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

grandma247

top_drawer wrote: »

Also making up cleaning stuff - when I put vinagar in with the bicarb it fizzes like mad and most of it doesnt end up stopping in the bottle..... what does everyone else do?

I have a 3 pint jug that I mix mine in before putting it in the bottle. Or you can pour just a little vinegar in the bottle and wait for it to stop fizzing and then add a bit more. It does eventually stop. Otherwise just do what Frugaldom does.

I shopped for the healthly flapjack thingys that Rozee found last week - do you know what Corn syrup is here in the UK?
Not sure but I don't think you can get corn syrup here but golden syrup is the usual stuff to put in flapjacks.

I just thought I would answer while I have a few minutes.

We are out all day tomorrow in Lancaster. There is a re-enactment ancient Roman military parade and activity day there.

knithappens

Loving the new shiny thread

Well I have been busy trying to to declutter the house of baby things and hsve made over £120 by selling on netmums and my birth board. I still have quite a lot to get rid of so listing the reusable nappies on a used nappy site (I have so many) the rest on ebay.

Hopefully i can raise another £80 and that will be 2/3 of my car insurance money for the year. So off to do some cleaning, as have some family around tomorrow for easter dinner.

Frugaldom

cw18 wrote: »

If I'm doing a straight forward 'mince and mash' I expect to get 6-8 portions as a minimum from 500g.

If it's Spag Bol, Chille or Macaroni Casserole then 500g normally makes 10 portions. And that's without using rehydrated soya mince to pad it out..... if I add that (which I only do to the 'easy flow' frozen types of mince) then it's 15-16 !!!!

Not sure what all the exclamation marks are about, but I normally buy an 800g pack of mince and split it into 6 lots for freezing. Each lot gets made into a meal that does 3 of us twice. I had never used textured soya prior to this. So, I guess if you want to look at it your way, then 36 meals from 800g would mean about 22 from 500g. However, if I was eating the way 'normal' average families eat, then 500g of mince would make only one meal, possibly with enough leftover to add into a second one but chances aren't high on that outcome. :rotfl:

Thought I better add in an extra little bit as I was one of those people who had never learned a thing about cooking by the time I left home! (Other than apple sponge, mince and apple dumplings that we made in school.) A blind pastry case is just a plain old empty pastry case, nothing in it, baked empty for using in the future. It took me a VERY long time to work out what recipes meant when they said blind bake a pastry case. I always just ignored it and went right on and baked the pie regardless.

rozeepozee

top_drawer wrote: »

Rozeepozee - I'llhave to buy the cut and come again variety then, the pots I got were only £5 in Wilks but they didnt make it clear they were 1 yield only .... just cant see the point!!!

Jen

Jen, I think coriander is quite easy to grow (on the basis that I can grow it!) but I've had a 100% success rate with the marshall's seeds that I bought which says on the pack "the first cut-and-come-again Coriander" (variety Calypso) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningpicturegalleries/7257995/Which-guide-to-new-veg-2010.html

Another gardening related thought is that Marshalls do packs of seeds marketed as "micro leaves". The idea is you grow them in a seed tray on moist kitchen paper and eat them just as they've formed their first true leaves. You get an awful lot of seeds per packet and it has occurred to me to wonder whether this is a way to get prett cheap seeds and instead of growing them as micro leaves, let them grow to mature plants?

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME SLUG ADVICE PLEASE? Normally, slugs seem to eat most of my seedlings and many of my more mature veggie plants. I did well last year as we used baths as raised beds and it wasn't until later in the season when a slug or two had obviously got into some of the baths that we saw any being eaten. How do people normally avoid this problem when planting in regular beds? Previously, I've been too scared to use slug pellets for fear my son would eat them and now I think I heard they are to be banned? I've used the organic stuff to form a barrier but you have to use an awful lot of it so not very frugal. TIA

Frugal - thanks for the great tips on bulking out meat - 500g does usually just last us one meal. Is the TVP from Approved Foods? I'm keen to cut down on meat intake in any case (though my DP is very resistant and likes to tell me how he has evolved as an omnivore: his justification for eating meat)

Frugaldom

Rozee, I've had all sorts of problems with slugs & snails in the past but have found that they really do prefer to go and drink beer in traps and die happy.

I discovered that crushed eggshells only work if you can keep a trench of them all the way around your plants and guarantee no slimy critturs inside the boundary when you start. Likewise with salt - brilliant stuff, they will not cross it, but again, it needs to be maintained and then it will kill plants if too much washes into the ground.

I've read a lot about copper and how the slugs won't cross that, but have never tried it, as I haven't a clue how to get copper without spending a fortune.

