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

edaniels1983

babyboysmommy wrote: »

Went to Mr. T today & spent £ 13.20 on 1 self raising flour, 1 mixed dried fruit, 2 butter, 2kg castor sugar, 2 kitchen roll, 1 baby wipes, 1 bean salad, 3 bread & 2 shaving gel.

I have a spread sheet where I'm tracking every penny we spend & on what. I'm already spending less as a result

Also spent £1 on a train ride for my son & have reserved his birthday present in Argos to be collected tomorrow as it was reduced from £140 to £50 so a really good saving on something he will love. His birthday is not for a few months so it will be hidden in the loft until the time.

I really need to start going through the kitchen to see what we don't use so it can be rehomed, I just need the energy from somewhere to do it!

I have a whole chicken in the slow cooker for dinner this evening, there will be leftovers I'll make another meal from. For the very first time I'm going to make stock so that will go in the slow cooker over night

hi i always roast in the oven but would love to cook my chicken in the slow cooker. how do you do it?? do you add water etc? i do stews and curry in it but never a roast so any help would be appreachiated. thanks

gilligansyle

Hi

someone was looking for alternatives for pineapple upside down cake to use up pineapple. This is more a souffle but works ok with tinned pineapple, although original recipe is for fresh.

Pineapple pudding - can be done as one large one or individual small ones

pineapples
2 tbsp raisins
2tbsp honey
3 tbsp wine or sherry
2 eggs
4 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour

Put pineapple in dish and cover with raisins.
Blend 2 tbsp honey with 2 tbsp juice and 2 tbsp wine - Pour over fruit and put in oven and cook for 5 minutes on 190
Whisk egg yolks with half the sugar until pale and foamy. Add cornflour, a tbsp of wine and the 3 tbsp juice -(you can add a drop of vanilla essence if wanted)
Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks, carefully fold in the egg mixture, then pour over fruit, sprinkle with the rest of the sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes until brown and lightly risen

You could probably use the same principle for any fruit.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for the ideas for veg and salad and stuff.

sabs10

Hello All :hello:

Just an update;

Had a SD yesterday as I went out for the evening - spent £20.50 all in (included dinner,drinks & bus fare) Not bad but had forgot to calculate entertainment in budget:mad: . Will have a look at the budget later today to revise.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday

Sabs10

babyboysmommy

edaniels1983 wrote: »

hi i always roast in the oven but would love to cook my chicken in the slow cooker. how do you do it?? do you add water etc? i do stews and curry in it but never a roast so any help would be appreachiated. thanks

I just put it in, nothing add anything at all

NualaBuala

Great post Lillibet!:T

redglass_2

edaniels1983 wrote: »

hi i always roast in the oven but would love to cook my chicken in the slow cooker. how do you do it?? do you add water etc? i do stews and curry in it but never a roast so any help would be appreachiated. thanks

I put a bit of oil in and sprinkle some thyme or rosemary over the bird, no water. If it's a free range chicken you get lovely jelly in the bottom of the slow cooker.

I can't remember who asked what, but here goes, I'm going to chip in anyhoo:

Saving/using up bananas: I've just discovered that you can take off the skins and freeze the peeled bananas in a plastic box. They can then be liquidised with milk or soymilk (and berries,etc, whatever you want) for a creamy cold smoothie. OR if you like healthy desserts/raw food, you can dip the bananas in honey and roll them in nuts, cocoa, coconut, whatever you like, and then freeze, to make a kind of crunchy banana lolly (you can put sticks in if you like, but I don't bother and just eat them with my fingers).

Using up paprika: I like this in cheese sauce, tho' in moderation...

Singleton frugality: in three words, soups and stews. I do eat other things but these are the easiest because the portions are flexible and they freeze easily. Next would be pulses, because they keep for ages and are flexible in use and good for you and you can soak as much or as little as you like. I don't mind eating my way through a big pot of soup or bean stew until it's all gone, but obviously that wouldn't suit everybody and this sort of food also freezes well.

Spuds: you could grow them in a small yard but they are cheap to buy, so if you have limited space you might save more by growing something more expensive. Obviously it depends what you like and how much sun you get.

Drying tomatoes: I did this last year (in the oven) and learned by experience that it's not worth doing unless they are really meaty ones. Mine were delicious but they resembled crisps! :rolleyes:

My thanks button seems to have given up - I'm thanking people but it's not working. It did this to me last time, too, got better and then got worse again.

lyndasharp

2TR, I hope all goes well for you and your Mum. It's a very brave step to take, and good luck.

There's a been a lot of talk of veg magazine - I went through Quidco and it's tracked with £4.50 cashback on a 3 for £3 offer at letssubscribe.com for Grow your Own magazine. Apparently they give out free seeds etc, so fingers crossed it comes with some good freebies too!

Thanks for the tomato drying link. Will give that a try next summer - tomatoes seem to do really well round here!

Had two expensive days in a row. It was fun though, went to Oxford yesterday to the Steampunk exhibition at one of the museums (£11 bus fare for two). Then today I had to get petrol and food, so another £65 spent. My car went round the clock on the way back from the shopping! 00000 :-) Wonder if anyone would believe me if I tried to sell it as new? ;-)

cw18

lyndasharp wrote: »

There's a been a lot of talk of veg magazine - I went through Quidco and it's tracked with £4.50 cashback on a 3 for £3 offer at letssubscribe.com for Grow your Own magazine. Apparently they give out free seeds etc, so fingers crossed it comes with some good freebies too!

Just been to check this one out, as it's a title I've enjoyed reading before. But I'm confused as the 3 for £3 offer is by D/Deb only, and Quidco says they only pay out for C/Card orders

Fishcake_Random

Hello fellow frugallers,

Lynzpower- We have a small tv in our bedroom that will replace the living room one if it dies. Once the baby is here I doubt we'd use the bedroom one anyway so I was thinking of putting it on freegle but will keep it as spare for now. The new tv will be from extra pennys (birthday money,car boots,ebay type things) so will not be out of the budget at all as it is a luxury not a need when we have the bedroom one.

Chika- Sorry to hear about you car, we dont use our car much and we having serious thoughts about living without one untill we finally made a baby and low and behold our baby is on route lol. Hope it works out for you.

Frugal things of the day;
Cut OH's hair and he cut mine. He's getting pretty good at it lol.
Pizza for dinner brought with £2 asda voucher and topped with reduced mushrooms and pepperoni. Side dish is half a reduced tomato and herb share bread from freezer. Left overs for OH's lunch.
Tomorrows dinner is pasta and cheese sauce with left over mushrooms and pepperoni. Side is remaining bread from above.
Finish off knitting sock for OH's friend and start my second elephant!


Also popped into Mr.T as we needed to pick up our new hover (vouchers) and I discovered a reduced pile of clothes and bits. Picked up a pair of mittens 50p Set of 2 xmas simpsons socks £1 and Set of two "rude" xmas socks 50p. Checked my recipt before leaving and was charged £1.50 for gloves so I got my double the difference refund, works out free. Yay!!! Socks have been stashed in the pressy cupboard for next xmas.
OH also nabbed 2 rolls of pink xmas wrapping paper for 10p a roll, its going to be sooo cute for the fishfingers first xmas, and probably next 2 or 3 lol.
x x x x

mama67

Twinkles08 wrote: »

I'm due on the 28th Feb with baby no 2,another girl.So v moneysaving!It's all getting a bit close but I've been as frugal as poss and am using everything from last time and borrowing the rest.Althou I have just realised I will have to buy some new nursing bras.They're all so expensive :eek:

Thats my birthday Twinkles08