Erm...Not a great day, moneywise. Or calorie-wise, either I suppose. Met my Mum and my aunt in town for coffee before work. Very gallantly, I allowed my pensioner mother pay for my cup of tea and bagel (hadn't had a chance to get into the bank, kids, not my fault), and walked - or splashed - my way to work. Finally liberated €100 at lunchtime and slipped into my regular coffee shop where I dropped €7.50. How? I felt bad about spending "just" €5 when all I had were 2 crisp €50 notes. I know, I know... really, that should be Rule #2 There's no Minimum Spend. I need to remember that cash won't actually burn a hole in my pocket.

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Well, this is interesting... I've been surviving on €100 since last Wednesday, and I may just last until tomorrow (Monday). Really, my biggest extravagances have been food: sprang for lunch with my friend on Wednesday. Naughtily got a takeaway on Thursday & Saturday (but I'd been working late I can hear myself whinge), and treated myself to reasonably priced (for D4) lunches at work. Oh, and I had to get petrol last night. Today, I've yet to have anything to eat, but I still have 1 carton of hummus left from early last week - if I shell out for slightly fancy bread, I should be able to hold off going to the ATM until tomorrow. And as my laser card isn't working (hmm... need to talk to my bank about that), the only alternative to living very frugally today is putting goods on the credit card. Which in itself isn't usually A Bad Thing. It's just that I was living on it for a good 2 weeks, and when the credit card comes out, it's very hard not to justify its use by buying other items for the week ahead.
We'll see how I get on...

Just. Don't. Ask. Don't ask about how I ended up coming home from town yesterday with a skirt when all I wanted to do was return a blouse and 2 CDs. Or about why I ended up spending €9 because I had a yen for some fruit (okay, a smoothie, which seemed too skimpy to order by itself in my local rip-off café, which is why I ordered a €5 bagel alongside...). Or forgot to send my brother a birthday card. The important thing is that although I indulged in an Insomnia latte & sandwich combo (and really, €5 in Dublin's swishest postcode is pretty good), I'm back on track.
This evening's tea was the leftover paella from last night. And I have the makings of a gorgeous wrap tomorrow. Did enough grocery shopping until at least Wed lunchtime this evening, and feel confident that I'll be eating very well until then without spending much cash.
Tonight's haul at Tesco came to €13.78 doesn't sound too thrifty, but it does include washing up liquid and cotton wool; tea bags, coconut milk and chickpeas (to replenish the pantry) and Tesco's own-brand of moisturiser which cost €1.86. In design terms, the moisturiser is almost comically stark (I'll take a pic and upload), so I'm curious to see how well it works. The fact that it was in among the goodies aimed at teenagers rather depresses me, as it reminds me that I still have the "problem" skin most thirtysomethings have shaken off by now, but let's see how it goes...

So... it's been a long time since I was last here, and to tell the truth, I've been quite bold... Today was actually a pretty good day: I only spent €7.20. €2.20 on newspapers (I work in the media; today was my first day back at work after a holiday, and I needed to play catch-up) and €5 on the sandwich & coffee deal at my local coffee shop.
I know - what's Rule #1? Don't waste cash on those pick-me-up fancy coffees. But you have no idea how naughty I've been over the past few days and weeks. I'll just say "credit card" and "new camera" and let you draw your own conclusions. What's worse is it's not over yet. Badly need to get my capsule wardrobe up and running, and my car insurance is due this month, so my plans to pay a large wodge off CC are unlikely to come to pass.
Look. I've the makings of a nice veg paella for tmw, which should see me into Monday. In the meantime, it's a matter of making out my meal list for the week and shopping accordingly.
Wish me luck!

Man, I'm getting lazy. Last night's curry turned out very well. Wolfed down 1.5 portions (returned to the pot for a helping of sauce, mopped up with my very expensive rice) before bagging up four portions for the freezer. My frozen food reserves are looking healthy once again. All in all, it was a pretty cheap deal. Today, I'm taking the lamb I bought in the local butchers (about €8 - I know, I know, but bear with me) and making a tagine with winter vegetable couscous. So yesterday's outlay also included a parsnip (€1.16, gulp), ginger (17c), garlic (49c), fresh coriander (€1.29), flaked almonds (€2.35) and a swede (89c) - as well as a honeydew melon (€1.93) and parma ham (€4.69) for the starter. Jaysus. No wonder I walked away €40 lighter. Erm, hope my parents like their introduction to Moroccan food...

So far, so mixed. Picked up eight oyster chicken thighs in the local centra for €2.99 and settled down to make a curry. Had all the ingredients here - apart from yogurt - so it was shaping up to be a very, very cheap meal, something I could eat this evening before bagging the leftovers up and freezing. That was before I got to Tesco to stock up on groceries ahead of tomorrow. The 1kg bag of brown basmati rice ended up costing me an unbelievable €6.62. I've actually had to check that once more. Almost seven euro for a kilo bag of rice. Is this the future? Paying exorbitant sums for cupboard staples?