Trying to Save

This week we are having:

- paprika chicken with noodles
- spaghetti in a tomato, garlic and basil sauce
- chicken curry with rice

I'm expecting to have leftover spaghetti. I will make rice pudding once or twice this week for desert.

I just added up my savings from my shopping trips (some food and my cousin's birthday present) this week. £2.97 saved just by using my colleague discount card. I sent a payment to CC1. That brings my total snowflakes this month to £10.59.

Today I spent £6.72 at the local shop. £2.90 of that was for a mother and baby magazine which I only bought because it had a free book and toddler meal ideas. I could have went to the library for a book and googled meal ideas. I never buy any magazines though so it's not like this is a regular occurrence. I also bought a 500g pack of short grain pudding rice. I've never made rice pudding before so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I'm always complaining to hubby that we never have desert so this should keep me happy for a while.

Hubby is picking up a bulk buy box of washing powder from work today. That will be £16 (after discount) It should last us months though. We've only been buying the smaller boxes of washing powder.

I impulsively made beef casserole a few nights ago. Hubby reminded me that there was beef in the fridge and asked me what I was making. I threw together some veg, stock and a bit of soy sauce. I also used the dumpling mix which I'd bought a few weeks ago from Poundland. I made some mashed potatoes to go with it.

I wish I could think of a better title, other than "meal planning" but that's what this is. Oh well.

I will make:

- chicken cacciatore with rice
- easy tuna pasta
- fish with potato wedges
- leftovers

I've never made chicken cacciatore before. Here's the link:

http://resourcefulcook.com/recipes/view/wb7xv-chicken-cacciatore

I'm making mine with chicken breasts instead of legs because I haven't got any. I don't need to buy anything to make this. I can't wait to make it.

I just added up my savings. I saved £2.62 using my discount card so I sent a payment to CC1. £7.62 so far this month of snowflakes, but £5 was using coupons.

I'm browsing resourceful cook website just now trying to plan next week's meals.

Hubby wanted a subway this week but I didn't give in.

I had a cheque to deposit at the bank today. It was my road tax refund. It's been sitting here for a few months so I had to deposit it soon or I would have missed my chance (I had six months from the date given) This money should make up for £40 spent on anti-virus.

The bank is at the shopping centre. While there I bought nappies and milk. I had a £1 off coupon for the nappies. It was my last one for that brand and it had to be used soon. I think we're sorted for the month now. Spent £6. Also went to a pound store to buy tea bags, ending up buying a pack of sweets there too. Found a card for 29p for my friend's little girl and a card for my cousin for 59p.

I haven't totaled up my snowflakes yet. I'm usually so good with them. I'm sure today I saved £1.80 but I will double check that, I've got all of the receipts in a compartment in my bag since my purse was getting too full. I really need to clear it out.

I made a batch of minestrone soup for SG. I also made moroccan-style chickpea soup. We will be having that later for dinner with grilled pitta breads. If we really like it I have enough to make the same again next week. Depending on leftovers we may have it another night.

Hubby bought in a chilled cookie mix a few weeks. It expires this week so I'm going to make it tomorrow. I really need to try baking cookies from scratch though. That will be next on my list.

I was thinking about the situation at work (getting asked to take unpaid days, a holiday or leave early) It used to only happen in January after Christmas. It's been like this for the past month. I'm glad I've already reduced my hours because I can see that being a possibility in the future. They've never asked before though, however, it's never been this bad.

Today is the end of my working week so I have a few days to spend with hubby and SG, since hubby took some extra holidays.

I spent £9.xx after work on groceries. I only meant to buy yogurts for me and hubby but I ended up buying reduced sausages (£1.33 for 12), two packets of crumpets (30-something pence) and reduced pancakes. I also bought some reduced snacks. I know, I'm bad when it comes to reduced items - I didn't need to buy them but they will get used up. I also bought a pack of fresh coriander for 22p. I'm going to put in into a freezer bag tomorrow then freeze for a later date.

Saved £1.07 using my discount so need to add that to CC1.

Work was strange. It was mentioned a few times today that if anyone wanted to go home - taking it either unpaid or using a days holiday - they could. I've already taken an unplanned days holiday for them so I'm not using them up, and I definetly cannot afford to take a day off unpaid. Most people I know are in exactly the same situation. It's getting worse, it never used to be this bad.

I'm trying to spend as little as possible this month. So I was pleased when hubby said that MIL had brought over some food from her work (she gets it for free, otherwise it gets thrown out) She brought scones, about a dozen rolls, sandwiches, haggis and black pudding. Hubby had the last two since I hate them both. I'm taking one of the sandwiches to work tomorrow, possibly a scone too. The bread that I bought will most likely end up in the freezer while we work through this stuff.

I have some snowflakes to add to my credit card: £5 from using coupons and more than £1 from using my discount card. This month there will probably be less snowflakes since I am aiming to spend as little as possible.

