Let's make merrily with August austerity!

[CremeEggThief]

Hello All,
I've taken the liberty (again!) of starting our new thread for August. The merrily sort of ties in with Christmas and keeping an eye on any bargains out there, if you're super organised and like planning ahead.

Today's spends were £5.10 on travel, £1.20 on 2 bottles of water, £4.20 on 2 hot chocolates and £17.25 on a meal out (long story!).

Hi All.

Checking in from holidays (chalet in a beautiful part of Scotland). Spending little, as self catering and I took most of it with us. Just a few extra treats like drinks in a pub yesterday and ice creams etc, nothing major.

I feel that I have missed loads!! But will try and catch up.

congratulations on the birth of a beautiful daughter italian. I have a DD who is 13 and I am very close to her, enjoy. I hope the move goes well, a supportive family helps a lot.

lizard I am so sorry you are having a tough time. I have no particular pearls or wisdom but the CAB may be very useful?

karbea I manage all the money in our household (DH would argue that he earns it all!!), but it works for us. He would check the account on the 1st of any given month and spend the lot, not even realising all the bills wouldn't have been paid yet We are a good partnership and DH has no macho thoughts about being 'given' money, just recognises I am better at organisation than he is.

5 week month for us too from Friday!!

peonies - so glad the op went well. Glad you are feeling a little better. I am seeing the consultant about my back when we get back, had an MRI scan on Friday, I actually fell asleep (they are so noisy!!), but I think that's because he has increased my medication significantly and I was quite zonked from the increase. Nothing major, just long term back issue that needs sorting.

I think that's what I'm going to have to do from now on, things were easier when he was working obviously, but right now every penny counts. I don't earn anywhere near enough to pay all our bills we've enough savings to pay the mortgage and the other core bills for about two months (inc this one) then we will need to beg his parents to help. He seems to be living in cloud cuckoo land thinking we've loads of savings and he'll get a job, things just don't happen that quickly!
How much do you give him as pocket money?

Karbea we could both be married to the same DH, I could have written what you have. Makes me so pissed off that he has £200 frittering money a month but he's still coming holding out the begging bowl just before payday, and I piss myself off by constantly giving into him! He also cannot be trusted with the debit card or else he will be going to the bank and happily take out £10 every day. He's quit smoking to save money, which is great, but he doesn't equate he's just spending the equivalent on food every day. I can't talk to him about it, he just gets grumpy and says it's his money and he will spend it on what he wants to!

Today's Money Saving exploits.....

1. Personal & Household NSD's today.
2. Had a 2kg joint of Pork from Morrisons yesterday (courtesy of one of my vouchers) which we had for Sunday lunch and then today with the leftovers I've added potatoes, carrots & poured a cheap own-brand curry sauce jar over the top, and it smells delish. Might even get another portion out of it for my lunch tomorrow.
3. Didn't buy any pepsi max (I love PM) and just drank dilute at work. Although it has ran out at home and I don't know how long I can manage without Pepsi Max altogether
4. Checked internet banking and updated my spreadsheet.

Hi everyone Aww thanks for the virtual hugs & support, particularly the !

What a day of sorting stuff out, i feel like I've made some progress but gosh i'm drained. So, called mortgage company to look at adding cc debt to the mortgage, that way when house is sold it just gets divided. However, speaking to them its not really straightforward, lots of stuff to prove, paperwork etc and crucially it can take 7-10 weeks to get the money whereas i'm in what can only be described as shit street right now. So my friend suggested applying for 0% cc, for the most that i could, I have managed to get one for half of the debt and was pondering what to do about the rest and she has suggested asking him to take half of it on, given that it was for shared house hold expenses, i.e., me going to get his shoes reheeled (!) groceries, petrol etc. I don't know how he will take that, i expect he'll just laugh ands then i am not sure what my reaction will be but i will remind him that when we divorce everything will be divided up anyway so he could take control of it now and have that moved onto a 0% card of his own or a loan. So thats tonights chat to look forward to. I did have some luck with speaking to the tax credits people, there was a lovely lady who was so helpful and i got myself in a bit of a pickle and she was ever so friendly. So i have worked out what I will be entitled to in terms of working tax, child tax and childcare tax credits. Then she said she would also post me out a build benefit form and was totally on board with claiming as soon as H had moved out.

Have a good evening all

Karbea he doesn't need any pocket money!! Dp and I both work and wouldn't spend that amount over three months!

Good luck with that chat lizard I think it sounds like the best plan.

Where to begin? So much has happened so apologies if I miss anyone. Fanta glad your dd did well in her A levels. I remember you being very stressed and suspectI'll be the same when the time comes. Thankfully that's a way off as my dd has only just finished year 1. MissA I'm pleased to hear you're on the mend. Hopefully it's just one of those things. I had an infection a while back with no obvious cause but it hasn't returned.

bantam good to have you back with us. Lizard sorry to hear you've decided to separate but you sound like you think it's for the best. I'm pleased you have rl support. Italian congratulations on your new arrival and I hope the move goes well. Having a baby can make you appreciate your family more. I wish I lived nearer mine these days but at least we're in the same country.

