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

elaine373

flying_fresian wrote: »

Now, a couple of questions for the frunchkins....

What can I use as an alternative to oven cleaner? It gives me a beast of a headache. Also, I tend to favour Fairy washing up liquid and wondered what your experiences were about the best frugal alternatives.

Thanks!

for the oven I would use good old stardrops. With regard to fairy i have tried many things but find everything else is false economy. i just look for the best offers around. e.g. today i got two bottles of fairy for 1.60 at somerfields.I find other alternatives run out alot quicker as well.I stand to be corrected thought.:)

Frugaldom

LilacPixie wrote: »

rozeepozee wrote: »

I am soooo loving this thread. I'm at mum at mo so can't bookmark any of these but can't wait to have a good read when I get home.
Thanks!

Can I remind everyone that it's always best to read post one of the challenge where there's a list of handy links.

Some great links from Ceridwen, I'll have a good look through the Scottish one as soon as I get the chance. For now, I am still trying to catch up with all the posts here. apologies for not making individual comments to everyone but I do read them all. Back to update again soon.

NYK's OVEN CLEANER = Bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Sprinkle on the bicarbonate and then pour or spray on some vinegar, watch it froth up then clean your oven

gilligansyle

Thanks to Flyin_fresian for pointing me towards this. So many threads have been re-invented its hard to find them.

Having found myself unemployed towards the end of last year, I need to get by on what I have and make everything last. Have always cooked from scratch, don't really use processed foods, but actually have little idea of how much I spend. Available income after essentials is around £100 per week for gas, electric petrol and shopping. Would hope to keep to this even when I start working again.

Best inventions ever? Stardrops and I use bio washing powder for cleaning oven, grill pan, and ceramic hob.

Jules

I have just used bio washing powder on my oven and it came up a treat, no pong and very little scrubbing, happy days! Thanks guys!

jfdi

flying_fresian wrote: »

You used to get your money back and a £2 giftcard from Asda for being overcharged. If they don't offer it ask about it, you might be lucky!

I'll ask! Thanks for telling me!

xx

PS - Going tomorrow - I'm entertaining this evening :beer: & a nap is more important at the mo! LOL!

mumoffour77

Hi all

I just had my first spend of the new year:)

CW it was so much fun filling in the spreadsheet.....its really appreciated thank you:T

I only needed milk, so 4 ltrs was £2 and DD wanted Jam so another £1,
It was a local shop so DS1 went saving Diesel:D

We are still eating out of cupboards and freezer, later on (when the shorties go back to school I will do an inventory)

I know I have lots of shower gel, and shampoo oh and smellie stuff for me curtsey of a very "fabalas" boots hat box.....that my wonderful kids (ie me) bought for christmas/birthday and mothers day yes i got 3 of them so they will last me all year:D And it doesnt count towards this years budget:)

Buffythedebtslayer

Hello folks,

I haven't spent anything yet in the new year, I am off to Sainsburys on Monday.

I was wondering if any of you knew of any lettuce type plants that could be grown indoors for the Guinea pigs to eat.

Bit random but I am spending about £6 a week on fresh veg which isn't bad I just wondered if anything could be grown?

cheers

xxx

Debs08

[QUOTE=ceridwen;28348179]Now finished reading my way thru last posts.

What I do have is a haybox cooker - which has been sitting there "looking at me" ever since I got it. Has anyone used one - and what were your experiences with them? (I keep planning on getting a casserole heated up and putting it in there at breakfast - ready for thinking "dinner is served" come the evening - and also wondering if theres anything else I can cook in one (eg baked potatoes maybe???)

When doing upliftment in SA we introduced the hay box this was to help the women from having to cut so much wood and also they could cook dinner (the evening meal) and start breakfast at the same time. The family is up very early to catch buses/walk etc to work/school. The things they cooked were porridge out of maize, a stiffer version which they used as a veg, beans and any stew as long as the meat was added already cooked. I hope this is of help.

Can some one tell me an easier way to find this thread without coming through the main page each time.

Thank you Cheryl for spread sheet I will get to that soon it looks fantastic. Spreadsheets etc are fine it is all the chatting on line etc just causes panic. Decided I will not spend any money until I have sorted it out. This will help me to empty all the rubbish out of the cupboards and lose weight, I do need motivation to get things done.

Told my hubby we were going to try and come out on 50p/day the shock on his face was brilliant. Then I was told it was impossible I am going to get out some recepies to show him, the real horror will come when he sees that there is very little meat. He is old fashioned and believes he will expire if there is no meat on his plate.

We are in quite crisis at the moment as we only have 3 months savings left in the bank, my husband was made redundant beginning of last year. He has made use of the time when not looking for work finishing his degree to update his SA degrees and trying to start his own business with no outlay.

I will therefore not be posting a budget as I don't have one, but I will be recording where and what we spend on THE SPEADSHEET and be able to watch all the miracles take place.

Frugaldom

Debs08 - click the link at top that says 'thread tools' and then subscribe to the thread. Good luck with your year of frugalising.

Just added a couple more names to the challenger list, wel;come on board, guys

I've had a good look through my last year's top 10 items on the 'to do' list and failed on only 2 of them - homemaking all presents and filling my ISA. I still have until April to fill the ISA, but the first was too ambitious without proper planning. So, planning starts now for this year!

My 2010 budget spreadsheet is being run to show £4,000 up front, so each spend I make will be deducted and any residual income (cashback, interest, winnings, gifts etc) will get added back into the overall budget. I'd love to end 2010 with a positive balance and then increase it, with practice, to make my entire cost of living cash neutral. I am sure that with an active participation in reducing, reusing, recycling, bartering, preserving, home growing and plenty of space for foraging, this is completely within my grasp. It may even be simpler when there'll be a similarly minded next door neighbour! Speaking of whom, I may need to borrow her dehydrator to do some more pineapple and maybe even try some melon pieces.

Fishcake_Random

Fantastic news, OH had a £10 John Lewis/Waitrose voucher in his wallet that he "re-found" when he moved the contents of his old wallet into his new wallet after xmas so I have £10 of free nummy goodies and no spend added to my budget. Whoop whoop.
I have 2 boxes of posh biccys and 2 posh choc umbrellas to put away for mothers day baskets and the rest went on biscuits and some cheap silly choccies for us. I even had 7p left to spend lol
x x x x