Fiscal Fast – 7 days no spending (at all)

curlytop12

am loving this thread,thankyou all contributors.

have had 4 fast days thanks to you lot,apart from i HAD to get in paracetamol med for my boy,both been ill this week.

if it wasn't for milk,i could make it untl saturday.have been drinking hot water and lemon to eek it out.

how did you make the yoghurt may i ask?

am going to attempt some flapjack later,i have an ounce of real butter left,but i can top up with olive spread i'm sure!

modern_millie_2

Hi gem and atypicalblonde, good luck with the challenge!

Flapjacks, I always make them as you are going to, to cut down the sat. fat a bit, they are fine and still taste buttery.

I agree with Catznine, for me this is about not shopping every time you are near shops, and considering every purchase in terms of firstly, do you need it, and secondly, can you obtain it without shelling out your hard earned cash! And of course using what you have to the full.

But obviously meds and essentials for your children aren't really options.

DD rang to say she has done OK in her latest exams, have made her a sort of mini Rocky Road to celebrate.

Haven't really discussed the FF with anyone but family yet - will be interested to hear the comments. I am also enjoying it though, and feeling upbeat. Have had a couple of times recently when I overspent and felt bad - too many people in the world without enough.

Re -charity giving - is tricky, I tend not to give to charities I know do very well, like Guide Dogs and donkey charities, donate by post to two chosen charities, others I tend to give small amounts. Maybe a small budget in coins at the beginning of the week? Or is this the slippery slope? Don't know really.

lally666young

I think you can learn a lot, but do like a mini fiscal instead of 7. I have decided I want to give this a whirl and see how it goes. I mean I am pretty frugal as it is at the moment and I really hate going into new shops and balking and I mean balking at the prices. See I live the thrift life and I love it. People are so wasteful now and that is a shame. I would rather give to a charity over the high street anyday and I feel Like I have done a good deed for the day. My animals are all from various rescue centres. So for me it is really no hardship, just the dietary problems we have at the moment. But I will let you know how I get on.

catznine

gem68 wrote: »

am loving this thread,thankyou all contributors.

have had 4 fast days thanks to you lot,apart from i HAD to get in paracetamol med for my boy,both been ill this week.

if it wasn't for milk,i could make it untl saturday.have been drinking hot water and lemon to eek it out.

how did you make the yoghurt may i ask?

am going to attempt some flapjack later,i have an ounce of real butter left,but i can top up with olive spread i'm sure!

I make the yogurt the Shirley Goode way:-

Bring 1 pint of milk to the boil, boil for 1 min and turn off the heat. Let the milk cool a little and then stir in 1 tablespoon of dried milk powder. Let this cool to blood temperature so that when you dip your finger into a tsp you neither feel heat or cold. Then stir in 2 heaped teaspoons of bought natural yogurt. I use Yeo valley natural yogurt, just buy a small pot and I leave it out of the fridge for a while before I start to bring the temperature up it bit, it works better that way. Pour into a wide necked themos flask and pop into a warm place overnight. I found (eventually ) the airing cupboard best for this. Transfer to a bowl and pop into fridge. This make 1 pint and can be sweetened by adding jam or stewed fruit or used for savoury dishes.

I've decided to keep some coins in a little purse just for charity donations the rest comes out on direct debits.

Left over quorn stew and dumplings tonight with some chard and carrots. Pudding might just be yogurt and fruit!:)

Had coffee and hm scones with my neighbour today, I supplied the scones. I've been sorting out some boxes from the loft and found a notebook of my late Mums containing her housekeeping budget from the 1960's, mind you it is in foreign currency as we lived in Singapore at the time but it makes for interesting reading. Everything was budgeted for including Dad's cigarettes and my sweets! She was always so careful with their money and had their house paid off before retirement even though they bought it late in life. Most of my clothes were hand made on her old hand turned singer sewing machine and my first coat was made out of an old army blanket!

