Pay for the future and not the past

Blackcats

Your week's menu sounds yummy.  It's great to be able to put together good meals with a bit of imagination and ingenuity your £15 is going to see you through.

my daughter liked counting out frozen peas from the packet - although never once did 1 pass her lips until she was about 10 and even then she still counted out how many she was prepared to have on her plate.

MissRikkiC

That’s so funny @Blackcats We hide a lot of veg in our food as my daughter does pick stuff out if she finds it. Tonight was rosemary springs. 6 of them, individual leaves may I add. I let her off for that. 

MissRikkiC

Well our last £15 was spent in lidlll this week with a meal plan for the week ahead. I have since of course lost said meal plan as it was on the same paper as my shopping list but I’m confident I’ll be able to figure it out when I look at what I’ve got in. 

From memory; from tomorrow
Sausage mash red onion jous and red cabbage
Chili and rice from the freezer 
Meatballs and spaghetti 
Savoury rice stuffed peppers 

okay I’m stuck now. I’ll have to check the fridge! 


I struggle a little when funds are low as I’m keen to get a lot of protein in (more than the 50/60g a day that’s recommended) as I lift heavily at the gym 4/5 days a week. This makes cheap shopping weeks difficult, but not so difficult that it’s not achievable. Due to breastfeeding and my training hobbies I get away with eating a high number of calories (2600+ more some days) so when the cheaper protein sources are what’s available, the fact that they’re usually heavier is carbs or fats than just lean protein isn’t a huge issue. I increased my egg consumption last week and boy did it make me feel poorly for a few days. I bloated like I was still pregnant and almost had a sore stomach so back to just the one a day now. Protein powder which I’ve supplemented with since I was about 18 really helps! 

Can’t wait to shop this coming Friday! My cupboards and freezer need it!

MissRikkiC

November is well and truly over and that last week of budget was hard work. Never the leas we managed and I feel DH is much more on board these days. 

We’ve made the decision to switch to disposable nappies (at least for the winter) as the cost to TD them is just astonishing. My TD takes approx 3 runs at 3.5 hours each to dry a load, and I calculated yesterday, with general household sockets on too it’s approx £0.25p p/h to run. Plus the cost to wash them, with a load every other day it’s just not cost effective. 56 nappies in Morrisons cost me £2.99 the other day so it’s a no brainier really. We’ve saved 2.5 years worth of nappies going to landfill for I feel happy with my decision to have a break for now. 

Bargains achieved last week at M&S as their chicken was yellow stickered and we got 15% off then a further 20% so we filled the freezer. 

Christmas decorations are slowly going up at home, my eldest is enjoying the process so much and it’s really quite magical. I always miss mum at this time of year, she was the biggest lover of Christmas and I got a touch emotional when Michael Buble came on the other day. I do wish she was still here. 

Blackcats

Bittersweet for you, making magical memories with your children and missing your mum.  My mum always made a Christmas cake and although I don't even like Christmas cake I'd give anything to have a slice of it this year. 

Disposable nappies seem like a sensible, practical choice for the winter.

Bluegreen143

I think that makes a lot of sense to switch nappies. Am I right in understanding that it takes your drier 3x 3.5 hours to dry one load or did I totally read that wrong?? I’m now thinking you meant 3 loads a week of nappies in the drier but 3.5hr still seems long… For comparison, we run the drier for 2hr to dry a load and it’s fully dry. When we cloth nappied we did wash 3x a week too. Might be worth checking in case there’s an issue with your drier and it could be drying faster once fixed? 

MissRikkiC

You understood correctly. We use bamboo nappies and they take an age to dry! So about 10 hours per load, 3 times a week! 😳🤯 

I have baileys to drink which was her favourite so I have also been enjoying that whilst listening to Mr Christmas himself @Blackcats ❤️ I’d be making that Christmas cake whether I liked it or not. The smell would be enough to invoke lovely memories ❤️

Suffolk_lass

Oh my! I had a thing pop up in memories and I made 11 Christmas cakes in 2014. I am going to have to make one now @Blackcats. I shall boil the fruits, cherries, chopped nuts, juice, zest and maybe some of the brandy, to make it mature more quickly than normal. I keep reading boiled fruit cake recipes because I have left it so late but I shall stick to the classic Delia recipe (but with pecan nuts instead of almonds. And it might be a half-recipe size

Bluegreen143

@MissRikkiC in that case I certain can’t blame you for switching to disposables, that’s a LOT of energy use in this current high prices. You can switch back in the warmer weather when you can line dry?

We used a mix of nappies, mainly bamboo too, but did only find it took 2hr or 2.5hr max to dry each load. I’m guessing we have a more efficient tumble drier than you… thing is, even if a new tumble drier would be much more efficient, it’s not always cost effective to replace when you take into account the cost of the appliance. Disposables sounds like best compromise for sure! 

enthusiasticsaver

Makes sense to use disposables to save on electricity. I rarely use my TD but I tend to soften towels just by running it for 20 minutes to finish off drying them after they have almost dried on an airer. Would that work with the nappies or is it lack of space that makes you dry them fully using the TD?