Monday I spent $10 on two drinks for my friend and I, and we went for a swim in the river near my house. I did a 15 minute walk as well.
Yesterday I had porridge with strawberries and honey for breakfast, and I made a salad for lunch and had a banana and mandarin for snacks, plus two (homemade) coffees. We had lentil Dal for dinner and I had a cup of strawberries and two scoops of icecream.
I filled up the tank with petrol, $30, and that was my only spend yesterday.
Today again I am having the same, but when I went to collect the mail my tummy was growling and I caved in and bought a chocolate chip scone for $1.60. I know! tsk tsk.
Tonight I am making red curry, so I need to buy:
Meat for BF
Meat for the pup
Some facial scrub (i've run out)

Tomorrow I will try and be good, my friend and I are going to a Day Spa, so that is $30 already spent. We might get a coffee afterwards, or maybe not, we will see.

I made a recipe out of one of my new cook books last night which worked out well. It was a roast pumpkin, feta and caremalised onion pie. We had it with a side salad, and BF is taking some with salad for lunch today as well.

On the menu this week:

Red Curry (with lamb for BF)
Lentil Dal
Spinach & Roast Tomato Salad
Korma Curry (with lamb for BF)
Stuffed Roasted Eggplant with Rice
Homemade Pizza (with pepperoni & lamb for BF)

I bought lentils this week in the grocery shop. I haven't eaten them a great deal in my life; my dad has cooked occasionally with them and they've always turned out delicious, but that could be because my dad is a great cook.

Did you know lentils, when eaten with nuts, milk or yoghurt (to make them a 'complete' protein) have a higher amount of protein 100g than beef???

Interesting stuff!

Haven't written for a few days, not a great deal to say I guess! Haven't been spending a great deal of money which is goooood!

It looks like this month is going MUCH better than the last few months - every single week so far of september I have spent much less than I've taken in. I am really happy about that, but fingers crossed because it's not over yet!

I am planning on going to the markets on Sunday. Last week we went to the growers market on Saturday, but I hear it has moved this week and I am not quite sure where it is. Also, I have a feeling that the Sunday markets are cheaper. I spent $35 last week on salad ingredients and some extra veges and bananas, and I usually walk away on Sundays with change from $40 and a lot more veges... Hmmm...

I visited my sister this week in the city - so my petrol expenses were doubled this week; it cost around $30 to drive there and back! Couldn't believe it! I suppose I did a bit of driving around the city... but still! I also had a day off so that was less money in my pocket. Fortunately my sis paid for my meal, all I spent was $12 on two juices.

It's Friday afternoon and I've finished work; what a great feeling! Unfortunately BF is working tomorrow. Flatmate is away but will be coming back tomorrow. I sort of hope she doesnt get back til later in the day, it would be nice to have the house to myself for a bit. I might do some drawing or soemthing.

Tonight we are having enchiladas for dinner, with the mexican bean stew I made a few weeks ago and froze in portions. I will be making a salad to go with it.

My pre-cooked and frozen meals came in handy this week, when I visited my sister I got home quite late and was considering takeaway, but straightaway realised I had pasta sauce already in the freezer! It was easy and cheap, I just added some mince to BF's to keep him happy.

I made pumpkin soup this week - I usually make it with cream but didnt have any and didnt want to go to the shop. I had coconut milk in the pantry, but by the time I had whizzed it all up, it looked and tasted just fine without anything else in it, and was probably HEAPS healthier.

I went in and picked up a book I had ordered a couple of weeks ago - Cooking with Kurma by Kurma Dasa. My dad has his books and he cooked a bit from them when I visited him last. Delicious. I really wanted to get a vegetarian cook book seeing as all the cook books I have only have a couple of recipes in them. Of course, you can do substitutions or leave the meat out, but I just really wanted one that was actually FOR vegetarians. Only thing is Kurma doesn't cook with garlic, but I'll just be adding that in when I need to.

I had a quick flick through the book and I can't wait to get home so I can have a good go-over it. Next week I will plan a couple of meals around the recipes.

