Frugaleers chatting and saving into August...

[ipsogenix]

Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

Useful links copied from last year:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/1324074-For-those-who-cant-afford-to-use-central-heating-this-year-How-are-you-going-to-cope

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1543785-your-top-tips-for-money-saving-and-a-more-frugal-life

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1600030-Small-money-saving-habits-petty-even

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1628874-Gas-Elec-Bills-monthly-and-SKY-so-angry

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1911061-NO-MORE-COLD-MUMSNETTERS

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2209167-Slow-Cookers-are-shit

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2224969-saving-money

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2258202-Debt-mutual-support-thread-number-6-start-the-new-year-with-a-clear-purpose-and-keep-moving-forwards-even-by-tiny-steps?

orchard.tesco.com/ Sign up to this.

www.topcashback.co.uk/home And this.

www.quidco.com/home/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub ditto.

www.checkoutsmart.com/ Plus this.

www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new?page=3 Check this daily.

What £9 in IKEA sounds like some kind of sorcery, I'm very envious.
Me bore away with your meal plans, they would be very welcome here. DD is a veggie so I'm always looking for inspiration.
Today is a mixed day.
£9 on work exercise class for the month, got a text from the bank that my current account didn't have enough to meet the spend but I doesn't tell you by how much do I transferred £30 buggering up my weekly budget and I only needed £11.
Then SDS received excellent GCSE (but Scottish version) results so we sent him £100 as a well done. Really glad he's done so well, I thought his results would be later in the month though
Next week's budget is looking slimmer and slimmer!

Dwin-Great to hear about FB results- defo worth the £100!

So I have been trying to find a link to a blog called Vanilla Tulip who does a post on 'shop your pantry' which is how I meal plan (used this method for about 2 years and have very little wastage). Basic premise is that you start by looking at what you have in and make meals around that. It does mean that some meals are a bit random but it keeps costs low. My other (food related) tips are:
*if you are using oven (e.g. to roast a chicken) put in something else (roast veg for soup).
*buy cheapest gravy granules (if you don't make own) and add muturd/ wine/balsamic vingear to add flavour.
*use stale bread as a topping (e.g. cauliflower cheese, fish pie).
*always start with cheapest option own brand (e.g. tinned beans)and go up if unsatisfied. My only exception to this is meat/eggs when I buy high welfare.
*reusable sandwich bags, use bowls with plates on top instead of cling film.
*If pushed for time but you want to home cook meals, look at batch cooking for a slow cooker-I can (if I need to) make 7 days of homecooked meals in about 30 minutes.

Other stuff e.g. grow your own veg is more obvious so won't bother with that.

Anyhooo, meal plan for this week is:

Tonight: roast chicken, butternut squash, red onion and gravy.
Thur: Leftover chicken in mustard sauce roasted with potatoes, mushrooms and onions.
Fri: Chicken curry with rice (hubby and kids) and courgetti (me)
Sat: Veggie sausage casserole with cauliflower cheese
Sun: Veg chilli with rice/courgetti
Mon: Pasta with cream, pancetta, mushrooms and Parmasan cheese (the sprinkle from a tub type)! Homemade garlic bread.
Tues: homemade pizza and salad.
Wed: Fish tacos and salad

Hoping for a cheap shop as the majority of that is things that I already have in from last week's Aldi shop or the veg patch. I'll keep you posted with what it comes in at.

what £9 in ikea? How? I can't go in there and spend less than £50. Which is always an issue as we usually never have he car....

fluffy I can drink pre flight. But flight 1 is at 8.55. Check in at 8. It's a bit early.... I may have a drink on plane 2. It's three hours of flying. That's it. i can do this. im not a wussy.

Your meal plan sounds delicious methen.

Spends today:
€3 work canteen
DH spent €10 on groceries, I asked him to pop into shop for some strawberries for DS as there were none in Lidl on Monday, and he bought 3 boxes . We will all be enjoying strawberries for a few days!

Tuesday: NSD

Monday:
€69 in Lidl

Sunday:
€3 on fresh bread

Baileys with ice is practically an iced coffee em. Iced coffee is acceptable in the morning.

God I used to love morning drinks on holidays.

We live in an IKEA place. So we never have to worry about not getting things. We bought oil for our kitchen island and brushes and some new shower scrunchies.

I have just spent £9 in tesco, new top for me and 8 dairy free yoghurts, dairy free cheese and dairy free cream cheese. I spent the club card vouchers they sent me. I only go there for dairy free stuff so worth using them for that.

Then I went to aldi and spent £38. I wanted to spend £30 but I did buy toothpaste, kitchen towel and toilet roll. I couldn't buy Parmesan though. Most odd.

Meal plan

Saturday - chicken nuggets
Sunday - roast chicken
Monday - chicken risotto
Tuesday - chicken fried rice
Wednesday - chilli with sweet potato wedges
Thursday - sausage and mash
Friday - jacket potatoes with bacon, onion and cheese

snuggly Sorry - popped out & ended up having an invite to tea. Select the cells you want to format, on the HOME tab the first icon in the styles group (just right of center) click "conditional formatting". Roll over Hightlight Cell rules from teh drop down - it gives you a rules catagory list - greater than, less than, between etc... select which one you want. It will bring up a box with a post box icon - you can use it to say if cell A is greater than cell B just click on cell B. OR you can type in values eg 100. The drop down on the right of the box gives you the formatting. These can be changed ....

click on Conditional Formatting in the ribbon again - the last option in the drop down is "Manage rules...." It will bring up a box where you can add new rules or edit the ones you already have. You can do this to start with if you don't want to do the first part... Excel always has several ways of doing thhe same thing.

fluffy 😘 Like your thinking! I may just get drinks on the plane. It's BA. But I may only drink champagne. Complimentary innit.

