Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

enjoyfinancialchallenges

Hi everyone, I've had a busy day today and not toooo expensive either. Did bits in the house this morning then had a coffee with next door neighbor. Collected some 4 foot lengths of scaffolding board to make two raised gardens. They only cost £3.00 a length so not too bad, I'm eager to get going in the garden now I've seen the sun shining. My neighbor has said he will use a grass killer on my lawn where the gardens are to go so I shan't have to try and get the turf off, when I returned I spent sometime in the garden about 3 hrs I think then came inside to eat. Its interesting delving into my freezers now as I'm starting to find ready made meals from sometime back and lots of one meal containers of soup so that should keep me fed for a bit longer. Cooking is becoming more difficult now as I run short of essential supplies but still managing well enough. I'm still continuing to buy fruit and veg from the market and eggs from a local guy, at least I'm staying out of the supermarkets though and therefore don't get tempted. I've learned a lot these past few months about not buying unnecessarily, hope I continue to do that when I get back on the straight and narrow.

Tonight I made some lemon curd, about 4lbs which I'm going to put outside to sell. I painted my garden table today and when its dry will put it on the grass verge to put my filled jars on, I'm getting excited at the thought of selling marmalade and lemon curd and also have some jam left from last year.

It doesn't seem a lot now I've written in down but its kept me busy and loving life as usual.

Thanks Erme for your hug I needed it earlier today until I got stuck into work. Good to see you are back again but sad you are having to pay out so much for ratties. XX

Good night or good morning not sure now, have a good weekend everyone.XXX

Erme

I was so tired last night I got a very unfrugal tea of sandwiches from Mr C....I just had no energy ...

Must make some bread soon . Haven't made any in ages...

Still really tired and I fling between nicotine overdoses (got some snuff from the tobacconist yesterday - cheap and healthy) and like then feeling really down at the state of the world and the country....sometimes I wish I was in heaven...the book I'm reading on how short life is doens't help...

But then I'm grateful for the flat etc....and the ratties - need to feed them soon and do the washing up from 2 days ago....

I worry they'll be practically no jobs for anyone bar the corrupt by the time we've finished and no welfare state (it's against some international law I forget which one).....and then what will happen.

And so much for busking this summer - there's loads of gypsies already in the town so they'll be no busking pitches . I really want to practice my tin whistle and go busking....

So yeah - just confused about the smoking and anyone who is the praying type I'd appreciate a quick heads up...

Also missing my friends in Skye for some reason yet have no monies to visit them and don't go to Inverness for another 10 days - don't even know if I can get my ticket as supposed to get it from the auto machine and had the card I got it with go missing on Tuesday

And yesterday's arguments over OMG didn't really help - and then I had an argument with BMB over giving £4 of business to Norman...they said they need every penny and that the pension is not enough to live on when the basic pension is £!00 and JSA is only £64....I don't know how they expect ppl on JSA to live :eek: and also as a pensioner you get the bus pass....

Also G said I was being spiteful or vindictive or something when I know I wasn't being...I listened to her for a good 5 minutes rant and rave how poor she was and how Norman got paid regardless of if he sold anything or not when I know that's not true. If the bookshop makes no money I doubt if the FP's will continue to subsidise it....just for the sake of it.... and unlike G & T Norman has a wife and family

Argh :mad: and weeping

E

[Deleted User]

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

had some lovely frugal food yesterday

made some lentil soup for lunch and added a tblsp of fresh ginger and a tsp turmeric, it was very very nice. Having the other half today.

Then in the evening, I did Sweet Bean Curry which is a favourite here, comes out at 28p including the rice

I can post the recipes if anyone wants them

Yes please it sounds delicious I would love the recipe

twiglet98

JayneC wrote: »

DD1s birthday today and so I treated her to lunch. Had got her present from Amazon with Survey vouchers and also made her some chocolate fudge and a big cake, so fairly frugal. She came and cleaned my house yesterday - which was quite nice but then I discovered she'd thrown away about half the contents of my kitchen!! She threw away my slow cooker and bought a new one!! There was nothing wrong with the old one - just needed a wash! Anyway I retrieved it along with a pan lid (Which doesn't match my pans but fits anyway!), my roasting tin (Which she'd also decided needed replacing) a breakfast dish - which again just needed washing up, glass jars I'd been saving for jam, etc, yoghurt pots for planting seeds in and my tin that I put veggie peelings in on the way to the compost. There was more but I'm rambling now - I was actually a little upset but didn't say anything....She also wound up all the other kids by saying they weren't helping me enough, I know she was probably trying to help me but it's actually quite undermining. Not sure whether to bring it up with her...