I made pasta ratatouille bake tonight. We had loads left over so we will have it tomorrow too.

Next week we will have:

- pasta ratatouille bake
- moroccan-style chickpea soup
- macaroni
- fish and chips

I also found a basic flapjack recipe so I will try that out.

http://britishfood.about.com/od/eorecipes/r/flapjack.htm

I will spend as little as possible.

Today is payday and I've already spent £40 that wasn't in the budget for anti-virus. I need to get a birthday present for my 7 year old cousin too. Also, my friend's little girl is turning one and we've been invited to the party. I told her I would go but that will only be if we get transport sorted since we no longer have a car.

I'm going to decide our meals for next week tonight. I'll post my meal plan later. I'm considering trying to make flapjacks or something similar to take to work since I buy a box of cereal bars every week to take to work.

During April I put £9.83 worth of snowflakes towards credit card debt. This was money from savings using either coupons or my discount card. I'm sure March was less than this but I ended up using it - therefore ruining all of my hard work. I haven't used it all this month.

Hubby told me that a reminder about our anti-virus expiring popped up onto the screen recently. I'll need to check how much it is. I made sure not to tick the auto-renewal box when I paid for it last year (with my credit card I think)

We're both on holiday so I haven't been meal planning as such - well not blogging about it anyway. I think it's because I'm not as worried because I'm at home. However, I did read Patient Saver's lamb stew recipe and it sounds delicious

I paid £4.63 to CC1 - my biggest snowflake yet. This was from coupons and my discount.

DH and I are off work next week. It's my mum's 50th so we're taking her out for lunch. I've bought almost all of her presents in - pyjamas and chocolates, just need to get flowers. I also bought a frame which will be from SG with her picture in it. We're going to print out the picture at home.

I'm away to read everyone's blogs now!

It's been a whole week since my last entry.

I managed to lose a receipt a few days ago. I spent about £10 buying ingredients for a recipe for chocolate fudge cake for my mum's birthday, so I saved about £1. I paid £1.63 to CC1. I'm going to practice making it tonight, then I will replace the chocolate and butter that I've used.

The chicken and spinach pasta bake that I was planning on making turned into cheese and broccoli pasta when I found a whole broccoli that needed using up. It was nice. I didn't have chicken in the house anyway so i would have had to buy it.

I set up Faster Payment through my bank for CC1. This will make making extra payments easier, and also quicker too. It currently takes two days for my debit card payment to be processed, I'm sure by using Faster Payment it will hit my account the same day.

I took SG to get weighed yesterday. She is a dainty little baby. She is 16lb 8oz. I was a bit worried about her weight gain but she's gained a pound since her last weigh-in a few months ago, so her weight gain is steady.

After I took SG to get weighed, I went to the local shop. I almost bought an Italian meal for 2 for £5 (main pasta dish, garlic bread and tiramisu) I was tempted to buy their chicken and spinach pasta bake since it sounded nice. Well, I decided not to since I've spent a lot of money on food shopping recently. I am, however, going to find a recipe for chicken and spinach pasta bake.

I'm starting to think about next week's meal plan. I was watching Superscrimpers today, and they referenced a few websites to use to help with planning meals:

resourcefulcook.com
cheap-family-recipes.org.uk
recipes4us.co.uk

I've looked at a couple of them already, just need to decide what to make.

I also received some money off coupons for nappies which can be used within the next few months. More snowflakes. Great!

I saved £1.72 using my discount so I sent a payment to CC1.

I saved £1.50 by using coupons, and I also saved 35p using my colleague discount. I paid £1.85 to CC1.

I've not had a successful first quarter of the year. However, it can only get better from here. I'm going to find more snowflakes to put towards CC1, and, more importantly, not use it, even if I do happen to get a lot of unexpected gifts - or SG does (which is unlikely to happen)

Today was payday. I spent most of the day thinking about our meals for next week. I'm trying to have some meat-free nights. We will have:

-garden vegetable spaghetti with feta
-home-made burgers (already have mince) with salad
-leek, potato and pepper frittata

We can have leftovers on other nights. I might make soup too since we will have plenty of crusty bread. Also I can make a batch of soup for SG too.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I used my credit card again. My cousin text me saying that she had an easter present for SG. Well I had forgotten to get something for her boys so I used my card. £30 on gifts and then £18 on shopping because I was there. I am still going to try and achieve my basic goals this year, it will just take me longer now

I had to use my credit card today to put £20 into our gas meter. We've had lots of snow recently so our heating has been on more than usual. Meter was at £4 and payday is next Friday. There's no way we could have made it. I'm not happy since this is the first month that I've been snowflaking money towards this card and I've gone and used it!!

I made a payment of £2.82 to CC1. This was from snowflakes from using my colleague discount.

