Squirrelgirls MF quest

[Deleted User]

I have my spending diary at the ready!!

I've been thinking a lot about the next chapter on my journey....it's going to be an exciting but difficult year with a complete change of lifestyle for me although I have spent wisely in many ways this year (paid off the od; the cc; bought a car; new sofas, carpets, curtains etc for the front room and a new bathroom) I have also wasted shed loads of cash I don't feel too bad about it if I'm honest...having two years away from work left me needing to enjoy the freedoms that two salaries brings and I've done that as well as sorting the stuff that needed doing

Spending pretty much as I wanted this year has also given me the boost I need for the 15 months ahead....I know that I can live differently and I'm at a place where I want to now - if I hadn't had the opportunity to blow out occasionally this year, I'd probably feel resentful about the financial restrictions I am imposing upon myself in the future.

I'm really looking forward to the time off work ahead....it will give me the opportunity to plan ahead and get a complete handle on my finances....I will be starting my new year on Friday with nothing outstanding, a full amount of cash in the food and petrol budgets and plenty of food in the house I had oil delivered last week, I've stocked up on bird & squirrel food and I've got enough alcohol in the house to keep me going until I return to work

I can't wait!! :j:D

greent

Sounds great, sg x

[Deleted User]

Happy Solstice!!!:beer::xmastree::beer:

I've been busy over the past 24hrs...all shopping for the rest of the year completed, most of tonight's dinner prepared and the credit card bill paid in full!! Tomorrow I start with a clean slate and a purpose!!

Only two more working days and then peace and tranquillity for almost a week....I'm really desperate for this break...it's been a really long year!! :shocked::rotfl:

On the money front, I need to shop around for a new broadband supplier...mine changed hands and the bill increased by 50% which I'm not impressed with!! :mad: on the plus side, I've had a small pay increase so I will have a few extra pennies to throw at my challenge! :j

Right, better get ready for work...have a fab day!!

[Deleted User]

solstice is done and my shopping for 2017 complete!!:j

I am having a totally relaxing day....I need to clean the house following yesterday's celebrations and I need to do my food inventory, menu plans and budgets but it can all wait until tomorrow...I've just had enough - the past few days have been really lovely but busy and I just need today as some proper me time...this morning was sorting the basics out and saying goodbye to the visitors, this afternoon has been completely relaxing and doing nothing. This evening will be a combination of snoozing and watching bits of dvds or whatever dh watches...tomorrow, I am going to have a mega lie-in and then sort the house and the inventory etc.....

My determination to succeed over the next 15 months is absolute - nothing will be putting me off what I need to do. I'm turning into a total bore with all this money saving stuff but I'm pretty convinced that it's worth it!!

[Deleted User]

happy Christmas!!

The inventory is done - we'll be having at least one dish a week based on nori and one with polenta for the next few weeks!! I'll also need to do one seitan dish per week to use all that up - I'm going to do slow cooked seitan in red wine later in the week to use up some that I have in the freezer and a bottle of red that dh won in the works crimbo raffle

I have basically sorted the menu - it follows my new rules:-

1. A minimum of two meals per week entirely from stores
2. Every other meal using a minimum of two items (other than spices/stocks) from stores
3. No waste allowed - all leftovers 'recycled'; any veg or fruit that is not usable prior to it being past it's best will be either pickled, turned into jam or chutney, dehydrated, frozen etc....
4. All items, wherever possible, to be locally produced and in season (current 'use up' period will allow for exotics as I already have them in stock but I'll only buy local fresh produce whenever I can)
5. Every expense accounted for and no spur of the moment purchase allowed. If I see something I want, I will give it a 24hr cooling off period before I make a purchase. I will keep a spending diary daily.

I am going to be draconian for the first three months - it takes that long to build a new way of life apparently and the first 28 are the worst - I am happy to ride that wave of discomfort with the knowledge that in 66 weeks, my mortgage will be paid off and my home will be how I want it to be. I can deal with that....it's not a great deal of time in the big scheme of things and it is worth the ride.....I've just got to stick with the plans and keep my eye on the prize1;)

[Deleted User]

Inventory's done, menu plan for the next week done using only stuff in stock and the budgets sorted. I have had a good day!!

I've had the convo with dh - he is totally on board so no struggles there really - keeping him on track will be an ongoing battle but at least he's happy with the way I'm thinking!!!;)

I have a mountain of things to eat in my head - weekends, I will sort my beans - pressure cook then put into portion sizes in the freezer. It's a minimum of one nori based meal and one polenta based meal a week to get some of the older stock gone....that suits me down to the ground as I love Japanese food and it's great for lunches. I have a soup mug now for work too, so ramen and sushi leftovers for lunch sounds great!! Soup will be a once a week cook on a Saturday - I am going to do our shopping on a Tuesday night from now on - it's a night that I don't see my grandbaby, the weekend food will have been sorted and leftovers eaten on the Monday so Tuesday seems like an ideal time. I will cook on a sunday for Monday and Tuesday's food - then Wednesday to Friday will consist of some sort of pasta dish on one day and probably a curry of some description, plus something from the freezer - I can then start again on the Saturday. I know it all sounds very regulated but I really think that it's the only way that I am going to be able to get through the next three months spending the absolute minimum - sometimes regularity is the way to go.

