Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 2

Frugaldom

Hi guys, re the TAB free scratch cards, I was at £8.50 when the changes took place and had to pay in minimum £10. But I simply withdrew £18.50 the next day. I'm not sure how it'll work if anyone wins a prize but I'm still doing the freebies and then playing off the free points n the hope of a win so I can find out if it's a real cash prize.

Anyone who has worries about tracking their spending, this challenge is a personal one that many people chose to join along with me, so each can make it personal to them and work it however best suits them. My budget is £4,000, there's nothing I can do about that - it's impossible to go over it without falling back onto savings or else running the risk of incurring debt, which I refuse to do. Do what feels best for yourselves and whatever makes you happiest, even if it's just popping in now and again to reassure us that your debts are shrinking, yell at us because your debts aren't shrinking, share the good news that your debts have gone or scream joyously that you've won a million and don't care about being frugal any more, although I have heard that frugalitis is chronic, so ignoring it or treating it with loads of cash still won't make it go away!

We're still compiling the list of 100 things to do with eggs, I'll copy it over as soon as completed. My personal mini-challenge is to try everything on the list, at least one item per day, using home produced freerange eggs. I'm sure I can cut the grocery budget by something whilst the hens are laying so well.

For fans of the ducklings, I posted the day old and month old photos in the 'Hey, Let's keep chickens' thread'. That's my ducklings a month old now and they are HUGE!

PS - The ran stopped and we've had quite a nice afternoon here.

Skint_Lynne

Hi everyone,

I'm just finished my dinner, it was delicious, and from the slow cooker thread on this site. It was Italian Chicken. There was loads of veg left from it, so I liquidised it and added some veg juice and water, along with the pasta I had left, so some soup for tomorrow's lunch.:D

That's one of the most useful things I have found on this site, before I would have binned all the veg and would never have thought of re-using it for something else.

I have really changed my way of thinking with lots of things, just by reading what others do. That's the beauty of being a member of this thread, everyone has different ideas to bounce off of each other. So, although it is unlikely that I will ever keep chickens and ducks because of where I live, I can see what it is like for Nyk and the others who do. I can do crafts and home made presents however, and I would have never dreamed of doing that sort of thing before I read that sophiesmum does this a lot. When I made the homemade stuff at Christmas, that was the most talked about presents as opposed to the stuff I paid a fortune for.

Although someone personally may choose not to add up all their receipts, you will see the results elsewhere, I know I do. It's for the best to stick around methinks.

Will check in later. xx

Skint_Lynne

A helping hand Nyk, although, you probably have thought of most of these, just a bit of fun for me.:D

1. Boiled Egg,
2. Fried Egg.
3. Omelette Egg.
4. French Toast.
5. Poached Egg.
6. Scrambled Egg.
7. Eggs Benedict.
8. Merangues.
9. Baking Ingredient.
10. Mayonnaise.
11. Lemon Curd
12. Egg Fried Rice.
13. Burianyi (eggs are in this).
14. Scotch Eggs
15. Pickled Eggs.
16. Yorkshire Pudding.
17. Baked Eggs.
18. Egg Custard.
19. Chocolate Mousse.
20. Egg Noodles.
21. Egg Pasta.
22. Eves Pudding.
23. Flamenco Eggs (with peppers etc).
24. Kedgeree.
25. Egg and bacon pie.
26. Quiche.
27. Zabagilone.

Will post this and carry on editing it - lets just see how far I can take this.:p I got to 27, not bad for me I guess.

Buzzbox

14. French Toast?

Skint_Lynne

I think you guys call it eggy bread down south, beat a couple of eggs, add a small bit of milk and salt. dip your bread in it and let it soak for a bit. Then fry it. Some people put brown sauce on it when it is cooked, but I personally sprinkle sugar on it, so it is like a dessert.

Brighton_belle

yes, SL - I know it as eggy bread. Was introduced ot it as a child by family friends and used to have sugar on i. Now I have ketchup on it and serve with bacon.
Another egg idea is spinach and feta fritata or spinach and anything else - tomatoes, bacon bits, tuna, onion etc.

Have dug out an un finished cross stitch from the attic: never got rid as it is very beautiful. However I started it.... 18 years ago:eek:. It's on my 101 list to finish this year. It is the only one I have everdone, and the only thing I have ever done that involves a needle - not a natural semstress moi:D. Will try and take a photo as it is now , about half done.

andromache_2

Hi all! Had my first exam this morning, mistimed it slightly but it was OK, not disastrous, think I probably got a decent 2.i; I would've liked a first but I don't think I did well enough, sigh. Four to go, onwards and upwards! My hand hurts though and I'm shattered as I couldn't sleep last night because I was so nervous and had cases running through my head the whole time

The allotment sounds great, blairweech! Nice to see you back SM Ooh, I've got some years-old cross-stiches to finish as well, Brighton belle! I was thinking of digging out my thread this summer and making some nice birthday and Christmas cards as I haven't stitched in ages. I'd love to see a photo of the design. *waves* to aeb if you're about - hope you're doing OK.

:rotfl: to the egg list SL... I can't think of anything else! Ooh, we always have cauliflower cheese with boiled eggs in it... I have 12 eggs in my fridge at the moment and am feeling quite inspired!

Right, back to work, no rest for the wicked! :cool:

cw18

Eggs - the best lasagne I've ever made had whipped egg whites gently stirred into the cheese sauce before layering (had some needed using, so decided to try it out). Added air to the sauce, which gave the whole lasagne a 'lift'

skint_chick

feeling very pleased with myself today:D OH bought prawns and stir fry ingredients and we've had a yummy dinner and I have work lunches for the next 2days from the leftovers.

Got £350 in from selling shares I got for free - total extra money made this year outside of work and rental income is now £3106:D

Although I'm going for scary cervix chopping stuff next week I'm going on holiday the week after to relax and recover. Work is going well - I've been given a new project to manage and I'm really enjoying it:D

Haven't had time for creative things so the sewing machine is coming out at the weekend - it is getting a home in my new craft room (it's really a spare bedroom;)) because I decluttered and have made space for my fledgling collection of fabrics and sewing equipment. I already have a shelf dedicated to art materials, and by the end of the weekend all my mosaic pieces and tools will be organised into new storage there too:D. New storage are old ice creams tubs I'm going to make new labels for them to show what's inside so they look like fancyish storage.

OH is watching the football so I'm going to go and read my library book and have a nice bath now. Hope everyone is well - the egg list is interesting - Pizza Express used to do a pizza with an egg in the middle :rotfl:it was weird but strangely yummy

looby-loo_2

All this talk of eggs reminds me of my A Level in 1975. There was always a question about one of the protien foods. You had to structure your essay to include everything you knew about the purchase, nutritive value and cooking of the food

The question was:- Write on eggs.

As far as I remember there were 9 different uses of eggs in cooking, e.g. thickening, coating, etc