August Frugaleers Part II

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

Thought I would start a new one since the old one is full!

I would like to see estimated bills banned. I dont have a problem with energy companies per se, it's the difference in bills/unit rates that annoys me. That and not paying credit balances automatically when a customer leaves.

Theres a poster in moneymatters about to be cut off and she has loads of batch cooked food in the freezer. It makes me cross that she probably pays more per unit than me because she's metered.

Lovely list, Collie. Makes me feel all cosy and snuggly! Other suggestions are great too. Mine are:
Earl Grey tea ( Sainsburys, Tesco and Co-op own brands are fine, if I can't stretch to Twining, but I don't like any other supermarket brands).
Sacla organic pesto (the only one in supermarkets in jars that's suitable for vegetarians. Not cheap, at £2.30-50 a jar!)
Heinz baked beans.
Proper cafetiere coffee with croissants and roule soft cheese or pain-au-chocolates on Sunday mornings.
A big bar of chocolate that I usually manage to hide from DS, so it lasts me the week!
And here are some I want to return to, that have lapsed over the summer.
A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc every weekend.
Yoga and Pilates.
£ 20 a week just to spend on myself.
A monthly takeaway.
Veggie Sunday lunch every other Sunday.
Autumn walks, especially crunching through dry leaves.

Today was an NSD, although I ordered my online shop from Sainsburys to come on Tuesday. £51.something, after using a £5 over £50 voucher.
And I booked a beginners' archery course for DS for January (they were all booked up until then!) £15, for 4 2 hour sessions, which I think is very good value.

We went to Thorpe Park today. Used the Tesco vouchers to renew our annual passes. I also extravagantly upgraded my pass to a premium one for £50, but that gives a bigger discounts in shops/restaurants and includes parking and some extra vouchers for guests etc.

Took a picnic, £10 buying refillable drink bottles, £8 on ice creams (4 of us plus a friend), refilling drink bottles was about £6.

DD1 asked if her friend (we went to Thorpe Park with) could come back for a bit, so £15 for McDonalds for the 4 children (3 of them now have adult meals!)

Oops, drinks bottles were £4, the refill for free that day only ones were £5 each, I got 2 that last all season, but are 75p to fill each time.

The numbers are correct ipsos it's just that after 6 months they've sent an estimated bill. You might owe less/more but it's supposition. You could pay them for those debit balances but really be a zero balance because it's summer.

If you've been with them for a year they should have worked out your monthly bill so you don't end up in debit.

When did you move in ipsos? (Sorry if you've already said)

Oh ok. My electricity has gone up lots in the last year (SE) we would usually have a £200-£500 credit by now but we're -£17 it doesn't bode well for the winter.

Well I fixed my price but I can't remember when it's fixed until 2017 so must have been recently. Obviously it was higher than before but the advice was to fix.

I've looked at my annual summary and I have actually used less electricity but the cost has gone up, so there you go!

I'm enjoying reading everyone's treats, especially Collie's autumn list. I love autumn and I'm excited now! DD loved jumping in all the puddles on our summer holiday last week!!
A couple of weeks ago someone said they'd frozen chip shop chips - we did that with some from the Chinese take away on Friday and then had them with veggie lasagne last night, they were amazing! Thanks for the tip.
Meal plan for rest of week:
BBQ at friend's house for lunch, might do a veggie roast for dinner unless we're too full and we can have toast!
Frittata with salad
Home made veggie pizza with cheese scone base
Curry from freezer
Veggie chilli.

Meal plan for the week:

Shepherds pie with cheesy leeks and red cabbage (did someone say autumn(?!)
Micro curry
Spag Bol
Chicken goujons and new potatoes
Pasta and sauce
Caesar salad

I'm working every day next week with early starts and late finished so need easy food.

Ohhelp yes you can freeze your stew as you have cooked your Turkey after defrosting it.

Ipsos one way to cut down on the number of hob rings is to get a steamer. We use ours a lot, so for example on a Sunday we might have potatoes in the water at the bottom like a conventional pan and the other two baskets with veg in. Mine is just one that goes on the hob, not an electric one.

Oh I'm not a medic I work on reception