NSK;The Tortoise and The Mad MARCH Hare!!!

Buffythedebtslayer

Deleted_User wrote: »

I must sound like I am always blagging food from others!! My cousin and I both live in households with one veggie and one carnivore (my DD, her OH). We used to live together (without her OH) about 8 years ago, but now we are about 40 miles apart, with my aunt (her mum) loosely in the middle. We used to enjoy cooking together and have kept it up - we meet up about every 6 weeks or so, stick a CD on, and spend a few hours chopping, peeling, lots of gossiping, bad singing and cooking bigger batches of things than we would manage alone - typically this nets about 60 portions. Staple recipes are soup, bolognase sauce, lasagne, daal, sweet n sour veg, cottage pies, casseroles, mashed spuds and fried onions, apple crumbles. We freeze it in dishes or takeaway containers. We often cook at my aunts as she is housebound and likes the company, plus likes to tell us how to cook! She also has the biggest freezer and so my cousin and I just take a few things on at a time each time we visit her between times. Sometimes we'll cook separately something the other would enjoy and we add that to the central freezer too. I usually spend about £10-15 on ingredients to contribute, but it is also a big social / therapeutic event, and a timesaver too. My DD loves joining in and we all enjoy seeing each others messages on the labelled packets as we pull them out of the freezer, usually relating more to whatever it was we were talking about at the time than the contents.

The marmalades were gifts from the same people, but I hadn't been involved in cooking them this time. I did do a lot of little jobs and drove them places in return

I am often the only veggie in my social circle and definitely benefit from that in terms of leftovers - I've learnt not to be proud and to say yes please to anything that is offered after going out for dinner at friends. It makes such a huge difference as the only grown up in the house to have a meal sometimes that someone else has put together!

What a fantastic approach to life:) how lovely thanks for sharing XXXX

MrsGSR

*punches the air*

Kat you are freaking balls of amazement! Whoop!

ikesmummy

Fab news about the course Kat and what you said made sense to me.

Managed another unexpected SFD today. Was planning to get the boots I couldn't get in Lidl at the weekend but decided we could do without them for another day, luckily DH didn't notice I hadn't been until I was heading out the door to running club and the boys were already in their PJ's or he probably would have gone.

Didn't actually de-clutter anything today but did list some of the things I have on facebay on Gumtree so hopefully will do.

Made a lovely butter bean stew in the slow cooker for tea and enough extra for a meal for the freezer and lunch for me and DH to take to work tomorrow.

Will have to spend tomorrow but only a small amount.

Fmess

NSK I'm sure I've said this more than once since finding you in September but you are so inspirational. I think you should be some kind of MP for debt management or sit on a committee, or something (can you tell I have no clue as to politics etc)! I think there are literally millions of people in the UK who would benefit from your approach and I feel you need a national platform to lead us all from.

nannygladys

Kat I agree with you all the way!

Anyway nsd no 3 today, tomorrow or Wednesday will be as I will be needing a few bits. Listened to someone's troubles at work ref breakup which happened at the weekend so that's my do something for someone, although I don't feel I did much but at least I was handy with the hankie and sympathy.
Nannyg

[Deleted User]

Way to go Kat!!!! Look forward to hearing the gems from the course! I will look out for the programmes on iplayer (no tv here for the last 5 years, but the licence guy does not believe it!).
Buffy - thank you. I'm lucky to have them all! But at the moment, just to balance the description of domestic bliss I am eating up courgette soup which has been labelled by someone as 'not your best'!

NSD - though I REALLY wanted to nip out for milk (for cups of tea!) I resisted, and then discovered nothing but water to drink in the house. I'm very grateful for water when exercising but not a fan just to drink. Fussy hey, compared to whatever proportion of the world don't have clean drinking water. So I am making do (but I did declutter a very old, ropey looking bottle of J20, full of sediment but nicer than the h2o!) and I have preserved a NSD. Whoop!!

luckystarr

Hi All :wave:

Hope you are all well and hugs to the people going through a tough time. :grouphug:

Today was an unexpected spend day as put into a wedding collection for a colleague. so fingers crossed tomorrow will be a SFD.

Kat you are very inspirational and you give me the hope that i will become debt free and not to be engulfed in the consumer world.

Only a quick post as off to bed got an early shift at work tomorrow

Night all x

stewby

Evening everyone.

Spend-free day number 2 today.


Have slept all day so not really done much. OH is heading off on a stag doo tomorrow so I am moving up to my parent's house. (My mum normally provides me with food so hopefully I will have many more spend-free days).

Diet is going well. Started on Thursday and am doing the 5:2 diet. Had my second starve day today. Will see how I have gotten on on Thursday. Fingers crossed.


Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow. Keep plodding on torties.
Hugs.

MrsGSR

Morning all,

Done all my daily account checks (I'm addicted! Sometimes it's even twice a day!) and and pleased to say that our household account has £600 in it AFTER bills and mortgage have gone out! I'm so so chuffed at this! My latest CC payment has cleared so things are looking good there. My account is looking ok, well it has enough to cover the next payments due. I'm already for my MOT with the savings I have in the car account. Getting there, getting there.

I'm planning a SFD today, I don't need anything and today is my busy day with activities and lunch date with friends. I've made some bread to share for lunch.

Planning a trip to quid land tomorrow to get some lunch box snacks, so will do my FB shop then too.

SarahB1989_2

Managed to keep yesterday as a SFD, was supposed to be off to the pub but invited friend round to mine instead. He brought the beers, and left the remaining ones with me so he didn't have to carry them home!

Need to pick up some bits for my trip today so will be a little spendy day, but getting a free lunch. Bank has finally got the numbers the right way round so I can see what I actually have (not very much!). CC is almost clear so will be trying to avoid using that this month - it's about 20% interest but gets repaid in full by DD, I tend to just use it for slightly bigger things that I want to delay til past the next bursary day, but would be good to not use it at all.