Juggling July - Frugaleering into Summer

[roguepixie]

New thread for everyone here.

[AdoraBell]

Really sorry to hear about your pet that'sinteresting and well done to DH for not paying.

Does my link not work then, oops! sorry.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I don't know how the vet had the gall to even suggest charging you, you'd think they would understand the gravity of what they've done to you.

NSD.

[KinkyDorito]

Sorry to hear you've lost your pet thatsinteresting . I'm not surprised they tried to charge you. I was reading the bill though from little cat last week. It was everything short of the oxygen he breathed whilst there. They are shocking. Charged for blood test. Charged for the action of taking the blood. FFS. You think they'd just put it into the one charge so they didn't look so bloody petty!!!

[shortscotty]

sorry about your pet thatsinteresting, £2 here on nice instant coffee and £6 in asda on lightbulbs strawberries and cookies, kids have company for tea so got some treats

[loopyloou]

daisy they don't seem to discount very much at the end of the day around here

I am very aware of my lack of willpower, so will carry on for now with Asda online shopping with top up shop at Aldi. I have to find a fine balance between not spending much and having everything in the house so I don't need to go to a shop too often!

[ExasperatedSigh]

Thatsinteresting how awful, sorry for the loss of your pet :(

£15 on soft play and lunch this morning. Sometimes it's worth throwing money at the problem of bored kids Also £11 on bread/milk etc. Am applying for DD's passport, so that will be £46 at some point, also need to get a couple of birthday presents for kids' parties this weekend but am aiming to spend no more than a fiver each.

Also need to get DD a birthday present...she'll be 2 this month Am considering a balance bike.

[Dilidali]

OK, because I am a bit rubbish at updating my budgeting app, I read somewhere on MN about having a purse just for receipts. So now I do and weekly I empty it and write the balance on the Sunday bit in the diary.
Last month we only did one shop in Sainsbury's, £35, for bits can't get in Lidl. Weekly shop in Lidl hasn't exceeded £30, so £155 for the month for 3 people.
Last month I also didn't buy a single lunch/coffee at work, no clothes, no make up etc, just £60 for 3 presents for friends/family, I should have paid £180, but they were reduced, and there are big celebrations, hence the splurge.
Yesterday I had to have a chocolate bar, 70p, and today I had to buy make up remover and some moisturising body cream, £7. But what is important is that I only bought what I went to the shop for and it will last me ages. Last eye make up remover I bought cost me £17, this time I paid £3. .
I intend to do the same this month.
Also, I set aside all the overtime I did and didn't just spend it, so I have been quite good.

The school hols are coming though:(

[jaabaar]

Thank you all for the helpful tips! I have a book called lovefoodhatewaste. It's good. Yes 50 pounds should include all like cleaning etc. we do not have expensive tastes as long as it is healthy.

I have swapped fresh veg such as broccoli etc for frozen which helps as nothing wasted.

The best and reasonably priced toilet paper I find in coop 12 rolls for 3 pounds (when it is on offer).

Thanks for welcoming me on this threat.

[jaabaar]

dilidali
150 pounds for a month on food for 3! Wow! I'm seriously impressed! How do you do it???

[northender]

Well, after my car woes last week (dh's car), today brought more trouble this time with my car . The brake lights were permanently on so completely unsafe. Drove to the garage with dh right behind in his car, left it there for the day. Picked it up tonight, they'd sorted it and didn't charge (we're such good customers )
We also were notified of a small but very welcome tax rebate and when I picked dd up fro after school club they gave me £15 back which apparently I'd overpaid
Can anyone please tell me about the local facebook selling thing. I have a few things I'd like to sell and that sounds a good option.

Nice to see some new faces on the thread, welcome

[Dilidali]

jaabaar, I menu plan. A kilo of rice lasts me about 2 months. I paid about 80 p for a bag in Lidl and I make 8 meals: curry with rice once a week, rice salad and I like half a cup in my tomato soup. I also made risotto. We use a medium cup for 3 of us.
I buy eggs in the big packs, I think it's a 12-15 for a couple of pounds, monday is always egg night, be it omelette, fried, french toast etc.
i make my own bread, out of 80-ish p worth of flour I make 4 loaves, that's about 2-3 weeks worth of bread.
8 pints of milk is very cheap in Lidl.
Basically, I use staples like rice, potatoes, eggs, flour, whatever vegetable is in season. I am veggie, but the rest of the clan eat meat, so I would buy 500 g of mince meat and use it for meatballs, burgers and freeze/use meatballs in this stew I think I invented, with vegs and tomato sauce.
Fruit is about a fiver for a bunch of bananas, and two punnets of whatever is in season.
I used to spend £200 a week on average. Then I thought better of it.

[loopyloou]

Wow dilidali, you are an inspiration! Would you post the recipe for your meatball stew? What do you put in your risotto?

What sort of things do you and your family have for lunch? I don't eat bread or pasta and find salad expensive.

My problem is my husband has a huge appetite and eats everything in the house. If I buy biscuits or chocolate in a multipack to last all week for everyone he eats it all in one evening If I cook extra so I'll have leftovers for the next day he finishes it all off If I roast a chicken to last two days, he eats it all in one day. I feel mean telling him not to. I don't want him to be hungry.

