Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

inspirespirit

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

did a bit of cooking this afternoon in advance for dinner this eve

it all tastes really lovely and am looking forward to it. Tried some new recipes from an Indian cookbook. A potato and cauliflower curry, mushroom bhaji and a red lentil dhal. Another vegan one for those who are interested.

It uses lots of spices, but they are all the common ones. I did it in advance as I wasn't sure how long it was going to take me, but in the event it was quite straight forward. So if you like this kind of food, I could post the recipes if you want

as I'll more than likely be doing it again, I need to price it all up now, and work out the cals too

that sounds absolutely gorgeous. would love the recipe and also the costs and cals if you have them.:):)

silvasava

Just skimmed thru the last couple of pages as I've had a busy few days. NOT that frugal unfortunately & no NSD's
I did have a rummage through the freezer on Wednesday & found some good sausage meat from my local butcher so added some herbs & made a big Sausage Plait. Had some pastry left over so made 2 small Apple & Blackberry pies (apples from garden last year & local blackberries picked with DH) We'd been out with some friends last week to celebrate their wedding anniversary & our pudding was apple & raspberry sponges - so I made 2 of those as well (raspberries out the garden too) next time I do them though I'll put less fruit & more sponge although DH was more than happy!
We're off in the 'van for a few days over to the beautiful Isle of Wight (stocked up from home so shouldn't need to spend so behave yourselves while I'm gone!!
SS - Big Hugs - thinking of you & your family
23rdS - Great news about your house - I hope you will be very happy there
Minnie2 - Well done in paying off some of your debt - you are moving in the right direction and there is plenty of support here from people who have been in similar situations
NuBu - Hope your wrist is better soon but make sure you rest it properly - we do miss you

Hugs to anyone I've missed who needs them & have a lovely frugal weekend!!

enjoyfinancialchallenges

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

enjoyfinancialchallenges it sounds so lovely and sweet when you describe how the 'jam jar plea' has escalated. I'm expecting it to be on the news any time soon, such is its fame ... Plus hope we have a fabulous Summer for you to sell all that gorgeous marmalade in.

Luv Dizzy x
♥

Yes, it probably will be on the news anytime dizzieliz. It possibly will only make the local news in my case Look East. This jam jar explosion has really gone mad since somebody,:o I've forgotten who it was who gave me loads of ideas to pursue which worked and brought the jj mountain to Marmalade Mansion, where I live, the fun has been in asking for and collecting them, never mind the cooking. I had hoped to start selling again in April but now have to go into hospital again soon. I'll tell more another time. I am now selling again outside on the verge and seem to be getting some lemon curd fans, especially those I have bribed with free jars. Trouble is I can only sell on fine days because I dont want the full jars to look tatty if I leave them out when it rains.

23rdspiral wrote: »

~ i did a very frugal dinner last night - carrot and cauli curry - both cheap (market/reduced) with 9p sauce and extra currents (not sultanas and you couldn't tell!) and spices, served with value rice. it was lovely! and my OH didn't complain there was no meat or even soya mince in it! :T (i think he understands more now re being frugal, and healthy!) come to think of it it really was very healthy, it was vegan!

Nuala - sorry to hear about your RSI - I've had it bad once and it's horrid. keep it warm and supported, but i guess you know that! x


:rotfl::T:rotfl::T woo! i'm so pleased you have a Jam Jar Mountain!! so pleased you can now choose to buy fancy ones if you wish. woooo!!!
~ er, not i didn't get a pm I'm afraid.

