Is your glass half full, or half empty?

Generally when asked that question, my glass is most definitely half full.

Except where personal finance is concerned.

As my previous posting history suggests, I am naturally pessimistic in terms of my finances. But where does the line between being a frugalist and pessmist really get drawn?

For example, I have been salivating over getting a new mobile phone for the last 12 months. I have so far resisted the temptation on the basis of getting out of debt. Now that my employment situation looks less than 100% secure, I am resisting on the basis I do not want to be tied into a contract that I may not be able to afford if I get laid off.

But, being laid off is no certainty. The discussion at work has only just begun. I may not be laid off at all – yet I am already living like it is a dead certainty. I have trimmed my budget further, made some changes to my plan for debt freedom, and generally dug myself into a pit of despair over something that may never happen.

Is this healthy?

Is it just financial prudence?

Or am I holding myself back from happiness?

That isn’t to say a new phone would make me happy. I am pleased to report I have moved on from that stage of consumerism. However, when is – in terms of avoiding risk in your finances – too far?

Are Pessimism and Frugalism mutually exclusive? Can you be a Pessimistic Frugalist?

I think you can.

And worse, I don’t think that is bad thing. A new phone contract will work out more expensive for the phone I want (the shiny new Nokia N900), and I do not wish to risk being tied into paying £40 or so for the next 18 months just to get it.

The safer option, so say my pesimistic frugal self, is to buy the handset outright and use my existing SIM card that is ‘out of contract’, and now just rolling month-to-month. If I get laid off, I can cancel it at the drop of a hat without any penalty.

I will pay less over 18 months doing so as well.

Are you a pessimist in your finances? Am I going too far? Any thoughts gratefully received in the comments.

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One of the ways I enjoy saving money (for paying off debt quicker, of course) is to batch cook. The average UK household – if the people I watch in Tesco are anything to go by – seems to live on prepacked microwave meals, pizza and takeaways.

If you enjoy cooking though there’s a much cheaper alternative.

Cooking in Batch

This sounds complicated but is actually really easy to do. All it involves is cooking more than you plan to eat right now, portioning out the remainder and either putting it in the fridge, freezing it, or a combination of the two. Batch cook several meals over the course of a week and before you know it you have a fab selection of home made food in the freezer that can be taken out at a moment’s notice and popped in the microwave.

Good steaming hot home made food in 5 minutes flat. Because it’s frozen you can even take it to work for lunch providing you have a microwave available.

A Quick Example

I love Chinese takeaway, but I really dislike paying for it. So as I was going out anyway, I combined journeys and diverted to Tesco before coming home. Scouring the reduced areas (I was going to cook when I got home), I managed to pick up:

• A family-sized packet of ready cut Chinese vegetables (70p down from £1.50),
• 2 cooked meat-counter hot & spicy sausages (50p down from £1.85),
• A bag of fresh egg noodles expiring today (20p down from £1),
• 3 giant red onions (30p down from £1.05),
• 3 giant mild red chillies (20p down from £1),
• A clove of garlic (full price at 30p),
• A packet of sweet sticky chilli stir-fry sauce (full price at £1)

Method

I already had the olive oil to fry off of the onion so that was done first. After softening and turning a nice golden brown, I sprinkled some sugar in to caramelise, and then added the giant packet of vegetables. After gently frying it down for about 10 minutes I added the sauce, chillies and noodles. Mixed well, and divided equally into some snap-shut plastic containers – the ones your Chinese delivery normally arrives in!

Tip: Save these plastic containers – they fit together to take up next to no space anyway and are great for doing this with. Wash them out, and store dry. They are reusable, microwave and dishwasher safe.

Calculate The Saving

After cooking and portioning out, I’d managed to feed myself for lunch yesterday, and I also made up 5 containers for freezing.

If I’d not purchased the discounted items, then the total meal cost would have come to £7.70 which made each meal £1.28. This is still very cheap for a Chinese meal, but being frugal, I am not ashamed to shop in the knock-down sections first. The total cost of the items I bought was £3.20 making each portion just 53p – over two and a half times cheaper!

Now the kicker: I always shop in Tesco, and where possible, get my fuel there as well. The end result is lots of Tesco ClubCard points and vouchers. I actually cashed in a £2 voucher for  this shop, so I only really spent £1.20, making each dish just 20p.

Need Inspiration?

There’s no shortage of recipe repositories online, but if you want ones with frugal wholesome living in mind, check out this amazing list of ideas from the dedicated people over at the MSE forums.

If you find yourself using the excuse “I don’t have the time / energy to cook” when you get home from work, then batch cooking is a great way not to just save money but keep your pennies to yourself and save yourself time later on in the week as well.

Have you tried batch cooking before?

p.s. Frugal Friday is published every Friday and includes a frugal tip for money saving. To see every Frugal Friday post, click ‘Frugal Friday’ under Categories to the right.

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