I Wanna See the Light

Mysteek

Hi anita, thanks for your comments. I have stuff whizzing around in my head all the time so its really helpful to get it all down on here. I've got lots more I want to sort out but it takes time doesn't it to get everything organised. I imagine it will be a while before everything is running smoothly (hopefully!!!).


I'm not sure about changing your user name, but I think I saw something when I was looking through how to use the site, do you need to send them an email and ask them to change your name.
If I find it again I will let you know. X

Mysteek

I found it!


ACCOUNT HELP : If you want to ask about changing your username, have login problems, have password problems or a technical issue please email [EMAIL="webmaster@moneysavingexpert.com"]webmaster@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]


Hope this helps, let me know how you get on x

anita55

Thank you for finding that out will try tomorrow, had a glass or three of wine so probably not the best time will let you no x

anita55

Hi tried it didn't work, never mind will just have to carry on with my user name. Hope you have a good MSE day today let us know if you can think of any more ways of cutting down.

Mysteek

Hi Anita, sorry it didn't work. Are you going to start a diary or feel too vulnerable with the name thingy. As I've only just started mine, if you did decide to do one we could help each other along

Ssshhh I'm at work at the moment, don't tell anyone

Mysteek

Just the thought of being debt free makes me feel excited and happy, but I don’t want that to be end of the journey, I want to look beyond that. Dare I? Is it too soon? Well not wishing to put the kibosh on it, I want to start listing the things I’d like to do when debt free and what it will mean to our lives. This will help me to look at this list during the “sod it, life’s too short let’s just enjoy ourselves” moments that I’m sure are going to rear their ugly heads over the next months/years. It will remind me of why I am doing this and that it will all be worth it in the end.

The items are not in any order, they’re just as I’ve thought of them and I’m sure I’ll have plenty more to add later:

1. Start a regular savings account for my DGD for when she’s 18 to help with university fees, buy a car or spend on whatever she wishes.
2. If we’re debt free before mortgage free, pay extra into mortgage so that mortgage is paid earlier.
3. Do all the things in the house that we’d like to do now but can’t afford e.g. new bathroom.
4. Me and DH have a lovely long romantic holiday together, just trying to think back we’ve never actually had 2 weeks holiday together before, in fact we never had a honeymoon! Most we managed was 4 days and that was a few years back!
5. Just generally be able to treat my family to things when I want, only this time it will be my money and not the banks!
6. Have the freedom of choice, to choose what we want to do with our lives instead of debt dictating what we can and can’t do. Ahh freedom! I can’t wait! To me this is the most important thing it will mean.

I just noticed I said ‘when’ debt free and not ‘if’. Gotta keep the positive vibes going. :j

Mysteek

Was DH’s birthday yesterday. We decided we’re not buying each other presents as we’ve spent last few years buying ‘stuff’ and we don’t really need any more. I made a card from my crafty stash* which he loved and we had a nice cooked meal at home after work. There were 3 salmon steaks left in the freezer that we got from Asda when they were on special offer. We had one each for tea with new potatoes and veg and the other is in a sandwich for my lunch at work today. We also found 3 packets of Easiyo yoghurt in the cupboard so we made one up yesterday and I brought some to work today to have with GF granola. If I’m careful that should last me all week. Gonna make some buns or a cake this evening as I’m on holiday tomorrow and DD2 and DGD will be visiting so we can have tea and cake.

Not doing too bad this week for food, using up as much of the things in the cupboards, freezer etc. so haven’t had to buy anything except milk, bread for DH (I make my GF bread in a bread maker), eggs, tea bags and carrots. We had 2 small beef joints in the freezer so on Sunday I cut them up and made stew in the pressure cooker. This made 3 meals, one we had on Sunday and 2 I froze. This is a first for me, as I never usually freeze anything I’ve cooked. Cooking them as joints we would have only got 2 meals out of them so this way we get an extra meal!

Trying to think of ways to get more meals out of what we have. Trying to eek the ingredients out to make 3 instead of 2 meals. Our portion sizes are generally too big anyway so it will be good for our waistlines lol. I can always add a few more potatoes or a couple of frozen Yorkshire puddings.

Some nights we will have jacket potatoes, beans on toast or egg on toast as when DH is working strange hours we don’t have time to make or eat big meals on those nights and it saves us money too. I sometimes have to eat tea on my own when DH working so will just have a snack on those nights.

We don’t eat takeaways (main cos they’re not GF but DH doesn’t like pizza, Chinese etc.) so we don’t waste money there. We do occasionally have a Mcdonalds, I just have the fries but not very often and I never enjoy them and each time I vow never to buy them again, so won’t bother in future. Will shove a few oven chips in the halogen instead if the fancy takes us, Morrisons oven chips are ‘cheap as chips’. We like fairly plain but good food (some will say boring), meat and 2 veg I think is the term, so no expensive fancy food for us lol

Soon the cupboards will be bare and we will have to stock up again but with the money we have saved out of our weekly budget we should be able to do this.

Mysteek

That text is soooo big!

joedenise

Chicken is a great way to get quite a few meals. Have a look on the Old Style Board for Rubber Chicken.

From a medium sized chicken I can get several meals:

1. Roast chicken dinner - 1 breast between DH and I;
2. Chicken Curry - legs & wings
3. Chicken stir fry & chicken & pasta - breast chopped into small pieces use half in each
4. Chicken & Veg stew - use a slow cooker or pressure cooker to make stock, pick off all the bits of meat and make a stew using root veg - obviously will be more veg than chicken but you get a good chicken flavour from the HM chicken stock.

Another joint that is good for getting a few meals from is a gammon joint:

1. Hot gammon with potatoes & veg
2. Cold gammon, boiled potatoes, beans & pickles
3. Sliced up and used in sandwiches.

Hope these ideas help.

Denise

Mysteek

Thanks for that Joedenise, I'm going to go and seek out the Old Style Board now. I was thinking of getting some cheap chicken fillets, thighs etc. and making chicken casseroles to freeze. I think my slow cooker and pressure cooker are going to be very busy in future. Believe it or not, it was the first time we used our pressure cooker on sunday, it had been sat in the cupboard for 2 years!