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

lynzpower

Rozee

Agree about onions. Maybe spring onions would be good in a bath as they need depth and are expensive (+ food miles often come from mexico or similar :eek:)

Im thinking about the most expensive F&V and the stuff I often dither over cos of the price. Babycorn. mange tout, squash, pak choi are the veg we really like- yet often go without due to price. Squash are often £1 upward in the supermarkets ( although if I drop lucky can sometimes get them at markets)

Im also trying to work out what crops the earliest ( varieties) the sooner they crop the sooner we can start saving money :beer:

Would love to hear anyone's thoughts about varieties that crop early in containers & grobags.

Feeling ever so frugal this morning. Dog not up for a walk as its pouring down, so dragged her to the sorting office to pick up my fitbug. I have private health with pru and get points for using fitbug ( pedometer) and uploading my readings. Ill get 10 extra points ( equivalent to going to the gym twice) for doing 12,000 steps per day. I have quite an active job so I hope this is achievable. I just made 100 steps from emptying half the washing basket. It was a 30.00 outlay but im hoping that pushes my premium into gold next year so my price for healthcare will drop goin forward. Thats the aim anyway. Ive had a few health probs in the past and although im well now, Ill avoid the NHS if I can So that will be a long term moneysaver.

Have god a loaf in the BM, Oh still in bed. Im going to aqua class later to try to get some use out of gym membership.

Was it gilian who earlier in the thread foudn cash in a pocket- never realised it was gone? Well whomever it was i share your pain as I tidied the office to get in the new shelves nad lo and behold found an envelope of expenses- 165 :eek: again hadnt noticed it gone.

What that definitely means though is when my expenses are paid I will have over 300 quid "in credit" over and above budgets, that can go straight into savings. :j :j

I am scooting around for a new savings account as im sure our medium term ones are a lame rate with egg. There are not many other better rates around? I always dither over savings where they should go what to do with them etc. I prefer working in the here & now!

Will go up on the roof shortly when its stopped tipping down and take some photos. OH still fast asleep so Im sure he wont want to go to B&Q yet.

Also have 3 pineapples i bought for 50p from the market and wondering what to do with them? generally browsing for some ideas for those too.

rictus123

Does anyone have any frugal tips for getting my van motd(i know itl need work just not sure how much!)

lynzpower

Does your local authority run a testing centre? I heard that was a good way, but not sure as not a car owner yet?

kittiej

Aw 2NDTIME, I'm really glad you've decided to try again this year.

I had wondered whether you had given up with us completely.

I was very touched by your last post and I wish you all the best re your mother.

I think too many just want to put relatives in a home at the first sign of trouble. The 'family unit' def is not what it once was.

I hope your mother makes a good recovery.

Also a quick message to Malc - eon rep. I received the booklet this morning, thank you.

Hope everyone else is OK. We're off to the panto tonight to see Robin Hood featuring John Barrowman so that should be a scream, will let you know later :rotfl:

cw18

rictus123 wrote: »

Does anyone have any frugal tips for getting my van motd(i know itl need work just not sure how much!)

My Dad used to take his cars to a bus depot.......

He was assured of an honest report as they couldn't actually do the repair work. And 'cos they couldn't do the work they didn't charge a re-test fee after the vehicle had been taken elsewhere for the work

Frugaldom

Welcome back on board, 2ndtimerounder, wishing you and your mum the very best for 2010.

After yesterday's fridge forage, I have found a lovely, simple recipe to do deepfried cheese with blackberry sauce to use up the Christmas Brie.

Today is pheasant day (apologies to any vegetarians) so SM and I should be prepping those this afternoon, then I'll need to find space in the freezer for them.

Lurking pineaplle slices are about to be turned into a frugal pineapple upsidedown cake and more of the savoy cabbage will be steamed with bacon to have with potatoes for tea tonight. I just use a 3 tier steamer, potatoes boiling on bottom, cabbage above and then bacon on the top of the cabbage to give it a good flavour. It means the bacon is very well cooked but it tastes great with a bit of added pepper. Shaz suggested cabbage leaves stuffed with rice, so I think I'll try my version and hope it looks like frugal sushi!

Have a good weekend, everyone, going to be busy here but I'll try to keep up with the posts as best I can.

babyboysmommy

2ndtimerounder I admire & respect what you are doing for your Mum, I hope all goes well for you both.

Trying to make the weekend a frugal one but not sure how well I'll succeed.

I am using up some very over ripe bananas by making a banana cake, in the oven now & smelling wonderful. I dread to think just how many bananas I've thrown away over the years but am determined to have close to zero food waste this year. It's a really basic recipe & is rather yummy. As the oven is on I've made some more meat balls.

I've changed our Mr T DVD rental to a cheaper package saving around £54 a year.

I hope to get more things together for eBay today so I can list them tomorrow whilst it's free.

Nessa56

lynzpower wrote: »

http://www.vegetable-garden-guide.com/growing-carrots.html

Well it seems quite straightforward here Pixie!

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/grow-carrots-in-pots/best-container-varieties/index.jsp

heres a useful site from which about chooseing varieties of carrot for growing in different depths of containers

Definately will do carrots now Ive seen this!

Thank you so much for these and other web sites you have put on here, brilliant, can't wait to start now

v
x

lynzpower

Me either- its pouring down with rain and far too cold yet to do anything but itching to get started Later after the gym i think im going to sit down with paper and draw it all out and plot whats going where so i can look out for the right size of containers for what we want to grow in them. I cant thank poster enough who suggested growing in drawers and using casing as a cold frame. I know what to keep my eye out for to get started. :beer:

top_drawer_2

babyboysmommy wrote: »

I am using up some very over ripe bananas by making a banana cake, in the oven now & smelling wonderful. I dread to think just how many bananas I've thrown away over the years but am determined to have close to zero food waste this year. It's a really basic recipe & is rather yummy. As the oven is on I've made some more meat balls.

Hey, please could I have your recipe? I love bananas but being a singleton can never eat an entire bunch so some always go to waste :eek:

Thanks

Jen