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

Fishcake_Random

Hello fellow frugals,
Haven't been about for a bit due to a pretty horrible tummy upset so I've been sleeping it off lol. Today however I feel great so I'm hoping I've turned the corner. I think it was my attempted muffins so I binned the remainder just in case as its the only thing "new" to my daily diet. Ho Hum.
Today has been a NSD, I've been catching up with the housework and the washing up mountain etc. Been knitting in between jobs to. Yesterdays spends were the grand total of £1.05p as OH nabbed a reduced gala pie for his tea. He also told me that he'd had a phone call from the bank asking if we were okay and our debit cards were working as we havent used the bank since middle of december!!! All our cash we've used it still xmas money so only DD's have come out of the bank. We have a nice little amount building in there as OH checked it on the way home. And its all thanks to your wonderfull ideas and suggestions!!!!!
Tonights dinner is cheesy omelletes and chips to use up some eggs. Tonight entertainment is a DVD we borrowed off a neighbour one of those "you have to see this movie" type things apparently lol. I found some popcorn in the cupboard so I'll make some up later for snacks.

x x x x

shaz_mum_of__2

If you have a tj hughs nearby thier thermals are all half price at 2.49 i resisted though !!

Just made 10l of laundry gloop i used to use this all the time then switched to mr t's value as it was so cheap but i am convinced the box shrinks each time i buy one?

Netto do really cheap seeds too 29p pack i think and lots of choice

Been shopping today instead of waiting till saturday spent just under £30 at mr m which is good for me and i stocked up on half price cheese and got lucky with extra spesh roast beef for sandwiches (made and now in the freezer) also got a load of organic apples for pennies stocked up on 19p pitta bread too ......kebab anyone?

Anyone know of a good deal anywhere on bacon? no costco here i am afraid but all other stores and a b00kers , supplies running low and the weekend is fast approaching ..................does anyone freeze ready made bacon butties ? do they reheat in the microwave ok?

Mexican beany pittas for dinner with some rocket from the greenhouse i did't know i had?!

coconut cake and custard for pud...yum

Frugaldom

babyboysmommy wrote: »

If you get a chance would it be possible to post the recipe? Many thanks

This is the recipe I just used for carrot loaves. I usually save most of my favourite sites onto the links page of my frugaldom blog site (click on usename and look for homepage link, loads of people on here have their own blogs and pages. )

I stick with white sugar, as it's cheaper, and it's ok to miss out the chopped nuts, just add more raisins. I kind of adapt recipes to suit what I have in the baking cupboard. So long as the quantities add up, it seems to work. I'd to mix in sunflower oil, as I didn't want to use up all my veg oil and I used duck eggs, as my ducks are laying every day just now.

I've just done a cost breakdown of the above loaves and it worked out at £1.20 for the 4 loaves, as I used homegrown carrots and our own freerange duck eggs. 40p each and about 8 slices per loaf makes for a very frugal snack. If you add a 7p pack of instant custard over the top among 3 of us, that's less than 10p per person. We do many, many, many soup & pudding meals in our household. SM will testify to the number of packets of 7p custard we can get through. :rotfl:

Lunch today was HM bread (from 10p per pack breadmix) toasted with cheese & HM chutney, followed by a slice of warm carrot loaf because I couldn't resist it! I have some hm beef olives from freezer for tonight's dinner, so they will be served up with a pile of mixed veg, potatoes & gravy. This is an extravagant meal, as beef olives work out at around 37p each to make - use value quick fry steak and sausages - 2 each for DS & HS, 1 for me, so that's £1.85 plus homegrown veg and 10p potatoes. If anyone's still hungry, there's always cake & custard. I reckon today's meals will have cost a grand total of £2.75 if we miss pudding tonight. Failing that, it will be £2.97 Beef olives really are a luxury - steak AND sausages in the same meal?! :eek:

Frugaldom

Fishcake_Random wrote: »

... had a phone call from the bank asking if we were okay and our debit cards were working as we havent used the bank since middle of december!!!

Lovin' it, lovin' it. lovin' it! :rotfl::beer::j:T

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

... Just made 10l of laundry gloop i used to use this all the time then switched to mr t's value as it was so cheap but i am convinced the box shrinks each time i buy one?

Thanks for the reminder. :T My 10l made last year is almost gone, although I still have plenty of soapnuts. I like the gloop for the muddy, greasy laundry and have been saving the soap ends (from friend's homemade soap :rotfl:). I think I'll get this made today then that's another good job done before spring.

Post 1, Handy Links now updated to include my '100 things to do with eggs' list, carrot recipes and the laundry gloop (and other cleaning products) recipe threads, before anyone asks for them. :cool:

edaniels1983

nykmedia wrote: »

Lovin' it, lovin' it. lovin' it! :rotfl::beer::j:T



Thanks for the reminder. :T My 10l made last year is almost gone, although I still have plenty of soapnuts. I like the gloop for the muddy, greasy laundry and have been saving the soap ends (from friend's homemade soap :rotfl:). I think I'll get this made today then that's another good job done before spring.


whats laundary gloop?????

please explain.......................



Post 1, Handy Links now updated to include my '100 things to do with eggs' list, carrot recipes and the laundry gloop (and other cleaning products) recipe threads, before anyone asks for them. :cool:

thanks for all your pm's

funeral was all ok, everything went smoothly. just waiting for claim form replies etc


having a megga freecycling day today. bet the neighbours wonder why random people keep turning up at all hours throughout the day!!!

taka

lilo - Sorry to hear your news.

edaniels - I'm glad the funeral went well.

Natalie - I hope you get your housing situation sorted out soon.

Lynzpower - Well done to your OH! :T

Fishcake_Random wrote: »

... he'd had a phone call from the bank asking if we were okay and our debit cards were working as we havent used the bank since middle of december!!!

:rotfl: They had better get used to it! :T

shaz_mum_of__2

Laundry gloop is homemade laundry liquid , so called because it kinda sets but still gloopy when you make it like runny jelly

edaniels1983

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Laundry gloop is homemade laundry liquid , so called because it kinda sets but still gloopy when you make it like runny jelly

how do you make it??i spend a fortune on powder etc

lynzpower

Shaz

I wouldnt bother to freeze a bacon sandwich to be honest. I know some people do, but I find a B sandwich such a luxury, I have to have it 'just so'

The best bacon I get is from a butchers so unless you live round my way- thats no use to you, but it is fantastic. fOR Supermarket bacon I really like sainsburys basics "middle" it is a but fattier, ( extra fat for the birds or the dog ) but the flavour is a lot better than back IMO. ( cheaper too)

I do like to try and buy outdoor reared pork where possible, but there isnt a lot of bacon widely available that is OR- im certain my butchers isnt either.

pagangirl

Hi folks

Just got new Nett0 leaflet - says Vegetable/Flower seeds are 19p pk this week, also growbags 3@£3.00 or £1.29 each. Hope this helps someone.

Another NSD yesterday - got laundry done, big bag shredding done & out, recycling out, & nice man from housing called and they are offering new double glazed window as they cannot find a gasket to replace the one already in (reported repair last May as rubber seal(gasket) is coming away from round window and has to be pushed back every time I open/shut window, so not counted as double glazed as very draughty when wind blows

Nice suprise tho.:D

So far this year 10 NDS and spent £77.09, but freezer full so won't need much except for fresh fruit/veg/bread/milk. Good for me coz I was spending £70 week when working :eek: Dunno what on

Hugs to all
Double hugs to those who need 'em most