So;;;;;
sundays - lunch - soup; dinner - sushi & ramen
Monday - lunch - leftover sushi & ramen; dinner - polenta & sauce + salad
Tuesday - lunch - leftover polenta, sauces & salad, dinner - lentil dish
Wednesday - lunch - leftover lentil dish, dinner - veggie dish
Thursday - lunch - leftover veggie dish; dinner - pasta
Friday - lunch - leftover pasta; dinner - curry
Saturday - lunch - leftover curry; dinner - grains & beans

It sounds pretty boring, but I will jazz it up - the veggie dishes will include potato cake with chutneys'; lots of interesting salads will also be made and I will be creative in all the dishes I make to ensure I don't die of boredom!! It's going to be easy to use stuff up this way and will definitely minimises what I am spending....it's all for the greater good!!:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Tonights dinner was lush!!
I cut figs in half, drizzled with maple syrup, covered with finely chopped vegan chorizo & feta plus fresh basil then whacked in the oven for 25 mins...omg...beyond gorgeous and used up the figs, the remains of the chorizo and basil and some leftover roast parsnips went with it so very frugal!!

Tomorrow I am using up the opened nuts and seeds, the remains of the yeast free bread and vegan cheeses plus some leeks, cranberries and herbs to make a roast - I'm serving it with sprouts, potatoes and roasted beetroot.

Friday I am at work then out at a friends so dh will eat any leftovers- Saturday will be butternut squash & red bean saute with buckwheat and millet.

Absolutely all of this is from stock so I'm definitely on track to do well in week 1!!

[Deleted User]

Went to work - managed to clear absolutely everything that I had outstanding so will be starting fresh next week!! :j

I didn't go to my friends - too much illness around so spent the night in front of the fire with a glass of loveliness I finally feel like I am on holiday now....the past few days my head has been spinning with budgets, plans etc and I haven't really relaxed....now that it is all done and I know exactly where I am heading and how to get there, I can finally switch my head off!

I'm having a lazy day today....I'm going to make some soup, pop up to the farm shop to see if they have their bargain onions in (I can sometimes get a sack for £2.50 - I then prepare and freeze them so that it's easy to grab a bag and put some food together) put another fire on and spend the day doing very little!

No more news on the mortgage front - I have looked at the budget for bills and although I could probably reduce what we are putting into it, I have decided against it - I like to have a buffer just in case and the additional cash in the account allows me the peace of mind that makes me happy - I have decided on a maximum limit though so once it gets to that, I will transfer any excess to the mortgage. I put my expenses in yesterday (won't be paid them until the end of Jan) so I am pretty confident that we will meet the additional £265 in January with the cash that dh will put to it. Obviously, the more we can do early on, the better. Dh normally has to do some overtime in March/April for stocktaking so anything he gets from that will also go towards the total....I was debating whether to put the 'free' months of council tax and water to the savings but I have decided to leave them in the bill account so that I can get to my target quicker there! It's all very complicated!!:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Happy new year!!

It's been a good start to the year - although I have spent a lot more of the grocery budget than I wanted to so far, I am still on target to meet the monthly requirement so not all bad... in all honesty, I have an unexpected but very welcome houseguest at the moment so I bought a lot of nibbles etc along with other food for dinner last night and breakfast this morning which has had a huge impact on the figure but I can make any shortfall up from my persie if necessary.

I have finally cleaned my house to a standard I am happy with (motivated by the imminent arrival of the houseguest! :rotfl:) ; I'm up to date and on top of things at work; I've made soup and a casserole for lunch and dinner today (leftovers will be used tomorrow); I am doing well on NSD's and I am taking in lunch plus using up some of the teabags I have so minimising the lattes I'm pretty impressed with my first week of progress

I have checked my mortgage balance and my interest is now down to £1.06 per day so I'm happy with that - I will obviously pay less as the savings build in the offset for the house improvements so I can't wait to start to get that put in!

Right, guest is out of the shower and roaming now so I'd better go and do some hostessing!!

[Deleted User]

Not long before I see how I've done on the first month but I know that it will be short

We've had to buy a new radiator for the kitchen and I need to put the car through a service and its mot- I'd totally forgotten about it as it's original arrival coincided with the arrival of my grandbaby! Hopefully all will be well but I have to see how it turns out before I can come to final figures.

Winter is always my most expensive season - solstice; house insurance; car insurance and mots for both cars; tax for one car; two birthdays and one anniversary!! :rotfl: Thankfully I'm normally prepared but my car thing just didn't equate and the radiator was unexpected! I'll be able to cushion much of the blow due to emergency pots but it's still irritating and will have an impact. :mad:

This week just hasn't gone according to plan - I've been lax financially and I know that it's going to make life more difficult. However, i'm not going to let it define my future actions by using it as an excuse to continue being stupid.

Today I will get quotes for broadband, car insurance and breakdown cover. I'm going to make the menu for the week ahead and get my budgets up to date...I need to get back in control and on the wagon!