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

lizzyshep

Could you tell me how you made it please, mama67? And does it work?

mama67

lizzyshep wrote: »

Could you tell me how you made it please, mama67? And does it work?

Hi, I chopped a bar of soap up into small pieces (some grate theirs) put into a large stock pan (needs to be able to hold 5 litres really), added in 1½ litres boiling water and simmered until soap had melted, then added in another 3 litres of boiling water.
Let it cool a little then added in 250g soda crystals (laundry aisle) and stirred until these had disolved, then poured into a container which holds 5 litres.

It sets a bit like blancmange I put 100ml of gloop into a jug with 100ml hot water so it is disolved then add to the drum of the machine.

It has washed everything fine at the moment including muddy football gear.

Snow is now coming thick and fast and the sky is full of it.

Mollymop5

Thriftkitten wrote: »

Just thought I'd post this as I was thinking of a frugal holiday for this year and decided that I couldnt really afford one, single parent with 3 kids(one a foster child) 3 dogs, 2 cats and somedays feels like a partridge in a pear tree too... anyway after browsing other sections in this forum I noticed this link...
http://www.doit4real.co.uk/ the 2 older kids can go for £49.00 each for a week of summer camp(I qualify for the reduced price because I am on working families tax) and if my youngest can go with her dad for that week, I may end up having a weeks break to myself and go to the beach daily here in cornwall to top up my tan, and frugally be saving on food on that time.
I hope its ok to post that link here it was in the MSE forum under uk holidays etc, just thought it may come in handy to anyone here that perhaps couldn't afford a holiday but kids moan about it yadda yadda yadda!!!

thanks for that link.makes interesting reading

lizzyshep

mama67 wrote: »

Hi, I chopped a bar of soap up into small pieces (some grate theirs) put into a large stock pan (needs to be able to hold 5 litres really), added in 1½ litres boiling water and simmered until soap had melted, then added in another 3 litres of boiling water.
Let it cool a little then added in 250g soda crystals (laundry aisle) and stirred until these had disolved, then poured into a container which holds 5 litres.

It sets a bit like blancmange I put 100ml of gloop into a jug with 100ml hot water so it is disolved then add to the drum of the machine.

It has washed everything fine at the moment including muddy football gear.

Snow is now coming thick and fast and the sky is full of it.

That's great, thank you! I'll definitely try it once my existing stash has run out.

Aril

Hello fellow frugallers:j:j
A busy week working really but did pick up some free tips from a friend on how to do simple reflexology on your hands to help you destress.
OH has made parsnip wine this week- we couldn't get it to ferment at first and we haven't really got a warm spot to put it. I had a think and we ended up sitting it on our heated pad. It's now bubbling away cheerfully. He's also planning to bottle the one we've made from grape juice. We've been chatting about what we might try later in the year and I think elderflower but we're not too sure about nettle. Has anyone tried it? We think we might also have a bash at making mead as it's something I enjoy but it's an expensive treat.

Few spends this week- only a new cossie and some undies. There are some items I don't wish to purchase second hand:D:D

I met up with my sister yesterday who I haven't seen for a year since she moved [we've been in regular contact]. She and I exchanged pressies- a sorrel plant from her and a jar of hm blackberry jam from me!! She used to be a high flying career girl but has turned her back on all that -although money is very tight she and her partner [civil partner] are now loving growing veg and she's taken up knitting. She's got herself a preserving pan and slow cooker from freecycle and is also putting those to good use. Is this sounding familiar?:rotfl::rotfl:We regularly exchange emails with frugal recipes and offers we've spotted:D

Frugal plans today- turkey fricasse in the slow cooker and having a potter today. Shall cut up the old hand towels to make flannels and then cross stitch. I put up my heart shaped mobile I made last weekend and I'm pleased with the results.

Hope you all have a good frugalling week!
Arilx

Kiwisaver_2

I'm still here and behaving myself, I find it easy not to spend money at the weekend as I just stay at home. Things all going pretty well and looking forward to reporting favourable results for February budget this time next week.

I've been busy all weekend, mostly in the garden trying to restore some semblance of order. I sowed some radish seeds yesterday, planted out some rhubarb and re-potted some coriander. I am also having a go with some mustard seeds, sowed indoors on some cotton wool in a tomato punnet

I finally got hold of some borax this week, so I can get going with some of the home made cleaning recipes. My only other non-grocery spends for the past week were some compost, a rhubarb plant and three packets of seeds. I'm going to try and concentrate on this over the next few weeks and don't mind spending a bit to try and up my game on the edible content in the garden.

