Our Journey from Debtdom to Freedom

hazeldreams

Igamogam wrote: »

Have you looked at Appr0ved F00ds?

Hi Igamogam,

I looked at these a while ago but didn't go for it as I was totally bewildered by the choice and the time it took me to search for what I needed.

Do they do bread flour, pasta, etc in bulk?

Thanks for stopping by!:)

Igamogam

hazeldreams wrote: »

Hi Igamogam,

I looked at these a while ago but didn't go for it as I was totally bewildered by the choice and the time it took me to search for what I needed.

Do they do bread flour, pasta, etc in bulk?

Thanks for stopping by!:)

You just have to look at it once a week or so to check what they have. I bought lots of pasta about a year ago - not huge sacks at a time but individual 550g or 1kg bags - still wading through it:) I just look at the categories and the newest added stuff is listed first so you dont have to go through pages and pages of groceries:D I double up with a friend so we share delivery costs.

Best way to go to monthly shopping is to get your meal plan and then first try 2 weeks and build from there - thats what I do when we get a bit out routine with it. Also I have listed inside the cupboards what is in there, a freezer inventory and a list stuck to notice bard where everybody writes down when something as run out - I dont go searching through cupboards to find what what we need - if its not on the list it doesnt get bought so if you are the brown sauce eater in the household ( OH only:)) then if you are used it up and not put it on the list you may well have to wait a month before you get some more..............or buy it yourself;)

hazeldreams

Igamogam wrote: »

You just have to look at it once a week or so to check what they have. I bought lots of pasta about a year ago - not huge sacks at a time but individual 550g or 1kg bags - still wading through it:) I just look at the categories and the newest added stuff is listed first so you dont have to go through pages and pages of groceries:D I double up with a friend so we share delivery costs.

Best way to go to monthly shopping is to get your meal plan and then first try 2 weeks and build from there - thats what I do when we get a bit out routine with it. Also I have listed inside the cupboards what is in there, a freezer inventory and a list stuck to notice bard where everybody writes down when something as run out - I dont go searching through cupboards to find what what we need - if its not on the list it doesnt get bought so if you are the brown sauce eater in the household ( OH only:)) then if you are used it up and not put it on the list you may well have to wait a month before you get some more..............or buy it yourself;)

Thanks again,

I think I'll definitely look at your suggestion of planning 2 weeks in advance from what you already have in, as I'm really not sure the 5 week monthly food planner worked for us entirely. I totally over ordered on some things and it left us short on others. Will also have another look at approved foods for sure. Do you do all your bulk buying at approved foods or is there anywhere else you use?

Thanks so much for all the advice, very much appreciated!

hazeldreams

Made amazing headway on some of my list items, so time to tick them off and start a new one me thinks!


[STRIKE] -finish off school uniform shopping[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE] -finish off clearing out wardrobes to find ebay stuff to sell
-do top up food shop[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE] -clean out fridge/freezer cupboards in kitchen[/STRIKE]


Had a good day so far... 32 items listed on bay of E so far today (a good few more to go but needed a cup of tea and some time with the DDs before I face the rest of it!!)

- finish rest of ebay listings
- find some suppliers for bread flour, pasta, rice etc.
- re-look at new SOA and se if there is anything else we can reduce
- start clearing out the back garden to make room for a veg plot
- start researching how to start your own veg plot

Hope you're all having a lovely sunday!

brizzledfw

Hi

Just thinking..have used Approved Foods a few times. In summary I think it's hit and miss. And often more convenience foods or branded cleaner etc which if you try not to buy anyway may be a mixed blessing. But getting the box is fun. Particular successes for me have been tinned fish, olives, hot choc powder, some brilliant chicken curry sauce mixes (Ainsley Harri9tt) flour..but the rice and pasta I found a bit grim. Maybe we are just fussy!

Anyway..give it a go. If nothing else will get you thinking.

The other places we go for bulk buys are ethnic supermarkets. Not sure where you guys live but if you can get to one then generally the rice, lentils, tinned tomatoes, beans etc are priced exceptionally well...and I swear you will never buy supermarket priced herbs and spices again

hazeldreams

brizzledfw wrote: »

Hi

Just thinking..have used Approved Foods a few times. In summary I think it's hit and miss. And often more convenience foods or branded cleaner etc which if you try not to buy anyway may be a mixed blessing. But getting the box is fun. Particular successes for me have been tinned fish, olives, hot choc powder, some brilliant chicken curry sauce mixes (Ainsley Harri9tt) flour..but the rice and pasta I found a bit grim. Maybe we are just fussy!

Anyway..give it a go. If nothing else will get you thinking.

The other places we go for bulk buys are ethnic supermarkets. Not sure where you guys live but if you can get to one then generally the rice, lentils, tinned tomatoes, beans etc are priced exceptionally well...and I swear you will never buy supermarket priced herbs and spices again

Great, thanks brizzled...it's a bit of a trek for us as we're about 12 mile from the nearest city centre but I think we can manage that once a month to get to the ethnic supermarkets, a few spring to mind that would definitely accommodate I'm sure.

I think that's why approved foods didn't grab me the first time I looked...we cook everything from scratch and have no convenience foods whatsoever, however its still worth a look if I can find the staples on offer I suppose!

Thanks again for all your help!

Igamogam

brizzledfw wrote: »

Hi

But getting the box is fun. Particular successes for me have been tinned fish, olives, hot choc powder, some brilliant chicken curry sauce mixes (Ainsley Harri9tt) flour..but the rice and pasta I found a bit grim. Maybe we are just fussy!

