The Marching Minimalist

JoJoC

Sounds like you have your work cut out for you angelpye! I didn't realise that Waitrose had such decent incentives though, so hopefully you'll be able to manage it with some careful planning. That means that any extra you get in the form of refunds can be treated as a bonus, not relied upon. You've got the right idea there

Good luck with the meal plan and sticking to budget!

angelpye

Thanks JoJo, it is definitely a challenge to set myself! I find W@itrose offers pretty good for what I generally buy...Ecover products and organic produce are often on offer and the 20% off using the card is great for regular things like soya milk, toilet roll etc. Some people I know use the card for their favourite 10 and only go in to buy those things - really nice coffee etc. then buy the rest of their shop elsewhere.

Luckily I have all my cleaning products and toiletries for the next couple of months so its mainly food I have to budget for.

VelvetFreak

Hi Angelpye. Just read your whole thread. Can relate so much to the whole minimalism thing. Did you know that The Minimalists do a podcast? Such great listening and especially good to help pass the time while doing chores and such

I find that routines are key to keeping a tidy home. For example, every morning as soon as I wake up, I make the bed, put the kettle on, feed the cat and the fish and then I start my day. Makes things so much easier once the bed is made.

Every night before bed I ensure that the kitchen is clean, washing up done, tidy couch cushions etc. I also vacuum most days. I have a Dyson stick vacuum so very quick and easy.

I wash clothes every second day, and wash sheets and towels on Saturday.

You get the idea. I never used to be like this, but have made a conscious effort to be build these habits and now it's much easier and almost automatic.

Anyways, best of luck with your debt payoff journey. You are already doing amazing. Your DD is lucky to have such an awesome MSE Mum like you

Treadingonplaymobil

JoJo, I don't envy you trying to stick to a super-tight budget with allergies to cater for as well, that must make things so much harder. Good luck with your menu planning!

VelvetFreak wrote: »

Hi Angelpye. Just read your whole thread. Can relate so much to the whole minimalism thing. Did you know that The Minimalists do a podcast? Such great listening and especially good to help pass the time while doing chores and such

I find that routines are key to keeping a tidy home. For example, every morning as soon as I wake up, I make the bed, put the kettle on, feed the cat and the fish and then I start my day. Makes things so much easier once the bed is made.

Every night before bed I ensure that the kitchen is clean, washing up done, tidy couch cushions etc. I also vacuum most days. I have a Dyson stick vacuum so very quick and easy.

I love The Minimalists podcast! The only one I listen to.

I have been so tempted by a Dyson stick vacuum. Suppose I will have to be sensible and actually SAVE UP for one now I am all financially grown up. But I swear if Henry the Hoover falls over going round a corner one more time I am going to drop kick him out of the window.

EssexHebridean

That IS a tight budget bearing in mind where you're shopping - I'll be interested to see how you go with that - good work finding the TCB thing though - that really helps doesn't it. As does the 20% off on the My W*itrose card - that really is a decent loyalty offer.

Absolutely not judging, but have you read any of the research that's been done on organic meat -v- high-welfare British stuff? It makes interesting reading - we buy meat from farmers markets etc rather than supermarket, and have chosen to stick with non-organic but make sure that the welfare is there, suits us perfectly but may not measure up for everyone. In fairness our requirements are more about the welfare aspect than to do with any allergies etc too.

angelpye

Hi Velvet Freak (nice name!) :wave: Routine is definitely something I cam lacking in and trying to put into action. I have listened to a couple of The Minimalists podcasts and find them quite motivating...perhaps I will do this more often. Thank you for your kind words, parental guilt has been a companion on this march to debt freedom but I am trying to get past that, comments like yours help

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

I have been so tempted by a Dyson stick vacuum. Suppose I will have to be sensible and actually SAVE UP for one now I am all financially grown up. But I swear if Henry the Hoover falls over going round a corner one more time I am going to drop kick him out of the window.

I also have Dyson envy...really want one especially as space here is at a bit of a premium but damn the Henry for being so well built! He has crashed down stairs countless times and persists in working! Thing with Henry is that they are the main British made vacuum so anything goes wrong you can easily replace a part so very MS and environmentally friendly...thing with the Dyson is its very sexy and would be a space saver. Anyway don't tell Henry I said bad things about him because I can't afford to replace him with a shiny Dyson for the foreseeable future! :shhh:

angelpye

EssexHebridean wrote: »

That IS a tight budget bearing in mind where you're shopping - I'll be interested to see how you go with that - good work finding the TCB thing though - that really helps doesn't it. As does the 20% off on the My W*itrose card - that really is a decent loyalty offer.