I can't remember exactly what I've spent recently but I know it's not a lot. I've switched energy suppliers, saving £8 a month and I'm getting £50 cashback. I've arranged an appointment with the bank about my mortgage. I expect to save around £40 a month but we won't change the payment, we'll just add that to the overpayment.

Lastly, I've had free pasta, £5 off homeware and £5 off fruit and veg from Tesco. I also have a hankering for cauliflower cheese!

Nsd.

Someone knocked my wing mirror in the car park. Twat.

lizard hope the chat goes well, it does all sound like a good plan.

DD and I went to Tesco to collect one pair of glasses from last week - they look lovely on her and she is ever so pleased with them , the prescription glasses will take another couple of days.

Just £3.40 in Tesco on a jar of sauce, a loaf and some bananas

Karbea my dh earns the money in this household but I manage it. We both get some pocket money every month in our personal account. We amount we get depends on circumstances. About 10 years ago we had £350 EACH and I found that a struggle to live on. Now I really wouldn't know what to do with that much.

Hopefully when he returns to work I can share out some pocket money, but right now there is nothing, but we both have to spend something, I'm only spending money on food and petrol.
Dh really should only have to spend money if he goes to interviews but realistically he needs some money.

nugget thank you very much I was very stressed when DD was doing her exams and am so relieved it is all over. You mention some bits you have had from Tesco - was this on the orchard? I registered today and am wondering how long it will be before I get anything sent to me and also what sort of things they will send me. DH thinks it is going to be luxury desserts - I don't know where he has this idea from and also it is highly unlikely as I have told them on the surveys that he is diabetic.

On my jollies. ..being frugal but it's spoiling the holiday mood ifykwim. ...I have cooked 3 dinners (fish fingers and wedges, fajitas and chicken/bacon/ veg pasta. ..made 3 packed lunches and sorted out breakfast every day. Done washing, loaded dishwasher. ..etc etc. Dp seems to be getting more of a rest as he is doing lesa than at home (he is building our extension so let off most housework except for washing up) and I am doingthe same. Hmmm....I guess he is doing all the driving?

Ah well, hopefully I'll run out of my food stash soon we'll eat out and then l'll see it's not all that exciting and begrudge the money

Can someone give me some help with food, I'd like to try and be healthy (I don't want pasta every night), I'm not a great cook and we've got very bored of curries :/ tonight I had salmon and broccoli, it was yum, but dh won't eat that and I pave no idea what he is going to eat when he gets home later.

I'm like that passthecake! I HATE spending money on something I could have made myself, especially if I can do it better. This is why we never go out for Sunday roast!

Karbea do you like chilli? I can give you my recipe which makes loads and is quite cheap.

Karbea I think anything you make from scratch can be seen as healthy. What about stir fry? So quick, easy and healthy. Cheap too. Risotto? One of our favourites. Fajitas? I love the bbc good food website. Chicken and chorizo casserole mmm once it's nearing winter we have lots of casseroles. Plus you can make soup and freeze it. I love food

I love too but I've lost my mojo.

Yes I love chilli but dh made that last week.

I love the bbcgoodfood website, I've also loads of the mags from years back.

I've spinach, peppers, onion, mushrooms in the fridge, anyone any ideas?

I told them dh was niddm and they are still sending him the ice cream vouchers. I'll wrap them in a carrier bag and save them till Christmas.

Karbea where do you shop? Roast dinners are healthy, curries, chillies, soups, casseroles, risottos, home made pizza is fab. The girl called jack blog is good, I like the falafel in pitta bread with mango chutney.

I think it's easier to shop cheaply in the winter, salad goes off too quickly.

I bought dh two long sleeved thermal vests but on my voucher so it's not really spending & I used a discount code so got two for £18.

Karbea, I'd suggest either mushroom stroganoff or risotto, with spinach on the side with your ingredients. Or an omelette, if you have any eggs? Three of your five a day in all :).

I've had £4.50 in vouchers for money off berries and cherries for my Tesco Orchard venture.

£3.60 travel, £3.60 on a scone and a latte and £1.68 in Lidl on milk and salad. Also had a letter to say the water company are reducing my dd from £27.53 to £17.33 from next month.

Officially finished with eBay now. I sold two items for hardly anything, but the postage has increased since I last sold, so basically I've paid £9.90 in total to post two items that I sold for £8.98 for both :(. A loss of 92p.

I shop in tesco as I work there, dh shops in waitrose : rolls eyes:

Ebays a joke for selling now, I think facebooks the way forward now.

Not an NSD today DH took me in the car to a local cafe we've wanted to try all year for lunch. Not sure how much it was, think about £12 for two of us with coffees.

We also did a small supermarket shop of fresh veg etc to last the week. and biccies for me

I've lost 4 kilos in c.14 days because of being so ill, so I am keen to feed myself up a bit!

Plan is to have an early night and start sorting proper meal planning/batch cooking for going back to work etc tomorrow. I want to have 2 freezer drawers filled with home-made "ready meals" for the beginning of term, really nice things that we both look forward to. I'm thinking sausage casserole, veggie paella, squash and sweet potato soup, spinach and potato curry, leek and potato soup, chilli, bolognese. All very autumnal for the start of term!