Too Many Cookbooks.

We’re a cookbook household. We’ve got stacks of them! Anything with beautiful pictures or a familiar face or a tasty TV show accompaniment and we’re there. Valentine Warner is a particular favourite of Oliver and I, Jamie Oliver is a mainstay for the 4 of us, Gwyneth Paltrow is a celeb indulgence Katie and I can’t resist and we’re all in for anything Bake-Off related.

I cook from them quite often, but decided to keep track of what I’d been cooking and from which book. I’m sure I’ve cooked about half of the Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall Veg Everyday book, but nothing from my Wagamama’s bible, a gift from my Mum.

Here's a cookbook vs real thing comparison. This week I’ve tried Hugh’s Tomato, Thyme and Goat’s Cheese Tart...

I scrimped on this dinner, used 2 tomatoes, so next time I’d use 3, so the pastry is totally covered. The goat’s cheese and garlic and thyme were so good together, and I squeezed a huge blob of balsamic glaze on my plate to dip the crispy pastry edges. We have thyme in the garden, so I never have to pay for it. It doesn’t crop up too often in recipes, so if it’s called for, I tend to pounce and go a bit heavy handed. It’s this kind of scenario that made me fall for rosemary, because Oliver had a huge rosemary bush in the garden of his old house and we’d chuck it on everything. Including baked camembert, mmmmm.

Gwyneth’s Coconut Milk and Berries Sugar Free Ice Lollies...

Hugh’s Puy Lentils with Beetroot and Goats Cheese...

Any recommendations?

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Thrifty Living, Three Days After Payday.

So payday came. We went out for a nice dinner and I splashed out on payday breakfast. That's it. Done. It may as well be 3 days before the next payday as far as spare cash goes.

I do hope this month is a little different. The past 2, I have been genuinely broke after about a week and I was determined not to put myself in that situation again. Money is always tight when you're saving, but relying on Oliver to buy food is already old, for both of us.

I withdrew £200 on payday and put £40 in my purse for this week. I put 4 lots of £40 into 4 envelopes and labelled them for each of the 4 weeks until next payday. I can't spend money on my debit card if it's in my bedroom! This hopefully means each Friday will be a mini payday and I can still afford basics and even to socialize a week before the real payday.

We're both keeping an eye on ways to save money. Every little thing helps towards getting by on less than we're used to. We bought a giant fillet of salmon for £10 something from Morrisons, chopped it into individual portions and froze it. It'll do us for 3 dinners each and then a spare chunk for something else. Usually fish for one dinner for two people is £4, so this is thrifty and will see us further into to the month.

We stuck £60 each into a kilner jar for food shopping this month. We spent £38 today though, so I'm not sure how far that money will go. Still, it's better than having no idea about what we're spending on food. My friend Jill shares a house with 3 others and they write a menu each week, so they can plan and everyone gets to cook at least one night a week. I'd love to do this, since it must be really easy to budget for the one or two meals you cook a week. It's more expensive to cook for 4 people than just yourself but surely more economical to be buying more of the same ingredients than 4 different meals.

In my house, we work different hours and we don't all like exactly the same stuff, so it would be trickier, but I'd love to give it a go.

I'm hoping that these tricks will stop me from dipping into my savings a week before payday. Even just taking out £20 makes a difference to what I'll be able to take to South America with me. I'm casually eBaying my belongings, using cashback websites, budgeting, and trying anything else to save. I'm pretty much open to anything and I love a thrifty tip or two.

While we're away, we still want to be thrifty and have decided upon renting an apartment in Buenos Aires for a month, for the same price as staying at a hostel. We think this sounds indulgent and luxurious. I can't wait to wake up in a new city for a whole month, have somewhere to cook and relax that's just for me and Oliver.

We also found a few websites that let home owners list their properties for house sitting. While the owner is away, you stay at their house and walk their dog/maintain their garden/look after the property and in exchange you don't pay any rent! Brilliant idea. We've been guided to these thrifty ideas by Never Ending Voyage, a couple from Manchester who've been travelling the world on a budget. I can only dream.

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Still poor.

Come November, Oliver and I will be embarking on a journey for two, to South America for who knows how long, that is sure to outshine any solitary day in the city. That's almost the purpose of this blog, to have somewhere to share this trip with my family and friends.

I experience excitement, terror, fear, panic and daydreams at a impossible rate recently. I've been dreaming of a big trip like this for so long that it has to be a good idea. It has to be. But recently I was wide awake at 4am thinking "this is the stupidest idea anyone has ever had". Money is my biggest worry, as with most things in life. The fear is forcing me to make sensible decisions about money at every turn. So sensible that I talked Oliver out of a 30p bulb of garlic in Morrisons. I immediately felt terrible about this.

I'm living in some strange paradox. I have a savings account with a steadily rising balance, an unused credit card in a drawer, and a diet consisting of porridge and yoghurt.