I have an apple tree that is laden with apples when viewed from afar and I kept thinking to myself I must get up there and check them out before the birds and insects get to them, only to find today the apples are all a bit 'cankerous' and deformed. I'm going to have to do a bit of research and find out how to fix it.

Also taking a lot of my time recently dealing with the books I have sold, four more gone today (eighteen so far) and the gap in the bank account for the plumbers bill is gradually closing. :T

cw18

Still reading on a regular basis, but spending more time on email than anywhere else at the moment.

Having a 'new fella' appears to be good for my budgets for now - I'd rather be at home talking to him than out shopping or browsing web sites for things I don't need and having to talk myself out of buying

Did a small grocery shop on Thursday (had run out of spread for my toast/butties, and was in pretty desperate need of some more frozen veg) - but hadn't spent on food for 6 days prior to that, which is great going for me :T Did another grocery shop on Friday, but almost entirely Whoopsies from final clearance at work (including 3 packs of raspberries, each reduced from £2.99 to just 19p )

Another total NSD yesterday..... could have done with picking up a few bits, but was too jumpy to think about what I needed as we'd agreed to a phone call after I got in from work (had an extra shift 2-8pm). Phone call went really well, and we're back on the email this morning - to the point I'm still in my jim-jams, tucked up under a quilt on the couch, and laptop on my knee.......

I really, really need to get on with some of the dreaded h/work though Was hoping to get into the garden, but we had snow last night so it's not going to happen - and I won't get another chance until Thursday!!

mooomin

Morning Frunchkins

I think I'm doing ok this month for spending. I'm over budget on Entertainment (Well, I'm not at the moment, but don't think the remaining £2.43 will allow me to pay for dinner on Wednesday!), Christmas presents and "Everything Else" at the moment, but am showing as under budget as I still have £63.79 left from my £170 Groceries/Toiletries budget with a week still to go. I would have had more but stocked up on loo roll yesterday (£5 for 18 rolls in Morri$on$) and bought 3 big bags of cat litter in Co$tco. I should only need to buy the occasional bit of F&V this week as well as the usual milk and bread top-ups and am hopeful that I will have money left over :A

Plans for today are to use last nights dinner for lunch - if Mr Fresian doesn't eat his portion I'll take it to work tomorrow and to have fish for tea. My dad brought me fish he caught and I've been waiting for an excuse to eat it (It's been in the freezer). Om nom nom! I have some small bits of housework to do as well and am meeting a MSE person for coffee this afternoon. Lots of small pleasures!

Hope everyone is doing ok and having a lovely Sunday.

Frugaldom

Hi fruguys and gals

Well done to all who are making such geat progress! Mama67 I haven't bought washing machine liquid/powder/tablets for well over a year and have found that making the bulk gloop is a great winter task, when days are short and weather cold. I'm hoping not to need any washing up liquid from this year forward, either.

Woke to snow here, so we had some path clearing to do. Today's a cooking/baking day, so I've already got a tray of sponge cakes and oaty biscuits baked. It means the cold kitchen warms up nicely from the mini oven. (Cheaper than heating main oven just for some baking and saves having to switch on the heater.)

Made a few updates to the frugaldom blog after finding some great freebie ebooks with mince recipes plus several 'sustainable living' DIY building projects. I'm reading the Latter Day Saints book of 'Preparedness', although I have no affiliation to the LDS. It's really interesting reading about what constitutes one full year's food supply for an adult and how the food stuffs are preserved and stored for emergencies. I love the quote, "It wasn't raining when Noah built his ark"! It so relates to being prepared, something we all should have learned if we attended Guides, Scouts or similar. Have you ever switched off ALL the power in your house for a full day to see how you'd manage in an emergency? LOL

mama67

Hi Frugaldom, I haven't got any tubs big enough to store more than the batch I made up, plus don't want lots all over; but I'm happy with making it monthly, it doesn't take long.

I usually do approx 10 loads of washing a week, depending on the boys activities. So I am quite happy with the savings made.

I'm going to look at a dishwasher powder next and compare the costings with what I buy at the moment