I saved £1.70 on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday by using my colleague discount. I made a payment to cc1 as soon as I came home. It's actually quite addictive once you start.

It was payday on Friday. Paid extra to both credit cards, my aim is to find snowflakes to put towards CC1 between now and next payday (four weeks time) When I go shopping at work I will put my discount towards CC and also if I use any coupons.

I'm still waiting on a few people letting know if they can make SG's little party. It's a week today but I told people to reply by today. I have a few more things that I need to buy. I won't be spending too much though since SG won't even know, but I do want to make it nice.

Meals this week:

- vegetable risotto with roasted tomatoes
- minute steak sandwich with salad
- baked potatoes with cheese or baked beans
- tuna and sweetcorn pasta

I'm making roast lamb for dinner tonight. There will be leftovers. Any ideas? It's the week before payday so running low on fresh veg but I do have a bag of onions, frozen peas and frozen oriental veg. Other than that, I will be making:

- lasasgne
- chicken stir fry possibly
- macaroni

It's almost March and I haven't found any snowflakes yet. I have decided that whenever I save money shopping - either from my colleague discount or coupons - I will add that to my credit cards. Not too sure whether to start with the card with the highest balance or the one with the highest interest rate. What do you guys think?

I bought invites, thank you cards and bags for SG's party. Invites and cards were £1 each for a pack of 6. I need to buy more thank you cards in. Bags were 55p each, bought two lots. I've also bought baby fruit bars and milk buttons. Wrote invites out this morning, will send them later today. I already have a pack of stamps so don't need to buy more.

I checked my email yesterday and there was an email from chef Nick Nairn about food waste. There was a link to one of his recipes to prevent food waste. Here it is: http://landing.greenerscotland.org/foodwaste-nick-nairn?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6683+Nick+nairn+Malay+Curry+recipe&utm_content=6683+Nick+nairn+Malay+Curry+recipe+CID_89f4180cd3c274969e90024e9c78800e&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=my%20delicious%20and%20easy%20Monday%20Malay%20Curry

Not too sure if the link will work but it's called Monday Malay Curry.

This week we will have, in no particular order,:

- chilli con carne with rice
- salmon with potatoes and veg
- macaroni
- leftovers for me when hubby is at work

Bus pass has not shown up so we are going to buy a weekly pass next week.

We went to a First Birthday party today. SG got a nice toy in her party bag. It's got me thinking what to include in our party bags when SG turns one next month.

Today was one of those days. Electricians were working in our building so the electricity was turned off from 8.30am until 3pm. Luckily I went to a mother and baby group with SG in the morning so that passed some time.

Later, hubby phoned me to tell me he had lost our four-weekly bus ticket on the bus. I phoned the bus company then emailed them later on too. It's unlikely we will get it back. There was two weeks left on it so anyone finding it will get two weeks free travel. I can't see anyone handing it in.

I phoned CC2 about the letter I received a few weeks ago. According to the letter, my interest rate was going to increase in April if I didn't get in touch. I didn't know my current interest rate, I found out it's 22.95% and they were going to increase it to 24.95% Well I told him to cancel the card and I'll keep my current interest rate. He did offer to leave the account open but I said no.

Phoned AA today to cancel my breakdown cover.

It's almost lunchtime, hubby at work so I'll be having leftovers.

I just checked my email. Nothing exciting. There was an email from Play saying that my order was on its way. I opened it, thinking I never ordered anything - and also haven't budgeted for it. Well, it is season 2 of White Collar which I pre-ordered about 2 years ago. They kept pushing the release date back, then back again, then again. I gave up and eventually stopped writing it as one of my future expenses because I thought it was never going to be released here in the UK. Part of me is pleased, the other part is kicking myself.

In other news, when I finished work today I spent about £1.40 on reduced meals which I put in the freezer for when I'm too tired/lazy to cook. We'll be having one of them tomorrow.

Yesterday was payday. I paid the bills and finally made a payment to the fridge freezer (only £20 so will need to pay more)

Well I bought a Dominos pizza for us. I'm still feeling bad about it as I eat the leftover pizza for lunch. The money would have been better off elsewhere but I was feeling tired and lazy so I ordered one.

It's been a few weeks since my last update. I'm on holiday from work just now so I'm trying to be as productive as possible.

First things first, my car is gone. I got £120 for it. It was the best price I could find for a twelve year old car. The money will be used to buy a four-weekly bus ticket, and the rest will be put towards SG's first birthday.

I phoned my insurance company to cancel. There's a charge of almost fifty pounds for cancelling. Next I will phone and cancel my breakdown cover. I should have done it yesterday but I spent so long on the phone to the insurance company that I didn't want to.

Last week I got a letter from CC2. They are increasing my APR. I'm going to phone and tell them not to bother. I don't use the card anyway. By refusing the increased rate, I'm agreeing not to use the card but continue to pay back the amount owed. Not a problem.