August's Almighty Advance

abundant1972

Morning everyone!

<i miss the emoticons from my mobile!!! i always want to put some sunshine on here!!!>

Cooked up stuff last night ready for lunch today... salad, rice and beans. Realised I'm really low on meat though! Just ate the last of my turkey bacon <very addictive - but very healthy!> and have 1 tin of tuna, and a pot of fish paste! I saw a recipe on a budgeting site for fish paste in pasta and it was actually ok! Did open and use some cottage cheese that apparently expired on 15/08 that tasted fine, so will use the rest of that tonight. Got some natural yoghurt in there too that expired 16/08 - what can i do with that??? I have cucumber... is that how you make tzatziki?...

<Googles it>...

OMG - this looks lush!!! Loving the garlic paste idea too - that lasts for 1 MONTH in the fridge!!! This will go perfectly with the 3 packs of oat cakes I've had in my cupboard for the last millenia!!! <I don't do too well with cracker-type things lol... remember the rice cakes that lasted me like FOREVER!!!> :rotfl:

Check it out...

http://www.greedygourmet.com/recipes-by-course/starters/tzatziki/

I'm going to be so gutted if the yoghurt has gone off now :rotfl:

Can I make 6 more days with what I have in?!? Got eggs... maybe 3 tins of assorted beans, frozen veg, rice and pulses... couple of onions, carrots and a sweet potato. All out of porridge - so might have to use my last £1.55 to buy some oats as have frozen fruit in freezer that's nice to add in... It's going to be tough, and my protein intake is going to nose dive a bit... Will last out as long as I can. I do have a £20 reserve but want to avoid breaking into it (as will be deducted from next month's wages).

Coconut oil is the way forward! The fitness programme I am following has been singing its praises also. Must get some next month! I don't use masses of oil so may as well make the switch!

Leaving wallets at home today to ensure... Today = SFD number 14!

Have an awesome day folks!!!

:T

NinjaSavingKat

Moirning All! Well I am deducting an SFD from yesterday - clearly I was a little too hasty! Went to Morrisons in the name of some treats to sit through 3 hours of The Lone Ranger. Friend rang to say she wouldn't make it so I got some fruit and veg instead... and crisps...

Running low on funds as well but made my chilli last night that is REALLY hot! The recipes asked for 2.5 tablespoons of chilli powder...:eek:.. I put less that than and it's still a little bit WOW!... So I have at least 5 portions I am going to have to work through! Muppet.

I have all sorts of food in so I think I should be able to make it to the end of the week however I don't get paid until the end of the month...:rotfl:.. we are going back to basics. Still haven't done my FoodBank run so I might do that this week too. I finally spotted the HQ that is near me but it's HUGE with no noticable entrance so I am going to call them...

Other than that it's LLL's birthday on Thursday so I am going to make a fatless sponge cake with fresh jam and cream for her and buy a birthday card out of my Misc budget...

And more sadly - after 13 years me hair straighteners have finally given up the ghost. I have found a new £20 pair in Argos on sale so I will replace them today with my birthday money = another non-SFD day but might as well do it all together...

Onwards!!!

wannabee_in_credit

Oh people, I've blown the budget :eek: and I've even had to borrow money from my mum to get me through to payday. :o:o
You know I said that the cat had gone missing? Well he hobbled home yesterday with a bad limp and blood pouring from one leg. Obviously I took him straight to the vet without thinking much about it. He's got a deep puncture wound - vet said it was pretty much a miracle he found his way home. Not sure what caused it but only 1 so far. She gave him 3 injections, some meds for me to get up at 2am to give him, and wants to see him again today. It cost £48 yesterday, and thankfully he seems to have perked up loads overnight. The drugs are making him all loving and cuddly. But I don't know how much today is going to cost. Depends what meds he needs and how pleased she is with his progress (I'm just pleased he didn't die of shock overnight). We are insured, but our excess is £70 so not worth claiming unless he gets really expensive.

You may remember that I had to pay £250 for the car last Thursday. Well I don't have anything left in my emergency fund after that plus the toilet repair we needed last month so I've had to go to bank of mum to help me out. Which is a bit embarrassing but I wouldn't have considered not taking him to the vet.

I'm as rough as anything today :cool: - barely slept last night because I was worried, and we kept all the cats in, and ours aren't used to that so they were rolling about and playing most of the night. So today will be a quiet day, with a trip to the vet early doors. I have a voucher for a play area but suspect I'm too tired to bother and the kids will have to entertain themselves.

Hope everyone has a good day, and enjoys the fantastic flavour of food cooked in coconut oil. Yummy

LittleMissKitty

Oh wannabee! I hope kitty recovers quickly, how awful but excellent that he found his way home - sometimes the budget needs to take a back foot and I think that more than warranted it.

