Fiscal Fast – 7 days no spending (at all)

mogwai

lisakay wrote: »

Red lentils are good for fertility?? well i didn't know that!!! It's no wonder I fell so quickly for my 2 then, even after hubby was previously told he was infertile! (he was married before and on the waiting list for fertility treatment).

yup, apparently lentils are loaded with iron, 'which Harvard researchers found reduces ovulation problems in women and enhances fertility'.

Thanks for the recipe, I will make this next week sometime as I already have all the ingredients, yay! (jump up and kick heels together)

I made a boo boo yesterday! Completely forgot I was on fiscal fast and had a cup of tea and scone with OH at a cafe yesterday and then OH talked me into maccyDs on the way home for dinner. Oh the shame! Plus, I now feel really sick and headachy, prob as a result of the maccyDs which I can't really tolerate anymore these days

Other than that, still on track, and making headway through my cupboard

I needed to buy a tart pan to make mud pie this weekend, but I may see if my mum has one that I can borrow (steal :rotfl: )

mogwai

7_week_wonder wrote: »

Thanks for the yummy recipe lisakay. I'll have to wait til next week to try that one as I've already got enough soup to see me through this week.

Another NSD here. I'm just debating whether I can use a generic card for my mum for mother's day (very nice - but not a "mother's day" card IYSWIM) or whether I should pop to the shops and get her a specific card.

Have a good evening everyone.

That reminds me, I need to get a card for mil too, I still have some cardmaking stuff left over from when we had OHs nieces over, maybe I could try making one, though Im not sure my efforts will look as good as OHs nieces :S

I do need to get some flowers though, thinking how I can blag that..I might just need to buy those

7WW - I think if you have a generic card, use that, I'd never know the difference

catznine

Don't worry Mogwai I slipped up too, I have felt unwell the last few days and could not face cooking by yesterday, so dh went out to fetch some fish and chips in, just 1 portion and I had a very little of that, dh finished the rest up. I also forgot that this is the week that our fortnightly small organic box gets delivered! Ah well! I shall start again right now!

Milk was running low again (after making more yogurt) but joy of joys I found another 1 lt bottle at the bottom of the chest freezer:j so that should tide us over. I now have 2 boxes of blancmange mixes (got one at a charity table top sale - still in date) Has anyone made these up using dried milk? I use dried milk for custards so it should work ok. I really fancy some blancmange, I think it might be gentle on my tum at the moment as well. Mum used to make them a lot when I was growing up and we had a taste of some recently, when we visited the Beamish museum before Christmas. The visiting children seemed so reluctant to taste any until Mr Catz and I sampled some (enthusiastically) then they started queueing up for pink blancmange! :rotfl:

Re card making I think most folk really appreciate the effort you have gone to in making them. A nice bit of ribbon really jazz's them up! I do get stuck on cards for the fellas though!

I'm still awaiting the delivery of Jeff Yeager's books from amazon! It might be a tad quiet around here once they do turn up!:) Promise to report back after reading them though!

lally666young

Well I feel a bit better since getting that off my chest yesterday. I had to pop to the supermarket again today!!! This time for Prawns, madam spotted some reduced, so I got those. Why cant my boys just eat whats in the cupboard. I am doing this quite well as is everyone else in the house hold appart from those 2!!! Oh DH did ask me to get cucumber for the tropical fish, this was reduced as well. I told them about it at mothers and toddlers and then they looked at me as if I was mad!!!! But when I explained it to them, most of them thought it was a good idea.
And I have been invited to a gig on saturday so I will pop to the CS and get a cheap outfit, maybe a tenner max. My mate wants to spend £100 now that is madness!!!!

lisakay_2

Walked to school with DD1 (6)this morning and had a really nice chat, including about saving the pennies and using up the food we had in. She asked to do a deal...she wouldn't ask for comics anymore, as long as I made lasagne for tea!!
I agreed and nipped to the shops for cheese (had everything else in already)
so...£3.98 bogof cathedral city
£1.38 stock cubes(veg and beef) that i had run out of
.99 chocolate treat for the 3 of us girls

also £4 on birthday presents for party on sat and £6 for DD2's passport photo's.
I've checked all the cupboards and I'l also need a proper shop by sunday at the lastest. nearly out of cat food, rabbit food, hay, dog food, fruit, spuds.
I'll only buy what is absolutely essential though (including 2 bunches of aldi flowers for mum and mil) hoping to spend less than £30, then the fast will begin all over again!

