A new chapter is ....... FINALLY HERE

pennywisepoundstupid

Afternoon all, Did a big shop this morning mostly Mr Al and some bits in MR S that i couldn't get in Mr Al, spent just over £100, eek it just goes nowhere, I have £20 left in this months grocery budget, i feel a challenge coming on for next week, although it is looking cooler next week so maybe we can have soup at lunchtime instead of salad and i have plenty of tinned toms and lentils to make a batch of spicy tomato and lentil soup. Also bagged a reduced piece of pork which was half price (pulled pork rolls) and some reduced sausage.

Cleaned the house from top to bottom,wiped down kitchen cabinets, cleaned bathroom, polished, cleaned mirrors hoovered and mopped all the floors so hopefully no housework over the weekend (except washing) even conquered the ironing pile

Some money has cleared in V!nted so have withdrawn to bank account, will move to savings once cleared.

Was hoping to have tea outside tonight but it has gone cool and cloudy which is a shame. We are just having pasta and salad and then ice cream with some homemade date and walnut flapjack on the side.

Have a great weekend xx

pennywisepoundstupid

Afternoon diary, Had a busy few day working and trying to get a few jobs done around the house whilst DH was about to do heavy work. Yesterday I was in a bit of a funk with myself and made the fatal mistake of going food shopping tired and hungry. I am now £25 over this months grocery budget but its my own fault and i will draw a line under it and claw it back next month, in my defence i did get some bargains for the freezer so not all bad. 

Today has been a productive one so far and i have managed to get a few jobs ticked off the ever growing list!

Soup - bunged some sad leeks, garlic, potatoes and ham hock stock from the freezer into the the slow cooker first thing this morning and have made a very nice soup after adding some seasoning and a touch of cream it is delicious, 2 portions eaten at lunch, 2 in the fridge for tomorrow and 4 portions into the freezer for another time.
Fruit salad - rescued a couple of sad kiwis from the fridge, a couple of not so easy peelers from the fruit bowl, a couple of scrumpied apple from next door's tree and a hand full of grapes. All chopped up with a dash of fruit juice and place in full view at the front of the fridge and DD and DH have eaten half of it, why is it that if i prepare fruit it will get eaten but if i say to them there is fruit in the fruit bowl it is too much hassle to pick it up and eat.
Scones - made as an extra as i have left over cream and fancied a cream scone for after tea.
Flapjack - trying hard not to buy shop bought treats and DH loves flapjack, i try and make it a bit healthier by adding dates, chopped nuts and sunflower seeds.

Favourite white top - managed to spill pasta sauce down a lovely white top, think i have managed to get the stain out with a combo of baking soda and lemon juice.
Trainers - rubber bit at the front had started to loosen so have glued and hopefully they will be fine. (trying to stick to not buying clothes until 2025).
Garden - we have an small flower bed area next to some decking in the garden that had bedding plants i it and the dogs for some reason have taken to digging in the soil and digging up the plants, so DH brought me some slates home that have been knocking around at the farm and not going to be used, I have broken them up into large pieces and covered the flower bed, result no more digging.
Painting - a little while ago we ended up with a damp patch in the back porch, DH fixed the leaky door and the wall dried out but the paint had flaked off and looked messy, so today i scraped back the loose pain, sanded it and painted (had paint left from when it was last decorated) small job that had been put off but it looks a mikkin times better now.
Washing - yesterdays load eneded up in the dryer and was still there this morning, so that has been folded and put away, managed to wash 2 loads this morning which is currently out on the line drying, hopefully it will dry without having to put it in the TD.
Woodburner - cleaned out and laid ready to light later on, evenings are turning chilly, no CH on yet though.

Money is ticking along, redeemed £5 from pr1me 0pinions and sold a low priced item on v1nted, DH has been talking holiday for next sept/oct time, maybe Greece or Italy.

XX

pennywisepoundstupid

Afternoon diary and what a cold, damp day. Woodburner is lit and has taken the chill off the house. 

Not a huge amount achieved today, woke in the night to doggo barking, DH got up but couldn't see or hear anything and thought maybe a fox had wandered into the garden, took me ages to get back to sleep and have felt groggy all day.
Gave the porch area that i painted yesterday a 2nd coat as it looked patchy in the morning light and whilst putting the paint away i spotted some adhesive for sticking down wall paper and decided to fix a patch of wallpaper in the hallway that was unsticking.
1 load of washing done and on the airer drying, I was going to wash my bedding but will do that job tomorrow as it is supposed to stay dry and means not having to use the TD. I have a couple of items to iron but decided i wasn't getting the iron out for 2 items and they can wait until weekend when there will be a few more bits to do.

Finances are ticking along and last DD has gone out of the account today leaving an underspend of £26 (spent less on car fuel than budgeted) so have split this and sent to hols and emergency pot.
I have managed a couple of surveys but there doesn't seem to be many around today.

We seem to have a glut of eggs so have changed meal plan for today and having sausage,scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms on toast (was sausage and mash) which i am looking forward to. 

