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

SavvyStudent_2

xnatalie81x wrote: »

savvystudent - can you freeze it?? or is freezer full too............ if ya even want any help with stretching meals just post your cupboard and fridge/freezer contents and the ppl on here will turn it into a gastro affair - there are some amazing ppl on here!

Aw thank you that is sweet - wouldn't want to hijack the thread though! I think I have it under control having done 'damage control' and thrown out some uneaten HM butternut squash soup that the OH ignored all week and some uneaten leftover pasta sauce (also ignored). Freezer now has a big pack of chicken legs (OH), 2x big packs whoopsied turkey breast, 2x salmon breasts (OH), 1x sea bass (OH), 1 pack river cobbler, 500g lamb mince and 500g pork pieces for cassersole, 4 garlic breads taking up space (grr @ OH), and then the usual frozen veg / prefrozen batch cooking etc. He ate the whole :eek: supermarket pizza thurs night (thank god really), last night we used up a pack of posh bacon (OH) and had bacon sarnies for tea, tonight a pack of posh sausages will be turned into sausage casserole to use over the next 2-3 days.

Can you freeze ham? I was planning on putting one pack through a pasta bake next week / on a HM pizza, and one for sandwiches for work, but that leaves one left over pack on short date

Will turn 2 dodgy brown bananas into banana bread later so they're not wasted.

Today might not be *terribly* frugal as I'm planning to go buy my wedding jewellery from debenhams while theres 20% off everything, but that comes from our wedding budget so I don't feel too bad lol! Otherwise I'm not planning any spends.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend and hugs to those who need them!

Savvy x

cw18

SavvyStudent wrote: »

Can you freeze ham? I was planning on putting one pack through a pasta bake next week / on a HM pizza, and one for sandwiches for work, but that leaves one left over pack on short date

Yes you can, though I normally only freeze the 'cheap stuff'. The one time I froze a quality one last year, DS refused to eat it afterwards - said it had a 'funny feel' to it ?!?!?

[Deleted User]

Just input my meter readings and found that I had been using a little more than usual because of the snow. However, when I went to the B/Gas site and looked at a summary of both accounts, I find that I'm in CREDIT with gas for £200 :eek: and in CREDIT :eek: for electricity for £110. So that although I've used more to keep the house warm, I certainly won't need to worry about increasing my monthly direct debits, which are already very low.:beer:
WOW

Fishcake_Random

H-H - congrats to your OH on the job :T

Knithappens - Hope you have a nice day with DD and she is spoilt rotten lol.

Fantastic news!!! My maternity allowance letter has finally turned up and as of the 8th I will be getting £98 a week till October. And its been backdated as well from 10jan so I'm super happy!!!!!:T
So with yesterdays tax credits finally sorted out and now my MA our savings will start from about £500 and we can put away almost £100 a week till October when MA finishes still waiting to find out about child tax credit which will be after baby arrives and possibly we will qualify for the surestart grant to.
I feel like I can breathe again its fantastic!!!
I'm off to dance around the shop like a crazy lady, I'll catch up laters.:rotfl:

x x x x x

NualaBuala

Erme, Handy links you posted, thank you! I wouldn't chance the tape 'n' toilet roll option. Don't think it's absorbent enough. There are lots of frugal options though. Menstrual cups are expensive up front, but work out very cheap over their lifetime. Some women use sea sponges as "tampons", with or without an tied on string. And like Grandma247 says, you could use old cotton tshirts to make your own pads. I wouldn't bother buy special material. If it were me, I'd soak the HM pads in cold water as hot water sets protein stains. Then I'd wash them as normal. If you use dark coloured cloth, slight discolouration over time wouldn't show. They're a great idea, very environmentally friendly.

KazLA wrote: »

Do I need to set a budget to join this challenge (and is it too late to join?)

I feel like a bit of a fraud now, as I've been reading this thread for the last few weeks, and taking hints and tips, made a couple of posts, but am not actually official!

Hi KazLA and welcome on board! Never too late to start being frugal You can see how fast this thread is moving so Nyk isn't adding anymore names to the list at the start but that doesn't mean new folk can't join in. Have a read of the first post to get started.

I think setting a budget makes me more focussed - you see where your money goes. I love seeing other people's as I'm usually inspired to try to trim back a little more. It's all baby steps for me!

Good luck, and let us know how your budget is looking!

