MFW Diary.....before moving in!!!

LauraWxx

Thanks Mr E, silly as it sounds as I do the shopping in bits and bobs I still dont really see our spending total!!

We both like our food and like you lots of meat and fish, I want us to be frugal but at the same time we work hard and i refuse to come home and eat beans on toast every night!!

I remember tilly mentioning a book called something like gaastronomy economy that I keep meaning to search for on ebay. Thats going on my to do list!!!

misscousinitt

Economy Gastronomy is a great book - well worth getting.

I use a spreadsheet format to plan my meals - but I find its best to have some meals you can cook from frozen in case you don't fancy what's planned for that day!

MCI
xxx

LauraWxx

Thanks MCI, I have done a spreadsheet this morning - it will take some evolving i think but will hopefully keep us on track.

I have highlighted the nights I am at the gym after work and therefore late home and can make sure I plan something quick ish for those nights!

Looking at it - it looks lovely, i have tried to steer clear of planning food that is really cheap just for the sake of it as I know when the time comes I wont want it and will go off plan.

Not sure if planning a month at a time is feasable or if 2 weeks at a time is better. Planning and doing an online shop every other week would cut down on the fresh shops i need to do and I'm not sure we have the room for a month's worth of food including lunches batch cooked and in the freezer!! I have to say I do like online shopping, not sure if the xmas shops have put me off but the thought of walking into a supermarket at the moment fills me with dread!!

Got something selling on ebay currently - with the proceeds I think i shall purchase the book....just had a preview of it on amazon and it looks very good!

LauraWxx

Morning all, meal planning continued yesterday afternoon and I decided to start by doing two weeks at a time. I can then buy more fresh stuff in the online shop thus reducing the amount i need to go into a supermarket and buy tempting things!!:D

The Asda shopping was delivered last night and have to say i am really impressed - only 1 substitute on a £43 order and that was only some crisps. The driver was lovely and even carried the shopping up the stairs to my flat. :j

Whilst waiting for the shopping, I chopped up a load of bendy peppers that were in the bottom of the fridge, dry froze on a tray and then transferred into a Tupperware tub in the freezer. Chopped up a couple of sweet potatoes into chunks and froze them as well. Will come in handy for doing quick rosties or chucking the peppers in pasta dishes.

Going to do lots of batch cooking this weekend and organising of the freezer. I have already booked my slot for the next shopping delivery and built most of my list, this will then mean I can add to it as i think of things over the next week. For the two weeks meal plan it is currently around £70, that is for both me and bf and includes things like milk and cleaning products. Will need to add some more bits on when I fully establish what and how many lunches we each have in the freezer after batch cooking this weekend, but also I will be able to take a few things off nearer to the time when I realise what we have left over from this week.

In other news, got the Halifax reward £5 that i have put into savings acc. Did an account tidy to send over to the credit card. I have around £150 bill from over xmas, it is 0% so in addition to making the weekly payments for petrol, I am just going to chip away at it bit by bit for a while.

My Santander isa has not yet paid the months interest, this was paid on the 3rd of dec so unsure why jan hasnt been paid, will give it till next week and then give them a call.

The weekend for me consists of getting organised in the kitchen and trying to finish off some uni work. I only have 2 weeks left before I graduate and 2 assignments to finish off. Can honestly say I cannot wait to see the back of it!!

hope all are well!!xx

LauraWxx

Sorry to be boring guys but I like a list and I have lots to do this weekend. Being a bit naughty I have managed to do lots of unii work this morning at work which free's up tomorrow for me. so I have batch cooking and organising galore planned. List needed to keep me on track!!

Batch Cook -
1. Roast Potato's & Portion (so bf can have still have roasties whilst i am eating rabbit food and to save time in the week). Not done - No room in freezer after the rest of batch cooking!
2. Bolognese Lunches - Mine, low fat version. Done :j
3. Bolognese Lunches - BF's normal version. Done :j
4. Cottage Pie Base - Out of Turkey MinceDone :j
5. Tomato / Onions / Mushrooms / Herbs sauce base used for Meatballs & Seafood Spaghetti over the next few weeks. Done :j
6. Chicken Pasta Lunches - Me Not done - No room in freezer after the rest of batch cooking!