I'm on SFD 13 (hopefully 14 today but I shan't declare yet!)
The food budget is almost at the limit, as is petrol as we had a stupidly busy weekend. We were meant to go camping on Sunday but lost our tent poles so just visited friends on site and had a BBQ. Spent £7 to visit but DIDN'T spent £35 on a pitch so we're up on that, though I forgot about my brothers birthday so had to use what we saved on that.

£450 wiped out the emergency fund to pay for the camera repair :eek: but I knew it had to be done and am SO pleased I had the money to do so - 3 months ago it would have crippled us but thanks to you lot it was covered :j


Hoping for no more spends till food and petrol next Monday. Might JUST dip into the OD but we need to eat, lol.

judi24

Oh wannbee I'm glad puddytat is home but not glad about the injury! I only have 1 puddytat but would love more - my ex hated them! Told my older kids I was going top end up a cat lady all alone with 20 cats for company! Their response was - well don't be expecting us to visit you then!

Today I am going to see if I can get another carpet place to come measure the stairs! Not got £500 in the budget for new carpet - go a bit carried away and told the painter t take up the old one so now my stairs are death trap of gripper rods!!! First I need to get rid of the 2 boys I had sleeping over - they decided to try to stay up all night - kept me up for half of it and are all now crashed on the couch!!! Was supposed to have an early night and be ready to start clearing the kitchen - but instead sitting at the kitchen table waiting for the caffeine of my second cup of coffee to kick in!!!

Enjoy your day everyone

his_missus

NicNocs wrote: »

Wow His Missus - that's sounds like extremely good value! Do you mind if I ask where you got them all from?

Many thanks, NicNocs

I got them from Winfields, it's a camping and outdoor store near me. Not sure if they have other stores around the country. They had a Regatta sale on and some items were only £5 or £10 Ended up buying 4 pairs of trousers!

wannabee_in_credit wrote: »

Oh people, I've blown the budget :eek: and I've even had to borrow money from my mum to get me through to payday. :o:o
You know I said that the cat had gone missing? Well he hobbled home yesterday with a bad limp and blood pouring from one leg. Obviously I took him straight to the vet without thinking much about it. He's got a deep puncture wound - vet said it was pretty much a miracle he found his way home. Not sure what caused it but only 1 so far.

Has he been attacked by another cat? One of mine got attacked by a Tom a few months ago and the wound started going septic. It was only the size of a tooth but caused a lot of swelling and the beginnings of blood poisoning! - cellulitis I think the vet said it was. He had to go back for an injection every other day as we didn't think he'd take tablets easily. Ended up costing us about £100 in total.

I would live off value beans and bread in order to pay for vets bills so I empathise with you 100%. Hope kitty makes a full recovery quickly.

Hoping for a SFD finally today. Visiting bessie at lunchtime so may even get a free lunch out of her as she wants us to try her veggie soup.

thriftylass

Good morning!

Sorry to hear about your injured cat and the vet bills. Just glad he found his way home.

Should be another SFD today. Had blackened chicken (sort of cajun spiced) with tomatoey pasta and homegrown tom salad for and OH liked it. He even volunteered to do the dishes. See what I can magic up from the freezer/cupboards today.

NinjaSavingKat

Oh NO! Wannabe your poor puddy Tat! This happened to Dorothy last year... a tooth sized hole in her leg that got swollen.... she wouldn't let me touch her and slept all day. I had gone to work and left her on my bed having not seen the wound. Cost £60 though to get her injected etc. She was right as rain soon after but I can't remember how I managed to get the hissy Mog in to her carry case...

Glad your kitty is ok though. Nothing worse than seeing them upset or suffering...

wannabee_in_credit

Thanks everyone for the kind words. The cat cost another £66 this morning (thank goodness my mum was able to help - I was having visions of a dreaded PDL) :eek:
He's loads better - the vet was pleased enough with his progress that she doesn't want to see him until this time next week unless he gets worse again. The wound is already healing quite nicely and the drugs he's on have left him really friendly and cuddly. He's got some medicine, which he loves - and antibiotic tablets, which I'm dreading trying to give him. The vet showed me how to give them to him and he was really placid and let her do it, but I know he won't be like that with me. She says they're important to prevent infection into the wound so if I fail to get him to take the tablets he'll have to go back for injections every day. Gah! No pressure then...

She's such a lovely vet - rang last night to see how he was doing... She thinks the most likely cause was another cat but can't be certain. She's from Florida, and when I told her I was going to take the kids there once I can afford it - she told me that it is much nicer to live here than Florida, but it's a fab place for a holiday.

Needless to say we are well and truly skint now. Making the most of every item in stores - local parks and walks and picnics and local NT stuff. I wish my son was a little easier to entertain though. He's constantly on the go.

his_missus

Wannabe, would putting the tablet in a bit of meat/fish help? Even a piece of catmeat? I've been known to make little pockets in a piece of whiskas to slip a tablet into in the past!

Just watch for him sneaking off then spitting it out, they can be cheeky beggars like that. Oh and they always behave for the vet and never at home