[Dilidali]

nothender thank you for the welcome. I searched in my facebook for 'buying and selling in ....' And then joined.
loopylou, a mix the mincemeat with onions, carrot, a dry bid of bread soaked in water and parsley to make the meatballs. I bake them in the oven with a bit of oil drizzled over. Makes a heap full. Some I keep for DD s lunches. Some go in my stew. Any veggies I have, like onion, celery, potatoes, throw all in a pan, with a couple of tomato tins, simmer till potatoes are done, add meatballs, job done. No idea what it tastes like, I add a pinch of marigold bouillon to it. I serve it with polenta, but they love it.
Another really cheap recipe: two potatoes, two parsnips soup. Fry some onion with cumin seeds, add chopped veg, add stock, fennel seeds, boil till it's soft, zap in blender, add a bit of cheese and cream if I have, or a dash of milk. It's really nice and lasts us two meals. I serve it with some fresh bread.
Lunches are whatever I cooked one-two nights before. DD favours sliced cheddar in a fresh bun( again, I make the dough in the bread machine, I add whatever seeds I have, poppy, sesame etc), Lidl's sliced gouda cheese is £2.40 for 400 g. Some toms that always come back next to it.
I buy a punnet of mushrooms in Lidl for 80 p. half goes in risotto(onion, celery and carrot, mushrooms in a bit of oil, add rice, water, marigold boullion and that's it.
Lidl also does egg pasta, I boil it, put a bit of butter on the plate, plonk the pasta on top and that's your meal, sounds dreadful, but it is a staple meal in Italy, doesn't work with durum pasta though.
Some fish on offer in a foil, brush some pesto over, pop in the oven, some steamed asparagus with some potatoes next to it.
You just need to look at various recipes and find what you like. My DH choses between seconds and pudding, I bake a tray of something most saturdays, but mainly it's fruit for pudding.
Menu plan is the key though, I find. :)

[Helenagrace]

A bit of unplanned spending here today but it does remind me how little if that goes on now I'm a frugaleer!

Managed to persuade work to give me a VOIP phone so I won't have to claim back calls anymore (which I invariably forget to do!).

Hoping for my second NSD of the month tomorrow. I'm obviously passing on the frugaleering - I sent DD with £2 to the local shop for bread and she came back with two loaves in a different brand because they were 2 for £2!

[loopyloou]

Thanks dilidali, that's great. Some great suggestions there. I'm not sure some of those would fill up my dh though Do you use lean mince for the meatballs or normal mince?

I haven't been baking recently as we've been eating low carb, but it's a good idea to provide a dessert.

[loopyloou]

My dd will only eat soft rolls, not sure I could bake them myself. Would adding egg to the dough make the rolls softer? She is happy to eat sandwiches.

[Dilidali]

I didn't know there are different types of mince lol. I just buy what's on offer or whatever's in the freezer. I buy british though, that much I check.
I make buns with the bread dough, they are a bit crunchy on top. Maybe if you let DD shape them she might try? Never tried with egg.
helena brilliant, two for £2, hehe, teach 'em young.

[loopyloou]

Lean mince is more expensive, but the cheaper mince seems to lose a lot of fat when cooking, therefore a lot of it seems to "disappear".

[jaabaar]

dilidali
Wow again! I used to spend abt 120 a week. Lost job so have to manage with max 50 a week. I like idea of egg day! Any unusual and cheap egg recipes?

[AdoraBell]

Had a spendy day here, £20 on new turtle tank, £80 in supremarket, £1.40 parking and £2.40 on the roads. I still need to Get some fruit, it was over priced.

The turtle tank was a kit so DD1 now doesn't have to buy food for another week or so. She is beginning to think and plan ahead, knows when she will have paíd off What she borrowed and has worked out it messes up buying her sister a birthday present, so is going to make something instead.

Helena Well done DD

I did meat balls tonight, 400g of mince, 1 spring onion, 1 carrot and a packet of mushrooms blitzed in a food processor, served with rice, Two moré carrots and half a pack of frozen sweetcorn. That made dinner for 4 with enough for DDs to have packed lunch and probably my lunch Tomorrow too. 1 cup of rice for both meals but will use more veg for lunches. I only used spring onion because I'd forgotten onions and had to Go in another Supermarket, onions were £3 for a net, or 90p for the spring onions. Couldn't Go into my favourite green grocer because it would have meant making an ilegal turn and there were lot's of police about. It would have been a very expansiva error, and I'm trying to save money!

[KinkyDorito]

Egg recipes - make 'posh' omlettes, depending on what you have in the fridge already.

2-3 eggs per person for main meal. Turn on grill. If you have pesto, put a dollop of that in with the eggs when you beat them. Fry chopped red pepper, red onion sliced finely, mushrooms, or any combination of these in a pan. It works fine with just one veg, or none at all! Cook your omlette on one side, until it's ready just to be finished off on the other then grate on some cheese. If you have feta, crumbling feta on at this point is fabulous. Then grill to finish. Serve with salad or, tbh, quite substantial by itself.

[KinkyDorito]

Someone go to work for me. I'm comfy and I don't want to go!

[Dilidali]

I do it like kinky here, with whatever veg I have.
I also make potato and egg salad, boiled eggs and potatoes, onions, lemon juice, peppers and mayo.
Or just a couple of fried eggs with a sausage next to it.
Or just boiled eggs with whatever's in the fridge.
Pancakes, but I add spinach to the batter, fry, roll some sweet potatoes, diced, inside with a dash of double cream drizzled over the top.
I use 5 eggs for 3 people.
C'mon, kinck, let's go to work!

[Cheeseatmidnight]

Hi! Love the thread, never been on here before but need to reign in the spending!

I am going to try and have non spend days. I find having an iPad hard as I can shop in the blink of an eye.

I have a craft business so anything vaguely creative I convince myself I can put it through the books and allocate it to the business...

[Cheeseatmidnight]

Loving all the meal ideas