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Original poster

No spend January?

999 replies

corinewmoon · 27/12/2011 11:43

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. ?

OP posts:
Jojay · 30/12/2011 21:36

Count me in.

We had a tough December on top of the usual Xmas expenses when we had to get someone out to fix the boiler. Money is tight anyway as I was made redundant this year, just before I had my twins, so I have no job to go back to. Money is likely to stay tight for some time yet! We have 4 dcs all together, and we're all living on one modest salary.

I bought some clothes for the twins in the Next sale which will be paid for in Jan, but apart from that we shouldn't have any huge expenses coming up.

I have a very healthy present drawer for kids birthdays coming up, and my kitchen is fairly well stocked with the basics.

I plan to food shop online as I do find it saves me money - my weakness is kids clothes but if I'm not instore i'm less tempted. I buy bits on Ebay but my new rule is that I must sell something first so the money is in my papypal account - then it's not 'real' money!

Good luck everyone!

MrsHuxtable · 30/12/2011 21:36

How nice to see such a busy thread. I'd be interested in that meal plan, Martyr, eventhough we are veggie, so would probably have to adapt quite a lot.

How do people like the idea in general of posting recipes if we come across any cheap and yummy ones? I have a few I could post if anyone was interested...

Seems like food bills is the area that most people could realistically cut back on.

Sparklingbrook · 30/12/2011 21:38

We have Sky Sports. By the end of Jan I want to not have Sky Sports. I think we could manage with Freeview actually, but I am going to meet with resistance from rest of the family.

BoffinMum · 30/12/2011 21:42

Here is the bolognaise recipe I was experimenting with:

225g butter
2.5 kg minced beef
350g pork sausage meat
500g onions
150g celery (left over from Xmas veg box)
500g carrots
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
12g tomato puree
4 tins chopped tomatoes
Pinch of sugar

It made 8x750ml tubs for the freezer and works out roughly £2 a meal for 4/5 people. I adapted it from the El Bulli Family Meal cookbook, but I am wondering if the sausagemeat overpowers it a bit and whether I actually prefer my own recipe that I posted up on my blog.

That having been said, it can still be used as a base for lasagne, cottage pie and chile con carne with the addition of other ingredients, so I am sure the family will scoff it down.

BoffinMum · 30/12/2011 21:44

New Year's Eve we are all having rump steak, and the grown ups are having home made pina colada for dessert, with fresh pineapple. New Year's Day we are having Aldi four bird roast with roast potatoes and red cabbage, followed by Apple Strudel and whipped cream.

MartyrStewart · 30/12/2011 21:46

MrsH - I have a veggie version of the original £30 meal plan. If you are interested I am happy to PM you.

I was thinking of doing a new one for this year as the last one was quite popular. Smile

Sparkling - we have sky+ but it was installed free with a free HD box as a staff deal where I work, and it works out cheap for broadband and landline. Again this was a staff deal, so don't know what it would usually cost.

Even so, we don't go out much, so I would see the internet/sky as our entertainment budget - certainly cheaper than going out for an evening, although we have a fairly basic package anyway.

pearlgirl · 30/12/2011 21:50

I'm in as well. Really lost track of my budget over the last couple of months due to big repair bills for the car and need to rein in supermarket shopping.

spewgloriousspew · 30/12/2011 22:14

Hello, can I join? Admittedly I have just spent £80 on a bike seat for the small person. But that means I can take him for bike rides rather than walking into town, where I invariably spend. Just a little each time, but it all adds up.

I'm quite a cheapskate anyway (shop at Aldi, make bread, cakes, meals etc from scratch, trawl charity shops, check eBay and amazon rather than pay a price straight up front) but I'm not going back to work after mat pay runs out next month (won't earn enough to pay for childcare) so I need to start being even tighter. I've resolved to get out £15/week which I will use for odds and sods - I'm veryguilty of paying on card as it seems less real. I also took back some stuff to paperchase today as I didn't need them. Will also be checking receipts as realised I had been charged 25p extra per pack of beads - marked as £3 but charged £3.25 so mistakes do happen.