Feeling calmer now. In bed with a mug of camomile tea. I've taken a kalms. And am hoping for a serious sleep.
it doesn't help that my period is due tomorrow/Friday so I'm all sorts of hormonal. I was like this the last time I travelled. And the time before that. And the time before that. Really must work on timings in future.

Em, if you're on the pill, it's safe to run on to the next pack without the 7 day break, if you want to avoid periods on holidays /special occasions. I do this quite a lot.

creme nope not on the pill any more I came off in February with a view to maybe ttc. I'm certainly remembering why I went on it in the first place though! Fluey symptoms a few days before, and being super emosh! Plus ridiculous period pain (which thankfully only lasts a day). I don't think this has helped my anxiety. Because I didn't know what to expect, everything's freaked me out. It's becoming more normal though which is good. I'm keeping a log of how I feel pretty much every day (accupuncturist suggested this) so I can track my sleep, food, how I'm feeling and try and see a pattern. So far I know I get super emosh two days before and I don't sleep well.

Unescorted you're amazing - thank you. I can sleep easy tonight now!
Good luck with the flight, Em and have a great holiday.
I have to renew my driving license tomorrow. They sent me the letter weeks ago and I've kept forgetting. More expense!

Spends today £7 on lunch out with some mums from DC2's baby class. Path down in the garden. Just top soil, clearing and new turf to go!!

Have a lovely holiday em. I am a very anxious flyer too so feel your pain

Have a lovely holiday Em
Fluffy, Baileys and ice! 😀

Been at a safari park today which was free because our zoo passes gives us 1 free entrance to 4 different other zoos/safaris

Em Don't you know time doesn't happen in airports? Have a glass of something if it makes you feel better. DH was a terrible flyer until he travelled for business very frequently, he always used to have a glass of whiskey before he flew.

I've got into iced coffee over here, who knew it could be so divine? We haven't been having lunch, and an iced caramel machiato has a sugar rush all of it's own.

Hope you've had a lovely day Italian.

Lovely jubbly meal plan methen

We've been on air boats over the Everglades today. It was amazing. Saw all sorts of wildlife, including aligators guarding their nests. Fab experience.

Please can I have some advice? I have established a herb garden since I moved in here 6 months ago and I want to put store some of them for the winter. Shall I freeze them or try to dry them in bunches, or what? Never done this before and I was thinking that I must buy some jars of herbs when I realised I had lots growing by my back door. Thanks

Fallen behind on the thread as yesterday really took it out of me! Absolutely shattered, I've barely moved today. Was worth it, really great day. Bit worried as I have pupils tomorrow.

Quite spendy - £12.50 bus, £12 lunch, £19 dinner (the latter was really nice meal at Ask with clubcard voucher), £6 stamps, £6 circus fair stuff, £8 on painkillers etc as DD managed, after having excellent trapeze/silk sessions, to run into a climbing frame! Poor kid looks like she's been in a fight with a bruised nose/forehead!

Does WreckCat lick my feet because he loves me or because he wants to eat me?

Off to work again and haven't made lunch. Maybe I'll just go without.

Trying hang them upside down in bunches to dry them out eg thyme freeze in a ziplock bag eg basil could crush some & freeze with water in ice cube trays too I would think

Wreck is there a TESCO near work? Buy the lunch deal there. I got up 30 mins before leaving house so I put some Cous Cous in a bowl with spices grabbed a micro veg sachet & some meatballs from aldi. This is a super quick lunch to put together. Sometimes I take a tin of beans & bread for brand on toast, could you grab one of these options from shop?

While I was making that i had rashers black pudding & egg in pan & sugar free beans in microwave. Me without breakfast is not a pleasant experience

Yesterday spends €25 diesel €1.10 pack of walkers baked & €2.65 on an anniversary card for dh.

NSD today.

I've been charged £3 in returning boots that were not as described. I paid £4 for delivery in the first place. So £7 wasted in total for nothing more than glorified slippers with a fancy logo on.

Gutted! Frugal fail. Although I have emailed them to say I want my postage refunded as the product couldn't have been advertised more incorrectly. I doubt they would though.

Was it on eBay?.

Lilac usually I make couscous I'm just so exhausted and my legs hurt and my hip. Woe is me

Tryingtosave- I do as mentioned above and and chop very small then add to an ice cube tray and freeze. Maybe do a tray of each and write on the herb with a sharpie so you know. I also find I still get chives, sage (green and purple), bay and thyme through the (UK) winter so don't need to bother freezing them.

Thanks folks I will do both. I have thyme, mint, chives, coriander , oregano and rosemary. I will hang bunches in the conservatory and get some ice cube trays and freeze some as well.
I deliberately only planted I courgette plant this year as I knew I would have a glut which I have, but my neighbour keeps popping round with his spares. It's lovely of him but a challenge to use them. I now have them frozen for stews and casseroles in the winter which is great. But why do I have to blanch them? What does that do?