No Spend Sunday

Ah I love days like today, I woke up fresh as a daisy despite my 2 days of gluttony and spent a very lazy morning pottering around the house and playing with the dog J.  Lunch consisted of leftovers (cottage pie and crusty bread) followed by a very bracing walk along the sea front.  We are incredibly lucky and live quite literally a hop, skip and a jump near one of the finest coastlines Britain has to offer; however today, whilst the sky was blue and the sun shone, the wind quite literally was blustering and an icy wind at that.  I like to think I am quite hardy but after 20 minutes we had to admit defeat and return home; however the cobwebs have been well and truly blown away.

This afternoon I have made some vanilla and choc chip cookies and currently making darling hubby’s weekly lunches of couscous salad.  I have also taken stock of my cupboards and freezer and from what I already have I am hoping to spend very little this week in supplies, I certainly think (minus a few basics of eggs, bread and milk) feed us both this week without having to do another shop, happy days J

Tonight’s tea is an experiment, I have some left over pastry from making yesterday’s sausage rolls and with that, some cream cheese, herbs, ham and perhaps some onion I am going to knock up some little savoury tartlets – that with left over cake is a fine Sunday tea. 

So what’s on the Menu this week?

Hubbys lunches will be couscous salad and mine will be soup

Evening Meals

Monday – Sausage and cannellini bean hot pot (homemade batch cooking from the freezer) left over crusty bread

Tuesday – Hubby is going to football, so will pick up a bag of chips – I’ll have beans on toast

Wednesday – Homemade cheese and onion quiche (I have 400ml of single cream which needs using up, lots of mature cheddar which was on special offer, I always have onions, eggs and fresh herbs from the garden and I will make my shortcut pastry) hubby will have a few oven chips with it

Thursday – Pasta Amatricana – Again batch cooking pasta sauce from the freezer

Friday – Vegetable curry (again batch cooking freezer staple), rice and I’ll make some flat breads

Saturday - – I have one chicken breast, 2 sausages, blackpudding and one pork chop in the freezer, so I am going to make a mix grill for us both with a poached egg and hubby can have a few over chips as well

Sunday – I will have to buy in some food, we have hubbys sister and his great aunt and uncle coming for lunch, beef bourgignon, new potatoes, spring greens, finished by apple crumble and custard is on the menu

Time for Detox

Well the birthday celebrations are now officially over.  I have been spoiled by generous family and friends and have over indulged on too much food and wine.  I look forward to the remainder of lent being alcohol free.

I had a banging headache today so didn’t enjoy my soiree with en famille as much as I had hoped; however they all seemed to enjoy themselves and were very complementary about my food and cake; it was a frugal spread in cost but not in quality and amount, practically everything was homemade, whilst a lot of hard work was very rewarding.

Looking forward to a quiet day tomorrow, walk with hubby and dog and spend sometime in the garden preparing the veg beds; then the dreaded ironing J

Notes from my Kitchen

I had the day off work today, in fact I have a long birthday weekend ahead of me free from “work” (of the paid kind).  Today was a busy day and I definitely wont need rocking tonight, there is something really lovely about that physical tired as opposed to my usual mental/emotional exhaustion.

Today I cleaned the house from top to bottom, it gleams J - I also cooked up a storm in preparation of my Saturday soiree en famille.  I made 4 shepherds pies, one with plain mash and  3 with mash with spring onions and cheese (yummm) (the 5kg of potatoes I made took some mashing, the old bicep got a good workout); I made a fish pie and knocked up a batch of chocolate cupcakes.

This just leaves me to make sausage rolls and my birthday cake – lemon and white chocolate.  Both of these I will make early Saturday morning.  So minus sending darling hubby out Saturday morning to buy some crusty bread; defrosting and warming through the mini cheese and onion scones I made the other day and quickly making some cheese straws for the dips, the food for my hopefully hungry guests is done J

Fail to Plan - Plan to Fail

Well the first of the month and psychologically a new financial start, as a fresh supply of money has been organized J.  I have 3 bank accounts – the main joint account where both our salaries go in to and all our bills go out from.  The bills from this account are fixed i.e. mortgage, direct debits for utilities etc and as such is calculated within an inch of their lives.  I then move money into a working account for our fluid spends (this is the only debit card me and darling hubby have in our wallets)which pays for petrol, food and household necessities and “spends” – I have tried to put a frugal yet realistic amount in this account and work hard to ensure we don’t spend anymore.  This is the account that I hope over time to reduce as I become better in my frugal ways.  I then pay a chunk off our credit card debt and then 10% of our joint salary into our 3rd account, our slush fund. 

Now you really shouldn’t save whilst you have debt, but you do need to put some working capital aside each month.  I have learnt the hard way with this one.  Every time I would be close to getting  my head above water, something would happen to duck me under the waves i.e. car breaks down; roof leaks; washing machine dies etc and as I didn’t have any savings would have to rely on my credit card and e voila back  in debt.  My slush fund is designed to stop this particular merry go round.  So whilst I work hard to chip away at debt, I do so in the safe knowledge that I have a safety net to pay for the unexpected.

