2014 Frugal Living Challenge

Frizzle_2

Had fresh lettuces from the garden today and strawberries for pudding. Also picked some peas from ds1's pea plant. It was so cute popping them out together. Got about three tablespoons full so blanched them and put them in the freezer!

Savvy_sewing

If you use Approved Foods ever, you can sometimes buy bread mixes and flour etc at a fraction of the cost. My last purchase was 4 x 3.5kg bags of mix at £1.99 a bag, each bag makes upto 13 loaves of bread. Although I use 400gms of the mix for the 750gm size loaf, plus water.
So I get about 8 1/2 loaves for £1.99
Considerable savings. Some 20p odd a loaf. And have been known to get it cheaper and cost me as little as 5p a loaf.

I really love Approved Foods for dry goods and tinned foods.

Shortie

Hi all, still here and reading but lots going on at the moment so haven't really had the time to post. We have been busy at home with lots of bits, my Dad was admitted to hospital last week and I spent last week juggling hopsital visits, supporting my Mum, working split shifts to try and keep my holiday allowance in tact and Friday it would appear I am sleeping as soon as I go to stop in the evenings lol - I haven't been asleep by 10pm, 3 nights in a row since I can remember!

Lots going on here - car changes coming up, I haven't stuck to my budget this month - I seemed to hit 'ah f*ck it' mode on Saturday and spent a fair bit of money on holiday bits (needed, but would like to have not needed to buy them) after simply going in to a shop to get my Dad some jogging bottoms. I have the savings, haven't gone into my buffer and not in debt, but does mean I will be savinging for a bit longer for other things

First day back in the office today, and whilst my Dad is now back home and things could have been much, much worse, I seem to be in a really odd / distant mood. Happy to get my work done but really not in the mood to be here for some reason. And tired, still very tired. I know it's got a lot (if not everything) to do with my Dad but I can't fathom why it's still physically affecting me. It'll pass I know, just wish I didn't feel so .... displaced... ?

ravingandsaving

I finally came to the end of my two year phone contract - now I'm only paying £9 a month for a sim only - saving about £22 a month! Woo hoo!

Becky_2

Shortie, I am glad your dad is back at home again. I am not surprised that you are feeling tired after last week after everything that happend.

lynnejk

Hiya :hello:

Glad your Dad back home and feeling better Shortie. It could just be your system catching up after you pushing yourself hard to keep going all week eh

The car has to go for an MOT tomorrow and I'm not holding my breath it will pass first time. Think it's going to be expensive as there are a couple of electronic things not right, let alone under the car :eek: Will post later in week.

Hope everyone has a thrifty week
Lx

Frugalsod

Frizzle wrote: »

Loving my bread maker. Have had it a week and have made a white loaf, a 50/50 loaf, a fruit loaf and pizza dough to make 4 pizzas. It is so easy and they come out beautiful! I just hope I keep using it! Fruit loaf was great as I had mixed fruit and eggs that needed using up anyway!

I was very frugal yesterday! I had made 4 hm pizzas (one for dinner and three for the freezer). I had some passata left. I also had one sandwich thin left. So I split it in half, put some passata, LO onion, toms, ham and cheese on and made two mini pizzas perfect for lunch boxes. I had a little bit myself and they were yum! I'm thinking I might do this next time I make a batch of pizzas and then freeze them. This would make 12 mini pizzas for next to nothing!

If you work out how much a HM pizza is and compare it to even budget versions and you can see how much you are saving. I find that when I make a pizza and use an entire pack of mozzarella it is still a lot cheaper than the store versions. I think that HM pizza with decent ingredients like proper mozzarella can be even better than the premium versions in the stores and for budget prices as well. I look at that as a lifestyle boost, as I would never buy premium pizzas regularly, but if you account for that as £3 savings for every pizza that it really helps justify the cost of that bread maker. If you make one instead of buying in one ready made it will save you even more.

sparrer

Will be living from stores for a while now, I added up what the holiday cost and it was about £80 more than I thought so am pulling in my belt even more re food, utilities, petrol etc., until I've recouped the loss.
Lovely neighbour watered my garden as I was late home, she stood at the fence and used her hose, so using her metered water, to do it!
Managed to iron three thin tops with the residual heat from the iron after I'd turned it off
Was recently accepted to trial household products, I now have enough cleaning liquid, air freshener and descaler to last the rest of the year
The little things practiced every day soon add up.

DawnW

Take care Shortie, you have had a lot to deal with
Hope your Dad continues to improve.

For me, lots of cooking / using up today. I have made:

A peach and pear crumble to use up shrivelling fruit. Sounds an odd combination, but they needed using, and it is yum - just had some with cream

A sponge cake to use up some eggs, which I will fill with cream and HG strawberries tomorrow

Microwave flapjacks, to use up some meusli that has been lurking for ages, and some runny honey that just wasn't runny any more

All bad news on the dieting front :eek::o

Also a huge pan of chilli to use up vegetables mouldering in the bottom of the fridge, and half a packet of pine nuts (not sure why I had those ) which I just chucked in :eek:

And a casserole, which is still in the SC, to use some braising steak I got from the YS section in the supermarket the other day, along with a couple of carrots and an onion which had seen better days. I did add some celery, mushrooms, garlic and red wine as well, so I am sure it will be better than the above description sounds :rotfl:It smells ok, anyway

I also used up chicken stock from the fridge (which itself used up a chicken carcase). It gets complicated, doesn't it?

My fridge and cupboards are looking tidier now, and not much cooking is needed for the rest of the week. I will need to freeze some of this lot later

OH's and my tax rebates have arrived in our account :j
And other good news today - nearly 2 months ago, I was sitting stationary in traffic when a bus, which was coming from the opposite direction, tried to squeeze through a too small gap between the queue of traffic I was in and a parked car on its own side of the road. It hit the back of my car, wrecking the bumper and damaging paintwork on the side. If it had hit the front of the car instead, it would probably have damaged me as well :eek:
Anyway, the insurance company rang today to tell me that the bus company has now accepted responsibility and the excess I had to pay for my car to be repaired will be refunded, and the accident recorded as no fault on my part :T

So a good day overall

[Deleted User]

I was at an EGM of my local Credit Union last night. Its so sad that they are strugling and may close due to new regulations.

The weather is lovely here in central Scotland just now so I am managing to get a washing done and out on the line in the mornings before I head out to work. Today I have some bedding out. The only downside is I now have to iron it.

With the better weather here I am going to try (again) to use the car less and walk to things if they are local to me (library, shops, parents/sisters house etc). The aim is to save a bit of petrol and also burn some calories.