I can do this!

MrsTinks

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Sometimes a bit of playing about with figures is just what's needed, isn't it. I've tried and failed to make an SOA that actually works, for the way we work our money, much as I'd like to it just never quite makes any sense. I suppose in theory I could do it by excluding each of our actual personal spending budget and just using the joint account figures though...hmmm...food for thought there!

Your investing thing - in real terms (or at least in MSE terms!) it's effectively stoozing with solid objects, isn't it. And all the more so as you're using the 0% cards the way you are. Seems like a win on all counts, to me! :T

It is exactly stoozing in solid items. Some might argue that there is a risk associated and yes I guess there is. But it's less risky than stocks and my three investment pieces are limited editions by Stan Lee (edition of 9), Ronnie Wood (painting of Bob Marley) (edition of 150) and Bob Dylan (edition of 295) - all signed and documented etc.

Each was picked for it's multiple areas of appeal to ensure maximum market interest when I decide to sell them. So none of them were random impulse purchases and all of them are sold out :cool:

In effect I know when they're paid off that I have that amount of instant cash if I need it (gallery would have them off me in a second) but also that I can't go and spend it without lugging great massive paintings around LOL Often it's all about your mind set and this one works for me! :rotfl:

That said I've already told husbeast and the gallery no more for at LEAST 12 months lol I want to get these all paid off before I get any more... and ideally I'd probably save for those because habits will have formed over that year so I don't feel I can spend the money

MrsTinks

So apparently SOMEONE won a decent amount on the slots today (husband gambles but he has a budget and he's weird, I have access to his accounts for my peace of mind, so I know what he spends etc... the !!!!!! always wins! He does it when we go to services stations too... stick £10 or £20 in walks away with his pockets full grrrr)

So basically he won £1600 and he's decided to give me £300 of it. Maybe I CAN nearly clear that card! ������

MistyMountainTop

Oh wow, that's amazing! :j:j

MrsTinks

MistyMountainTop wrote: »

Oh wow, that's amazing! :j:j

I have no idea how he does it... :mad:

Ladbrokes don't like him coming in any more... :rotfl: He'll go in with £20 in his pocket, if he thinks it's going to pay out he'll go to £40 and that's it. Meanwhile there are blokes next to him throwing in hundreds! I've seen him do it so many times where I genuinely think we should make a run for it as clearly the other gamblers are !!!!ed he's just swanned in and made it pay!

Apparently to him the patterns make sense...

4 or 5 years ago he paid for our holidays with winnings... *sigh*

Me? Oh I can't win a bloody penny! Although recently I've managed to win cookies in a raffle :rotfl::rotfl:

MrsTinks

Right - trying to be effective today! So I started with inventorying the freezer LOL

Freezer:
Shelf 1:
2 Tubs of Speed soup
1 Jacket potato with cheese (DD)
2 large tubs of stew with mash and sweet potato
8 fish fingers (DD)
Parsnips
Mozzarella Sticks
2 bags of chips
2x 500gr beef mince
1 LARGE plain gammon
1 pack of bacon

Shelf 2:
Mini potato waffles (DD)
1 pack of penne pasta with veg (microwave)
1 large tub of mystery stew
3x 3 chicken breasts
Diced onion
Pork Loin steaks
1 pack of beef (mystery...)
1 slab of cookie dough
3 Macaroni croquettes (DD)
[STRIKE]1 Thai soup[/STRIKE] was Pad Thai or whatever - it's now been fed to husbeast and his buddy for lunch LOL

Shelf 3:
1 Pork and Rice meal
1 shepherds pie meal
1 Bag of Swedish meatballs
1/2 container of pulled pork
1 large meal of macaroni cheese
2 red onion and goats cheese tarts
225gr king prawns
1 portion cherry and blueberry crumble
1 crispy chicken breast (DD)
1 tray escargot
1 bag of peas
250gr mushroom pasta
750gr diced steak
2 mystery meals
1 large bag of cat prawns (aka frost burnt)

Shelf 4:
4x large steak
750gr of beef mince
2 lamb leg steaks
2x 3 large pork loin steaks
1 bag of churros
2x 3 burger patties
1 possible flank steak
chunky oven chips (1 meals worth)

1st drawer:
1 small bag of mince
massive bag of blackberries
massive bag of skinned/destoned plums
Bag of sloes
LOTS of frozen cocktails! :cool:

2nd drawer:
2 kangaroo steaks
2 ostrich steaks
Selection of ice lollies, icecream and frozen yoghurt sticks


So... uhmm... that's the INDOOR freezer :o:o:o Husband alleges there is fish in the one in the garage and maybe bacon (mmmmm bacon) - I don't do fish so I'll either give that away or cook it for the cats.


But I think I might need to do some serious meal planning and try to reduce the amount of stuff I've hoarded in there! Yikes!

Tonight we're having a massive pork loin (please defrost!!!) with friends - it's from the Market Porter box I bought a few weeks ago - should be interesting!

I shall start plotting meals I think...

