2014 Frugal Living Challenge

Coulddobetter

Had a high spend today. £80 for logs, £45.98 dog food, £3.04 on kitchen roll, stir fry sauce and 2 tubes of toothpaste (59p each) and £41.02 on petrol. The good news was I saved £5.10 on the dog food as I had a 10% off, so paid a little bit more off mortgage :j
I couldn't believe how cheap the toothpaste was hence buying 2.

Had a free lunch at work as we had visitors so I brought extra home for OH lunch for tomorrow. Dinner was home made quiche, wedges from the freezer and using up the salad. You are really helping me stay focused, thank you.

CDB x

Buffythedebtslayer

Evening, flying post before bed, did my S'burys shop, 19.40, got veggies for piggies and my lunch. could have been much more Frugal but as ever work has taken over.


I shall work on this next week. For now it is survival.


night all XXX XX

thepennyfarthings

Evening all,
Had last of the beef curry as main meal yesterday.
I added peas, sweetcorn & an egg to leftover rice - egg fried rice for lunch today:)
Made a big beef stew in sc today (beef from freezer):j:j:j
Have also managed to sow some seeds today. Leeks, tomatoes & basil:)
Bought 4pints milk today, used a bonus points coupon so 50 extra nectar points on my card:j

Mummy2threeboys-congratulations, volunteering is very rewarding:) But please, please be aware when volunteering at a school/nursery you can very easily be taken advantage of, especially by those who imply that there maybe a job at the end of it:(

Regarding the level three qualification, I did mine last year it cost over £800 at local college. If your english/maths qualifications are more than a couple of years old the college may ask you to update these too. Lots of schools can no longer afford to pay for their staff to attend these courses.
As of september 2013 the course at my local college was north of £2,000:eek::eek::eek: as college funding has also been cut. Student loans are now offered on these courses:eek::eek:
Please also be aware that most learning support positions are part-time fixed contract positions. So the sums may not add up after all the outlay compared to what you get back.
I have a part-time job & run a tiny business in order to be able to 'afford' to work part-time at a school:(
I don't want to put you off but working at a school is not always the easy option it seems.

Stay safe everyone.
tpf

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Hi all,


only a week in and things are going pear shaped....in my defense.. work has been manic, so we have had 2 cheap chippy supers this week already... NOT GOOD!!!!


worked on till approx. 7.30pm yesterday.. so was too tire to cook..


Seriously need to make room in my house freezer to batch cook some meals.. for times like this...


Its great having a load of reduced meat etc for the freezer, BUT no good, if there is no room for batch cooked meals..


Right off to do some swagbucking..

mummy2threeboys

nat21luv wrote: »

Beware of the moronic comments of 'whats in there?' 'Why are you carrying a dog' 'is that your bag?'

Lol yes i had that for months..wow i didnt realise you actually had a baby in there..humm lumpy moving bags are hardly a fashion trend are they?:p

mummy2threeboys

quidsy wrote: »

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-pack-the-perfect-salad-in-a-jar-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-192174

Has anyone tried this for salad?

no but that sounds lovely, for packed lunches just shake to coat in dressing and done..great find x

mummy2threeboys

THEPENNYFATHINGs

i totally agree with making sure im not taken advantage of, thankfully the owner is a very good friend of mine ..plus at 36 im getting to long in the tooth to take any of that sort of nonsense lol!

Have a good day all xx

quidsy

mummy2threeboys wrote: »

no but that sounds lovely, for packed lunches just shake to coat in dressing and done..great find x

It seems to be more popular in the US where buying fresh ingredients or non GM salads is difficult & expensive but it is def something I plan on doing, I esp. like the idea of making a weeks worth up front as I will gladly eat a salad for lunch every day but never find the time to construct it & keep fresh.

happybird71

daisystar wrote: »

I'm hoping to baby wear this time in order to get maximum cuddles and also still get things done - do you use a sling or a bjorn type carrier? I'm just starting to look into slings as I've got a bjorn but wonder if something else might be more comfy. And you're not a bad parent!!!

I have a Close Caboo carrier for my tiny DS which is cosy. I was loaned it from a work colleague. I honestly couldn't have coped without it. Also have a Boba 3G for DS1 who prefers it to the buggy if he's being Mr Independent or for going on a hassle free walk. It cost about £95 I think but we got so much 2nd hand on EBay, Gumtree and Jack & Jill Market (Kiddy car boot sales in Scotland that are amazing!) that it was worth it. I originally hired two different ones from Slumberoo then kept the Boba and paid the difference. There is probably a 'sling meet' in your area or a FB group for ideas. Personally I wouldn't recommend a Babybjorn just because I know how comfy the Boba is for baby & I & ergonomically better for baby (big word from my carrier research!)

TM6

I thought it would be interesting to google the word 'frugal' and this is the definition....

sparing or economical as regards money or food.

I really like that definition as I try to train my brain to say no! :rotfl: