an Ostentatiously Austere October...join here for a frugal month ahead!

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

All welcome to join the MN frugaleers for another month of recording our spends, frugal wins and frugal fails!

NSD = No Spend Day (let's have as many as possible!)

LSD = Low Spend Day

Hi adora, which pork and celery? Do you mean pork mince ball soup?

Whoever did jacket potatoes in the slow cooker, could you please tell me how they turned out? Dsis has bought us a sack of potatoes so just about every meal this month has got potatoes in it. It's a long month so I am grateful to her. Tesco/Asda deliveries came to £110. I need to spend about another £50 in Boots and Sainsbury tomorrow.

pass pudding sounds lovely. We had apple and blackberry crumble yesterday made with free fruit.

I made a lovely supper tonight made from the dinner I abandoned for the chippy on Thursday!

One packet of puff pastry (2 for £2 in Iceland) spread with spinach (frozen), caramelised onions and garlic, grated nutmeg and spices and sprinkled with half a packet of Wensleydale cheese (reduced to 55p!). Served with salad.

Getting a new boiler from the landlord tomorrow, have no hot water tonight (haven't put on heating yet).

Hi NK I think it was that, you said your DM made lots of homemade Chinese food when your DPs visited.

Think my frugaleering has rubbed off on DD1. DH suggested going out for ice-cream and before I could respond she said "we have ice-cream here"

Really fancied a take out tonight but couldn't justify the cost. DD is teething and she just wouldn't settle so both me and DH are exhausted this evening.
Finally at 10pm with baby finally settled we went in to raid the freezer and found it had been left open! Hadn't been for long though (must have been from when I was getting ice!). If we had decided to get take out I wouldn't have been back at the freezer and all the food would have been ruined!!!! And we would be £20 down for the take out .

I have just looked at bank account I think there's been a lot of self-indulgence as I have been so ill and waaay too much "let's celebrate you're well now with x/y/z treat"
Have written a new budget this morning and will be setting up standing orders into our savings account to go out automatically on the next payday. Also need to move 2 direct debits to the new Joint Account as they still come out of my personal account, now used only for pocket money (ha!)

We are left with very little cash and I know I have a bill for going private for that consultation after my surgery on its way.

I'm hoping to spend nothing on food until payday (25 October). I have to advance money for a trip at work but that can go on CC and be cleared by reimbursement well before interest hits.

There's going to be some serious belt-tightening here. We have let our cleaner go - she'll come this week and next and then that's it.

Hello all, last week didn't get off to a particularly great start but today i have menu planned and am intending to spend nothing this week.

Spent all weekend trying to make the numbers work as we are planning a 6 day holiday in December to Germany and France ( driving ) but where DH won't be working for that time and the forced time off over the Christmas period ( he works for a council and they shut from Christmas Eve till Jan 2nd and does not get paid for this time ) we are going to be very very short indeed in January.

I estimate we need about 600 to plug the gap and i need to work on ebaying some stuff to try and address that. Nevertheless we have not had a family holiday for 6 years and this was planned a while ago so we are looking forward to it immensely - Bloody passports for 5 people cost a fortune though!

I costed up how much the 4 hampers i am making for Christmas will cost and including all of the actual hampers, wrapping and stuff to put in them i think it will come out at about £100 so £25 per hamper which isn't too bad, probably could do better if i made some of my own stuff to put in them though.

Good luck with your frugal Mondays everyone!

Should be nsd today. Have got chicken and chorizo casserole in the slow cooker with left over chicken from yesterday. Mmm

£45 on wedding table numbers, favour boxes, seating plan holder and cards. Boo.

Morrisons got back to me about the faulty microwave, £15 in vouchers as compo coming my way which pays the difference for the new one we had to buy from them.

Dh can't remember if he paid for it or the house credit card so he'll have to show me the online statement.

Spotty, £45 is a bargain for all of that. We had charbonell et walker pink champagne truffles in heart shape boxes for our favours. About a third got left on the table

That doesn't include the contents of the boxes but my friend is making me some mini heart shaped fudge to go in them It's sounds awful but I'm really resenting spending any money on this one day

spotty that chicken and chorizo sounds nice. I have tons of leftover chicken from my roast yesterday, sof may make something similar.

rosie I used to work for a council and we had to use annual leave for when the office was shut over Christmas (think they gave us 1/2 day that didn't have to come out of that). Are you sure they won't have already factored the week out and spread it over the year?

