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

thriftylass

Just received the brilliant expenditure spreadsheet from CW18 and love it. Filled it in and updated my signature. That will definitely keep me on track because it's so much better organised than my old one. Might have to jiggle some budget items though as I think my grocery budget is too small, whereas household and catfood is too big I only realised that now after my first big shop and after keeping those in different categories rather than one big groceries and household.

P.S. I made a few crochet phone socks etc as pressies and now a friend has a request from one of his work mates. He'd even pay me. Not sure how much I'd charge but that might be a chance to earn some extra. Just have to figure out what to do about tax if that takes off and becomes bigger (done a few for friends and friends of friends but never taken money).

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone!
Went into school. Great to see the children but Head a bit stressed due to weather. Had lovely yummy veggie cottage pie for lunch but by the time I got home at 3pm I was very hungry again…so had some of Mr SFT’s HM spicy vegetable soup and toast (he didn’t drive to London today and both of his schools are closed tomorrow). I’m not sure whether our school will be open or not.

Blair-Didn’t get your P.M.
Welcome Batcatz and Miss Bubbles
Nyk-Glad you’re surviving up in Scotland.
Candygirl-Hope your friend who slipped is ok. Poor thing!
Flippin-Good luck for the new job. Talking of frugal reading Vicki Robins’ Your Money or your life book arrived today. Will start reading that tonight.
Skint Lynne-I wore jeans to school today! Not very smart but I didn’t care.
Ceridwen-Good point about fuel consumption-coal and wood in our case.
Jtb-Hope you had fun in the snow.
Kiwisaver-I too loved climbing Sigiriya and visiting the tea plantations in Sri Lanka (SFT goes off into travel dreamland…). Your spreadsheet sounds very organised.
Zafiro-hope the chickens enjoyed their breakfast. Good luck with looking after them in this weather.
Hardup-Sounds like you’ve got a good hoard of food in.
Natalie-Good luck for Saturday
Wornout-Hope the essay writing goes well.
Paul/Cake21-Good luck with your food challenge.
Knithappens-Congrats on sorting out your insurance. Totally agree with you about how valuable a union is as a teacher.
Kittikins-Could you explore a better deal on your energy usage?
Kay-Wow, what a great deal on the gammon joint. We got a 2nd freezer and are so glad we did!
Rachelet-Good news about the chickens laying.
Xspender-Hope your OH gets home ok. Glad you don’t have to go on that drive.
Thiftylass-Hope the chat with OH goes ok
SF-Felt cross reading your post about moving the car..but happy you didn’t get fined. Glad you’ve got tomorrow off to catch your breath..I hope I don’t have to go in. How’s your back now?
Fayjmck-Well done on the egg laying and whoopsie bargains. Lol at you fearing you’re abusing the reduced section-no one showing guilt like that when I visit.

Keep warm everyone!

SFT

xnatalie81x

flippin36 wrote: »

Thanks for that. Might be something I can do tomorrow with kids if school is closed. Remember to avoid yellow snow _pale_

and stones

Miss_Bubbles

Feel so bad!
I've been hoping about the site trying to get my barings,so far so good!
Thanks for the welcome messages guys! Promise i'll get the hang of this soon!
Its funny,got this site through a friend and thought i had so much to say but its finding the right posts etc

mooomin

Evening all!

Well I have had a very frugal (and fun!) evening out with the lovely taka at the cinema. Going to fire up the laptop (The Spreadsheet is on it not our pc!) and get into bed with my hot water bottle. Mr Fresian has gone out to his sisters so I can turn the heating off and be cozy in bed (We keep very different hours!)

I tried to renew my expired Cineworld pass as this is my Christmas present and I reclaim the money from my parents. This way I should hopefully get in-store Quidco cashback + Tesco points for using my credit card *inserts crafty smiley* They can't do it unless you do an entirely new application with new passport pictures. I wasn't about to pay £4 for new passport photos so I came home and found the spares from the last time I got the pass, I'll renew it at the weekend - more money saved!

NualaBuala

grandma247 wrote: »

I do a sauce with yogurt for lasagne and it has an egg yolk in it which makes it thicker.

Grandma, do you find your lasagne tastes yogurty, sort of tangy? Not a flavour I normally associate with lasagne and I kept wondering if I could taste the yogurt! Mine was nice, but I think an egg yolk might have improved it - thank you for that tip!

aeb_2

Danielley
How do you guys defrost things? Do you always use Microwaves, or does anyone just put stuff in the pan / oven…. I’d be interested to know.

I get stuff out of the freezer the night before and pop it in the fridge to defrost - keeps the fridge cold so it must save a few pence;)

Fayjmck
My chickens also just started laying again! Woo hoo - why now - but who knows - just glad for fresh eggs again.

Is it longer days? I'm down to 3 now and I got 2 eggs yesterday. I opened up when I put the nappies out and they followed me back to the (far) utility and spent the day in there. I have a 'normal' utility and then another utility added on - the old wood or coal shed perhaps.

We made another big snowman today, in the front garden this time - free entertainment, then had hot chocolate whilst we watched Fantasia (again)

DS1 and DD1 cut up Christmas cards with fancy scissors to make gift tags - I did watch so all fingers are safe. They made a really good job but then they wanted to wrap some presents and stick on the labels. They played shop instead and used the not so good labels for price tags (lots of bargains in their shop:rotfl:)

grandma247

I like the taste of the sauce and I cant say it is overly yogurty . I sprinkle cheese on top so maybe that is why?
this is the recipe. 25g (1oz)Marge,15ml (1 tbs) wholewheat flour,150ml (1/4pint) milk,150ml (1/4pint) plain yogurt,2 egg yolks OR 2 whole eggs,beaten,75g (3oz) cheese,grated,salt and pepper.
Melt the marge in a pan and stir in the flour, gradually pour in the milk. Stir until it boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and beat in the yogurt,egg and some of the cheese.
This makes enough sauce for a large lasagne. The egg increases the protein because the red sauce I use is made with brown lentils.

catznine

:hello:Please can I join in? I'm late on parade and only have a small budget to cover food, drink, toiletries, dog food, mobile, charity donations, petrol and presents. All the other bills are out of my control. £350 a month so £4200 for the year. Have been reading the thread all year and don't want to miss out on all the great tips.

NualaBuala

Hi Catznine, welcome!

grandma247 wrote: »

I like the taste of the sauce and I cant say it is overly yogurty . I sprinkle cheese on top so maybe that is why?
this is the recipe. 25g (1oz)Marge,15ml (1 tbs) wholewheat flour,150ml (1/4pint) milk,150ml (1/4pint) plain yogurt,2 egg yolks OR 2 whole eggs,beaten,75g (3oz) cheese,grated,salt and pepper.
Melt the marge in a pan and stir in the flour, gradually pour in the milk. Stir until it boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and beat in the yogurt,egg and some of the cheese.
This makes enough sauce for a large lasagne. The egg increases the protein because the red sauce I use is made with brown lentils.

Thanks lots for the recipe grandma. I was taking a mega-shortcut and just used natural yogurt mixed with a soft cheese, about 50/50. And then I mixed in a little nutmeg. I think I liked it but I'll be having a second go of it tomorrow and I'll know for sure then. The next lasagne I make will be a veggie version so I'll try out your recipe then to increase the protein, good idea!

aeb wrote: »

I get stuff out of the freezer the night before and pop it in the fridge to defrost - keeps the fridge cold so it must save a few pence;)

That's what I do too. Although I find milk won't defrost in the fridge overnight, it seems to take ages so I leave that out on the draining board and it's almost done by morning so I finish it off in the fridge.