Anyway..give it a go. If nothing else will get you thinking.

The other places we go for bulk buys are ethnic supermarkets.

I have had some bargain jams, cous cous ( large catering packs of Ainsley) and loads of Jamie Ol branded stuff. When they had tuna on at a silly price I also bought many tins as we do eat it:D

hazeldreams wrote: »

I think that's why approved foods didn't grab me the first time I looked...we cook everything from scratch and have no convenience foods whatsoever, however its still worth a look if I can find the staples on offer I suppose!

A cook from scratch home here too:D We have a 'world foods' aisle at the humongous supermarket in The Town and there is often very large bags of rice and lentils and other goodies which work out a lot cheaper. Another source is possibly Am*zon. I havent used myself other than to buy jars of minced garlic and ginger which I use in my fakeaway curries and the supermarket stopped stocking it:mad: Like yourself I am long way from any large urban centre so internet has its uses;)

hazeldreams

Thanks Igamogam, aproved foods definitely seems worth a go, I'll seek it out and have a good mooch this weekend for sure.

Today has been a good one on the debt busting front. I've managed (I do not now how given my credit limit already!) to secure another card for a 0% balance transfer for 18 months. I'm thrilled as one CC starts accruing interest at 18.9% in September. I've managed to switch that portion plus the CC already paying 12.9% so when its all gone through all balances will be on 0% which will certainly have a positive impact on our DFD! :j

Ooh! Also forgot to mention that I listed a whopping 46, yes 46 items on ebay yesterday! Already have bids on some, approx. £15 in total, not a massive amount but better than nothing and not bad considering they've only been listed circa 24hrs! :T

Also managed to buy DD1 desired birthday present second hand for £10 instead of £30 so equally chuffed with that! Hubby collecting it on his way home from work tomorrow

Other than that the usual DFW small things have been happening around here today:

-started reading a new diary (Tilly MFW in 6 years..think she's pretty famous around here so have started her diary from scratch...I think it may take some time there are nearly 500 pages to read!!!)
-walked to train station to save on bus fare
-used martins tips on how to get better mile consumption when picking DDs up from nanny's (managed to get up to 62.7mpg from 58.6!):money:
-took leftovers for lunch
-made the extra trek across town during lunch break to card factory to buy birthday cards..worth it for the saving!
-made an amazing pasta sauce with the ridiculous amount of courgettes we've acquired from the neighbour!

All in all a good day...

Best get off here now else I'll not sleep:rotfl:

Over and out.....

hazeldreams

Evening All!

On the eve of the 1st of September, I've been taking stock and reflecting on the positives and negatives (as you do!:rotfl:)

Positives:
-Batch cooking
-£1737 paid towards debt this month
-New 0% card opened and all debt on CCs interest free for a while longer
-Almost 20% debt gone forever!
-Ebaying gross figure £110 (got to pay postage out of this yet though!)
-School uniform purchased at a record low level
-Walked to work every day instead of getting bus
-took lunch to work every day

Learns!
-Groceries...I do despair - £74.18 overbudget this month
-No saving yet for Christmas
-lost the paddle for the breadmaker (grrrrrr):mad:
-Spent way too much on days out with kids
-Managed to buy my daughter a brilliant gift second hand at 1/3 of price...then drop it on the floor and smash it to pieces (grrrr):mad:

Looking forward to September!
Just got to find a way to get down the groceries so I can find some crimbo savings!! I've gone for £380 again this month as its a 4 week month as I must have been a little too optimistic last month but £95 per week is just too much...gotta get on top of it!!!

Just £22.23 to pay to get sub-60 and £217.01 to get to 20% cleared...should do that easily this month. Normally I'd be clearing that off now with large overpayments as its the start of the month but just need to see what the minimum payment will be and when it needs paying on the new card before I start sweeping over.

Still got masses to list on ebay but just ran out of steam today...I had to package up 26 items today from what sold from last weeks listings:o!!

Hope you all had a lovely bank holiday!

Best get off to bed now...urgh...work tomorrow

hazeldreams

Evening everyone!

I don't know about where you guys are but its super cold here today! I'm typing whilst sat with fluffy socks, fluffy slippers, wrapped in a throw with a hot cup of tea close! It's only the 1st September for goodness sake!

Its been a mixed bag start of the month here tbh. I'm trying very hard to stay optimistic but our first mini crisis has hit already! Broken oven! We may be able to get a part - but it's old and needs replacing really. £1700 cleared off the debt might not happen this month. Better than having to put it on the CC though!

I'm still reading through tilly's diary from the start (although I did sneak to the end today to see that she'd posted her last payment to the mortgage) what an inspiration! To think she achieved this in under 4 years is really amazing...it gives me hope!

We're still eating out of the freezer...we had a lovely one pan roast Spanish chicken tonight - chicken thighs, loads of leftover veggies (courgettes, carrots, peppers, onions, garlic, red chilli, basil) and potatoes thrown in covered with a good sprinkling of smoked paprika, olive oil roast for about 35-40 minutes. Leftovers for lunch tomorrow. De-lish!

Staying focussed solely on bringing the grocery bill down this month, but will plough on with ebaying (might try facebay though - packaging up nearly 40 items for posting today was not fun...at least they collect with facebay!!)

DFW activities continue...walk to work, leftover lunch, mobile charged at work, joined September GC..oh and an NSD today.:T

Keeping focussed on the positives!

Have a lovely evening DFW's!