Anyone got a nice spaghetti and meatballs recipe?

princess_leia_3

Another £44 on Mr T shopping for me, hopefully we can make most of this last til payday again! I have meal planned for the rest of the monthand still have some frozen meals just in case

belfastgirl23

Hi Mike...don't go, perhaps bask in the reflected glory of being in the top 1% of spouses instead

And SLTBS I think in your shoes I wouldn't do a monthly shop for biscuits etc again, I'd just pick them up weekly (or HM if you have time). I find that sometimes it's better to work around a problem than face it head on. Or work more on your DH's concerns about the kids eating this stuff (with an occasional comment about his waistline if appropriate) and see if you can reach a conclusion that as a family you should eat less of it. I know for my DH couching a conclusion in terms of health has A LOT more success than couching it in terms of MS (this tends to have a very low rate of success ).

On the MS we had a heated discussion about whether it was worth cutting dishwasher tablets in two until I pointed out to DH that he could spend money on DW tabs that give him no pleasure or on wine which does give him pleasure. I could almost see the lightbulb over his head. Is there something you could save for that your DH would really want, even as a starting point to show him the possibilities. And then once he's used to an OS life he'll stick with it.

Lots of luck anyway. I know the frustrations but my advice is to think of carrots rather than sticks...and to keep in mind that just because you have decided to go OS doesn't mean that he automatically has to follow suit...you need to guide him there..

betterlatethannever

Wayhayyy:j twelve days in (nearly half the month) and for two adults i've only spent £8 ish:T and, for some strange reason we've eaten better than we normally do. No ready made meals etc.

That said, i'm running low/out of, some pricey stuff such as tomato ketchup/mayo/herbs n spices/toilet rolls, so will probably have to do a tenner shop in the next few days, but, at this rate i may well come in well under budget.
I'm so dam proud of myself:D ..sorry, but i just had to blow my own trumpet. I used to spend over £8 a day on food, not £8 in two weeks

jackie_w

Its me again, looking for some advice.

I made spicy chicken casserolle for dinner today, and theirs loads of sauce left. Im afraid it was a Colemans packet. Do you think it would be okay to blitz the sauce with the blender, and then freeze it!

If not, is there anything else I could do with it?

Jackie

Frugaldom

Hope nobody minds, but I have merged my monthly grocery budget into an annual one as it was getting a bit confusing. My annual budget is based on my 'living on 4k' challenge and equates to £120 per month, but I'm aiming for £100 this month. I do have a note of the monthly budget in my spending diary and will keep grocery spends up to date in this thread ... if that's ok?

Sassamac

Right well another £3 on groceries. £1.60 of which I am ashamed to admit was 'unnecessary'. The weather came out warm and what with all the running around in the park we were gasping for a drink. Luckily it was BOGOF. Also got loads of bread, pittas, bagels etc. reduced by 75% or 25%. So all in all £8 worth of shopping.

I forgot to take the sausages out of the freezer this morning, and TBH I CBA to cook tonight anyway so I just cheated and took a leftover chicken casserole (at least I think thats what it is, a lesson there in labelling food) out the freezer and straight into the oven. Just need some spuds or pasta or something and its a done meal.

I have done a shopping list which hopefully can wait til Friday. So far it totals £12 and some of that is 2 weeks or 4 weeks worth. Its a good job as Im £15 over budget so far this month. I've done the next fortnights worth of meal plan and theres very little that we actually need so hopefully we will be back under budget by next week.

Sassamac

nykmedia wrote: »

Hope nobody minds, but I have merged my monthly grocery budget into an annual one as it was getting a bit confusing. My annual budget is based on my 'living on 4k' challenge and equates to £120 per month, but I'm aiming for £100 this month. I do have a note of the monthly budget in my spending diary and will keep grocery spends up to date in this thread ... if that's ok?

Sounds like a good plan Nyk. I have worked out my GC budget every month til July, so I may work out an annual budget too.
Whats the 'Frugal Fitness' in your sig? Is that your own personal challenge?

Frugaldom

Sassamac wrote: »

Sounds like a good plan Nyk. I have worked out my GC budget every month til July, so I may work out an annual budget too.
Whats the 'Frugal Fitness' in your sig? Is that your own personal challenge?

The Frugal Fitness Club (FFC) is part of the living on 4k challenge - who needs a gym when there's loads of exercise equipment about to use for free? Free cycle, anyone?

Edited in - I had better add that the numbers relate to excess calories I want to burn and not money :rotfl:

Sassamac

thanks for explaining Nyk. I have half heartedly taken up running since I gave up my gym membership in order to pay off the debts. Never though to work out the calories though.

MrsMcawber, thanks for the tortilla recipe. I might give that a try as I bought some reduced last month but havent had them in ages as I find them expensive.

SLTBS I would just keep your OH out of supermarkets full stop. My DH has a habit of sneaking things in the trolley, although he would never go shopping of his own accord so luckily I dont have that problem. Also were both guilty of eating all the goodies in one go. I basically dont buy snacks any more - my kids are 3 and 1 and generally ask for fruit for snacks, if they want a treat they get a HM hobnob or cake. Its made such a difference to the budget. I think its just a matter of training them to live with what you've got although I appreciate that is harder with older kids.

Jackie I freeze most things so I dont see why it wouldnt work. Give it a go.

mama67

nykmedia wrote: »

Hope nobody minds, but I have merged my monthly grocery budget into an annual one as it was getting a bit confusing. My annual budget is based on my 'living on 4k' challenge and equates to £120 per month, but I'm aiming for £100 this month. I do have a note of the monthly budget in my spending diary and will keep grocery spends up to date in this thread ... if that's ok?

I might do the same as if I'm picking up bogofs for future use these will take me over budget one month but I'll be under in future months hopefully. As long as it all adds up at the end of the year then should be ok.