2014 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugalsod

Well my NSDs have come to an end. I bought some microfleece travel towels which were dirt cheap and got some cash back as well.

Shortie

Ahhh, you see, I thought the council would pay for the fencing if it was their house's responsibility... interesting to know that. Doesn't change the weekend plans as the fence isn't busted, we're just trying to get more privacy that's all - but if in the future there is repair work and it's not ours, it's helpful to know that it's not the council that repair it but the tenant. Ta

DawnW

working from home today (well, just finished) as no meetings. Bliss, no need to get up at 6am, no commute

Back tomorrow with a vengeance though

DD popped round at lunch time and I had a cuddle with little GD

Bit of shopping at Lidls needed as I didn't do a weekly shop at the weekend IYSWIM, and fish cakes to make for tea with some tinned salmon that has been in the cupboard for ages and the 4 bendy potatoes I have left.

A bit more work to do after tea, and I really ought to sort out the printer. BT changed the broadband weeks ago, messed up the wireless network, and I haven't been @rsed to sort it out since I hate messing about with printers - stupid contraptions! Must do it though as I have stuff that needs printing.

Goldiegirl

A few good frugal things today.


Home made chicken soup for lunch - it was very nice, and I think good for my first soup making attempt


Coffee for two and a piece of millionaires shortbread in M&S for 50p, courtesy of my free coffee vouchers - also wasn't even tempted by the 50% off sale


Mr GG needed razor blades - they are so bloomin' expensive. He got them in Boots, and used a triple points voucher and also 150 points for spending over £15. Soon he'll have enough points for some free razor blades.


Normally on a Wednesday evening I start to have back to work jitters, but I'm holiday this week, so haven't got to think about it until this time next week

DawnW

STILL haven't edited those documents or fixed the printer

The fishcakes were great though - here is what I did:

I tin of salmon (the larger size, like an ordinary tin of beans)
4 smallish bendy potatoes (bendiness not compulsory )
A little butter
Salt and Pepper.
Breadcrumbs to coat

I peeled, cooked and mashed the spuds with a little knob of butter, and mixed with the drained salmon, salt and pepper. I added some optional extras at that point - some parsley from the garden, well chopped, and some chopped capers from a jar in the fridge. Now these extras make for posh fish cakes, but if you are making them for kids, they probably won't like the 'green bits', so take your choice....

I then shaped them into patties and coated with breadcrumbs (some people use egg to make them stick but I never do and they stick fine), then cooked them on the griddle, no fat needed. You could use an oiled frying pan, but they definitely don't need frying in lots of fat. One tin of salmon and 4 bendy potatoes made 6 big fish cakes, enough for OH to have 2 each for tea, and 1 each for lunch tomorrow

You can use any kind of fish, it doesn't have to be tinned salmon, though if it is raw fish you would need to cook it first to use this method. You can also use a slightly higher proportion of potato to fish, which I might have done, but I only had the 4 :rotfl:

SarahB1989_2

Struggling with my meal plan a little this week - I had 2 recipes that were supposed to make 2 portions each, and they've both made 3. No space in the freezer so putting tupperware to the back of the fridge and hoping it gets cold enough to keep til next week as I'm away the weekend.

Goldiegirl - where did you get free coffee vouchers from? I'm still waiting for my JL ones to come through.

Mrs_Cheshire

Shortie wrote: »

OOhh now I've never made sweet and sour, will do a search on here as someone's bound to have posted a recipe up before to make it from scratch (we're not 'out of a jar' fans)

And would do perfectly as I've never been a fan of pork as I find it quite dry - and this is a wet dish so would be fab :beer:

Not sure if you found a recipe as I'm still reading through, but shout if you've not, as I've got a good one.

Goldiegirl

SarahB1989 wrote: »

Struggling with my meal plan a little this week - I had 2 recipes that were supposed to make 2 portions each, and they've both made 3. No space in the freezer so putting tupperware to the back of the fridge and hoping it gets cold enough to keep til next week as I'm away the weekend.

Goldiegirl - where did you get free coffee vouchers from? I'm still waiting for my JL ones to come through.

The coffee vouchers are part of the M&S Premium Club

The Premium Club costs £15 per month.

However, for us, it's worth it.

A few years ago, we had M&S travel insurance. We had to cancel a holiday, a few days before we were due to travel, as my mum sadly died. M&S paid out quickly, with no fuss or bother.

Because of that, I prefer to stick with them for travel insurance.

Travel insurance is included in the premium club, and the £15 per month works out cheaper than the annual premium. So we are already in credit just with that, but we get enhanced points for purchases, and special offers and the coffee vouchers. The points pay for luxurious treats for our Christmas food, plus some clothes, so we feel it's good for us, but might not suit everyone.

Shortie

So I had a reply from the council (really impressed how quickly they replied to be fair)

Fences front and back on both sides are ours :-/ He ho - the one on the right doesn't need replacing just yet but I will have to think about saving to replace it at some point. Will still get the height added to it this weekend though :-) Then I can rescue the kitchen garden in privacy without being over looked, lol

Thanks for the advice yesterday everyone xx

Shortie

Any one else watching the repeats of Paul O'Grady's For the Love of Dogs? I think he's fab, and I'm a complete softie for rescue animals (hence our first 2 brother-puds (both now in puddy heaven) were rescues from Battersea) and pud no4 is from Wood Green Animal Shelter

If I don't blub by the end of the program it will be a miracle

Still, I can wipe my nose on pud 3 (not a rescue pud, he's never had a hard day in his life, lol) who's currently flopped all over my laptop :rotfl: