Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

apple_mint

Good morning everyone :wave: (((Hugs))) to those who are going through tough and difficult times. I don't manage to read everyday but I am trying to keep up.

I've been a bit spendy the last few days, but almost all in the interest of spaving. The store cupboard stocks are on the increase and I have enough fresh food in to take me to the 31st. Just under £3 left in the food budget so I'm planning on not spending on fresh food until Friday when the new month starts.

OH sent me shopping in Lidl for some of the tool offers and we are now well stocked up on sandpaper / duct tape etc.

I am confessing to buying two cheap DVD box sets online. We stopped Sky and ultimately we plan to stop the TV licence and just watch DVDs for entertainment, so we stock up on favourite series when we see ultra-cheap offers. These come out of pocket money budget.

Someone, somewhere on MSE mentioned making pyjama's out of old sheets. I thought brilliant, what a great idea! So I trawled off to the charity shops and dropped on a pair of double sheets for £1.50. Problem is, they are made of beautiful fabric (and I suspect they were very expensive when new) and now I'm wondering if I really should cut them up :rotfl:I also got a 'new to me sweater' for £1.

I'm not going to buy a sewing pattern, I'm going to try making my own as described here:

http://diyfashion.about.com/od/diypants/ss/How-to_Pants.htm

I have a hand cranked Singer sewing machine, so I should be able to manage these.

For those of you collecting recipes. This is one I tried this week and it has gone down very well at apple_mint towers

Potato Soup
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Potato-Soup

Instead of using potatoes, I used the potato peelings left from batch making mashed potato for the freezer. I also added in some diced celery. I ended up with 8 x 2 ladle portions (enough for one person) for our packed lunches. I started off looking for potato peeling soup but came across this one and it had such good reviews that I gave it a try.

tumptyteapot

apple_mint wrote: »

Someone, somewhere on MSE mentioned making pyjama's out of old sheets. I thought brilliant, what a great idea! So I trawled off to the charity shops and dropped on a pair of double sheets for £1.50. Problem is, they are made of beautiful fabric (and I suspect they were very expensive when new) and now I'm wondering if I really should cut them up :rotfl:I also got a 'new to me sweater' for £1.

I'm not going to buy a sewing pattern, I'm going to try making my own as described here:

http://diyfashion.about.com/od/diypants/ss/How-to_Pants.htm

I have a hand cranked Singer sewing machine, so I should be able to manage these.

Burda have free patterns - http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns?free=1&most_recent=1 you have to print them off and stick them together to make the right size. The How to Pants looks really good though! I have the same problem cutting up good fabric but I guess you have to think of which will get the most use? Pyjamas or a sheet?

apple_mint

tumptyteapot wrote: »

Burda have free patterns - http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns?free=1&most_recent=1 you have to print them off and stick them together to make the right size. The How to Pants looks really good though! I have the same problem cutting up good fabric but I guess you have to think of which will get the most use? Pyjamas or a sheet?

Gosh what a great site! Thank you tumptyteapot :T You've lost me now I'm off for a wander round. On the subject of the sheets. I suspect that I'll keep the 'new to me sheets' and use some of my own stock for the pyjamas :rotfl:

tumptyteapot

apple_mint wrote: »

Gosh what a great site! Thank you tumptyteapot :T You've lost me now I'm off for a wander round. On the subject of the sheets. I suspect that I'll keep the 'new to me sheets' and use some of my own stock for the pyjamas :rotfl:

You could use a sheet that was on its way out to toile the pyjamas (make a pair to practice the pattern on), which means that when you come to cut up the nice stuff you know the pattern will work

apple_mint

I think that might be a good idea tumptyteapot. It's a good many years since I made any articles of clothing. It's been mainly turning up hems and making basic curtains over the last few years. I used to make all sorts for my DDs when they were little, using the free patterns from Prima. I really want to be frugal this year and making my own pyjamas using recycled fabric sounded a good idea. At least not many people will see my mistakes

alec_eiffel

Hi folks,

I can't remember who mentioned it (sorry) about the shopping around in different supermarkets. We went through this years ago when we were paying off our debts, shopping around only ever cost us more money. Maybe it was because we were only spending small amounts in each shop or because we wandered off the list when we saw different things in different shops but it just never worked out for us. These days do most of our shopping at one place, I'm happy with the amount we spend on groceries and don't have to break my neck trying to scrimp every last penny whilst wasting shoe leather or petrol. That's just what works for us, I know other people like poking around places but it's not me. And on that note, over the last two weeks we've only spend £25 in total on groceries - easing up on the bean counting is working at the minute *yay*.

