2015 Frugal Living Challenge

naturaljazz

quidsy wrote: »

My cat is currently living in a primark paper bag, he loves it & I haven't the heart to throw it out. It's also very frugal & is keeping him off the beds

My frugal tip for keeping my cat off the beds is to plonk a cardboard box down on the rug in front of the wood stove... when he gets too hot from the (free) wood stove (heat is free from my sons job as a woodsman) the cat crawls onto the rug for a stretch

his_missus

My attempts to glue my boots to make them last a few months longer failed miserably so I had to buy a new pair yesterday. I did find some in a sale but as I hadn't planned to buy any his month, my shopping budget is having to cover it. Good thing the freezer is still rammed, jammed full!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I have posted this over on the freebie board, and on the greenfingered board.


if you live in the borough of Colchester, they are giving away free fruit bushes and trees on the 7th Feb..


here is the link


http://www.colchester.gov.uk/article/15274/Free-annual-tree-and-fruit-bush-giveaway


wish they dome something like this in our council... on an annual basis, I would have a fruit garden in no time for free lol

Nicki_Sue

Morning all!

Not the most frugal of weeks here. The car died spectacularly so had to be replaced BUT they took our carp old car for part ex against the new at a higher price than we'd have got for scrapping it (mechanic /trader bought it and can do what needed doing without the huge costs we'd have needed to fork out PLUS we were looking at soon replacing all tyres and 101 other thing before MOT) so in the long we'll have saved. It doesn't feel that way this week but it will eventually

My printer also died (was so cheap on ink - sob!) but I work from home FT and no printer was not an option. Managed to get a perfectly good all in one for £29.99 on sale and the ink, while not as cheap as what I was using is reasonable enough (I can put it as a business expense but of course have to fork out for it in the meantime!).
So..... not the cheapest week all said and done.

That said my pantry is well stocked, my freezer fine (have been getting weekly meat boxes delivered for free from my local (fab) butcher which has cut my grocery bill down) and I managed to still move £29 over to the ISA this week.

[Deleted User]

I have made this lots of times as it is quite light and fresh. Of course I do not have celery in often, or carrots, use any whiteish beans etc etc but this gives the idea, and I always just bung it into slow cooker for hours.



Chicken & white bean stew

This flavoursome, low-fat casserole freezes really well, so why not make double and freeze half for next time
Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 400g boneless, skinless chicken thighs , trimmed and cut into chunks
• 1 onion , finely chopped
• 3 carrots , finely chopped
• 3 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 2 thyme sprigs or ½ tsp dried
• 1 bay leaf , fresh or dried
• 600ml vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 x 400g / 14oz cans haricot beans , drained
• chopped parsley , to serve

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1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the chicken, then fry until lightly browned. Add the veg, then fry for a few mins more. Stir in the herbs and stock. Bring to the boil. Stir well, reduce the heat, then cover and cook for 40 mins, until the chicken is tender.
2. Stir the beans into the pan, then simmer for 5 mins. Stir in the parsley and serve with crusty bread.

DawnW

Thanks for that whmf00001. It sounds yummy. I will try it out with partridge and pheasant as I have some of these in my freezer, though not chicken thighs at the moment. It should work ok

Frugaldom

Thank you for sharing the Colchester council link for the free fruit trees and fruit bushes,Cooltrikerchick, I have now shared it with the other challengers who don't use MSE.

Anyone else having haggis, tatties and neeps for tea tonight? Cheap meal at the best of times, yet we so seldom eat it here.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

No problem, you cant get more frugal in getting things like that for free, so fingers crossed maybe someone who sees the info either here, or via you will managed to get a free fruit bush etc.. if so, then it was worth giving the heads up..


there were 4 conifer trees ( only a few feet tall) adviertised for free on FB, ( without the pots) so hubby is going to pick them up later..


too busy today as I am still sorting, clearing the house, but I want to go out and about and take some shrub cuttings..


I also have a honeysuckle which has gone made, and also a clemantis sp? so I want to get some pinned down for layering...so I can take some with us when we move...


pity I cant remember what flavour they are... I used to do a load of cuttings of various plants etc, and then sell them the following year, once they got established in bootsales.. .. I might start doing this again.....

viv0147

viv0147 wrote: »

I have a large fridge freezer and a chest freezer and I have just completed an inventory of the contents there is only one word for it unbelievable! So my quest is to empty both before buying anymore except for fresh produce. My next job is to do an inventory of my stock cupboards I reckon I won't hardly have to do any shopping for the next 4 months at least. I have put all my freezer contents on a spreadsheet and as I use them I will tick them off, my plan is when both freezers are empty I will defrost them and then do a massive shop and have it all delivered, and from that time I will be able to know the dates of the food as it enters the freezer because at the moment I haven't got a clue lol.

Just completed doing the weekly menu for next week which is week 5 although it takes a little effort to compile it is really time saving and of course when going shopping I know exactly what I need to buy so I will continue to do this throughout the year.

youngmummy

im so lost I don't even know how much is in the bank or what the credit card balance is ... partners bike needs repairs ... the clocks have gone on it


hopefully I can start getting back on track next week