Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

mogan6

Hi all,

I just had to report in with some good news! It's just been on the radio that our council have decided to freeze our council tax for this year:j:j

I'm just having a :coffee: and am going to catch up on the thread to see what I've missed:o

Mo
xx

artichoke

hi all

i am dipping my toe into this thread - i will try and find time to read the start / rules/ etc this evening when kids in bed...

but it looks like my kinda thing... i usually stay on OS board and so have never spotted this before - although i have heard a few on OS saying they are doing the Frugal living challenge but i did not know what it was....

a bit about me...

Our household is me and DH DD 6 and DS 5 one dog, one cat .

DH is officially self employed and works at home but suffers from mental health problems so we can not let him get too stressed so we take it easy and live very frugally and it has worked well for us for 7 years...since DD was born (she is 7 in 2 weeks).

I am a SAHM officially but run a livestock Community Supported Agriculture project at an organic farm and i get lamb and pork and eggs in exchange for my time....we grow our own veg at home but struggle with the veg to slugs ratio...

i also am setting up a Local Food Co-op shop which should start trading later this year - late spring or so.

Our annual income has been under £8 thousand for the last 4 years and we manage fine....kids don't expect much stuff (we don't watch TV so they don't see the ads for the latest cr*P) they play lego, and kneks (bought second hand) and we do crafts etc, For holiday we have traditional uk beach holidays and camping etc....we rarely buy clothes, the kids have hand me downs from various places.

I have started a second hand school uniform swap club at our village school - so the logo school uniform bits are now affordable to all in the village if they don't mind second hand..

anyway i will read more later and try and get involved over here...

i am not a great chatterer in posting but post when i have information to share...

so hope to be back later

cw18

welcome aboard artichoke - have added you to the list at the start of the thread

mogan6

OMG these poems are wonderful, they really made me laugh (probably because most of them relate to ME )

23rdspiral, your pudding sounds really yummy. I think I’ll try that tonight.

l.m.hart, thanks for the info about the coupon. I’ve registered and got the coupon.

JayneC, very well done for taking the cake back! And also for your savings by changing supplier.

Hi artichoke, it’s nice to hear from another newbie. I’ve only been here for a very short time myself.


p.s. (standing up with a red face) I’m Mo, and I used to love to spend . It’s called retail therapy and I was therapied up to the hilt!! With all the hints and tips I’m gaining here – and with Cheryl’s spreadsheet of wonder – I hope to find a cure:D

Mo
xx

patentgirl

Welcome Artichoke and forgot to say till Mogan reminded me will definatly be trying out that pud tonight 23rdspiral sounds delish x

never_too_old

artichoke wrote: »

hi all

i am dipping my toe into this thread - i will try and find time to read the start / rules/ etc this evening when kids in bed...

but it looks like my kinda thing... i usually stay on OS board and so have never spotted this before - although i have heard a few on OS saying they are doing the Frugal living challenge but i did not know what it was....

a bit about me...

Our household is me and DH DD 6 and DS 5 one dog, one cat .

DH is officially self employed and works at home but suffers from mental health problems so we can not let him get too stressed so we take it easy and live very frugally and it has worked well for us for 7 years...since DD was born (she is 7 in 2 weeks).

I am a SAHM officially but run a livestock Community Supported Agriculture project at an organic farm and i get lamb and pork and eggs in exchange for my time....we grow our own veg at home but struggle with the veg to slugs ratio...

i also am setting up a Local Food Co-op shop which should start trading later this year - late spring or so.

Our annual income has been under £8 thousand for the last 4 years and we manage fine....kids don't expect much stuff (we don't watch TV so they don't see the ads for the latest cr*P) they play lego, and kneks (bought second hand) and we do crafts etc, For holiday we have traditional uk beach holidays and camping etc....we rarely buy clothes, the kids have hand me downs from various places.

