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

Aril

Hello fellow frugallers:j:j
Hope you've all had a good day- weather here has been :eek:so decided not to go to the library in town. Only spend today was £20 for the three of us to get our wigs trimmed [we use a mobile hairdresser which keeps costs down]
I've spent a fair amount of time today in the kitchen sorting/decluttering all the cupboards so it's all nicely organised and clean. I seem to have a real skill at doubling up on certain items [I'm sure they must hide when I look for them] so I've discovered that I've got 3 lots of paprika. I feel that goulash might appear regularly on my menu in the forthcoming weeks. I've also got 3x mixed peel I'm not aware that I ever use the stuff except when making mincemeat. I think I shall have to do some frugal experimentation to use at least one pot up! Anyway the exercise has generated various bits for the recycling and the jumble bag and more storage space.
No other news- tomorrow it's a day of sewing and ironing and then after that I've got lots of catching up to do with various friends in the next few weeks planned.
Arilx

Fishcake_Random

OOOOhhhh errrrr could have my first finacial disaster of the year comming. The tv is doing that horrible shaky screen thing and the colours are going a bit weird. Its a 42 inch rear projection thing so its ginormous and would cost a bomb to fix I think. OH is aiming for a flat screen with this year car booting and play.com pennys. We have a small tv we can use in the bedroom if this one does die but he hates regular size screens with a passion. I guess it just his example of corn cob living lol
x x x x

lynzpower

Oh no Fishcake! I feel for you. We have an ancient CRT downstairs and although IMO its fine, OH reckons its past it. The thing is because its so cold down there, we dont watch the tv down there anyway. He is desperate for us to get a flatscreen job , and there are some good ones around for eg 400, Im too tight. I said theres no chance until its warm enough for us to sit in there, as theres no point in buying a depreciating asset for the time being We have got some cash from Xmas ( 170) towards this- its nice to say you have put the cash towards something substantial i think the givers appreciate it ( i certainly would)

hang on for as lng as you can is my advice, richer sounds and hyperfi have quite good deals, so keep an eye out, if you have to buy you want to get a good deal!

How will it impact on your budget fishcake?

grandma247

lynzpower wrote: »

You ladies have sold me on the dehydrator- OMG cant believe how expensive they are! I don't really eat enough dried fruit ( I know id eat more though, If I had one- this does look fabulous) to justify the prices.

I guess Ill have to look out on ebay for one. cheapest one is 100 oin amazon ( i have a 20.00 voucher though)

If you want a much cheaper one westfalia have one
here


Aril you could add the peel to biscuits.

lynzpower

Grandma thanks so much for this!! All of \ dither now as really do fancy this. Maybe it will pass!

Dehydrators, tell me, seriously- do you use this, or is it a dust gatherer

grandma247

I use it a lot. I do veg that we have too much of such as woopsied stuff or from the garden. I also buy onions by the sack as well as grow them and I dry a sack at a time over several days.
Spinach is great because I dry the leaves and store them whole in jars and just crumble some into soup,stew or a curry and it rehydrates very quickly. No one here has complained so it must be good.
I do bananas if they are turning black.
Sweet potato and winter squash is another favourite. I just dice these and dry.

Carrots turn out good but they are very sweet in flavour because the sugars concentrate but they are ok in soups or stews as they blend in with other veg.

Tomatoes and peppers work well. I have rehydrated them for pizzas and I also make veg powders such as tomato and mushroom. They add depth to dishes such as pasta sauces and stews.

I dry just about anything so don't stand still in my kitchen:rotfl:.

I bought one and then was so impressed I got another but i stack the trays to make a ten tray dryer and have put the motor and base away as spares. It should last me a long time. It also spreads the heat a bit for more delicate items. The only drawback with this type of dryer is that you have to babysit it. You need to rotate the trays after the first couple of hours so it evens out the drying. I put the top one to the bottom and and carry one like that about every hour or so. You just get to know when it needs doing. I have a booklet somewhere for another make but it shows how to rotate if you need to see it.

JayneC

Hi all,

Fishcake - love your elephant, well done!
2ndTR - just wanted to say all the best to you and your mum, take care x

Well not done much frugalling but found the floor in DS2's bedroom!!! S'pose it kept me away from shops! Got rid of some rubbish anyway and DS has sorted some video games to hopefully exchange for a new one he wants. Might have to venture into town with him tomorrow... Did pop out to take some stuff to charity shop, nobody wanted it on freecycle, I think they only want tumble dryers and TV's these days!!!

