Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 3

Savvy_sewing

I think I need to make notes on who said what etc to me. Please forgive my terrible memory.
I shall attempt to get the jam sugar etc and have a go at plum jam. I also will freeze some fruit to use after, in a crumble as someone suggested.
Re the car, I think that I will take the car to the garage as soon as the other work is done, and get the tracking done. Good thinking Hester!.
Tomorrow is the village Coffee Morning, so I am going to go along and mingle. Even though most of the people that go don't seem to come from this village, but some of the nearby ones.
I shall be going along to thier craft/social club in September when it starts.
When the local vicar/minister, or what ever he is called, is back off of his sebatical I am going to ask him how much it would cost to use the rooms, and see if I can teach sewing there?
If I can get a few people interested it might well be a way of earning a little each week? I have a few patterns in mind, and can get them wholesale from Sweden, (in english). I am in the process of setting up a franchise with a company to sell thier patterns!. If I can find a way of setting up a proper website, and or an outlet locally where I could supply them. Its an exciting thought, but I will have to see if there is a market for them here.
On another note, my beef "bung in" in the slow cooker was very nice. I added red lentils too it for the first time. It certainly has helped make the meat go further. Infact I will have to box up a few meals and freeze them as DS didnt come home again tonight, and so there was more then I needed for me.!

sophiesmum_2

Mooloo - just use granulated sugar with the plums, you don't need jam sugar, there is enough pectin in the plums. I often add plums to blackberries to help them set when making jam as the blackberries are low in pectin.

jtb2412

Morning everyone

Going to spend a day down the allotment today as the weeds have overtaken quite a bit while we were on hols. :rolleyes:

Went down last night and picked about 4lb of runner beans and 2 carrier bags full of the patty pan/dumpling squash. I need to find something else to do with them other than soup as what with my shopping last night, my freezer is full to bursting and I can't fit another single thing in ! :eek:

I'm very tempted to buy another freezer (already have an upright fridge freezer and a chest freezer - they're both full !!!!) I had a feeling when we started to grow our own I would need more storage options :rolleyes:. It does mean taking some money out of the decorating budget though but long term, I will be saving money on food so it should pay for itself pretty quickly. (Trying to talk myself into it, can't you tell? :rotfl: )

Used my £9 off a £60 shop at Mr T last night and stocked up on a fair few things. I did spent £86 :eek: but it will last a good 2 weeks, if not longer with just milk and bread to buy.

Hope everyone has a good day, will check in later once the weeding is all done

sophiesmum_2

Well done on the lottie produce :T:T sounds like the patty pan squashes are quite prolific then, might try them next year ,planted a couple this time but they didn't get going and the slugs got them :rolleyes:

I think you need a canner too

lyndasharp

We harvested the first courgettes last night! Though with sorting out the car tyre and going shopping ended up eating pizza instead....

Good news is the flat car tyre didn't cost anything. Bad news is that someone had let it down, rather than it being a puncture. :mad: Any ideas about how to electrify your car? :rotfl::eek::rotfl:

I got the gas / electric bill yesterday, which means I've got £20 left for the rest of the month - and it's going to be impossible to stay within budget if I get the car MOT'd. Still, I have some spare left over from earlier in the year, so I can just about get away with a little overspend this time.

Hardup_Hester

Morning all
I'm costing all our meals out to make sure I serve as many cheap ones as possible. I'm still working on doing as much 'money neutral' as possible. I earned enough money on Saturday night to pay for the trip out with DD & DGK, woo hoo. Though I can't see the work being regular, even if I could face the drive!
Hester

grandma247

jtb2412 wrote: »

Morning everyone


I'm very tempted to buy another freezer (already have an upright fridge freezer and a chest freezer - they're both full !!!!) I had a feeling when we started to grow our own I would need more storage options :rolleyes:. It does mean taking some money out of the decorating budget though but long term, I will be saving money on food so it should pay for itself pretty quickly. (Trying to talk myself into it, can't you tell? :rotfl: )

What about a pressure canner?:rotfl: You would not need another freezer and I use recycled jars with new lids at approx.15p each and will be cheaper when I can afford a larger bulk order. No electric either.
Just popped in for a quick read got lots to do today. I hope everyone is well. Have a great day at the allotment.

grandma247

sophiesmum wrote: »

I think you need a canner too

Didnt read far enough:rotfl:

Frugaldom

Good morning from soggy, wet southwest Scotland

SM - Del Boy and co put themselves to bed at around 9pm last night, so no need to worry about them. I just topped up their water & feed then locked their door. They were happy as Larry this morning when I let them out around 7ish. Just peeked out and they are all sheltering under the hedge, yours on one side, ours on the other. LOL

Waiting in for arrival of a little chicken coop & run similar to SM's today. It's a bit of an extravagance, but we just don't have time to orgainse much between now and DD's wedding. Still trying to work out a plan that doesn't involve leaving the reception mid way to come home, get changed, go lock everything up for the night, get changed, return to reception and still have to be back up at the crack of dawn to feed/ water/let everything back out again. The joys of pets and livestock. They certainly don't know the difference between frugal and otherwise.

Got stock in the SC from last night's chicken, so will make a pot of chicken & rice soup - some for us, some for the LETS regulars. HS can eat up the tinned stuff that's in the cupboard in the meantime, help make a bit of space for jars of jam & jelly. I've decided that I am one of the least organised people I have ever met and that bulk buying for stockpiling just isn't suited to me. Batch cooking, yes, I've always made too much and had extra meals out of it. Utilising leftovers, yes, I have always done that. Bulk buying for the longterm, no, I am just too disorganised to work out what truly is a bargain over the longterm and what's just taking up space until it's needed. I think I could manage better if I had a freezer filled with meat and then just serve up whatever's available with it. As it is, there is virtually no meat in my freezer at the moment and I've spent almost all the annual budget on bulk buys and bargains that will last into next year. False economy on my part, I think, although it will all get used, eventually.

Chatting to friend who I'll be seeing at DD's wedding and she's bringing me a breadmaker! Between that and my new pasta maker, courtesy of my C25K running partner, I'm going to have loads of fun in the kitchen during the winter months. Must devise cunning plan to get kitchen fixed up once and for all ASAP. I need worktops, shelves and extra storage. Am thinking that this weekend would be as good a time as any to reinstate the pantry.

sophiesmum_2

:jyay to free breadmaker
Bit of good karma for me earlier too, one of oldies wanted to clear out cane suite but didn't want to pay for clearance, i hooked her up with someone who was looking for one for their caravan awning so they were both happy. Mentioned to the caravn lady, as I know she does craft stuff, that if she knew anyone with a cheap sewing machine I was looking for one and she started laughing and told me she had a perfectly good one in her car boot that she was about to drop off at tip:eek: as charity shops wouldn't accept it. I now have a free sewing machine:j and can get started on draught excluders and other small projects I was waiting to start:D:D