2014 Frugal Living Challenge

InClover

Hi all, first of all thanks to Mum2one, Happycrafter, Florenceem and Mummy23boys for tips on baby wool.


Sadly I don't know who B&M is which probably means I don't have one around here. Either that or I'm incredibly dull :rotfl:




Was hoping for a low spend day today but had to post parcel to Aus. Cost me £10.40!!! Contents were only worth £30 and I tried to buy lightest things I could think of. Annoying ......


On a brighter note I have a raised bed in my garden about 1m square which I have dug everything out of and filled with topsoil and compost but have no-idea what or when to start planting it with. I noticed someone mentioned planting seeds on this thread but I thought much too early yet. (Obviously I am a beginner vegetable grower). Any tips?

Frugalsod

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Thank you frugalers!!

I have just spent the best part of an hour doing an online shop, first using mysupermarket to get the best prices and then I thought 'DO I REALLY NEED THIS, CAN I LAST UNTIL NEXT WEEK? so I cancelled the order.

All I have lost is time, not any money, belonging to this thread is working

What I do is use the mysupermarket as my shopping list. I add everything to the site and might get some things locally in top up. I will then take off items I do not need. I usually will run through the offers just before I complete any order.

System

Anyone got any ideas as to what I can fill my men up with when they go to work/college?

I am cutting down the rubbish/empty calories but I need something to keep them going all day and they do long days too.

At the moment they take 4 sandwiches (ham/cheese/ tuna or pate served with salad).

Now usually they have a pie/pasty of some description and something savoury (a bag of crisps or cheese biscuits is the norm) and something sweet (a chocolate bar, cake bar or something similar).

Ive thought about cutting the chocolate bar/biscuit out and replacing it with a banana (that's the only fruit hubby will eat). I can probably miss out the crisp type thing as hubby is overweight and he wants to lose his belly but what can I substitute the pie with? He doesn't like soup (it wouldn't be filling enough anyway) and he's not that keen on pasta/rice.

Cantfindafreeuserid

InClover I find this forum great and very friendly but be warned it's addictive :-)

http://chat.allotment.org/index.php

happycrafter_2

Money_Tree_Faerie wrote: »

After deciding to have as many no-spend days as possible I dug out a huge bag of mung beans from the back of the cupboard. They have just passed their expiry date so I cooked as many as I could. After a brief search online I am trying a mung bean curry. We'll have it on rice tonight and I will save the leftovers for tomorrow (and the next night if there's enough).

Now I just need to figure out what to do with 500g of amaranth and 500g of sesame seeds. Any ideas? :think:

How about those thin sesame seed snaps you can buy in the shop usually in packs of 3
http://delishhh.com/2011/01/19/sesame-seed-snaps/

Mrs_Cheshire

his_missus wrote: »

When I freeze soup (or even chilli etc.) I pour into freezer bags, freeze in tupperware tubs then remove the bags from the tubs once frozen. You create "bricks" that take up less room than the tubs do. Just remember to place in a tub to defrost...I always seems to managed to somehow make tiny holes in the bags, probably the way I man handle them in the freezer

Thanks for the tip, I've got some pour and store bags at the moment but when they are used up I'll try your tip!

Frugalsod

Judi wrote: »

Anyone got any ideas as to what I can fill my men up with when they go to work/college?

I am cutting down the rubbish/empty calories but I need something to keep them going all day and they do long days too.

At the moment they take 4 sandwiches (ham/cheese/ tuna or pate served with salad).

Now usually they have a pie/pasty of some description and something savoury (a bag of crisps or cheese biscuits is the norm) and something sweet (a chocolate bar, cake bar or something similar).

Ive thought about cutting the chocolate bar/biscuit out and replacing it with a banana (that's the only fruit hubby will eat). I can probably miss out the crisp type thing as hubby is overweight and he wants to lose his belly but what can I substitute the pie with? He doesn't like soup (it wouldn't be filling enough anyway) and he's not that keen on pasta/rice.

That is a pretty unhealthy diet. The sandwiches are not that bad. Loads of potential for frugal healthy options though.

Try making your own bread for the sandwiches if they want sandwiches. You will save a fortune that way.

Get food flasks and make homemade soups with homemade bread. This uses up excess veg, and is again very cheap.

You could make a slow cooker casserole and they could get some in the food flasks. If you make extra then what they do not take can either be frozen for another day.

You could also do home made pasta salads as well. In the summer make a salad each day from lettuce and other salad ingredients, you could add grilled chicken or ham. There are plenty of options which are both healthier and cheaper.

You could add a yoghurt for dessert and it is a lot healthier than biscuits. If you have additional food flasks why not occasionally allow an ice cream with fruit. It does not always have to be healthy. And in the summer Ice cream will go down well.

If you have lots of fruit make crumbles and then use another food flask for dessert. Apple crumble is simple and cheap to make. Batch cooking might make it a lot easier.

littleskintdragon

Caseymoo wrote: »

Hi everyone, trying to befrugal by using up the eggs and cheese we have in so thought could make a quiche, never made one before as im not a big lover of eggy things like quiche and omelettes but we are getting married so needs must.

I have been looking at online recipes and they all have cream in, I don't haveany in and was hoping for a NSD.

Any recipes or how i can substitute the cream would be great thank you x

I made quiche out of leftover cheese last week, i used 4 eggs, a little milk, some fried onions andgrated cheese and it was beautiful! (In my opinion!)

pm2326

Evening everyone

I've spent money again today as needed to get a prescription from docs, its 2 items and doc will only give me 2 months supply at a time. I know you can get a yearly certificate or something along those lines but dont know where to get the info....can someone give me a clue please

Good news though...work gave us a surprise free lunch today :j I'd taken a pasta lunch in with me so it's still in the work fridge for tomorrow and I had tomorrows planned lunch for my tea tonight :rotfl:

My bulk shop's been delivered tonight so its all unpacked and in the spare room in neat little piles. As this is my 1st attempt at bulk buying I dont know if I've ordered enough and whether I've forgotten something and I'm under no illusions I'll probably have to restock some items in 6-8 months time.....but I'm going to keep all receipts for food shopping this year in a folder so next year should be easier to work out.

I also remembered to submit my gas & electric meter readings earlier, my bill's not due until the end of the month but thought i'd do it now before I forget!

alja

Well since Monday I've only spent £5, this was for my exercise class. I've still been washing my hair using free sample sachets from magazines, but I think I've run out of sachets now unfortunately!

Done a few surveys this week, hoping to reach a payout amount on one of them soon!