Need to do an inventory of my freezer and meal plan for next week or so. Will need some bits from Aldi tomoro and don't want to end up with stuff I don't really need.

Think I'm going to start some crocheting this eve, got the mag but not sure I have the right size hooks for the patterns... Am trying to think of things to make as gifts but think I should just start something anyway and see how it turns out...

cha97michelle

Evening folks.

lynzpower the dehydrator grandma recommends is the one i have, and i think Shaz has that one two. I'm sure i got it on her recommendation. I didn't use it that much last year, but i am hoping for bumper crops of blueberries and cranberries from my bushes i bought last year. They were too young last year to produce much at all. It took a little while to get here, but it is a good one.



Frugality today:

• went to Mr M and got a couple of the £1.99 a kilo shoulder pork joint. I think i will cook both at the same tomorrow before chopping and freezing some. Managed to only buy milk which was needed and a pack of batteries for £1 which was needed.
• meat out of freezer for stew to be made in SC tomorrow or Mon, and i have put it at the bottom of the fridge to defrost.
• Spent £79.99 of the £100 my dad gave us for christmas on a new digital camera as ours is 5 years old and taking pink blurry photos. Over 50% off in the sales so a necessary expense in my opinion when you have young kids who grow so fast.
• Got £32 of toiletries (mainly nappies for the kids) from Boots by cashing in my points, although i still have over £20 of points on there. Good deal on my favoured P++mpers nappies of buy 3 for 2. I don't mind doing cheap during the day, but these win over a 12 hour night hands down.
• took tree and christmas cardboard to tip to be recycled - all our snow has finally gone :j
• moved money from savings to pay tax bill
• frugal carrot and lentil soup in SC for lunch
• frugal HM pizza and wedges for dinner. Used some of the 9p grapes my sister gave me for topping, and one pepper, a couple of spring onions and a fine grating of cheddar. Served with some leftover B b/beans in the fridge. I'm trying to use what we need from a tin rather than overeat or throw away.

Non-frugality:

• had to buy a new door bell as the kids broke the plug in part to the old one in November time, and fed up of not noticing people at the door. £6.99
• had to buy a transformer for our living room light fitting. The old one broke about 18 months ago and we popped in the local shop for advice, and they had one in stock. Cost £43.17. Need to buy another one in a couple of weeks for the matching dining room one.

Other news, DH tried doing his tax return online for this year and looks like they owe us £1400. So, we owe them £700. We are a bit confused and DH is going to ring them on Monday again to see where we can get with this as it seems daft to spend money we don't need to. He may need to see them, and we may need to pay it initially but we should get it back. Who said 'Tax doesn't need to be taxing? ';)




I'll keep plodding away anyway in my own little way. I think i need to meal plan between now and when we go away on 8th of Feb to try and spend as little as possible. At least the tax free months should help the cash flow. I hate January.

I forgot to say, DH told me today that he made a new years resolution too to do all the odd little jobs that need doing that have been put off (eg. door bell and lights being fixed) so there he is keep spending odd amounts of money to fulfill his resolution, and there is me trying to be frugal. :rolleyes: At least things are getting fixed. He also fixed my glasses today. The arms are a little loose as the arm on the new pair wasn't quite the same, but i am wearing them now and they are fine unless i bend down.

Michelle x

grandma247

I have a few sites for how to dehydrate and recipes here ,

here
this is a very useful site which also has recipes to try


http://www.backpackingchef.com/
I just found this site. I think it would be great for camping as there would be less weight and it takes up less room.

lots of links here

cw18

Oooooooo....... you're all very NAUGHTY !!

I've been carefully ignoring all talk of dehydrators and canners, as I just knew I'd want one or the other (or both) if I took any notice - and I was right !!!!


At £30 I could probably cover it from the (anticipated) cheque my parents are sure to send for my birthday next week...... but it really is a case of whether I'd use it enough to justify finding the space to keep it handy !!

How long does it take (on average) for things to dry? The mention of having to rotate the levels worries me, as I'd have to fit useage in around work etc.

I don't eat much fresh fruit, but am very partial to dried varieties (including apple, banana and pineapple). Intrigued by tomatoes - what would use them for after drying? I assume dried mushrooms could be thrown into spag bols and sausage casseroles (which would save me freezer space, as I seem to keep collecting mushrooms in there :rolleyes2: )

How long to these things keep once dried? Do they keep as long as dried versions from the shops?