Tonight for dinner will be a little experiment. I am planning on baking some pumpkin, capsicum and zucchini (and some lamb for BF), blanching some beans and broccoli and caremelising some onions, then i am going to add that all to some plain cooked pasta and stir through the rest of the jar of pesto I have left in the fridge (from the pasta salad I made for my party). I might crumble some fetta over it and add some fresh rocket as well.

Yum Yum!

I need nothing from the store except the meat for BF.

Todays expenses so far:
Book: $30
Florentine Biscuit: $3.70 (i know! rip-off!)
Petrol: $30.31
Phone Bill: $44.45 (my share)

---------------------------------------

I am excited because there are three people going on holiday at work at the SAME TIME (which is terribly stressful for my boss - but good for me!). Which means I get to do my maximum hours, and I might even get some easy work serving customers for some shifts. My max hours per week are 30 - I mentioned to my boss if he's REALLY stuck for people to work shifts, I said I would do more, and then he can pay me normally when I want to take time off. I don't really care that much about overtime unless I'm actually working more than 8 hours in a day - if it's spread over a week I couldn't care less if I worked an extra 8 hours and 'only' got $19.78 per hour.

It's starting to warm up now - summer has officially arrived for us. After having a few months not even breaking a sweat at work I had forgotten what it felt like to have to work in a hotbox - ugh!
(I'm not a fan of summer - I much prefer winter: jeans, jumpers, cups of tea, snuggling. As opposed to: anything you wear being too hot, no aircon or ceiling fans in this house, sunburn, feeling lazy etc).

The only things I can look forward to in summer is that it's easier to get up in the morning as the sun has risen already (yes! at 4.30am!) and it's so hot you basically sweat a couple of kilos off.

Of course, I don't HATE summer, but I much prefer winter. Although i do have to give credit to the sunny season as it does make you feel like you actually have to get out there and do something with your life. Just the past couple of weeks I have felt like I am wasting my life by sitting around doing nothing.

I have decided on some goals for the next couple of months. I figure if I write them down they'll be easier to stick to:

- exercise 5 days a week, for 30 min or more.
- have salad for lunch during the week.
- limit spending on coffees and snacks out when meeting with friends to $10 a week or less (a friend and i have started to go for bushwalks and hikes lately which is nice!).
- try to go to the beach at least once a week for a swim (it is five minutes walk away - yes, i can hear it at our house - yes, i know, we're slack, i haven't been to the beach for a swim for a year).
- try a new recipe at least once a week.


If I think of more I will post them. I know it's just starting to get colder for winter for most of you, do you have any winter goals??? And for those of you who are, like me, starting to experience the first rays of cummer, what are your goals?
I remember that I had a couple for winter, one most notably was to eat lots of different types of soups. I think I made minestroni and pumpkin soup. (yes... not a lot, i know...)

I am feeling like I achieved a fair bit today which is good!

We went vege shopping at the markets today and spent approx $50 (including $10 dog food as we are looking after parents pup).

I made a batch of vegetable pasta sauce which made approx 2 nights of dinners (4 meals) and lunch for BF for the next day, packed in separate containers and frozen.

I made a batch of mexican bean stew (good for nachos/tacos/enchiladas etc) approx three nights dinners (6 meals), packed in separate containers and frozen.

I made a silverbeet/spinach/fetta pie and cut it into four and wrapped separately, frozen. It will be good for approx four nights dinners (8 meals) if I add some steamed veges and a side salad.

I also made about 6 of each:
-banana, sultana & coconut muffins
-apple & cinnamon muffins
-mulberry & strawberry muffins

using spelt flour, oats, brown sugar, plain yoghurt and a little water for the mix.

I also made a mango & peach crumble for dessert tonight, which should be enough for tomorrow night as well.

I will be making a thai vege red curry (with chicken for BF) for dinner tonight to have with rice. I was thinking, seeing as I am on a roll with the cooking today, that I will make a bigger batch and freeze half of it for another time as well.

Would you like to know the ironic part of all this? I have enough food in the pantry and fridge to not use a single pre-made dinner until next week! So that's good news. I think I will use them as a sort of 'takeaway' meal one or two nights a week, without actually getting takeaway (and not spending any money!).

On the menu so far for this week:
-pumpkin soup
-laksa
-homemade pizza
-roast veges (& steak for BF)

So yay for me. I feel like I've done a lot of work today.

Plus, I also vaccuumed the house and cleaned up the kitchen after cooking everything.

Well, i finally got my act together and created an avatar that bears some resemblence to myself, you can see it on my side bar now.

Today and yesterday I did very well with resisting the temptation to spend money on snacks. Yesterday I spent $2.90 on 1L of milk, and $23.50 on petrol. Today I had an automatic deduction come out for rent ($126.67).

I think we may actually get by without spending any more money on groceries this week!

Tonight I am making a vegetable minestroni soup with some meat in it for BF. Tomorrow I am thinking of making red curry, or enchiladas.

I thought we were going to go away for the weekend to BF's mothers, but we are not, which is fine. Flatmate is going away though, so we will have the house to ourselves.

I would sort of like to do something this weekend with BF. I was thinking maybe seeing the movie Taken, I think it looks interesting. Or maybe we could go bowling.

My payrise starts today. I am still unaware how much I get at Job #2, because I am not sure if I calculated it correctly on the wageline website, but here's hoping! I could either get $17.71 p/h or $18.47...
But at job #1 I now get $18 per hour, starting today!

In good news, I recently asked BF to put two new holes in my belt because they were just about not keeping my jeans up, and I have just started fastening it on the second-last one. It's a good sign!

On the flipside, BF (and I) have noticed he's getting 'a little thick' around the middle. (well, as thick as a tradesman can be - I would say it's a very small pot belly - he's usually a mass of muscle of lean-ness) I would say it has something to do with oh... sausage rolls for breakfast, two minute noodles for lunch, potato crisps in the afternoon, dinner, then dessert...? I know he works physically hard for the entire day, but me thinks it's getting to a point where he's eating so much (and so much that is BAD!) that he's not burning it off. And that's really saying something! My boy works pretty damn hard. Eh.
He needs to start consistently (key word here) eating salads for lunch like he used to. (once a fortnight doesn't count, especially when it's combined with all the other stuff!)


I got some chocolates and a pepper grinder, more chocolates, some moleskine journals and a handmade bag for my birthday yesterday as well as the other presents i mentioned in my earlier post.

Went to the post office to check the mail for work and post some letters, but I wasn't allowed in because there was a bomb scare! There were police and firetrucks everywhere.

Well that's all my news for now....

I finally went to the market this weekend for our groceries. It has only taken me... oh a few months...
Groceries that will hopefully last us all week cost approx $26 ($13 each).
One thing I did differenly this time was, I didn't shop to a menu. I hardly ever stick to it anyway, and most of the time I buy the same stuff. I am trying to be a little creative with meals, as in, think of them on the spot, not a week in advance, and only using things in the pantry.
Last week, I roasted some vegetables,, boiled some pasta, and tossed the roasted vegetables through with a little homemade pasta sauce and topped with parmesan. It was really yummy, and cheap!

The month of August has technically finished on my expenses calender, so I will be posting those results soon. I warn you, it won't be pretty! What with the Hens Night and Wedding, and my car service... UGH!!! I already know I'm over. The most important part I guess, is that the bit that I'm over is what I took out of my Holiday Fund and Bills Account, so really I should break even...

