Judicious January - Long may the credit crunching continue

[roguepixie]

So, the credit crunching team are into Year 2013. Happy New Year everyone.

Let's continue our cost-cutting, , money saving,penny and pound pinching, NSD ways.

jen x-posts :( I'm really sorry. Fingers crossed that they are just being cautious.

I'm so sorry Jen, can you get to the hospital when your DH gets home?

Sorry Jen ... big hugs. When will you have someone with you for support?

1stMrs good luck with the interview

Jenduck hope your grandfather is comfortable and recovers well.

Rogue we went to a really good, and reasonably priced, Italian restaurant.

Re having a written agreement for the loan, it won't make any difference here, not like in UK. I should make OH buy me jewellery to value of the loan. At least I'd have something to sell if need be.

Spent £60 today on groceries, I'm hoping to make that do for a week. DDs will need trainers for school next week.

jen - so sorry to hear about your Grandad; I hope the operation is successful and he is ok. It must be dreadful for you all.

I haven't spent any money today, but I can't call it a NSD as DH has gone to do the shopping as the roads are bad and he had to go out anyway. He has got in enough stuff to last a few days in case we get the snow that they are forecasting on Friday and Saturday.

I guess I come in to the No Spending from a different direction to most of you. We are now retired and whilst we can comfortably manage, it's against my nature to ignore the finances, if you see what I mean. Up until the last few years we have always had to be careful and it does come to be a habit. I think the difference between "my day" and what you are all going through now is that generally we started off earning much less and, whilst housing was cheap (relatively) other things were expensive. I think if you have always had to be careful it is much easier than if you have been relatively affluent and then had to cut back. When we were first married forty years ago my food money was £5 a week; when we bought our first dishwasher nearly thirty years ago it cost £250 and I paid for it using the PT money which I was earning (£50 a month!). Thirty seven years ago my DH was made redundant and my FT salary paid the mortgage (£118 a month) and we lived on his unemployment benefit of under £20 a week, plus our savings. I think the most child benefit we got was £2 a week and, of course, there were no WTC or any other help for us when we later had our children.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling - I think you are all doing a fantastic job trying to get your finances in order - keep up the good work!

jen sorry about your grandad, hope all goes well

Haven't been on here since weekend so lots to read back through.

NSD for Monday and Tuesday.

Took the second lot of curtains back to the shop today, still no further forward. £3.99 on cleanser, £12.50 in the vegan shop on cheese and cake (so obviously necessary stuff!) an £2.10 on bus fare.

Thanks everybody. DH will be home about 8.15 "if all the trains run smoothly", so will probably be nearer 8.30. So I have the choice of keeping DSes up & them being grouchy or putting them to bed on my own, which is fine but hard work.

Keep waiting for Dmum to call back with some news. Am praying, which is not something I usually do! If needs be, I will get a taxi to the hospital, as our car is out of action atm.

Oh jen sorry to hear that. Hope he's okay.
We've had our first NSD of the year today but dh has taken the car to the garage tonight so I'll be on tenterhooks tomorrow, 1. hoping they can solve the problem and 2. hoping it doesn't cost too much
Was really with myself earlier as I found the fish I'd bought for fish pies (to freeze) and subsequently forgotten about. It was not salvageable. I'm usually so good at keeping up with what's in the fridge but for some reason missed that completely. So no spending today but some wastage.

Jen I hope your Grandad recovers well.
1stMrs Fingers crossed for your interview.

£2.45 spent yesterday on bananas, juice and milkshake.
NSD today spent a few freezing hours at the allotment, which was theraputic and have hopefully secure a plot for our friends too, so we can share plants etc in the years to come.

Got to buy cordial tomorrow, so £1 or so there, other than that a day of clearing the rubbish from our garden is in order as our tip is actually open for once and I have a day off work without DS's nipping at my heels! :)

Jen I hope there's some good news about your grandad soon. You must be so worried .

I worked today so it was an NSD. I seem to be averaging 3-4 per week which is good. Hoping to have another two NSDs for the rest of the week, then food shop on Saturday.

NSD today...had some Ebay sales collected, £26 from that, still a way off having enough in Paypal to pay for house move but will keep at it - Ive a near suitcase full of clothes to list!

Tomorrow likely to be spendy...car going to garage for a few bits, secretly praying it will all be covered by warranty but we all know those things are not worth the paper theyre on lol. Payday on Sat and very happy that ac is still in credit...first time ever for a January I think

So sorry to hear about your grandad, Jen. Thoughts are with you all.

I can't remember exactly how much I spent today, but it was just under a tenner. £7. something on some shopping and £2.50 on bus fares. I was called in by the school to assess a splinter 10 year old DS had! I know they have to be health and safety conscious, but... Anyway, it was too small to pull out with tweezers, so I applied some Savlon and rang the G.P. for advice. They'll only need to see him if it becomes infected.

It was -7° C up here today and very slippery indeed. I always get a bit down when the weather gets so cold and it's so hard to get around. I suppose I feel a bit trapped, although I still managed two school runs and a trip to the shop.

Oh, good luck with your interview, MrsF.

1stMrs - good luck with your interview.

jenduck - I hope everything goes well for your DGrandad. Will include him in my prayers tonight.

