cards, kept out of the shops though! I have to check on the yogurt later, fingers crossed!

These are lovely Cat - inspired me to use some of my craft stuff for a couple of birthdays and my parents' anniversary (have Card Factory cards upstairs too but it's nice to do something different for a change).

modern_millie wrote: »

Dinner today was mung bean cottage pie - sounds like veggie food with a vengeance, but actually very nice - with last of frozen veg. I have an enormous tin of butter beans from AF to be used up, and about 3 years supply of mung beans - they were so cheap...

Thanks for this idea, I've got half a pack in the cupboard from when I went through a sprouting phase, will make one for my lunches this week.


I have updated my blog today with Fiscal Fast musings, hope you'll all have a look at it here: http://babyscrumptious.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/fiscal-fast.html Trying to inspire my mummy friends as well!

lessonlearned

Good morning ladies

Can I please join in again.

I've been awol for a while and I've fallen off the wagon. I've just totted up my June spends :eek: I really need to get back on track.

The cupboards/freezers etc are pretty full so going to allow myself just £30 for the next 7 days, a mini shop for some meat and cheese and then milk/veg through the week.

It begins again - Day 1 today.

lilian1977

Hi guys

Day 2 today - nothing spent yesterday, had toast and tea for breakfast, a Quorn burger in a bun from the freezer with salad and HM roasted strawberry vinegarette for my lunch, HM banana bread for my afternoon snack and fish and chips from the freezer with HM chocolate beetroot cake for tea.

Sold a couple of things on Ebay, just 99p items but every little helps, need to post the parcels today but no cost as the buyers paid postage. Will relist the unsold items. Also my payment from lendwithcare came through so that's another £2.60 in the ISA.

Making the mung bean cottage pie today for my lunches (thanks modern millie) although I only have a few jersey royal potatoes so will just have it as a sauce with boiled potatoes and veg rather than nipping out for potatoes to mash. Green vegetable risotto tonight to use up some brocolli, old mange tout and some peas from the freezer - will have with salad with some more of the vinegarette.

Hope everyone has a good day - onwards and upwards!

[Deleted User]

Still staying away from the shops I got home last night from DDs and scavenged up a small salad of lettuce,cuecmber,sliced beetroot, end of the tub of coleslaw, chopped stick of celery and the last tomatoalong with some grated cheese an carrot and a tiny tin of tuna with tikka dressing that I found in my store cupboard.Tonight I have sausages from the freezer ,new potatos peas and carrots with banana custard (I made one this morning with two left over bananas).I have run out of bread from the freezer but have a box of cracker bread I shall use instead.I am also making some HM veggie soup as I have half a sweded four carrots ,some celery a couple of chopped up potatos and a few mushrooms and from the freezer a box of brocolli stalks from a few weeks ago that i will bung in with it all.I also have some chicken stock in the freezer which will be used up.I have enough to keep me going without shopping for at least until (fingers crossed) Monday which will mean I have more than streetch the food stocks this week.My Dds left over roasties and veg that i brought home on Sunday night made a smashing bubble and squeek for last Monday nights dinner (free meal )
I am doing my best to run down the freezer a bit as I do want to defrost it before my holidays.
I think we are all doing splendidly with our fiscal fasting and I must admit I am not missing trundling around the shops at all, especially in the warm spell we're having I'd much rather be sat down with my knitting watching the tennis anyway
Well done everyone,onwards and upwards .
JackieO xx

lilian1977

Sounds fab Jackie, can I ask - with your brocolli stalks do you peel them and/or blanch them before freezing?

CW2

Hello everyone,

Just thought I'd pop in to say hello and well done to everyone managing to fast. I'm not doing the FF at the moment but still trying to keep spending down. Looking forward to doing a top up shop on Friday as I have virtually nothing left in my freezer now!

I'll be reading and following progress if not posting.

CW2

[Deleted User]

lilian1977 wrote: »

Sounds fab Jackie, can I ask - with your brocolli stalks do you peel them and/or blanch them before freezing?

nope just washed them and sliced into inch long bits and open froze them There was a spate of brocolli in the shops a little while ago where the heads seemed to be half the size of the great long thick stalks and I couldn't see the point of binning part of the vegatable being as how I had paid for it .Soup is delicious and the stalks help to 'bulk ' it out a bit

lilian1977

Thanks Jackie - I usually save them for stir fry but hadn't thought to freeze and add to soups. That will help stretch my budget.

Day 3 today, not intending to spend anything. Just had a text from a friend asking if I wanted to meet for coffee, I started to reply to say yes but then remembered the FF and so asked her over here instead - I have cake and biscuits and plenty of tea and coffee so that's a saving.

Pay day today, so have just moved everything about, I don't have much left over for the month but that's ok as I'm feeling positive due to the fast. Unfortunately I don't know how much nursery fees will be this month as DS had an extra day in after my operation, fees are supposed to be paid by the 1st of the month but the invoice wasn't there this morning and he's not in tomorrow, hopefully they'll be able to give me the figure over the phone.

Meals today are toast and cereal, mung bean cottage pie with veg for lunch and pasta e fagioli with HM focaccia and salad for tea. I have everything in for those so shouldn't need to go to the shops.

Have a good day everyone.

[Deleted User]

Yet another NSD for me I have had a dig around the freezer and found half a tin of corned beef that I froze(not in the tin )and that will be sliced up for dinner tonight with some lettuce cucumber a stick of celery ,some grated cheese and carrot,some left over new potato's from last night.I found a jar of sliced beetroot in the cupboard so some of that will be chopped up to go on top and some diced red pepper.That should fill the dinner plate up and I will have some fresh fruit salad (grapes,chopped apple and sliced orange) for pudding.Lunch is HM veggie soup (I made about 2 litres of the stuff) and some crackerbreads.I am using up lots of bits to stop me from going to the shops .I haven't missed having bread as I don't eat an awful lot anyway.The crackerbread is fine (although untoastable )Tomorrow I will delve into the bottom drawer of the freezer to find some fish I think I know I have quite a bit in there,so it may be salmon fillet and some peas and cheesy mash all from the freezer for tomorrow nights dinner.
I am determined to stay away from the shops as long as I possibly can .There's nothing on my shopping list at all at the moment:j:j:j