Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

tumptyteapot

LolaLemon wrote: »

TumptyTeapot

general definition is anyone living under 60% of the median income (in uk)

thank you - I found this -
"
Results from the 2010 ASHE (Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings) show that median weekly pay for full-time employees in the UK grew by 2.1 per cent in the year to April 2010, to reach £499. Median earnings of full-time male employees were £538 per week in April 2010; for women the median was £439."
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=285

seems like an awful lot of money to me :-) I don't think I know many people who earn that much.

LolaLemon wrote: »

edit: ment to tell my wee update.
was in the mood for cauliflower cheese, so go the cauliflower from the veg shop, went to T's to get the cheese and both big T's near me do not have any hard goats cheese just soft stuff or feta so any solutions or recipies for my cauliflower that do not include dairy (unless its milk or soft cheese).

I make mine with soya milk and it comes out ok - it works well with soft cheese or feta and real milk too though - it's easy, just make a white sauce and add whatever cheese you are using - the full fat soft cheese works better than reduced fat though. If you want it properly vegan you can make it with yeast flakes - http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/579698_Marigold_Engevita_Nutritional_Yeast_Flakes__125g.html which is expensive to get initially but lasts ages, stuffed full of B12 too.
It's easy to make ricotta, £1 on milk at Mr L makes loads of ricotta - you just heat it gently, add the juice of a lemon, salt and a little vinegar, stir slowly and when it curdles pour it into a sieve with a bit of muslin over the top and leave for a few hours - you then have buttermilk for pancakes too!

tumptyteapot

ceridwen wrote: »

I must admit my first reaction was "I've never once had anyone think I'm rich because I own my house. They all know very well that I'm on low income:(". I guess that's because its just taken for granted amongst most people I know (though I AM in an older agegroup than you - so its one where we've had our houses for years now...). Things might be very different if I were in a younger agegroup...

My guess is that these peeps are making any excuse to get someone else to pay for them - and they've noticed the house, so are using that as their excuse. They'd probably try to find another one if you hadnt bought a house.

They're jealous - thats all it is - AND looking for ways to get other people to cover THEIR costs for them. Ignore them. I can sympathise - because I really had to fight for my own house one way and another - and I still cant believe JUST how much effort I had to put into getting it...

Well done you for managing to get a house:T

I stayed in a job that made me cry daily because i needed the contract to get the mortgage, I really earnt this house - I am in my 40's though so no spring chicken :-) I bought it 10 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did, even though it is in a war zone and I want to move :-)

Frugaldom

Hello frugalers, long time, no 'see'.

I'm still here - still poverty-stricken when judged on income, still rich when based on 'have I got savings', still debt-free and still pursuing frugaldom with my £4,000 per year challenge.

I never seem to have the time to read/keep up on here, but I'm still blogging and still keeping the spreadsheets up to date. Bit of a budget rejig was needed, as the old car died and we'd to get a new (secondhand) one, so I'd to put a year's road tax on it. Insurance was through cashback, so £55.50 pending on that for a policy that cost £160 fully comp. Manaked to tax it (£125) using accrued cashback and I've switched from cash to Amazon vouchers on TCB to save these for gift shopping.

This year has flown in so far! We had a bit of trouble over Christmas/New year holidays (landlord's new dog started chasing neighbour's poultry, killing some) and long story, short, it resulted in us being given notice to quit this house. Most of our spare time has been dedicated to finding alternative accommodation that'll allow us to take the hens & ducks etc. Supposed to be out of here by 7th April, but we still haven't secured anything else yet... I made it into another challenge but won't bore you with the details here.

My £4,000 budget for this year is now showing a balance of £3,085.52 and of that, £169.81 has been spent on groceries. Challenge going well, despite the past few months of what can only be described as hassle.

