Missy’s family of 4, paying off debts, saving for a house and just trying to survive!

missymoo81

Thanks @Bluegreen143 I’m trying to do a similar thing. I’m still happy with the sofa bed purchase. I’m really pleased with how cheap it was compared to what I was going to pay. So glad my work is done for the day. I’m just chilling watching Gilmore girls whilst the children do their work. 

Thanks @Kakiste, I’ve never made it but have eaten it. Going to google easy recipes now! 

missymoo81

Have you got a recipe @Kakiste? 

Kakiste

I would say blend the bananas until they look like a smoothie and then add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder, half a teaspoon of cumin, 1 and a half teaspoons of ground coriander, 1 tsp of chili powder (ideally red) and stir in. You might need to dilute it with a bit of water 
Fry whatever meat separately and then add to sauce. Maybe a few actual slices of banana in there as well.

If I were doing it I would dice onion and mushroom and fry into rice to give a nice contrast. 

missymoo81

Thank you so much!!!!! I would really like to give that a go! Watch this space.

I’m coming up with recipes to see how much I can eat out of the freezer etc. Now you all know how I love to set myself difficult challenges so I’m not going to spend any money from my bank on food for the next 24 days....... Now I have lots of food in but I have lots of coins from the coffee machine from work which will hopefully make up the difference if I can keep the cost low. So I’m wondering if I can try and bring it in within £60 which I think is doable with cash and change and vouchers etc? That would include the £22, the £6 I should be getting from FB today. Vouchers from nectar and club cards also have £5 lidl one too. So let’s see what I can do! 

missymoo81

Hey, sorry I’ve been a bit on the quiet front. It’s been a bit crazy with all the snow! Been a busy week so far, lots of early mornings etc. On the way to take the cats to the vets for check ups. But OH will pay for that. It’s BILs birthday today so after school I’ll get the littlies to make him a card. We need to make some cookies too as haven’t done this week. But I can always do them tomorrow. Sat in the car with the cats whilst OH here BIL a card. 

We played in the snow yesterday which was lovely and I made a really nice teriyaki chicken dinner which was an old Gousto recipe. Trying to think what can be for dinner tonight. Sausage and jackets possibly and beans. Working at 1830–1930 but have had a slow paced morning after my early class which was nice. 

Right update more later.

Queen_of_the_Hive

HI @missymoo81, hope your half term wasn't too full on. My two surprised me and just enjoyed playing and entertaining themselves. One positive of lockdown, they've become self sufficient. 

missymoo81

Hey!
So sorry I haven’t been on! It’s been crazy with homeschooling and life. I have jumped on the nutrition bandwagon since starting my nutrition course so have spent an awful lot of money on food trying to eat the right thing and get my protein levels up. OH is paying half the shopping now so that’s good. But wow I’ve spent a lot!!!

Myself and OH have had some long chats with regards to our future and what we want to do as a last career for the next 20 years as our industry isn’t a safe bet, and we’re getting on a bit to be doing it into our 40s/50s. I’ll go more into this in a bit but we also want to try and buy the house we rent, we looked at it last year but seemed to be out of reach. But I’m hoping things are different. I’ll do some updates in another post.

hope you’re all ok x

joedenise

Good to see you posting again @missymoo81.  Good to hear that you're also doing the nutrition course and eating better.  You don't have to just eat meat and fish for protein - pulses and beans are high in protein and can make some great dishes.  One of my favourites in a mixed bean goulash so all the flavours of goulash but as a vegetarian option.  DH and I eat that quite regularly.

If you think you or OH wouldn't be able to eat just beans as the main part of your meal something like cassoulet can be really cheap as you can add some good quality sausages plus some shoulder pork to it (but you don't need loads, just a little for flavour).

missymoo81

Hey @joedenise thanks so much for posting, you’re always so good to share your ideas and recipes! As luck would have it I have sooooo many sausages in the freezer right now. I used to make a cow boy stew sort of thing that always went down well with some bread. Thanks for that!

I’ve also found a cheap protein filled breakfast. I used to put protein powder in porridge but have gone off porridge and it sort of curdles. But I’ve started making sort of (not) over night oats, I just put 65g of oats in a kilner jar with boiling water and leave for an hour or so, then when they’ve all fluffed up I mix up a scoop of protein powder with water and pour over the top of the oats and mix through, put in the fridge then when I’m ready to eat, I’ve been topping it with berries, it’s just like rice pudding! But the berries are expensive so I’m going to try it with tinned peaches cut up on top and see how I get on. I’ve been eating sugar puffs too as a 2nd breakfast but they’re super expensive. I can get looooaaaaads of wheatabix type cereal for the same money! And it’s not too different in macros. I’ve also started watering down my milk a little and having less in my tea.

It’s just finding a cheaper way! 

This month is tight, me and OH now alternate who pays for the food shopping this week it is my turn. We have a lot in so I’ve got £30 in cash and that is what I shall spend tomorrow when I go, I’ve put everything we need into the Tesco app and I can get it for just under that. Next week OH will pay so I can spend around £60 hopefully.

I’ve got this weekends shop and another in 2 weeks to buy, the one in 2 weeks I will try and fathom a way to make it cost very little again. I still haven’t spent my points so I can spend those.

I have £63 for the rest of the month so I’ll see if I can manage on that. I have just put 3 things on FB marketplace in the hope that they sell. Not a lot but £25 worth. Will endeavour to eBay 5 things tomorrow too. 

joedenise

Have you tried frozen berries?  They're much cheaper than fresh and if you defrost overnight you can drain off the watery juice if you want or you can just add it to the porridge.  I always use frozen.

Could you get OH to buy say half dozen tins of tomatoes and half dozen tins of beans when it's his turn and then you've got the basis of lots of meals even if it's just beans on toast!  How about adding a bag of TVP (textured vegetable protein) to the list as it's cheaper than beef mince.  I usually use a combination of mince and TVP to make things like shepherds pie, spag bol, lasagne etc which helps keep the price down.

If you can cope with long life milk you can get away with using skimmed as it tastes like semi skimmed!  It's what I use all the time - I buy a tray of 12 in Li*l whenever we're down to the last couple of litres, means we don't have to worry about going to the SM when we run out of milk which of course can easily mean a £20 spend!

Good luck with the Ebay sales.