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

chika

I'm exactly the same! I thought the rubber chicken was a mythical thing - they only every last a couple of days tops here. (normally a couple of hours!)

thriftylass wrote: »

How big a chicken is this?? I can finish off a roast chicken by myself if I'm up to it (no sides then though ) but it definitely only lasts for a dinner for two in this household and maybe a sandwich (well, and stock). What am I doing wrong (apart from maybe eating too much ? ). I don't think I could stretch it into 6+ portions. What kind of dinners/lunches do you make out of it, I'm desperate for some chicken saving tipps.

Thanks

Blairweech

Well, I fell asleep last night so did not make another cake, but in a rush of guilt, I bought my friend one this morning. Then he did not even come to work (despite telling me he was working, turns out he has taken the rest of the week off on holiday) :mad: ....so I took the cake back to the shop (frugal mind, no point wasting £5.50). I would not have done this if he was in tomorrow, but seeing as I will not be seeing him for a week, I thought it only fair.

Have you checked out the various Rubber Chicken threads on Old Style? They are very helpful. The trick is in the carving I think.

My chicken was 1.4kg, and it is just me to feed so it goes a lot further (I know an OH can ruin a carefully stretched chicken in a matter of hours . Basically, my chicken roasts consist of: chicken, mash, yorkies, pig in blankets, carrots, cabbage, parsnips and gravy....so I dont actually *need* a lot of chicken. The other dinners will be like, chicken and veg pie, or pasta, so not chicken intensive either.

Grr - I am desperate for a bike. Second hand, £50 max. Can I find one, can I hell? I *did* find one that I would have bought and was meant to go and see it last Sunday, having made the appointment Saturday afternoon, but then a few hours later the lady rang and said she had already sold it

That is all my frugal news for today

patchwork_cat

I am sure that you have already tried this but Blair what about freecycle for the bike?

cw18

I buy a 'medium to large' chicken for myself and DS (almost 18) - can't remember the weight of the last one I got as it's been a while.

We have a roast meal using the legs (and sometimes thighs depending on the size of those 4 parts).

I then remove the breasts carefully and put them to one side.

The "brown" meat that comes off at this point is normally used for sandwiches, or (especially if I still have the meat from the thighs) is re-heated in gravy and served with chips.

The meat I pull off the bones during my final 'strip' gets frozen for a chicken and mushroom risotto.

I then freeze the breasts as well for using at a later date - either one between the two of us with a salad (or another 'roast'), or defrost both and have a bit extra with the main meal and the rest for sandwiches.

So a chicken can do me 5 main meals for two of us, or 3 main meals and sandwiches for more days than DS is happy about

I also freeze the stock (which doesn't require any extra 'cooking' time since I started roasting the chicken in my slow cooker) for the gravy (with chips and second/third roast) and/or risotto.


I used to do a chicken this size or larger between 5 of us on a Sunday - and even when the children were young we struggled to hold back enough for a couple of sandwiches - and that wasn't due to people 'picking', it was purely down to portion sizes on our main meal plates :eek:

lyndasharp

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Budgeting if you don't have debts is about cutting back wher you can to have the things your really really want.

Thanks for the advice. Band is provisionally booked, Dad had said he wanted to put something tiwards the wedding, and he's going to pay for the band.

I do feel a bit guilty about splashing out on things like that, because although I don't have debts, H2B does. He owes around £7k on credit card, loans and a bit from his Mum. I paid off his overdraft, just a few hundred, but he's going to sort out the rest himself. He has been paying things off for years and being careful, but wasn't the best at managing how he was paying. I have managed to sort out his cc at 16% interest, now it's all on an interest free card, and that will be paid off in 4 months or so. Then it's just the loans to tackle... Once he sells his flat things should be paid easily, but at the moment he's got quite a high mortgage to pay. I'm paying for most of our living costs at the moment, and the wedding, to make things easier for him to get the loans paid off. I just don't like to go too wild with my spending when H2B is on such a tight budget!

cw18

I think you've done the right thing in booking the band - it's not like a new kitchen/bathroom suite or a holiday to a certain destination that can be put off until a later date. You have one shot at a 'perfect day', and a lifetime of regrets if you don't do it the way you want if you can afford it.

And how nice of your Dad to offer to pay that bill for you :T

lilac_lady

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Budgeting if you don't have debts is about cutting back wher you can to have the things your really really want.

That's a really wise thing to say BB. I don't have any debts or mortgage payments now but by budgeting and following this thread I've been able to make my family happy by helping them out so I'll continue the battle.

MrDT

My first tentative green fingered steps... I now have two little strawberry plants, and a couple of old wall mounted pots off my grandad to house them in I'll be repotting the plants once I get some compost and ten minutes to mount the pots in the yard Strawberry wine anyone?

Opened a new ISA this morning, old one was paying 1.1%, new one 3.6%, so hopefully my interest payments won't be quite so much of a joke next month. I'm considering emptying my old ISAs and sticking the money in a normal savings account actually, even though I'd be paying tax on the interest I'd still be better off!

