In the last few days of 2017 I thought I might do the ultra frugal month challenge this month and then I looked over my 2017 budget and realised that for many categories, I’d made rather unrealistic spending targets. Sure, I’d known at the start of the year that I had a fairly lucrative side-hustle that would fund some of that spending but I really wanted to be able to budget more accurately for 2018. This week’s money diary means that I’ve got a more accurate picture of what I would spend in a month where I was dating, socialising and living the way I’d like to carry on doing through 2018. The only thing that isn’t quite reflective of how the rest of the year might go is that I’m not drinking at all. Here’s what I spent last week.
Tag Archives: Budget date
Chicken and vegetable pita pockets
The person of interest watched their first ever episode of the Great British Bake Off (GBBO) last week as a favour to me but enjoyed it so much that we now have a weekly GBBO standing date. Yesterday we decided to make something summery and different from our usual frugal options of pasta, rice or potato based meals. We looked in my cookbooks and couldn’t agree on anything so in the end we made up this dish – chicken pita pockets with potato salad and coleslaw. Continue reading
Loaded potato skins
I love food. I come from a family where we start talking/planning dinner when we wake up. I rate holidays/foreign locations based on how much I enjoyed my food there – so I didn’t care for Prague but I absolutely adored Bologna. In my previous incarnation as a spendthrift, I also thought nothing of spending £30-50 on a nice meal out with a friend or romantic interest or £20 on take away. I’ve obviously been forced into frugality so have no room in my budget for such things but want to maintain my passion for food. What better way to spice things up that to start learning how to make new dishes? Last night the person of interest asked for loaded potato skins. Continue reading
Diary of a reforming spendthrift 