Off to put the squids in bed now and I'll be joining them for a very early night. the painkillers are not killing the pain, just making me feel very stoned!! think an early night will do me good.

modern_millie_2

Ah Lisa, I think you've done really well, especially as you have little ones. After all, I don't think we're supposed to carry on forever! Soup sounds good, I'll give that a try sometime. Hope you feel better tomorrow.

Justamum, glad you found your £10!

Catznine, would think dried milk would work for blancmange. Think you have really started something with this challenge, looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Well, a NSD for me, at home today so spent the time catching up on housework and going for a walk. Started some mung beans in a jar, hopefully will have beansprouts in a few days! Dinner was l/o cottage pie and veg fried rice. Bread and butter pud in microwave worked well . Trying to cut elec bill a bit by using oven less. Also made a date and oat slice today in micro as we had no cake.

Should be another NSD tomorrow, feels like it's getting easier - anyone else feel the same?

stupidmammy

Hello everyone, been following this thread since it started and sort of been joining in. Only buying what is absoultely neccesary. Would love to have the recipe for bread and butter pudding and how to do it in the microwave. Today made some lovely homemade crisps with potato carrot and parsnip peelings. Also found some old bars of soap, grated them up and wont have to buy any washing powder now. Happy saving everyone. Good luck.;)

7_week_wonder

I'm another one who fell off the wagon today. We needed some milk and orange juice for breakfast tomorrow (I could just about cope with porridge made with water, but no milk for tea would just be too grim) but we also cracked and bought some cashew nuts as snacks to cheer ourselves up. The last 24 hours have not been good, last night we heard that my mum's oldest sister had died and then today we first got a call to say that a friend of my husband who was suffering from cancer had taken a turn for the worse - and then this afternoon she passed away: she was only in her 50's.

In the spirit of the fast we've written both sets of relatives letters on nice notelets rather than buying cards and I'm going to go with using a generic card for my mum for mother's day. I'll be baking her a cake (with ingredients I've already got) but we'll splash out and get her some flowers too.

Hope everyone is doing ok and good luck with keeping on with the fast.

mogwai

Morning all - yesterday was a good day! Didn't spend a penny, but had a cuppa round my mums and nabbed her tart pan plus a few other baking goodies..

7ww - sorry to hear about your aunt

I'm doing the same as you, Im trying to source ingredients for a mud pie this weekend, need to go and delve into the depths of my cupboard again, and Im going to try and make a mother day card, but I think we will have to get the purse out for the flowers

modern_millie_2

Morning all, bit of a grey one here today.

7WW, sorry to hear about your aunt and friend.

Re: Mothers Day presents, my mum is sadly no longer with us, but being a thrifty type, she would have appreciated a mix of homemade and bought - she never liked to think we were 'wasting money' on her!

Hi stupidmammy, don't like to call you that as I'm sure you're not! B &b pudding recipe to follow, would love to hear how you make the crisps if you have a minute.

6 large slices bread, buttered
3oz (75g) dried fruit
1pt milk
2 eggs
2oz (50g) brown sugar

Cut bread into squares, layer in ovenproof dish with the dried fruit. Heat the milk in a bowl for 3 mins full power in microwave, then beat in the eggs and sugar and pour over the bread. Cook on half power for approx 20 mins. Can be browned under grill if desired.

I made half quantity to test it, so cut cooking times by half, even so was not in for full 10 mins befor it looked ready. Think it depends on the power of your micro.I also added a bit of nutmeg. Made enough for 3.

Mogwai, well done yesterday:).
7WW, I can't do tea without milk either, although I only have a tiny drop!

Cooking veg chilli for dinner for today or tomorrow, actually just fancy something on toast for one or other day, with a pud.
Better prepared this week after shopping Tues.

Work at 12, so better go and get ready. Have a good day everyone!