Absolutely not judging, but have you read any of the research that's been done on organic meat -v- high-welfare British stuff? It makes interesting reading - we buy meat from farmers markets etc rather than supermarket, and have chosen to stick with non-organic but make sure that the welfare is there, suits us perfectly but may not measure up for everyone. In fairness our requirements are more about the welfare aspect than to do with any allergies etc too.

Essex, or can I call you Hebbie? What is your preferred shortened nickname? EH? Or full on EssexHebridean? Anyway it is a tight one but I am a bit confident for the following reasons:
* DD's meat is on offer
* I have all cleaning products/toiletries except toilet roll and DD's toothpaste
* Its Fairtrade fortnight so 25% off things like bananas, sugar, tea etc for a little while
* The £20 will make it stretch, like you said very helpful indeed
* The myw@itrose card means things like our preferred bread is £1.12 soya milk 68p, toilet roll £2.92 for 9 big rolls.
* Freezer has a good stock of a few of my vegetarian options including Jack Monroes carrot & kidney bean burgers for burger nights etc
* Have enough cereal in stock to last 2 months (DD's 'healthy' expensive cereal was half price so stocked up, loads of my oats in)
* Spices and baking cupboard is pretty well stocked
* DD also eats at her dads so a couple of days a week I am not responsible for main meal
* I eat mainly vegetables and beans and pulses
* There is only me and DD
* I do have reserve funds if at any point we run the risk of not eating what we need - its just I would rather keep as much of that in case I have a really rainy day

The meat thing for me is always a slight issue; I would be vegan if I didn't already own leather, could resist eggs(which I probably could if I tried hard enough) and didn't buy DD's meat. My issue is the environmental impact the industry has when things are mass produced and the inevitable lack in animal welfare. Beef is a massive drain on the environment (as likely you know) but the dietician was clear we have to compromise our values in order for DD to be healthy...she went on a rant about how half her patients are kids of middle class parents trying to feed their children adult diets with not enough fat etc. Obviously she understood that DD's issue is allergy based and therefore it is tricky to strike a balance. DD won't eat any kind of pork or lamb so beef and chicken it is!

The W@itrose organic is supposed to be of high welfare standards and I don't really know whats on offer at our 'farmers' market...last time I went it was a bit mixed bag of craft fare/farmers market/not really sure if relevant stalls and gets rammed. I will make a note to check out when next on and investigate. There is an organic butchers about 5 miles away that sells local produce so perhaps its time I started to make the effort to go and stock up from there...not in this months budget though.

Thanks for raising it, I love a question that challenges my personal ethics and whether I am living up to them or not.:cool:

PS I am looking forward to really seeing how this month pans out, which is half the battle

Bobarella

Good luck with your challenge Angel. You sound quite on top of things, I'm going to bet you make it!

Macey1510

Good luck with your meal plan for March!

EssexHebridean

Yep - I'm with Bob, you sound SO organised on the groceries thing I reckon you'll do it, too!

I usually go by EH as a shortening - I think it was Pippi called me that years ago when I was first on here and it's kinda stuck!

Definitely no inclination to go veggie in my house - MrEH's take on this is that if everyone was vegan then "domestic" livestock like pigs, cows and sheep would quickly become extinct, so he eats meat for the sake of the poor animals... :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I'm afraid my take on it is the far less tongue in cheek "bacon sandwiches taste good and I don't want to live without them..."! Having said that our ethical take on the meat means that probably 50% of our meals across a fortnight are either meat-free or very low on meat content - our personal compromise is that to buy meat of the quality we want we eat less of it - which works great for us. The whole question of veganism fascinates me though - it's so hard to get a proper balanced diet with that way of eating and you really have to know your stuff to make it work without compromising your health, don't you - hats off to anyone who chooses that path for themselves. (Plus it leaves me more bacon, which must be a good thing...!)

Carrot & kidney bean burgers though - nom! My versions swaps the carrot (MrEH LOATHES carrot so I only make him eat them occasionally) for parsnip and works really well - so tasty! :T