Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

itsallinthemind

Lily_The_Legend wrote: »

Ahhh, thank you, just couldn't work that out!

Hopefully the last lot weren't out of date then. I've been ok so far. I'm sure they're the sort of thing with a long life on, and it hasn't been long since we had pesto pasta before.

It's something I can't worry about now, if I think about it too much I'll get really anxious as I have a phobia of being sick.

If you had a meal or sarnie out of the home you may not be able to tell. However, at home you would tell as the smell of them changes and is very distinctive when you open them. I used to keep them open for quite a while, but since I had a pack go funny(I sampled one, tasted funny too, but you may not tell in a meal) I now use them up faster. If you have immune issues it can make you rather ill, if not you just get the taste for up to 2 weeks.

You would know though, no doubt, you can't miss the smell. Just sniff them

itsallinthemind

cw18 wrote: »

drop me a PM to remind to look at this (and send you [strike]de[/strike]instructions ASAP)
About to head back to work for afternoon part of my shift, and may be out tonight as my chap crashed his van this morning (so mother hen instincts want to check up on him, as he's feeling bad enough to head to hospital for a check-up after a meeting at work!)

Hope he is ok and just needs a good snog

Lily_The_Legend

itsallinthemind wrote: »

If you had a meal or sarnie out of the home you may not be able to tell. However, at home you would tell as the smell of them changes and is very distinctive when you open them. I used to keep them open for quite a while, but since I had a pack go funny(I sampled one, tasted funny too, but you may not tell in a meal) I now use them up faster. If you have immune issues it can make you rather ill, if not you just get the taste for up to 2 weeks.

You would know though, no doubt, you can't miss the smell. Just sniff them

Thanks for that. They were a small bag that we'd used half of and had tied it up in a sandwich bag. I opened them on Friday and toasted them in a pan and they smelt fine. If they'd have smelt funny I would've got rid of them and opened the new packet. DH would probably still have eaten them though :eek: I'll be careful with them from now on, thanks.

Lily_The_Legend

Hope your new fella is ok Cheryl!

enjoyfinancialchallenges

CRANKY40 wrote: »

I also use a double cash book to keep track of my bank account (as well as Cheryl's excellent spreadsheet for everything else). At the start of the month I write down all money coming in and total it up, then I write down all of the direct debits that I know are going out. I write down any other possible expenses, like 2 x £25.00 for petrol, an amount each week for food and an amount each week to be withdrawn in cash for day to day stuff. That way I always know how much I can afford to spend if any extras appear, and I just tick everything off as it leaves my bank account. Boring and square yes, but it works. I used to do it for my late dh too, and he loved being able to ask me how much he had left, because he always knew if he was able to spend anything.

CRANKY40 I also have a book that I write in each month, its a shorthand notebook so I can flip backwards if needed. I write all my annual bills on the back page with dates they expire and amount for the present year, this is useful as I don't often have big bills come in without expecting them. I don't however use cash or very rarely but use my C/C for everything else I buy, food, petrol, toiletries etc then I can build up some vouchers for Christmas. This way I cut out the temptation of buying a magazine or snacks as some shops put a minimum amount needed to be able to use a card. I dont like T***o because of the way they sneak in every where but this year I'm putting all the moral bits aside to benefit me so am going to try to get a T***o C/c and try their voucher system. I also tick off DDs when they get taken from my account and give myself a maximum amount I can afford on my card, OK so I do sometimes exceed that but I try hard not too. Last month my car was serviced and MOTed and the bill was over £300, fortunately my garage will accept half one month and half the next which is good for my accounts then I can eat as well as having a fully functioning car.

This month I'm doing well regards decluttering and eating up my food from the freezer, still enough to keep me going for another month or so although I did stock up with whoopsied bread and enough cat food for a month just after Christmas. I just have to keep her away from the roads now, dont want to waste the food, I still have the bill to pay the vet for her treatment for last month. , oh did I say that!.Methinks this is going to be a tough month.

I can have NSDs easily here in the country as we only have 2 buses twice a week so one learns to make do and substitute ingredients plus I get offered vegs from neighbours garden and I grow vegs myself when the weather gets better and I buy fresh free range eggs locally, I use my car very infrequently such as going to the surgery if I can't make an appointment to fit in with bus times or if I want to do a big shop but I'm beginning to forget what shops look like now and the cost of petrol is an added incentive to keep out of town. Still got loads of stuff stockpiled from last year so this is a good chance to sort it all out and hopefully end up with emptier cupboards.

Lunch time now, mmmh! its soup today with a roll, all from the freezer naturally.

rubytuesday

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Thanks rubytuesday please can you also assist me to highlight the quotes as you have above. I did some funny things to your message as you can see above by just fiddling so perhaps I'd better wait.

Oh I didn't notice anything! If you only want to quote some of a post just delete what you don't want but make sure you start and end with the bracket quote! Obviously don't change the meaning of any ones quote by deleting like the naughty people in DT and The Arms sometimes do!:rotfl:

rubytuesday

I've been through my spending diary and am very pleased. I had two no spend days last week and also came in under budget for the food shopping which I want to make under fifty pounds a week for eighteen year old daughter,OH and me and four cats. I think I am saving a fortune since girlie split up from her boyfriend, although they are still friends but he definitely ate like a horse! Good for making sure there was no waste though!
I have made a note of any savings I have made last week and I have saved seventy nine pounds eighty pence! I did buy some boots half price from Clarks though as I am short of footwear as I hate wearing them in.
I hope you don't mind that I haven't officially joined but am lurking less. Can I join without putting my budget up? Will take me a while to work it out!

patentgirl

CRANKY40 wrote: »

Plans for today are to drag out the Wii fit board and get it set up. I cancelled my gym membership last November as I only ever went swimming. ]

You have reminded me Cranky I need to do this too, once it is out I am usually quite motivated but its the getting it out that I tend to talk myself out of it!
NSD today although spent total of £21.52 last week so improving slowly freezer is getting a bit low at moment need to do a shop soon.

natnat13

l.m.hart wrote: »

between diesel for dh and petrol for me we have put in £105 so far this year. dd 's db has now passed his test and picks his car up this evening so fingers crossed i might not have to put quite as much petrol in:)

Arrrrrgh fuel!!! It's so expensive. I live in a rural area with no buses so have to drive. My sons school is 20 min walk away and I'm not making him walk in the rain, he's only 4 (just started full time) and I have a 3 year old as well. My light is nearly on and I really don't want to fill up!

I have been trying to catch up on this thread today, read up to page 20 and I have made the yummy cookies so thank you for that recipe, I put left over xmas choc buttons in them! Also made buns while the oven was on. Going to make a curry in a minute with leftover roast beef then do my budget whilst it's cooking, I will report back later.

I posted on facebook I wanted a bread maker and someone thinks they have one, so that will be great, I often buy bread for £1.59 a loaf at the local shop (I know, but I like nice bread!)

redglass_2

I think pine nuts can also give you 'pine mouth' without being out of date. I had this last year - I wasn't poorly in any way but had a constant bitter taste in my mouth caused by eating pine nuts and they were well within the sell-by date. Nor did I notice anything about the smell but then I haven't got the world's most sensitive nose. They tasted fine (until the bitterness started). Only some people are affected, apparently, so if I'd shared the pine nuts with someone else they might have had no symptoms.

If you google 'pine mouth' you can find lots of information on this. Some people claim the main problem is with pine nuts from China but it is hard to tell why (no particular insecticide or pollution found in Chinese pine nuts). It's possible that they are slightly different genetically.

This isn't to say that out of date ones aren't toxic since that is a separate issue...