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

A_fiend_for_life

I think I heard that China has being buying up farm land in Africa and parts of Russia and Kazakhstan.

I think the land available 'could' support the current population when you take out things that aren't 'needed' such as tea, coffee, excess sugar, bio fuels, tobacco and disposable garments.

Add to that, for Western countries, the 1L of milk and 500g ration of meat per week as some have been suggesting and there is a lot less grain and soya needed too. Good way to get thrown out of office without touching the ground though.

As many of these are essentially luxury or superfluous items they would be a more ethical way of applying a tax or extra tax. How much that would allow habitats to recover I don't know.

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Anyway a no spend day pasta, pesto and veg for dinner and a visit for meter readings. Had a look in Ald1 for the shrubs but no sign of them. Might try B&*.

cha97michelle

I saw on the news a few weeks ago that wholesale gas prices had fallen which is why the gas companies were going down. They hadn't as yet because we were still using up supplies bought at a higher price. :cool:

I am another who wouldn't look forward to food prices going up. If it were just me i would try and limit the amount of VAT charged foods i bought but i still like to give the kids them occasionally as a treat like anyone else. They do tend to prefer my homemade biscuits and cakes though, so i guess i must be doing something ok.


In my little attempt at being frugal today i got the kids to help me repot some cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuces started off the other week into their own pots. I also started off a bucket of carrots in a black flower bucket. I must look very weird to my neighbours as my living room windowsill is now covered in pots of various descriptions. I can't wait to get something out of it.

I have a little question - bean sprouts - i sprouted some mung beans in a jar, when it came to using them, myself and DH couldn't agree on if you eat the bean part or not when you cook them. They were quite hard so i ended up removing them, but would appreciate the advice so i can do them again.

In other frugalities, i got a couple of biographies about a family of small holders from the library for some entertainment, as well as progressing well with a sweater i am knitting for my DS2 or 1 (depends on who it fits :rotfl:). It now has a front and back.

I also added another pack of soda crystals to my now severely diluted supply of soap powder so a pound will eke it out at least another month. If i get really brave i might get round to trying the gloop.

Not a lot else going on round here to report. I keep wishing time away so the weather will warm up for my plants, and DH gets paid again.

Frugaldom

Ceridwen, the Arabs were reported to be the ones buying up all the set aside 20 or so years ago where I lived. I remember all the talk of what a disgrace it was that the Government should be paying land owners NOT to farm land, us having food mountains and meanwhile, other nations starved. It really was a disgraceful state of affairs, sickening seeing thouands of gallons of milk discarded, mountains of beef, butter, grain... land becoming so worthless that owners were paid subsidies NOT to grow anything on it, and literally thousands of acres of decent grazing land being sold off for £40 an acre. My biggest regret was not having the cash to buy. The more I think about it, the worse the late 80s seem to have been. I think that's why so many people of our generation are so averse to credit and debt. We learned the hard way.

Set aside was only abolished in 2008. Since then, there have been talks and consultations on all sorts of stuff. The latest changes will knock out several more small growers with the minimum land requirements for farm payments increasing. Can't remember the exact sizes, sorry.

I forgot to respond to the question about waking at dawn. We're surrounded by cockerels here, and the odd one will start crowing from as early as 4am but more usually about half an hour before dawn. It's currently 6am that they all start, usually when the sheep begin moving around. Cockerels will crow in pitch darkness, so don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. G'night frugalites.

babyboysmommy

I've not updated for a while as I don't have much to say. Everything is still going well, really enjoying this challenge. I am getting my sewing machine soon, looking forward to learning how to use it. I'm going to take a dressmaking course as well as using it for crafts. Not started planting veg yet, I'm waiting for our free Dig In seeds from the BBC but the garden is ready.

I'm really enjoying reading this & other threads, so much to be learnt from this site

I'm very glad I found an NHS dentist. Went for a check up & tomorrow I'm having a wisdom tooth removed, really not looking forward to it but having seen the x-ray there is nothing else to be done At least I'm having to pay less to get it done, takes a bit of the sting away

ceridwen

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

I think I heard that China has being buying up farm land in Africa and parts of Russia and Kazakhstan.

I think the land available 'could' support the current population when you take out things that aren't 'needed' such as tea, coffee, excess sugar, bio fuels, tobacco and disposable garments.

Add to that, for Western countries, the 1L of milk and 500g ration of meat per week as some have been suggesting and there is a lot less grain and soya needed too. Good way to get thrown out of office without touching the ground though.

