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

Frugaldom

spookycat wrote: »

do we have a percentage budget per head?
Is the £4000 for say 2 adults? How much does that translate for 2 adults and 4 children, or is it irrelevant and amounts are just according to personal needs?

Our 4k budget is for 3 adults but I guess it depends on your lifestyle. For groceries, I base it on £1 per person per day.

jtb2412 wrote: »

NYK - I shall be making the clootie tomorrow (day off), really looking forward to it. I love spotted di*k (didn't think it would let me write the rude word lol) so I imagine it will be similar? Do you eat it on it's own or with custard?

I only know clootie dumplings, so can't compare, but HS says yes, it's similar. I eat dumpling hot with milk or cream, cold on it's own, hot with custard or sliced and fried as part of a breakfast fry-up. It freezes well either whole or sliced and you can include things like chopped apple, grated carrot, touch of alcohol or whatever appeals to you. Traditionally, we would have had sixpences hidden inside, too, but H&S laws frown on such things nowadays. (Glad you handed in notice, WELL DONE! :beer:)

chika wrote: »

Arrggghhhh what do you fellow frugallers do with unexpected visitors? I just had a mate round and I've had to feed him. I felt a bit bad sitting there stuffing my face so I gave him the second portion of yesterday's pasta. Do you keep some meals frozen that can be quickly defrosted or whip something up quickly? I'm not moaning it was lovely to see him but it means I may have to start eating chickpeas sooner than I thought...

If someone arrives here at start or middle of a meal, they'd get a cuppa and told to excuse me whilst I ate. :rotfl: If they informed me they would be here at that time, I'd ask if they wanted dinner and take appropriate actyion (throw an extra handful of oats/veggies/lentils in the mince. )

Stalled halfway through today's tasks with an inpromptu visit from family, so the lemon curd making hasn't been done yet and we've not had dinner. Best be going and feeding DS & HS so I can get cleared up and started in kitchen again - the eggs have been seperated and jars in oven since just after lunchtime! :eek:

Rozeepozee - I managed to get a load of sachets of MOD surplus milk powder late last year, all long dated. With hindsight, I should have bought more but wanted to try it first. That's the problem with 'App F00ds', if you're not quick off the mark, you miss the best bargains, discount codes and clearances.

Latest new 'recruits' added to challenger list on page 1, sorry to see Redglass not joining us but hello to you anyway

cw18

edaniels1983 wrote: »

i only ever make chicken chasseur with breasts as thats what i was used to. could u use thighs??? would you remove meat first of cook with bones?

chasseur is served up here when I get thighs as Whoopsies..... I remove the skin before cooking, but leave on the bones. I find that, once cooked, the meat tends to fall off - even when serving. As meat on bones is one thing I'm funy about coping with on my plate, the fact I cook them this way has to say something about it

mooomin

Higher than expected work volumes meant I got to work 8 hours @ double time today :j:j:j

I spent £1 at work (Didn't take enough coffee with me, and had enough leftover from my £1 for some Haribo!) and then a little more.....

£4.50 on a necklace & earring set (Reduced from £15) for Mr Fresian's sisters birthday (In November...hehe!) This is a really nice set from Accessorize, so worth the spend to me.

I also spent £5.13 in Morrisons for which I got three mini quiches reduced, a packet of bacon for 15p (!!) and two boxes of Special K which is better than half price (So they say) at the moment at £1.39 for a 500g box. I also got some bananas for lunches.

Dinner tonight will be more home-made soup (I had it for lunch too ) with some leftover lamb thrown in to make it more filling. Om nom nom!

Off to update The Spreadsheet and my birthday/Xmas sheet too.

looby-loo_2

Hi
CW18 - I hope the medication for dog works out.

3 nsd for me so far, £10.90 spent on basics on Sat. Still living from freezer and garden but I am having difficulty digging the stuff up. I covered the carrots with a piece of carpet but it didn't seem to make a difference. Failed totally to dig a parsnip. Any ideas welcome please.

I bought 2 whole salmon from Mr T and asked for all the trimmings - head, backbone etc. I baked them for 30 mins in the roasting tin with lid on, left to cool and then stripped clean. Total weight from both was 1lb 12oz! Flakes of salmon enough for 13 very generous rounds of sandwiches over 3 days. Also enough second quality bits for 3 cat dinners. What a waste when people don't take the trimmings home.

LilacPixie

Evening.

This thread shifts so quickly I keep getting lost. Appolosiges for not mentioning everyone.

Cheryl. Glad your little doggie is home with you

Rosee - Aproved foods seem to just stock things on an ad hoc basis. There is also food bargains with is pretty much the same thing but sometimes do slightly different stocks.

ANother NSD here. I have been avoiding putting fuel in my car I won't get that far tomorrow though. trip computer says I only have 11 miles left in the reserve tank.

Fishcake_Random

Hey all,
I finally found someone helpfull on the other end of the phone so my forms are filled in and ready to post. Fingers crossed they are all okay!!!

Popped into my fave charity shop on the way home and picked up a little pink outfit for 30p. I havent added it to budget as its from xmas money pocket change.
Then went to Mr T for some bread. Saw my friend who tipped us off on pepsi not working on bogof so picked up 2 bottles for double the difference so they were free. Also nabbed a loaf of bread for a £1 and 2 packs of pancakes for 9p each and 2 packs of croissants for 27p each. Again I used pocket change.
The pancakes will go into OH's lunch and croissants for brekkie.
Tonights tasks are to finish my knitting and take a long bath.
x x x

Paulgonnabedebtfree

LilacPixie wrote: »

Evening.

This thread shifts so quickly I keep getting lost. Appolosiges for not mentioning everyone.

Cheryl. Glad your little doggie is home with you

Rosee - Aproved foods seem to just stock things on an ad hoc basis. There is also food bargains with is pretty much the same thing but sometimes do slightly different stocks.

ANother NSD here. I have been avoiding putting fuel in my car I won't get that far tomorrow though. trip computer says I only have 11 miles left in the reserve tank.

Don't rely too much on those trip computers. I don't know if they've become more sophisticated over the years but they used to base it on an earlier journey. If that earlier journey was a modest speed journey without much stop-start and your current usage is more fuel thirsty, the computer can mislead you into running out of fuel. This is bad enough but if it's diesel, you sometimes need a mechanic to get it going again.

flippin36

Hi, can I join your thread please? I have decided to try and pay off my debts in a year (gulp) which will mean A LOT of hard work and creativity and am hoping to find inspirations from you guys .

My ideas (so far) are:

To check my gas/electic tarif
Stop using tumble dryer
turn heating off for one hour extra throughout the day
wash clothes at 40
iron less :T
stop hair straightening

Look for discounted/yellow sticker foods
Do only 1 supermarket shop a week
Stop drinking booze

Have a no car/walking day

No clothes buying for myself for a year
No cosmetics until debt paid off
Get rid of landline/text and email more

My list is getting longer everyday!!!!

Aril

Hello again:j [popping in here is becoming a serious habit:D]
Well done on becoming a SAHM jtb. I hope you enjoy the experience.

I did manage another NSD today so things are heading in the right direction. We'll be having the rest of the Christmas turkey later on this week. I'm not a great cold meat fan so we mix it with stuffing [out of a packet not hm on this occasion] and make burgers from it. Very tasty and a thrifty leftovers meal.

Right I am off- must go and sort out my stash of cards. I'm going to aim to do a little decluttering after work each day if I have the energy to keep the momentum going.
Arilx

knithappens

grandma247 wrote: »

If you have a food processor you can put a cup of oats in and grind it to a flour consistency and use what you think she will eat as a smooth porridge. Or you could whizz cooked porridge with a stick blender.
semolina or tapioca is also good for a change with a bit of fruit.

oooh thanks, never thought of blending the oats, even when reading the ingredients on ready brek the other day, i cant blame pregnancy brain any more lol