- Chicken enchilidas
- Leek and potato soup with crusty bread
- Baked potatoes with beans and cheese
- Omelette/frittata with chips

I saved £1.30 using coupons and then 10p using my discount card so I sent a payment to the credit card.

Used my catalogue reward money to order my friend's birthday present. It was £9 but free to me.

I spent £5.xx shopping yesterday, will need to find my receipt.

- Fish with homemade chips and peas
- Beef burger pasta (plenty of leftovers)
- Tomato soup

We've also got a lot of rolls and sandwiches to use up. We will have them for lunch/with dinner this week.

My total snowflakes for July are £9.23. I've done better but I can't complain. However, I don't know how much longer I can keep it up since we are in a dire situation here.

This is DH's second pay since reducing his hours by 5hrs/wk (£100 four-weekly) At the beginning of the month I had to give him money out of savings to cover his shortfall, so I thought he was ok. Nope, he went into his unauthorised overdraft and was charged £5/day. Fine will be taken out either this month, or next. Well we've got the same problem this month. Tomorrow we're going to go over hubby's outgoings with a fine-tooth comb. (We don't have a joint account) Well, hopefully we will. The problem is that he doesn't know exactly what is coming out of his account, whereas I do. Hubby is currently working a nightshift after being at work all day (nobody was in) so he might not be alert enough to discuss but it needs to happen. It's stressing me out.

I also have a shortfall of roughly £50 in my budget, although I'm not as worried since I can - hopefully - alter my variable expenses to spend as little as possible.

Wish me luck for the next four weeks. I'm going to stretch our pennies as far as they can go. I had leftover pasta for dinner, and hubby will finish it tomorrow.

I forgot to meal plan. Off to do that now.

For those that are interested, the Royal Baby is on its way. Kate was taken to hospital three hours ago.

This week I received money that I had been saving from my pay every four weeks (£640). The money was from company shares. This money will be used to:

- buy a carpet for our room
- pay for trip to England to visit DH's grandpa
- towards debt

I want to do some shopping around before we buy a carpet so we get the best deal. I'm going to have a look online then we're going shopping tomorrow.

I put some of the money towards my catalogue so I only have £69 left of the fridge freezer to pay. I will pay half when I get paid next week, and the rest in August. I also gave hubby money towards his credit card since he was over the limit!!

I checked online for train tickets, and we can get a return for £41. Of course, we haven't picked actual dates yet or spoken to his Grandpa so these were just random dates in September that I picked.

Ideally, I would love to keep some money in savings but it might be a bit unrealistic.

Now I know the whole point of a meal plan is to be specific but my freezer really needs defrosting, and we have some stuff that's been in there a while. So this week I will try to use that up. We will be having:

- filled pasta with wedges
- vegetable pasta/risotto
- toasties/wraps with chips
- fish pie with veg

Also, I've been thinking more about my grocery budget, and maybe where I shop is the problem. So next pay I'm going to get some stuff from Farmfoods. I noticed on their leaflet that they sell the cereal bars that I've been buying from the pound store for 89p. That's an 11p saving, there must be other stuff too. I'm going to investigate.

I've overspent on groceries by £5.46 so far. Two weeks to go and we will need more milk at some point, and bread too. I think I will budget more next month for groceries and less in another category.

I counted up my snowflakes: £5.93. I've got some direct debits coming out soon though so I'll make the payment once they're paid.

I budgeted £40 for nappies and baby snacks for SG. Spent £27.35 so far and this includes a pair of sandals and a top for £3.

I work for a large retail company. I would be lying if I said that we had a lot of staff (in my dept anyway) Whenever people leave, they're not replaced. Which was ok, at first. A year later or so though, it's not so fine. I think some full-time colleagues may have been complaining because it was brought up today. What was basically said was that the reason the company doesn't replace them is because they are investing the money elsewhere [to bring customers in] Nobody said a word. In fact, I think it wasn't mentioned again.

