2014 Frugal Living Challenge

miss_empty_piggy

Big hug sweetpea26 :grouphug: sounds like you need one.

DawnW

Supermarket today, plus I need to buy some chicken food, a birthday present for a friend, and sort out my little antiques unit after the Xmas non-rush to brighten it up for the new year, take some of the unsold stuff out and put new things in. I probably barely cover my costs at the moment as the unit is expensive, but I am planning to keep it on till after I finish work, and rethink then. I will have time to do vintage fairs etc then, which I don't have now. Hmm, lots to think about!

Planning on making a tuna pasta bake using up some stuff from the cupboard. Not much needed at supermarket, as a relative who has been staying is finally leaving on Wednesday. He has been eating us out of house and home, much to OH's frustration. Does anyone else have visitors/ relatives who invite themselves for Christmas and stay for a month? Correction, I know of at least one other- my DD1's inlaws, with whom we are friendly, find themselves in a similar situation with family on her FiL's side

Daisychain1

Good morning all and big hello to all the new frugalistas who have joined over the last couple of days:j

Big hugs to sweetpea26 :grouphug:

I was very naughty last night and just dumped all the tea dishes with the 'I'll sort it in the morning" attitude. How I wish I hadn't!! I don't remember the kitchen looking that bad :eek: I was due a cleaning day anyway so after this post and a declutter of a cup of coffee I shall be on a mission to sparkle and shine the entire house. It's such a shame I have to pop out and get a prescription otherwise it could have been an NSD.

On a more joyful note went shopping last night in Mr M. Only spent £37 on a weekly shop and this included 6 boxes of Kel&@gs cereal as they were a £1 per box. I am trying to start a little stockpile of goods which are on offer to avoid buying when they are not. I'm really chuffed with this spend because I hadn't been shopping for 2 weeks and normally would spend about £60.

Wishing you all slovenly day. Take care in this horrid weather.

From a very soggy SW England. DC1

Green_Queen

Hello,

I know I'm a bit late on joining - have caught up on the comments. I'd like to save a bit of money to do up our house a bit. One of my worse spends is probably whilst at work. I work a 24 hour shift and I am never organised enough to have dinner, breakfast and lunch to take with me.

Thanks for all your great ideas so far.

Green_Queen

Well I woke up this morning with an idea of what I could make with some Stilton I froze after Christmas and for the life of me I can't remember what it was!


How about broccoli and stilton soup? It is so rich that it feels super luxury.

zafiro1984

Yesterday's frugalism - 500gm mince out of freezer, stretched it with peas, carrots and mushrooms (all left over from Christmas), added flavourings and turned it into a large cottage pie. 2 Portions eaten and 4 to freeze for another day. Cooked in oven attached to woodburner so cooking was free.

Just going to make some bread rolls to have with lunch - potato and leek soup, leeks are frozen, I managed to get some YS ones a while back, so chopped and froze them.

Need to look in freezer for inspiration for tea, but one thing I'll not be doing - is shopping.

Have a frugal weekend

hollieinbloom

Daisychain1 wrote: »

On a more joyful note went shopping last night in Mr M. Only spent £37 on a weekly shop and this included 6 boxes of Kel&@gs cereal as they were a £1 per box. I am trying to start a little stockpile of goods which are on offer to avoid buying when they are not. I'm really chuffed with this spend because I hadn't been shopping for 2 weeks and normally would spend about £60.

Doesn't it feel super good when that happens! I love it when my shopping is low. I'm planning on stocking up too! My OH works at b00ts and his favourite hair styling gel is half price so with his discount too it's worth us buying 5 pots of it to last him a good few months. I need some deodorant and bubble bath so I think I will scour the shop for bargains.

Got to go stock up on guinea pig stuff too, my DD got 2 from my grandad for christmas. They are the cutest little things and she's really taken to them! xx

alja

Went to Mr T this morning and managed to get a couple of bargains! I picked up some pretty boxed memo pads at 60p each. These will be used as part of presents. And also some cake tins, I think they're a two pack set and they have a London style print on them (red buses etc) - these were only 50p! So I picked up two, with the intention of using at least one lot for a present

I also had a look through their clothing sale and managed to get two new tops and a dress for a total of £12 - with my clothing voucher I only had to pay £2 so I'm quite happy!

mumfirst_2

Morning all.. lovely day again.. not!

Hugs Sweetpea

May get my first NSD of 2014 today. Used christmas money to take DD2 for lunch on NYD but as i stayed home NYE im ok with the £20 spend. Had to nip to Mr T.. for basics.. bread, milk, juice etc and bought nothing else...except a battered reduced tin of toms, a first for me.. that must have pint always costs me about £20 in things i didnt really need.
Have taken a large pack of mince from the freezer and will see how many meals i can get from this, thinking spag bol, cottage pie, chilli and save some of the bolognise/chilli sauce for pizza/jacket spud topping...any other ideas gratefully received.. there is just me and DD2 when she is not working or at college/on placement, she is on an 0 hour contract and Jan is a quiet month so she maybe home a bit during Jan. I have managed to get her on board with the frugal life, we saving a car which will benefit her.. having lost the £92 a week..eeek i was receiving in tax credits and child benefits.. now she is an adult belts do need tightening. Heating is being left off as much as possible and she is putting on a onsie and offered her boots points to buy us meal deals yesterday.. i refused, had a gift card so used that instead but feeling that maybe i should ask her for a small amount of board each month, she is hardly home overnight but showers here everyday, does a ridiculous amount of washing, eats what i put in the cupboards. Already pays own phone bill and food outside of the house.. opinions on this appreciated.

Also can i ask a daft question... how do you make soup.. would love to make my own but dont know where to start..:o

Have a good day everyone

DawnW

mumfirst wrote: »

Also can i ask a daft question... how do you make soup.. would love to make my own but dont know where to start..:o

No such thing as a daft question

I LOVE soup, you can really make it out of anything! You can google for lots of specific recipes, but I usually just use bendy stuff that is lurking in the fridge! For a basic veg soup, just chop up any veg that you want rid of (unless you want to make a specific soup such as curried parsnip, avoid too much of strong flavoured things like swede and parsnips, but a small amount is fine), an onion, carrots, a potato, sweet potato, celery, and frozen or leftover veg such as sweetcorn and peas are good as well, soften in a small amount of oil or butter, then bung in a tin of tomatoes if you like, some stock or water and cook till soft.

You can also add dried things like pearl barley and lentils, it is really up to you, but be aware that some dried beans etc need to be soaked first before cooking. A couple of slices of chopped up bacon (or basics cooking bacon pieces), added at the softening in oil stage, are a good addition. When cooked, whizz in a lender or use a stick blender. If you want some texture, just whizz half of it and leave half chunky, or use a potato masher instead of blending. Some HM croutons add a bit of crunch as well. If you are feeling flush, or have some left over, a swirl of cream puts it in the luxury class

'Fridge bottom soup' is a favourite in our house :rotfl: