The thriftyish way to debt freedom

thriftyish

I forgot to add. Our dog is having an allergy flare up - so have ordered some more tablets online. At his worst, he needs 9 tablets a day, but the cheapest we have found is a piriton equivalent recommended on MSE. 336 tablets for £16. Last time we didn't pay for postage so its a little pricier, but still much cheaper than anything we have found in the shops

Bluegreen143

We have a deep fat fryer and do use it enough to justify. We make chips lots, battered fish, pakora, tempura, in it, I ended up cooking arancini in it yesterday to use up leftover risotto. Definitely justifies the space it takes up here! 

thriftyish

I was tempted to go down the basket route but to be honest, but after a chat with MIL today I think a fryer is a bit safer. I love the idea of health grills but can't justify the cost and have heard mixed reviews - I will keep a lookout for a good deal on a normal fryer!

Today
Spent £3.09 on a tgtg box. Super cheap porridge for tea as we had to be out of the house quickly to pick up a tgtg box from a different town, and we popped to say hi to MIL & FIL.  Our kettle had a moment, but DH managed to get it working again, will keep an eye on it!

Grocery spends so far: £29.46

thriftyish

I am really proud of myself today. I always have a post-menstrual dip in mood for a few days, where everything looks grey, it feels like I am drowning under my jobs list and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I walk around the house and for those two days a month all I can see are the imperfections, and it really makes me feel stressed, and very impulsive - hormones have a lot to answer for!

Anyway, I did not order a all-singing-and-all-dancing Ninja F00die (costing about £200), nor did I order an outdoor multi-tool that has a chainsaw, strimmer and bush cutter attachments. (costing around £160) -  A saving of almost £360. 

I still need some sort of bush cutter we have a few odd bushes in the front garden that are really unruly and starting to overhang the pavement. I also still have a broken strimmer, which I am hoping will limp itself into some action to cut back the jungle of a garden tonight since the lawnmower died. I still find it amusing that my allotment looks really good and my garden looks wild. I think that's because planning an allotment which changes yearly is easy, but planning something more permanent is different. A tree has fallen down in the garden which will need cutting up with a saw, the chainsaw would have come in handy for that!

On the subject of pessimism. I thought we had fixed the freezer, but it's not fixed. The next thing to try is taking the whole fridge/freezer unit out of its integrated hole and try clearing a tube at the back. If that doesn't work, we will need to replace at some point because the freezer is unusable. Its meant to be a frost-free freezer, but ice just slowly fills up the inside, to the point of everything is encased in ice, it's going to be a huge pain to move.

Let's hope this inner strength lasts until after tomorrow when my hormones even back out and I can start to think logically again about how to sort stuff out, without stressing and impulse buying! 

MagicCat

I completely sympathise with the impulse to buy your way out of low mood, well done for staying strong!

f0xh0les

Do any of your local c/s do electricals? Two of ours do, it is a great place to pick up a George Formby grill, or a slow cooker, or 'drip drip' coffee maker for less than a tenner. They often have DF Fryers and I am sure I have seen one of those hugely monstrous air fryer type machines in there. All PA tested.  I have avoided them because it would only encourage dh to fry more stuff, and I am trying very hard to diet, and chilli salt aubergine would appear on the menu every few days, and that would lead to the kids wanting chili salt chips, and then he would use up the cauliflower in pakoras because it 'needed eating',  he does not need an excuse at the best of times, having a fryer on the worktop would just be a recipe for disaster in our house.

thriftyish

@MagicCat - Thank you, I am wondering how much money is usually spent over these two days! 

@f0xholes - No, nothing like that. I will have to explore the 2 nearby cities when the kids are back at school. Closest we have is a community furniture centre in the next town over, that's full older style furniture & patterned sofas - no electricals other than new ones that are slightly discounted. That's one my concern here. My weight is creeping up, and none of my clothes fit comfortably. I am my heaviest at 12st 5lb, and my ideal weight is around 10st. DH would be fry-happy, he was years ago when we had one. I think the sudden urge to buy one comes mostly from having lots of allotment potatoes - and chips are cheap, filling and eaten without complaint. I like the idea of the health grill, but it would need to be big enough to feed 6 (or 7, when DH has a big appetite). If we had a fryer, I know DH would cook everything in the fryer when he was in charge of meals, he wouldn't even consider the oven as an option anymore. If I can't find anything locally, I think your city is about an hour and half away, your shops sound amazing & I think It might be worth it in tights alone! (I actually wish I was brave enough to drive that far on my own, then park and shop!)

The bay of Ee
I've been on the Bay of Ee again. The younger 2 both needed new trainers, though I am not convinced DD2 needed three pairs! I bid because If I don't, I forget, but I didn't expect to win three pairs. I can only think that other people buying that size are avoiding laces and therefore I had the market to myself. One can go in her PE bag, and one can be saved for DD3 so all should be okay - All three cost me less than one pair of new trainers, so I can't really grumble - I am somewhere between amused and annoyed that I have done it again!

I have been focusing on their winter wardrobes, while it's cheaper and out of season. DD2 also has some beautiful sequined Doc Martins winter boots and a winter coat. DD1 has a winter coat and DH some shoes that should be on their way. All within budget, but I need to check my list as we have a few bits still missing.