Last night with a friend I went to the local Hare Krishna Janmastami (Festival of Life).
My friend, lets call her T, joined the Hare Krishna movement for two years. (she has joined many things, i think the poor girl just wants to find herself) however, I thought it was very enjoyable and I had a lot of fun.
Let me explain some things: I've never been religious, and I don't think I ever will be. But the subject interests me to no end. I really find it fascinating the different perceptions and beliefs people have, and the sacrifices they make, the commitment etc.
I love to watch.
I went to a Christian youth group for about a year, they held it every Saturday, and it was one of those rock ones, very un-traditional (well, what I thought anyway). The pastor was about 28, he would tell stories of times he was exposed to drugs and alcohol etc. He really got on a level with the majority of the audience.
I've been to traditonal Catholic and Christian church mornings as well.
To be honest I enjoyed the Hare Krishna gathering about a hundred times more than I enjoyed any of the others. They never forced their beliefs on you; they explained them, they showed films on one of the founders of the movement in America in the late 60's, (i think his name was Srila Probhupada) they sung, they showed examples of yoga, traditional dance, stories etc. It was welcoming, but not at all forceful and it didn't feel like they were 'recruiting' anyone.
At the end, before our meal, they did the famous 'circle' dance. While I'd already told T I didn't want to, she dragged me in, and I am sort of glad I did. I need to get out of my comfort zone sometimes, I am really bad at just standing on the sidelines, wishing I could join in, but feeling too weird.
They didn't ask for donations, although they provided to the entire gathering rice, several curries, salad, ginger tea, and dessert. I had to find the donation box, actually I had to ASK them where it was.
The guy selling Hare Krishna and Indian wares said 'you don't have to give, but if you choose to, you can give what you think your experience was worth'.
I had already decided that I would donate $20. I only had two $20 notes in my wallet, and $20 is what I would normally pay for a meal - I had decided this $20 donation when I was getting ready at home. But I felt a little weird when T and N put some coins in the donation box, so I had to fold up the note so it looked like only a $10. I don't know why I did that really, I just felt weird. Is that weird? I guess it's one of those things, your value of money over someone else's value of money.

Overall, it was a very fun and interesting night. Their talks and films have made me think about some things. While of course, I'm not going to join the movement, it's an interesting concept to consider.

Last night flatmate and her BF went out for dinner, so my BF and I were left to our own devices. I really really did not feel like cooking, and we considered takeaway for about 5 minutes. But because we have been on each others backs about super-saving until the end of the year, we decided to not spend $30+ on dinner and instead I pulled some pasta sauce out of the freezer that I had pre-made and frozen. (even THAT felt like an effort!) Bolognaise for BF and a vege packed sauce for me! And I also had a corner of a pizza base that had cracked off in the freezer, so i crushed some garlic on it, added some herbs and grated cheese and we had some garlic bread!
I felt good saving that money, as well as knowing that the food was fresh (well, fresh when I made it, then frozen!) the pasta was organic, and I had even made the dough for the garlic bread myself at work!
And I was able to watch Neighbours while I cooked it, heh heh (the truth comes out - I usually watch Neighbours every night...)

I am starting to run low on our stock of frozen pasta sauce though, so I will have to make some more. Tomorrow I am determined to go to the market, as I have not been in weeks.

On monday we are having a building and pest inspection done on our house. I don't know why?! The real estate has assured me that the owner is not selling, so I guess maybe that means that they are worried about us living here? I have always felt a little unsure living here, as the real estate aren't exactly friendly (we got a phone call about our lawn being 'ho-hum' and that we had 24 hours to mow it - even though it had been raining for 2 weeks) and I know for a fact we were the 'second choice' for occupants, which makes me feel a little edgy.

Anyone that has rental properties that they own, what would be your reasons for a building and pest inspection? I am planning on tidying up a little today and tomorrow, but I am not sure how far I should really go (as BF is working and flatmate has HER BF over - so therefore won't be much help - I don't want to clean the entire house myself). Apparently it will be the council doing the inspection, not the real estate, although the real estate MAY be there. So I was thinking just a general tidy-up, vaccuum & mop, sweep outside and clean the windows??? would there be anything else I would have to do? what about gardening? I HATE GARDENING!!! ok, I wouldn't mind if it was my own house, but it's not.

anyway.
any advice or thoughts would be appreciated

For the past 2 weeks we have had visitors staying at our house, and they left late last week. Also our flatmate, who had been away for a month, returned. It was nice to have the visitors, but I definately noticed an increase in spending, as we would often have takeaway, or I would cook for all four of us (they cooked once). They were our guests and seeing as I didn't know them well enough as I know our other friends, I didn't exactly feel comfortable asking them to pitch in on grocery items and dinners (unless we got takeaways). So BF and I paid for about 3/4 of their dinners. (breakfasts and lunches they did their own thing).

