I have lost my OS ways, help!

Aril

Hello:D

This is the recipe for limoncello that I'm using
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1087/limoncello
I bought the vodka with the last lot of Tesco vouchers they sent through.

Busy few days here at Gnat Bottomed Towers. Small person has got himself a Sunday job so to keep it real and help him along the way to adulthood he's now taking over the full monthly payment for his phone. I am starting now with budgeting skills so that he's not fazed when he goes off to Uni.

It's been an expensive few days here as the small person has just started at college. We've applied for a bursary as we're on a low income and are waiting to hear if we've been successful. The son of the lady I clean for today passed over his AS Physics books as he's passed his A level so hopefully that's a few less books we might need to buy new and he's told me that there's a within the college website there's a place where the older students sell on tge books they've finished with:j

Besides that more sorting out going on. I've now set up a box in the garage specifically for the hollow legged teen for extra food so that he doesn't completely empty the cupboards. I will keep a vice like grip on the grocery budget but obviously he needs the calories. He heavily into porridge at the moment which is fab because he's using up all the half eaten jars of sweet stuff that I have amassed and are lurking at the back of the cupboards:rotfl:

Arilx

northwest1965

Aril wrote: »

Hello:D

This is the recipe for limoncello that I'm using
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1087/limoncello
I bought the vodka with the last lot of Tesco vouchers they sent through.

]

That looks right up my street:) I guess when doing something like this, you can use any cheap old vodka?

ginnyknit

How odd is that, ten minutes ago I promised a friend a bottle of limoncello and theres the recipe:eek:

Been very frugal, but now the freezers are bereft of almost anything to make a meal. Housekeeping tomorrow so am going to plan carefully what to buy.

Made lots of chutney and have stewd fruit draining for jam tomorrow.

Caterina

Good evening,

Thank you Aril for the link.

Northwest1965, if you want to turn a cheap rough vodka into a better quality one you should filter it two or three times through a water filter cartridge. This trick was given to me by two Russian students that stayed here a few months ago. They told me that lots of people do this in Russia! Probably it makes a better Limoncello, if it is purer!

Ginny, would you please share the chutney recipe? Thank you!

Today was an OK day, OS-wise.

Spent a lot of money buying the train tickets for Italy but that was budgeted, and a large down payment for the rendering of the back of the house. Also spent approximately £48 in groceries. £40 in okado, just special offers on stuff I need, it includes 10 x 4 tomato tins (half price at £1 per 4-pack) and a lot of toilet paper, 6 tins of quality tuna, other stuff at good price and free delivery. £8 in marks where I hit the cheese jackpot, two fancy mixed continental cheese boxes at half price and a handful of fancy flapjacks for 35p each, were £1.10 originally.

Two hours of accounts work meant a bit of extra cash, then I got an orange weds code for cinema and met DH, went to see "Before I Go To Sleep". Both members of picturehouse, the tickets cost us the grand sum of £4 in total. And they were giving away glasses of Jamieson whiskey and ginger ale. Bargainous treat! Shame the film was so carp, boooooring. But well acted.

Some progress in the kitchen, we have doors on most cupboards, and lights!

Good night.

northwest1965

Caterina wrote: »

Northwest1965, if you want to turn a cheap rough vodka into a better quality one you should filter it two or three times through a water filter cartridge. This trick was given to me by two Russian students that stayed here a few months ago. They told me that lots of people do this in Russia! Probably it makes a better Limoncello, if it is purer!

Spent a lot of money buying the train tickets for Italy but that was budgeted,

What a great tip, thanks!

Are you staying in one place in Italy? We fancy doing a road/train trip around some of Italy. (I know you cannot drive into some cities)

Caterina

Good morning.

Northwest1965, I go directly to Rome and stay put there, at my Aunt's. I used to go to Sardinia to see my mother but we do not have a very happy relationship so I minimise the visits there, sadly.

I wish I could take a road/train trip through Italy too, as I always go there for family reasons and don't even know my own country very well. Maybe one day.

You can buy a one country Inter Rail pass and travel around Italy that way, or you might just want to take your time and use local slower trains which could work out cheaper. A good site to get info for train travel is http://www.seat61.com

Great news YIPPEE!

It is my 24th wedding anniversary today and I have just scored 4 free tickets for the On Blackheath festival for Sunday! Hoping to go with all the family, am really happy.

Today's OS plan is nothing much to talk about. Not going to clean or even iron because we have builders in and plasterers outside, all using the electricity and we have already had some power cuts.

My best friend is just back from Brazil where she went to visit her mum so she will have a lot to moan about (another difficult relationship) and I have missed her, she has been away for nearly a month, so I hope to see her. Might not be a NSD because we meet in a cafe, taking turns to buy each other a hot drink, but it might be her turn, in which case a NSD is a given!

