2014 Frugal Living Challenge

mum2one

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I have bought onsies for our boys, but a week or so ago I got 2 secondhand ones to wear around the house over Christmas... I am well impressed.. ok I look like a twonk..a middle aged woman with a bright tiger print 'thing' on, BUT there are so warm... so would def recommend them from a 'keeping warm' frugal front...


right I have been putting it off, REALLY do need to do a fridge/freezer/store cupboard inventory

good for you, I had the oneies style dressing gown/nightdress lovely and warm, if I had oneies look like mr blobby!

freezer and cupboard tidy out due - get there eventually.

been good and put some oldies on facebook sellers, sold
TV - £20
DVD/Video player - £15
5 jumpers of DDS £15

Very pleased - 1st time sold anything on there. xx

happycrafter_2

I still need to do my freezer stock take but using up left over toffee sauce to make millionaires shortbread in between knitting myself a cardigan (bought wool from lidl with some Christmas money) tomorrow I shall sit down and write out meal plans cupboard freezer lists and work out budget for January. I'm going to try and do this 1 month at a time until I get everything sorted.
Also making some more wine at home following the Wurzels orange wine video on you tube we made some before Christmas in 5l water bottles and it was amazing. Picked up a big fermenting bucket and a beer kit in wilkos yesterday as they had a home brew sale on.

ginnyknit

suse* wrote: »

I'd like to join too as it is just me and the dog, that means I only have myself to answer to really.

I noticed on the first page it said about sharing gardens / allotments. I have some physical disabilties which mean I am not up to doing lots of digging etc. My garden currently is a bit of a blank canvas as well and just needs some new top soil really then will be all set. I was wondering are there websites for the shared gardens as I thought maybe I could find someone who wanted to grow things but didn't have the space. Then we could team up somehow and I could maybe help pay for them maintaining it for me in other bartered services as well. I had been thinking of putting in some raised beds instead of a lawn possibly, and just getting a couple of offcuts of astroturf for the dog to have a place to sunbath on in the summer.

hope this helps http://www.landshare.net/ its the thing Hugh fearnley whittingstall set-up and may be what you are looking for. I think someone would love to use your land and pay by sharing the produce. if the new year is as good as the last you will be quids in. Even if someone only planted soft fruit it would be brilliant.

quidsy

Not even new year yet but I have started my new frugal ways.

Using left over turkey and pork, ive made today a turkey, leek and mushroom pie for dinner to be served with left over bubble and squeek made yesterday, a batch of parsnip and ginger soup for me and oh lunch next week, a pork and lentil casserole is in the slow cooker for tomorrow dinner and lunch on ny day and I've prepped veg for a casserole to be made later inethe week with the rest of the turkey. I also froze the turkey carcass for make stock and another soup later on this month. I am aiming to throw nothing out from the fridge this week, even if what it makes might be a bit weird. Lol

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Mum2one lol... I am not exactly small, I don't care what I look like, as long as I am warm.....My days of trying to look sexy for hubby are well gone!!!

his_missus

Freezer inventory done last night. Enough for meals to last til the weekend and enough for lunches too (only get NY day off work)
Just did a basic shop for eggs, butter, milk and picked up some half price xmas cards, wrap &crackers to put away for next yr.
Finally prepped the carrots I had in the fridge and froze into 9 portions. Bought some YS peppers today which need prepping to freeze and I should really sort the spuds out before they sprout.

icontinuetodream

busy day in the kitchen!!

I had some leftover pork and three 'baby' pots of hommous so have raided the cupboards and added an enchilada spice mix, a tin of tomatoes, some green and red peppers, a couple of pks of enchilada sauce, some tortillas and cheese and made 2 pork enchilada stacks for the freezer...

I have also have a load of cheeses (wensleydale with mango & ginger, stilton and blueberries, wenslydale with apricot, cheddar with ale and mustard, garlic and herb roulade to name just a few!!) which I am going to crumble onto hm focaccia bread along with some black olives, rosemary and shallots.....we will have this tonight with the parma ham, cheeses, salami's and chorizo that we have along with some of the lo red cabbage in port.... I have a ham and pea soup on the go at the moment and I am going to shred the ham, add some to the soup and use the rest on pizza (dough is currently in bread maker) along with whatever cheese I have left over from the focaccia fest!!

Other than a couple of slices of venison and a few bits of lo veg (mash, runner beans and red cabbage in port) our solstice food will have been either used up or frozen as different meals....I have decided that I am going to make veggie patties with the remainder of the veg - all I will need to add is some onion and garlic I will freeze these too...always good for a quick snacky meal!!;)

I bought milk yesterday...but dd went to the shop for it so that I couldn't be tempted again!!:rotfl:

I will try to sort out my budgets properly over the next couple of days....I need to check old statements to find out how much I have spent on oil over the last year...think that may be scary!!!!:eek::D

Nicki_Sue

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Nicky-Sue..


Your hubby should have had any wages due and holiday pay, paid by the government.. Your hubby should have received the appropriate forms from the insolvency practionor, so he should not be out of pocket.

Thanks

He did (eventually!) minus deductions but there were missed direct debits, fees and what not so our not fabulous savings were wiped out, especially given that when he did get a new job (so thankful!) he did so at an awkward time so it was another month before anything came in.

We are all caught up now but not much in the pot hence needing to bulk it back up x

Nicki_Sue

I've gone back to using an online butcher (so much nicer than supermarket meat and goes further) but cheaper than our local butcher. I'll have 20 meals worth of lovely quality meat (when I bag it all up individually) on the 31st in the freezer. My order was £51 with delivery. This has always saved me a fortune in the past, no idea why I stopped doing it??!

Goldiegirl

DawnW wrote: »

By the end of April I will hopefully have retired from my job, so will need to seriously recalculate - no more salary, just a small pension :eek: Still, I have been saving in preparation for this

I will carry on with my small biz, and haven't ruled out getting a part time job at some point, but carrying on with the big stressful one is not an option!

I'll be interested to hear how you get on in retirement, as that's what I'm working towards.


I worked full time up until 4 years ago when my office was closed and we were all made redundant. I have found a two day a week part time job, but those two days do sometimes make me feel is if my life force is being sucked out of me !


I have a tiny ebay business which I like, and I intend carrying on with that. I don't make a fortune, but it is enjoyable, and makes a little bit extra for treats.


On the subject of eBay, I've been doing a lot of listing this weekend, both business and personal. I stop for a few weeks in December, but now it's full speed ahead


I now have a bread maker. I'll be going out tomorrow to get the right sort of flour and the yeast, so I hope to bake my first loaf tomorrow.


Mr GG is very on board regarding living a simpler more frugal life, and he's very keen on the idea of home baked bread. I hope he's still as keen, when I substitute his favourite chicken breasts for chicken thighs, because they are cheaper per KG !