Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Lynplatinum

Hi folks

Well, I haven't posted for a couple of days because i have rather fallen off the Money Saving wagon! :-(

I went out with friends on Saturday and spent £20 for the day out. Admittedly this did not intrude into the £10 'Emergency' money I also took out but I really did not budget for this.

Then, on Sunday, I took my son to Costco - he has recently turned Vegan and wanted to buy nuts etc in bulk - they are cheaper there than in the supermarkets. However, the bags are sooooo huge that we share them 50/50 and I ended up spending £40 (again unscheduled)

And today a very impoverished friend just learnt that they have lost their part time job and will be back on the dole/Job Seekers allowance. As a reward for not sitting at home getting all depressed about this (it has happened to them before and they spent 2 weeks sitting indoors ignoring the problem rather than tackling it!!) but getting out here and registering with a new agency and braving the Job Centre (where, apparently they are not very nice to you -no matter how polite you are to them) to sign back on again - I took them for a Costa coffee and cake and a walk in the lovely sunshine to cheer them up - £10.55!!

I MUST stop spending like this! Grrrr! Cross with myself! True the food stuffs will stand me in good stead, as will the friendship BUT

help! please! inspire me everyone so i can 'break even' at the end of Feb!!!

vhalla1478 - that choccy fondant recipe looks awesome! i have all the ingredients - so later this week I will be giving it a go! (I have to make a crumble tomorrow to use up some bramley apples which we hiding a bruised bit from me till I moved them this morning!! :eek:

carolbee

JackieO wrote: »

Hi Chums,any ideas for my DGS Mikey's scooter helmet It fits him beautifully but the plastic clip that holds the straps under his chin has broken.Nothing wrong with the helmet just can't do the blooming strap up.its the sort where you squeeze the side bits in to slide the clasp into a small holding socket Its the holding socket bit thats broken.Seems a waste to buy him a new helmet just for this tiny bit of plastic socket ???He is scooter mad at the moment and adores the one he has.probably once next September comes and he goes off to 'big school' (year 7) his scooter will end up at the back of the shed.But I'm not happy about him haring around without something on his head to protect him from spills.

JackieO, do you have an old rucksack or bag that has one of those fittings, I know they sometimes have them, that you could remove and replace? Failing that a cycle shop or the big camping shop along the main road in Gillingham might be able to suggest something.

vhalla1478

A very early good morning Everyone,

I'm on the school run at 8, so thought I'd just put in a quick post and recipes this evening.

Cheerfulness - cream of tartar just helps the rising process so you're ok with baking powder and I think, but I'm not sure, that you're right about the mace; I really wouldn't worry as it's spicy anyway so don't think that will make a great deal of difference. So enjoy!

Lynplatinum, please don't beat yourself up; life is for living and enjoying and you did absolutely the right thing for your friend that any decent human being would do. The food isn't going to run away and you can also exercise your ingenuity to make it last - it's a fun challenge. We're all human; I was thinking about what to wear today and I could get hot under the collar about the money I've spent in the past on clothes but why spoil the day? I'm lucky, I've got them, and luckier that I've got friends and family; we're just more aware now of how we're spending. Right - 'thought for the day' over, have a good one, Everybody, I shall look forward to reading the new posts when I get in - you're all far more fun (and cheaper -in the nicest possible way) than a glossy magazine, which I might have bought if I didn't have you to talk to.

Viv xx

[Deleted User]

carolbee that sounds a great idea as I am only about 10 minutes drive from the outdoor shop on the top-road as us locals call it (Watling Street) Sadly my only rucksack is in Norwich with my eldest DGS Ben as he packed lots of his books in it when he went back to Uni after Christmas.I have a sewing/haberdashers in Station Road rainham and I may ask in there,they mught have them if not then its off to the big outdoor/camping shop.Its such a nuisance for such a little clip, but his little blond head is very precious to me and I don't want it broken if possible :):)
GQ I am a woman on a mission today to get his clip, I have to buy a small amount of stuff anyway to tide me over the next week so I shall report back on my findings

JackieO xxx

cheerfulness4

Lyn, like you said, the food is there to be used and you cared for your friend when she needed you. Its hard when you want to help but have to watch the pennies too. Its those spontaneous gestures of kindness that can get costly, isn't it?

Would you use some of the nuts in meals? HM granola is on my list of tries and a few tasty nuts would make that special. I love chicken and cashew nuts, too. Walnut, creamy blue cheese and pear salad, oh yum.
I love most nuts but snack on them so I quite fancy using them more in cooking. Oh and my ultimate treaty cake... coffee and walnut! I am addicted to that so rarely make it. I'd woof the lot.

