Does the packing ever end??? Needing some help!

[AnW819]

Gosh I have been packing for days now and it seems to never end. I am so exhausted. DH is working 3rd shift and sleeping during the day so he has not been much help (understandably) and my work told me not to come in today, and yesterday they told me to leave early because the store is closing and there is nothing for me to do so I have been packing and cleaning non stop!!!

Friday morning we sign the lease and DH and I are getting a Uhaul and moving everything our selves. That should be interesting.

So in this case with my food being packed and not knowing when I will get to it or even wanting to cook but not wanting to spend money what would be some frugal moving day lunches and dinners????

DH and I had a hard time sticking to our budget these past two weeks and did not save as much as we wanted and planned and went out to eat a bit to much. I was going to order pizza or go out to dinner the night of our move but since we splurged so much these past two weeks I don't want to. I have got to open my eyes and stick to the plan!!!

I just need encouragement, a slap on the wrist, and some food ideas!!! If I have to spend a few bucks for a quick but filling meal thats fine, because there will be left overs and such but I do not want to spend $30 going out to eat ya know?

[Debbie-cat]

How about frozen pizzas that can be thrown into the oven? Quick and not much fuss. Or a frozen lasagna or even microwave meals? That way you don't have to worry about too many dishes.

Good luck and stick to the budget!!!!!

[AnW819]

For some reason the frozen pizzas never fill DH and I up. Ever. I was thinking we could do that to but I want something filling.

[dcompton]

Spaghetti? Easy to make, use a jar sauce. Splurge a little on bagged salad.

A deli chicken and canned veggies to heat up.

The frozen lasagna that DebbieCat mentioned is a good idea if you like it. That's usually pretty substantial.

If you have a crockpot, you could have something ready to go in it, and as soon as you sign the lease, set it up to start cooking. Or cook it Thursday, refrigerate, and heat it up at the new apartment.

[AnW819]

I decided Friday morning before we sign the lease I am going to take the CP out and put meatballs in it and then let it cook at my dads all day and when we come back to get last minute things I will grab it and continue to cook it in the apartment. Spagetti and meatballs!! Great idea!

And the next day I will put chicken and BBQ sauce in the crock pot and another easy meal! Best part is I do not have to buy anything!

[Pianolady]

deleted....I responded to the wrong post, don't you hate it when that happens? I'll try again.

[Libby]

My suggestions:

* simple soup & sammies
* frozen pizza & soup
* add salad to help round out the meal
* fresh fruit salad for dessert or just whole fruit

Sammies - bread or bun kind or even hm version of sub
Salad - could be bagged lettuce or garden type or a bean salad

You could always make the sammies the night before and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Heat up canned soup the day of your move at your dad's before you take the last run of your stuff over to your new place and toss it in a thermos to keep it hot. Salad could be prepped and put in a plastic container.

All you'd need to do if possible is grab the sammies & salad/fruit and toss into a cooler and toss into the truck along with the thermos of soup. Voila, picnic for your first meal in your new place.

[Not sure how you are with this but I prefer to clean the fridge/stove/oven/cupboards - basically the whole apt out myself before using it - thus counting on not being able to use the apt ASAP the day of your move - unless you're able to prolong the move one more day or see if you can take possession 1/2 a day early so you can clean before your move.]

[Greebo]

On Moving day, I'm a big believer in the "One orders food" approach. With everything else occurring, dealing with food is last on my mind.

Not everyone may agree - but just FYI, *I* won't come up there and give you a smacking if you do carry out the day you move.

[AnW819]

Haha, I knew you wouldn't be the one to give me a smack that day but I may smack myself! If other people were helping us move I would of probably ordered carry out and got some beer, but its just us and personally the amount of pizza I have had in the past week its crazy, LOL.

And great ideas Libby! Thank you!

[Russ]

Ashley>> << ME "Stop wasting your money!"

Hope that helps

[Josephhgoins]

I have the same issue with frozen pizza. I think its because there is no yeast in the crust and we are accustomed to that.

What I do is buy the frozen and then add some things to it, just stuff that you have in the fridge usually works. Maybe some left over cold cuts that you need to get rid of or some vegatables.

on moving day for me, I get up early and make a large jug of tea to take with me. I usually eat a few packs of cheese crackers (nabs in the south) during the day to keep me going. I make sure my first priority is to get it so that I can cook something in the kitchen and have a bed to sleep on. The rest I can spend time on.

I am so glad you are getting to move!!

[Pemberleyan]

Moving is such a huge job; just keep your nose to the grindstone. At one point I moved 8 times in 5 years, but our last two moves were the greatest ones, when we had a garage and shop building and dogs and and dog houses, etc.

I hope the moves goes well.

[shoiji]

Can you make some sandwiches the night before to take with you? Before you sign the lease tell them you want to see the apartment first!!!! This is definately a must. Make sure you look everything over first. Anything glaring tell the apartment manager and put on the lease before signing. Something like cracked window pane, dirt on the carpet, broken door hinge, paint on the rug. This way you can make sure they fix it and know you had nothing to do with it. Realize you will be anxious to just move but it is definately worth the time. I know in your other post how excited you were at how much nicer this place is. Just take the time to do this.

[dcompton]

Everywhere I've rented we sign the lease, but they give up a check list to note any problems - it has to be returned almost at once. That way they do have a record. But it would be a good idea to find out what the procedure is.

Ashley, this time I agree with Greebo. I always eat out, both lunch and supper on moving day. But you didn't want to do that so I didn't suggest it. Your crockpot plan should work like a charm.

[dcompton]

By the way, as you probably know, unpacking can be even more time consuming than packing, or I always found it to be.

But please plan some down time, sitting down time, doing absolutely nothing time for the evening before you go back to work. You are going to be exhausted after all this.