Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

janb5

good_advice wrote: »

Villagelife - sounds good using food from the freezer.

I have x1 mid tall freezer.
The top drawer has veggi adult DD own buys.
The next has frozen chips and frozen veg.
The bottom x3 has a mixture of frozen bread, pizza, steak pie, few joints = cut from a larger joint into x3. We eat one and freeze x2.
Few bags of mince. I buy the 750g tray and split it into x2 bags.
Some chicken breasts and x2 pcts of sausage rolls. Battered fish fillets. 6x 1/4 lb burgers.

There, and I did not even have to go and look in the freezer to know what is inside.
Can anyone else list the contents of their freezer without peeping?
Sometimes I have HM meals in there like casserole or lasagna, but not at the moment.

I know some families have x3 freezers.
My personal views is that is using alot of electric just to store extra food. The shops are open every day.

Hi- maybe we all use our freezers differently...


Some of us live in the country and a long way from shops and need to buy food when able to.


I don't buy ready meals or freezer food such as chips etc but don't have a car so carrying large quantities of food for me would be tricky so rely on friends to take me shopping by car when possible.


I also like to cook food to eat on another occasion such as a casserole, lasagne etc. If I see chicken or mince reduced I will buy it to use on another occasion but cook from scratch. This saves me a lot of money and time asI wouldn't want to shop every day. Personally I save a lot of money by being able to buy reduced meat/bread , veg etc. I also cook cakes in advance and freeze. I do have three freezers but have five adults living here and it works well for us. I do regularly work through our supplies to ensure a steady turnover of food stocks.


The amount of electricity used is negligible.


Horses for courses!

Hard_Up_Hester

My hubby grows lots of veg, we use one freezer to store the surplus throughout the year.
Also we live at the bottom of a steep hill, if it's icy we can't get to the supermarkets.
Hester

GreyQueen

Hard_Up_Hester wrote: »

My hubby grows lots of veg, we use one freezer to store the surplus throughout the year.
Also we live at the bottom of a steep hill, if it's icy we can't get to the supermarkets.
Hester

I'm the same, HH, with the allotment. I still have some of the frozen blackcurrants and frozen runner beans in there from 2014, although the inventory is going down. My 50 litre freezer (the cuboid kind referred to as a table-top model) might look silly small to people accustomed to a full-sized freezer but it is surprisingly useful. I sometimes batch cook, and put some portions aside in there, which is great for energy efficiency (mine and the gas stove's). I can also find some things on YS which can then be frozen for a rainy day.

I've had it since 2007 and its arrival co-incided with one of the many leccy price hikes and I watched my bills to see the difference it made and couldn't tell I had a new appliance. I had paid extra to get an A rated model, but I gambled correctly that leccy prices would keep rising and that it would pay off in the long run.

Without my small freezer, life would be less economical and more tiresome in some respects.

silvasava

I too have 3 Freezers - 1 tall upright indoors and and another tall upright and a smaller fridge freezer in the garage, and there's just the two of us but like you GQ they're used for produce from my garden. I freeze enough to last us to the next year. I'm just on my last pack of green beans but I've enough fruit to last to this years crop. I also batch cook and freeze. We all have different methods of saving time and money and the electricity for a full freezer is negligible.

good_advice

Morning money savers
I seem to have started something with saying people only need x1 freezer.
I think most people can get to the shops once a week. I do a one only grocery shop per week. If we have run out of something, fine eat something else.
Many shops will deliver right to your door. Gosh, shops will fall over them selfs to grab any money.

Runner beans grow well here in our garden. We had a large bag in the freezer to well in the new year. I used a cereal bag.
We sometimes use the barter system to swap home grown food for other things we need like eggs or some DIY.

Rubarb is often a good swap. We grow it but none of the family will eat it.
I have tried all sorts of cooking it. The plants were in the garden when we moved here many moons ago.

This morning is being dedicated to cooking.
I am baking fruit scones for a cream tea for lunch today.
Oh and I will sit out in the garden amongst the tulips and bluebells. Few daffs that are still dancing in the sun.
I have bought the reduced sugar strawberry jam and some clotted cream.
When the scones come out of the small oven I will put in a fruit cake and the chicken.

That £4.50 chicken will do a roast dinner today and cold sliced tomorrow.
What is left will be for sandwiches.

Blue sky outside with a little wind. Shame I do not have enough washing to do a full load.

Our x2 water butts arived yesterday. We have just to connect them to the drain pipes.
South East water have done the street with water meters.
We need to use more rain water.
I am surprised we do not get charged for rain water and swimming in the sea.

This is time when I press reply and see all the spelling mistakes. The iPad mini seems to only correct mistakes when you press on the word you think might be wrong. The desktop will point out all mistakes with spell check.

Well, have a good money saving day and remember my opinions are my own. Everyone lives differently and there is room for everyone's idea's.

[Deleted User]

Good morning everyone,finally found the forum looking normal again The new look one is just not my cup of tea,If it changes completely I shall move on somewhere else. Its far to white and glary for one thing and not very accessable to find things .I have been a member on here for 11 years and would be sorry to leave, but Hey ho who am I to argue with 'progress'

Just in case it does become permanant I would like to thank all the kind people over the years who have been along for the ride.Smashing recipes and tips and lots of common sense plus a few giggles to boot I have met some great people whom I would perhaps not have ever met (terrific meet in Blackpool a few years ago :):)
Anyway while I'm here ,today I am off to my U3A sociology class and we will be chewing the fat about class and education shoul be interesting stuff.NSD today as the cupboards are still full to bursting:)
Yesterday I made a vat of carrot and coriander soup and now have three large pots in the fridge These will do for the rest of the week for lunches /starter for dinner etc.I shall shortly go mining into my freezer to find something for tonights dinner.Freezer roulette I think I must remember to mark on the stuff I squeeze in there
Hope you all have a nice day
Cheers chums and fellow frugallers
JackieO xxx

Prinzessilein

Morning!