Hope everyone has a good week.

23rdspiral

hello everyone, i hope you had a good weekend? as it turns out, i'm super glad we didnt move this wknd.

i've not caught up yet as have been away from the puter feeling porly all wknd. my cold gave me ear ache which got really bad. i rang NHS direct for advice but it was 16hrs wait for a call back!!! so i phone boots pharmasist, who was amazing and said take decondgestent and what to look out for for trouble. the pain escalated to being like a migrane but on the side of my head. so i also took 2 ibuprofen in desperation...15 min later the most horrendous pain i've ever felt, squeeking, cracking and popping. 30 min after that i was back to just a headache. the clear goo coming out of my ear was a little worring but at least it wasn't brains!

i just got back from doctors - my odd cold is indeed an ear infection - she was shocked at NHS Direct's reaction as it could have been serious. she could see dried blood so i've a torn eardrum and the other is possibly going to go the same way. not fun. the deafness and tinnitus is also not fun.

oh, and i broke a tooth on sat so have a cut and swolen tounge and can't eat it hurts too much. so i'm saving on food (!), and couldnt go out for a friends birthday which was a saving(!), but am dreading the bill at my emergency appointment later today. i've only really allocated for a checkup on the Dentist budget, but my glasses cost a bit less so there's wiggle room, but not too much. grumble grumble grumble.

and i thought i'd reached the end of my teather last week! sorry everyone for grumbling again.

23rdspiral

re Cath Kidson - i love her stuff, but it's so overpriced, all i have is the Tesco shopper she did a few years back, and that was a birthday present!
i did nearly cave last week looking at her 'house journal' - pretty with good ideas and space to dream... but i could read most of it on Amazon's 'look inside', so made my own from a mini ring binder and repurposed address book bits i got from a cs last year! :money:.

Winchelsea wrote: »

Just been trying to do a quick catch-up read through, as was away for a week. Had a brilliant time, a conservation holiday with BTCV, beach cleaning in Cornwall. Good weather, great group of people, great satisfaction from doing a useful job, and LOTS of laughs!

:T i'm so jealous!! am glad to hear you had a fab time. i love BTCV - they gave me my first holiday away at 16, freedom!!! and also gave me my fiance - we met doing scrub clearance on a day session at an 'under 18 prison'! :T

silvasava wrote: »

I was quite choked to lose all my 'girlies' He thinks its down to the cold snaps we had cos they had plenty to eat & there were no signs of any disease.

oh silva, i'm so sorry to hear about your girls.

23rdspiral

rubytuesday wrote: »

What was it 23rdspiral? The FB link didn't work for me.

sorry, here's a link to MSE that might work.http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/ scroll down a bit, at the mo it's the 2nd oldest entry.

basically, MSE has lost the top slot of most hits on a finanical site... to MSE Forums!:rotfl::T:money:

Winchelsea

Thank you slowlyfading for your thoughts on my fall - hip not too bad this am, nice navy blue bruise to show for it, but am getting about ok.

applemint and tumptyteapot - thanks for the free pattern sites. I bought a double duvet cover in a CS to cut up, and have been looking for pattern ideas.

23rdspiral - my DD3 met her DH on a BTCV holiday 23 yrs ago and still (presumably!) happily married. I've been on one before with DH, so knew it wouldn't matter about my age (69). I was the oldest this time of course, and several were younger than my own children - no problems, just had a great time.

Am now saving for another next spring as our group are talking about having a reunion. (Frugal MSE ways mean I can do these things!)

Someone (was it Cheryl?) mentioned saving staff discount in a separate pot. What a good idea - my DH worked for Mr S and I still get the 10% off, so usually shop there. As from my next visit I'll be putting those pennies into savings.

I've only bought milk since I came home on Friday, and have my veg box delivered tomorrow, so managing to keep those moths trapped in my purse!