HearMy - congratulations

NSD yesterday. Only need bread and chocolate orange spread today (need to make my version of cinnamon Nutella cake).

I was reflecting on where we've got to with being more frugal and I realised that I've almost cut our shopping bill in half in the last year and I've barely missed anything I've cut out. I've changed what we eat (fewer dishes with peppers, cheaper cuts of meat, more casseroles and fewer meals with chops & steaks) but I usually have four empty plates!

Even when / if we manage to sell or rent out our house in the north I think we'll carry on living this way.

I feel positively sick when I think of all the food waste and all the money we've wasted buying premium or branded goods when the cheaper stuff is just as good or better.

I can do so much more with that cash!

Heard from dmum just after 10 last night. Dgrandad had had the op & docs were pleased with the outcome, but he was heavily sedated overnight. So first hurdle overcome, hoping for more good news today.

Will go to library today for story time, get paper & look in charity shop. Also need drain cleaner as ours is gurgling a lot. Also might need bus fare to hospital to see dgrandad, all being well.

That's good news, Jen.

Glad to hear that jen.

I'm glad for your good news jenduck
I am aiming for a first nsd today. Didn't take my wallet out on the school run and the freezer will be searched for dinner. Got declined for a 0% balance transfer credit card so will just have to work away at paying it off interest and all.

that's good news jenduck, I hope he continues to improve.

I am hoping for another NSD today if I can manage it. I've been finding them relatively easy this month because we had so much in the freezer and cupboards. We're having an unidentified frozen object for dinner. I THINK is lamb stew so doing some mash to go with it but it could be anything. Its been taking up space in the freezer for ages so really is time to defrost it and use it (or chuck it)

iamshewhomustbeobeyed not sure how many debts you've got but if you've got a few, have you tried snowballing. Google it. In short its paying off as much as possible of the highest interest rate debts first and the minimum payments on others. THen when top interest rate debts paid take the payment for that and any extra and start on next debt etc. etc. Sorry if I've got wrong end of stick

jen hope you hears some good news today. Sorry that things are so scary.

A lot of spending today, £70 on diesel to fill up the car and £55 at Aldi on experiments - bought wine, crisps, pasta, rice, cereal, washing up liquid, curry sauce, tinned fish/fruit/veg etc. Will try them and if all goes well will start buying that stuff there once a month or so. I was impressed with the prices and the apparent quality, so the proof will be in the eating. I got Shredded Wheat very cheap but I was disappointed that their own version Shreddies and
Weetabix had added sugar.

Do you know about www.petrolprices.com/? I saved 4p a litre by checking the prices of the petrol stations on the way to Aldi and using the cheapest one.

Quick update before I have lunch (DSes napping ). Dgrandad is still heavily sedated & is in intensive care. This sounds scary, but is, I believe, to ensure he does not move at all & therefore risk rupturing internal stitches. My Dmum (the eternal pessimist) said he looks pinker than yesterday (lost 3 pints blood), which I hope is a sign he is retaining some blood. Docs will be round later this afternoon to see him, so I hope they have good news.

Spending-wise, a bit more than expected! 50p at library for 3 ex-stock books for the DSes. £1 in charity shop for a BNWT Tu outfit for friend's new DS who I will meet tomorrow. £1.39 at newsagent for paper & vinegar - have read that bicarb of soda plus vinegar is good at clearing drains so am giving that a try. DH has booked our car in at Kwik-Fit (used before & impressed) to have handbrake done, worst case scenario seems to be £180, so not tooo bad.

Mum2 hope your car is OK, well done for a thrifty January!

CremeEgg -7 (can we have a chilly smiley?)

Iam welcome (sorry I didn't say it yesterday, bit stressed!). Good luck paying off your credit card. If you have internet banking, perhaps you could work out what you have saved each day by not spending & pay that off the balance. It would soon add up!

Storm we have all sorts in our freezers! Lots of fish, but I am not very inventive with fish!

1stMrs I use that website too. Makes me see that even with the spend £40 get 5p/l off, some petrol stations are still cheaper! Cheapest we've found is actually France, so if going for a day trip (4/5 times per year) we run our tank down enough to get there then fill up there. Costs about the same in Euros as it would pounds eg 100 Euros instead of £100.

Jenduck

Glad To hear the Drs are pleased with the outcome, that's always a positive.

jenduck so pleased to hear that your grandad is progressing.

We had fish last night easy recipie so will share with you. Just adapt it to what's in the cupboard /freezer really

Fry leeks and / or onions in oil. Add fish (I used some white fish, tinned tuna and a hand full of frozen prawns, cook for a few minutes and add a sachet of hollandaise or parsley sauce mix plus milk according to packet instructions. stir everything up. Put it in a pie dish and top with sliced potatos (we used left over boiled ones) and cheese then cook in oven for about half an hour.

You could easily do this with cheese sauce or plain white sauce I don't think the type of sauce matters much.

Sounds positive Jenduck.

Topped up in Morrisons bit spendy but got a lot for my spends.

Trying frozen cabbage as an experiment. We all like cabbage but frozen is only £1 a bag which should do four meals. Should be cheaper and less hassle.

Mrsfrugal there hasn't been much we've not liked from Aldi. DH has even said the wine is good and he's a wine snob usually!