Organise -
1. Organise Wardrobes and make room for all bf's stuff. Ooops not done - next weekend!
2. I am already pretty up to date with washing but do any other loads including clothes the bf brings to move in. Ooops not done - next weekend!
3. Re-do freezer inventory and check meal plan for 11th-25th of Jan to see if any meals can be made using freezer stuff. Done :j
4. Sort through all clothes not wanting to keep from wardrobe sort out - anything decent put on ebay, scrap the rest. Ooops not done - next weekend!
5. Wash bedding set that I am selling on ebay, Iron and package ready to be sent to winning bidder. Ooops not done - needs to be done this week as bidding ends Tuesday!
6. Put up curtain pole in Bedroom and turn Curtains upOoops not done - next weekend!
7. Touch up paint in hall where walls have been knocked over xmas. Ooops not done - next weekend!

Wow thats a lot of stuff to do!!:eek::eek:

BookWorm

Hi Laura

Belated Happy New year to you!

Hope you manage to have some fun in between all those jobs this weekend!

BW

edinburgher

Laura, remember to cross off the jobs as you do them.

1. It lets us live vicariously through your effort while we're sitting around watching TV
2. It makes it look like you're doing more
3. You can congratulate yourself/beat yourself up based on whether or not you cross off the whole list

LauraWxx

Haha thanks ed, your post made me chuckle!

Well the weekend started off well....up Saturday morning and off to my first spin class of 2013, very painful as it was almost 3 weeks and a lot of food since my last class! anyway then back home and to the batch cooking...will update list in a min. That was pretty much all of Saturday gone.

Sunday however was not so productive...no organising done as the bf is actually moving his stuff in next weekend instead of this (wanted to play footie this sunday!). I felt absolutely rubbish so spent most of the day under the duvet on the sofa catching up on Law & Order SVU backlog on my virgin box....not very productive but just what was needed.

Got lots of uni work to finish off this week and if i can do all that in the week then hopeuflly next saturday I can get all the wardrobes etc organised.

Hope all had a great weekend!xx

LauraWxx

8 vs 5 :j

:eek::eek: Oh dear...Knew I had missed a bit but not that much....maybe I should edit to add some more things to the list I actually did that I can tick off :rotfl:::rotfl:

LauraWxx

well the week isnt going to well...have felt so lazy when I have been getting home I am still no further organised!! It has been all i can do to sort tea out and roll into bed!!

Updates for this week - have started playing the lottery, i know it is a bit of a waste of money but have set up just the one line on Direct Debit and have listed it as my bill.

Items ended on ebay bagging me a nice £70 (have to pay for P&P out of that). That money has gone straight across to credit card.:T

Balance of zero now on the credit card but I do have petrol to go on and the asda online shopping of £80 (for two weeks worth of shopping) which is being delivered tomorrow.

Going to spend the next two weeks throwing most of weekly money at the credit card so balance of zero is resumed. Shocked how many bits and bobs I 'popped' on it over xmas. :eek:

The weekly money hasn't got back to being that organised yet. Looking forward to February when the bf starts to pay me weekly for bill money and we have a separate joint account for food shopping rather than owing some out of this week and some out of next week. I am considering splitting off my petrol aswell as a lump amount per month - paying it into the bills account and setting cc to come out as direct debit for that amount. Will need some thinking about that one, but I like the idea of it all be segregated instead of my usual - weekly money having to accomodate petrol and food shopping.

The online food shopping is def winning my heart:j, after last weeks I dont think I have been to a shop since. I like the fact that booking the shopping in so far in advanced means I can add the bits of bobs i would normally forget on a shopping trip as they come into my mind - for example battery for my cooking scales. Would not normally remember and then this would require a separate trip to supermarket which would result in lots of additional buying. :eek:

Glad we at Wednesday, peak of the week and all downhill from here!! First weigh in tonight of being back on the diet waggon...hoping for a loss!!

Also just heard the news that the cheque for my maintenance refund is due shortly so will look forward to getting that. Will be being paid into savings account...woohooo! It needs a boost!:T:T