Up until now I had been doing pretty damn well with Stoptober, eating up freezer stuff, tinned stuff and larder staples. In fact, all I had spent really was 95p on a sausage roll!
But nothing ever goes quite to plan. My simcard in my phone broke for some unknown reason so I had to replace that for £10, not an enormous deal, but unavoidable as I use my phone for work, anyway, because a very very very very good friend of mine gave me his old iphone (which I had just been using for a useful internet device when I was working away) I was able to get a sim that fitted the phone and now have that up and working as an actual phone. Thank you Matthew! It means that I haven't bad to buy a new phone for years and years (last one was held together with an elastic band, it is no wonder the sim stopped working really) and that, in turn, means that my sim only contract is tiny, coming out at well under £10 a month and that pretty much covers all phone calls and messages etc. Like I say, my phone is used for work purposes and is a very necessary expense, but to have such a small priced contract is brilliant, especially when I see what some people have to pay for an iphone on contract!
The other fly in the Stoptober ointment came yesterday, although I certainly cannot complain about this one. Sometimes bargains are too good to miss and it would be stupid to. I happened for once in my life, to go into ASDA at the right moment yesterday and they were selling all their meat off for very good prices. My freezer had some room in it thanks to Stoptober so I stocked up on as much as the cash in my pocket would allow. I bought chicken, lamb, lamb mince, beef mince, pork mince pork belly, pork fillet, beef stewing steak, sausages and more stuff than I can even remember, spending in total £27 but absolutely filling the freezer. Easily will last me for many weeks. So definitely worth every penny. So Stoptober took a hit, but I certainly can't complain about it, as this means spending less in November now! My freezer is so full now that I had to lay some bricks on the top to make sure the lid stayed down! Couldn't fit in the beef stewing steak so I cooked a sort of beef in red wine (beef bouguinon, without the burgandy) casserole yesterday and had it for my tea last night. I was given a bottle of red wine after one of my concerts and being not much of a wine drinker thought this would be a better use for it than wasting it on drinking (also my friend was given the same one and said it wasn't very nice to drink). It was delicious with some of the new potatoes I dug up from the garden last month. I will post the recipe on here sometime soon along with my super new recipe for Southern 'baked' chicken. A lower fat (well a bit lower) home cooked version of KFC! Good for that 'take out' treat.
Tonight I am being taken to the Dolly Parton based musical '9 to 5' in Manchester by some friend's (thank you again Matthew) who ended up with a spare ticket. Who knows what it will be like but it should be a nice trip out with good friends at the very least.
A new sim card is much better than the £60 for a plumber that I had to pay to get my shower installed. Even if that was a bargain for an hour and a half of work
ReplyDelete£60 for an hour and half's work, definitely in the wrong profession!
DeleteDeffo made sense to stock up when it was that good a deal. Now you can have 'Stovember' instead where you practically live by the stove cooking up all your meaty buys into lovely warming stews/pies etc. :-D
ReplyDeleteHi Dan, have you a Farmfoods near to you? My daughter in law showed me all the stuff she had bought, such as 18 gammon steaks for £10. Value for money. I'm going for a visit myself this week to see what I can purchase. Should last a month or 2 x
ReplyDeleteGreat buys with the meat. I have'nt had a good meat haul like that for ages, the yellow stickers seem to be extinct nowadays. My phone is also dying, mine too was my husbands old one and I think I have had it for at least two years.
ReplyDeleteThe meat buy was certainly worth breaking your no spending rule for. It doesn't pay to save a penny this month to spend a pound next month.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the southern baked chicken recipe - v. popular in our house so a home made/lower fat version would tick lots of boxes.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I buy in fully to "no spend" periods. no good if you then spend a lot after the time comes to an end. It helps to focus I guess but a better approach is a detailed monthly budget, that way all the bills are covered and you might be able to save some as you go along.
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