NSK; February 28 Days Later!

TiptoesDB

That’s really interesting CEW – and well done you for how little you spend! We are two adults and two cats (on expensive wet food atm as we are using food to introduce them) and we aim for £180, and usually come in at £190. I could do with some tips off you! :money:

Well, up and posting early after the first successful cat breakfast with them eating face to face right up against the opposite sides of the see through mesh stairgate! There was only one little hiss from big cat, so we are deffo getting somewhere. A month ago he was hissing madly when she had even been in a room and gone again and he could smell her. We have gone through a lot of steps to get here and there are a lot to go, but I am feeling happy .

Lovely valentines yesterday. Even before money saving we didn’t ever put any stock in it, but DH printed me a free card out at work and I bought him the cheapest one in the supermarket. We had a gym session together and then ‘treated’ ourselves to a McDonalds! That is a long standing tradition anyway, as one year we decided to go for the least romantic and most commercial thing we could think of to shun the day and that was the obvious answer. I only eat there once a year (not that great for veggies and anti capitalists!). But it is amusing being two 30 somethings looking out of place and acting all soppy and romantic surrounded by grumpy looking teenagers!

Seem to be stuck on 6 SFD’s and this weekend won’t improve things – have to shop today for food and tomorrow we have promised to meet my mum and dad in town as my mum is worried my dad is starting to be forgetful and confused and she wants a second opinion. She said it’s not as obvious at home so we have to go out and about. A town trip will inevitably include coffee and tea stops and lunch, but I feel I can’t refuse to spend over something like this. I can’t co-ordinate the shop and the town trip to reduce the spendy days as I am not sure there will be time after and DH won’t get up early on a Sunday to do the shop when we can go today!

Have a great day!

• 6/15 SFD’s
• £79/£180 food budget
• 7/20 exercise
• 1/3 planned outings

TiptoesDB

ooo, just seen that Thrifty - exciting! No, you can't try it on, but you can generally stroke and admire it whilst choirs of angels sing in your head!!

MrsGSR

Morning!
A good nights sleep has made the world of difference it would seem!
Today will be a SFD. I've pre ordered the online shop for when I get paid (they don't charge you till the day it's delivered) I have plenty of petrol in my tank to get to my parents house and back. I've already done various money shuffling so all looking good and the forecast is looking good.
Hope everyone is ok, we have had some nasty winds and lost a few fence panels, nothing like what others are going through i know. I hope those of you who have suffered in the floods are ok, my thoughts are with you.

clippy_girl

morning all, no check in a for a few days

thur didnt turn out to be a sfd as went to city to get my free handcream and then discovered car park is no longer free on thur pm so had to pay £1.10. :mad: was annoyed but handcream is worth that. then as i was feeling sorry for myself with missing salsa i went and got some sweeties

yest i had to have a meeting in our far away office so i ate my sandwiches there but was then hungry after the hour drive so bought myself some soup and a jam doughnut

i get paid on wed which is when my new food budget starts and i had about £3 left. this would have been enough to buy milk and yoghurt which is all i needed until wed but i decided to advance myself the budget and do the big shop as i had nothing else to do in the evening as couldnt go gym. i put the £3 left over into my little bag of previous left over food money so thats up to about £17 now which is good. this will go towards my bulk buying of chicken and bacon when i next run out.

i spent £15 in aldi on some meat and everything else i could get there. then went to mr t's and spent £25. very impressed with that as it included £6 food bank (didnt get a chance to go mr t last month) and £10 on a massive bag of cashews and lentils :T:T very pleased with the cashews as it was £6 for 750g and unless you get one filled with peanuts i have found it impossible to buy nuts for under £1 per 100g. currently get a mix with no peanuts for £3.99 for 400g in mr m but no cashews so have mixed some in

so i have £40 of my budget left which i think will be enough as only really need fresh stuff each week :j that is taking into account the £20 reduction in budget as well so really pleased with that.

in bad news my 6ftx6ft fence panel has blown down. its one im responsible for. looked on wickes and its only £20 for a new one but delivery is £25 :eek::eek: no way can i fit that in my ford ka not really sure what to do as have no way of getting it back from the shop :think:

CEW

Hi Tiptoes,

I don't really have any secrets but would say that I plan ALL meals for the month. Not a strict plan but just a list of meals I can make that will use up all the things I have in the cupboards and freezer etc. then I write a shopping list and (now) stick to it (mostly) :rotfl:

I batch cook meals and when portioning them up I look at the portion size and if I think there are 3 portions for myself and OH I will split it into 4. We work on the assumption that if we are still hungry after our meal we can always eat something else afterwards....we rarely do :T

OH loves to bake so he makes bread, cakes and homemade pizzas. We have also learnt to make most of our favourite takeaways ourselves and even my stepson a great KFC fan prefers my version. The pizzas work out at less than £2 for a large 8 slice pizza as against £14.99 for a similar size from our local takeaway.

The best thing is if I am running low on budget or food stuffs we can always rely on our 3 girls providing us with the necessary ingredients for an omelette, pancakes or just scrambled eggs :j

I cook for my dogs, minced off cuts and trimmings specialty prepared for animals from a local farm shop cooked down with brown rice and value brand frozen mixed veg (or anything I have lying about that needs using up). This works out much cheaper than commercial dog food and they love it. when Mum wouldn't let her puppies eat the puppy food and gave them mouthfuls of her food I spoke to the vet and she said looking at the condition of Mum and pups she could not see any problems with their diet. Total cost for all 5 is around £15 per month. :money:

Sorry for the essay.

Will post progress on the challenge later.

Chez x

thriftylass

TiptoesDB wrote: »

ooo, just seen that Thrifty - exciting! No, you can't try it on, but you can generally stroke and admire it whilst choirs of angels sing in your head!!

That made me chuckle, hehe. That's exactly what I'll do

dolly84

Morning all.

Mothernerd - that sounded like a journey and a half.

Valentines day consisted of wine (bought with grocery budget) and chocolates which DH bought me from a mystery budget, I didn't want to spoil the gesture by asking (all our money is joint btw).

Avon deliveries were made last night during howling wind and rain, I am a very reliable Avon lady.

Today will be a spend day as we need milk, not sure if we need anything else so it may just be £1 spent.

TiptoesDB

CEW wrote: »

Hi Tiptoes,



I batch cook meals and when portioning them up I look at the portion size and if I think there are 3 portions for myself and OH I will split it into 4. We work on the assumption that if we are still hungry after our meal we can always eat something else afterwards....we rarely do :T

Thanks CEW! I think this paragraph is the key for me, and the key to losing some of the weight I have gained since we have been money saving! I have been over-compensating with portions to make up for lack of expensive ingredients I think...

will try this as from tonight!

apple_muncher

So kat, you and a certain archer, eh? I have visions of Robin Hood and Maid Marion. :rotfl:

CEW

TiptoesDB wrote: »

Thanks CEW! I think this paragraph is the key for me, and the key to losing some of the weight I have gained since we have been money saving! I have been over-compensating with portions to make up for lack of expensive ingredients I think...

will try this as from tonight!

I know exactly what you mean but I've finally learnt it's not how much you pay for ingredients as much as what you do with them. I always served up large portions as that's what my Mum did (and still does). But I have realised that I don't need, or indeed want, such a large portion. Just trying to educate Mum now :eek:

Good luck and I hope it works for you

Chez x