MrsTinks

Meal plan:

Saturday: Pork Loin with parsnips, potatos and peas
Sunday:
Lunch- Probably eating out...
Dinner- Stews from freezer for grown ups, crispy chicken breast and chips for DD

Monday:
Lunch- Speed soup (me - no idea if husband will be in office or home, if office then he rarely takes lunch as it's pretty good)
After school meal DD- fresh meal (fridge)
Dinner- Swedish meatballs and chips

Tuesday:
Lunch- Penne Pasta that can be microwaved
After school meal (DD)- Fresh meal (fridge)
Dinner- Macaroni cheese (DD), Pork & rice (me), cottage pie (DH)

Wednesday:
Lunch- Speed soup
After school meal- 4 fish fingers and potato waffles
Dinner- Burger & potato hash with peas

Thursday:
Lunch- mushroom pasta (need to cook night before and add a sauce)
After school meal- macaroni croquettes w/veg of some sort
Dinner- Chicken fajitas

Friday:
Lunch- Tuna&sweetcorn pasta salad - w/peppers?
After school meal- jacket potato with cheese
Dinner- Maybe pizza...



So list should look like this:

Freezer:
Shelf 1:
[STRIKE]2 Tubs of Speed soup[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]1 Jacket potato with cheese (DD[/STRIKE])
[STRIKE]2 large tubs of stew with mash and sweet potato[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]8[/STRIKE] 4 fish fingers (DD)
Parsnips
Mozzarella Sticks
[STRIKE]2[/STRIKE] 1 bags of chips
2x 500gr beef mince
1 LARGE plain gammon
1 pack of bacon

Shelf 2:
Mini potato waffles (DD)
[STRIKE]1 pack of penne pasta with veg (microwave)[/STRIKE]
1 large tub of mystery stew
[STRIKE]3[/STRIKE] 2x 3 chicken breasts
Diced onion
Pork Loin steaks
1 pack of beef (mystery...)
1 slab of cookie dough
[STRIKE]3 Macaroni croquettes (DD)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]1 Thai soup was Pad Thai or whatever - it's now been fed to husbeast and his buddy for lunch LOL[/STRIKE]

Shelf 3:
[STRIKE]1 Pork and Rice meal
1 shepherds pie meal[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]1 [/STRIKE]1/2 Bag of Swedish meatballs
1/2 container of pulled pork
[STRIKE]1 large meal of macaroni cheese[/STRIKE]
2 red onion and goats cheese tarts
225gr king prawns
1 portion cherry and blueberry crumble
[STRIKE]1 crispy chicken breast (DD)[/STRIKE]
1 tray escargot
[STRIKE]1 bag of peas[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]250gr mushroom pasta[/STRIKE]
750gr diced steak
2 mystery meals
1 large bag of cat prawns (aka frost burnt)

Shelf 4:
4x large steak
750gr of beef mince
2 lamb leg steaks
2x 3 large pork loin steaks
1 bag of churros
[STRIKE]2[/STRIKE] 1x 3 burger patties
1 possible flank steak
chunky oven chips (1 meals worth)

1st drawer:
1 small bag of mince
massive bag of blackberries
massive bag of skinned/destoned plums
Bag of sloes
LOTS of frozen cocktails!

2nd drawer:
2 kangaroo steaks
2 ostrich steaks
Selection of ice lollies, icecream and frozen yoghurt sticks

MrsTinks

Shopping list for the week:

peppers
sour cream
avocado
cream cheese for DD packed lunches

Probably need to add a few bits during the week but this is pretty good for me!

MrsTinks

Well... this weekend didn't exactly go to plan... :o:o

Dear DFW'ers... I have sinned.

Actually I haven't really, it was something I had decided to do as a result of what I do for a living. I currently analyse car crashes, their mechanics and detecting when a car has had a crash by use of telematics. So I actually see a LOT of car crashes, most minor, some very much not minor. It's the "not minor" ones that have been the reason for my little naughty today.

I bought a car. I knew I would have to in the next 4-5 months, the finance on mine is up and there is a balloon payment that I'm not re-financing as the car would by then be negative equity. I wasn't planning on buying one today though!

Don't get me wrong it's an AWESOME car, almost by coincidence, but it has one of THE best safety ratings short of a tank in a car I can realistically justify buying. I got 2 services thrown in, free GAP insurance and a decent dealer contribution and it's about half it's new list price for a car that's 2 years old with less than 12000 miles on the clock.

SO... yes my monthly spend will go up for the car part of my budget, but I'm hoping that I will have a lot less nightmares (which have been happening in the last few months) knowing I've gone into the nearest thing to a tank that I can...

I guess I'm totally not sorry because I know I've bought it for the right reasons

MistyMountainTop

It sounds like you did well with the car, and it's done now so no point in feeling guilty at all.

Your freezer inventory and meal plan are impressive - I keep saying I am going to do something similar but then keep not doing it. I've been getting other important things done so not just slacking, but it would make life so much simpler if I knew what we were going to be having for dinner each night!

MrsTinks

MistyMountainTop wrote: »

It sounds like you did well with the car, and it's done now so no point in feeling guilty at all.

Your freezer inventory and meal plan are impressive - I keep saying I am going to do something similar but then keep not doing it. I've been getting other important things done so not just slacking, but it would make life so much simpler if I knew what we were going to be having for dinner each night!

Actually this morning after sleeping I don't feel one jot of guilt :eek:
I know it was the right thing to do and last night I had a weird dream but not a horrid one so :j:j and I blame the weird on some cheese sticks just before bed :rotfl::rotfl:

Meal plan. Yeah inventorying the freezer was both tedious and fun which was weird... Meal planning took a little more effort and I know there will be a few changes to that anyway, but at least we're making inroads into the glut of food I have squirreled away

We didn't really have dinner last night so we're having the stew tonight instead. I've got my soup with me from home today - just as well! The canteen menu looks awful AND fattening! :mad: Everything has either cream, cheese or wine! Oh or chips! GAH!