In other news, I read in the paper this morning that £5.8m is being invested in Scotland after Andy Murray's success. I found a link to a detailed article if anyone's interested:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23238125

It was 20 degrees Celsius here, roughly, which frankly is enough for us. I don't know how my fellow SA bloggers manage to survive in the extreme heat you have - this is a cold day for you guys I bet!! Well, here, we are useless. We complain that we don't have the sun and when it's here we complain.

We were out in MIL's garden yesterday with SG but we had to bring her inside a lot because it's just too much for her - plus she hates wearing her sun hat.

This week I will make:

- five bean chilli with wedges/rice (never made it last week)
- chicken in a garlic and herb sauce with potatoes and veg
- risotto

I'm really close to using all of my grocery budget so I'm hoping to spend as little as possible. How did this happen? Well, because I'm not used to us having nice weather we never have ice cream in the house. This means when we do go to the shop to get it I'm usually feeling tired and hungry and I end up buying other stuff such as BBQ chicken wings and spicy chicken thighs. We finished the last of them tonight. Maybe I should pay more attention to the weather forecast in future and buy these things in advance! It could have been worse, well that's what I keep telling myself. We spent £20.11 in the shop and £8 was for nappies.

My shopping came today. I've spent about £70 of my £100 grocery budget. But the fridge, freezer and cupboards are full. The only things I may need to buy are a few fresh items. I've lost my receipt from the butcher's but I know I spent £11.xx there.

Waiting on my new credit card statement so I can make a payment for this pay period. I also want to start putting snowflakes towards debt again.

This is hubby's first pay with his new hours. £100 less than it used to be. Maybe I'm trying to get too much done, put towards debt, especially with less income. But, in my opinion, I'm saving myself money in the future by dealing with debt now. I just hope it works out. I'm going to track every penny for the rest of this pay period.

We were given some free food from a local cafe at the weekend so I made the steak pasta today. It was food that was going to get thrown out otherwise. We ate it over the weekend, but we still have some sandwiches left.

Next week I will make:

- five bean chilli with rice
- mozzarella pasta bake
- minced beef with cheesy tortillas

I'm expecting to have leftover chilli and mince.

This weekend I am making minute steak pasta in a tomato sauce.

I've budgeted £100 for food shopping and £20 for household items.

I've spent just over half of my food budget for this pay period.

Tomorrow is payday so I'm currently writing my shopping list while meal planning. I've already decided that I want to use my slow cooker a few times over the next four weeks. Just need to find a few recipes.

I will also start tracking how much we spend on household items over this pay period. I think this will be interesting since I've never done it before.

Lastly, I will start snowflaking again. I already have a few coupons which I am going to use for items which we need.

Today I was thinking about my grocery budget. I include all things household in this. Now I'm thinking it's time to budget specifically for household items, rather than including it in my food shop? I'm thinking maybe £20 or so for household items would be reasonable. I'll add it to my budget next month and see. Of course, now I will actually be paying attention to what I'm spending on these items whereas normally I would just count them as "food". Hope this makes sense.

I've had a chance to think about our meals for the week too. I'll make sausage casserole, pork with potatoes and veg and baked potatoes with beans. I'm expecting leftovers.

The grocery budget that is. I budgeted £100, which is more than normal, only to find that we have spent more.

I think things are so bad this month after this overspending that I am considering not snowflaking towards debt for the next three weeks. I will pay more than the minimum payment for CC1, which is £74.xx. I will pay £90. I know, how am I ever going to get rid of it if I don't put as much as I can towards it?

On the plus side, there is plenty of food in the house. The only things I will need to buy are perishable items. I just need to decide what I will be making for the next three weeks.

I promised hubby a steak for Father's Day but we will have to postpone it.

