No spend January?

[corinewmoon]

After he festive blowout and considering ive got some big bills in January, (MOT, car tax, insurance) I have decided to try a no frivlous spending month. There is nothing i really need to buy, (apart from new school jumper and coat for DS) .
So I will be taking my lunch to work every day,
I will avoid costas,
and i will limit my self to one bottle of wine per week
I will aim to spend £200.00 on food shop for the month
I will not go for leisurely stroll to the shops during my lunch break.

Any one else want to join in. ?

Yes, I do. I make my own burgers with it. Can also make a 'fowl' version of shepherds pie and a bolognaise - anything that you would use beef mince for, I suppose. It is cheap and very versatile.

Can give you a recipe for burgers, if you want?

Hello roguepixie and welcome!

You've reminded me that I have a bike. I think I will go cycling tomorrow if it's not too windy or raining. DH was doing couch to 5k and loving it but had to stop for a while due to illness.

Just to lower the tone a moment re packed lunches at work, I made two large-ish batches of very delicious soup before Christmas and put in individual tupperwares in the freezer. One batch was Carrot and Coriander, the other Creamed Jerusalem Artichoke (which I had grown in my garden).

DH had a small portion of the JA soup last week and was trumping regularly all evening. I managed to forget this key fact, and have just had a large portion here at work. Still, I leave at 4.15 and have had no toots so far.

Staying with the topic, I could also be about to save a bit of money by daytime toilet training DS (2y5m) this month - not as a money saving measure IYSWIM but just as something which happens to reduce the shopping...

Oh good luck with the potty training! Glad that's all long behind me.

DS has just turned 3 and I don't stand a chance . He's just not interested. I've bribed him, he has snazzy pants that he likes to wear, and the option of potty or toilet training seat. All he does is wee in his pants. I haven't had 1 solitary potty wee yet. It's starting to feel like he will be wearing a nappy to secondary school. He's tall too and advanced verbally so people look at me when we are out.

Gah.

I keep putting the nappy back on and hoping for success another day.

I hope it goes well Lexi, you are right, it would save loads.

That's made me feel better Kinky - DD turns 3 next week and is the same. I am happy to wait until she is ready but my Mum keeps asking me if she is dry yet and giving me faces.

DS just decided one day he was ready to wear pants and that was it - I am hoping DD will decide the same .

Bought half price dishwasher tablets today, bread (we only use a loaf a week) and took £10.00 cashback for milk etc. for the end of the week. More Ebaying tonight. I've avoided Christmas paper, cards and stuff in the sales - still got lots left from last time. Have stashed two bottles of decent wine from a hamper away for DDs teachers end of year presents. Sounds as though everyone's doing really well.

DH and I had pasta with bacon and tomato sauce last night. Tasty and cheap but I've just spent the last year losing two stones and if we start hitting the pasta and rice dishes hard to save money, I'll go back up. My lovely salad stuff does add up after a while...if you want something in it apart from cucumber. Okay it's not like eating steak...but it can be tricky to get the low fat/low cost metric spot on.

have never trumped with J Artichokes...loooove them.

Anyone cook with Quorn mince?

Maybe the trumping is person-specific like the smelly wee that some people get with Asparagus because of not having a gut enzyme.

My postgraduate friend at university used to make a packed lunch in a large-ish tupperware the night before: can of chopped tomatoes, handful of dried chickpeas, handful of Quorn mince/chunks (freezer pack), dried mixed italian herbs. Put in fridge, chickpeas would soak up the tomato juice overnight, take into work, microwave. YUMMY! And low-fat, filling, cheap as student union chips.

second - Costco meat is more convenient than much cheaper, iyswim. I can buy in bulk and therefore avoid the higher costs often involved in buying smaller amounts at other shops. I suppose what I am saying is that it stops me going into the supermarket to buy chicken breasts and coming out with £50 worth of other stuff!!! . I also like the quality of much of the Costco meat.

ladyharriet - I have to admit to absolutely hating quorn. Maybe it's just me but I can't make it taste like anything other than cardboard .

lexi - you have inspired me. I will get the soup on the go. I love parsnip soup.

