2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

debbiedeejay

wear280902 wrote: »

Sorry if this is not the right place for this post but it is here I have picked up the most tips. I have borrowed a 6.5litre slow cooker and it has been fantastic this week with helping me feed my family on a budget. But now the time has come to return it and I need a replacement and need to part with some cash. I therefore, want to purchase the best I can for my money.

Do these items save electricity as opposed to using my fan assisted oven ie. if something likes a stew takes 2 1/2 hrs in an oven but in a slow cooker without timer will be left on low for 6hrs....am I still making a saving?

Do people have a preferred brand...my sister has a crock pot design because the pot can be transferred to the oven...are these any better worse?

Try Freegl3 first - put on a wanted add if none on there at the moment.They do come up from time to time and there is no harm in asking,especially if you get one for free to keep you going in the mean time.

I personally have a slow cooker (in fact two, my first is a tiny 2 person one that is bright orange on the outside,very retro that an aunt gave me 20 years ago and it's still going strong) but my family sized one that I bought about 5 years ago is by by brevi((e.

I like it,not because it does the job,but the oval serving pot is a really nice sleek & shiny black colour and looks good when I serve the meal from the table.

For me it's cheaper to use this than the oven as I use gas and have no timer anyway on the cooker.
HTH

Had a letter back form the pub chain company that I complained to regarding the bad meal 7 of us had on Boxing Day - Letter lets us all have a free carvery meal for us all next time we visit - so might use it next week as a family get together as it's my birthday next week.

cw18

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Sorry all, having problems with one of my columns in the totals sheet.

It's showing Red (overspent) even although it isn't?

Was going to say that it looked like the conditional formatting had got corrupted, but it appears the others have already sorted you out :T

If anyone else is having a problem with something like this and isn't confident about fixing it, give me a shout. If you're happy to email me your s/sheet I can do a fix and send it back

Blairweech

wear280902 wrote: »

Do these items save electricity as opposed to using my fan assisted oven ie. if something likes a stew takes 2 1/2 hrs in an oven but in a slow cooker without timer will be left on low for 6hrs....am I still making a saving?

Yes, it will definitely save money as a slow cooker is just like leaving a lightbulb on all day (in terms of energy use) whereas an oven uses A LOT of energy. I have the M0rphy Rochards 6.5l one, mostly because it looks pretty good but also the oval shape means you can fit a whole chicken in

Kerfuffle

SandraScarlett wrote: »

Just ordered a £2.99 personalised card, plus 50p postage - for nothing - from http://www.cardtown.com because you get £5 credit for registering. Sorry if someone else has mentioned this.

xx

Hi SandraScarlett,

Thanks for this, I saw the item on the newsletter but didn't act on it, then I realised I'd missed the posting date for my Mum's birthday card so on your prompt I took a look at the site.

I've just received a confirmation that the card I 'designed' has been sent so hopefully Mum will receive it in time for her birthday.

It actually took me longer to choose a card, write the verse, and change the style and size of text than it usually takes me to go into a shop and buy a card :rotfl:

I suspect that she won't be too thrilled as I think she would prefer a personally written, albeit belated, card but I'm prepared to suffer the consequences in the name of research :rotfl:.

2wildthing2

Blairweech wrote: »

Yes, it will definitely save money as a slow cooker is just like leaving a lightbulb on all day (in terms of energy use) whereas an oven uses A LOT of energy. I have the M0rphy Rochards 6.5l one, mostly because it looks pretty good but also the oval shape means you can fit a whole chicken in

I have never used to cook a whole chicken, how does that work I just use mine for casserole type dishes.

rising_from_the_ashes

So... have made the adjustments now the CT (incl Water) has been frozen again this year:j and dug a few things out of the enormous "anything else" budget and given them their own ones..... whilst retaining the original overall figure.



Hopefully that's everything now! (but not promising!)

Blairweech

2wildthing2 wrote: »

I have never used to cook a whole chicken, how does that work I just use mine for casserole type dishes.

Here is a thread about it on MSE ...some people add water/stock, some people dont; some people add vegetables etc. One poster says about putting the stuffing in the slowcooker to soak up all the chicken juice, I have not tried this yet but sounds nom! Have to be careful when lifting it out though as the meat will just fall off the bone :money:

purpleorchid

morning all

i have been up all night again, on my 3rd week of bad sleep pattern.

hope everyone is ok today and get the heating problems sorted.

as my sleep pattern is backwards at the moment, your breakfast is my dinner lol. if you can get that.

so i have just had dinner (breakfast). didnt know what to have but was well impressed with what i concocted. had a rummage in the freezer and cupboards and found...

beef (cooked a few wks ago and frozen, it was bought for me so free)
stir fry mix (again frozen from fresh)
blue dragon hot shots, sweet chilli and garlic (free)
naan bread

so to go with that i made a simple egg fried rice and omg it was yummy lol. made enough for another meal as well, so thats dinner done for tomorrow. now sitting here and im thinking i want something sweet, so have just remembered i have an aunt bessies custard (free) in cupboard, and half a banana left from sat that my dd didnt want. so there is my desert lol. what a frugal meal.

Luv P
xx

Thrifty_Sister

Did my first whoopsie hunt yesterday as part of my frugal challenge. First two shops produced nothing apart from some crumpets but Mr A's was kinder to me. Managed to get lots of stuff including posh yoghurts and cream, chopped onions, pork pies, and vegetables for 5-7p and some bags of mixed peppers for 10p. Came home made a stew for dinner and a curry for tonights/tomorrows dinners from reduced veg and freezer/cupboard supplies. 3 large bags of shopping for less than £3. OH couldn't believe how much food we got and was very impressed with the meals I cooked. Just got to try to convince him that there is no shame in standing waiting for the food to be reduced!

Thrifty_Sister

Wear208902 - re the slow cooker I had one some time ago which got stuck in the back of the cupboard as I didn't really have the time/interest to use it very much. Things are different now and I have started using it again and it will be very useful for making stews, soups etc. Have you looked in your local T's and A's? They did have them very cheap not too long ago and in case you go off it you might not want to pay a lot. HTH.