Mr and Mrs K's New Journey to a Debt Free Life.

AlexLK

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I actually didn't realise what profit (or in my case appreciation) there is to be made in some things until I started getting rid of things to pay the debts. Have to admit, I do look out now. My only problem is getting attached.

AlexLK

Saturday 26th April, 2014.

Dear Diary,

After yesterday's high spend on groceries, I have managed to redeem myself with a No Spend Day. Recently, it has been surprising just how many of those I have had for I could not envisage having even two in a month when I first started the debt free quest.

Which leads swiftly onto my outlook on spending slowly beginning to change: it is really, truly, honestly. These days I avoid situations where it would be all too easy to spend money on more bits for a car I only drive when it is dry or another shirt or watch when were I in my current situation this time last year, the businesses money would have been gradually being spent on my own personal crutches.

Summary:
-£0.00 NSD.

Yours Faithfully,
Alex.

MrsCautious

AlexLK wrote: »

maman: I went to the local Sainsburys, even trying their meat which I'm not sure is a good idea but I didn't have chance to do this until after the butchers closed.

Meals planned are as follows:
Breakfast - bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon or English muffin with poached egg and slice of bacon (can alternate).
Lunch - various ingredients to make small salad, pasta salad, sandwiches, quiche etc.
Supper - is more complicated as we have different things everyday we have pasta, lamb curry, roast duck, steak and chips, fish pie, Chinese stir fry, smoked haddock with prawns and mash potato / veg. Also various hot puddings / cold desserts.
Snacks - fruit, hazelnut chocolate, crisps.

Is it perhaps worth posting the "menu" on the OS board to see what they can come up with. I do think this would have been cheaper had I bought things from separate, local shops as I usually do though

Morning Alex, I take part in the Grocery Challenge on the OS part of these forums and think your food intake described above sounds absolutely gorgeous. If you did want to save money on it, there's a lot of potential to do so. You can still have smoked salmon, duck, steak, prawns and so on but it's a matter of shopping around, and just perhaps interspersing them more with cheaper options, if you have the time and the inclination. I find it well worth it. I shop at Sains still but get most fruit and veg from Aldi, I also buy meat and fish when it's reduced to clear and stick it in the freezer, I could bore for England on ways to reduce a shopping bill, I've halved ours to around £200-£220 month for me and 2 teenagers (not just food, cleaning stuff etc and household supplies too) who tell me they haven't noticed any change in quality of ingredients. If you do shop at Sains, there are all sorts of ways to boost nectar points and save more money -- I do this but it can be a lot of faffing. Asda could well be cheaper all round! If you wanted to see if you could save money on your shopping and chuck more at your debt, you'd get a very warm welcome on the GC thread.

AlexLK

MrsCautious: Thank you. I do not usually do much supermarket shopping, meat is bought at butchers, bread at bakery etc. I do get things from Aldi sometimes but it's a 20 mile trip to the nearest one so don't go often. The nearest Asda is (I think) even further away.

Cleaning stuff gets bought at cash and carry, we aren't bothered about branded stuff, really.

I don't bother with loyalty points (nectar and the like).

I'll definitely have a look at the grocery challenge later on this evening.

7roland8

Well with Tesco you do get quite good points and they can at certain times be doubled up for certain products - sometimes toys, sometimes frozen food and sometimes clothing.

Son's birthday gift last year was £40 of Tesco tokens that he doubled up for clothing for his new job. Yes I know its not your style!

Had a weird dream about you last night - I was visiting and you took me to where you made - Umbrellas!! No idea where that came from!!

maman

AlexLK wrote: »

MrsCautious: Thank you. I do not usually do much supermarket shopping, meat is bought at butchers, bread at bakery etc. I do get things from Aldi sometimes but it's a 20 mile trip to the nearest one so don't go often. The nearest Asda is (I think) even further away.

Cleaning stuff gets bought at cash and carry, we aren't bothered about branded stuff, really.

I don't bother with loyalty points (nectar and the like).

I'll definitely have a look at the grocery challenge later on this evening.

