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

grandma247

here
is a site for natural beauty preparations. I have only had a quick look but have printed off the skincare ones.

grandma247

I buy syrup for ginger cake. we just have sugar and lemon on pancakes and we eat them for lunches sometimes. I think they are healthy as they provide fibre, protein,calcium and a lot of other nutrients.
I also forgot to say they had black treacle at 45p so I got 4 tins and will get some more tomorrow if they have any left. I like it for fig and treacle bread.

BigMummaF

Don't suppose anyone can recall the recipes from a few years back, that used figs & dates in place of marg & butter in cakes etc. It's been bugging me as I've looked in all sorts of places

Karmacat

Oh my word, BMF, that sounds *lovely* - I hope it gets posted on here

**KC looks longingly at the end of the thread, hoping the recipe will magically appear**

grandma247

BigMummaF wrote: »

Don't suppose anyone can recall the recipes from a few years back, that used figs & dates in place of marg & butter in cakes etc. It's been bugging me as I've looked in all sorts of places

I don't know if this is what you want. I found it on a quick search.

BigMummaF

That looks very much like it grandma, especially the second one--thank-you. I still haven't mastered the 'search' facilities on here [obviously :doh:] but I promise you I did look
Frugal things so far in my week include getting a 'looks-like-a-waxed' jacket reduced to £25 in MrT :T OK--it's from the gents section, but when I'm walking around in the wind & rain & it is--hopefully _pale_--keeping me warm & dry, who gives a fig which side the buttons are on

eco

I like the look of the fig cake might give that a go, I came on to post that my month ends when I get paid on the 19th, and I have £29 left to last me, easily doable, this time last year my budget for the month was £60 more, and I rarely scraped by, but am now, which is good cos I plan to use the £60 a month to finish my decorating and then next year I can save more, you all keep me focused and although I don't post every day I do read this thread every day to keep me focused, so thank you everyone.

Pippilongstocking

Hey chaps - a quick update from me (ETA sorry a RAMBLY update from me - whoops) - I do read my daily update email everyday honest - but don't get much chance to post - sorry - waves and hugs to all - so many busy people.

Well - most of my nonsense goes on my diary - so I save the blethering for there I love the idea of a small holding - having been married to a farmer - it certainly opens your eyes but I still yearn. I may go for a 'peedie holding' rather than a small one (peedie is something very small) - we've a paddock and stables at the new house - looking to see if I can balance the £25 a week extra it would be or if I have enough space there without it. Not like me to actually not jump in with both feet - you guys are a good influence on me. I think the comment about getting to 'know your onions' is a brilliant one. I went off and trained as a horticulturalist to be able to do my own nursery - and it really opened my eyes - to the brilliance of it all - but also to the cost and how much of a living you might actually be able to make (I'm still toying with semi-unemployment/ and full time-ish frugaldom when I finish in Dec - but by then I am hoping my OH will be about alot more - to sustain the other side of the finances - hoose, kids etc)

Anyway - Budgetwise during Feb has actually be OK - I'm curving in my spends a bit and finding ways to eek out the bits I've needed to spend or make some dosh to replace them!

Car expense has been high - due to field work - but putting lodger on the insurance whilst not cheap - has resulted in the petrol in the car being well topped up - expenses from work have allowed the petrol budget to be OK(ish)

Foodwise - we've reelled in some spends and have created an 'online storecupboard' which I can look at and update etc at will

House wise the expenses have gone through the roof as I'm now renting two places in overlap - we move in summer - but I've worked out the additional cost of the new house until we move and have set my own challenge (I need to make an extra 10.99 a day to cover the expense for 5 months) - so that's focussed the rest of the spends. But the new one is a 6 minute walk from the beach and I've emailed a pile of pals about using it for holidays - or swapping the use of it for jobs etc

Done a fair bit of other swapping - mainly my labour for bits and bobs of wood etc. All good. Got netting (had to buy the green netting but got a roll of chicken netting for free) and will put a wind break up at home - and then put in a wide mixed willow hedge for fuel. To start my shelter off...................

Also done a fair bit of crafting and things, sorted alot of amazon/ebay stuff and about to rake through my seeds and list 'mini-envelopes' on ebay of my best stuff - that way my own seeds are free! Decluttering is revealing ALOT of stuff I need to sort for selling/recycling etc. Got rid of a few things on freecycle locally so I feel I can ask for things like wool/chickens/etc in exchange with a guilt free heart.

Also extra work (am teaching a veggie gardening course) on sundays - and am allowed free space in greenhouse/tunnels at work in exchange for a bit of labour - and a share of tomatoes etc later in the year as well as my own bits.

My poor lonely solitary hen is laying everyday again! I'm waiting a bit to get some from freecycle again if I can - she need some company. There were only little chicks in the paper and right now I've enough on I think without distracting myself with cute chicks.

rozeepozee

grandma247 wrote: »

I buy syrup for ginger cake. we just have sugar and lemon on pancakes and we eat them for lunches sometimes. I think they are healthy as they provide fibre, protein,calcium and a lot of other nutrients.
I also forgot to say they had black treacle at 45p so I got 4 tins and will get some more tomorrow if they have any left. I like it for fig and treacle bread.

This is making me lick my lips. I've developed gestational diabetes during this pregnancy so haven't been eating very much with sugar, flour or syrup in it but it'll go once I've given birth and I reckon that, as I intend to breast feed the twins I'll be able to eat what I like - home baking is gonna be my next thing. My grandma used to bake for the family every Saturday morning. She'd do a coconut loaf cake, a walnut cake, a "flat" cake (pastry and sultanas) and sometimes a chocolate cake, plus a "plate meat pie" x 2 for herself and granddad and my parents and me. I'd love going round to help her but I have baked hardly anything since then - about 30 years ago. When I did something a few years back, it needed whipping cream and I spent ages trying to whip this cream into a lovely whipped mountain, only for it to sit flat in the bowl. I called up gran (she's in her nineties now) who told me I needed to do it in a cold bowl from the fridge and it whipped beautiful. It's things like this, knowldege that will be lost when folks like my gran go, and my fear of pastry making, that'll stop me - but I'll give it a go first. Roll on the Summer!

Blairweech

Hello all,

Spent the whole day cleaning and polishing my car ready for selling it. Still got a bit left to do, like polishing the leather but I will do that tomorrow. Also have to go on a training course tomorrow courtesy of the Jobcentre, hopefully it wont last too long. Then it will be taking pictures of my girl and showing her to the world

Rozee - You are very fortunate to be in a position to use your houses as funding for your dream. Unfortunately, I would not have that option, so things for me are different. My biggest fear in life is getting to 40, turning around and saying I've wasted the last 20 years, so if you want to do smallholding then you should find ways and means to go for it

Hope everyone else is well and good

Edit: Forgot to say I got a refund for my Council Tax (£63 :j), and I applied for an ISA today