Twelve Weeks to Pay 1K!!

Overthetop

Good luck Frazzmunch, I will be watching your thread too.

kizzykizzywizzy

This sounds like it's going to be an interesting thread:T like the idea of the recipes too!
I'm always looking for interesting food ideas.
You're going the right way
Good luck, will pop in from time to time to see how you are getting on:D

frazzmunch

didn't get a chance to post yesterday.....went to a friends for food, lasagne, and then came home really late!!

Today, had roast beef, yorkshires, mashed potato and roasted sweet potato, carrot and butternut squash with fresh oregano...very nice!!;)

The leftover beef I have halved, then cubed one half and cut the other into strips. The strips I have marinated in cajun seasoning and olive oil and will fry them off on tuesday and have them with rice and salsa..perhaps in tortillas...and the cubes I will make into a curry to either have on thursday or freeze...not bad..three meals from one joint and the dogs had a really nice dinner with all the bits i cut off that weren't perfect!

Paid another £50 off the 1k :j ....I have reduced my grocery money by £50 so that I can do that...it will be £150 over three months so will definatly help towards my target....

cleaned out my loft today and found a few things that i will either carboot or sell on the internet.....this diary thing is really helping to keep me focused!!

had to get a few bits from the shop today...spent another £15 out of this weeks grocery money so i have £12.50 left for the week...shouldn't be a problem...my week runs from thurs to wed so only another couple of days left and i can't think of anything i need to buy....hopefully it will stay that way and that will be another chunk off the debt :T !!

anyway, off to update sig then have a big shower and wash away the fibreglass!!! :rotfl:

Morganmoo

Hi There Just wanted to wish you luck from one Newbie to another!! I have every faith in you and am sure you will succeed, I will drop in to catch up on your news and tasty recipes, I love to try out new recipes, so Thanks in advance!!

Puppies sound adorable, bet they are good fun.

little_lily

Hi frazzmunch,

I used to work for a dog food company (by coincidence, the leading supplier of racing greyhound food in the UK!) and, for what it's worth...

Hills is a great food but a huge percentage of what you pay for goes towards their massively expensive research and development projects as well as marketing (TV and press advertising as well as enormous stands at all the dogs shows, probably a spend in excess of 100,000K at Crufts alone!) and 'maintaining goodwill' amongst the vets who sell their products (and take a very handsome margin themselves to boot!)

I'm certainly not knocking their food - it is excellent and the result of many years of research. However, i can assure you that unless you are planning a racing career for your pups, you could easily halve your feed bill by switching to a less trendy brand. For sure, maintain a high level of protein until they reach adolescence, but with Hills you are paying an awful lot for the privilege of supporting their brand.

I have three dogs of my own and wouldn't dream of feeding a super-premium brand like Hills - or Eukanuba, for that matter. Mine are fed a high protein working or racing food as pups (it's VAT-free if it's sold as a working or racing food) and then onto a 20% protein adult greyhound maintenance food (VAT-free again!) when they hit maturity.

I am happy to pay for what goes in the food, but not for 100+ staff to swan around Crufts for four days or for UK vets to be flown all-expenses-paid to attend conferences in the States!

frazzmunch

hi guys....thanks for all the support :beer: !!

Little Lilly...what food do you buy for the dogs? My puppies will never race...they were bred from retired racing greyhounds but I have had them since they were eight weeks old and apart from scaring the odd sea bird to death on the beach they only chase leaves!!! I am quite happy to change their brand of food if there is something as good on the market but I am not sure what will be best for the puppies....trouble is, I lost my last lurcher in April 07 and he was a rescue..he had been poisoned when he was a baby so had colitis his entire life and I had to keep him on gluten free food for thirteen years...he ended up developing cancer of his anal gland and had a tumour for the last three years of his life and it has kinda made me paranoid about making sure that i do everything right for these two..not that i ever did anything wrong with Moose (my lurcher) but I have horrible bereavement guilt that i just can't seem to shift!!! Any food advice would be more than welcome...I do object to paying such huge amounts for the food that they eat...I keep thinking I could keep them in roast dinners twice a day for what I pay for hills!!!

Anyway...my day has started pretty well...took the puppies for a walk this morning and they are pooped out on their duvet...DH, DS and DD are all still in bed..:rotfl: so I am just thinking about different ways to save a bit more cash!!! I honestly think I am becoming obsessed with this thing now, but at least its a good thing to be obsessed with!! Later today I am taking DD to the Broads ( I live in Norfolk so I am very close....how lucky am I !!?!!) but intending to take a picnic so no extra expense there....:T

For food tonight I am having:

Corn, Coconut, Lime and Basil Soup.....

finely slice a shallot, 1 chilli and grate a 1in peice of root ginger and gently sweat down in a little olive/sunflower oil for about 5mins. Add a couple of Kaffir Lime Leaves, approx 3/4 litre vegetable stock (I use Marigold Swiss Boullion stock..it is fab!!) and approx 4fl oz coconut milk...bring to boil, reduce heat immediately and simmer for 5 minutes. Add half a tin of drained sweetcorn, heat for five minutes. Divide between bowls, take a few basil leaves roll into cigar shape and slice thinly...scatter on top of soup and serve with homemade bread...

Hope you all have a great day!!

Mrs_Money_Penny

Just wanted to wish you luck you sound very focused so I am sure you are going to succeed your challenge. Will be reading your thread regularly. Good luck

orlao

Hi

For what it's worth:D I changed my dogs food from royal canin to autarky, £18 for 15kg saving £20 a bag. Both have similar ingredients and my dogs prefer autarky and look great on it. This for adult food but they also have a puppy version. Wagg was also recommend but it went straight through my big dog:eek: IYSWIM

Good luck with your challenge

O x

frazzmunch

thanks for that ....where do you buy that from?? I have never even heard of it...!!

both the hounds are currently lying upside down on the sofa...they just don't care that I have all of these quandries about their food!!!

hypno06

Ooh, someone else from Norfolk :j

I think you are right in your target to get one paid off at a time - it keeps it achievable, and you certainly seem to be going about it the right way.

Keep up the good work, and keep posting those recipies - they look fab!