2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

quintwins

linz4383 wrote: »

my electric is economy 7 so its a lot cheaper at nite (11.30pm-6.30am) in the day the tumble dryer takes my monitor up to around 36p :O an hour in the day and takes it to around 9/10p an hr at nite although i only do around 1-2 loads a week i would dread to think wot my bill would b if i had it on in the day!!!

i do about a load or 2 loads aday, and its a massive 8kg condenser one so maybe thats why, the problem i have is my house is really damp already (over insulated and slowly being fixed) but i don't wanna amke it worse by drying clothes on clothes horses and in doors

happycrafter_2

Strange question but since changing to ebcome more frugal, are you more tired? menatlly and physically I am shattered. mentally because I am researching and scouring the web for ideas, my brain is on overdrive and start thinking of things when I am trying to sleep.The physical tiredness maybe because of not sleeping due to thoughts running in my head about saving more money! plus I am more active with household chores, cooking etc

Just wondered if anyone else felt like this, BTW it's not putting me off changing my lifestyle Id rather be tired than skint.

Also just realised this time last year any money that was given as presents would have been now spent on food and we would have been scraping every last penny together. This year I still have a good (not brilliant but good) amount of money in my bank, plenty of food in the house and payday is Monday.:j

Jo.Mo

Morning all!

I tried Jamie Oliver's yoghurt recipe the other day - brought semi skimmed milk to a simmer in a saucepan, removed from heat until tepid, stirred in Yeo Valley live yoghurt then left overnight in the pan with a lid on. It didn't work (as in it didn't thicken).

I'm thinking of trying again with UHT whole milk and a different type of live yoghurt, and maybe stir in some powdered milk too. Has anyone had any luck with this method or should I cough up for a yoghurt maker? I'd rather not cause I'm skint and lacking cupboard space.

Many thanks
Jo xxx

cw18

Jo.Mo - there's a whole thread dedicated to making yoghurt here

miele_2

Please add me! Hope it's not too late to join!?
:j
I am not buying lunch out this year.. am cooking the night before and bring it with me to work. I have survived 8 days so far! Yay!

Jo.Mo

Thank you Cheryl! x

arrowlili

Jo.Mo wrote: »

Morning all!

I tried Jamie Oliver's yoghurt recipe the other day - brought semi skimmed milk to a simmer in a saucepan, removed from heat until tepid, stirred in Yeo Valley live yoghurt then left overnight in the pan with a lid on. It didn't work (as in it didn't thicken).

I'm thinking of trying again with UHT whole milk and a different type of live yoghurt, and maybe stir in some powdered milk too. Has anyone had any luck with this method or should I cough up for a yoghurt maker? I'd rather not cause I'm skint and lacking cupboard space.

Many thanks
Jo xxx

i haven't tried this method as i've got a yogurt maker, which i love and, works every time.
tbh tho, i do pretty much everything you do except strain it into the yogurt maker at the end and stir in 1-2 tbsp of dried skim milk powder before boiling.
all the yogurt maker does is keep the yogurt luke warmish so the bacteria can breed.
perhaps trying again with the milk powder and then keeping the pan on/near a radiator or in an oven with the piolet light on or in a thermos on a radiator (as i've heard some people do) may help???

happy_but_skint

Hi

I have made a small start on becoming more frugal today, so far the heating has not gone on (my BIG downfall) we have a rented house with old single glazed windows and it does get chilly I have put an extra jumper on. Th weather does seem to be more mild though. I also asked my husband to collect our son from school which is far from where we live so saved myself £5 petrol.

I have also made a meal plan for next month but will do whoopsie shopping on payday and alter it accordingly.

arrowlili

happycrafter wrote: »

Strange question but since changing to ebcome more frugal, are you more tired? menatlly and physically I am shattered. mentally because I am researching and scouring the web for ideas, my brain is on overdrive and start thinking of things when I am trying to sleep.The physical tiredness maybe because of not sleeping due to thoughts running in my head about saving more money! plus I am more active with household chores, cooking etc

Just wondered if anyone else felt like this, BTW it's not putting me off changing my lifestyle Id rather be tired than skint.

i've been making small changes for a while now so it's not so bad, but when i change something bigger that takes a fair bit of plannig i.e meal planning for the week or going through all cupboards/fridges etc for a shopping list, or save money by beaking bread, treats, yogurt etc, it can be a bit exhausting, both mentally and physically.
i have found that it gets less tireing with practice, as the planning and execution routine become easier and more second nature. it's also ofset with less trips to the shops, which is exhausing in itself (especially ifyou've got kids :eek:)

Frugaldom

Three more names added to the list this morning - welcome to Mumwithamission, Miele and Mrs_Midd (all the M's for moneysaving! )

I work fulltime, so can't keep up with all the forums, hence the reason I ended up asking for PMs. But I do skim read the daily email.

To those of you who may be starting to feel the pressure a little, it can take at least 3 weeks to make the initial changes, which can be a complete shock to the system and a major drain on both physical and mental energy, so be strong ad try to see beyond your first year, when you will be more in control of your finances. It can be another 3 months before many people start to see any real benefits, so try to get at least into the second quarter, which will be on a new thread at that time.

The whole principle is to focus on your own goals, the general chattiness on here is more like a virtual back-up, so everyone has somewhere to turn if they find thmselves getting stressed or down about things - being supportive of one another doesn't necessarily mean being here every day to discuss it, so nobody should ever feel guilty about not keeping up with the threads.

Personally, my 'frugaldom' lifestyle a fulltime occupation, fitting in earning sufficient income to afford to live like this. But I swear it was all worth it to finally be rid of the dreaded debt trap and find the freedom to do exactly as I please with my time and money. STAY STRONG, FRUGALITES!

I've been running these challenges for many years, right back to pre-Internet (for me) in the late 80s. This is year 5 on the MSE forums, so trust me when I say it takes a good deal of time and effort to learn and adapt to a new lifestyle, then it becomes second nature. So, if you decide that failure isn't an option, you will get to the 'debt free with savings and a life' stage in no time.

In order that this can be skim-read, I have highlighted what I thought to be the most relevant parts.

Here's to frugal living and sensible spending. :beer: And don't forget to try and get your half hour of freedom out in the open air, where vitamin D is absolutely free.