Oh dear, I wonder where the recipe went maybe I didn't press the right knob, I'll have a look in a mo. X

enjoyfinancialchallenges

Hi again 23rdspiral have looked to see why you didn't receive the recipe, it was because I sent it to twiglet68 instead, in all fairness though she was the one who requested it. Wouldn't life be boring if I got it right every time.:rotfl:XX

Erme I have been looking into reconditioned vacuum cleaners because mine is not picking up so well even when I change the bag , have you ever considered them ? I know you have been having trouble buying second hand ones that didn't work for long. I have looked at the Dy*** website only but expect most of the manufacturers recondition their own makes. I know it would still be second hand but reconditioned, worth looking into and in the long run it might work out much cheaper for you. XX

Erme

inspirespirit wrote: »

Saga of the gas and electric continues.
The lady from Southern Electric did phone me back today. We were supposed to be arranging a payment plan. When I gave her my account numbers she got very confused and put me on hold. She was gone for ages and then came back and gave me another phone number to ring. An 0800 number.
Anyway, after a lengthy phone call to this other number (still not sure who they were, duh), this wonderful woman put me on hold forever and a day and eventually came back and told me I had SIX different accounts !!!!! She said SE had made a right !!!! up with my accounts and she had no idea why.
Right at the beginning 18 months ago, I had a problem with them as I wasn' receiving my bills. i was constantly phoning. Apparently, when I was phoning they were setting up new accounts and not closing the old ones !!!! So when I did start receiving bills, they were showing my payments and looked as if I did not owe any money (I remember being well chuffed last August when my gas bill was only 30 quid), but apparently i had other accounts that were acrruing debt that I had no idea about.
She still isn't sure why, how, what or when this happened and needs the weekend to try to sort out the mess.
She has however, knocked 50 pounds of each bill so that is one hundred quid off, thank goodness.
She was unbelievably kind and has said i can pay the electric off at 6 pounds per week, the lowestshe can let me pay, and we are going to review the gas every month and I have to phone and let her know each month how much I can afford.
She is phoning back on monday when she has ploughed through it all as she wants to make certain all the debt is actually mine with all these accounts. what a nightmare:eek::eek:

Och like someone has already said...keep all the paperwork in case they regress but good luck...I was well chuffed cos I got my electric bill (being 15 floors up I'm all electric) and like I phoned up to see if my monthly repayments were £85 or £60 and they are £60 so like if we have a hot summer (or as soon as I can comfortably afford to put the heating off) my bill should be lower...I only owe about £75 and I get a rebate with being on a social tariff of £50 on april (though I think this is the last year I get it cos I blagged it last winter when my payments went upto £90 a month).....

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Hi again 23rdspiral have looked to see why you didn't receive the recipe, it was because I sent it to twiglet68 instead, in all fairness though she was the one who requested it. Wouldn't life be boring if I got it right every time.:rotfl:XX

Erme I have been looking into reconditioned vacuum cleaners because mine is not picking up so well even when I change the bag , have you ever considered them ? I know you have been having trouble buying second hand ones that didn't work for long. I have looked at the Dy*** website only but expect most of the manufacturers recondition their own makes. I know it would still be second hand but reconditioned, worth looking into and in the long run it might work out much cheaper for you. XX

Nope my second secondhand one was free out of a skip and then I bought the Bosch in January(£280 on A; or £150 on Mr JL) so I think that should last okay...my prob is second hand washing machines LOL...they don't last two mins!!!...the first one I got (when too paranoid to use the laundrette) ripped up my clothes from about month 3 and now this one (another Bosch..) is making horrid noises when it drains...though I think that's just the pump and it washes fine and doesn't rip up my clothes

So half asleep again after getting up @ silly o'clock and heaps to do...might go down veg garden later for a wander out and a cheap coffee...otherwise there's the ward (take my own coffee) or mr s for which I have £2 left on my card for this month.....

Back doing crochet though can't put anything on ebay this w/e as I'm away next and got some horrid harassment last ebay when I couldn't post on time due to being unwell so like it doesn't seem worth it..and for what I want to auction (hats and bags) fees are only about 6p so why worry?

Anyhow Ibook is @ D's and I have housework to do...Somebody said they were glad to have me back but notice as I did with the fall out in the autumn that since reproving that person for the G word I'm getting far less thanks than anyone else..I was just defending my religious liberties....go figure?

E

rubytuesday

Erme wrote: »

Anyhow Ibook is @ D's and I have housework to do...Somebody said they were glad to have me back but notice as I did with the fall out in the autumn that since reproving that person for the G word I'm getting far less thanks than anyone else..I was just defending my religious liberties....go figure?

