2014 Frugal Living Challenge

DawnW

lynnejk wrote: »

I have laminate wood flooring through (the clever click stuff) and would love some advice on cleaning and trying to get a little shine. You can't get them too wet and I don't want to make them slippery

Don't know what to suggest I am afraid - I am very far from being a housework expert (otherwise it wouldn't be in such a state now :rotfl:). Perhaps ask on the old style board? Mine is wood rather than laminate, and has a finish that has a soft shine. I just hoover it normally, but every now and then just wash it over with a squeezed out mop and soapy water to clean it. I don't do it very often but the soapy water treatment doesn't seem to do it any harm. I take care not to make it too wet, and open the windows to help it dry quickly.

Shortie wrote: »

I use this recipe to make tortilla wrapa for our fajitas: http://allrecipes.co.uk/m/recipe/1864/flour-tortilla-wraps.aspx

Two points to note though:
- Don't cook on low for minutes, cook them on medium/high for seconds (30ish?) Otherwise that dry out and you've made yourself frisbies
- It makes quite a lot of dough but you can freeze it in balls before rollig out for another time

Thanks for this Shortie, I will definitely try it

Shattered today - OH and I have been moving quite big bits of furniture up and down 2 flights of stairs :eek:
The spare bedroom / loft conversion is now a complete tip, with furniture and 'stuff' everywhere :eek: It needs completely rearranging and various shop stock put away in the cupboard. No energy for that tonight Good job nobody has asked to come to stay this week :eek:

But I have now finished the lounge, bar dusting some of the furniture

Still haven't made the spinach and feta pie though, must get on and do this as the ingredients are in the fridge and need using.

We finished the rest of a chilli I made the other day for supper

On the plus side, another NSD for me :T even though I did pop out this afternoon to take a few bits to our units. OH asked if I wanted to go to Lidls, but I resisted as I didn't need anything

lovefullshelves

Shortie wrote: »

Gah, my reception dropped on the train. Take two...

I use this recipe to make tortilla wrapa for our fajitas: http://allrecipes.co.uk/m/recipe/1864/flour-tortilla-wraps.aspx

Two points to note though:
- Don't cook on low for minutes, cook them on medium/high for seconds (30ish?) Otherwise that dry out and you've made yourself frisbies
- It makes quite a lot of dough but you can freeze it in balls before rollig out for another time

I count to 40 as I cook one and roll out the next tortilla..then flip and count to 40 the other side.
I use :
1lb p flour, 1tsp salt, 3oz lard and 1/2 pint warm water. Been making them since 1997! (They have a place in my handwritten recipe book, not many things get that honour!)
Today it rained and I felt like the weather! i attempted a WW2/mommy salad dressing...which ended up as sandwich spread! happy mistake. At least it was a NSD

macwah97

Morning All,

Just been redoing my YNAB budget, again and again and have come to the conclusion, on my part that I am P@nts at this Frugal thingy BUT not as P@nts as I have been :j

So getting there slowly but surely.....

Happy weekend to all and hugs to whoever needs one and to those who think they don't? you probably do so have one as well

Becky_2

I went to Mr T today and did our weekly shopping and saved £4 with a voucher. I have put together several boxes of books ready to be taken to Cash for Clothes, they only pay 10 pence per kilo but at least I get something for them. I did try we buy books and zapper but they only wanted 3 books so couldn't be bothered with that.

Nicki_Sue

Hello all.
On a bit of a high after managing to reduce my gas& elec £70 a month plus get a £122 payout (Was in credit). Work is going really well at the moment (I'm a self employed copywriter) although I have a sneaky feeling that I'm going to have to set the dog / my children one client who owes £200 soon.

Question for you all - who has used Wowcher? I've looked today for the first time and was quite impressed by some offers. For example, thee are 60 loo rolls for £9.99 or £120 for £19.98, this works out cheaper by far than what I'm paying now and appeals to my stock-piling self.

Obviously there is P&P to consider but I wondered:
1) Does anyone have any experience of Wowcher and what do they think and
2) This particular deal is from Wowcher Direct. Presumably if I went for another offer from WD (in the same order) I wouldn't need to pay P&P again?

Thanks x

cw18

I've had several deals from both W0wcher and Gr0upon. Most of them have been for activities rather than goods and OH and I think a couple have been misrepresented - but that's down to the companies providing the activities rather than W0wcher/Gr0upon.