I agree with Mrs Cautious Alex. There are definitely saving to be made if you want to. I tend to have more 'luxury' foods at weekends and more basic stuff midweek. So things like pasta, chilli, curry (but not lamb curry),sausage and mash in the week and steak (albeit from Aldi) at weekends. Smoked salmon is cheap enough if you buy the trimmings and I saw whole ducks in Lidl yesterday at a really good price. I tend to have homemade soups at lunchtime or keep portions (or should that be helpings?;)) from the previous night's supper.


Buying from local shops like the butcher and baker is commendable but it can be pricey. I'd go onto mysupermarket and see how the prices compare for meat particularly. There seems to be variation around the country. Some people say that local butchers are good value whereas my local ones have gone all upmarket and cater for people who are pretentious or have more money than sense!


On loyalty points: if you're going to shop in Sainsbury's anyway why not have a Nectar card? If yours has a petrol station you could collect quite a few.


And,yes, your attitude to spending does seem to be changing massively.:T


Haven't heard much about mother and father or the roast beef lunches lately? Is this still happening? and is MrsK back today? Friends of mine came back from Rome recently and were very disappointed. They said the city has become very dirty and scruffy over the years and showing signs of recession.

AlexLK

7roland8 wrote: »

Well with Tesco you do get quite good points and they can at certain times be doubled up for certain products - sometimes toys, sometimes frozen food and sometimes clothing.

Son's birthday gift last year was £40 of Tesco tokens that he doubled up for clothing for his new job. Yes I know its not your style!

Had a weird dream about you last night - I was visiting and you took me to where you made - Umbrellas!! No idea where that came from!!

The reason why I don't bother collecting nectar / Tesco points is because I do not really use the supermarkets that much and I'd only forget anyhow. The nectar ones can be gained by buying things on eBay also.

I would not personally wear supermarket clothing but each to their own. I have to admit Mrs. K. did buy son a couple of items from Sainsburys a few months ago and I was pleasantly surprised.

:rotfl: I must set quite the impression if you were dreaming about me and my, erm, umbrella empire! Or perhaps it were more a nightmare.

maman wrote: »

I agree with Mrs Cautious Alex. There are definitely saving to be made if you want to. I tend to have more 'luxury' foods at weekends and more basic stuff midweek. So things like pasta, chilli, curry (but not lamb curry),sausage and mash in the week and steak (albeit from Aldi) at weekends. Smoked salmon is cheap enough if you buy the trimmings and I saw whole ducks in Lidl yesterday at a really good price. I tend to have homemade soups at lunchtime or keep portions (or should that be helpings?;)) from the previous night's supper.

Thank you for the advice. I like chilli, only there always ends up being such a lot thrown away when I have attempted to make it in the past. Anyhow, some weeks we eat more simple foods than others for 'supper'. Breakfast and lunch tend to stay the same, unless we are feeling particularly poor then poached egg on toast it is.

I can never fancy the trimmings and am a bit fussy about meat and fish in general. Duck is generally a bit of a treat and not something we have every week, perhaps more like once in every three or so weeks. Whilst I really enjoy roast duck, I detest preparing and cooking it and there is no way on this earth I would catch Mrs. K. draining hot fat out of a duck carcass. :rotfl:

Homemade soup sounds a great idea. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly chef of the year and neither is Mrs. K.

maman wrote: »

Buying from local shops like the butcher and baker is commendable but it can be pricey. I'd go onto mysupermarket and see how the prices compare for meat particularly. There seems to be variation around the country. Some people say that local butchers are good value whereas my local ones have gone all upmarket and cater for people who are pretentious or have more money than sense!

I do realise shopping locally is not necessarily the most MSE thing to do. However, I really do like to try and support local, small businesses where I can, nothing pretentious there in my mind. I will have a look on mysupermarket and see how prices compare though, just to make sure my butcher isn't taking the p***.

How do you find meat from the supermarkets compares?

maman wrote: »

On loyalty points: if you're going to shop in Sainsbury's anyway why not have a Nectar card? If yours has a petrol station you could collect quite a few.

See above. I have a terrible memory for things like this.

maman wrote: »

And,yes, your attitude to spending does seem to be changing massively.:T

Haven't heard much about mother and father or the roast beef lunches lately? Is this still happening? and is MrsK back today? Friends of mine came back from Rome recently and were very disappointed. They said the city has become very dirty and scruffy over the years and showing signs of recession.