Frugal wins 
keeping warm with free wood.
Drying washing from the heat of free wood
Chooks are laying plentiful eggs.
Found 2 new pairs of fluffy boot socks in the bottom of blanket chest whilst searching for fleece winter bedding.

Take care xx

pennywisepoundstupid

Afternoon, lovely sunny start to the day and have managed to get 2 loads of washing pegged out, not sure it will completely dry but it can always be popped on the airers later when i light the stove to finish drying.

Yesterday i had work for a couple of hours,caught up with some surveys and redeemed £25 from 0pinium research, should hit account in about 3 weeks. Sold 3 items 2 on £bay and 1 v1nted, ebay money received and sent to savings.
Ended up with 2 extra for tea last night so meal plan was rejigged as i didn't have enough chicken for fajitas for 5, luckily i had a couple of whoopsied stonebaked pizzas and large bag of chicken wings in the freezer, made a batch of HM coleslaw and threw together some cajun potatoes wedges and everyone was fed. I had also made a victoria sandwich cake in the afternoon so a large portion of that got eaten as well.

This morning i popped to small town to drop off parcels at the lockers, nipped into Mr S as we needed milk, butter, bread and fruit spent £13 but used £7.50 in nectar points, new grocery budget starts today and i have upped it slightly from last month as i do think prices are still rising.
Lakeland have sent me a 20% off email voucher, need to have a look and see if they sell something that MIL has mentioned she would like for christmas, but also if i can see if there is any gifts for others. as it has a minumum spend of £50 to get the discount.

Frugal wins-
Packaging from stores for parcels
stocked up food to feed last minute guests
sunny dry weather and pegging out

Have a great weekend xx

pennywisepoundstupid

Eek this may be a braindump as i'm feeling a but on edge today, think it has resulted from yesterday being the last day of the month and no big wage went in, no money shuffle which will happen later in the month and this has set my anxiety off. I have money in my account and DD have been paid but i'm still having a wobble.
So to steady myself i've gone through the budget (all ok), sorted out the freezer, gone through food cupboards and made a rough meal plan (we have enough food for at least 30 main meals in the freezers alone). Checked what toiletries and house hold items we need and started a shopping list. I have listed a few items on £bay and v1nted, just low value items but it made me feel a bit better.

We need to eat down the freezers so i can defrost them ready for christmas, so i feel like a challenge this month to get at least the chest freezer empty.I have roughly come up with meals for what i could see in the freezer and i didn't do a full to the bottom the the big chest freezer so there will be more, this is based on feeding roughly 4 people but some evenings there is just 2 of us and others can be 5 depending on what the offsprings are up to

2 pack chicken breast - 1 curry, rice, naan
                                          1 pasta bake
1 small pack of
chicken breast               cajun or BBQ chicken
Minced lamb                 - koftas, HM flatbread salad, coucous
lamb leg                          Roast dinner
lamb shoulder                 slow cooked, mash & veg
stewing lamb                  lamb hotpot &veg
3 packs stewing beef      1 pie mash veg
                                         1 casserole roast pots veg
                                         1 mongolian beef rice or noodles
Beef brisket  (2 meals)    slow cooked, potatoes and veg, 
                                         hot beef baguette chips
pork chops                       grilled with apples jkt spud and veg
pork shoulder                   pulled pork, wedges corn on cob (leftovers for sandwiches at lunchtime)
2 packs sausages           Toad in the hole, mash veg
                                         sausage casserole jkt spud
2 packs mince beef         spag bol/meatballs
                                         cottage pie
Gammon joint                   Gammon egg fried potatoes, grilled toms and mushrooms
                                           carbonara
                                          Left overs - sandwiches at lunchtime
Rump steak                     onion rings, tomatoes.mushrooms, chips
cheese and onion pies with baked beans
cheese and ham quiche, jkt spud and salad or beans
breaded chicken goujons, served in wrap/flatbread with salad and potato wedges
battered cod chips, peas
scampi chips and peas
chicken kiev, new pots/jkt spud and veg.

There will also be 1 night a week where we have Jkt spud with beans and cheese or eggs on toast.

Also spotted some sliced turkey and ham for sandwiches, 4 small chicago town individual pizza, 4 portions of leek and potato soup, 2 boxes of fishfingers, bread rolls, cinnamon and raisan bagels and lots of frozen fruits.
We also have lots of baked beans (18 tins  ) tinned tuna, pasta sauces, pesto and tinned toms.

Kicking today off with chicken curry rice and naan bread.

satchmo1

Too late for today's curry, but a great recipe for adding protein and eye-appeal is the easiest dhal in the world. I make a big batch and freeze in portion sizes - a portion for us being a tablespoonful each.

1 onion chopped and fried in a little oil, then add all the other ingredients
2 cups of red lentils
1 stock cube (chicken or veg)
1 dessert-spoon of turmeric 
About a litre of boiling water
salt to taste at end (optional)

Bring to boil then simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Add more water towards the end if necessary, but it should be a fairly thick consistency.

pennywisepoundstupid

satchmo1 said:

Too late for today's curry, but a great recipe for adding protein and eye-appeal is the easiest dhal in the world. I make a big batch and freeze in portion sizes - a portion for us being a tablespoonful each.

