Day 3 was totally uneventful as I didn't leave my apartment except to go running and ate the last of the chilli, so no money spent!
Today I did my weekly food shop. It came to £9.80, so I have overspent by 65p, but I think that's pretty good considering. Truth be told I could have got it lower by buying cheaper coffee or only one packet of chilli mix. I'll subtract that 65p from next week's budget - hope I don't end up living on a few pounds by the end of it!
I bought:
Colman Chilli Mix 0.78
Colman Hot Chilli Mix 0.78
Sainsbury's porridge oats 500g 0.41
Sainsbury's basics red kidney beans 0.23
Basics eggs x 6 (sorry chickens :( ) 0.82
Chopped tomatoes 0.35
Basics frozen mince 750g 1.24
Basics onions 1kg 0.50
Sainsbury's red lentils 500g 0.84
6 white baps, reduced from 59p to 0.29
Basics carrots 1.5kg 0.73
Sainsbury's gold roast coffee 1.50
7 basics apples (1.3kg) 0.89
Total £9.80
This week will be very repetitive (chilli most nights) - this isn't the fault of the £10 limit, but because my freezer is iced up and I can't fit anything in. Otherwise I would freeze some of the chilli and do some soups, lentil stew etc to make it a bit more varied. I don't really mind though - I luuuurve chilli and this one will be delish. It contains:
mince
oats and lentils to bulk
chilli powder (obv)
1 tin kidney beans
2 tins chopped toms (I have one already in store cupboard)
finely chopped/grated carrot
2 or 3 onions
I reckon each portion contains at least 3 out of the recommended 5 a day, if not 4, because it is heavy on the veg and pulses. It is also extremely cheap and delicious. I will do a portion costing later once I've made it up and worked out exactly how much of everything I've used. I am enjoying this!
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Friday, 2 January 2009
Food Thrift day 2
Didn't really spend much of anything today. Had porridge for brekkie (made with water cos had no milk) with a bit of syrup in. I already had the oats so that didn't cost anything.
Lunch I had leftover stew from New Year and a mini roll as a colleague kindly brought in some treats, so that didn't cost anything.
I spent £0.85 on milk today so I have £9.15 to last me until next Thursday as far as getting any extra supplies in goes.
Dinner will be chilli con carne which contains lots of veg (in fact mostly veg), so between the stew and the chilli I will have had my 5 a day. I don't have any fresh fruit in at the moment, or any fresh veg - the only thing I'm starting this month with is stuff from the cupboard, so canned veg (nothing frozen either as my fridge's icebox needs defrosting very badly). One of the most challenging things about this will be ensuring I do continue to get my 5 a day, as I tend to eat large amounts of expensive fresh fruit normally. I'll have to be more inventive on this budget.
Lunch I had leftover stew from New Year and a mini roll as a colleague kindly brought in some treats, so that didn't cost anything.
I spent £0.85 on milk today so I have £9.15 to last me until next Thursday as far as getting any extra supplies in goes.
Dinner will be chilli con carne which contains lots of veg (in fact mostly veg), so between the stew and the chilli I will have had my 5 a day. I don't have any fresh fruit in at the moment, or any fresh veg - the only thing I'm starting this month with is stuff from the cupboard, so canned veg (nothing frozen either as my fridge's icebox needs defrosting very badly). One of the most challenging things about this will be ensuring I do continue to get my 5 a day, as I tend to eat large amounts of expensive fresh fruit normally. I'll have to be more inventive on this budget.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
January Food Thrift: Day 1
January's challenge is Food Thrift.
I am going to attempt to keep my expenditure on food down to less than £10.00 a week (£1.42 a day), while maintaining a healthy diet and eating my 5 a day of fruit and vegetables.
I have a fairly well-stocked food cupboard, which should help me somewhat (plus some left over choccies from Christmas!). I have an order from Approved Foods arriving which I am going to consider as week 2's expenditure even though I placed the order in December - it would be cheating otherwise!
Today I didn't spend anything on food as was just eating leftovers from Christmas and New Year. I haven't got any milk, so will need to go shopping tomorrow for that. My main food shop will be on Sunday, and I'll plan a full week of menus in preparation.
Happy New Year!
