I made a terrible, terrible mistake in June.
I ignored my budget, forgot to check my online banking statements regularly, and made a big ‘luxury’ purchase (last minute half week “glamping” break) in the same month as a big necessary purchase (car tax). What with that, bills, childcare, mortgage, new shoes for Isabel etc my bank balance was officially lower yesterday than the day before pay day. I am in my overdraft at the beginning of the month for the first time ever.
I’m telling you this because a) it proves that even the most frugal of us make stupid, stupid mistakes sometimes, and b) because I need the accountability and the kick up the arse to motivate myself to go back into mega-frugal mode… the kind of frugal I rocked when I was on maternity leave. Meal plans, packed lunches, budgets, spreadsheets: you name it, I’m on it.
It’s too late to cancel the glamping break and get my money back but I’ve (sadly) dropped 2 ongoing payments to WAHMs for work on WAHMweb, put a crapload of maternity clothes and shoes up for sale, and resolved to cancel a bunch more domains. It’s not going to make me any money — that’s another topic altogether — but it’s a start. August WILL start better than this.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I bought a bigger slow cooker to try and frugalise (is that a word?) some of the meals I’m used to making by reducing the fuel cost to cook them. Having made a few ‘easy’ meals with success I spotted some bargain pork this weekend in the Co-op… read full entry »
Bit uninspired this week :P Sun 4th: Roast chicken, mash, veg Mon 5th: Creamy salmon pasta inspired by Jack (adjusted to make it dairy free/suitable for my fusspots) Tue 6th: Chicken soup from carcass Wed 7th: Mince & tatties Thu 8th: Beany mince / salad filled pittas Fri 9th: Pizza night Sat 10th: Curry? probably… read full entry »
Bit more veg this week, except tonight’s “meal” (don’t ask) Sun 14th: Meatballs & mash Mon 15th: Spaghetti hoops on toast (‘oops’ disorganised night) Tue 16th: Slow ‘roast’ veg & crusty homemade bread Wed 17th: Macaroni Peas (adapted from River Cottage Veg Everyday) Thu 18th: Sausage & chips Fri 19th: Pizza night Sat 20th: Wrinkly… read full entry »
Making the most of leftovers and the freezer this week, with short-dated prawns and pork frozen from previous supermarket shops & Tuesday’s pie made from tonights pot roast. Sun 14th: BBQ leftovers & sandwiches/salad Mon 15th: Beef brisket pot roast Tue 16th: Beef & mushroom pie Wed 17th: Prawny pasta bake Thu 18th: Egg, chips… read full entry »
I’ve been up and down with my meal plans lately, trying to find a system that works for me. The most productive way I have found seems to be to plan from Sunday through to the following Saturday. That allows me to buy a piece of meat / chicken / whatever for Sunday and incorporate… read full entry »
There’s been a big gap between meal plan posts because discovering Oliver has issues with dairy left me feeling a bit lost and “what do I cook now?!”. I don’t know why, most of the foods I cook are either dairy-free or have ingredients that can be substituted with ‘fake’ milks like oat or almond…. read full entry »
Apologies for another boring meal plan entry. Drowning in work and house chores and kids and general ARGH at the moment. As expected, I’m finding that breaking my meal plans down in to stages and basing what I serve off the veg box instead of the other way around is not only helping me stick… read full entry »
We had some sunshine here in jemjabella-land today, so despite the chill in the air, everyone was wrapped up warm and shoved into the garden (and as such both kids were asleep for 6:30pm despite Oliver having late nap!) I’ve re-potted my strawberry babies from the runners last year into their allotted tyre and did… read full entry »
Sorry about the cheaty back-dating of this one ;) I’ve got several posts in the works re: my new goal to pay off the mortgage etc but am poorly so not getting time / energy to finish them :( 01st: (Homemade) Pizza night 02nd: Frugal cake-fest 2013 03rd: Bangers & mash 04th: Poached pollock &… read full entry »
