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

sophiesmum_2

grandma247 wrote: »

SM thats all I use apart from wired jars for pickles and jams. I could not afford to get the proper jars last year. I have even use very small jars such as those for mint sauce etc. I put small chunks of ham in those for dh's sandwiches in case we have none in the freezer. I have only had one breakage to date and that was last weekend when I did some coleslaw in a bwb. I think there must have been a scratch or something as it was a clean break.
I am hoping to buy some 2 pint bottling jars this year for potatoes as we need 2-3 smaller jars for us in a meal.

Great,
have you got a recipe and pressure times etc for a spicy tomato salsa?
Wish I lived in US for canning equipment their stuff is so much cheaper, reading 2froghome blog the other day and she was bulk buying canning lids in the thousands for really cheap prices, I was so green lol

Pippilongstocking

Thanks SM I will miss the garden but the new place is really out there in the sticks - more US and no garden so I can really make my own mark - but the views are do die for - so I'm lookign forward to being there

Will bear in mind about chookie advice - ta xxxx

top_drawer_2

hi again,

The bread flour didn't work out at all, this morning it was a hot gloopy mess in the pan ;( I am unsure whether the pan was positioned right in the breadmaker though so am going to give it another go tommorrow ....

I wore the Nxt trousers for the funeral and returned the Pr!mark trousers for a refund, I was very well organised and early (it doesnt happen often!!) and returned them before catching the train home.

Today would have been a NSD had I been better organised and sorted some lunch (I was depending on the bread being right) so I ended up popping in Ald! and buying a pie, some bread to keep me going and a book on Kinitting (2.99) there are some really nice patterns in it, they also had similar ones for quilting and cardmaking.

Jen

danielley

Just had a very unsuccessful frugal dinner. I decided to buy A5da 'smart price' sweet and sour sauce in place of Uncle B3ns. Uggghh! Do not do it! I can’t remember off hand how cheap it was (I think very cheap!) but no amount of attempting to pimp it up with salt and vinegar and lemon juice could disguise its nastiness. You live and learn!

Just assembled my plastic covered 4 tier greenhouse purchased from A1di today £14.99 I did try B&M as edaniels1983 mentioned that they had one much cheaper, but they didn't have any in and also you had to pay separately for the cover, so I decided to get one from Ald1 as I'm impatient!

I am off to the gardening forums to ask a couple of 'novice questions' over there, regarding amount of watering etc and when (if at all) I can put the 'greenhouse' outside as it does ruin the look of the dining room a bit.

Finally, I have been thinking about moving house, we are only in a terraced here and I would love a garden and also a move traditional lay out for if/when babies come. It’s just hard now I am in the mindset of watching the pennies and overpaying the mortgage, to justify increasing the mortgage... the terraced house is bigger square footage wise than any semi we could afford so do I really need a garden or would a container patio suffice? My point is I am assessing the next step of my life with a frugal head on...

Best wishes to all

looby-loo_2

danielley wrote: »

Finally, I have been thinking about moving house, we are only in a terraced here and I would love a garden and also a move traditional lay out for if/when babies come. It’s just hard now I am in the mindset of watching the pennies and overpaying the mortgage, to justify increasing the mortgage... the terraced house is bigger square footage wise than any semi we could afford so do I really need a garden or would a container patio suffice? My point is I am assessing the next step of my life with a frugal head on...
Best wishes to all

Hi, good news on the grenhouse. I've never used oe but my mum does. she just says she has to watch out for condensation which can rot the plants. She says she needs to open it a little in the morning but then that lets in the cold. I will ask her what her solution is - but you might get an answer on the greenfingers board

I understand about moving house, re square footage. We have looked at other houses with better layouts but when we add up our living space compared to some we have much more useful space.

We have noticed some of the 1930's semi's are well built and have huge long gardens for the money. That's what I shall be looking for when we move.

gilligansyle

pagangirl was reading your post about going to Chinese New Year celebrations in Liverpool and thinking you must be local and yes, I am a southender too!

danielley many years ago when my DS was small I wanted to move from terraced to a semi just a few roads away. The estate agent actually talked me out of it because the rooms were so much smaller and there was a park at the top of my road where DS could kick a ball about.

A few weeks ago I saw a wind up torch that also had attachments for mobile phone. I do have a 'gadget' that is a solar cell that apparently can charge a phone, but have never really tried it, it was a jokey present off a friend a while ago.
Friend has 'donated' a small electric propogator, so off to read up on what I can use it for. Presumably I can start seeds off earlier than normally??

**toddles off**

danielley

gilligansyle wrote: »

danielley many years ago when my DS was small I wanted to move from terraced to a semi just a few roads away. The estate agent actually talked me out of it because the rooms were so much smaller and there was a park at the top of my road where DS could kick a ball about.

We have a lovely park four doors down at the end of our street ; so I suppose there is no rush for anything. I grew up in a terraced and it did me no harm! Also if I stay here it is much more likely that I will be able to be a stay at home Mum, or at least work only part time, which I would value more than having a larger house.

Im a bit worried about the condensation from the greenhouse now... will lurk in Green fingers boards later on.

Going to the library to get the Alan Titchmarsh Kitchen Gardener book later, I am so excited!

Savvy_sewing

OH DEAR,, I have put the smart price Sweet and Sour sauce on my shopping delivery for today.! Infact I think the whole shop is practically smart price stuff!
I have ordered £55 includining Delivery, but its to last me until the end of March. so whether its good or bad, I will just have to use it.
I cannot change my order now as it comes today.! Ah well, I will live and learn.

Kiwisaver_2

Thanks all for your thoughts about the baby shower, I decided today I would just spend approx what I would on a bottle of wine if I were invited to lunch or dinner. So bubba now has a reversible jersey wrap thing and a little miniatures toiletry set. I spent $11.69 (just over a fiver) as the wrap was reduced. I will make a card and have a bag I can put the gift in, so not too bad after all. Perhaps by way of further explanation, it's one thing I promised myself as an expat, that I would never turn down an invitation as friends and social opportunities can be few and far between when you are a long way from home. So from that point of view alone, it's good for my soul and I expect the feelings will be likewise for the expectant mother who is also another expat, albeit not from the UK but equally far away from her family.

My radish seeds (only planted on Sunday) are sprouting already, as is the tub of mustard seeds. The leeks I have never grown before have taken a bit longer and took me by surprise as I hardly recognised the little green slivers as something growing. :rotfl: I'm going to start some carrots off this weekend.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Mooloo wrote: »

OH DEAR,, I have put the smart price Sweet and Sour sauce on my shopping delivery for today.! Infact I think the whole shop is practically smart price stuff!
I have ordered £55 includining Delivery, but its to last me until the end of March. so whether its good or bad, I will just have to use it.
I cannot change my order now as it comes today.! Ah well, I will live and learn.

Why not get some decent sauce from somewhere else and just put a little of the rubbish stuff in it? Dilute it down enough and it may taste OK. It would mean using recipes that required quite a bit of the sauce though.
The only lower grade stuff that I've ever had an issue with was the Asda "smart price" cornflakes. So I get the Sainsbury ones now. Price is almost the same once you take the different product weights into account.