From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

in_need_of_direction

As far as possible, I saved loyalty points for an end of January splurge.  It really helped with the last week. This was when there were at least 4 at home and sometimes others to shop for so they mounted up.

Greying_Pilgrim

in_need_of_direction said:

As far as possible, I saved loyalty points for an end of January splurge.  It really helped with the last week. This was when there were at least 4 at home and sometimes others to shop for so they mounted up.

That's good thinking inod - sometimes we'll do that for Christmas won't we, or join a savings club, and yet it's possibly more needed in January - especially if you've been paid early in December and not been able/chosen to not touch, that pay.  Sometimes people don't always choose to blow money in December, but if there was a built-in cushion for January, that could help.  daisy needs to get Martin promoting her scheme in time for next January! 😁 MSE'rs methods to the rescue!

Greying X

EssexHebridean

Our January thing has always been ensuring that we have something "nice" planned to do - ideally mid month - to just relieve what can feel like what a drab month a bit. This year it was the Theatre visit, in other years we've tried to plan a weekend (or even just a night) away somewhere or whatever. 

badmemory

Before I retired I worked for a co whose headoffice was 300 miles down south.  They used to have their xmas do at the end of January.  That was always something to look forward to.  A few of us realised that having it then saved them a lot of money but it still was a good idea.  January never seemed quite as bad or lonog.

KajiKita

I save all my grocery points for a shop in January - I think that's why we are comfortably below budget this month (though probably not by as much as the voucher were worth .... 🤔)

 The other thing we do is purposefully not have a takeaway over the Christmas period - far too busy, food is either poor quality or cold and very late for pick up - but we have one in January instead

KK 

Greying_Pilgrim

I think that's a nice thing to do EH, and even an overnight stop is becoming a luxury - so definitely a nice thing to look forward to.  And yes, mid-month is just the fillip you need 😁

In many ways this January hasn't been too bad for us, it's been a little bit strange at times, but that's probably one-off incidents that could have occurred anytime, so no need to associate them with a bleak month weatherwise.  But I think all your ideas of having 'something' to cushion, look-forward to, attend, banish the gloom or just make things a bit more jolly (factor in the extra spend on electrickery to keep the fairylights on! 😉) are all wonderful.  And give me as much pleasure to read about as to do!

So I've done the mini-shop.  I will total up my spend, which is more than I intended, but I bought a couple of extra bits that i wasn't intending.  There was no yoghurt in hB, but I got some from MrS instead, so we won't go without.  I remembered to dig out the kit that has got to go back to MrL, with the receipt, and then promptly forgot to put it in the car with me 🙄 Never mind,  I'll try again sometime.  I'm assuming that you have to take MrL things back to the same MrL? (it was YS'd).  I was pleasantly surprised the other week at being able to return a chazzer shop buy to 'any branch', which helped as I was in Greying Town one day, and the market town along the way the next, and was refunded no bother.  I think I spent in the region of £15, but will dig out my receipts to double check.  

Gosh there is a little robin in the tree in my eye-line.  I know it's a robin, as it's doing that ducking bob that they do, but otherwise, all you can see is his bright, bright red chest against the bleak brown of the tree twigs.  

Greying X

Baileys_Babe

Greying_Pilgrim said:

I'm assuming that you have to take MrL things back to the same MrL? (it was YS'd). 

I would of thought you could return it to any Lidl as you have the receipt.

Blackcats

We plan our team Blackcat works do for January.  It's just the two of us - I'm Head of Finance, Procurement and Organising and MrBC is Chief Operating Officer, IT Support and Household waste management manager.  As we no longer work we treat ourselves to a looking back/looking forward AGT (Annual General Treat) which includes not very secret Santa gifts to the value of £10.
this year we went to a charity concert which has a different surprise line up each year.  This year the very famous Brown Eyed Girl singer gave his time to perform in aid of the charity.  It was such a lovely surprise to see him at our local venue and to hear from the organisers that he is one of their most generous benefactors.

Greying_Pilgrim

Baileys_Babe - thank you, I shall give that a go then, unless there is something that I frantically need from t'other side of town. I'll try our local branch and report back.

