2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Wraithlady

nannygladys said:

I have also been chopping chillies and freezing them, May be giving them to dds as I don't really eat them and I have four plants, why????? 
Nannyg

Make chilli oil?

Tanya12345

Morning All, Re the Chillies NannyG whilst I normally steer clear of using food as "decoration" dried chillies make wonderful gifts-  presented as Wreaths  - with dried herbs if you can get them - or on strings.
It is a worry the way the prices are rocketing and supplies dwindling, calls for careful management of resources - perfect for the Frugalling inclined ! Lets face it the world does not have limitless resources and being careful with them - for whatever reason - is to be applauded and has to be the sustainable way forward - Apologies, I'll get off my soapbox now !!
Have an awesome Friday everyone xx

willow_loulou

Booked the chimney sweep for next week. Determined to be really winter ready early in case of Covid stuff again. Being prepared makes me less nervous about any situation. 

Still nothing from the council about what I may or may not owe. If I get no letter by Monday I’ll ring them as it will be 2 weeks then. 

willow_loulou

I had to make an unexpected journey tonight so I made it pay for itself by going to pick up more wool and I stopped in Aldi for some bargains. It’s amazing how cheap it is! It’s a shame it’s out of my way normally. I wonder about the quality of the food tbh, but the veg is great quality. 

I saved £4 (compared to the alternative shop) on the items I went for, so decided to try their rye bread, mocha sachets (79p a 3rd of the brand price) and lentil crisps. All things I could store if I made a trip out that way again. 

AnimalTribe

willow_loulou said:

Booked the chimney sweep for next week. Determined to be really winter ready early in case of Covid stuff again. 

Good point, thanks, that's reminded me to get the boiler serviced.

Ellie79

May have blown the budget. Other half is able to start incorporating those missing foods back in his diet. Slowly, but it's a start. He asked for steak, I got him steak. Worth blowing the budget just to see how happy he is to be looking forward to those foods he has been missing. I am so happy to cook them again it's totally worth it. I'll make cake and packed lunch treats tomorrow when the oven is on for the roast dinner (his other request), and hopefully recoup some of my expenditure by stretching my meal plan into the next week, too. Today is a happier day. It also means I can start to reintroduce our much cheaper meals, if this works. He was on a very limited medical diet after cancer surgery and a resultant stoma. It's been a tough time but this is a little light. 

In other news, I managed to fix a few things around the house which has saved some pennies and I've been too busy at work to spend much else!

nannygladys

Ellie79 - your husband is worth the extra spends after such a tough time.

Thanks everyone for the ideas with the chillies, I will have a go at the chilli oil as sil really likes stuff like that (dd doesn't though and freezing whole will save me a load of time, so thanks again, not too sure how to dry them but will do a search! 

On the frugal front, made a taco bean bake that will last me a couple of days and a sultana and walnut loaf, which is already sliced and in the freezer. I'm having to eat all my veg fresh now as I can't get much more in there. The tv is off, so saving electric as I want to read the last couple of chapters of my present book, I would normally just turn sound down !!
Nannyg

Blackcats

Ellie - it's so nice to read about OH expanding his eating choices.  I think your budget just needs to gently fluctuate while your OH recuperates and in your case that changing budget is a positive thing.
I still haven't spent on my food budget yet this month but I did do a big shop on 31st august so it's not a huge achievement 🤣.  This morning we had a tea and a coffee at a local coffee shop - sitting outside and pretending it was a Mediterranean cafe culture morning.  £5 well spent.  

Leftovers re-imagined into a lovely dinner tonight with a glass of wine which felt like a Saturday treat.  Oh and some chocolate from l*dls that is an Aer* bubbly imitation for a much lower price.  Happy days! 

Ellie79

How kind, thank you!

The steak felt like a treat. We bought a pack at a certain supermarket so have 3 other pieces frozen.  It was just lovely to cook something that made him happy (to eat) and me happy (to cook!). I've felt like a weight has lifted. I am an utter foodie and whilst that has always been fairly frugally, I adore cooking and it's been so very hard to think we might not have had any of that back. There are only so many times you can make a jacket potato exciting if that is your staple diet and one of us doesn't like them much (me). We had steak, fondant potatoes and garlic parmesan asparagus. I also made a garlic mushroom sauce, because he asked nicely  the parmesan is from the stock of them I bought when a local shop was selling them off for coppers. That counts, right?

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. That bubbly chocolate is lovely!

fionaandphil

Our spends for last months food came in at £200 which is great, but we did spend elsewhere as we managed to get up to Scotland for a holiday and visit some friends and family.  It was worth it though as we had such a lovely break and the weather was gorgeous.  Came back to gluts of everything in the garden, even with the neighbours picking whilst they did the watering. so hopefully the bills this month will be lower and we will stock up the freezers for winter.  Hope you are all enjoying this fine sunny day - long may they last!