2015 Frugal Living Challenge

maria3104

Cooltrikerchick

Love your happy piggies, we have three here snuggled in straw growing happily for our dinners:j

Mrs_Cheshire

Welcome to the new people and welcome back lynne.
Job for today is to fill in my funding form and get it ready to send on Monday, I'm doing my degree with the Open University and due to having a low income I can claim back childcare and mileage to tutorials etc. It's a bit of a pain having to pay for things then claim it back but at least I'm able to get most of it back.
I'm getting pretty good at stretching meat to last more than one meal. We've have gammon carbonara for tea tonight, in the past I would have eaten the all the gammon when we had a roast but now I save a couple of slices and chop it up small to give us another meal. I did the same with some roast turkey last week, it made a lovely curry with some vegetables and you would never have known it was leftovers.

cw18

It's not just my car conspiring against me - but I hope the saying "things come in threes" is true, 'cos that means I've had my lot

My combi oven blew up this morning!! DS1 put it on to heat some soup while I was in the room, and there was a very loud 'pop' from the back of it. 5 days short of 2 years old, and it cost me £250 :eek:

Not sure how I'll cope without (use it daily, and in place of my main oven at least 4 days a week), but can't really afford to spend that much again Seriously considering an extended warranty if I decide to replace even though I normally wouldn't consider one on anything - purely because I've had 4 combi ovens in the last 12 years (though one of them was only a month old when it went so was replaced in store with no problems). At least it would guarantee I wouldn't need to pay for another replacement within 5 years.....

Not sure whether it's worth exploring the option of trying to get it repaired. The closest recommended repairer on the manufacturers website is only open Monday to Friday, so I can't even phone to discuss the possibility for a couple of days.

I've been full of a cold on and off for the last couple of weeks as well, so really don't need all this hassle while I've got a foggy head

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Maria, keep an eye out on local facebook pages, its suprising what you pick up cheap or even free.. especially sofas etc..

Nicki_Sue

Hi all,
A more expensive day than most today. The 4yr old's room was desperate for a makeover however with a bit of bartering and sale searching I've managed to get:
A solid pine single beadstead (which is being delivered shortly) for £20
A new mattress in a sale £39
A new duvet and pillow cover set, 2 pillows (one for DS, one for hubby) and a new duvet £18.36,
So no more Thomas bed and a lovely "big boy" room for the 4yr old for £77.36 (money we had put aside for it so no impact on the budget).

rubiesr4eva

Evening everyone


Just a quick question, I've been reading various threads and nearly everyone mentions batch cooking or slow cookers.


Batch cooking is not for me I don't think, as tonight I have cooked for 7 and my saucepans don't really allow for more.


Slow cookers, I've been looking at, and one piece of advice I got was to get the biggest one (often cook for 6 plus).


So having researched them today, I've found 3 for 6.5 litres.


1) £19.99
2) £39.99
3) £69.99


Third one, looks to modern and is far too expensive for me to justify.
Only difference between first and second, is that second comes with a few attachments, ie slotted spoon, that I already have. So would obviously go for the cheapest one, but are they really worth having? Don't want to buy another kitchen gadget that won't get used!

naturaljazz

Broken_Biscuits wrote: »

ive just finished reading a book quite relevant to the "what counts as frugality debate". The book is called the moneyless manifesto by mark Boyle. He talks about POP scales (plan of progression).


in brief, if your ultimate aim is to live moneyless (as the author did for 2 and a half years in Bristol) its ok to be further down the scale at this time of your life as long as you can visualise how you will progress further up the scale towards your goal.

for me POP scale level 1 would be not having to work as frugality and passive income takes care of my living costs. Im probably at about level 5 or 6 on the POP scale. I can live fairly comfortably on less than two thirds of my salary.


if i achieved level 1 in the future and then met someone at level 6. I would respect them for starting out on the journey. We are all at different points of the same journey.

id recommend mark boyles book. I got it for free from local library.

Thanks Broken Biscuits for the book recommendation. Ordered from my library. I would imagine that anyone who wishes to be more economical with their money will be most welcome on here. I am someone who has chosen to live frugally on very little for many years, I have no debt. But having said that I love reading suggestions, advice, experiences and comments on here. I am learning all the time from old die-hards and newbies! So as you say we must all respect each other on our individual path to a state of frugaldom

cw18

rubiesr4eva wrote: »

Third one, looks to modern and is far too expensive for me to justify.
Only difference between first and second, is that second comes with a few attachments, ie slotted spoon, that I already have. So would obviously go for the cheapest one, but are they really worth having? Don't want to buy another kitchen gadget that won't get used!

I don't use mine often, but wouldn't now be without it. I've cooked full chickens (fall apart), gammon joints (even the cheapest become really tender and fall apart), and my latest was lamb shanks (almost served without bones).

I have this one, which was highly recommended by a number of people on a diet and fitness site I'm a member of

rubiesr4eva

Thank you cw

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I have had my slow cooker for years, but only ever used it once in a blue moon, since being an active user this year on this thread, and someone mentioning and giving a link to the slow cooker page on facebook, I have got my confidence in cooking more than a casserole in it.


Yesturday I cooked a small leg of lamb in it, and the meat is soooooo tender..


I also went to a poundshop to buy cake tin liners to make a sponge cake in it.


I also seen someone making bread in it.


Once I get into the swing of using it properly I am really tempted to buy the double ones, so I can cook a main meal, and afters in it at the same time..


before buying one, if you are on facebook join the sc page, and see what people are making etc..


I don't have anything to do with this page except I have joined, and as mentioned when it was mentioned before, think this would be of interest




https://www.facebook.com/groups/slowcookedwonders/