Today the unexpected occurred – I had to take my beautiful cavachon to the vets, she has been scratching like crazy, gnawing on her leg which had got very sore.  Vet believes its allergies and with cream for the sore leg, antihistamine and an injection I came out 5 mins later and £90 lighter in the pocket.  She’s my baby and for her I would sell my kidney so money is not an issue, but had I not had my slush fund I would have struggled this month to pay the bills and remain committed to my debt clearance plan. 

Pay Day

Well pay day is finally here, ah the highs and lows of this blessed day – the high that I am solvent – albeit briefly (but still a good feeling), then the low of this evening going through the main account to move money around and discover that even though tomorrow is the 1^st I’m broke again.

Since January I have taken my finances by the scruff of their neck determined to be debt free (mortgage the exception) by the end of this year.  I owed close to £18000 – I know it’s not as big as some peoples but it’s big enough. I still have a lot of improvement to make in my frugal ways but I have managed to clear £3000 so far in two months, it’s been tough going but it’s been worth it and I’m well on track to achieve my goal.  The first financial goal of many to come.

On the menu today ......

Hubby: Weetabix for breakfast with skimmed milk and juice, for lunch, ham sandwich and took his usual 2 bananas and 2 apples which he munches on during the day.  Tea was homemade chicken and veg soup (Saturday tea leftovers) with bread and homemade chocolate cake. 

Me: no breakfast (I never do, I know it’s really unhealthy but I get up and out sooo early the thought of food is incomprehensible) – Lunch was out at an Italian restaurant eating pasta and garlic bread, now this normally would not be frugal, however my best friend (who is Italian) owns two Italian restaurants so lunch was free J– and tea (as I was still full from lunch) consisted of a small bag of chocolate mini eggs L

The day was going so well spends wise in that I hadn’t spent anything, however tomorrow is my last day in work prior to my birthday and as is tradition I must go in with cakes for the team.  I could have made the cakes and saved some money, but time has been my enemy and I had to buy, that coupled with a loaf of bread and a treat for hubby and me – shopping cost just over £12 ummm these little stop offs are always my downfall – ah well onwards and upwards tomorrow J

Oh No.... the Big 4-0

So this blogger reaches the big 4-0 on Friday – seriously how did that happen? Surely it was only yesterday I was 19 creating mischief and mayhem and having a ball. 

Hubby’s 40^th last year was a frugal persons nightmare, weekend away with close friends (I paid for it all) a week’s holiday to Rome; a weekend in Lille, plus gifts – the whole thing came in over £5000.  Well that was then and this is now and as I am paying the piper…..  how do you have a frugal 40^th?

Well I could just hide under the duvet and forget its existence – my personal choice.  However hubby wants to mark the occasion and as I’ve convinced him that going to Paris is not on the cards until debts are cleared and savings made; I’ve eventually brokered a frugal (ish) deal.

Birthday day is a boozy lunch at Pizza Express with just me and my darling hubby; we have a particularly nice one in an old converted bank with modern art and jazzy music.  The meal itself will come courtesy of my Tesco Reward Vouchers; the booze and taxi will come out of the small pot of money I have managed to squirrel away – I have put £50 aside for this – I would (now) never normally spend this however it is a special day and has been my compromise to my darling hubby who believes you’re a long time dead.

Saturday is a party afternoon with my family – all hosted by us at our home – this has been the biggest quandary for me.  I have and often did throw lavish parties at my home – huge buffet table groaning under the weight of smoked salmon and finest terrines and cheese boards that would cost a small third world countries debt, along with a bar stocked as though I was in the nightclub business.  Again different days. 

So the menu will be:

Nibbles:  Homemade sausage rolls (pastry is made from store cupboard ingredients, pork sausage meat £3.49, onion and sage from the garden, this will make a batch of 30 sausage rolls which really are the best (Delia’s recipe); I will also be making homemade mini cheese and onion scones – again all these ingredients I have in store and again I can make about 30.  In addition I will buy some value range dips and chop up some carrots and make some cheese twists. Hopefully whilst drinks and hellos are ongoing, hunger will be put in abeyance until the…..

The main event - shepherd’s pie, ones with plain mash and ones with champ mash (mash with spring onions and cheese – my dad’s particular favourite) and fish pie (sister pescatarian) along with crusty bread.  Portions will be hearty.

Birthday Cake – Homemade lemon and white chocolate cake – along with some chocolate cupcakes for the kids – I can make all this for less than £3

Booze – Well my favourite cocktail is going to be plentiful – Poinsettia – gran marnier, prosecco (I have substituted this for a cheaper cava which was on offer, (as it’s a cocktail providing its alcoholic, dryish and sparkling it really doesn’t matter) and cranberry juice.  We have lots of beer which was left over from Christmas, that with an array of soft drinks – I hope everyone will be suitably content.

The last Xmas Eve buffet/ soiree I threw in 2010, the cost came in close to £400 my 40^th Birthday celebrations, (whilst will take more work as much is homemade) has come in for (on-line shopping list done) £86.  I think to throw a party for 14 including birthday cake and booze for £6 per head isn’t too bad – I know my frugal betters would be able to do better and I hope in years to come I also can – but for me this is a huge step forward. 

I am however nervous and a tad insecure - I really hope my guests, who have been used to my extravagance will enjoy my frugal soiree …….