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

NualaBuala

Hi frunchkins :wave:

Lynz, those pineapple recipes look delicious. I think I will be lazy and just chop mine into bits and feel smug that it's cost me a tiny fraction of what I used to pay for the same in M&S (in my pre-frugal days).

KazLA, thank for the guidance on the fruit bushes. This will be my first attempt so I need all the advice I can get.

Aw don't feel bad about your budget pink_numbers. Vet bills can't be helped and being frugal puts you in a better position to cope with unexpected bills. I had a burst pipe and forked out €80 for a plumber but decided to include it rather than count it as taken out of my emergency fund. I figure there will always be something (am living in a money pit) so it reflects my true cost of living. The yarn is not a waste - it's a hobby and means you're not spending money on other stuff. And as Cheryl says, you can make gifts with it so it might even save you money!

Erme - bad luck on the sewing machines. At least you didn't get hurt though! By the way, I saw some panniers on my freecycle recently - might be worth checking your local freebie sites just in case.

Fiend - I take my hat off to you! :T That is a seriously frugal budget you've got there and you put me to shame!

Glad you don't have to do that weekend job any more Chika!:j


I thought I'd done all my January spending but ended up having a last minute outing to see Avatar. Really enjoyed it! I'd never seen a 3D film before and it was pretty cool. Went for a BK afterwards to avail of their current offer so had double cheeseburger, fries and a cuppa which sorted me for dinner. Did a small shop in Aldi while I was out so don't need anything urgent for the next week.

I spent a total of €431.15 in January - not bad. Juggled money between categories but that's fine I reckon.

It's bitterly cold here so have the central heating on rather than lighting the fire. The whole house felt freezing. I'm still huddled under about 3 blankets though. I'm going to have a nice evening getting my Desperate Housewives fix and trying to stay warm.

Enjoy your evening everyone!

SavvyStudent_2

Evening!

I'm feeling a bit useless today. I've decided that baking is not worth the waste of ingredients for me. Need to cut my losses - yet another disaster in the bin today - nigellas banana bread. OH and I both feel physically sick having tried a piece lol, it was all glooping in the centre despite cooking it for almost an hour extra. I've been trying for well over a year and the only things I've successfully made are scones, pizza and pancakes, everything else turns out an absolute disgrace despite following the recipes to the letter, so apart from the 3 things I can make I'm done. Even my packet mix brownies turned out odd. I hate to think how much money I've wasted trying to bake

Also, a spend day here - £9.74, but 99p of that was on a pack of 50 all purpose cloths in the local savers, the rest in morrisons on milk, bread, eggs, yoghurts etc - to top up OH's shop. Got a box of value washing powder to bulk out my big box of branded stuff - theres half left and as I'm not quite at the 'gloop stage' I figure mixing the 2 together should hopefully last us another 6-8 months and still smelling of lavender :T No silly spends!

Savvy x

NualaBuala

SlowlyFading



Big hugs - sounds like you're having a tough time. Never mind the expense of going home, worth every penny to get home to your nearest and dearest. You're doing so well passing all your exams, and your last placement seemed to go brilliantly! Hang in there, it won't be long till uni is a distant memory and hopefully you'll end up nearer to your BF and family.

lynzpower

I'm feeling a bit useless today. I've decided that baking is not worth the waste of ingredients for me. Need to cut my losses - yet another disaster in the bin today - nigellas banana bread. OH and I both feel physically sick having tried a piece lol, it was all glooping in the centre despite cooking it for almost an hour extra. I've been trying for well over a year and the only things I've successfully made are scones, pizza and pancakes, everything else turns out an absolute disgrace despite following the recipes to the letter, so apart from the 3 things I can make I'm done. Even my packet mix brownies turned out odd. I hate to think how much money I've wasted trying to bake

Oh god Ive been there For years and years I have wasted good packets of butter _pale_ bags of brown sugar, nuts ( expensive stuff!) on burnt offerings and soggy claggy cakes

I know I go on *yes, I really am going to say this* please dont give up on home cooking, just get a kenwood chef. You might be lucky like loads on here seem to have and get one off freecycle. I got mine ( prospero) for Xmas from the parents its the best present I have ever had in my life :j

So far I have made
butternut squash soup
chocolate cake
coffee sauce
rosti
perfect dauphinoise
sponge cake
ginger cake
bluberry muesli slices
chocolate chip cookies ( i never thought this possible to get right)
tea bread