I've been watching Extreme Couponing these past few weeks. Wish I could go shopping and save 90% or pay nothing for it. I guess you need to devote 20 hours plus a week to get those kind of savings, and have plenty of storage space (or not, in some cases, but continue to build up your stockpile)

I found myself browsing what's the cost website earlier. I entered my details for it to reveal an expected payoff date for CC1 of June 2015!! This is based on me paying £90 a month (minimum is actually lower) According to them, my minimum payment will not reach £60 ish until it is practically paid off. Not what I like to "hear". Of course I didn't add my snowflakes to this since they vary.

CC2 payoff date is worse, obviously. Sometime in 2018.

All of this is based on using the snowballing method.

Now that I've registered and saved my details I will be checking back occasionally.

That's it. Rant over.

Totaled up my recent discounts from shopping: £3.24 so sent a payment to credit card.

Total snowflakes for May (best yet!): £16.35

This is based on savings from coupons and my colleague discount. It's mostly from coupons though this month.

Noticed that there was a Money Day at my local family centre this week. It's aim was to "provide a range of advice including: advice on energy bills, budgeting tips and advice" I never went, I just seen it advertised. I guess they think people need help.

The other day I read in the paper that payday loans were being given to drunk people and children.

I was fully intending to post this week meal plan today until MIL showed up with two carrier bags full of stuff from her work. My freezer is now full of paninis, wraps and rolls. My fridge now has half a haggis (for hubby), wraps and paninis, plus all the veg and meat I already had in there. Also we were given a ready meal for two so we will have that tomorrow night when I'm home from work.

Hubby found a packet of jelly in the cupboard today so I made that up to have after dinner.

Made hubby's father's day card at baby group today, so that's that sorted. It took me a few attempts to get SG to put her hand on to the card, it's not perfect but I know hubby will appreciate it. Today was a NSD. Could do with having more of them.

Hubby's contract might be changing very soon - he will be working about five less hours a week. He's happy to work less so he can see us more. I'm not too sure but it will be good to have him home more when I'm off. We definetly need to watch our spending when his new hours start. It's not like we're bad to be honest but there will be no splurges.

I'm awaiting a letter soon about my Sharesave. I've been saving for three years. I'm not sure how much I will get, this is my first time getting it. People at work are saying that the letter should come through soon. The money will be used for getting carpets and some storage space since we have been here for almost nine months and we still don't have a carpet in our bedroom. But things take time.

Well I received a reply:

Thank you for your message.

I appreciate that you pay more than the minimum payment each month and have never missed any payment on your account. Please continue doing the same as this will help you to improve your credit rating. However, I'm unable to review the current interest rates on your account at the moment. Please be assured that we do review the interest rates on a periodic basis and will let you know in writing if we are able to offer you a lower interest rate in the future.

If you have any other queries, please send us a further secure message.

Sent an amail to CC1 company asking for a decrease in interest rate. I said I never miss a payment and I make more than the minimum payment. First time I've done this. Worst case scenario they say no but at least I will know that I've asked.

I'm just back from having lunch with my mum. My mum ended up buying our sandwiches and coffees. I bought us a chocolate brownie each. £3.70 (would be cheaper to make it!) Then I bought baby sunscreen and value teabags £2.77

Came home to find my quarterly clubcard statement from Tesco was here, and some money off coupons. I will be using them when I'm shopping next.

It's Father's Day next month. Hubby has asked for a plain red cap. I managed to find one online for about £2.xx including postage so that should be here next week. Hopefully it's nice.

Just sent a payment of £2.48 to CC1. This was from savings using my discount card. This brings my total snowflakes this month to £13.07

I'm meeting my mum for a coffee today. My treat, as my mum always ends up buying my lunch when we meet. Last week I went to hers so thought I would suggest going out instead this week. I also need to buy some teabags today and sunscreen for SG. I'm hoping that will be my only spending for the rest of the week though.

I suggested to hubby that we go to England in September when we're off so SG can meet her great-grandad. I'll start looking into that now. This will be our first time travelling with a toddler. I think we would be getting the train there.

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.