Just realised, my garden isn't ready for planting fruit bushes yet but I really want to get those in Aldi on Thurs. Do those offers come around again? Or maybe I should just plant them anyway and hope for the best. I'm slowly clearing the end of the garden where my Mum used to grow all sorts including raspberries and gooseberries. I've cleared about a third of it - it was covered in brambles. Wish I still had my Mum to ask for advice but I'm so lucky to have all you experts here instead. Also, I have nowhere to hang a hanging basket but I'd really like to do those strawberries and tomatoes. Any suggestions? The wall of the house at the back is in shade so wouldn't do for attaching a bracket. I've seen stands but they're quite expensive, wonder if there is a cheaper option....

Have a fun frugal weekend everyone!

Edit: Great news about your OH's job Hester, congrats! Fishcake - I have a big smile thinking of you dancing! So glad the finances are looking better!

Frugaldom

NualaBuala wrote: »

Hi KazLA and welcome on board! Never too late to start being frugal You can see how fast this thread is moving so Nyk isn't adding anymore names to the list at the start but that doesn't mean new folk can't join in. Have a read of the first post to get started.

I'm dealing with these via PM, KazLA's name was added to the list a day or 2 ago, when I PM'd them.

Hi guys and gals,

Numbercrunching alert, skip this post if necessary.

Spent some time sorting out my telephone and Internet providers this afternoon and have managed to get 3 months free internet then a £2 per month reduction and 24/7 inclusive phone calls from my existing provider, who is also sending out a new wireless router to ensure ours stays within guarantee. Happy with that for now. 2010 Saving = £115

cw18

Well done on the savings Nyk - that equates to one heck of a chunk of your annual budget :T




Q for the produce growers amongst you......

I'm very tempted to try strawberries in hanging baskets this year (the Dalmatian loves them, so growing at 'ground level' would probably mean he'd be the only 'occupant' to get any ), but am concerned about birds sharing them ?!?! My parents always put net cages over their fruit ('normal' strawberry plants, and raspberry, blackberry and loganberry bushes), so I'm assuming I'd need to rig up some kind of protective covers for the baskets as well ?

Twinkles08

Well done Nyk that's great!

Happymrsh

Have had a goo few days here. Yesterday was pay day so the start to our month. Spent £71.26 on food but got LOADS, and have enough meat in the freezer now to last the month and thats withour it doing more than one meal. So we have plenty, and should be minimal spends on food for the rest of the month. YAY :j potato man comes on Tuesday, £7 for a 25kg bag of spuds which will last the month.

Made a nice tea loaf yesterday with DH really likes. Today i have made a bulk amount of laundry gloop which should last the month.

also made some fairy cakes, well DD made them, i just cooked them. And for dinner we have left over mince and onion with carrots, mushrooms and celery added to bulk it out, with mash and broccolli and home made yorkshires, yum yum.

So today has been a NSD, have had a very enjoyable day in the kitchen

Nyk - your post about broadband got me thinking and i had a look and realised i can save £16 a month by switching, that will be done on Monday, so Thanks :T and i'm glad you have got yours sorted and got yourself a fatastic deal, well done you:beer:

BigMummaF

chika wrote: »

....the local college do a saturday course in basic car maintenence. I'm considering enrolling - It will cost obviously but hopefully I'll be able to recoup the amount by saving on silly little repairs (this girl had to have the AA out to change a wheel last year.) I also won't be dependent on anyone else - a step to being self sufficientish maybe?!....

I was going to say that this is a good idea, BUT when the garage uses the air guns chances are you'll still struggle to change a tyre...then Cheryl beat me to it Think the biggest part of a garage bill is for the Labour, so anything you can learn to do for yourself is going to help & if you're like me, you'll enjoy yourself in the process.

Starting to have a look at cooker prices as the oven on mine has never been brilliant I've seen some online & made a note of the make, & am going to see if I can find them in a shop somewhere so I can see them in the flesh so to speak. Saw a couple in Spicy Meal that look interesting but have to add on "£89:99 for express delivery, connection & taking the old one away"; I was very tempted to ask how much it would be for standard delivery but couldn't be bothered to listen to all the sales spiel, seeing as I'll likely not be buying from them anyways
All this talk about growing things is whetting my appetite & also frustrating as we don't have window sills to start anything off indoors I was wondering tho, if I could use the copious amount of shredded paper in the bottom of the containers as a kind of drainage solution, bearing in mind a) you can put paper on a compost heap, b) it takes a fair while to decompose & c) I don't know how else to get rid of the paper