I have started a second hand school uniform swap club at our village school - so the logo school uniform bits are now affordable to all in the village if they don't mind second hand..

anyway i will read more later and try and get involved over here...

i am not a great chatterer in posting but post when i have information to share...

so hope to be back later

your good,
i think thats my biggest problem as each generation goes on we expect more, have more and then fall on our faces and feel deprieved when it all goes pear shapped:eek:

midwinter

23rdspiral wrote: »

But my BIG NEWS of the day is that i found a tin of pineapple last night and decided it wouldnt move house with us, so opened and realised how huge it was... but fancied cake... and a quick search of MSE Old Style provided the MOST AMAZING RECIPIE I'VE EVER MADE!!! i mean, seriously. 1 egg, small amounts of flour and baking soda, some tinned fruit and 5 mins in the microwave made the Most Lush steamed pudding/upside down cake ever!! we were both gobsmacked. and very full!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=5098707&postcount=5

I do a date and banana steam pudding in the microwave too.

Instaed of fruit in above recipe, added chopped dates, and one medium sized mashed banana, and omit the milk. The bananas give the sponge enough liquid

midwinter

l.m.hart wrote: »

your good,
i think thats my biggest problem as each generation goes on we expect more, have more and then fall on our faces and feel deprieved when it all goes pear shapped:eek:

I think that's true, everyone seems to think they're not responsible for themselves!

Hopefully, the support on this thread will help us all to cope better with what life throws at us, and move onwards, upwards, and out of debt

SandraScarlett

Hi Artichoke - welcome!:hello:

l.m.hart wrote: »

your good,
i think thats my biggest problem as each generation goes on we expect more, have more and then fall on our faces and feel deprieved when it all goes pear shapped:eek:

So true! My mid-40s daughter came round today, and was saying the same thing, and recalled a row we had 30 years ago, when I wouldn't let her go to a Katchagoogoo concert with her friends, unless we took her and collected her. :rotfl:

She's taking DGD and a friend (both aged 10 and a half) to a "Big Time Rush" concert (anyone heard of them?) and has been given orders by DGD that she's not to stand up, or sing along, but just sit in her seat. And on no account is she to say things like "What a lot of rubbish! In my day we had decent music"!!

Oh wasn't it great in the 50s/60s, when you saved up your pocket money for one record (six-and-seven-pence-ha'penny!) a 78 rpm, and thought it was great, and listened to Radio Luxemburg!!

xx

artichoke

hi

i agree about each generation expecting more - i am lucky in that my mum had a heart attack when we were small kids - she survived but it made my parents re-evaluate thier lives - they dropped out of the rat race and took both took early retirement - they sold our modern house and bought an old run down house with lots and lots of land (in the early 70's) and they grew organic veg (ie organic before they knew the name organic - my dad said buying fertilizer and pesticides for slug killers were expensive so he used horse manure and beer traps) we had chicken and a few goats - my mum bought whole sheep and pigs and butchered them herself...

My mum was a chef before her heart attack so had the skills to butcher and cook the cheap cuts of meat. I am so glad i learnt how to cook cheaply from scratch from my mum. I want my kids to learn that from me - which they are doing. When they go to other peoples houses for tea they presume everyone make thier own bread and pizza and sauces etc...

My dad used to get us to bring friends home from secondary school - give them a carry bag and ask them to go and fill it with wild rasberies, blackberry, nettles or dandilions - and when they brought it back he payed them for the contents....they made HM wine, beer, jam pickles and yucky dandelion coffee from the roots...all useful skills i learnt as a child..

they had more kids and we all lived very frugally with the usual teenage rebellion and squabbles.

In my teens and 20 and early 30's i rebelled against my frugal upbringing - i hated the fact we were called Povs at school and thought of as weird hippies, and I moved away to live in the middle of cities spending my salary on eating out, clothes, partying etc...I was quite ashamed of how i had been brought up - but once i had kids i knew i wanted to bring my kids up like i had been - apart from the coffee - it is my one luxury organic fair trade clipper instant coffee...

But i do worry as my kids get older that they might be missing out or think they are missing out - once they see how other kids live.. they have never been to a shopping centre or such like.. they have never been and chosen new clothes as all are passed down to us... I think at primary school this probably is ok but i worry what they will think as they become teenagers...

anyway better get on with work - i am finding out butchery costs for our pigs..i should have paid more attention when my mum did the butchery - but i am going on a nose to tail butchery and cookery course next month so should be able to do a bit more of it myself..

art