Cheap dinner

Tesco had value stewing steak at 1.60 per pack so bought some of that and made a casserole with that, onions, tinned tomatoes and garlic, hoping to serve it shortly with pasta and keeping fingers crossed that it will be well received, as we will be eating it often at that price!!!
Also put the curtain up last night over the front door and was very impressed by the heat which was kept in overnight, Eilidhs room was noticeably warmer this morning when I went in.
Got all the curtains shut earlier today, it has been frosty all day and once the sun disappeared at about 3 it really started to cool down, so I shut all the curtains and lit the sitting room fire. Sat in the sitting room now and it is lovely and warm, then heating hasn't even come on yet!
Also used the new breadmaker to make raisin bread, which went down well with the kids for lunch, quite nice and light, so will make that again, plenty left for Breakfast tomorrow, will need to make a proper loaf then too as nearly out of bread.

Savings at tesco!!!!

really chuffed today, been cutting vouchers off the backs of the kids mini cereals which they got for Christmas, the vouchers were 25p each and I had 11 of them, I went to Tesco and bought a box of golden nuggets for 1.88, but the assistant scanned all the vouchers, so I managed to get a packet of sausages for next to nothing too!!! (the sausages had been reduced to 99p as they needed eaten today) I bought some other bits and bobs too, but managed to get it all for less than 4.00!!!
Will be looking out for more money off vouchers I think!!!!

Not well today

Eilidh has been awake most of the night with the cold, and I am feeling pretty ropey too, so can't see us saving much money today, intend staying warm and occupied all day, so can see the heating being on for longer than normal today!
filled in a couple more surveys last night, got 17000 in toluna points now, need 60,000 to get an amazon voucher, so still a long way to go, but well on the way. Another survey came through this morning, but I didn't qualify. I suppose I am not a brand name junkie, so they don't always like my answers.

joined a few survey sites

Have joined some survey sites to try and raise some funds for next Christmas, not entirely sure how many, but have answered the majority of emails so far!!! Can't guarantee how much money I will raise, but every penny will count! Just googled 'UK survey for cash' and took pot luck!!!
Did fairly well in the sales, managed a pair of trousers in Next for 15.00 for me, got some shoes and boots for eilidh in Woolworths closing down sale for 2-3.00 each, unfortunately we went to JJB Sport for Lochlans shoes, and discovered that he is no longer a size 4 so had to buy him trainers too, which set us back 34.00 for both pairs. Its a pain when the kids feet get so big! They cost more!!!!
Saved quite a lot of money, but spent a lot too, so not sure how much good it did me!

Won a breadmaker!!!

Someone was advertising a breadmaker on Freecycle last night and I have won it!!!!
It is in Lochmaben, so will pick it up on the way to Dumfries later. Will have a play with it when I get home, and if it is ok, I will give my old one to my Mum, as she wanted to try it, and get going with the new one.
Can't get a better price than free!!!!

Hitting the sales!

Heading out to the sales today, not planning to get too much, Lochlan wants to spend his GAME voucher, so thats the main reason for going, but would be good to get a couple of pairs of trousers and tops for me, and if there are any cheap coats for Eilidh, that would be fab as she has managed to rip hers quite badly, I am going to try to sew it up, but the fabric won't hold the stitches very well I don't think.
Will see if I can get some very cheap toiletries too, as they are good for raffle prizes and are usually dirt cheap just now.
Vanora gave us a curtain for the front door, and we bought a curtain pole from the old Au Natural shop (3.99) so hoping to get Alex to put that up which should improve the temperature in Eilidhs room and the cats hall.
Hanging in there!!!!!

homemade nosh!!!

Well, homemade fairy cakes and home made soup today, getting good at this!!!! sure making homemade makes good financial sense, would have helped if we had found a soup recipe which was tasty!!!!
Fighting the urge to turn the heating on, just another 2 hours until it comes on!!!!

my new favourite website

Found this website last night http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/50ways it is a really interesting site with lots of ideas to cut the bills, think I will be visiting it often from now on

Made a small start

Well, last night I remembered to pull the plug out of the wall for the laptop, so a bit of a saving then, also switched off the internet at the plug so that is quite good going!
I also turned the heating down to 18, and my heated duvet down to 4, and although I did notice the house was cooler this morning, the duvet didn't make much difference.
Small steps, but will hopefully have an impact, off to shut all the curtains now, to keep some heat in!

And so we begin

Well, it is nearly Christmas 2008 and I have overspent again! I am going to work really hard in 2009 to budget really hard and save money! Over the weeks I will be looking at how we spend our money, and how much of that is money wasted rather than money enjoyed. Hopefully by the end of the year, we will be saving hard, and the money will be in the bank, ready to pay for Christmas 2009.

Am guessing it is going to take some time to pay off the debts of Christmas 2008 mind you!