To Pie or Not To Pie

I quite like Thursdays, well I like each day of the working week on a sliding scale as we get closer to Friday. My favourite time of the week is when you first get home on Friday evening. If I could just bottle that feeling of the weekend stretching out in front of me then I suspect, I really would not have to worry about my debts or financial future at all.

To begin with, a quick update, after the new credit card arrived the other day, I rang them up and checked the balance transfer had gone through. It had, £690.00 on it.

I also thought to check the payment date and it was set to something like the 29^th of each month. Well as I pay the credit card off sometime between the 3^rd and 5^th depending on payday this would have meant I would have incurred charges for late payment as I would not have paid the card between the date the statement was raised circa 10^th and the date the payment became due circa 29^th. Can you imagine my horror if this had happened?

So I urge you, if undertaking a balance transfer, just check the payment date with customer services on the phone. I really am pleased about doing this, but I will have to remember that the company will add a £20 BT fee on shortly. This is the only charge that is going on that card for the next 12 months, believe me!

I also rang up the old credit card, and checked they had got a zero balance on it. I had not accounted for interest from the old account when transferring the balance over, therefore had £6.01 outstanding. I paid immediately, so the credit card should close automatically. But, I will be keeping an eye on these pests.

A good job done!

Another good job is the £5 challenge I set myself this week, (well in actual fact £7.50) I went out today and grabbed a packet of crisps 50p (well this is a frugal blog not a diet blog!) and also popped into my local 99p store. It is like Poundland….only cheaper….by a penny….get the idea? And bought a new car washing sponge. 

Huge isn’t it? Think I am going to cut it in half.

Anyhoo, this means £2.31 left for tomorrow. That is loads! I think I might be able to do this kids!

 I also like the fact that by using cash as I have, it has meant I am able to track my current account online a lot easier. When you see a balance on the screen I know it is accurate, as I have not been waving the debit card around purchasing overpriced knick knacks.

I did earlier this evening, dig out my rainy day jar (i.e. an old mah-ooo-sive pub whiskey bottle and emptied it. £45.70 in shrapnel. Cannot decide what to do with it whether to bag it up and knock it off the debt or wait until it gets a little higher say £50 / £100. Nice dilemma to have though isn’t it?

The Chap is coming over tomorrow night after work for dinner. We are planning a day out (venue to be decided) on Saturday to get away from all the DIY. I will not feed him my frugal fare, so I will tomorrow have to pop and grab a couple of things after work to make dinner, I am going to take this out of my weekend budget as officially the working week will be over. Cheating! I hear you cry…. Well my blog, my rules…:o)

I do have a bit of a dilemma, there is this absolutely beautiful pie dish at my local House of Fraser, I like it so much I have been in three times this week to keep looking at it. Reduced in the sale to £4.25, so not a fortune, yet a really useful size for one. I have stopped myself from buying it so far, but I know that if I do not buy it in the next few days then I will miss out.

http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Linea+Curve+20.5cm+pie+dish+red/138638799,default,pd.html

What does everyone think I should do?

I did pop over to pick up that book I got from freecycle this week after work - Rebecca By Daphne Du Maurier

I am loving it! Such a great story, read 50 pages in the bath this evening. Perfect... and Free!

Frugally yours

Abigail

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NSD, and Another Frugal Five

Today, I achieved an NSD. What is an NSD you might ask? Well it is a No Spend Day. Which means no money got handed over to anyone during the course of the day. That is a SUCCESS! Yay me!

So halfway through the week and I still have £3.80 in cash in my purse. Hope I can make it until Friday without getting more cash.

I am really trying to get more financially organised and as part of that, my new credit card arrived, so officially I have only one credit card and the overdraft costing me any money in interest.

Had a quiet evening last night, I was supposed to go to my evening class, but as I felt so ill as I am still nursing this cold. I decided to go home. Grabbed a bath, then turned off the heating (remember target of £250 for next quarters utilities) and started cooking. Bumped the eggs dish for the fish fingers, and ate it with boiled cabbage and some frozen home made cauliflower cheese, very tasty and just what i faniced as a bit of "soul food" when feeling under par.

I have started thinking about upcoming expenditure and gave myself a shock about April. It suddenly came to me in April I will need to pay the Utilities again, pay my car tax, buy a present for The Chap's milestone birthday and the service charge on W Towers will be going up. So I need to start planning now.

I also came to the conclusion yesterday after putting £30 of petrol in the car that the money left in my current account will not last until the beginning of February when I get paid next. I was being a little optimistic, I think, as at the beginning of Jan (if you remember) I put £300 away into savings to pay for the gas and electricity. When that bill arrived I actually did not go into savings to pay it. So if I do end up taking some cash say £50 or £100 from my savings to help me through the next 2 week, then I really think that it will still be a win for January, some money put aside in savings and over 8% off my debt.

ANOTHER FRUGAL FIVE FOR YOU

1. Did you know your freezer is most energy efficient when full, as it takes less energy to keep the drawers at the required temperature. Lesson: keep it full. When cooking make too much and freeze the rest into portion sizes. The same is true of your oven. When baking, fill up the spare space with baking trays and tins. More energy efficient, better for the environment and lowering your utilities bill.
2. Always look for alternatives, a case in point. I belong to a book club and need to read Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. My local library did not have it, so I posted a Wanted on Freecycle, Within 12 hours I had received an email offering a 1970s copy of the book. From a lady half a mile from my home. All free. Great!
3. Mend it! Always, look at the option of mending an item, even in todays throw away society, big money can be saved. A man 10 miles from me mends Dysons for £35, and The Chap recently got his xbox mended for £25. But this month’s award goes to my sister. My nephew dropped her iphone about a week ago smashing the glass back. Apple wanted £200 to repair it. She googled her problem and found a “You Tube” clip on repairing her phone. She then had to buy the special screwdriver and a new back, which came in at £25. It took her 5 minutes to do it herself. Now that is a great saving!
4. Shopping, do not get tempted with "buy one, get one half price" deals in the supermarkets. Ask yourself, "Do I need another?" As when you buy these deals then you are SPENDING more money, not saving yourself money. This is a good lesson also in any sale. You are NEVER saving money at a sale but spending less.
5. If you live in the UK, join Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert website and sign up for his weekly emails. I have had free pizzas, cheap shoes and countless deals because of this man. Well worth the 2minutes it takes. Plus you only get 1 email per week and no spam.

Off to see The Chap tonight as been a week since I saw him last. Really looking forward to it!

Frugally yours
Abigail
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Late to the Party – or how I do my best

I have had such a lovely and productive weekend.

Sunday evening quickly arrives again though doesn’t it?

I have really tried to curb my spending since the new year and the only sale items I bought was a new slow cooker as my last one was made back in the early 90s and I was getting pretty worried about leaving it on when I was not home.   I had been eyeing up the Tesco model but at nearly £30 could really justify it since I had one that worked well. However when I went in the other day it was reduced to £12 so I grabbed it and the old one went on freecycle and was picked up a day later.

This week I did had a wander around a House of Fraser sale and discovered some tins half price for baking and since the Great British Bake off has a lot to answer for I grabbed them both which came in at £7 for the two – they are really good quality too. So that means I have a proper bread loaf tin for the next foray into bread making. Plus a square tin will come in useful for the brownies I like to make.

I also grabbed some Christmas cards for next year, which meant I got all my cards sorted for under £4. Not to bad considering I am sending about 40 or so currently.

So under £20 for a bit of sale shopping I hope is acceptable and will not break the bank for this month.

Slow cooking really is the most delicious way of making your food and tenderisers meat like no other. Cheap cuts after sitting in the slow cooker for a good few hours just melt in your mouth.

Remember those drumsticks I bought the other day? Well here are four of them. I defrosted them about 12 o’clock today and them browned them for a a minute or two on each side in a pan before putting them inside the slow cooker with a real hotpotch of ingredients. I rarely follow a recipe unless looking to impress visitors and generally just chuck in store cupboard contents.

Today I added an onion, and the rest of some large mushrooms I had intended to stuff, a tin of chopped tomatoes, some sweetcorn then a teaspoon of chilli powder half a packet of barbeque seasoning I had open, some garlic and a stock cube. It looked a little watery later, so some thickening granules were added. Not rocket science but it really tasted delicious for dinner and should do me for at least three meals.

So these two photos ultimately turned into this...

Which nicely leads me on to a menu plan – to budget most wisely it seems to me that organising what I am going to eat for the week  makes me get the most out of my money and what I have in stock without buying anything unneccesary.

For breakfast I have sultana bran this week which should last me until at least Friday morning, though I will have to buy extra milk.

Sunday

Dinner – Chicken Drumstick casserole with rice (I got this rice free with a Sun token from their Friday freebie)

Monday

Lunch – ratatouille on toast (ratatouille home made and currently frozen in the freezer)

Dinner – Chicken Drumstick casserole with either the left over rice or some of the potatoes left from the cheap bag bought on the 27^th Dec – they still look fine

Tuesday

Lunch – ratatouille on toast

Dinner – The frozen tuna fishcakes I made last week – this will finish them off . Plus I will not be getting home until later and I they will be ready in jiffy once I walk through the door

Wednesday

Lunch – Cheese on Toast I still have some babybel in the fridge.

Dinner – 2 findus crispy pancakes I found hiding in the freezer yesterday along peas and probably a jacket potato

Thursday        

Lunch – cheese on toast

Dinner – mackerel with peas and mashed potatoes

Friday

Lunch - cheese on toast

Dinner - eating with sister

Saturday

Eating with sister.

I have got so much done over this weekend, I finally tackled the ironing mountain that has been building up since Christmas, since it was getting pretty irritating having all these weekend walkers turning up to my door wanting to scale it as part of the 6 peaks challenge. And turned this….

Into this in an hour and a half.

I also cleaned out the fridge and looked through the kitchen supplies, I only needed to throw an old banana that was nearly walking its way to the kitchen bin.

I cleaned W Towers too, so really the only jobs left are to turn these Christmas Cards

 into tags for next year and sort out the paper work for the last 2 months that needs to be either shredded or filed. It is a job I really loathe so I cannot see it being tackled until next weekend as I am out every night this week.

All in all apart from buying The Chap and I a takeout at the weekend and filling up the car, I really feel that I have not done too badly this weekend spending unnecessary cash.

As an aside, giving away my old slow cooker on Freecycle was a new experience for me. I only joined about a month ago and already was gifted a grow your mushroom kit which I am really looking forward to getting started on. It was nice too, to give something away. I had so many responses and I am so glad that it has been gifted to a person who will use it . It is not thrown away or given to a charity shop as I do wonder whether those establishments would have wanted it.

Freecycle around where I live seems to be very successful, and it is lovely to receive the messages, now I feel a bit more confident about using the process I am hoping to clear out some clutter from my home.

Everyone out there has probably been using it for years, but I am always late to the party and only joined Facebook in the summer after vowing never to join its ranks. It is fun, though I never want to get to the point of using Facebook to stay in contact. I am a bit old fashioned and like to speak to my friends pretty regularly or at least personally email them.

The Chap and I went to the cinema last night too using some vouchers he got for Christmas which also pretty much covered the popcorn and drinks there. Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol. It was really good fun and with some very amusing moments courtesy of Simon Pegg. However there were one or two scenes which made me feel sick as I am not one for heights. Great Saturday night date movie. We both enjoyed it, though the conversation home did centre on Ethan Hunt’s car…

Frugally yours

Abigail

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