I am using it almost every day. I knocked up some twink hobnobs earlier- OMG they are fab you cant buy them. I have to say if it werent for the chef they would hav eprobalby been rubbish. I have a damaged hand from an injury and long stirring/beating etc isnt really possible. Plus I lose patience and think "that'll do"

The kenwood chef does it all for us, we were only saying earlier we wish we hadnt been tight and bought it sooner- we would have had more enjoyment from it for longer.

far be it from me to encourgage spending ( it was 125 at Xmas, im sure it wqould be cheaper elsewhere) but its this one - does everything, shredding, rating, mixing, dough hook.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kenwood-Prospero-Compact-KM265-Mixer/dp/B001HZVZQK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1264969834&sr=8-1

lynzpower

NualaBuala wrote: »

SlowlyFading



Big hugs - sounds like you're having a tough time. Never mind the expense of going home, worth every penny to get home to your nearest and dearest. You're doing so well passing all your exams, and your last placement seemed to go brilliantly! Hang in there, it won't be long till uni is a distant memory and hopefully you'll end up nearer to your BF and family.

Seconded- hugs to you SF- hang on in there xx

xnatalie81x

JAN UPDATE:

Electric 68.50/800
Gas 37/440
Mobile 0/420 (comes out on 1st so put into feb)
Home Phone 0/150 (3mthly)
TV Licence 10.14/150
Pet Ins 16.08/350
Car tax 20/120 (i put away seperately)
Car Ins 47.31/600
B'days 87.50/200 (left to buy MIL and 2 fathers day pressies/2 mums day pressies)
xmas 32.78/200 (3 kids main pressies, OH and dad left to buy)
petrol 80/1000
Food 265.62/3520
Toiletries 1.30/60
Stationary 0/60
Cleaning 13.95/180
Washing 19.57/480
Alcohol 0/100
Nappies and Wipes 23.10/300
Allotment 0/150
Chickens 21.08/200
Haircuts 60/150
Dogs 6.69/400
Going Out 10/200
Kids Activities 10/200 (footie for son. free swimming lessons for son too)
OTHER 3.98/1380
G clothes 0/150
E clothes 7.75/150
L clothes 5.25/150
Me clothes 0/200 (i need more for swimming cossies for work!)
OH clothes 10/50 (to cover left over next account)

TOTAL 859.42/ 1036.61

Not Included
Rent PAID
ct PAID
debts 3000yr 282.21 PAID
childcare PAID
Water PAID

A very good month.

LilacPixie

I have a foolproff recipe for banana bread. works every time.

A_fiend_for_life

Just from those first few pages there's a few mentions of banana bread and here it is again. Recipe?

Reminded me of this I saw the other day.

How to make wine, vinegar,sauces from banana peels

http://www.ehow.com/how_2205010_wine-vinegarsauces-banana-peels.html

I've no idea where you get ammonium sulfate (sulphate) but there might be other, high nitrogen, skins or fruit that could be used with the bananas instead. (?)

The recipe for wine suggests a kilo of banana peels. Sounds like a lot of bananas.

SavvyStudent_2

lynzpower wrote: »

I know I go on *yes, I really am going to say this* please dont give up on home cooking, just get a kenwood chef. You might be lucky like loads on here seem to have and get one off freecycle. I got mine ( prospero) for Xmas from the parents its the best present I have ever had in my life :j

Lol, thanks for the tip! I remember my granda used to have one of these (he died in 1996 so we're going back a little here!) and he did make use of it every day <fond memories of mini pancakes after school> I'd love one but unless I can wangle one off freecycle I'm afraid its a little beyond the budget for now. If theres any wedding money left over after we've sorted it all out I'll get one asap!! Not giving up on home cooking completely, I'm good at proper dinners etc, anything savoury really - its just baking that seems to be beyond me completely! I have one of those little electric beaters btw but it doesn't seem to make much difference <sigh>

Anyway, positive mental attitude! 22p on a pack of value rich teas will do us fine!

SavvyStudent_2

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

Just from those pages there's a few mentions of banana bread and here it is again. Recipe?

QUOTE]

LilacPixie - perhaps you could share your banana bread recipe? I really dont think anyone will want to try mine lol! x