Getting an unwanted old sky box off a mate tonight, and the house already has a sky dish installed, with a £20 card from sky we should be able to get freeview type non subscription tv. Normal aerial freeview doesn't work in the new house, and 4 fuzzy channels really isn't good enough! We don't often watch tv, but it'd be nice if there were something watchable on when we do settle down in front of the idiot box...

DawnW

Mr DT, why don't you just transfer your old poorly paying ISAs to a new provider that pays more? If you remove the money from the ISA system you will have lost the tax free advantage on that money for ever - even when the interest rates pick up again.

Frugaldom

Good afternoon to all.

Well done MrDT on venturing into the fruit growing market I'm just waiting for more rhubarb to get some wine on the go and still don't know what the strawberry wine would have tasted like because it had all to get tipped when we moved house. As for the ISA rates at the moment - hmph! Glad I'm not trying to live off the interest, that's for sure. :mad:

Lynda, hope you feel better soon. Re the wedding plans -different people have different views on different things, so your decision to book the band is the right one for you. You will have a fabulous time and won't live to regret not doing what you wanted with your own money, even if it is a gift from your dad. Your wedding is probably the most important longterm investment you will ever make, don't let them kid you about it being the mortgage - you're investing in your life together with your OH's. I wish you every happiness and LOVE the sound of the earth oven - do tell more, as I have turf to lift!

SM, same thing for you re the spends - these are longterm investments that are accruing no debt. You have your savings to make your dream come true whenever the opportunity arises and guess what? It arose, you grabbed it and hey presto! The meaning of saving has been revealed in all its glory. :rotfl:

Today I received a gift from a friend - 3 strange varieties of seed potatoes, including the truffle potatoes she promised me a while back, and some seeds for Truffle tomatoes. I'm embarrassed to admit that I have forgotten what the other 2 potato varieties are, though, but have emailed her to get a note of their names. I've already sown the new tomato seeds and they have pride of place on the kitchen windowsill.

Despite the torrential downpours, my stupid hens have been wandering about all day and now look like drowned feather dusters with mud balls for feet. The garden isn't looking too hot either! :rotfl: Must fill in all the holes again! Anyway, said hens disappeared so I had to go out, get soaked and find them... in HS's shed, munching happily on the polystyrene boards he painstakingly attached to the inside of the shed for insulation! What do hens find so fascinating about polystyrene? Hmm... going to have to sit a HUGE tub in front of the hole, though , otherwise HS may be a tad annoyed at marauding hens gaining access to his shed. One hen was quite comfortably stationed on the handle of the wheelbarrow, nibbling the window ledge! :rotfl: I'm hoping we'll hear the arrival of some new additions tomorrow or the next day, as broody hen's eggs are due to hatch and there's a new lot being started, so possibly morechicks in 3 weeks.

The ducklings are mingers, that's all I can say about frugal duck-keeping! :rotfl:They slurp and munch and poop constantly, then waddle at an alarming speed straight at you, looking for more food - I don't recommend them as pets if you love your garden but I don't think I'll ever can part with these ones as they are so comical despite theire deplorable 'table manners'. I think I might name them Munch and Slurp but that makes 'Jemima Puddleduck' sound very grand.

We eat a great deal of rubber chicken in this household, not of our own breeding, either - all shop bought. It's roast dinner the first day and then there's enough left over for a stir fry, curry or sweet & sour followed by the remainder in a pie with assorted veg. If I dook it in the slow cooker, I add in a whole onion, leek and carrot so the stock's all ready. It's just a case of removing the chicken, straining the stock, adding the veggies back in with seasoning and then simmering it with rice. I freeze the soup into margarine tubs so DS can take portions to work or we can just pop one in the microwave at lunchtimes. I do the exact same with most meats, except beef, as I can't warrant the expense of that. I wonder why we never see beef joints reduced to £1 or whatever by the supermarkets?! :rolleyes:

Still holding out on the 'eat from stores all week until HS gets back from his hols' mini challenge. Last night, we had roast chicken with steamed fresh veg and potatoes. Tonight, it's spag bol and tomorrow will be chilli con carne, made from the surplus bolognese sauce that's in the slow cooker just now. I'm planning on making a lemon meringe pie, at the request of DS, but will probably pop something else into the oven as well, just to make the most of the heat.

Despite the awful weather (and I was soaked anyway) I transplanted a few lettuces into the hanging baskets in the back garden. This is mainly because lettuce is being eaten as fast as it grows here, the more the merrier, I say. I'll transplant a few more before dinner time and that will be 2 salad jobs done today - tomatoes and lettuce. Tomorrow, I'll aim to get cucumber and the fancy potatoes planted, if I have enough compost left.

Still over on my grocery budget, as it's averaging £4.43 per day for the 3 of us by the time I factor in the bulk buys and store cupboard extras that'll probably last another year. Must try to get this reduced by £1 per day to get me back on target - should be easier once the garden produce is more readily available.

Sorry this was such a long post, I was just trying to catch up with everything.