A new royal start

QueenJess

Another busy day today.  I swear I'm busier now than when I was actually working!  This morning I'm making a huge shepherd's pie for tomorrow's dinner to save me time tomorrow (means more time I can spend with the kids) and a spicy parsnip soup for lunch.  First load of washing is in, then I have one more and I think I've finally caught up with DD's sickness washing.  Beds are all stripped and I shall then remake them.

This afternoon we are off to DS's school first to view the projects they've all done and then it's the xmas fair thing.  Dinner is stir fry followed by more apricot cake.  I've also rounded down the mortgage for this month (possibly for the last time depending on how things go) so we currently owe £123,500.

Better get on with it!

LadyWithAPlan

£123,500 is great! 

QueenJess

LadyWithAPlan said:

£123,500 is great! 

Thanks it certainly is small compared to where I started from. I’m so glad I paid so much off over the years when I could as otherwise I would be stuck in a job I hated for the money.

Weird question, but does anyone know where to get a very small jar of instant coffee? We are not coffee drinkers, but some people who visit us are and so we like to have some in. If we get 100g jar, it inevitably goes off before it can be used. Can you get anything smaller than that?

daisy_1571

Would it help to decant into smaller jars?  Then only one is 'open' and the others can kept with the lid tightly closed until you've finished jar 1 ?  No idea if this is helpful as I also don't drink coffee

Daisy xxx

QueenJess

daisy_1571 said:

Would it help to decant into smaller jars?  Then only one is 'open' and the others can kept with the lid tightly closed until you've finished jar 1 ?  No idea if this is helpful as I also don't drink coffee

Daisy xxx

It might be worth a try, but the last one we had was wildly out of date and 80% full. However it smelt really weird so we had to throw it out. I think there’s a gap in the market for people like me!

Bluegreen143

You can buy boxes of the sachets of instant coffee to keep the rest fresher but it’s not very green/might still go off if you keep it long enough. 

You could ask a friend to nick some of theirs every so often and trade them one of your lovely baked goods? 

themadvix

Coffee bags are really good for this. Too much packaging, but the coffee doesn’t go off and (to my uneducated nose) it smells like better quality coffee too. I got fed up with buying jars of instant and then throwing it away!

QueenJess

Ooh - good ideas. Thanks everyone  

Gosh it’s windy out there today and I’m in the East. It must be pretty brutal in the West. Hoping for a quiet day today. Got to take DS to gymnastics this morning, but then a quiet afternoon at home. The kids have lots of colouring and crafts to do, so I’ll be encouraging them to do those. 

Went to DS’s Xmas fair yesterday and spent around £10 (but for a good cause). The Santa gifts were well thought out; DD got a book we already read for bedtime yesterday (a nice Mr Men one) and DS got a paint your own candy cane kit that will keep him quiet for a while. Other than that the kids consumed a cake and toasted marshmallows. I gave the cuddly toy table a wide berth….

Lunch today will be a bit disjointed as DS’s gymnastics is late morning. DH and I have leftover parsnip soup (too spicy for the kids), DS always wants a sandwich and fruit and DD will probably eat the rest of the tin of beans in the fridge with toast. Dinner is fish, peas and hm chips and the cake is running out so I will make an apple and blackberry crumble to have with custard. I’m going to portion up the shepherds pie later for the freezer, leaving enough for tomorrow’s dinner - DH is going to his parents house tomorrow to help them with some stuff and my parents and sister will be here all day so wanted something quick to eat for dinner. Nope, not missing work at all right now 😂

QueenJess

A very frugal weekend. DH hates staying in and wants to be out all the time and he’s less stingy than me, so it always costs. Got away with it this weekend, but trying to save the budget for when we have the kids for the whole Xmas holidays. I am very aware there is nothing around job wise at the moment and so trying to save the pennies where I can. Found £2.45 in TCB, so requested a cash out. It all helps. Also bagsied myself some desktop storage for DS’s never ending tat, 2 puzzles I will pass onto my mum once made and some scratch art things that DD loves from Buy Nothing. I also managed to get a pristine 7.5ft xmas tree complete with lights and decorations worth around £250 and the lovely lady even helped me to the car with it! DS has been pestering for a big tree for ages (we had a teeny table top one before that), but I just don’t want to splash loads of cash I don’t need to right now. My local group is crazy right now with stuff.. 

Somehow I also have so many leftovers, so tomorrow we will all be eating our way through them all and no baking or cooking required until Tuesday now. Just as well really as I have an eye test tomorrow in town, so whilst I am there I have a list of other things to do I’ve been storing up for a month or so (I don’t go into the main town very often).

Off to bed now as I’m really tired (slept badly) and need to be in town bright and early after dropping the kids off. I hope everyone had a good weekend.

QueenJess

Some very small money wins today... went into town for my eye check and then did the list of things I'd been collecting together.  Just common sense to do them all at once, but DH thinks I am mad and "too organised".  I did enjoy my walk around JL and found a lovely bedspread, but too expensive for me to justify spending any money on at the moment.  We have a solution anyway... I take the blanket I use on the sofa upstairs each night.  Yes, looks rubbish, but it is functional.

Got a few present bits I had planned for in town and also managed to pause my contact lens subscription as I already have about 6 months worth of lenses.  Will save me £16 a month.  Managed to come back from town with nothing that wasn't on the strict list.  Just done a load of Prolific surveys and so about to cash out £20 so I can save up for car repairs.