Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

Laushappy

Oh yes and a huge welcome to Morgan6 and Nicholette :j:j:j

Ellidee

minnie2 wrote: »

does anyone know of any good toilet roll deals at the minute? there is only two of us but we go through them like anything!!

minnie today in the Co-op Andrex toilet rolls 9 pack £5.89 each but on offer 2 packs for £6.50 - not the cheapest I know but good quality.

SandraScarlett

A big welcome to all our new Frugalistas! :beer: Well, as ol' Bruce Forsythe would say "Didn't we do well"! :j Just a few hours till the last day of the month, and we're all learning new ideas, and saving money in the process.

It's really important that we don't get downhearted if we haven't saved as much as we'd have liked to, or as much as others have. As I said before, we don't have identical lives, or even identical months in our own lives, so there's the risk of feeling that we haven't succeeded.

But we have! I was so pleased to read, um, er, someone's post about making their first pie. Well done you! Sorry I can't remember your name, but I remembered your success. There are millions of people in the UK, who haven't the first clue how to make pastry.

Cheryl's spreadsheet, or your own personal notes, will give massive pointers as to where the money is going. Some things can be changed. Others can't. I live in Greater London, I have a Freedom Pass, and the tube, rail and zillions of bus routes, so I don't use my car very much.

Others may live in the country where buses are few and far between, and have no option but to spend a lot on petrol. My DH's illness means he feels the cold, so I spend loads on heating. It's swings and roundabouts.

But the first month is almost over! :j I'm out on a Jolly with a friend tomorrow, and intend to treat myself to ........ a Costa Coffee! I know how to live. I was buying one (or more likely 2) every time I went out, and realised if I had 3 days out, at £2.10 a cup, that could be £12.60 a week on Costas, which, in a year is ................ £655.20, which is frightening! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Nobody is never too old to learn how to save.

xx

Aril

Evening frugallers:j
It's been a weekend of lowish spends but have thoroughly enjoyed myself in the process:D I now have a tin full of home made cake for our packed lunches, 4 jars of hm chutney, a carraway cake in the freezer and I managed to make the lentil curry from last night do us for lunch today aswell:j
On the frugal front I've been having a reorganisation of my craft bits and pieces that are stashed all over the place. Although I haven't got masses I have enough to keep my going in small projects for ages yet. I poked about everywhere and found some items I had completely forgotton about...it meant when I went to Hobbycraft with OH today to get some bits for his business I was happy to admire but didn't feel the need to purchase.
Today I've been experimenting with a soldering iron as I've discovered that you can burn designs onto wood with it [I drew out the design first]. It's meant that I've been able to make my own set of runes from a branch that I cut up a few weeks ago.

Perhaps if I might be so rude to ask a question- I noticed the other day when rummaging around in the freezer section at the supermarket they sell packs of frozen chicken liver for 45p. I know that you can use them for pate but does anyone else use them in a main meal? I was curious to see whether I'd discovered a cheap untapped food resource or not....:rotfl:
Aril

Ps Foggot to add that I borrowed the following from the library as it's some good ideas on repurposing clothes which is another frugal area as I have just begun to explore
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Do-Mend-Craft-Queen/dp/1840914254/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296421753&sr=1-11

minnie2

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

Aw thanks minnie. You're right. The amount of people that start to get ill just before we break up is unbelievable! The problem is I'm off quite a lot with my asthma and chest infections. They are very good at work and understand this. I think it's just me wanting to carry on and trying not to let it rule my life. When I have to stay off I feel like 'its' won! I don't hold out much hope for this term though. But I will give it a blimming good go!!!
Luv dizzy x

(Love this and it'll be me in Spring)

Luv dizzy x
♥

SNAP!!!!! i am severely asthmatic!!!!!!! and prone to bronchitis and chest infections!!!!!!!!!!!!! - my work however forcably send me home - and sometimes in a taxi!!! i hate being off work - mainly as i get bored couped up at home - i need to be working!!! but i am exactly the same with my asthma!!!!!!!!!!!!!! because ive had it since i was a baby ive tried to never let it stop me from doing anything and get in my way!! When i was younger my schools have even questioned my mothers parenting ability for sending me in with bronchitis - when i forced her to let me go! hubby is still getting use to my attacks - especially when i dont breathe

SandraScarlett

NualaBuala wrote: »

Has anyone heard from Itsallinthemind? If you're lurking, hope you're ok pet. x

Pretty sure I saw her posting on a "free postage from Body Shop" thread, yesterday or the day before. HTH

xx

NualaBuala

SandraScarlett wrote: »

Pretty sure I saw her posting on a "free postage from Body Shop" thread, yesterday or the day before. HTH

xx

Thanks Sandra. :A Sounds like she's ok so!

minnie2

lynzpower wrote: »

I have just started using "ninky" ( i think) from farmfoods- £2 for 9

I was using value before, these are loads better, they are much posher, quilted effect. they are lasting a LOT longer than value.

I always squash the loo roll before it goes on the dispenser, then it will not roll too freely and you use less.

Another frugal tip, not sure if everyone already does this or not.

If not its a "frozen pastry" typre revelation

Ellidee wrote: »

minnie today in the Co-op Andrex toilet rolls 9 pack £5.89 each but on offer 2 packs for £6.50 - not the cheapest I know but good quality.

thank you!! i work near a co-op so will give it a look and i think we have a farmfoods in the city - i hate the city but it does have its own car park etc so will brave it and give it a look.if i buy enough to last a year ill only have to go once!!!

thanks for the tip - weve been through tonnes since December nearly 54 rolls and theres only two of us!! but then my hubby does use them for everything!!! argh!!!!!!!!!!!! like two rolls to mop up a drink he split!!! men!! i dont know how to get through to him weve got special sponges to soak things up and i buy him kitchen roll for the puppy but.....

redglass_2

Welcome, Mogan6 and Nichelette!

Who was it asked for the day of an Oldstyler? Not sure that I qualify, but here is some of what I might do in a typical day:

Shower with soap on offer from Appr*ved Foods (they had some really cheap nice soap and I bought enough of it to wash an army - one of my best ever deals)

Porridge for breakfast (if feeling extravagant I use soymilk, if really economising it's Mr L's dried skimmed milk). To sweeten it, HM jam from japonica quince bush in garden, with a touch of chilli (grown on lotty) or dates (whoopsied).

Lunch and/or dinner: soup: mixed veg, some of it frozen from last year's crop, bulked out with a bag of 'meat ends' from the local supermarket deli counter. I'll either finish it or freeze some of it but nothing will be thrown away.

On the kitchen counter is a bowl of home-grown dried beans from last year, soaking.

Tea and coffee are nearly always bought (in shedloads) when on offer. Veg usually bought whoopsied or on offer. Lots of noodles, tinned goods and dried beans are bought from Appr*ved Foods.

Washing done at 30 degrees. No tumbledryer (this also makes the washing machine live longer, according to the man who used to fix my old washer-dryer). I dry clothes on the line or hoisted above my stove (sometimes if the stove isn't drawing well, they have the delightful perfume of woodsmoke...)

Drive to the gym using the brake as little as poss, instead using positioning and the momentum of the car (this really works to cut down on petrol). Petrol bought at Mr M's or Mr S's because they are cheapest locally and you get points. Once the weather gets a bit more clement I'll walk to the gym and back.

Gym membership is a special deal accessed via the GP.

On the way home I might call in at some of the local charity shops and scour them for bargains.

The heating is kept down; in the back of the house it never gets hotter than 17 degrees (that's in the bathroom and utility, because I have to undress there and because if it gets too cold and damp a mould problem develops). Most of the time it's set at 13.5 degrees . Lights all turned out as soon as they are no longer needed. I wear a beanie hat indoors if necessary and make sure my ankles are wrapped up in boots or long socks (surprising how this helps you to keep warm). Upstairs are two rooms heated with gas heaters. Only one is ever on.

To bed: the bedroom scarcely heated at all. Instead I have a thick duvet and hot water bottle.

Energy saving bulbs wherever possible.

There are days when I'm not nearly so virtuous. I'm bad about impulsively buying stuff when I already have food in the freezer, and am very far off my initial plans for grocery outlay. Also, I don't bake much though I have been known to make the odd pizza. I'm more for soups and stews.

Today some friends were eating oranges and I begged the peel to take home and put into the freezer (when i have enough, I'll make the hormone for cleaning mentioned by Ceridwen). When I asked for the peel, a friend told me that dried orange peel makes good firelighters, so I'll be trying that soon.

I'm not nearly as focused as some of the people on here, but I'm so much better than I used to be.

enjoyfinancialchallenges

minnie2 you mentioned you lived in East Anglia and so do I. I know there is a Farm Foods in the outskirts of Sudbury if you are anywhere near there.

I spoke to my DD on the phone earlier and she was telling me her two little boys had a "feast" today. let me tell you about that because its another frugal meal for little people. When my children were small I used to use up all the odds and ends in the fridge. I put out the four plates and cut anything I had left over or put aside into bite sized pieces. It could be a cut up apple, or a spoonful of sweetcorn, a left over sausage sliced and shared between the four of them, carrot sliced or made into baton shaped pieces. Sometimes it also included slices of hard boiled eggs, potato salad, cheese cubes, cucumber cubes Oh, the list goes on forever but it had to be finger food. It was just odds and ends but to my chilren with all the different colours and textures and the fact it was dinner and pudding on the same plate made it into a feast. Mind you they also had it in their tree house up a Jacaranda tree when they had been very good which wasnt often but still bribery is everything when there were four under fives!