Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

South_coast

P.S. Or on Vinted! Can't believe I forgot that one 🤣🤣🤣

newgirly

Hi sc, yes maybe 😊 that’s kind of the idea of moving his equipment and giving it and the work to someone else, so maybe in the future he can start doing it again. It would be suitable for that sort of thing, and items people may actually want rather than tat I’ve tried to make , I’m not very artistic but can sew books 😬

Yesterday he was trying to help arrange them moving some of the equipment to the new premises and a few bits of ours that he’s giving away. The guy taking it is not exactly pro active and has not offered to pay to move it yet. I don’t think dh can bear to have to pay to scrap it though (needs specialist equipment to do either) so dh and I have had words 😳 If this guy wants the work and machines in exchange for dh being able to pop in and work from there when he wants then he needs to get organised I say, end of the day it’s up to dh though. There was also talk of leaving it in the factory after the move if he’s not ready which I strongly oppose, we need it empty and newly decorated to rent it. This moving is getting a little stressful lately 😳 Today he is off to discuss a job offer with the best company in his trade in the country, he’s already said he’s defiantly not working there but they may want him to continue a little work he currently does for them but privately. 

I’m other news my grocery budget is running out 😩 I don’t know what’s going on? Were we actually spending far more than I realised before perhaps or have I got lazy… Dh has been eating well on whatever m@s have yellow stickered when I visit 😆 as I go a couple of times a week first thing in a big store there’s usually a few different bits, I don’t mean ready meals or prepared veg as that’s still dear, but say half price chicken in a foil tray dishes, posh burgers,  sausages, fish in breadcrumbs etc. items are still usually under £3 and I eat things like salad then cereal or picky plates with olives, feta and veg sticks with bread so it’s not steak and caviar. I don’t buy crisps, biscuits, cakes , icecream etc, as I can’t be trusted so I don’t know where it’s going really or is  £10 a day out of touch now? I have blown extra this month in dds birthday I suppose, some Prosecco and cakes, plus a got her some of that liquid coffee and bought her, SIL and I all those strawberry sarnies , that’s probably not helped 😆

I guess I’ll keep tracking and see if it needs to be upped a little, hopefully not though, I feel summer is dearer than winter (I’m not growing anything this year) as I’m more likely to batch cook hot dinners in the slow cooker and I think they are naturally cheaper types of food. 

themadvix

I think feta and olives (especially if from M&S) and £3 for the protein element of one meal is going to add up to quite a lot NG - depending on how much you’re eating of course. We manage pretty easily on £300/month (which I assume is what you’re budgeting?) - haven’t yet run out (and usually have some to save for entertaining) and in the summer with the allotment it’s half that. (And it’s nearly all organic/bought from independent shops, so not as cheap as cheap supermarkets) But Mr MV doesn’t eat meat very much at home (although we’ll have fish at least twice a month). I think picky bits is probably more expensive than you realise! (And are you getting the nutrition you need from it?) Will DH eat veggie meals? Cooking meals you will both eat should definitely save you money. 

Greying_Pilgrim

newgirly - I don't know if £10 a day is out of touch, but I do know it's jolly difficult to stick to now, irrespective of whether you're shopping the 'discounters', or YS'd elsewhere - it's hard work to consistently meet budget.

I'm glad you mentioned not buying biscuits, cakes and ice-creams - it's entirely the reason why I try ever so hard not to buy them; if they're here, I eat them 😔But it bit me on the bum this week, as there was nothing 'nice' for visitors.  It's a dilemma ☹️

Keep on keeping on though - at least we're all talking about it and gaining ideas and support from each other, or even agreeing that costs have increased.  We're not alone, others are encountering the same thing at the till.

Greying X

Watty1

My budget went south when we started having what we call "picky bits" for M and S stores.  They make for a lovely evening meal on a hot day but I realised it was tearing through my budget, so will need to rethink this as the stress levels around the house drop.

South_coast

If you're shopping daily then I don't think that's helping either, as you're not getting the gains from planning a full week of food. Rather than buying one meal's worth of chicken for under £3, you could buy a whole chicken for £5(?) and get loads of meals for DH from it with a bit of planning 

KajiKita

Make your own 'picky bits'? So maybe a pasta or rice salad that you could eat alongside other things (e.g. grilled halloumi, hard boiled eggs etc.) for a couple of days each? 

Perhaps we could understand more about what 'picky bits' are? 

KK

newgirly

Hi guys thanks for the comments 😊

So my picky bits probably sound more extravagant than they are 😆 today I had celery, carrot and cucumber sticks, plus about 50g of feta (aka Tesco value salad cheese) and a flatbread out the freezer from a yellow stickered  m@s a pack, a couple of pickled onions plus some olives which are the cheaper small black ones in a jar. Dessert was a weetabix and a small apple ( not the same time 😆) an odd mix I know! That’s pretty standard at the moment I’d say really, I might occasionally have houmous but only every few weeks. 

Maybe I need to track how much is actually going on food , I have bought a few extras this month 🤷‍♀️

Watty1

suddenly i feel totally extravagant/wasteful with my "picky bits"   which at the last outing was a tub of potato salad, a tub of coleslaw, a box of ready chopped up salad, some cold meats (beef and ham) and a little tub of chickpeas in garlic, some hummas and a couple of sausage rolls. Admittedly it did us for a few days but  I'm not even going to mention the bill just shuffle off in shame. 

TallGirl

I love a picky tea as well and we have an M&S petrol station very near us. We try to limit ourselves to when there is a TooGoodToGo bags. Only problem is when they just contains the sausage baps etc that has not been sold on the BP side those are not nice and you often get 4 and that's it.