My eldest DD24 is similar (though she still lives at home). We have such different mentalities it's hard to believe we are related. She has no inclination to frugality and bitterly resents my make-do, keep-it-I'll-use-it-one-day, it'll-wash style.

Our local recycling centre has a clothes bank where I (and others) love to rummage, also a brick and stone skip that takes ceramics, so I always have a look for old pyrex, or plates that nearly match my random collection. DD would be disgusted at this and I wouldn't tell her. She hates that I even step inside charity shops, let alone buy second-hand, but skip-raiding is beyond her tolerance.

One day, maybe, she won't have a choice.

twiglet98

cw18 wrote: »

I'm growing my spuds in flower buckets again this year (bought from Mr M last year - 99p for 6). Make it sooooo much easier to harvest them, as all I have to do is up-end the buckets and then grub around in the soil

How many seed potatoes do you put in these - do they go in one layer? With holes drilled in the bottom of the pot? I did Sante and Red Duke of Yorks in inside-out compost bags last year, but put too many (8) in each bag, and got the watering wrong, and spent a fortune on multipurpose compost to top them up, and only harvested a kilo of potatoes out of each bag.

Haven't caught up with the Greenfingered Money Saving thread this week and should be outside doing seeds, not inside doing this (and the SoW, of course)!

On the subject of SoW... I've transferred one CC balance to a new 0% card, and I'm not sure how to integrate the new one onto the spreadsheet? The payment clearing off the old card is not 'my' payment, as the new card has paid it, and payments on the new one start in April. How do I slot the new one in, and do I have to paste it into every month, including Jan-March? I wondered about just changing the name on that row, as the amount is basically the same, and disregard the balance transfer.

twiglet98

JackieO wrote: »

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

had some lovely frugal food yesterday

made some lentil soup for lunch and added a tblsp of fresh ginger and a tsp turmeric, it was very very nice. Having the other half today.

Then in the evening, I did Sweet Bean Curry which is a favourite here, comes out at 28p including the rice

I can post the recipes if anyone wants them

Yes please it sounds delicious I would love the recipe

Yes please

cw18

twiglet98 wrote: »

How many seed potatoes do you put in these - do they go in one layer? With holes drilled in the bottom of the pot?

Yes, I've drilled holes in the bottom of the buckets. I only put one seed potato into each last year and didn't get huge crops from any - but I think I put them in a bit late, so that probably accounted for some of it.

I'm about to put out this years soon (just chitting them now) and plan to try one per bucket again as I have plenty of compost anyway. If I still get (very) small crops this time I may try 2/bucket next year and see if I get any less of a harvest and balance it against the space I save with less buckets around the garden.

enjoyfinancialchallenges

I put 1 potato per flower pot from supermarket or two or three per compost bag. I've just planted some in a half water butt and was given 9 seed potatoes by my neighbor, so as not to waste them I put four in one container and five in the other. Its a pretty big container and so far havn't yet filled it up as ran out of compost but will do so as the plants grow or when I empty out old containers.

Hope all going well with your life cw18 it gets a bit complicated when others enter your life doesn't it?....and when they abandon you as my LOL did. Urrgggh!.:mad:

cw18

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Hope all going well with your life cw18 it gets a bit complicated when others enter your life doesn't it?....and when they abandon you as my LOL did. Urrgggh!.:mad:

I'm looking after my GDs today, while DD and her fella spend the day at B/pool Ple@sure Beach (on discounted tickets). I was supposed to have company, but got stood up for the second time for this weekend (this time by my friend)! Not his fault though, as he got a call in the wee small hours of yesterday to say his Mum had been rushed to hospital - and he's still over that way. I wouldn't expect it any other way though, and have already told him so when he tried to apologise last night!!

itsallinthemind

Hello all,

Hope you are all getting on well, I have been so busy with life!
I am all on track budget wise despite having some serious mishaps which could have totally thrown the budget. I've just pulled everything I can back.

I only started reading back a few pages, then I gave up, lightweight

If anyone can not handle me saying OMG, then block me now, as I shall not be saying sorry if I do. Even the rare religious friends I have take no offense, same as I take no offense when they say "Bless you", "God bless you" or "You are in my prayers", saying OMG or !!!!!! is used by even my church going friends, some in retirement, is far politer than the full version.

Have a good weekend all