I am going to attempt to keep my expenditure on food down to less than £10.00 a week (£1.42 a day), while maintaining a healthy diet and eating my 5 a day of fruit and vegetables.
I have a fairly well-stocked food cupboard, which should help me somewhat (plus some left over choccies from Christmas!). I have an order from Approved Foods arriving which I am going to consider as week 2's expenditure even though I placed the order in December - it would be cheating otherwise!
Today I didn't spend anything on food as was just eating leftovers from Christmas and New Year. I haven't got any milk, so will need to go shopping tomorrow for that. My main food shop will be on Sunday, and I'll plan a full week of menus in preparation.
Happy New Year!
Introduction
Welcome!
This blog will be in the format of a series of challenges, each lasting one month, in which I'll try out various ways of saving money.
The plan for the first few months is as follows:
January: Food thrift
February: Cessation of all 'luxury' spending - food and essentials like cleaning supplies only!
March: Living on 'benefits' (ie the weekly amount the Government provides as Jobseekers Allowance)
April: Attempting to cut transport costs to the bare minimum
I may end up switching March and April depending on what fits best with my schedule, but for now that is the tentative plan. I'll add challenges for later months as inspiration strikes!
Who am I?
I'm a 23 year old female living in a privately rented flat (about the size of a postage stamp) in London's Zone 2. I work full-time as an editor in legal publishing and also have various bits of part-time income from AQA and tutoring.
Why am I doing this?
You might be wondering exactly why I'm doing this, given that I'm (thankfully) employed, live a fairly comfortable life spending what I want and don't have any real need to conduct experiments in thrift.
Well, it's partly influenced by the global financial situation - although the last thing the politicians want us to be doing is being thrifty and squirrelling our money away rather than propping up the High Street, for many people there isn't a choice - it becomes a necessity for an increasing number of people as the recession hits. I've read blogs on moneysaving for some time now, as well as the excellent MSE forums, and they are a valuable source of information for those who need to cut back. So I hope this blog may be a help in that sense.
Secondly, it's the time of year when we are overwhelmed by the excesses of Christmas and the New Year and desire to live a slightly simpler life. I did some tidying today (despite the superstition which says it is bad luck for the year) and was slightly repulsed by the sheer amount of stuff I've managed to amass. Many of the challenges I will attempt will also have the effect of limiting this needless consumption. After all, spending your money wisely hurts nothing and no-one.
So, onwards to the introduction for the first challenge!
This blog will be in the format of a series of challenges, each lasting one month, in which I'll try out various ways of saving money.
The plan for the first few months is as follows:
January: Food thrift
February: Cessation of all 'luxury' spending - food and essentials like cleaning supplies only!
March: Living on 'benefits' (ie the weekly amount the Government provides as Jobseekers Allowance)
April: Attempting to cut transport costs to the bare minimum
I may end up switching March and April depending on what fits best with my schedule, but for now that is the tentative plan. I'll add challenges for later months as inspiration strikes!
Who am I?
I'm a 23 year old female living in a privately rented flat (about the size of a postage stamp) in London's Zone 2. I work full-time as an editor in legal publishing and also have various bits of part-time income from AQA and tutoring.
Why am I doing this?
You might be wondering exactly why I'm doing this, given that I'm (thankfully) employed, live a fairly comfortable life spending what I want and don't have any real need to conduct experiments in thrift.
Well, it's partly influenced by the global financial situation - although the last thing the politicians want us to be doing is being thrifty and squirrelling our money away rather than propping up the High Street, for many people there isn't a choice - it becomes a necessity for an increasing number of people as the recession hits. I've read blogs on moneysaving for some time now, as well as the excellent MSE forums, and they are a valuable source of information for those who need to cut back. So I hope this blog may be a help in that sense.
Secondly, it's the time of year when we are overwhelmed by the excesses of Christmas and the New Year and desire to live a slightly simpler life. I did some tidying today (despite the superstition which says it is bad luck for the year) and was slightly repulsed by the sheer amount of stuff I've managed to amass. Many of the challenges I will attempt will also have the effect of limiting this needless consumption. After all, spending your money wisely hurts nothing and no-one.
So, onwards to the introduction for the first challenge!
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