Indulging Yourself on a Budget

During trying times, it is vital to make sure you enjoy some treats or pleasures to feed your mental health…

Budgeting in my head

If truth be told, I am not fabulous with money. It is not that I am a frivolous spender, I just can’t seem to get excited about money planning. I would really rather someone else did it for me. But within my partnership, I generally take the money reins. I don’t think I am necessarily better at this, but I am more pragmatic, so may choose safer options to make sure we don’t go into debt.

I suppose that means I budget. But in very much the same way as I manage my online projects — a lot of it is organised in my head. For example, I budget for any larger quarterly bills by saving a small amount each month.

However, I also believe it is important to indulge yourself now and then. The last few years have been difficult to navigate, but with Covid-19 and extreme price increases— the world seems a little listless at the moment.

During trying times, it is vital to make sure you enjoy some treats or pleasures to feed your mental health.

My partner and I certainly try to do this. We live frugally in so many ways while enjoying the ride. Namely, we eat cheaply yet extremely well and indulge ourselves with a little personal tradition regarding charity shops. Let me explain…

Charity Shops

When we're working, our job takes us to so many different places around the UK. One of the things we really enjoyed doing on route, and whilst in situ, is visiting the charity shops.

In fact, it is a bit of a tradition for us.

We both get a kick out of finding special little treasures that had been pre-loved, in these stores. Not only that, I think recycling clothes and well-made crockery is a worthy thing to do. We often donate our own items that we no longer feel the need for, and usually buy some old/new ones for ourselves. I mean, how many places can you buy a retro suede 1970s coat, with faux fur collar, for £6?

Not to mention these handsome — cow-face — jugs. I have not seen them anywhere else and would love to find more. Have you got one?

Some of my favourite things have been charity shop finds.

Good Food

Another personal tradition in our household is dinner time. Food matters to us.

We enjoy what we eat— and a glass of Italian wine too. Our meal times are always special and sometimes indulgent. Every day. It is important to us. For example, phones are put away. Appropriate music is switched on, and candles are lit. Mainly, my partner cooks — though I do on occasion — while I organise the table and clean up after.

Cooking from scratch

What do we eat? A feast! It is a rarity that we eat anything processed. Our meals are cooked from scratch. And we find this is a very cheap thing to do because most of the fresh food we buy is short-dated and so the price is marked down.

We buy remarkable bargains this way each week. I think it is due to the fact nowadays, not many people know or care about how to — for example — prepare and cook a whole rainbow trout that has not already been gutted and filleted. We do. And it is these types of amazing foods we buy for just a couple of pounds. Often freezing and saving for another day.

Over the last few weeks, among other things, we have eaten:

• leg of pork
• Scottish mussels
• lamb fillet kebabs
• vegetarian homemade pizza
• beef rendang

My partner also occasionally bakes bread and, for a treat, blueberry muffins. It is no wonder we put aside time each day to give these meals the attention they deserve, and my favourite room is the kitchen!

No waste

Another thing we do to save money is to make full use of every food item. We hardly throw anything away. Typically, what we had for dinner one night will be finished off for lunch a few days later. If we buy a free-range chicken, my partner butchers it. There are only the two of us for meals at the moment, so we will cook the crown as a roast and the thighs, legs, and wings in a chicken chasseur, or tandoori chicken, at a later date.

Not even the chicken bones are wasted. They are boiled for their stock, which is used as the base for a vegetable soup or mushroom risotto. (One of the meals I cook.)

A plus side to cooking from scratch is you are not eating any or many hidden ingredients. Sweeteners, sugars, salts, etc. Because of this, our weight remains relatively stable, and we get to enjoy the benefits of a stronger vitamin and mineral content from the food. Keeping us reasonably healthy most of the time. Touch wood!

I think I enjoy budgeting when it is part of something creative, such as working out what wonderful foods we can afford to eat during the month. I do think, particularly during hard times, how we eat has become even more important to us. After all,

you have got to embrace the simple joyous things in the day. Otherwise, I am sure madness WILL take hold…

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