[Deleted User]

atypicalblonde I think I'm everyones grandma on here :)

Day 8 and no shopping at all, tonight I am going to have a treat a bacon,egg and mushroom fry-up with bread and butter and several cups of tea because its what I fancy and I have everything in the fridge as well

I had to go and pick one of my DGs's Henry up at lunchtime from school as he had been pushed over and banged his head Bless him he is a tough little chap, and it must have hurt him as he was a bit tearful and he rarely if ever cry's.He's got a lump the size of an egg on his head, but a nice lunch of scrambled egg ( I put a little grated cheese in as well as he loved cheesey things) and some chopped up fruit , and a good dose of TLC and he was fine by the time I took him home. I went via the Drs so he could be checked over and right next door is a cake shop which I managed to avoid by saying 'we'll have to hurry or Dad will be home before you are' and that made him forget the thought of a cake (there were some in his house anyway )
I have to take the three boys to WH Smiths tomorrow to spend their world book token tomorrow so I may splash out on a squashy cake then instead for us all.
I think I shall keep up this rolling fiscal non-spending days as much as I can as I haven't missed shopping this week at all,and in fact have found it interesting to see how far food can streeeetch when pushed.I think you are all doing brilliantly on here and I think there should be a 'pat on the back' button for us all.

catznine

JackieO wrote: »

atypicalblonde I think I'm everyones grandma on here :)

.

I've met JackieO in person and can vouch for the fact that she is indeed lovely! Her grandchildren are very lucky!

Aarons_mummy

Why do Clarks not understand we NEED an outlet here for cheap shoes I wouldn't scrimp on his shoes at all but it's a case of getting what fits reasonably well, they don't have to be perfect just good enough to get him through till his proper ones are ready.

Well I had an almost free lunch today, a burger needing used (one of those microwave thingies) and I had a coupon so it was free with rice that was going to be thrown with some leftover cheese sauce (pennies) and it was pretty good. The main thing non spending has taught me is that I can live on anything, be it £10 a week or £100 a week. I may grumble more with just £10 but needs must.

curlytop12

flapjacks lovely,made no difference mixing butter and spread.
am craving stewed friut and yoghurt!
(makes a change from chocolate and wine i suppose)
keep up the good work.

atypicalblonde

JackieO wrote: »

atypicalblonde I think I'm everyones grandma on here :)

That's because you are fab and you speak so warmly and lovingly about your family it is so wonderful to read.

I am quite frankly appalled at what we have spent on food since 15th February, I was considering myself relatively frugal on the food front but I am clearly way off the mark. I need to get this much closer to £150 for March.

Meals are planned for the next week until I get paid and apart from milk I won't need to buy anything (I have craved skimmed milk since I found out I was pregnant and go through gallons of the stuff!) xx

catznine

Can't believe the week is over! 7 days of the Fiscal Fast and I have over £70 to bank. I reckon we saved about £78 so will take £8 out for treats for us both (well sewing bits for me) choc for Mr Catz. £50 is the housekeeping allowance, £28 covers the cost of a 2nd hand (very good condition) wooden highchair which I am swapping for some sewing projects, half a dozen greetings cards, no takeaway and not going out for a coffee and cake! Might even add up to more, I will have to make a note of each time we resist the urge to spend next time.

Mr Catz has been an absolute star! So proud of him, he has really taken this on board and even spent some time telling his boss all about it! :eek: :rotfl: (see the whole range of emotions there on that one! lol )

I am still on the challenge until tonight when we finally get a bit of shopping in, so using up the leftovers until then. Today I have packed my healthy snacks for my volunteer session (hm fruit yogurt corner - hm yogurt, hm muesli, remains of some tinned peaches for one and 2 oatcakes with the remaining cream cheese) We won't be buying much though, no tins, no meat, until we have cleared that freezer and larder a tad. We have a couple of birthday presents to get and some sewing notions for my projects. I can't wait to get stuck into this again on Monday!

Good luck to everyone doing the challenge in whatever way you can! I think even 1 day or a mini Fiscal Fast as Lally is doing is going to help you make significant savings.

Gem you may fancy yogurt and fruit now but I fancy flapjacks lol

Aarons mummy - well done on the free lunch! It's wonderful to beat the system! If only we could get that outlet village up your way!

Catz x