Yesterday, we truly splashed out on about £3 worth of chorizo and made a casserole with some cheapo butter beans. It was a good weekend event. There isn't much else you can do on £3 but make dinner.

Payday is on Friday. The anticipation and excitement I feel on this last week of each month is better than a child feels in December. And it's all for the satisfaction and safety of putting near half my wage into my savings account. Pay my bills, pay my rent, set aside enough for birthdays and plans already made. At that point, I'm stoic, looking at my remaining £68. Thereabouts.

This is mostly exaggerated. Poverty is nothing new after prior employment by Odeon. Come November, I'll be living like a queen in Brazil. For about two weeks, then I'll remind myself to be sensible.

Here is our casserole prep...

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Pop!

This song has pretty much ruled my life this week. I am always in love with a hook. I go for the most unashamedly pop song on any album and find my feet from there. I live for Fall Out Boy. I like something to sing to whilst riding a bike. I'm after a song to mouth in the shower. This comes pretty close.

Beyonce - "Countdown"

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Yes!

Super nerdy day in today. I spruced this site up a wee bit and I'm so pleased about how it looks. It feels like a real thing now :) even though it is just to record my day to day and send back to my parents when they miss me. 

Yesterday Oliver and I went to get coffee at Takk in Manchester, but didn't check it was open first. It wasn't. Closed Sundays. Who closes Sundays? Well, they do. We decided to head to our default coffee place in town, North Tea Power on Tib Street, but, unsurprisingly, it was mobbed. If you haven't been, you should. The coffee is top notch. They do fancy coffee prep, the kind I've only seen in Berlin, at The Barn, and in Liverpool, at Bold Street Coffee. The cakes are not that great in my experience, they always have a lingering staleness, which is a shame.

Instead we popped two doors down to Fyg. I've never been before. It's a little quieter, has an impressive deli, and a few too many bad Beatles covers. We ordered a Manchego and Serrano ham open sandwich, with crushed garlic tomatoes and a honey mustard dressing that I'll need to find bottled. It was very good.

Food pictures aren't quite as sexy when you've half eaten what's on the plate.

We watched Star Trek: Into Darkness, with dream villain Benedict Cumberbatch. He wasn't as attractive as when playing Sherlock, but I still found him fairly appealing. I enjoyed the film a lot.... I don't have an especially sophisticated taste in films these days. Not that I ever did (Unstoppable, anyone?). It really hit the spot. It was a dreary and miserable day, but a pretty nice one.

I did some eBaying when we got home. I didn't sleep well the night before, stressing about our travel budget, so I put my worries to practical use by trying to sell off all the crap we've accumulated. Today has been a good day too. I made budget 'whatever's in the cupboard' scones...

What was in the cupboard? Sugared rose petals that I usually nibble on from the jar. I did a little bit of planting in my concrete jungle.

And that's that. Work tomorrow. Sigh.

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Impromptu Birthday Cocktails

I spent an unexpected post payday Monday with Alanna and Jenni to celebrate Jenni's 25th birthday, and her first in Manchester. I spent more money and drank more cocktails than I had planned to; but I can't complain because we had a dream day.

We shopped about and I treated myself to this wee necklace. That's £10 I can't spend in South America, but I am very fond of it!

Hula Bar and Lola's are both in the half of the Northern Quarter closer to Piccadilly station than the Printworks. I like the hidden away gems and mid week happy hours. On my current budget, 2 for 1 is the only way to drink cocktails. Lots of the places opening recently have a very European feel and make me think I'm in Amsterdam or Berlin. Days like this help to convince me I'll be living here in future, after travelling.

We ended on a late night search for a Chinese buffet. We were desperate, without a care for cost or quality, but every door closed on us with a 'sorry, closing now'. We settled on McDonald's and called it a night. I missed Game of Thrones. That's how much fun I had.

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Family Visit

A couple of weekends ago my family visited Oliver and I in Manchester. After a week or so of bursts of sunshine we were treated to overcast Manc skies and rain. Of course. We went for lunch in Katsouri’s, on Deansgate, which is a super good value Greek deli. They serve hot roasted meat sandwiches every day of the week for under a fiver, and they have what seems to be a rarity, an imaginative and tasty salad bar, actually appealing to vegetarians. The place is always busy at lunchtimes, but go later in the afternoon for a quieter whatever you fancy.

We wandered through Spinningfields, which would have been a treat in the sunshine, and made an impromptu visit to the Museum Of Science and Industry. Since we’d visited with a 7 year old child, there wasn’t much opportunity to take in much science or industry. I’d like to visit again, with Oliver, to wander round slowly and learn more about Manchester. With the miserable budget we’re both sticking to, free days out are essential. A bicycle and a museum is a good combination for us.

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