Blackcats - that's super!  And such a great distinction of roles 😁 Funnily enough, DH mentioned a family summit to discuss "wot we all need to achieve/have fun doing this year", so maybe we'll have our very own works do and outing(s) too 😁  So good that that man the van is 'under the radar' supportive.  Love that quiet philanthropy.  I bet it helps more folk that having the school squash courts named after you 🙄

I still haven't totted up my spends, sigh, not a very good CFO, am I? 🤣

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Damp start with us, and I think it is actually raining at the mo.  

I have updated my siggie figgie, and I'm quite pleased where we're at in terms of spend/month.  However, thinking about it, whilst we're not lushes, and don't buy masses of alcohol, I have only bought one..... maybe 2 bottles of red wine this month.  Everything else has come from either what we bought, or were given at Christmas time.  Now, we didn't buy loads and were gifted 2 bottles of wine, and DH got given some tinnies.  But there is little alcohol spend in this months figures, and it does make a difference.  I was pleased that the gifted wine was at least drinkable - it was 4 parts vinegar last year 😵‍💫We do still have beer left - no need to glug that, as the Six Nations is just around the corner 🏉YAY!  But I wanted to be transparent, as I don't honestly think I could manage eg £200 spend each month with any form of alcohol spend.  We're not massive drinkers, but do enjoy wine with tea -  weekends only usually.  And I think I said at the time, when I bought the beer (on offer in MrM) it was no more than what something like 4 or 5  beers (London prices) would cost out, so again, it's a relatively low spend.  

Tea last night was 'dirty rice', which was made using bits and pieces from stores.  I made a sausage version, using the l1nda Mc 'chorizo style' sausages, and some of the rice I'd cooked in bulk the other day.  I put in a base of onion, celery and garlic, cooked that up and then added tomatoes.  I removed the cook sausages and cut them up into 'coins' and deglazed the pan by putting in a tub of cooked, hot rice to soak up the paprika'd oil that was left - adding flavour and colour to the rice.  I threw in some frozen mixed veg into the tommie sauce and let it cook/heat through and then added various herbs and spices, and mixed.  Combined it with the sausages and rice, and boom - dirty rice.  LG was wanting to help last night (🤔 should I be worried, they did their homework too....... 🤔) and did plenty of stirring, monitored the sausages and opened the chopped tomatoes tin - although they didn't quite get the hang of the opener, so I showed them how to 'puncture' the tin, and then let them complete it on their own, which they did.  

We all had yoghurt for pud.  

We will definitely be having soup and pud for tea today.  I might do spotted "Richard", as LG asked me what it was last night - I think it must be mentioned in HP - I don't think they've read any of the other 'lashings of custard and a slab of cook's spotted "Richard"', style books recently 🤔  I could make the pud in the SC, and the soup in the PrC, try to keep energy costs to a min.

Funnily enough Ms Blyton's tomes have had a bit of a renaissance haven't they?  Famous Five has been re-dramatised, and am I making it up, or has Mallory Towers been done too?  Maybe not all on the beebeecee, but I'm sure I saw something about an episode somewhere, and LG showed me a book cover from MrT that they'd spotted - it was famous 5, but with a very very updated/cartoony cover.  Mind EB's stories haven't necessarily aged that well.  Although the concept of a mother, trying to keep hearth and home, whilst clearly down on her uppers hasn't gone away.  But how come these mothers always moved into houses next door to pipe-smoking, dashingly handsome bachelor ex-spitfire pilots, or multilingual special agents?  And then, Dear Reader, she married him..... oh no, wrong genre! 🤣

Anyhoo, LG loves all sorts of books, so anything that I can do to support that love, I'll certainly try.  

I forgot to say, I bought a carton of flavoured oat milk in hB yesterday.  It was in a funky tetra-pak carton, there was peach (I think - or it may have been apricot), matcha and berry flavours on offer.  I picked the berry.  LG tried it, but didn't like it.  I thought it was like milkshake, but then the taste went very 'candy-like', so like sk1ttles, or that type of not quite based in reality fruit flavouring.  I'm not sure I'd buy it again, but the packaging was very 'simple lines' and appealing - especially for an age demographic mucho, mucho younger than I.  

Greying X