Last week I signed up for a deal from each which is goods - one of which will be DD's birthday present in December.

I believe p&p is per item like Amaz0n, but can't be totally sure as I've never multi ordered.

Nicki_Sue

That CW18 - so worth trying out but go cautiously if not familiar with the retailer?
I do really well with Tesco Clubcard vouchers for travel and activities but will keep an eye on these for the same. It's more the odd gift and bulk buying that appeals to me.

cw18

If from W0wcher Direct I wouldn't expect any problem. OH ordered some toothbrush heads from a different company via one of the systems, and they arrived within the specified timeframe and is more than happy with them at a huge saving against the official 0ral B ones.....

Our biggest disappointment was a chocolate making workshop which said..

Based in xxxxxx, the xxxxxx xxxxxxxx chocolate workshop offers chocoholics and foodies alike the chance to spend a blissful one and a half hours in sugary heaven. The workshop begins with a fudge making demonstration, which you can sample once completed. You'll then get your hands chocolatey by creating bespoke choc clusters with cranberry, marshmallows and even chilli! You’ll then get to mould delicious truffles into shapes and cover in toppings of your choice. Your spoils will then be boxed and wrapped up for you to take home and share with your family and friends (or scoff alone in your room, we’re not judging).


We actually got given fudge with no demo - just a talk through the process of making it and a print out of the recipe.
Then we got to spoon ready melted chocolate over marshallows that were already threaded onto skewers.
Then we were given some ready made truffle mix, and allowed to pick from a small selection of chocolate type strands and similar alternatives to roll the mix in.
Then pick a few bits (like nuts and cranberries) to which we added some of the ready melted chocolate and stirred.

And that was it apart from the pots of tea and slice of (rather disappointing) cake.

I paid £35 for the both of us, but the advertised price is £50 each !! We could just about accept what we got for what we'd paid, but we'd have put in a major complaint had we booked privately and paid full whack.



We went Gorge Walking - as advertised, though a trifle shorted than expected.

Kayaking was pretty much spot on.

Wakeboarding again much as expected, though DS1 had been in Germany so we knew roughly what would happen.

Also had a session at a Airkix venue - tested me to the limit as I detest heights. But I can say I've done it now

We went for a meal which was fantastic value (3 course middle eastern, which we'd never tried before, for £18 plus drinks), which made up for the fact it was a slightly longer journey that I'd normally do for a meal out.

sparrer

npd as a friend picked me up.
Half price lunch in Cafe Rouge
A bag of veg for £1.50 as the market was just closing when we went through back to the car park
Dyed a couple of grubby tops and a pair of trousers, three more items I can wear again now
Caught rain in buckets as the water butt is empty, seems to have a blockage in the gutter or downpipe somewhere
Tidied the book cases and have a bag of books to return to the cs

DawnW

Morning all :j
Been busy busy busy the last couple of days, small business, sorting out house and supporting DD and her little baby while her OH has been away. He is back now (good, cos I am exhausted :rotfl:)

Our loft conversion / spare bedroom now looks nice and all ready should someone want to come and stay

This is a huge step forward as it was hard to even get in there at the beginning of the week, as it looked like an over-stuffed junk shop and it was hard to squeeze your way past things :eek:

We have been ferrying bits of furniture to DS and DD1 too, which means that the garage is now mostly clear as well, awaiting the return of my poor car, which is STILL in the garage being repaired after being hit by a bl**dy bus while I was sitting in a queue of traffic(these were actually quite minor bodywork repairs, so not sure why it has taken so long). This was the company that the insurance company wanted us to use.

The weather is pants, and as it has been peeing down with rain all week, and I have had heavy boxes to transport it has been very inconvenient without it, and I have had to rely on OH to ferry me around in his truck :mad:

I was hoping to go out tomorrow evening, and am just wondering if it is worth wrestling with our not great public transport to get there (was planning to go to an event at a town about 18 miles away) or whether to cancel

Anyway, on a more positive note, I managed another NSD yesterday though will have to spend today as I need some shopping.

Roast chicken dinner to do later today as I managed to pick up some fresh chickens at a nice butchers shop that we pass on the way to DD1's house. I bought 3 on Thursday, one for today and 2 in the freezer

Well, off out in a mo, then more housework / sorting to be done. This house seems really quite small until you come to cleaning it :rotfl: