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Archive for October, 2012

Meal planning and price increases

October 28th, 2012 at 08:07 pm

I got a letter from my power company, Scottish Power, informing me that their prices will be increasing from the start of December. Great.

As for my menu, I think this is what I will make this week:

Monday: macaroni with garlic ciabatta bread
Tuesday: herb and garlic chicken with potatoes and veg
Wednesday: sausage casserole
Thursday: tuna and sweetcorn pasta
Friday: leftovers for me (hubby at work)

Almost a NSD

October 26th, 2012 at 09:13 pm

If I hadn't paid £1 for parking today, it would have been a no-spender. Oh well, maybe next time.

My mum took me out for lunch. We had McDonald's. I haven't had one in a while, it was good. The food court was full of people. It amazes me where they get the money from. Most of the tables were families of four. That's at least £20 surely.

We have a wedding reception to go to tomorrow. The plan is not to spend a lot. Fingers crossed.

I just googled "fiscal fast" after reading NGG's post. I like the idea. Maybe I can persuade hubby that we need to do one soon? You never know.

Christmas shopping, saving on gifts

October 25th, 2012 at 09:34 am

We started Christmas shopping yesterday. I'm about halfway there. It seems to be mostly kids that I'm buying for this year.

It's MIL's birthday soon. A while ago we received a leaflet offering a personalised mug and a free t-shirt for 99p. We uploaded a pic of S to put on both the mug and the t-shirt. Mug will be given to MIL for her birthday; t-shirt for BIL for xmas.

Meal planning is still going ok. We have some leftovers in the fridge. I went to Asda the other day and spent £11 buying some more fruit, veg and tins. I think we will be ok for a few weeks. There's lots of food in our fridge, freezer and cupboards so I am determined to make it last.

Today's spending

October 21st, 2012 at 04:47 pm

Went to a baby and toddler market today. Spent £30. Got S's outfit for Christmas Day, plus a few other dresses and tops. Also got a bouncer for only £5.

Needed petrol: £20

Bought a subway after we had been to the market: £10 (impulse buy)

I decided to get tomorrow's dinner ready today since I have more time. Chicken curry is cooking in the slow cooker just now, I will reheat it tomorrow when we come home.

Shopping

October 20th, 2012 at 09:54 pm

I headed to the shops today, with my list in hand. I went alone. And I walked. It's only a twenty minute walk. My reasoning for this? If I know I'm walking home I'll buy less and I save on petrol too.

I spent £23.18. Bought a few impulse buys (multipack of chocolates that were £1 and a few tins of soup at 50p each, which DH will take to work) I got roughly half of the items that were on my list. The rest of the list can wait.

Next week's meals are looking something like this:

Monday - chicken curry
Tuesday - hot dogs with fries
Wednesday - macaroni with garlic bread
Thursday - mustard chicken
Friday - soup and a toastie? - dinner alone
Saturday - something quick, have a wedding reception in the evening

This will be my 500th entry Smile

Shopping list, payday,credit cardss

October 19th, 2012 at 04:39 pm

I've just finished writing my shopping list for when we go shopping. It probably won't be until Monday but I feel so organised doing it now. I found a recipe for bacon and sweetcorn potato cakes. I've never made them before but a lot of the stuff that I need to make them I'm either already buying, or I have it in the house. So, I'm going to try making them next week.

Today is payday. I paid my bills this morning and my credit cards.

I got a letter through from another credit card company, trying to tempt me. They are offering 16 months interest free, with a 2.5% charge for balance transfers. It's tempting to do but I don't know if I can juggle three credit card payments, two is more than enough. On the other hand, if it would save us money in the long run. I'm still thinking about it.

Meal planning

October 18th, 2012 at 02:24 pm

I'm going to start planning our meals. Tomorrow is payday. When I go shopping I want to make sure that I only get things that I need.

Tonight we are having beef pasties (free from MIL) and baked beans for dinner.

Tomorrow DH is working late so I will have whatever I can throw together. I made leek and potato soup so I could have that

Saturday we will have chicken curry, pilau rice, garlic naan and vegetable pakora. The curry and pakora are in the freezer. I bought them from the reduced section. Naan breaed was on offer at 50p.

Sunday: another late night for hubby. Possibly pie and chips for me.

Next week I would like to make:

- macaroni (need plain flour)
- chicken curry (need veg and chicken)
- hotdogs (need rolls)
- minestrone soup
- bacon cheeseburgers (told DH about LR having these so he's in the mood for them)

I need to have a look through my recipes to come up with some other ideas.

Things looking up, well sort of

October 15th, 2012 at 11:45 am

Hubby got lots of overtime.

Got a letter from the council, our council tax is now half of what they were originally saying. I think it's due to when we moved into the property.

I used my slow cooker (crock pot) for the first time at the weekend. I made chilli on Saturday. We had the leftovers for dinner yesterday. I want to try using it more in the future, think it will definetly save us money.

I have started Baby S on solids. Made a batch of food for her yesterday. I'm not buying jars of baby food for her, it's healthier and cheaper for me to make my own. She seems to be liking them so far Smile

We have a wedding reception to go to in a few weeks.
After that, it's MIL's birthday so I've been looking into cheap personalised gifts.

Another day

October 5th, 2012 at 12:11 pm

Savings has been wiped out to a measly £2. I had £70 but I had to withdraw the money because my credit card payment has increased.

My payment for tv licence got declined because I was a few pounds short. There's money in the bank now but a double payment will be taken out next month.

Next month is also when we start paying council tax. Almost £200, of course hubby will pay his half.

Hubby is going to try and get overtime next week.

Disheartened

October 3rd, 2012 at 12:21 pm

Things are bleak here. A few weeks ago we moved into our permanent new home. We didn't have any white goods so had to order them from the catalogue. Still trying to set up home now, although we did get some furniture from friends.

Moving into this new place has meant that my credit card has taken a major hit - we had to pay utilities from the old flat, I put some shopping on it. I'm going to cut it up.

I've achieved nothing this year. I don't know why I bothered to make goals at the beginning of the year. It is too depressing. I didn't even want to blog about it, but it's lying if I don't.