Just say NOvember!!! ( are you brave enough )...

NinjaSavingKat

searching_me wrote: »

And the most important .. LEAVE STARBUCKS ALONE!!! ..

The most important part indeed! Well done on the smoking challenge..I know that part will be super hard on folks so I can't be too mean...

You have been numbered....you are marked!!

WELCOME!!

NinjaSavingKat

skintsue wrote: »

Oh stuff it.
Count me in as well. I've got loads of food in the freezer - veg, fish and some home made stews and soups.
My cupboards have rice, pasta, tinned beans, tuna etc so I should have enough to keep going for at least two weeks before I need to buy anything else.
I need to get porridge oats, bread (some to freeze), milk and eggs tomorrow (but that is still October), so mostly I am covered.

I dusted off 2 old cook books - 'I Hate to Cook' and 'The Student Cookbook' to give me some ideas. I'm not a student, and I don't hate cooking, but they have cheap, simple recipes with nutritious meal plans using basics, so they will be my new reference guides.

Now this is a proper stash... you seem prepared for the apocalypse..:rotfl:

Good luck with those books - post anything that comes up as superbly weird...

You have been marked and numbered...WELCOME [STRIKE]TO HELL[/STRIKE]

:T

NinjaSavingKat

Well look how busy we are getting!!! This is superb!!!

You are all very brave - I am proud of you all!:D

Less talk about "mellow yellow" though yeah...:rotfl:..I say flush...

The water thing is interesting though. Brick in the cistern sounds like a good idea and the catching of water while waiting for it to get hot... I am not sure I have anything to add but keep the ideas coming...

Everhopeful09 are you sure you don't want to join in???

Well I was good tonight and made food for lunch tomorrow... Its always hard when I don't bulk cook.. its easier slopping something into a tupperware tub than creating some new when I am wrecked and just wanna slob infront of TV and MSE...:D

So I am going back to my spreadsheet to list EVERYTHING...

claireforest

Its been a while since i posted but ive been lurking. This challenge seems like my budget anyway- but ive not been very good at sticking to it maybe because its so hard or unrealistic long term or im weak i.e we have no budget for days/nights out no budget for clothes or extras- the money we could use for this we are trying to pay off debts but then when things crop up we have to use cc or od our big weakness is takeaways even when we cant afford it we have it anyway. After bills we have £145 per week for everything, which sounds a lot but its not really when trying to pay debts off. Anyway im rambling and what im trying to say is count me in- just hope in dec i dont waste all my hard work! So normally i would say £40 food £10 bus £20 petrol £10 for lo's groups and oh footy (which he is now quitting) and then the rest will be debt payments so really i just need to keep to that and not go over like normal is that ok?

suzitiger

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Hello fellow NOvember challengers

3-Save water. Living in the area of the UK which has the most expensive water rates, i need to keep an eye on this, and find ways of using less water. Any ideas for this would be REALLY appreciated. I am already on a meter.


Are there any specific things that others are concentrating on?

Hello Wanttobe, For saving water, rather than putting a brick in your cistern you can usually get for free something called a water hippo (i think) which is a bag that you fill with water and leave in the cistern to help reduce water used. I also do the if its yellow...yes it is a bit gross but I only do it if the wee isn't of the morning sort (sorry to be crude but you guys know what I mean..) I drink alot of water so I know this saves. Tyr your water company for the water hippo or just google, failing that I will send you one if you PM me your address as I have a spare.
Ummmm you can do sailor showers where you turn the water off when you are shampoo-ing/lathering and the obvious one of turning the tap off when you are cleaning your teeth, though why anyone would leave it running anyway is beyond me :rotfl:

I am concentrating on not spending ANYTHING out of budget, I am a very 'pop to the shops' impulse buyer so this will be hard, but it's only for a month so I'm sure I will survive :rotfl:

I have just cleared out the freezer so there is room to pop things in and so I know what I have, I am making a list tonight of what to buy tomorrow, I am NOT doing a huge last minute shop don't worry, I am looking through what we have and I am going to gather recipes and then buy what extra ingredients we will need in order to make meals out of them whilst also using things up
I hope this is the point of this challenge, please tell me if I am getting it wrong.
Practise meal was today that I bought some mushrooms (reduced yay!:j) and used up lots of other bits to make a lovely risotto, its waiting to be eaten now as the boyf isn't home yet, grrrr!:rotfl:

claireforest

Oh yea for this month we have to replace our gutter and we have our wedding anniversary but other than that i dont think we have any extra stuff.so my weekly budget is £80 but if oh doesnt have footy i can do £70- £30 transport and £40 shop (and baby groups) sorry for a 2nd post but im not sure how much sense im making lol

tomandjerry

TomandJerry...currently at 20 ( although I know your pay-day is different ) - try squeeze out another 5...[/QUOTE]


I try, this is my first challenge so that's my excuse. I want to see myself succeed. I could try in December though.

Heffi1

Only one more day of living it up people ha ha then austerity really does begin, I am hoping if I make it through the month, I will learn some very handy tips that will not be too hard to continue, I will try to stay as positive as I can because no-one likes a negative nelly do they, oh no we like positive polly's

abundant1972

This challenge is just so awesome!!! Thanks NSK and Siouxsie32 for the inspiation, action and motivation!!!

Food Budget updated - check! £80

Really good idea Kat re NSDs. I have spaced my spend days (5 of them) throughout the month and also contacted friends and booked them in on the same days. That way i can get in 'allowed' essentials as they run out and have the dinner date on the same day.

Can I clarify Kat - if you have a dinner date planned - can that be in a cafe for example - or does it have to be something from the cupboards also...? What would you class as a 'basic amount' - £5-10? Will differ between incomes - but do we set a ceiling?

Good news - I got a replacement graphics card for £14!!! (my computer is quite old) to see me through until I can buy a new one... and it worked!!! I am back online... am *REALLY* glad because the support on here is going to be much needed and invaluable!!!

One day left to go!!! Whoop Whoop!!! Planning on pretending I'm out on Halloween and keeping all the treats for myself. JOKE!!! Ha ha ha! Am gonna dress as a Ghost and go collect MASSES of candy instead!!! JOKE!!!... although... not a bad idea!

Good luck everyone!

Anyone got a good recipe for a hearty but cheap soup??? That would be just the job during the cold weather... Pref something without meat in for me... Thank you!!!

:T

Heffi1

Hi Abundant,

My favourite soup has to be carrot and coriander and I have changed my recipe over the years to the following, which is usually a hit.

1lb carrots
1 onion
1 potato
2 pints of veg stock
1 tsp ground coriander

boil until veg is soft then blitz with a stick blender of potato masher if you haven't got one, or food processor, add fresh coriander at the end as it is still hot, eat and enjoy.

I often put in more onion and potato for a thicker consistency, but blend until you get the texture right for you. I often find little lumps of carrots that have escaped the blender