January's Big Financial Freeze!!!

kerri_dfw

I can't work out if today is a NSD or not, I had to collect my train tickets from the station but the money was taken on a different day. I decided against the hot chocolate at So'ton station 3hrs into my journey from Wales to B'mth as at £2.60 I was thinking :eek::eek::eek: normally I'd have just bought it, but you can buy milk + hot chocolate for that in Mr S easily!!! Thankfully the 2nd train actually had this great invention called heating, so I warmed up without needing the drink afterall

Dad bought us lunch, and he's cooking dindins, so no money spent. So, after a think I think it is defo a NSD hurray :T:T:T

Ooh I also found 5p on the floor in Mr S which I let my oldest 3y/o nephew have and he very cutely put it in his motorbike money box

abundant1972

Hello!!!

Managed a NSD today... cooked up the old potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes, and made garlic potato wedges, and a yummy stew (with added barley and lentils) which will do me for tomorrow as well! Slowly but surely emptying the cupboard!

Found out today I have £15.48 on my Boots card!!! Bargain! Mind you - am well stocked up with toiletries so not sure what to use it on. Can I count these towards the £25.00 bonus cash we are to make this month?

Emptied all my spare £1 coins into my Money Tin... has anyone else got one on the go yet? I have a loose change jar too (for 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p coins) and my 20p coins go in my TARDIS money box! £2 coins go in my Gargoyle Money Box. Gawd - it's no wonder I never have any money ha ha! (I only fill them with what's in my wallet at the end of each week mind).

Today = NSD number 7

:cool:

mumsiemum

kerri_dfw wrote: »

I can't work out if today is a NSD or not, I had to collect my train tickets from the station but the money was taken on a different day. I decided against the hot chocolate at So'ton station 3hrs into my journey from Wales to B'mth as at £2.60 I was thinking :eek::eek::eek: normally I'd have just bought it, but you can buy milk + hot chocolate for that in Mr S easily!!! Thankfully the 2nd train actually had this great invention called heating, so I warmed up without needing the drink afterall

Dad bought us lunch, and he's cooking dindins, so no money spent. So, after a think I think it is defo a NSD hurray :T:T:T

Ooh I also found 5p on the floor in Mr S which I let my oldest 3y/o nephew have and he very cutely put it in his motorbike money box

Def NSD I'd say

fairy3

Happy Saturday peeps how blinking cold is it? Absolutely freezing here and just thawed out from day of planned shopping, and what a marathon! Was all decisions/decisions as I had coupons for Sainsbugs, Mr T and £5 off 25 spend at M and S so went for three on shortest distance to save petrol which may go over due to underestimating.
Was odd spending quite a bit of cash although preplanned but used £5 nectar points in sainsbugs and bought dogfood on offer for month so very pleased. Also M and s with coupon and deals saved £15 and have lots of nice meat/fish and necessities. Meals now planned for two weeks so not planning a spend until next weekend.
After listening to the report about the huge food wastage this week worldwide apart from being appalled it has made me resolve even more to not waste one more thing.
Ebay will be posted tomorrow although like kerfuffle it has not been my friend either, but will be positive as I have a) loads of stuff and b) I will not be beaten! Have done additional work this week which will pay £130 so may in desperation have to count that.
On the diet front I agree that planning has helped and my little lunch bag is filled every evening with goodies (leftovers mainly but also veggie something) and my bread consumption is down, another 10 pounds should have me back into my 'nice' clothes.
Will update my sig to show totals and onwards and upwards! Everyone is doing so well.
Oh and cleaned car out and found lots of coins for the jar and a bottle bag appeared from the back seat....a forgotten bottle of wine present to me! very happy surprise.

Thanks to all for being so supportive I am finding it really motivating.

kerri_dfw

Oh, I should confess to Friday not being a NSD as I forgot to update yesterday as OH and I were rowing about him going to the corner shop instead of Mr S for milk...!!!
Anyway, unplanned spend was £3.40 on chippy tea, we'd just done a really good workout at climbing and weren't going to the pub. So instead of spending £20 we only spent the chip money, and as we over budgeted for last week we were so chuffed with ourselves we thought we deserved a little "treat", and for once it actually felt like a treat as we hadn't eaten takeaway all week

Will do better next week though and not eat any takeaway hehehe

NinjaSavingKat

Is it wrong that I am super happy about a 1kg tub of peanut butter from Holland and Barrett for £5.49 instead of a 300g one from Mr T @ £3.05??.. I love peanut butter smothered on apple slices for a quick tasty energy boost!... gone through it too fast though!!!

Siouxsie - LOVE the sound of that recipe. Thanks for sharing!!

Kerri - yes to your NSD. Abundant since you just "found" your points I shall let you add them to your £25 total. Cause I am nice...(now and then)..

Kerfuffle

Siouxsie32 wrote: »

Kerfuffle, I also cut the tube of toothpaste to get the remnants out - I wonder how long we can make it last?!!