Anyway, I'm in!

brightermornings · 30/12/2011 22:19

Can I join? I seemed to have an expensive year last year but could not tell you where my money went!! I struggle with meal planning ds 17 often doing his own thing and a fussy dd 10. I online shop and try and make sure I don't need to do a top up shop. Take packed lunch to work. So I do try!!Grin

KinkyDoritoWithFairyLightsOn · 30/12/2011 22:21

Martyr I would love a copy of the vege meal planner if I can have one?

Bossybritches22 · 30/12/2011 22:26

Another Aldi fan here too. I heart Aldi Grin

If you're doing a store-cupboard eating-up phase I can recommend their jars of pasta sauces, the roasted veggie one is yummy,am experimenting with others.

spewgloriousspew · 30/12/2011 22:32

And meal planning. I have started doing this in the last couple of weeks and found it helps.

I think I may start an Aldi appreciation club. People mock me for shopping there, but our food bill has shrunk so much since switching from the coop.

MartyrStewart · 30/12/2011 22:34

I adore Aldi. I get a staff discount at Tesco and still shop at Aldi Blush

BoffinMum · 30/12/2011 22:36

Aldi is quite posh IMO - it's odd people have a problem with it.

butterscotch · 30/12/2011 22:41

Count me in! I'd love a meal plan especially under/at £30 a weekish! Joined weight watchers this week via quidco so £1.95 for 3 months membership!

butterscotch · 30/12/2011 22:42

Oi and Aldi's salmon with cheese n dill sauce "in pastry" easily serves four adults for £5 and is lush! Shame my local one only does the one with prawn n cheese sauce! (barf at prawns!)

MartyrStewart · 30/12/2011 22:43

Butterscotch - I will sort out a new Aldi based meal plan for less than £30 a week at some point soon. Look at BoffinMum's blog linked up there ^^ very good imho.

BoffinMum · 30/12/2011 22:57
Grin
Meglet · 30/12/2011 23:10

I'm doing a short supermarket list for tomorrow and roughly adding up how much it will be. It all ticks along quite nicely until I add cheese, so expensive!! I know the mid-size blocks I buy are about £3. We eat a lot of cheese

Bossybritches22 · 30/12/2011 23:16

I think Aldi & Lidl suffer from folk presuming it's a poundland quality shop just because they do a no-frills service.

The brands are well known in europe just not here, but working my way round various products I'm impressed by the quality & the kids love the stuff too!

Now I've got over the Shock of the rapid fire checkout, I leave my bags in the car & pack it all straight into the boot from the trolley.

MartyrStewart · 30/12/2011 23:18

Meglet - I have been buying Cathedral City Cheddar from my local Costcutter for the last couple of weeks - they have it for £2.14 for 350g so I have stocked up.

SusanneLinder · 30/12/2011 23:24

I'm in.Not sure if DH has a job after January, so have no choice.

blibblibs · 30/12/2011 23:28

Can I join too?
Really need to make 2012 a saving not spending year.
Agree that food bill is probably the easiest to cut back on but my cooking ability is somewhat limited and we do get bored with the same five meals. :)
Spend about £80 a week but its only me, DH and 2 toddlers so could do much better.

Livnatmum · 30/12/2011 23:41

I love Aldi and am not ashamed to tell everyone I know! I do all my shopping there, the only thing I cannot get is full fat milk (my kids don't like anything else) and they only do it in huge bottles, but have a Tesco at the end of my street!

DedalusDigglesPocketWatch · 31/12/2011 08:48

Boffin Rachel Allen's bolognese recipe uses pork and beef in it. Would that work better if the pork on it's own is too overpowering? A little more expensive, but still cheaper than using all beef?

We shop in Waitrose, we get most of our fruit and veg from the market, make our own bread, get nappies/wipes from either boots or Asda depending on deals and get toiletries from Savers.

Spend on average 45 - 50 a week in waitrose, less than a tenner at the market, spend about 20 a month/6weeks on nappies and wipes and always get the big bottles of shampoo etc from savers for 2-3 pounds.

We are not skint, and I appreciate that what we spend others do not have, but because we have horses, we have to watch what we spend, and I don't like to waste money.