I'm trying my best. Likely not good enough but it's an improvement.

As for my mother and father, we are not getting along very well at the moment and I've been trying to avoid them. Sunday I am more or less obliged to go for lunch as they wish to see their grandson.

Mrs. K. is back in the country today but is staying at her brother's house this evening because she has work tomorrow and would like to "enjoy" her last day of holiday. No doubt I'll hear all about Rome tomorrow.

AlexLK

Sunday 27th April, 2014.

Dear Diary,

Having major concentration problems tonight - not usually something that affects me so this is a short, inarticulate entry to say I have managed another NSD. I have also managed to make a few pennies from various people deciding they wanted to see various things I had for sale today.

Summary:
-£0.00 NSD.

Yours Faithfully,
Alex.

heartbreak_star

AlexLK wrote: »

Homemade soup sounds a great idea. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly chef of the year and neither is Mrs. K.


How do you find meat from the supermarkets compares?

Soup's dead easy - I didn't realise how easy till I tried! Put things into pot. Make stock with stock cube (I like chicken stock). Add to pot with a spoonful of veg bouillon. Wait. Blend with stick blender A favourite of mine is a carton of chopped tomatoes, a diced red pepper or two, and a spoonful of hot chilli powder!

Supermarket meat's fine, I eat it practically every day. Butcher meat is too expensive near me so it's a treat.

Actually Alex, I've just thought...the wine-loving side of you might approve of this - I have 5 (uh, 4 1/2 now ) bottles of delicious Chardonnay in my fridge for the princely sum of £8. Yes, the homebrew worked!! And it's REALLY nice.

Apparently my friend made a great blackcurrant wine from Ribena so I'm going to try that too, and also Wilko's black cherry red.

Maybe I should take a tip from you and go self-employed with a microbrewery

HBS x

hohum

Hi Alex, just wanted to chime in re food shop reducing. I am a big foodie and there are some things I won't scrimp on, however Asda, poundshops and the local market do see me right.

I feed two of us on £150 a month which includes our lunches. I could probably make it less but frankly I prefer to prioritise having some nice stuff.

My menu for this week is:

Spinach and cottage cheese lasagne (cheaper version of spinach and ricotta lasagne)
French onion tart ( pizza dough pastry) with tomato salad.
Kedgeree.
Home cooked ham, salad & lentilles vertes.
Home made jerk chicken, salad and festival dumplings
Pasta and chickpea tomato sauce

And last week included cheese souffle, persian chicken with saffron rice pilaf, minced turkey kofte with homemade naan & herbed couscous, chilli salad bowls and...beans on toast!

I never throw food away, it either gets frozen or I take it for my lunch at work. Or I make big portions and we eat it. That's the problem

I will admit I spend quite a bit of time cooking, probably more than others but I enjoy it.

It's totally possible though to keep enjoying nice stuff, you just have to shift a little. If you buy at a butchers it might be moving from prepared cuts eg chicken breast, to the whole bird. If you're up for jointing a chicken yourself this definitely is a cost effective way of using it. You get stock plus 2 meals for 2 people from a small chicken (£3 from the butchers in my local market, probably £5 elsewhere). Or don't joint and you have roast chicken 1 meal, chicken leftovers second meal, stock and soup third meal.

I won't lie, there are some foods that end up being occasional rather than regulars. I haven't had steak in blummin ages. I do miss it! And celeriac and fennel, I definitely can only have in season now. Nuts I don't eat as often as I'd like as they're pricy. If I do have them it's in something else rather than a snack. Cheese I stick to more standard varieties, would happily eat the stinky unpasteurised more often but difficult to justify budget wise. Prawns I eat less often. Smoked salmon is one of my 'only if it's on offer' foods. Parma ham, mostly because I eat it like a bag of crisps in slices and that is an expensive snack!

Meal planning is the key. And planning lunches too. It's a bit relentless when you have an erratic schedule but the savings are worth it.

I was also bought a breadmaker about 9 years ago which I totally recommend should you ever get your hands on one.The cost of the loaf is probably about the cost of cheap sliced bread, but the taste is of fancy bakery bread

Oh and poached egg on toast is a great option. Love eggs. Frittata, omelette, souffle, scrambled eggs....one of the best budget protein options!