Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

pink_numbers

ceridwen wrote: »

Ugh! As in a "not much of a spend Day" - only my morning newspaper. But - a bit of a waste day. Have just taken a cautious bite of some carrot muffins - made with DRIED carrot. About to throw the rest of them in the bin...

Errr....I've made the exact same recipe before with fresh carrot and it was nice. Its the first - and last - time I will be using DRIED carrot though....yuk.....well there WAS only one way to find out if I could ever like dried carrot...:(

Hi ceridwen, could I ask, where did you get dried carrots from? I have been looking for them everywhere! (now you're going to say somewhere really obvious aren't you :rotfl:)

shebrett

oldestgnome wrote: »

I have run out of plastic containers - does anyone have a suggestion for cheap freezable storage or do I just need to buy some more?

If you have any silicone muffin trays/cake tins/icecube trays they all make great tubs for freezing. I just whack in whatever I need to freeze and when it is frozen through I find it pops out easily and I can cling film it and they stack nicely, or if using icecube tray I pop the cubes into a cheap freezer bag.

cha97michelle

Today had to be a spend day as we needed to buy some fresh food for DHs packed lunches this coming week. I also needed some batteries for my scales in the hope of losing some weight, so it was about £25.

We also had to go to a kids birthday party. I had a present in the store, so spends there were a cup of tea for DH at £1.

I made sure i had a pot of stew in the slow cooker to feed us when we got back, and there is quite a bit left so i will try to fit some in the freezer for later in the month.

Another frugality was mixing a kilo bag of washing soda in with my branded washing powder. I daren't go too basic as i am worried about the staining on my DS2s clothes as he is such a messy eater. I keep mixing though as i get good results and no skin irritations. Must save me a lot over the year.

I am trying to think of ways to make this easier for me this year, and i am going to keep a running tally of my total in my plan a day diary to keep me going, as well as itemising in my spreadsheet. Hopefully seeing it there all the time will keep me focussed and motivated.

Tomorrow i need to cook a 2.6 kilo gammon joint DH got from Mr T for £4.50 reduced from £12. This should be enough for several meals. Again, i think i need a freezer rejig as i don't want us all to get bored of what we are eating.

I am also going to start potty training my DS2. He is 31 months old now so should be ready and i am being a bit lazy about it. It would save me a fair bit if i manage it with nappy prices.

oldestgnome

Brilliant :j- it always seems so obvious once people say :rotfl:- I need to move the frozen stuff into bags and reuse the containers in my freezer. Thanks :T

ceridwen

pink_numbers wrote: »

Hi ceridwen, could I ask, where did you get dried carrots from? I have been looking for them everywhere! (now you're going to say somewhere really obvious aren't you :rotfl:)

Errrr..yep....I am..:D

I did 'em myself. I have a dehydrator and I had loadsa carrots - put the two together and = dried carrots.

I won't be doing them again though.... Come to think of it - I DID try some in a vegetable soup a coupla months back - and that was awful too. Oh well...two goes later...and there won't be a repeat performance. Carrots are obviously something I really only like raw grated in as part of a salad...:cool:. You live and learn....

Still experimenting with preserving food in various different way - so in the course of getting the other jars of dried carrots out of the relevant cupboard they were stored in - found that sometimes stewed bottled apple doesnt come out too well either. here's hoping that the rest of my dried tomatoes havent gone off (they look okay still in the box they are in ...fingers crossed).

Right - I'm getting it worked out what to do in future years about preserving:
- tomatoes get frozen (or bartered if there are simply too many of them still)
- apples get dried
- carrots don't get preserved AT ALL in any shape or form

I'll get this all worked out yet...:rotfl:

Nancy888

I'd like to join in/lurk as well, please, if there's room...:o

I've read all of the 28 pages on the prep thread and these 8 over the past 2 days and got loads of tips.

I'll post my figures for the year once I've sorted them out but first and foremost I'd really like to get my food spending under control.

I could join the GC thread but my 'months' go from 17th-17th due to payday so that doesn't really fit my purposes so that's why I'm here :rotfl:

I did have a NSD yesterday (didn't leave the house!!) but spent £6.12 in Holland and Barratt on 'breakfast sprinkles', dried fruit and seeds. I'll make my own granola tomorrow to take to work for my yoghurt and this will last me for a good couple of months so can justify the cost.

My meal plan is done til 17th Jan and doesn't really need anything buying except milk as the freezer is well stocked and plenty of freebies from mum from the Christmas lunch.

I think I'll have enough toiletries for the year - not joking - from all of the Christmas presents.

Off to L!dl tomorrow to stock up on dishwasher tablets - 12 boxes should be £10.08 and last me all year!!!

Can't wait to get started...happy frugalling

Carol

pink_numbers

ceridwen wrote: »

Errrr..yep....I am..:D

I did 'em myself. I have a dehydrator and I had loadsa carrots - put the two together and = dried carrots.

I won't be doing them again though.... Come to think of it - I DID try some in a vegetable soup a coupla months back - and that was awful too. Oh well...two goes later...and there won't be a repeat performance. Carrots are obviously something I really only like raw grated in as part of a salad...:cool:. You live and learn....

Still experimenting with preserving food in various different way - so in the course of getting the other jars of dried carrots out of the relevant cupboard they were stored in - found that sometimes stewed bottled apple doesnt come out too well either. here's hoping that the rest of my dried tomatoes havent gone off (they look okay still in the box they are in ...fingers crossed).

Right - I'm getting it worked out what to do in future years about preserving:
- tomatoes get frozen (or bartered if there are simply too many of them still)
- apples get dried
- carrots don't get preserved AT ALL in any shape or form

I'll get this all worked out yet...:rotfl:

oh of course! I forgot you had your trusty dehydrator! DOH! Thank you for answering my question

freedom2011

the_cat wrote: »

Try lining a bowl (any sort will do, even an old marg tub) with a freezer bag and popping in the freezer. Once it has frozen into a block, remove the bag, tag it and the bowl is ready for reuse

I do this often as it saves space and means buying less bowls

Now this is genius, this board makes me so happy. :T

Lily_The_Legend

ceridwen wrote: »

- carrots don't get preserved AT ALL in any shape or form

Can't they be frozen? Or made into soup and frozen?

pink_numbers

Lily_The_Legend wrote: »

Can't they be frozen? Or made into soup and frozen?

have tried that... SOMETHING must've gone wrong, they were terrible!