Now everything is back to normal I am looking forward to a decrease in Takeaway Food and Groceries spendings. I know I have to work on some dining out expenses as I have been having coffees with a friend about 2 or 3 times a week, and I stupidly decide each time that I won't bother to pack some snacks and 'will be fine to just have a coffee and wait til dinner', which usually ends in my stomach grumbling at me and my friend and I sharing a bowl of chips or some other equally fattening non-essential item we could have easily avoided.

I have also not been walking AT ALL lately. Usually I have atleast 3 x 30 minute walking/jogging afternoons a week at the beach along a track, but have not really gotten back into it since my holiday. So this is all going to start again next week, on monday after work. NO excuses! and I have decided I will jog an extra 10 minutes each session just because I have been so lazy.
Fortunately I have not put on any weight, though I am sure that will change unless I do something immediately!

I am going to make a meal plan for this week. This vegetarian/meateater combination is a tricky one sometimes, but it's working. Tonight I think we will have homemade pizzas as I have some bases in the freezer which I made last week.
For the toppings we will have: artichoke hearts, pineapple, onion, capsicum, roast pumpkin, olives, sundried tomato, with a tomato and garlic sauce, fresh herbs and on BF's side he will have some sliced lamb.

A Hens Day/Night of expenses:

Transport: $10
Coffees (while waiting for people to turn up): $7.40
Snack: $2.40
Parking (shared): $5
Boat Cruise: $20
Alcoholic Beverages: $38.50 (for FOUR drinks)
Lunch: $6.20
Dinner: $18.50
Scarf: $10 (it was freezing!)
Breakfast: $33.30
Coffee: $3.70

Total: $130.00


...I am cringing at how much the wedding is going to cost me next week!

...vegetarian meal?

I seem to have a loss of inspiration in the cooking department lately, and everyone here always seems to have great ideas.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Or anything that has meat in it, that can be easily cooked without as well, will do.

I am having my 21st Birthday Party in a month, and am starting to get things organised so it isn't a major stressout the week before the party. It is a dress-up theme, and therefore at my home.
The guests are bringing their own alcohol and I am supplying food.
I am stressing a little about the food, I don't want to not have enough, because that would be terrible. But I don't want to have too much either. People are meant to arrive at around 4pm, as it is meant to be a relaxed afternoon (I am not really the 'party'-party type, I prefer talking and catching up to loud music and shots until 1am) so I will need enough food for about 25 people for afternoon snacks and dinner. So far I have planned:

for nibbles:

- 40 x mini spinach & fetta rolls
- 40 x mini quiches
- 30 cupcakes
- cheeses, crackers & dips

for dinner (around 6pm)
- 3 large bowls of baked seasoned wedegs
- a large garden salad
- a large pesto pasta salad
- a large potato salad
- various loaves of fresh bread and rolls
- sausages & vege patties on the bbq

for dessert:
- cake

I am also planning on buying about five bottles of flavoured soft drink, plus of course paper plates, plastic cups and knives and forks.

One thing I am wondering is, are there too many 'nibbles'? or should I be putting some of the things for nibbles out when i put the dinner out (like the quiches and spinach and fetta rolls..?)

Is there anything I am missing???

EDIT: I forgot to say, I will be getting the quiche, spinach & fetta, cupcakes & cake from my work (ie. probably making them myself as well!) so they will not cost a great deal)

i have found lately i have been losing motivation to post frequently. i think my finances might be suffering as well because of this, although i really have tried to do well.
my main problem areas are takeaway food and beverages and grocery shopping.
the takeaways i can deal with, as i will work on decreasing the costs. i actually already have been, as the most of the costs are from catching up with a friend and we have begun sharing a meal if we need one, or just having a coffee.
grocery shopping is a tricky one. having spent three weeks with my father and that side of the family, where they all eat organically and fresh, i have sort of turned over a new leaf and begun buying organic here and there. i am really trying to keep costs down, but i think this is something i want to do, so we'll see how i go. the other reason grocery costs are high is because i haven't had the motivation to do a full shop, and so have been going to the supermarket every couple of days for items, and therefore probably purchasing a few things each time that i don't actually need.
i'll try and work on that.
lately i just can't bring myself to push a trolley around for over an hour. i know every couple of days the time would add up to over an hour, but i just can't do it at the moment.
does anyone else ever have these days? (or weeks, i should say).

in good news, i am about to update my side profile with my savings and debt amounts. i transferred $700 (my tax refund) into my home loan/uni fund account, which brings the balance to over $1200. woohoo! have reached goal #2 and am closer to #3 every week.

bf and i have been (well, i have mostly, with bf looking over my shoulder now and then) having a look on the internet at some properties so that we know what we can expect to be looking for in a few months time. the prices of units seem to be steady, but have fallen slightly in a year, which is good news for us. there are also a lot more on the market than there was a year ago. houses seem to be out of the question at the moment, the cheapest at $450 000 and most ranging from $500 000 - $800 000 for a 3-4 bedroom slab house.

it's been a bit tricky sometimes with cooking meals, BF eating meat and I not, but overall it hasn't changed our routine that much. i am planning on buying a heap of small steaks or cutlets to freeze individually. this will give me a bit more freedom as i can cook him a cutlet and add it to whatever i am cooking.
eating out is tough, i have discovovered. i guess i am normally used to eating in restaurants that do have a wide range for vegetarians, whereas lately we seem to be going to places like pubs and clubs, which usually only offer one vegetarian meal. so i'm going to have to do some research and find some good places to eat around here! sooner or later i am going to get sick of raviolli and nachos...!

I have been thinking long and hard about this decision. I guess I should explain:
I was raised as a vegetarian. My father has been a vegetarian for decades, and while my father and mother were together, my mother was too. I knew what meat was, I was allowed to eat it if I so wanted, but the thing was I didn't want to. I couldn't think of anything less appealing than dead animal flesh. When I was about 6, I was tricked into eating meat by my mother and her new boyfriend. (they told me what I was eating didn't have meat in it, and I didn't find out until later, when I refused to eat turkey at christmas and they said "for gods sake, you've been eating meat for a year anyway!" - thanks mum). So from then on I had to eat meat. To be honest, I really dislike eating meat, particularly red meat. I've never craved it, nor have I ever gone out of my way to order a steak or something when dining out. I don't mind fish or eggs, and chicken is usually what I go for with most meals, but like I said, I don't like eating meat. I never 'feel' like it.
My father is still a vegetarian, as is his new wife and my sister. As with me, my dad and stepmum have encouraged my little sister to try it if she ever wishes to, but as so far, she has refused.

Getting back to my decision.

One thing that makes it difficult, is I guess my laziness. My boyfriend LOVES meat. He could eat it all day, every day. He also does very physical work, and so I guess one of his justifications is that he needs red meat for all the physical benefits it provides (muscle regeneration and growth, vitamins and nutrients etc).
So here I have a problem, as I cook the dinners each night (and no, this is not a discussion about who should cook, I WANT to cook the dinners - also my boyfriend leaves home at about 6am and gets home at 6pm, seeing as I work shorter hours it's only fair).

But having just come back from a holiday where for three weeks I ate a total of two meals which included meat (from staying at my brothers and then my grandparents), I have realised a) this is a choice I truly do want to make and b) I have felt so much better physically having only eaten a small amount of meat over that period of time.

I just wanted to write about it here as I haven't really told anyone else about my decision yet (except my boyfriend and a friend whom is also a vegetarian). It is also slightly financial because at the moment meat is so expensive, and even though I will be eating more beans, nuts etc, I think in the long run it might work out to be better financially as well.

Don't worry, I'm going for a yearly checkup with my doctor soon and will be informing him of this change and will get them to monitor my iron and b12 levels.

thanks for reading.

from my holidays in victoria! hello everyone, i am ready to start getting into frugal mode again.
i have to say though, my holiday expenditure went *exceptionally* well.

I spent, in three weeks, $381.40 on food, transport, beverages, entertainment and clothes.



(this is not including my normal expenses at home ie. bills, rent and loan).

I am so very pleased with myself.

We have a wedding to go to in 6 weeks, which we just got the invitation to, so I will be using some left over money from my holidays to buy a dress and shoes.