Quick hello and welcome to all the new names I see. With luck, we'll be organised sometime around 2050 and I'll can relax and catch up with all the posts. In the meantime, I'll just pop in now and again to say hi - it'll take more than a few housemoves to stop me doing that! :cool:

enjoyfinancialchallenges

Nyk how good to have news of you, sorry to hear about having to find another house you have done so much where you are to make yourself comfortable so hope you find a suitable place soon. How the heck are you managing to keep to budget with all the changes going on in your life? you are definitely amazing. :T

I don't know how often you do make a quick peep into see what we are up to on this thread but we have had our turbulent times, believe me but appear to be surviving so far.
Wishing you well and hoping you pop in again soon. XX

redglass_2

tumptyteapot wrote: »

Median earnings of full-time male employees were £538 per week in April 2010; for women the median was £439."
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=285

seems like an awful lot of money to me :-) I don't think I know many people who earn that much....

Same here, Tumpty!


[/QUOTE] I make mine with soya milk and it comes out ok - it works well with soft cheese or feta and real milk too though - it's easy, just make a white sauce and add whatever cheese you are using - the full fat soft cheese works better than reduced fat though. If you want it properly vegan you can make it with yeast flakes - http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/579698_Marigold_Engevita_Nutritional_Yeast_Flakes__125g.html which is expensive to get initially but lasts ages, stuffed full of B12 too.
It's easy to make ricotta, £1 on milk at Mr L makes loads of ricotta - you just heat it gently, add the juice of a lemon, salt and a little vinegar, stir slowly and when it curdles pour it into a sieve with a bit of muslin over the top and leave for a few hours - you then have buttermilk for pancakes too![/QUOTE]

My mum made cottage cheese from milk that had gone sour naturally. She also used sour milk for making soda bread - we only ever had it when the milk was off! (This was before the days of fridges.)

Frugaldom wrote: »

We had a bit of trouble over Christmas/New year holidays (landlord's new dog started chasing neighbour's poultry, killing some) and long story, short, it resulted in us being given notice to quit this house. Most of our spare time has been dedicated to finding alternative accommodation that'll allow us to take the hens & ducks etc. Supposed to be out of here by 7th April, but we still haven't secured anything else yet... I made it into another challenge but won't bore you with the details here. ! :cool:

That doesn't sound very fair, Nyk, :mad: but I'm sure you'll tackle it with your usual resourcefulness. I'm in awe at the budget. Inspirational stuff. :T Do drop in whenever you can!

tumptyteapot

Today is looking like a NSD :-) Any ideas for what to do with grapes that are on the wrong side of fresh would be much appreciated - I learnt that Mr T value grapes don't last as long as the ones that are £1 more expensive.

enjoyfinancialchallenges

DizzieLiz I so hope all went well for you today and that your thumb begins to feel better soon.

rubytuesday

I won't be spending any money today as I won't be leaving the house as I can hardly walk! I went to a pot luck supper last night and was originally at the wrong door. I must have missed the step, I don't know, and came crashing down onto my foot on the flag stones!

I still managed to have a lovely evening - the food was delicious particularly a red cabbage some one had made, and was fortified by several glasses of wine.

We ended the night with a moon bath which was rather fun if not somewhat ridiculous!:rotfl:

Lesley_Gaye

tumptyteapot wrote: »

Today is looking like a NSD :-) Any ideas for what to do with grapes that are on the wrong side of fresh would be much appreciated - I learnt that Mr T value grapes don't last as long as the ones that are £1 more expensive.

tumpty, I tend to use fruit that is past its best in a smoothie, with a slice of nut butter on toast, makes a great breakfast

my favourite is half a banana, a small apple and a splash of orange juice and the same amount of water, whizzed up with a stick blender. Use the apple skin and all, and the bananas I use tend to be from the freezer where I put the ones too ripe to eat as they are

grapes would work very well in a smoothie. You could have an apple and a splash of milk, with maybe a tsp of ground almonds or oats.

Or a banana and orange or apple juice. Anything that you think would go really

Or you could have them with some drop scone type pancakes. The other thing I do with fruit past it's best is to heat it very gently in a saucepan with a tsp sugar and a drop of water if needed to stop it sticking, then have it warm as a compote with the pancakes. Or maybe cold with some greek yogort

nom nom

rubytuesday

CRANKY40 wrote: »

My Grandad told me if I wanted to be friends with people then I should never discuss religion or politics and never lend or borrow money.

Very sensible Grandad!