We are the Marvelous Frugaleers - Mindfully Managing our Money in May.. Come join us!

[Laska42]

So here is a new thread for all the Magical May Frugaleers!

All are welcome to come and join our friendly supportive group if you'd like to take control of your finances in May and beyond..

We are working together to support each other, live within our means, pay off those debts and save for the life we want!

Good luck everyone for another month

Sounds like a nice weekend cremeeggtheif I'm heading to my parents to see off one brother back to Canada & to attend a bbq for other brothers 30th so must buy present. His wife recommended gardening books but he's also doing a lot of jobs to their house too so I'm thinking maybe something with a diy aspect to it.

I'm after securing another class in my self employed work. should be worth about least €200 a week before tax

I've just got Jamie's 15 minute meals second hand. Has anyone cooked anything from it?

Spotty that book is excellent - we do the falafels a lot, also the chicken tikka salad only we do a veggie version with panir. The meat and veggie burgers are good and so are the filo spinach pies.
Enjoy!

Hairdresser today £20 so no NSD and around £10 on other stuff. Both me and DH depressed about the election and he can't even vote on account of being EU national. Even the weather seems to agree it's dismal here.

Will be working most of weekend as had a magazine deadline pulled forward to Monday but hopefully will be able to get most of it done tomorrow and the last bits on Monday.

Depending on weather this could be a quiet or not so quiet weekend, might try for NSD tomorrow.

Mmm it all looks really nice just my sort of food. Possibly not very frugal? But if I do one nice thing a week then have beans on toast all the other nights

I fancy trying falafals but DD1 says that chickpeas make her bloat, do you think it will work with other beans? I'm not much of a bean person but am trying to get more into our diet.

Need to get something for dinner when I collect the DDs but I don't know what I want to eat

Hmm not sure adora. Kidney beans would work but it would be more like a round bean burger

Ok I have received the magic eraser sponge thing. The verdict is that it works but for some reason, in the dc's room it strips the paint and that's where the biro is. It does get it off though....and has worked in the sitting room, our room and up the stairs [sigh]

Spotty - It's a good book, but not as frugal as the Jack Monroe book, which I find myself turning to more often than any other recipe book or website.

The food section on this site is good too though.

I have actually just written down on the family planner a list of 12 meals that I can make from ingredients already in the house, which is more organised than I have been for weeks.

I spent £10 on shellac nails. My nails were just disgusting. My hands look like farmers hands tbh.

Spendy as predicted. £12 on present for ds' friend. But they are v good friends of ours. £50 swap to chech money. £48 at Chinese shop. Lots of food for feast tomorrow. Yums.

Oh and £20 later for my massage. Can't wait.

No JO 15 mins isn't particularly frugal and the recipes create a lot of washing up. I'd prefer to spend 20 mins chopping veg etc with a knife than washing a food processor so I often do things the long way.
I like all Jamie's salads though. I'm a bit of a salad dodger but some of his dressings are lovely.
Meal plan:
Sat - spaghetti with tomato &basil sauce (batch cook) & garlic bread.
Sun - frittata for lunch, friends coming round for takeaway dinner as we couldn't get babysitter!
Mon - Jamie O chicken tikka salad with panir not chicken.
Tue - macaroni cheese with veg
Wed - jacket potatoes & chilli from freezer
Thur - stir fry veg & tofu with rice
Fri - spag bol from freezer.
Have a good weekend everyone!

I don't have a food processor (luckily?!) and dh does the washing up

Meal plan for this week:

Micro curries (so I won't want take away)
Pasta Bol

Fakeaway with pitta and child
Leek and bacon risotto
Jackets and beans
Sausages with....(will decide on the day)
Bacon mint pasta a la Jamie Oliver

Oh lord the election result could not be any worse both selfishly and for the UK.
£50 on diesel and £20 on fruit. Can't wait for my plants to start fruiting

spotty please don't eat your child with pitta bread! That's taking frugal eating a step too far

spotty please don't eat your child with pitta bread! That's taking frugal eating a step too far

I bought a magic chicken, still don't know what I want to do with it though. Also bought bread, GF bread, crisps and chocolate. That took me £18 over budget this week

I wish I had DC it would cut down on the shopping bill a lot

NSD today.

Still depressed by election.

Why the outrage?? If I don't eat them they just draw on my walls

Adora my favourite for left over chicken is quesadillas. Shred the chicken, mix with fresh salsa, spring onions and grated cheese. Fill in buttered tortillas and put in the oven for ten minutes. Yum. Although not GF....

Tesco delivery this morning otherwise nsd.

Less mouths to feed after... that is a win win. Did you have to fatten them up first?

A really shitty week this week - for so many reasons. It isn't going to get better for the foreseeable. Fuck fuck fuckitty fuck.... It is like a slow motion car crash I just want to shout stop and let me out, but I am the strong let everything wash over me person and I can't let that facade drop.

I could cheerfully eat one of mine who has a wretched cold so I had about 3 hours sleep. Nsd as full day rehearsal and chaperone duties.

Big ]]]]]]] unescorted. Hope things get better. It's not easy being the strong one.

Thanks Babs. I guess I have been shaken to my core and it will come to a stage of acceptance, but I worry that other people can't see what is in front of them and it is making it difficult to plan or have conversations that need to be had. I need to work through all the senarios to see what works best. At the moment there is no control and it is difficult to plan if I can't see what is around the corner - hopefully there is more clarity soon on a couple of issues.

No sleep is never a good place - get the slow cooker on now.

I am going for a run soon - the weather is shit, but I hope that I can put my head in a bit more order. It is when I get all my proper / big thinking done.

a run sounds like a good plan even just to give you head space without any demands on you give you time to think like you say. I love a good run for just time out. A hot shower and brekkie when you get back and the weather wont matter

DH has cooking orders before he goes to work at tea time.

still haven't done my shopping or meal plan though

Spotty if you had eaten them sooner you could have saved money on the Magic Eraser too!
Hope you are ok unescorted and that babs' poorly DC gets well soon.

£63.79 food shopping. Need coffee as they didn't have any.

at child and pitta bread - Mmmmmm sounds yummy

Ended up spending £16 on some food and cat stuff for the wend, will get £5 of that back from my mum though (its her cat!)

Also £6.50 is on dinner for me and dd in Morrisons cafe, they do the child eats free with a adult meal deal plus a free drink so works out a really good deal!! Had to wait flipping ages for it though but for £6.50 can't really moan

unescorted hope you are o.kay some and for you.

Passthe I get really heavy periods as well, am waiting for the day when I have a flooding incident at work one of the up sides of being a woman

How is the cat?.

Spotty Excellent plan.

Unescorted I hope you feel a bit better after your run.

£6.48 on Dh's vitamins. 85p cashback which I'll take as Tesco points so we can visit Althorp later in the year.

I've. Requested my Checkoutsmart cash £16, so I can buy my slow cooker soon.