Today I paid the remaining $84.67 on my CC # 2 and now I officially have NO BALANCES on ANY of my CC's.
Which means my only debt is my personal loan. Technically I never actually had CC 'debt', as I always paid the full amount at the end of the cycle, but I always had a balance. So it's a very freeing feeling. I like transfering the money as soon as I spend it, I think I will keep doing it, it makes me feel on top of things.
I have set up a $60 transfer into my bills account for the next three weeks, as I probably won't have much access to the internet over my holiday. On Monday night I am going to adjust my automatic transfers for my online savings accounts as well, and transfer ALL of my holiday savings into my main account. I have worked hard for these savings, so I am not going to feel guilty for whichever way I decide to spend the money.
I am already a low spender type of person. I wouldn't say I'm especially frugal, and I like to have fun (sometimes a bit TOO much) however I am not the type of person to blow a paycheck on shoes or clothes, nor my holiday savings on a bunch of crap I won't use. I know if I have any money left over I will put it to good use as well.
Last holiday, I was with a friend who tried to convince me to buy something from a Country Road store, even though I wasn't really that interested, I only said I liked some of their clothes. Her reasoning? "you work hard, you deserve it."
deserve what? a piece of overpriced clothing that i only sort of like?
sheesh.

I am looking forward to seeing the SATC movie, haven't seen it yet. I was waiting to see it with my step-mum. She has already seen it but would like to see it again.
Oooh, can't wait! Only five more days to go!

In other news:
I got some bread rolls from work today (FREE!) so we are having burgers tonight for dinner:
Homemade beef rissoles, lettuce, tomato, cheese, cucumber, pineapple and beetroot.
Yum!
Bread rolls are normally 70c each, so I am adding 70c to my challenge, as well as $1 for a NSD today. New balance: $77.98

Last night we went out for dinner and I spent $2.20 on a drink and $12.50 on a pasta dish. It was delicious; a garlic, chicken and mushroom fettucine pasta. I think I did quite well for the night.

That's all my news for now!

Chicken Tomato Risotto
(Risotto Rice, Stock, White Wine, Tomatoes, Onion, Mushroom, Brocolli & Peas)
Pumpkin & Coriander Fritters
(S/R Flour, Milk, Egg, Zucchini, Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Coriander & Plain Yoghurt to dip)
Spinach & Ricotta Canneloni
(Canneloni Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Ricotta, Pumpkin, Garlic, Cheese)
Homemade Beef Burgers
(Mince, Egg, Onion, Lettuce, Pineapple, Beettroot, Tomato, Cucumber)
Roast Chicken & Veges
(Chicken, Sweet Potato, Potato, Pumpkin, Zucchini & Brocoli)
Soy Ginger Fish, Cous Cous & Stirfry
(Soy Sauce, Rice Flour, Ginger, broccoli, capsicum, onion, bok choi, zucchini, carrot)

Out of all that, I only need to buy:

Markets: Brocolli, Zucchini, Pumpkin, Capsicum, Carrots, spinach, Ginger, fish and fruit.

Supermarket: Olive Oil, Yoghurt, Ricotta, Canneloni and Self Raising flour.

I only have plain flour at home. Do you think I would be able to make fritters with plain flour and a little baking soda? I have never made fritters before.

Oh and of course, if any of the meals do not have veges with them, it will come with salad! I am a big fan of salad and veges with EVERY meal when i have kids, they will probably hate me...

We went to the market on Sunday and BF and I spent $35 on veges for our week. ($17.50 each). Then so far at the supermarket my portion of spending has been $16.55.
Our estimated extra expenses will be lamb, coconut milk, rice noodles, rice wraps, 2 x chicken breast.

so that should cost under $20 for the lot ($10 each). and that brings my total grocery expenses in at $44.05, which is nearly $6 under budget. yay!

meal plan:

tuesday: steamed veges and rice
(carrot, zucchini, capsicum, sweet potato, brocolli)
wednesday: lamb korma (lamb, brocolli, pumpkin, potato, capsicum & zucchini)
thursday: roast chicken & vegetables
(pumpkin, sweet potato, green beans)
friday: fresh spring rolls (non-fried)
(grated carrot, capsicum, lettuce, cucumber with a freshly made thai coriander dressing)
saturday: spaghetti bolognese
(already prepared in freezer from previous week)