FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE 2010, part 1. (Living on £4,000 a year)

grandma247

larmy16 Just get a piece of material or an old pillowcase and practice straight lines as slowly as you can. The one most useful pieces of advice I got was to see how slowly you could make the machine go while keeping the stitching straight. It takes a bit of skill to do it.
thriftylass the posting will settle down. I think that the weather is causing more than usual because there isn't much else to do when you have cleaned baked and done everything else there is.

butterfly72

Well, I only joined this thread today but I've been busy. I sorted out some wrapping paper.. .left overs from christmas and birthdays (some used!) and packed that away. I've listed stacks of CDs on Music Magpie... so far I'm upto £78!!!:T Its taken me hours. Only a few more to list. I've listed a book on amazon and sorted a few bits out for the charity shop. And I've made a draught excluder.. he's a snake and he's by my front door!

I'm exhausted now.

thriftylass

larmy16 wrote: »

Myself, I am terrified of sewing machines. I recall being at school in a sewing exam and being given all these "facings" - I panicked and did not have a clue what to do with them, so ended up just sewing the whole lot together and telling the teacher I had finished. It gave me the same sense of panic that maths did.

I was just like you. Plus the thought of my fingers getting under the needle scared me as my dad once told me a horror story about his sister. But I got one now (my mum couldn't believe it as I was never into this after the age of 12) and I love it. I just took it really slow (def take your shoes off to work the foot pedal) and atm I just do basic stuff but I'm learning more fancy stuff with the help of some brilliant books from the library.

debtmess

evening all
quick one from me, my nets not been great today and keeps disconecting

another nsd here, too much snow and ice to get the buggy up the road let alone any further, its so cold out as well, if we can stay in we are

were still good for around a week food/milk wise so im not panicing yet

had the rest of the cottage pie form few weeks back tonight heated up [ in the remoska so thankfull for that tip, saved me buying a microwave) ds1 & 2 are into porridge for breakfast and lunch was sandwichs wand the remainder of the tub of xmas chedders

got so much housework done, spare room curtains washed and empty room almost sorted, just have to wait till brother moves the rest of his stuff out, a friend is having the bed as hers is truely knackered, any ideas on a good use for 3 extra sets of double bedding ? i have 6ish spare sets in total as brought myself some new from the woolies grabbit

have been in touch with a landlord who has a few flats to rent in orpington not far from where i am now both will be empty end of month so its im hopefull i can view soon if one is big enough i will take it, there both 2 bedrooms but i can put all 3 boys in together.

just waiting for my breadmaker to finish for our loaf tomorrow and must relaod before i go to bed, a friend a few doors down has asked for a loaf as asda is out but i have been offered a victoria sponge or banana cake in return

will have a flick through the last 40ish pages x

hope everyone is manageing to keep warm through this cold snap

NualaBuala

Grandma247, thank you for all the sewing machine advice. :T I have asked on freecycle for one. And if I'm lucky enough to get one, I have plenty of old pillow cases I can practise on. I haven't made resolutions this year but I would really like to learn useful skills like sewing, crochet, DIY and gardening that will save me money.

Thriftylass, Could you share your lemon biccie recipe? I've got plenty of food but not many goodies in and won't be going to shops for a while. If I have the ingredients, I bet they would be lovely! If you have any suggestions on the time and temp, that'd be good too! I've no suggestions on the laptop apart from maybe ask on the Techie forum here. Or our Cheryl of spreadsheet fame seems to know lots about this sort of stuff!

Thriftkitten

My favourite, not cheap but a luxury, Bagels with boursin and caramelised red onion chutney MMMMMmmm.

KazLA wrote: »

Thanks for that, will add the fish to my meal plan for next wk - and perhaps get a couple of bagels out in place of garlic bread next time we have risotto or pasta!

Thriftkitten

You could make some draft excluders from the bedding and any old pillow innards to stuff them with or roll up one of the duvet covers and use that for the inner, I used to rent a listed house with very drafty windows and made some slimline ones to sit on the middle part of the window which helped a lot.

debtmess wrote: »

evening all
quick one from me, my nets not been great today and keeps disconecting

another nsd here, too much snow and ice to get the buggy up the road let alone any further, its so cold out as well, if we can stay in we are

were still good for around a week food/milk wise so im not panicing yet

had the rest of the cottage pie form few weeks back tonight heated up [ in the remoska so thankfull for that tip, saved me buying a microwave) ds1 & 2 are into porridge for breakfast and lunch was sandwichs wand the remainder of the tub of xmas chedders

got so much housework done, spare room curtains washed and empty room almost sorted, just have to wait till brother moves the rest of his stuff out, a friend is having the bed as hers is truely knackered, any ideas on a good use for 3 extra sets of double bedding ? i have 6ish spare sets in total as brought myself some new from the woolies grabbit

have been in touch with a landlord who has a few flats to rent in orpington not far from where i am now both will be empty end of month so its im hopefull i can view soon if one is big enough i will take it, there both 2 bedrooms but i can put all 3 boys in together.

just waiting for my breadmaker to finish for our loaf tomorrow and must relaod before i go to bed, a friend a few doors down has asked for a loaf as asda is out but i have been offered a victoria sponge or banana cake in return

will have a flick through the last 40ish pages x

hope everyone is manageing to keep warm through this cold snap

NualaBuala

Thriftkitten wrote: »

You could make some draft excluders from the bedding and any old pillow innards to stuff them with or roll up one of the duvet covers and use that for the inner, I used to rent a listed house with very drafty windows and made some slimline ones to sit on the middle part of the window which helped a lot.

Great minds think alike! :T I was just thinking I could do this - I have old pillows and cases. And a gap that needs sealing. I wish I had a machine but might give a go by hand.

thriftylass

NualaBuala wrote: »

Thriftylass, Could you share your lemon biccie recipe? I've got plenty of food but not many goodies in and won't be going to shops for a while. If I have the ingredients, I bet they would be lovely! If you have any suggestions on the time and temp, that'd be good too! I've no suggestions on the laptop apart from maybe ask on the Techie forum here. Or our Cheryl of spreadsheet fame seems to know lots about this sort of stuff!

Here it is

6 ozs flour, 3 ozs sugar, 4 ozs butter, 1 egg, grated lemon rind

Cream the butter and sugar, add the flour, then egg and lemon rind. Roll out thinly and cut into biscuits. Bake in at Regulo 5 (190C). I did it in an preheated oven for 7-10 min.

NualaBuala

thriftylass wrote: »

Here it is

6 ozs flour, 3 ozs sugar, 4 ozs butter, 1 egg, grated lemon rind

Cream the butter and sugar, add the flour, then egg and lemon rind. Roll out thinly and cut into biscuits. Bake in at Regulo 5 (190C). I did it in an preheated oven for 7-10 min.

My hero(ine)! :A Thank you, that sounds like something even I could make. It will save me venturing to the shops to buy goodies!