Then work with the boys. Getting paid today and allocating my weekly wage to anniversary celebration. We decided that 24 years are worth celebrating and a meal out is in order, on "entertainment" budget so will not affect my GC! We will go out tomorrow as DH has his Aikido class tonight, nice Chinese meal at a local family restaurant. Low carb, no rice and no booze (for me) so it might not be too expensive.

Have a good OS day.

XSpender

Happy 24th Anniversary Caterina and Mr Caterina!


It is mine and DH 7th wedding anniversary on Monday. Our honeymoon was spent in Florence and walking in Tuscany and we are planning a return trip for our 10th, we don't even buy cards on a normal year;)


It's chilly here today but I have put thick socks and a hoodie on instead of the heating. Will make veggie chilli and spicy wedges for tea to warm us up.


I spent yesterday running errands and putting DS name down for swimming lessons so planning a quiet day today. My sinuses are playing up again so will potter about and may even, shock-horror, clean the bathroom:rotfl:


Clinging on firmly to a NSD today, it will only be the 4th this month!

northwest1965

Happy 24th Wedding Anniversary.

Wow, that's a long, long, long time:rotfl:

ailz95

I've got very lazy. Living with my m-i-l to look after her, means that she pays for all the groceries, oil, electric etc. All we pay for is petrol - though a 550 mile round trip home a month eats a lot of that.

I've been buying the food we want rather than being OS - and feeling guilty. M-i-l likes us to shop at Waitrose, which we have started to do online, that way we aren't tempted by nice things in store. I've always decried Waitrose for being expensive, but here in Kent everywhere seems expensive, and at least there isn't a delivery charge as long as you spend £60.

I've decided that the 3 for £10 offers at supermarkets are somewhat of a con, I can buy all the same stuff cheaper - just with simpler packaging. Hubby has decided to be a vegetarian and makes his own curries so there is no reason why I can't go back to being OS, as long as m-i-l gets fed regularly she's not difficult to cook for :rotfl:. My main problem is that hubby does the cooking - I'm disabled - but I'm sure I can get around this somehow.

This thread is giving me the motivation.

Ailz xx

Caterina

Good evening,

Ailz95 welcome to the thread, those of us who post here have for the most part fallen into bad spending habits and had to retrain ourselves to be more OS. This is the place to be for retraining and regaining motivation. Hoping to see lots more of your posts.

The call of w8rose is strong and still has a pull for me, but these days I look for bargains there, sometimes you can find fantastic ones : 1Kg goats cheese normally £25 was had for £4, and they get rid of all of Gails fancy bread at the end of day, massive reductions, so worth going just to stock up the freezer!

If you shop online have you considered Ocado? Get one of their midweek passes (they have good special offers for these) and you can order a minimum of £40, and still get W8rose food. Great offers and bargains at times, too, and their own brand is also very good.

Thank you XSpender and northwest1965 for the anniversary wishes.

XSpender happy Anniversary for Monday!

northwest1965 wrote: »

.....

Wow, that's a long, long, long time:rotfl:

Yes, but it has gone so fast! I scared myself today thinking that to make another 24 years I should live till 81 and he till 88. We hope to make 50 years, me 83 and he 90, God willing!

Well, today I ended up taking my GC budget to 2/3s spent in only 1/3 of the month. Cat food stock up and l!dl visit did it. In l!dl I bought a few food items but also 6 bottles of beer for the men, both DH and DS enjoy the odd drink in the evening and it is so cheap there. But it impacts on the grocery.

Another expense was the pistachio and cashew nuts, DS is trying to give up smoking and asked me for nibbles. I would rather break the budget and help him stop smoking than the opposite, of course. But he will have to adjust to a reduced budget in the next few days. E.g. When his fancy fresh orange juice not from concentrate finishes, he will have to make do with basics juice for his banana smoothies. He does not eat fruit but will drink it so I have no problem with getting him the best stuff normally, but he will have to adapt.

DH and I could live on soups and veg stews, but DS is 25 and with a healthy appetite so I need to keep feeding him decent meals.

Lunch with my friend was lovely, so good to have her back, we really missed each other.

Work with the boys also ok and the mum gave me an extra tenner for my visit to the school with her yesterday, which us really nice, and unexpected. It helps!

One of the things I have tried to do with my shopping is paying with the cash I make babysitting, doing my little accounts job and the £30 per week that DS gives me as a contribution, so I do not add to a credit card and the excess of DH's salary after expenses goes straight into the bank. These days as soon as it comes in it goes out again, and some, because of all the building work. But one day, once we stop paying builders, it will form our savings.

Scarily, we have 4 years to save up around £40,000 :eek: , only like this we will be able to build a decent retirement fund after my savings have been wiped out by the house works.

On this happy note, good night!