2020 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

Kantankrus_Mare said:

Frugaldom said:

Kantankrus_Mare said:

How do I find this lemon curd recipe? I have a large tub of marge that wants using and a couple of lemons lurking in the salad drawer.

See if this link works https://www.facebook.com/Frugaldom/posts/2277856029020682 
If you can't access it, I'll copy it over for you

Thanks for that......will add you on facebook if thats ok. 

I's a public page about the results of my personal frugal living challenge so not always recipes and moneysaving. There are also links on page 1 of this chlalenge taking you to all the previous years on MSE plus the blogs, so no shortage of free reading material and phots etc. Hope you enjoy reading about it and at least some of it helpful.

[Deleted User]

So lovely to see some of my fellow Flyladies on here 😍😍

Yesterday evening, in a fit of frugal efficiency, I knocked up an orzo based broth using the last of the veg in the veg drawer. It tastes ok, and will be lovely with some cheese grated on top 🤤, so that is my lunches made for the foreseeable 😊. 

We have a brilliant food waste group run locally, and when I was walking home from school this morning I noticed the house of the chap who runs it had three big crates outside piled high with packets of white bread rolls, BB yesterday, looked perfectly fine, so I grabbed three packets. The kids can have a sandwich picnic based tea 👏🏻👏🏻.

The rest of my day will be spent taking it easy; I feel really sluggish despite a good sleep. So cuppas, cheese covered broth & a movie for me I think. I have already lit a wax melt too 😊😊

willow_loulou

I’m still shattered 🙄 
I got a £5 voucher for my next online food delivery because I had to complain (it was defrosting) so I’m really pleased. Will maybe buy £5 of cupboard food - or maybe £4 and a bar of chocolate! 🤣 I’ve also earned another £11:14 from prolific so that’s my coffee delivery paid for! 

I emptied out an old and starting break hanging basket and have filled it with herbs and salad leaves. It’s just hanging off my nursery rack so easy to water and pick from. I’d like to repair it but I think it’s beyond help, hopefully it will last the season of herbs. It is 10 yrs old! 

I need to infill my pallet to plant it up, any ideas how to do this that don’t involve a staple gun? I may just wedge pots in for now. 

sashacat

Sparkly, what’s an orzo based broth please. Sounds good. 
That food waste group is such a good idea. 

Tanya12345

Soup sounds fab ! Love the idea of the food waste group, will research and see if there's anything like it. Not sure why but I can't do thanks on anyone's post. Please assume I love them all until I can sort it ! Had a slip off the wagon this week as I have guests and I overspent on the wine ! My guests are brilliant and bought and cooked both evening meals so it sort of balanced out....... I need to get back to list making and stick to it - that's the hard bit, I'm great at making them but then ..... Noticed a Wombling figure Sashacat, can I be inquisitive and ask what that is ? Got a glut of cabbages and 2 huge caulis to use, does anyone freeze these ? And do you blanch or just put it in bags ? Have a fab day all xx Have a good day everyone

[Deleted User]

sashacat said:

Sparkly, what’s an orzo based broth please. Sounds good. 
That food waste group is such a good idea. 

It was basically just all of the bendy veg in the bottom of the fridge chopped up and fried in butter and garlic, a pint of HM chicken stock, some chopped up bits of cooking bacon and half a bag of orzo pasta, left to simmer for half an hour. Oh, I also threw in half a tube of tomato purée as I had some in the fridge that needed using up 😊😊

I haven't spent a penny all week 👏🏻👏🏻 Payday today, and I have sent £100 to the credit card, plus tentatively put £50 into savings 😊😊 I have to start somewhere! 

In other fab frugal news, I received a £25 amazon voucher from the comparison site that I used when I took out my life insurance policy. That has been spent on my nephews birthday present, a book for me by my absolute favourite author and something for my children. Absolutely delighted to have got all these things at no cost to me. 

It's fish 🐠 finger sandwiches 🥪 for lunch using my 'waste' rolls 👏🏻👏🏻

sashacat

Good evening, 
Tanya, the wobbling figure is from a few years ago but I think there is probably still a wombling thread.
the idea is that when you get something free, particularly if it has saved you buying it....like the school uniform upthread, or the citrus and margarine that Frugaldom was given....you give it a realistic value. And all them all up and that is you wombling total. 
I gave up because I seem to get a lot of free stuff (mainly from people’s gardens) and I couldn’t know what to do about trading stuff.
like this evening I have been given a big box of rhubarb. I will try to pass some of it on to other people.

cw18

sashacat said:

like this evening I have been given a big box of rhubarb. I will try to pass some of it on to other people.

If you lived within cycling distance of me I'd have been delighted to help you out

nananibbles

Good morning all,
Blue skies this morning and a promise of a hotty - hopefully it will aid in the tomato ripening. I have soo many tomatoes growing I really hope they get to ripen.

I had  a very distressing email from my Solicitor with regards to my divorce the other day which could have far reaching financial implications which make my frugal efforts feel like a drop in the ocean. She has drafted a response to the court and all I can do is wait now. Its the unfairness that gets to me more than the loss of money to be honest. I have worked so hard and lived so simply to ensure that I have a small amount of security for my future whereas my ex smokes, drinks, eats out all the time and generally spends everything he has with nothing to show for it.  Every penny saved is a bonus though and I am grateful for all that I do have.

I made the most delicious lemon curd, thank you Frugaldom for the inspiration, which cost me nothing. I gave half to DD and most of the other half I have been scoffing straight out the jar! Plus some flap jacks for DS and vegan ones for DD (plus tasting for me ) I  picked another handful of runner beans with DD which I shall have with my greens for my dinner tonight along with a chickpea and squash tagine I'm heading off to make. I am using up some of the produce in the house I'm house sitting as my boss is happy for me to do otherwise it will just go off and has insisted I eat up any veg that she has growing. There's not much ready yet but I think there's a couple of mange tout I can pick and possibly some cucumber growing which may be ready soon (at least I think its cucumber). I have a hole in the top of my trainers and am going to attempt to patch them today. They were actually DDs from school and have absolutely no tread on the bottom but they work fine for me and are great whilst the weather is dry. 

I had a great run of 5 NSDs until yesterday when DD and DGD came over to visit me. We walked up to the High Street as I had to pick up a few ingredients and ended up buying her a couple of masks as she has none, some charity shop books for GDG (so good to be able to venture back in them) - £26 spent.  I need to get some batch cooking done today to give DD a helping hand with her dinners and for DS who is staying at his dads empty house and spending too much money on ready meals.

Off to start my frugal batch cooking
Enjoy the sunshine
NN

[Deleted User]

Morning frugal friends 😊

Still feeling very focussed and positive. I stuck to my cash budget in Aldi yesterday (£23, and that was literally all I had with me!), and got exactly what we needed. Meal planned for the next seven days and we will be fine. The £23 included a £5 bottle of cava for me, which I will enjoy tonight. We have an abundance of tinned fruit, including pineapples 🍍 and peaches 🍑, which the kids love, so that's good. 

I sold an eBay item a while ago for £120 and just left the money in my PayPal account. Well I'm going to withdraw it today to pay for a little camping holiday at a local (family and dog friendly) festival next year. I confess our holidays have always been abroad (again, going back to the mega frugal versus wildly OTT approach to money I've had in the past). The children are of an age where they will LOVE camping, so I am going to embrace it and book the festival tickets. I'll be asking for camping gear for my birthday 😜.

No spends planned at all this weekend, the weather is poor, so it'll be a lazy one I think pottering at home. That said, I've been up since 5am and done loads of housework and walked the dog, so I don't really fall into the 'lazy' category at all!

Take care xx