I've just put in:

Chicken
Chorizo
Tin of tomatoes
Onion
Peppers (from the freezer)
Stock cube
Bay leaves
Olives

Would it be weird with couscous?

I think that would be delicious with couscous!

First frugal meals today:

Lunch: leftover squash, cauli curry with 1/2 tin of salmon cooked into it (suprisingly delicious) and 2 oatcakes with butter.

Dinner: leek and potato soup + vegan "ploughmans" sandwiches (smoked tofu, pickle, spinach and tomato)

spotty that sounds lovely.

We don't have a slow cooker, I'm seriously considering askijng for one for Christmas!! My mum always complains that I don't know what I want when she asks.

I need to book and pay a deposit for DD's birthday party today. She's chosen something expensive but hey its only annually and DS's party in July was cheap because a friend kindly lent us a bouncy castle. Not sure how much all this is going to cost me YET.

My neighbour just came round. She;s going away for a fortnight . she's bought me 3 pints of milk, 4 eggs, a lump of cheese, half a dozen tomatoes and various bits of fruit and veg and a request I feed her cats while she's gone. more than happy to - frugal win there I think. Just need to work out what to do with the stuff.

This morning I've cleaned my fridge and chucked ot the end of some soup that I never ate, discovered 2 blocks of cheese and 3 pots of yogurt that I'd forgotten we had (still in date) and inventonried the cupboard under the sink. No wondder we have no money I'm a cleaning products horder shame I never USE them 96 dish washer tablets, 5 bottles of cleaning spray, 2 bottles of washing up liquid, various carpet and floor cleaning products, 3 rolls of bin bags and two unopened bottles of zoflora discenfectant, 6 washing up brushes, 2 packs of dish cloths!!! Wow

lots of leftovers happening today.
Breakfast was scrambled eggs made with two egg whites leftover from pastry making yesterday and another full egg.

I'd a portion of roast veg left over from dinner yesterday, boiled it up and made soup for todays lunch out of it!
Childminder on hols and she donated a big bag of cooking apples to me, so yesterday made apple cake, apple tart and apple, pear and sultana compote in slow cooker.

Going to use childminders wages for next two weeks on self employed tax bill for last year and hair & make up for wedding on bank holiday weekend. Will purchase make up and do it myself that make up should do me until next summer then as I just wear once a week to do my slimming class.

This will be all of us one day!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2203959-Analysis-Paralysis-at-what-to-do-with-our-spare-money

Nsd

www.topcashback.co.uk/SnapAndSave/upload/2297

Free cadburys choc. Check the T&C though.

www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=284117451

This one. 110g bars or they don't pay out.

Lilac lol!

adora - this is the closest I could find on recipes for pork and celery. It was very yummy though. trick is to get the celery sliced up thinly I think. This says beef, but I think it'll taste better with pork cookingsimplechinesefoodathome.com/2012/05/127-a-simple-healthy-chinese-recipe-stir-fry-beef-mince-with-celery.html

Also, pork mince ball soup is mega yums...

www.mycookinghut.com/2009/02/07/pork-ball-noodle-soup/

enjoy! :)

Spotty we regularly have chicken & chorizo stew with couscous. It's delicious.

NSD both planned and by necessity today - left my purse at home.

I was hoping for 4 NSD's this week but failed today. Forgot I had medical appt with specialist which was very pricey then had to pay for parking and buy DS new shoes for school. Also had to pay for babysitting tonight as had meeting to attend so all in all not a great start to the week. Hopefully the rest of the week I can keep costs down. Approx $305 all up.

This thread has really helped me keep my finances at the forefront of my mind. Sometimes it makes me nervous at what I am spending but I'm better off being aware and making conscious choices rather than blithely going along and potentially digging a big financial hole for myself. Thanks to all who contribute.

Very spendy here today

£38 school trips
£13.50 school tights
£18.95 sitters
£13 halloween outfit

Have had a mixed weekend as PIL were staying so we ended up paying for lunch out yesterday. I hoped they might offer but they have been and still are generous with us so can't complain. It's nice to be able to treat them sometimes.
Cracking on with xmas shopping, not going to be caught out with last minute panics this year.
1 lot of dolls clothes sold on ebay last night for 24 pounds . Have got 2 more lots finishing on Wednesday so fingers crossed for them. Obviously a good time of year to be selling them!
Looking into what to spend the Currys/PC world gift card on. It will be a mix of Xmas presents and things needed here like a new PC monitor to replace the stone age one we have now.