Siouxsie- well I scraped the tube yesterday (Friday), I'm hoping it's going to last me until Tuesday. Come back for the next thrilling installment :rotfl:

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Kerfuffle I like your list including a "pre-planned treat" .. may I ask what it might be? I wonder how many others have something planned in their budget to alleviate the boredom of all these NSD's and weird food concoctions etc.. and you best staying in this weekend - its VERY COLD out there!:)

NSK - I don't know what the treat will be yet, although it's most likely to be a meal out. It's just a pre-set amount so that Hubby and I don't feel hard done by, and it is something that we can allow ourselves guilt free.If we don't spend it this month I'll carry it over into February and maybe then we can have starters or desserts. By the time I get to March we may be able to have a 3 course meal :rotfl:

citizenkitten wrote: »

Kerfuffle- well done, yeah i am going to do that as of april as i will be able to set aside sums to pay for things in cash. unfort my car insurance is in march and i am trying to build up my cash flow till then. have very expensive things going on at the moment and i cant tell how much it will cost.

citizenkitten -I know what you mean about building up cash flow until then. I haven't been able to post any declarations for some time for one reason and another. It feels like you're wishing your life away, but we just need to keep focused, keeping the end goal in sight.

Well everybody I've had a semi-productive day at home. I haven't been out anywhere so my day was a NSD as I hoped.

I've made a slowcooker batch of beef stew and veg which will be portioned up into 6 servings and frozen and then served with dumplings when required. I've also made a batch of mince beef for shepherd's pie, again this will be portioned up (4 servings) and frozen until required, and I've made a batch of bottom-of-the-fridge soup (8 servings). It mostly had leeks and limp celery but with the addition of carrots, potatoes and some broccoli florets it looks okay-ish.;) I will add some 6-bean mix to it when reheating.
So my guestimation is I have 18 servings, which for Hubby and I is 9 decent meals.

On Friday I made 3 banana loaves using the brown bananas which were on the side, and tomorrow (Sunday) I plan to make some more using the brown bananas from the freezer.

My day was semi-productive as I got no cleaning done whatsoever, hoping not to go anywhere tomorrow (Sunday) so maybe I'll get some done then :whistle:

Happy Sunday everybody.

Food 2.26 /198.00
Petrol 28.76/212.00
Hair / 26.00
Postage to UK /14.00
3 Birthday cards /10.00
Preplanned Monthly Treat /20.00

NSD 10/25
SD 2/6

abundant1972

Thanks NSK!!!

Am not leaving the house at all so...

Today will = NSD number 8

Additional funds = £19.44 / £25.00 found.

wannabee_in_credit

Morning all,
Didn't get on to check in yesterday, but it was a spend day as planned. The boys were off to football and me and dd were off to visit my mum. I let the boys take the car as it was SO cold and I was concerned about my 4yo being out in the cold all the way through the match, followed by a a walk into the city centre, followed by a wait for a bus and a walk from bus to house at the other end. So dd and me took the bus - and I was rather astounded at the £7.10 bus fare for return tickets for the pair of us. I think I could have gotten a bus to London for cheaper than that!
Aside from that I spent £30.43 on food for the week ahead. I feel like I'm doing really well grocery wise this month but hubby does keep taking himself off to do extra shopping (mostly for himself but sometimes for the kids), but it's not budgeted and it's taken out of his 'pocket money' so it's not being counted. As I didn't have the car I took £50 out to put petrol in it today so that I could grab myself a nsd today. It will need petrol today otherwise it won't get me to work tomorrow.
Hope everyone is doing ok.

Ninno820

Kerfuffle wrote: »

I've made a slowcooker batch of beef stew and veg which will be portioned up into 6 servings and frozen and then served with dumplings when required. I've also made a batch of mince beef for shepherd's pie, again this will be portioned up (4 servings) and frozen until required, and I've made a batch of bottom-of-the-fridge soup (8 servings). It mostly had leeks and limp celery but with the addition of carrots, potatoes and some broccoli florets it looks okay-ish.;) I will add some 6-bean mix to it when reheating.
So my guestimation is I have 18 servings, which for Hubby and I is 9 decent meals.

On Friday I made 3 banana loaves using the brown bananas which were on the side, and tomorrow (Sunday) I plan to make some more using the brown bananas from the freezer.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:I did the same yesterady - ham and veg soup from a ys ham hock that was in the freezer and using carrots that were bought before christmas plus some aromatic rice and pork pots for the freezer. It was so cold outside that a day indoors felt rather decadent - so may as well be productive as well.

Today I will hit double figures - NSD 10:T Apart from church and walking the dogs I dont intend to venture out doors - the snow hasn't reached us, fortunately, but its darn cold. I also need to plan for my big "adventure" next week. I must do some food shopping and will try to spend only £10 in morrisons (voucher from the mail), £11.24 in Sainsbury's (nectar card) and 25p in Tesco - price comparison refund. Wish me luck - me thinks some heavy research is needed here.

My payday is the 23rd - I can't belive that this is only 10 days away and still have money in my purse - I haven't drawn any out since before christmas. Thats all down to you guys - thank you xx

E bay is limping along and providing small, if useful, amounts to add to next months budget. I have three items finishng tonight and only one has a bid on it - 99p:T However the other two have 4 and 9 watchers respectively so I will be chceking in hope!