I bought 2 packs of pe t-shirts from Mr Liddl, I bought packs two of 2, they were between sizes so all four children have one new one each for £4. All the PE jogging bottoms had gone, or I would have bought them too.

Garden ORgan1c & Heirl00m Seeds Membership
This was a splurge, but I had birthday money to spend so I bought a years membership to garden organ1c, and heirl00m seeds for £45. Thinking on spending my remaining birthday money on some fruit trees for the garden, they should keep giving back for years to come hopefully. I also have my eye on some rhubarb plants. I've asked for a second plot at my allotment site and I am on the waiting list, if I can juggle it, I should have enough space to keep us in potatoes/onions/garlic and have space for flowers, extra fruit and more veg too. I will need a second freezer, but I am hoping we can grow enough broccoli, green beans, pea and cauliflower all year round.

Food
We have a stew cooking on the hottest day of the year to use up root veg from our tgtg box. Not sure I thought that through, but it is going to be amazing just to dish it up later without any faff. The food budget spends for this week are £49.78, and that included extra store cupboard stuff and tea/coffee/hot chocolate - so should be on track for a good month. Managed another veg box too, with a melon which was practically inhaled. I see tomato soup in our not too distant future.

Happy debtbusting

Baileys_Babe

Buying clothes out of season saves us a fortune. I also encourage them to wear layers, socks and slippers as the weather gets cooler.

I need to get on to eBay too mainly for ds as he wearing out his trousers, thankfully it is shorts weather

Bluegreen143

Great idea to get started on winter clothes shopping now. My daughter has been too young for that (too unpredictable which size she would be in when they are the baby sizes) but she is on the cusp of moving to 2-3 meaning I can start buying things for a few months away with confidence. I’m going to have trouble with Bambi, she’s not big weight wise but she’s VERY tall for her age and thus outgrows dresses instantly as they become indecent 😅 stocking up out of season and on eBay could help keep costs down a bit.

How exciting re potential second allotment! Amazing to think you could be self sufficient (or almost) in potatoes and other veg. Not many people can say that I’m sure!

thriftyish

@Bluegreen143 This is my first time really shopping for things so early, and I am so impressed to see the price differences. I usually look on the bay for things like boots for myself, but usually in winter and the prices are near to double and more! I am a convert, and will try to do this every year from now on! DS2 is like Bambi, especially for height, she once 'swapped' school dresses with DD3, and luckily I noticed before school as they both looked..... interesting! 

@Baileys_Babe We have moved from a small modern semi-detached to a large Edwardian semi-detached - the rooms are much bigger with really high ceilings and the floors all tiled/wooden and really cold in winter so slippers are needed & layering. We definitely need to layer up more and I need to look into thermals - especially for me at the allotment - I feel so silly saying this but Ive no idea where to start! DHs parents were fairly poor when DH was growing up, he remembers ice on the inside of the windows and been cold in winter - this makes him fairly sauna-happy with the heating controls. 

Today
I didn't resist. We bought the Ninja F00di, with only a meagre amount off too - luckily there is always a 'float' in the bank account so I don't hit the overdraft, so hopefully, it won't touch any budget and we will still be on track to be debt-free. I ordered Friday evening and it arrived Saturday at 9 am - that's insane. It makes the most amazing chips in the air-fryer, the children declared they are the 'best chips ever'. It also a pressure cooker function and a dehydrator function which will be useful for preserving allotment stuff - my oven is awful and doesn't cook anything evenly. I think what convinced me, in the end, was that I am trying to encourage healthy eating & lose some weight and it ticks those boxes. DH loves it, I like it, the kids love the chips - so far, so good.

Food
Yesterday we had leftover stew for dinner (the kids has sandwiches). We had gammon, chips and peas for dinner to test out the chips in the air fryer bit. I also roasted some tomatoes (tgtg box) to make tomato soup for lunch today. I made courgette & lemon cake with allotment courgette and the rest of the lemon curd we made from the reduced lemons early in the month. I made plum flapjack too which was really nice - DH asked if we ran out of chocolate  I think he wants chocolate flapjack! DS loves flapjack, but was appalled I added plums  I think the other members of my family forget that they too can mix things together and use the oven. Shockingly, it will heat upon request for anyone who can turn the dial.

Today we have had homemade tomato soup for lunch (with an additional can of tomato soup for my fussier children & because there wasn't enough) and I am making a roast dinner for tea. I harvested my huge cauliflower from the allotment (they were tiny, only a small floret per plant!) and am making cauliflower cheese. Served with roasted potatoes carrots & cabbage (all from tgtg magic bags) and green beans (allotment) so a cheap-ish day.

Tomorrow's tea will be gnocchi from today's tgtg magic bag. Lunch will be a mish-mash of stuff that needs eating from the fridge, and hopefully leftovers from today's dinner for me and DH. I bought 3 packs of ys 8p bagels, which means breakfasts are sorted for some of this week.

Other stuff
I managed to paint the chicken coop, and DH is just finishing building the run. He couldn't move his neck yesterday so had to take it easy as was in a lot of pain - but wouldn't let me take him to the hospital. Thankfully he's a bit better today and has a lot more movement. I managed to speak to my neighbour because the children next door have been swearing at my children - had a good chat and they are having a really rough time so now I feel awful for even mentioning. Will hopefully arrange a picnic or something so the kids can play together and get to know each other, that may help (hopefully without a learning extra vocabulary) 

Happy debtbusting!