1 onion chopped and fried in a little oil, then add all the other ingredients
2 cups of red lentils
1 stock cube (chicken or veg)
1 dessert-spoon of turmeric 
About a litre of boiling water
salt to taste at end (optional)

Bring to boil then simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Add more water towards the end if necessary, but it should be a fairly thick consistency.

Thanks for the recipe, i love dhal and will defo try this.

pennywisepoundstupid

Afternoon diary, shattered today after a terrible nights sleep. Really want to crawl back into bed but trying to push through and then hopefully i will sleep tonight.

Grocery shop this morning and between Mr S and Mr Al i managed to spend £103, some of that was toiletries and cleaning bits and i also stocked up on whoopsied bread, bagels and english muffins. Baking cupboard has also been stocked up and i picked up a couple of christmas food items to be put away, so not too bad really.

Dropped a bag of things off at the charity shop so good that some bits have left the house and i was really good and didn't look round just handed the bag over to the lady at the counter and walked out, picked up my prescription on the way home.

I have spent the last hour tidying the garden and getting some washing out to dry as we have a bright orange ball in the sky and thought i would make the most of the dry weather, all the garden furniture has been put away into the garage, so i guess summer is over .

Came back inside to find i have made an £bay sale so that can be packed up and DH can drop it off tomorrow on his way to the sports club.

Decided on an easy tea tonight, thinking either cheese and onion pie and beans or fish chips and peas, will see what DH wants when he gets home.

Frugal wins -
whoopsied bread and veggies
£bay sale 

pennywisepoundstupid

We need to eat down the freezers so i can defrost them ready for christmas, so i feel like a challenge this month to get at least the chest freezer empty.I have roughly come up with meals for what i could see in the freezer and i didn't do a full to the bottom the the big chest freezer so there will be more, this is based on feeding roughly 4 people but some evenings there is just 2 of us and others can be 5 depending on what the offsprings are up to

2 pack chicken breast - 1 curry, rice, naan
                                          1 pasta bake
1 small pack of
chicken breast               cajun or BBQ chicken
Minced lamb                 - koftas, HM flatbread salad, coucous
lamb leg                          Roast dinner
lamb shoulder                 slow cooked, mash & veg
stewing lamb                  lamb hotpot &veg
3 packs stewing beef      1 pie mash veg
                                         1 casserole roast pots veg
                                         1 mongolian beef rice or noodles
Beef brisket  (2 meals)    slow cooked, potatoes and veg, 
                                         hot beef baguette chips
pork chops                       grilled with apples jkt spud and veg
pork shoulder                   pulled pork, wedges corn on cob (leftovers for sandwiches at lunchtime)
2 packs sausages           Toad in the hole, mash veg
                                         sausage casserole jkt spud
2 packs mince beef         spag bol/meatballs
                                         cottage pie
Gammon joint                   Gammon egg fried potatoes, grilled toms and mushrooms
                                           carbonara
                                          Left overs - sandwiches at lunchtime
Rump steak                     onion rings, tomatoes.mushrooms, chips
cheese and onion pies with baked beans
cheese and ham quiche, jkt spud and salad or beans
breaded chicken goujons, served in wrap/flatbread with salad and potato wedges
battered cod chips, peas
scampi chips and peas
chicken kiev, new pots/jkt spud and veg.

There will also be 1 night a week where we have Jkt spud with beans and cheese or eggs on toast.

Also spotted some sliced turkey and ham for sandwiches, 4 small chicago town individual pizza, 4 portions of leek and potato soup, 2 boxes of fishfingers, bread rolls, cinnamon and raisan bagels and lots of frozen fruits.
We also have lots of baked beans (18 tins  ) tinned tuna, pasta sauces, pesto and tinned toms.

Kicking today off with chicken curry rice and naan bread.

Freezer update to keep me straight, managed to eek out 1 pack of chicken between 2 meals, chicken curry with lots of veggies, rice and naan fed 4 and pasta bake yesterday added some chorizo, mushrooms and red peppers fed 3 and there is a portion left for DH lunch today, we also decluttered a tub of icecream from the chest freezer which we had with some whoopsied melon and pineapple, at least that is 2 items now gone from the chest freezer. DD has requested fish finger butties for tea, with salad and spicy wedges so that's an easy tea.

pennywisepoundstupid

Morning all, up early and have put on a load of washing as it's supposed to be a nice day. Hopefully i can get that dry out on the line.

Took inspiration yesterday from debtfeewannabe321 and put together a visionboard, hopefully this will help going forward.
Well actually it will help as i woke up from a message from my boss offering me extra hours at work this week and had also been paid some money i was waiting for, plus a couple of sales overnight on v1nted  . Thankyou DFW321.

Plans for today are to cook up the carrots i got on offer and make into soup, make flapjack and tidy the house, I'm sure i will end up pottering and get more done but this will do to start.

Have a great day xx