2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

bramble1

well, last night we picked up our brand new free telly. Thats pretty frugal i think! I'm going to make my own rabbit hutch for my rabbit this summer too. But generally, I just feel down about how skint i am and how much debt i am in. So spending my life stuck at home not spending a penny.

black_cat

bramble1 wrote: »

well, last night we picked up our brand new free telly. Thats pretty frugal i think! I'm going to make my own rabbit hutch for my rabbit this summer too. But generally, I just feel down about how skint i am and how much debt i am in. So spending my life stuck at home not spending a penny.

Sorry that you're feeling low about your situation. At least you should get a warm glow every time you look at the TV

mooomin

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Local cat rescue to me now won't rehome to f/t workers .....:(

This really gets my goat!

Mr Fresian doesn't work now due to health issues, but when we first got our cats we worked full time and they didn't seem bothered in the slightest. I haven't seen them since ten this morning as they're having a wee snooze together in the bedroom

Greying_Pilgrim

SandraScarlett wrote: »

This thread never ceases to amaze me. Making your own butter Greying! How clever are you! :j

Ah, Sandra, thank you for your kind comment but I wouldn't of even of thought about attempting this if it wasn't for all the kind folk on MSE that mentioned they did this. I followed instructions from a blog, but i'm pretty sure that there are instructions/possibly a whole thread on how to do this on MSE. So, as ever, thanks must go to all the people who post and tell us all about their adventures in frugalling - the good and the not so good - helps to give us a push to try new things for ourselves.

cw18 wrote: »

I did this for the first time this week too

BRILLIANT!! :j

cw18 wrote: »

3x600ml at 39peach (total £1.17) gave me 950g butter and 750ml buttermilk. I primarily made it so that I had butter to make my own shortbread, but having tasted some on fresh h/made bread yesterday afternoon I have to say that this "I hate butter" person has been 100% converted :T

I'll be grabbing any double cream I see reduced to about that price level in future 5 pots there this morning, but still over £1 each - and I won't be able to go back and check at final reduction time (5pm) 'cos my chap is due over an hour before then

CW18 - I'm sure you know this already, but could I just add something I learnt yesterday, is that butter can also be made from Whipping Cream, so anyone that wants to try to make butter, but never sees Double cream at the right 'whoopsied' price, then look out for the 'red tops' too. HTH someone.

Greying

purpleorchid

afternoon all

(((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))) for everyone feeling low.

im still on the lower rung of the ladder as well, dont feel like im getting anywhere, at the moment i look in my cupboards, fridge and freezer and there seems to be nothing that i really fancy, so im having to force myself to eat what is here as i have no money to buy anything else.

mum went shopping today so gave her £1(which is all i have until next thurs) to get me milk, and she came back with 2 milk, potatoes and cat biscuits for me.:D

then she stopped for a coffee and had said that she had made a decision about my finances. she is going to put £100 in my bank account to clear my overdraft as i have been living in it for the last 3yrs, so when my money goes in then i know that im covered without using the overdraft, and to top that she said that she doesnt want the £40 back that i owe her.:j:j:j:j
must say that was a nice suprise and am totally thrilled, however until i can see my account actually in the clear and next months bills paid i dont think i will be able to believe it.:cool:

Luv P
xx

ailz95

Just spent £252 on a free sat dish and double lead so that we can stop paying that nice Sir Virgin. We'd already arranged to change our broadband and phone to bt but was keeping the tv with Virgin as we don't have an aerial (been with Virgin 12 years) as hubby uses the pause button a lot when seeing to me. I thought the pause idea was a Sir V thing and then discovered you can do it with any freeview/freesat recorder. Hubby has agreed to see how often he uses the pause button - our Sir V subscription doesn't run out until 13.2 so I don't want to buy one yet anyway - we have a basic freesat receiver and it seems a lot - between £150 and £250 just to pause the tv.

Buffythedebtslayer

Hi, managed to get my parking refund from the supermarket! I remembered! also spent 20 pounds instead of the normal 35 by leaving things that I don't need and buying value products - not much in comparison to making your own butter but its a start.

Of course this is cancelled out by my trip to the dentist. which will when I get the final bill cost 500 pounds.

this does affect my plans as I had only allowed for a 2000 for the dentist ( I need work!) and it could possibly go up.

I shall do some more sums and see where I am at.

xx

black_cat

purpleorchid wrote: »

mum went shopping today so gave her £1(which is all i have until next thurs) to get me milk, and she came back with 2 milk, potatoes and cat biscuits for me.:D

then she stopped for a coffee and had said that she had made a decision about my finances. she is going to put £100 in my bank account to clear my overdraft as i have been living in it for the last 3yrs, so when my money goes in then i know that im covered without using the overdraft, and to top that she said that she doesnt want the £40 back that i owe her.:j:j:j:j

I'm so pleased for you! It's great that your lovely mum is so supportive.

purpleorchid

thanks black cat, she has always been good in that way, but seems to usually do it begrudgingly, however today was totally different. freaked me out a bit lol, but i gave her a biggggg hug and said thank you, and me n mum are not the hugging type, she is usually on the defensive all the time so is very hard to have a convo with her.
it is her 60th a wk today, i have arranged for her to go beauty salon and have a luxury pedicure and manicure, then a holisitic neck, shoulder and back massage. it will be from me, my brother and my sister.
i have also made her a pamper hamper out of things that i had in the house and some freebies i have recieved off line, only thing i will need to buy to add to it is a bar of turkish delight and a luxury hot choc. i hope with all this pampering she will feel less stressed out. love her to bits but she can be hard to be around haha.

Luv P
xx

SandraScarlett

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

Of course this is cancelled out by my trip to the dentist. which will when I get the final bill cost 500 pounds.

this does affect my plans as I had only allowed for a 2000 for the dentist ( I need work!) and it could possibly go up.

I shall do some more sums and see where I am at.

xx

Teeth are a problem from the minute you start teething, all the way through your life. DH had some major problems a couple of years ago, and the option was a set of gnashers, or a plate made, with half a dozen teeth attached, that stayed permanently in his mouth by means of an elaborate bridge.

The only little drawback was that it was going to cost nearly ...£3,000! :eek: So I weighed up the pros and cons, and decided that if DH had false teeth he would forget to put them in, or forget where he put them, or think he was amusing me by making them come out and go back in (my Dad used to do that - funny when you're a little kid, but dead embarrassing when you're 15 with friends visiting ), so we settled for the expensive ones. So now, when he goes off to sleep in the armchair, snoring with his mouth open, his teeth look great!

bramble1 wrote: »

well, last night we picked up our brand new free telly. Thats pretty frugal i think! I'm going to make my own rabbit hutch for my rabbit this summer too. But generally, I just feel down about how skint i am and how much debt i am in. So spending my life stuck at home not spending a penny.

Sweetie, so sorry you're feeling low. But it won't always be as bad as this, it's the first few weeks/months that are hardest. Once you see your debt gradually reduce, you'll feel better, but I know it is so hard to begin with.

cw18 wrote: »

I did this for the first time this week too

3x600ml at 39peach (total £1.17) gave me 950g butter and 750ml buttermilk. I primarily made it so that I had butter to make my own shortbread, but having tasted some on fresh h/made bread yesterday afternoon I have to say that this "I hate butter" person has been 100% converted :T

I'll be grabbing any double cream I see reduced to about that price level in future 5 pots there this morning, but still over £1 each - and I won't be able to go back and check at final reduction time (5pm) 'cos my chap is due over an hour before then

Now why does the film "Last Tango in Paris" spring to mind?!;):rotfl:

xx