Ultimate Challenge. 457 days / £16600!!!

liltdiddylilt

Hello all

Welcome DST!! Any friend of NSK's is a friend of ours I am slightly jealous that Kat has someone in the real world to share this thread with though. I would so love to have someone as loopy as I am joining in & spurring me on & also telling me off when I go out & buy Costa

Congratulations on your anniversary. It was my 4th anniversary & 1st wedding anniversary & my DD's 1st birthday in April, between the 5th & 9th of April to be precise! Busy weekend!

Enjoy your day & library books.

Kat I will be going onto freecycle for things but the sofa is going to feature heavily so I think £170 for new is not too bad & definitely something I can afford Will be moving into a 3 bed soon & this will save us buying a new bed, which we will then have to find a home for when mini-lilt #2 comes along! (in the planning stages, not the making stages of mini-lilt #2 by the way!)

Am having such a good day at work I don't feel nervous about taking my full lunch break & am taking full advantage of the internet work provides

NinjaSavingKat

Hello Lilt - super busy day here but wanted to check in. Yes I think £170 is a super price and like you said a sofa bed is so much better than forking out for a hotel all the time.

I am super tired and about to get ready to leave. I am off for a swim with DST and a cookery lesson as she desperatly wants to keep all costs down - me thinks banana and sultana muffins and red lentil soup is onthe cards... possible bread by hand but we shall see what kind of time we have when we get back...

So tired I went out with LLL's keys today..

The Mog and Dog has a stand off yesterday and needless to day the boy I was waiting for didn't show up (not geordie boy) but we text and got over some issues so I had a good enough day.

Lilt I cheer you every day in my head. My level of craziness knows no bounds... I am sorry you don't have a playmate though. I will cheer extra hard and hope you can telepathically hear me telling you off for being a VERY NAUGHTY LILT when you enter a 100 ft distance of any hot beverage outlet..:rotfl:

Did I mention my temporary crown has dislodged so not attached to my tooth - and it cracked yesterday. Do I have time to get this fixed - NOPE! Keep mouth shut at all times and chew on one side only...

Austerity calleth me now... been looking at my food budget. £12.50 loaded into MySupermarket to check ....I have the following..

• 3 bananas = 36.7p
• Tesco ED Apples = 84p
• Tesco ED Kiwi = 83p
• 1 lemon = 27p
• 2 onions = 37.8p
• 8 ED fruit yoghurts = 66p
• ED Frozen peas = 89p
• Tesco ED tinned peaches = 32p
• Tesco ED honey = 99p
• Tesco ED kidney beans = 21p
• Tesco ED tinned tomatos x 2 = 31p
• Allinson dried active yeast = 64p
• Induc Brown lentils 2kg = £2.99
• Natural popcorn kernals = 99p
• Tesco ED penne = 30p
• Tesco ED porridge oats (1KG) = 75p
• Tesco ED SR Flour = 45p.

I ordered a chilli and lemon powder to go on the popcorn as a crisp alternative. Butter biscuits will be made for snacks. Oat biscuits for snacks as well with a little lemon. Numerous lentil meals, penne as a break with basil mushed into a pesto ( I have cashews to make it with ) .. but I have a bit more thinking to do as I am looking at pulling myself through 7 days with all this - 3 meals a day and snacks.

Watch this space...


Onwards and Upwards!!!

liltdiddylilt

Good evening

Bless you I hear you cheering me on as it is; I'm jealous, but mighty glad that you have someone to share your DFW journey with.

Your food shop looks baffling to me. I sit here looking at £9.23 of food and thinking.. what exactly are you going to make with that? It looks healthy, but healthy in as much as you have bought healthy items. I am really intrigued to see what meals you make from this!!!

Did you/have you signed up to 'graze'? First box is free... And I know I probably shouldn't advocate this, but even if you have signed up, chances are it was under a different address, in which case register with a different email address & get free food!

Also, think about shopping online. Sainsburys are offering £15 off a £60 first shop at the minute. £60 is a lot upfront but you could stock up at the start of the month on staples. Their 'basics' range is very good... Not only that but if your basics items aren't in stock, you will get branded alternatives...
ASDA do £10 off your first shop, & are excellent VFM...Tesco also do £10 off your first shop... They all do the branded alternatives...

NinjaSavingKat

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Your food shop looks baffling to me. I sit here looking at £9.23 of food and thinking.. what exactly are you going to make with that? It looks healthy, but healthy in as much as you have bought healthy items. I am really intrigued to see what meals you make from this!!!

I can see why it is baffling and I think I need to complete some jiggery - pokery in order to make it more satisfactory. My thinking so far - which couples my current and possible left over stock at the end of Sunday 2nd..

• Spicy lentils with half can of tomatoes. 1.5 cans would create 6 meals.
• Spicy tomato sauce with penne and quorn sausages X 3-4 meals.
• Butter biscuits for "treats" ( SR Flour to be swapped at same price for plain flour possibly).
• Porridge for breakfast every day with half a banana.
• Kiwi for supreme intake of Vit C as a quick snack with home made bread.
• Banana mashed and apple grated into 100g of oats for a simple breakfast change to porridge. (Half of each fruit not a whole).
• Handful of peas into each batch of lentils for colour and nutrients. (as much as you can get from frozen veg).
• Currently have a whole pack of pitta left - 1 eachper bowl of lentils.
• Yoghurt as mid morning snack with fresh bread (using the yeast)..
• Popcorn instead of crisps for snacking during the day ( have ordered some chilli and lime powder off eBay to sprinkle on top )

And now I realise I am missing some items for main meals. I may swap the massive bag of lentils and tin of kidney beans for a smaller bag of lentils and add rice and eggs to the equation as well. Milk and sultanas on rice make a nice snack... eggs equals scrambled / frittata etc.. but I know I need a courgette and a pepper to make things a little healthier.. and a bag of Lidls nuts.

As I said - some jiggery pokery required. Possibly usage of a few pennies from next weeks £12.50 in order to buy the larger lentils which will last all the way through the month.

Notice I am being good and have not added cheese....:(

Okay bed time for me and back to the drawing board! I will be heading into town tomorrow to take said list to Lidl's to price compare. And then checking which items are cheaper at Asda despite MySupermarket indicating Tesco was cheaper for the over all shop.

Onwards and Upwards!!!

Siouxsie32

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Siouxsie when you doing your food shop..? I looked at a bag of lentils in Tesco yesterday - 2KG for £2.99 = 75p per 500g unlike my usual £1.09 for Versillies 500g lentils - I think I might invest! I am still working the other items out - can I live without cheese? I am going to try 500g for the month as it's a massive luxury and not that good for me..:rotfl:

I'm going to wait til June to actually start on the budget. I often start my new clock ticking when I get paid but this month I'l wait those extra few days. Supermarket sweep will begin on Sunday 2 June (I'm out for the day on the 1st).

My biggest extravagance is pre-chopped onions. They're 50p each but they save a whole load of hassle when it comes to cooking in a hurry. I use a lot of onions in a month so there's money saved before I even tear my meal planner apart looking for savings.

Your list is impressive. Especially the cost of the onions - no-one could accuse you of rough calculations :rotfl:

Siouxsie32

Oh, and you searching the price of lentils made me laugh. I actually took a photo in Wholefoods of the pick'n'mix lentils so I could remember all the different prices :rotfl:

NinjaSavingKat

Siouxsie32 wrote: »

Oh, and you searching the price of lentils made me laugh. I actually took a photo in Wholefoods of the pick'n'mix lentils so I could remember all the different prices :rotfl:

I did that in Lidls the other day! Lol!!!

NinjaSavingKat

And yes I'm doing the same! Starting on the 3rd!

Triker

Cheering you all on from the sidelines.

Just about to take big leap myself with debt clearance and work issues so I'm picking up lots of tips.

Had to laugh about your cat, the litter tray and its position and your cats timing.:rotfl:

his_missus

Lilt, we bought a sofabed from asda a few years ago for less than £200 (can't remember exact price) which is sturdy with a pull-out frame and can be used daily without the cushions sinking.
Kat, I wish I could be so focussed and frugal with my shopping but Hubby just wouldn't go for it. I'm trying to cut the food budget slowly on the sly instead