.

China is indeed buying land up elsewhere in other countries - in order to grow food for her own people - and isnt the only country doing so.:eek:

No coffee:eek: 1 litre of milk per week:eek: - and other people would add their own personal "do not pass go" comments on that one.

I think the vast majority of would soon come out with some variation on "...And in the real world....." comment to any Government that tried this - including me.

The thing is that the "cake" is only basically a certain size. The world does only have a finite amount of resources. If there are more people (as people in the world carried right on overpopulating - by having more than two children) - then that "cake" has to be sliced more and more thinly with each succeeding mouth to feed/body to house/etc.

The "cake" is being cut pretty thinly already and there simply isnt scope to make those "slices" any smaller - hence the population HAS to stop growing immediately (that applies both to our own country and to the world as a whole).

"The personal is political" and people simply cant make decisions about their personal lives in total isolation and regardless of the effect on other people any longer.

ceridwen

cha97michelle wrote: »

I have a little question - bean sprouts - i sprouted some mung beans in a jar, when it came to using them, myself and DH couldn't agree on if you eat the bean part or not when you cook them. They were quite hard so i ended up removing them, but would appreciate the advice so i can do them again.

Yes - you can. One does eat the beans themselves that the sprouts came from with mung beans. From memory - one can eat any of the beans/seeds that sprouts come from apart from alfalfa (I think) and kidneybeans. There is a website specifically about sprouting somewheres - I'll see if I can remember what its name is...

Frugaldom

Does anyone use F00d Bargains website? The above is a 10% disc0unt code valid 'til 14/03/10 for anyone on our merry frugaldom challenge that wants to use it, not sure what the script is on links for these things but App Foods has plenty on here plus their own thread, so I've added Food Bargains to the handy links list in post 1.

I am in no way, shape or form associated with the discount food website, I simply asked on behalf of my frugal living challenge and that request was kindly met. :j:T

Lovely sunny day here, although still at -5C in the shade. It's a cooking and cleaning day in preparation for family visiting for a holiday. I may not be on here much between tonight and the weekend but the computer is always on, so I'll try my best.

Blairweech

Morning folks!

Frugaldom - Yes, my neighbours cockerel crowed all the time as well. He never woke me up though, but maybe thats just cause it was only one bird. Ta for the discount, we already have full cupboards here though cause I brought loads of my food with me when I moved back in!

Well, I'm hoping today will be a good one. Got my free £5 delivery from milkandmore this morning, all arrived correctly so I am very pleased with my breakfast

Later we are going to Waitrose (we have a new one opened and my Mum wants to try it) and between that I am applying for jobs, Ebay listings etc. Making a chilli for tea tonight as well (my special request)

Went into one agency yesterday with warehouse jobs plastered all over the window, and the girl was exceptionally rude to me - would not even take my details or let me sign up because I have no voice picking experience! Obviously, the past 4 years I've been working in a warehouse don't count for anything and I am incapable of learning something new :mad: So I left the door open on my way out :P Their loss, as I am also good for catering and office work, so I could have been a nice little earner for them!

Hope you all have a good day :beer:

XSpender

I went to Asd@ this morning to get some £1 nappies but the shelf was bare:( I don't normally shop there so won't bother making another special trip to get any. I intend to use resusables but will use disposables when in hospital and for the first couple of weeks whileI work out what the hell I am doing!;)

I feel like I won the lottery this morning. My boss rang to confirm my redundancy and offer me the option to leave 3 months early but with all the same money and compensation for handing my car back early which I am happy to do. She then advised I have earned a £1800 annual bonus which I will get at the end of the month:eek: I was shocked, stunned and over the moon. Its a good job I am 32 weeks preggers and not 39 weeks or the shock may have broken my waters!

DH has also decided to take paid holiday instead of paternity leave at the minimum £110/week when the baby arrives which means there is another £500+ income coming in June I hadn't expected.

Must go put the breadmaker on and sample the ginger bread I made yesterday:)

XS x

landregistrylass

Good afternoon Feeling very smug. Bacon and lentil soup made using bacon bones from local butcher.......FAB. A lovely and filling lunch. Froze the rest and will be taking it for lunches to work (can heat in the microwave there). Cottage pie tomight with all kinds of veg in the mix to bulk out the meat, and the topping has carrots and swede added to the potato. My 5 a day is growing! And its cheaper than my previous recipe