Had an excellent money saving day!!!

1 Made my own peanut butter with left over nuts from christmas. Really nice, and my dcs love peanut butter! ds2 said it was lush!

2 Made leek and potato soup with leftover leeks in fridge

3 Went to Tesco to buy bread and ONLY BOUGHT BREAD!!!!!!!!!

Hoover turkey mince is good for meat balls. Or my speciality, turkey meatloaf with cranberry sauce. Mix the cranberry in with meat load mix.

Am doing a menu plan for the month , am planning on going shopping at Aldis on friday. Whats good , cheap there at the moment.

Also fab deal i just spotted on moneysaving expert, though it is the anti thesis of the no spend january theme. 50% of Merlin passes until 16th of january. Was hoping to try and save up for these anyway as we are not going abroad on holiday this and are great value for those who live around london. Am going to ry selling a few bits on ebay and recycling old phone to raise some cash.

oh and last nights shephards pie was a hit (even the cabbage mountain it was served with ) Bulked it out with wnough veg that theres enough for tonight too!

Going to look up the 5 minute bread recipe too, like the sound of that!

Martyr I always feel like DS is the only one. I know he's not, but it's tough. I keep telling myself if we wait, it will be easier as he obviously isn't ready. But he is a stubborn little sod, so I bet it's months yet.

Ladyharriet cook loads with quorn of every kind. I like quorn sausages chopped up in things rather than using mince all the time. Make a vege chilli like this:

Onion
Green pepper
A carrot or two
Some mushrooms if you have them
fried and add
6 quorn sausages that have been warmed through either in over or microwave so they are soft enough to cut (never buy fresh ones, always frozen, as the price of fresh is a right rip-off given there is little difference). I slice these up.
Tin of baked beans
Tin of kidney beans
Tin of tomatoes
Chilli flakes/powder/fresh according to taste

Cook it down for 25minutes, serve with rice or wedges, topped with grated cheese.

This is always tasty and filling and usually makes enough for 2 meals for 2 greedy adults, faddy DD who picks at everything, and DS who is too busy wanting to play to ever get him to eat much.

I also like quorn sausages chopped up into pasta and pesto. Chickpeas work well in this too, although DH says they are droppings and refuses to eat them which is annoying as I love them.

Mince works well but needs plenty of flavour. When I make a shepherd's pie with it, I always stick a tbsp of marmite in with the mince and other veg, along with a tin of tomatoes and that makes it really tasty.

3 Went to Tesco to buy bread and ONLY BOUGHT BREAD!!!!!!!!!

I think we should keep a tally of small victories against the supermarket giants

I use Quorn mince. We're veggie, all four of us. I'm making spag bol tonight.

I put £15 with slip for archery lessons as first class tomorrow is cancelled. £3 saved :) DD also said she's not bothered about guitar lessons this term (shame but hey ho) and that would have been £48!

I went to Boots and charity shop to look at sale items and clothes, but saw nothing nice or stuff we needed so spent nothing.

Devil's droppings. Tut. Totally missed out the highly important bit there.

morecoffee yay for only buying bread!

Hey thanks for the recipe suggestions. We do make loads of soup, which is I agree cheap and delic.

Veggie chili recipe looks fab, will defrost the quorn mince tonight and get cracking. Also - thanks for the marmite suggestion. Does vegemite work as well?? (yank in UK here, I have vegemite at home already....but I might be missing somethign culturally on the difference bet the two.)

Think I will try turkey meatballs too.

Thanks ladies!

I'm guessing it would be fine - try it and let us know!

I use quorn all the time too - apart from being an ex-veggie, I find the price of meat ridiculously high. Quorn is sooooo much cheaper and it doesn't involve any 'don't forget to get the out of the freezer in time for it to defrost' stuff that I'd always balls up on.

I'm feeling a little low tonight as I have hit a dawning realisation yet again that I can't afford to go back to work for at least 18 months until ds1 starts full time school. How ridiculous is that? This country is a shambles It's scandalous.