IrisViolet - I think it was you asking for a good pedal bin recommendation?...I have recently bought myself a new bin - it DID cost a bit more than I was planning, but it will last - which my last one didn't!...I got mine from L***land, a certain store originally based in Cumbria!


First thing to do today is to go to the local hospital - had a GP visit yesterday and he has decided to send me for a 'few' blood tests ...I checked the paperwork - there are 11 of them! 11 is NOT a 'few'!!!....It's not all that bad really - I don't need to give 11 different blood samples. they can do it with just the three.....Main things they want to check are my B12 levels and check for a couple of types of anaemia.


I only have one freezer...but make the most of it. One top compartment for quick freezing - I keep icecubes, frozen berries and frozen bananas in here too.....then two drawers for storing frozen stuff......Living alone and in sheltered accommodation, this is the only freezer that I can squeeze into my little kitchenette. I had to make a choice - I could have a freezer or a stove.....I chose a freezer! ...I then got myself one of those mini grill/ovens....what this actually means is I don't have a hotplate....at some time I might buy one of those single hotplates, but to be honest, apart from missing stir-frys there is not a lot I can't somehow manage with my microwave and my mini-oven.


The freezer is really useful - I bake my own bread and freeze it in small portions...I make my own 'ready-meals' on my 'good' days so that on a 'can't move' day I just need to pop it in the microwave or oven....and it means I can buy meat when it is YS or other offer and freeze it. A big moneysaver if you grab the right bargain!


I am currently working my way through eating the contents of the freezer - then I will defrost it and refill!......sausages are out this morning and I think I'll have a goulash and red cabbage tonight.


When I lived in my last place I had some thick thermal socks...I have 3 pairs - really snuggly they are...but I don't wear them in this place - it is much warmer here! I wouldn't use them as bedsocks (too warm!...and I'm not a bedsock person)...and they are too good to be relegated to the cleaning rag pile.....do you think a charity shop would take socks? ...I'm happy to give clothes away, but I think socks count as 'undies' and I'm not sure if people want 2nd hand undies!.


Right...the phlebotomy clinic is now open....I will go and get that over and done with!...have a good day folks!

VJsmum

I am never sure whether something belongs here or in "Not Buying it" or "Konmarie", but anyway..

I often don't shop even once a week any more. It is such a habit with me to say "oh its Friday I have to do the shopping" bring it all home and wonder where on earth i am going to put it.

I had a conversation with myself yesterday on the way home (I know, they will cart me off one day) "I need milk, and lettuce and I can see if there are any YS" but then remembered that it was only DS and me, neither of whom drink cow;s milk (I have two splashes a day in my coffee- the rest of the time we drink soya / almond milk), OH was away. Neither of us were planning to eat salad and it was only 2.30 so the YS would be not worth it (20p off or some such). Nevertheless, it was quite an effort not to walk into that supermarket.

Last night I used up all sorts that needed it - making carrot, squash and coriander soup; apple and mincemeat flapjacks (cobbling together two recipes i have seen on here as I was using up scraps of mincemeat); banana bread; tomato, pepper and courgette "thing". The soup and the "Thing" are in the freezer. So, said i, do i need to go shopping today, then? But no, I discovered a stray pack of mince - so chilli it is

It is quite a change of mindset - but very liberating!

misstara

I feel for you Prinzessilein - I'm just returning home from getting bloods done. I'm getting tested to see if I'm coeliac. However she took 4 tubes and I could see a long list on the computer screen so who knows what else they are checking. Results on Friday.

Looks like today is going to be a day off unless 2nd job phone me with a shift last minute. Plan for the day is to clear out various drawers that I haven't looked in for a while, catch up on washing and ironing and do some more knitting.

vhalla1478

Good morning All,

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts this morning, seeing how we all manage with shopping, freezers and supplies; as several of you so wisely said, we and our circumstances are all different. I only have one 'under the counter' type freezer but I have a very large pantry as well, so really have no problems with storage. What I do when in the mood, is 'batch' cooking, then I split it up and freeze portions. As I live in the middle of nowhere I am reliant on lifts for shopping so do tend to have 'stores' in and am finding that I am spending far less by shopping once or twice a month. I used to live almost across the road from a supermarket and very close to a market, fruit and vegetable shops, charity shops etc and it's insanely difficult, though not impossible to resist popping in - just 'in case'. However, I have to say that it's also down to you lovely people that I'm thinking twice, sometimes three times before I spend. Thank you very much.

Just read a couple of snippets of news this morning that I thought were quite interesting. Apparently 42% of women in this country bake once a week and 41% of men. The only man I know who bakes is my DS - how about the male members of your families/friends?

And the other bit of news is that MacDonalds' sales are down - I'm so pleased - it couldn't happen to a nicer company - very naughty of me. I remember when my children were young and they were very excited about MacDonalds opening locally. We had a voucher so I took them - never again - but then I don't like eating cardboard and additives if I can help it.

It isn't as warm here as yesterday, but will still try and garden if possible. I hope everyone who has to have medical attention has good results. Have a good day, All. I'm happy, DB is back so should see him soon if he doesn't have to go over to the Czech Republic immediately.

Viv xx