E

We are glad to have you back Erme and I did notice that too actually. Don't worry about though - it's a funny old button really but it does interest me quite a lot. I posted on the fashion thread the other day to thank them for reminding me about shopping in Charity shops and how it's really helped perk up my style which had gone decidedly flat. Now, I don't keep up with them anymore but I may as well have been having a conversation with myself!
Cheers me dears!:rotfl:

Anyway off here and into the garden with me to finally plant the plants I bought ages ago before they die which will not be frugal!

redglass_2

l.m.hart wrote: »

yipee i have just noticed i have got my 3rd star

How does it work? I might be remembering this wrongly but I think I once had more stars than I do now...if you don't post for a time, do you lose stars?

Erme wrote: »

.Somebody said they were glad to have me back but notice as I did with the fall out in the autumn that since reproving that person for the G word I'm getting far less thanks than anyone else..I was just defending my religious liberties....go figure?
E

Well, I guess they are exercising their liberties....we can all use the 'thanks' button as we see fit, there's no obligation about it, and as another poster said some time back, not thanking is far less combative than complaining to MSE about abuse or wading into battle. As an atheist I have found it difficult to hold my tongue at times when reading the thread, but because online arguments about religion usually turn savage, I've held back. In fact, Erme, I have thanked you for some posts. I haven't chosen to thank you for others. I'm afraid I won't be apologising for that and will continue to choose for myself.

cw18

I've got some extra money coming in at the end of this month :T

Heard at work on Monday that the profit share scheme payment will be in our next pay pack (next Friday), and it's first bonus I've qualified for (have to work there for a certain length of time before you get them). When I got back from lunch that day I spotted a sign downstairs which just said it had been set at 3.15% - but didn't say of what !!!

So when I got back into my dept I quizzed the baker (the only person still in), and was told of my pay. So I then asked if that was of weekly pay, pay period (4 weeks) or annual pay - and was told it's on my annual figure. I then looked at him and said "well, that raises another question.....", at which he gave a huuuuge grin (knowing what was coming) and before I could ask said "yes, it includes overtime as well".

At a quick guesstimate I reckon that - even after tax - I could be looking at an extra £250

So I'm going to put it into a savings account for now, while I have a real hard think about what to do with it. But I'm not including it in my Frugal Living budget as it's income I couldn't count on (and had actually forgotten about as a possible anyway), and as such I can use it for 'frivolities' without having to feel guilty

I was eyeing up laptops in Mr T last weekend (they had several of a much higher spec than mine at just under £300, and mine's coming up to 4 years old now - plus it wasn't a high spec one when I got it) which I could put it towards, but I think I've managed to talk myself out of a new one for a while longer. (I still have some Christmas & Birthday money from my parents that would make up the difference, so wouldn't have to "find" any extra to add to the bonus if I give in to that temptation)

cw18

redglass wrote: »

How does it work? I might be remembering this wrongly but I think I once had more stars than I do now...if you don't post for a time, do you lose stars?

Stars are based on number of posts you've made.

The only way I can see it would drop is if they archive/delete older posts (another forum I'm a member of, who use the same software, so this periodically), but I've not seen any mention of MSE doing that

rubytuesday

redglass wrote: »

How does it work? I might be remembering this wrongly but I think I once had more stars than I do now...if you don't post for a time, do you lose stars?



Well, I guess they are exercising their liberties....we can all use the 'thanks' button as we see fit, there's no obligation about it, and as another poster said some time back, not thanking is far less combative than complaining to MSE about abuse or wading into battle. As an atheist I have found it difficult to hold my tongue at times when reading the thread, but because online arguments about religion usually turn savage, I've held back. In fact, Erme, I have thanked you for some posts. I haven't chosen to thank you for others. I'm afraid I won't be apologising for that and will continue to choose for myself.

No you don't lose stars redglass. I didn't post for some years and it had no effect. Maybe yours are now in the heavens!:rotfl: