FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE 2010, part 2, April - June.

Frugaldom

Jen, I always add potatoes to the soup if it turns out to be too salty, they seem to absorb it, but you'll need to cook them in the soup for it to work, which might mean diluting the soup and then bulking it out a bit.

CW, glad to see that your friend has become your OH, how exciting for you! :T

PhoebeCat, Thanks for the banana plant update, I would really like to see the photos. Actually seeing a plant grow so quickly sounds amazing! I have seen the banana plants at Culzean Castle in Ayr, but they're in climate controlled glass houses.

Whitewing, nice to see you're still opping in now and again, things sound lovely and settled for you and your family.

RoPo, hope all went well and that you get home with the babies very soon.

Hope everyone is doing well with their budgets and that nobody is being too badly affected by the volcanic ash cloud thats drifting around our skies. Part of my contract work involved overseas post, so there's not a lot I can do for them at the moment until they get some planes flying.

It's been really cold here, dropped to -1 on Friday and has been hovering around the 0C mark with bitterly cold, high winds blasting in from the northwest. Gardening has been restricted to jobs that won't be wasted by all the frost we're still getting but some of the seeds are germinated and the rhubarb is growing. I've even had a few salad leaves from the pot on the kitchen windowsill and some mushrooms from the boxed kit gifted by a friend.

Spending on most household things is still minimal but the cost of electricity trying to keep some heat in here is getting ridiculous - £550 spent this year already and it's still freezing!:mad: The woodburning stove with cooking plate for the kitchen is looking like a dead cert before next winter sets in, that's for sure! At the rate we're going, it could probably pay for itself within 6 months!

Keep on frugaling, the first Swallow has arrived, so the summer can't be too far away now. :j

PS - lots of Spring chicks hatching out here at the moment This is the latest one and I think it is gorgeous! (But I'll still need to sell it one day )

slowlyfading

oooh Frugaldom that chick is so sweet!

top_drawer_2

Thanks WW and Frugaldom ... not sure what order I can try these things in .... maybe try sugar in one packet and then potatoes in a couple of others.... I've already put them into soup bags and put them in the freezer so am going to have to unfreeze them and then cook them up with a load of potatoes if the 1st try doesnt work, which is going to be a pain in the rear! WHY OH WHY DID I NOT TASTE BEFORE BAGGING THEM???

Jen

grandma247

Top drawer you could just add a potato when you thaw a bag and heat up the soup. It would probably best to simmer gently for a good few minutes so add enough water to keep it from burning. Taste a bit of the potato to see how salty it is and if it is ok you can put it to one side and eat it later,if not just throw it away.

Hello whitewing,nice to see you.

Frugaldom the chick is very cute.

I am hoping things get to normal soon with flights as ds2 is due to fly to America next week.
I have discovered he has a hidden talent. he can embroider! He has done a denim patch with the name of a band on it and also a shirt with a different band name on it.It looks amazing. Is there any money in hand embroidery these days?

Erme

whitewing so pleased for you and ?earthgirl depending on the size of your household the soap nuts will last a good 6 months if not a year...Normally about 200g or so lasts this singleton about a year (washing one load once a week).

Hey guys I was pretty tired yesterday and what with this thread moving so slowly don't feel the need to check every day...

I found a deluxe ironing board yesterday just dumped o/s the back of the block:T. There was also a really posh lounge table (really heavy as well)...was just passing and noticed the city wardens and just thought I'd take a look and found it ,

Also I found some 'addiction stuff' as well so budget is looking brighter this week (why is big giro week always mega skint week LOL).

So yeah Ma and things is slightly better but anyhow....not much but a wee bit. DV I should get paid for a few more bits and bobs today but the extra monies mean I can afford knitting group today ...

So just pottering this am...Going to get lunch early to save pennies and take a flask of coffee with me to FT cafe @ Uni and sell stuff DV then off to Knitting group then Mr A this eve. Was like SOOOO windy yesterday . Managed to get hail in my eyes (not recommended!) but fortunately blinked and got it out and like also got blown into the side of the building when getting the ironing board.

Yeah I will show Ma the spreadsheet when she comes down. I feel better having done this month's budget. I'm a little stressed today about it affecting my am routine (not least this porridge malarky...I mean...she won't be able to work the microwave - guaranteed so I'll be doing it for her and how will that fit in? Cos it has to cool down for about 10 mins). She's bringing up her porridge but she's talking rubbish about getting food when she comes and I'm like 'what ya paying for it?' I go food shopping no later than thurs am and she's due on the thurs eve and like yeah, I can tell her the menu plan in advance and if there's anything she really objects to we can change but I need to know what I'm doing. I can email it to her - not a prob but that'll mean her checking her email - guess I'll just have to hassle her on that one :P.

Anyhow - just a little stressed I guess....ED is playing up as a result. Am weighing every day due to it...Know the ED is just stress so not worried...

Blessings...

E

BigMummaF

Morning Peeps..appropriate responses are given as I do read here every day

Frugal things have included zooshing up some black bananas into a vanilla sponge recipe for a steamed pud this week. It didn't taste too bad but the Offspring were expecting a syrupy version so were a little disappointed
While visiting some friends, I noticed she had a little notebook with recipes either written or stuck on the pages, so thought I'd get one of those books that resemble an address book for a birthday of crimbo gift. The commercial ones begin at £6 & are nothing very special, so I'm investigating different options to make my own.
Best of all is getting the laundry dry outside :j although being so far south hopes this week as we're further away from the volcano I love the smell of sun-dried clothes, given I don't use fabric softner or high-perfumed detergent.

We're having a real treat of roast lamb as I got a piece whoopsied yesterday & there's no room in the freezer. It will probably only do us the one meal--english lamb --but better than paying full price for the privilege.

Off to get some more washing sorted--forecast for the rest of the week isn't looking too clever..

cw18

Just had a pleasant surprise from my car insurance company

Phoned to ask what it would cost to add OH to my policy. Bearing in mind he and his elder DS share a car it makes sense to take mine if we go out for a day, but I also have to take into account the limitations on distance/time that I can drive for (without a break) due to my back problems. Yet his little sporty car probably wouldn't be much better for me on a longer distance run, even as a passenger.

I didn't expect it to add much to my premium (especially as there's only just over 3 months left to run on my current policy), but was expecting to have to pay something so would then have to find the balance between pennies and peace of mind. But after the chap entered the info to the system he informed me it didn't make a difference to my premium at all..... which totally threw me, and he had to confirm it to me twice


So on Saturday I can just throw the keys at OH and have fun watching his face I know he won't want to drive it more than absolutely necessary as he loves his automatic and prefers not to drive a 'gear shift' these days, but he can and does from time to time so it's not a big problem that mine's not an auto.

Frugaldom

Sunny and windy here, so washing is out on the line. The temperature has been dropping below zero through the night here, so it's often white with frost in the mornings and the ice was quite thick on the hens' water drinkers this morning.

Not much planned for the day other than trying to orgaise the freezer and making use-it-up meals. Slow cooked some 'Nile' mince last night and added a can of the App Foods kidney beans in chilli, just needs some extra tomatoes adding now, but that then poses the problem of having to find space for the cooked leftover sauce to go back into the freezer. It's a bit of a loop I've got myself stuck in here and I really need to get out of it or there'll be nowhere to store summer fruit when the time comes.

This week is strict portion control week, lost about a kilo last week and hope to do same this week. It's very difficult when there's so much food about the place! I still have rice, tuna mayonnaise, chilli mince, pate, homemade soft cheese and some frozen yoghurt all needing used up, so meals in this frugal household are small, regular and very err... varied.

NualaBuala

Glad the hospital went ok Cheryl and great news about the insurance.

earthgirl wrote: »

NualaBuala - :beer:Thanks I love this idea, and it has inspired me to try and do the same thing!!:j

Great! I'm sure I will lapse now and then but hey, who's perfect?! My spending downfall seems to be junk food and takeaways. But at least they don't leave clutter. I'm really trying to reduce my belongings and live a simpler life so that helps motivate me not to buy more "stuff".

Frugaldom, that chick is so cute! What do the chicks and hens eat? Some day I would love to keep hens but the time is just not right for me now. Congrats on your weight loss by the way!:T

I was craving something sweet last night and had no goodies in the house so made a lemon yoghurt cake yesterday to use up the end of some yoghurt. It's nice but would be even nicer if I'd made the icing that's supposed to go on top. By the time it had baked and cooled I couldn't wait any longer to eat it but might ice the remainder today.

Hope you all have a great day!

Frugaldom

Frugaldom10 - Nice frugal-friendly man at www.FoodBargains.co.uk has reinstated the Frugaldom10 discount code from now until 30th April, so I'm going shopping. Tinned fruit is a must in this household and they have really cheap grapefruit (and trifles ). Use the code at checkout to get 10% off - hope I'm allowed to post this here, if not, I'll be the one in the doghouse unable to update the challenge thread. :rotfl:

NualaBuala - I feed the chicks on commercially produced 'chick crumbs'. They are a complete diet for the chicks. The hens get warm layers' mash for breakfast, pellets for dinner, free access to extra grit and water (I add cider vinegar to their water) and they also get mixed grain. As they freerange, they are also grazing and scratching up all the wee beasties, worms, slugs and snails. Hens will eat almost anything, so you need to be careful not to keep anything poisonous in the garden.

Had a busy day making the most of the sunny (but cold & windy) weather. Planted some peas and moved a few tubs about the place to make more space. The peas I planted were dried peas picked out of the broth mix I bought from App Foods - 46 out of 50 of them have germinated so far, better success than I had with shop bought ones last year! My courgettes have started to grow and my grape vine that looked like a twig 2 weeks ago has now come alive.

haven't really been spending any money but I'll need to fork out quite a bit this weekend to try and get 2 corners of the garden finished. I need more compost so I can plant the rest of my potatoes.

My freebie seed potatoes, patio bag and 5 more packs of seeds arrived this morning from the Gardeners W0rld offer that was posted on MSE. I also 'won' the iR!ver €B00k Reader in the €Bid online auctions Buddy p0!nts auction but I'll probably sell that to help cover the cost of garden & livestock related stuff. My 'EEK' is already overspent by £30+ and I'm sure I'll manage to spend £50 by this weekend once I get to the hardware store with garden department.

Hope everyone is doing OK, keep on frugaling, it does get easier as time passes.