I'm running a bit ahead of what I wanted to spend this month, too. My Extras Budget is almost depleted already. I'm going to have to work harder to make this month go smoothly without feeling like we're struggling by.
Ridiculous really as I have fully stocked cupboards of basics. I keep buying biscuits and tins of rice pudding when I can make great baking treats and the slow cooker turns out a gorgeous lemony, rice pudding when I get organized enough to load it.

So looks like I'll be joining you Lyn in a big claw back until the end of February. I'll be digging deep in those cupboards this month.

Viv, thanks for that help with the C of T. Didn't know that. That may just have to be my task today so I fill that empty cake tin. No more biscuit buying for me this month.

[Deleted User]

any chance of a lemon rice pudding recipe and would it work with lime as I have a sad and lonely lime at the bottom of my fridge that DD gave meI have pudding rice and a pint of YS whole milk that DD also gave me yesterday (she paid 19 p for it so I want to use it up today :):)

Prinzessilein

cheerfulness...walnut bluecheese and pear salad...one of my favourites! Can't enjoy it that often though as I have 'issues' with cheese (one of the many things that can cause serious skin problems) and only get to eat it as a rare treat (thankfully soft joghurt cheese is fine!)


And I LOVE rice pudding - and home-made is totally different to the timed stuff! (Which I don't generally keep because I can eat a family-sized economy tin in one sitting all on my own!)


Off to Lidls today....I have the app so have checked the 'specials' for this week.(I do all my looking at offers and drooling at home and am then less tempted to buy the whole store when shopping!)..Polish Week and they have the first of the Easter things in....they also should have some notebooks in store - the small ones , I usually buy a couple and keep one by my chair - my memory is getting really bad sometimes so I make notes on EVERYTHING...plus my HFA means I am a little OCD on list-making!


I've planned dinner for tonight (again...less temptation to pick up a 'little something for dinner' when shopping!) ....left over chicken and veggies which I will spice up with some lemon and ginger.


My lovely old Mum (who will be 90 next year) can still give a masterclass on money-saving! She needed a new kettle - and so we went to the 'big' store in town...She looked at the kettles on offer and chose the one she wanted (just a basic model no fancy stuff) and called over the sales assistant. He said it was the only one of this model left in the store, did she mind having that....Mum said she would take it - IF he reduced the price for it being 'ex-display'....when he said that wasn't store policy and refused to budge on this, she told him he had lost the sale and walked out! She had made a note of the model she liked and got me to find it for her on the internet....we got a new one, delivered to her house (arrived yesterday) for free - and it cost £3 less than the one in store! (My mum learned to haggle whilst in North Africa - my dad was posted there with the RAF.....and uses these haggling skills even today on the East Coast of the UK...she has even been known to haggle successfully with charity shops!)

cheerfulness4

My dad was a one for bargaining when he was younger. I used to crease up with embarrassment when he did it as a teenager. He would haggle anywhere.

JackieO, I've not made rice pudding with a lime but heres the lemon one that I use all the time. Its an Eliza Acton 18th Century recipe. Its in Delia's Complete cookery Course but I've copied a link for you to it.

http://www.recipe-quest.com/messages/6/60333.html?1190727959

It is so delicious but if I'm in a hurry and need to just use the slow cooker and leave it then I omit the eggs and just load up all the ingredients without pre-cooking and leave it for 5 hours on high or 8-9 on low.
You don't get the lovely layers that way but its still has that amazingly fresh and creamy taste.

When I have a spare lime left over I always make Chicken Thai style Cakes. It combines chilli, lime and ginger and is simply wonderful with salad or even in a burger bun.


http://www.shecookssheeats.co.uk/thai-style-chicken-cakes/


The above recipe seems to have used the same as I use but with her own changes which she mentions. Root ginger is beautiful with it and I use slightly more ground coriander than she does. I don't add mixed spices as the original didn't. I've never used lemon grass either as I don't have it in ever.

Got to go clean my kitchen. Really don't want to as I'm still unpicking my knitting and eager to be going 'the right way' again.

zebedy

Hi All,

I'm trying again to upload the photo of the waterproof squares I made - to stop from getting a wet backside when sitting down for a coffee on a long muddy walk. The waterproof material was from old cagoules I got from freecycle and the cotton lining was some I had in my fabric stash.
I made the wine bottle sized drawstring gift bags from the arms of the cagoules.
I hope the photos upload ok (using Cheerfulness4's suggestions to make it work)

zebedy

Last attempt
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Ok, tried the mountain button and pasting the link into the little box - doesn't seem to work
Also tried pasting directly into post without mountain button - still doesn't work. I officially give up - no posts of my sewing projects!

Weird - well one now seems to have worked but not the other - and I did it exactly the same - strange. Final try for waterproof squares

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