Traps seem to be the best and then remove all live slimers far, far away. I now believe slugs and snails have homing instincts after trying just throwing them over the fence into the field and all the beggars came back again. :rotfl:

The hens eat most of the little slugs and snails here, now, and we do our best to encourage frogs and hedgehogs. Unfortunately, the ducks ran away with the last frog that braved a visit! :eek:

Erme

Enjoy re tracking stuff. I tend to keep all the receipts then tot up depending on mood. If you do a cash only system for basics then it's not too bad just using the debit card for emergency (I'm a no CC gal myself)

rozee re slugs Have you tried just basic common salt. Might freak DS out what it does to them but apparently it works... (dare I say on here? It's grosse)

Now for some pics

Afghan (for nuala)

(kind of just spread on bed.

and close up of square (kind of squashed)




and that's about it. Veg garden today though doesn't look very promising weather wise but will have to get organised and whizz on the bike down to Mr A for some bits and bobs (with my few pennies. Maybe even the cash card :eek:). Want some panniers for bike but like need to save for a few weeks:xmassign: (I don't do easter or xmas but that's another story)

E
PS. Pic below of muggins in 'duvet' dress with £1.50 thin jumper on top fae Mr. T ages ago




:grouphug:

E

redglass_2

Hiya,
I've been a long time away but hope you won't mind me dropping by with a question. Just had a quick peek at a few messages and you all seem to be working marvels, as usual, so I hope someone can help me make a decision...

My question is for you IT-savvy and frugal people out there: I've been decluttering, the way you do, and have turned up a prehistoric Toshiba Laptop, a Satellite 220 CS. It has only 32 MB RAM on the hard drive but 80% is free and it does seem to be working ok, apart from the fact that something has gone wrong with the CD drive (but there is a USB port so I can save stuff onto a data stick). It hasn't worn out because for several years it's hardly been used. I could really use a laptop and it seems very unfrugal to chuck it away and buy a new one. Is there anything i can do with this old faithful to make it more serviceable? Can you add memory to such a small machine? I need to be able to email, access the web and store very long documents, and that's about it. If you think this will be a waste of money in the long run and I should just get another laptop, please be brutally honest, I can take it!

redglass_2

rozeepozee wrote: »

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME SLUG ADVICE PLEASE?

My allotment is plagued with these and there's a limit to how much salt you can throw around, effective though it is...

I've had very good results with pellets that are guaranteed not to poison kids or other wildlife - from organiccatalogue.com. I'd say they were the best thing I used.

I also save eggshells, crunch them up and scatter them round vulnerable plants.

Slugs and snails dislike crossing copper as it gives them an electric shock - you can buy copper tape to stick on pots etc but I find it to be expensive and it doesn't last very long. With pots i found it was better to put them on big saucer things bought from garden centres and then fill the saucers to make a 'moat' - the slugs and snails won't cross it if they can't touch the bottom, and you can use the saucers again and again, or you could improvise with old bowls, etc. Stand the pots on something so they are clear of the 'moat' and not permanently sodden at the bottom end.

Had some success last year with old tuna tins sunk in the ground and filled with the cheapest beer i could find. I have one 'shop-bought' slug trap that I haven't got round to using

The slugs and snails like hiding in grass, clumps of weeds, cracks, crevices and in between paving slabs and loose brick. If you eliminate these hiding places (maybe by putting down gritty gravel paths instead of grass ones) you can really discourage them, but it's a lot of work - i haven't got round to that bit yet...

Two years ago I tried slug barrier gel but I didn't find it as effective as it claimed to be. Maybe I didn't follow the instructions properly. I found it was quite awkward to apply over bare earth, it would work better on something like a hard surface with plantpots standing on it.

I haven't tried nematode worms but the word is that they work. They are also ecological, but they aren't equally effective at all times of the year.

Having written this I've quite impressed myself with how hard I kept trying! Hope some of it helps...

Frugaldom

Hi Redglass

You'd need to open up the tower or desktop casing and look inside to where the memory is - there should be slots that might allow you to add more, as the 32Mb won't be enough for accessing broadband. But if there's a modem and you have a dial up connection, I don't see the problem with trying it as is, although it will seem REALLY slow if you have become accustomed to superfast speed. As it has a USB port, saving stuff can be done onto an external pen drive or similar.

PS - I don't class myself as IT savvy, I believe CW is the expert in that department, she may be able to tell you how to test memory, hard drive, processor speed etc.

redglass_2

Frugaldom wrote: »

Hi Redglass
You'd need to open up the tower or desktop casing and look inside to where the memory is - there should be slots that might allow you to add more, as the 32Mb won't be enough for accessing broadband.

Thanks, though I'm shaking in my boots now. Open a computer? Oo-er, Missus!