2022 Frugal Living Challenge

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Interesting discussion about working from home vs the office.  I am going to struggle this year, I have an underactive thyroid and I am already in thermals!  I usually use a little oil filled radiator in my home office but maybe cycling into the office and using their free heating will be a better option, unless the weather is too bad to cycle.

Just picked up a Too Good to Go box and got 4 small packs of diced chorizo, out of date today.  I wouldnt usually freeze it but it will take us a while to use 4 packs.  Also got 2 packs of sausages, some cream cheese, broccoli and soup amongst other bits.  Already re-thinking the meal plan.

I am a pro at bargain self catering holidays!  It becomes a bit of a challenge with DH and myself to see how frugal we can be and still have a lovely time.  My kids grew up with camping holidays in the UK, hasnt done them any harm.

I need to find a new chimney sweep as ours has retired and get that booked, order coal and get some heating oil.  It's starting to cool off on a night.

2Scratters

Hi Peeps,
@YORKSHIRELASS re lighting the fire a work colleague gave a great tip is to use either a candle or tea lights (he did make me a log with 3 routed holes perfect for holding the tea lights in place) the effect is a psychological one as there is flame in there. As yet the fire has not been lit, also we have just obtained some tongue and groove wood from neighbour as they are having to replace a suspended floor. (This will be us next year when we start our extension)
Another meal for me from the freezer DH is not a fan of quorn. Tonight cooked an "out of date" pork/gammon joint that had only been in the fridge and not the freezer. It is beautifully juicy. I'll stew some HG apples tomorrow to go with it.

2 Scratters xx

chanie

@lindatoo if I’m honest, I’m a bit scared of my instantpot, which is essentially a pressure cooker.  I normally use it to cook rice, but haven’t used it for much else.  It saves time for foods with a long cooking time, eg a roast joint, but although they cooking time for rice is 10 minutes, it takes about 10 minute to get up to pressure, so not much different to a traditional rice cooker.  

Siebrie

My Mum once made rhubarb in the pressure cooker, and did not believe the instruction '1 minute' to be correct. She left it for 2 or 3 minutes, and it was a fountain spitting rhubarb all the way up to the ceiling!

Primrose

Siebrie said:

My Mum once made rhubarb in the pressure cooker, and did not believe the instruction '1 minute' to be correct. She left it for 2 or 3 minutes, and it was a fountain spitting rhubarb all the way up to the ceiling!

reminds me of my first ever use of a pressure cooker as a newly married, making lentil soup.  I didn't understand you had to leave it alone until the pressure had reduced and thought I could speed up the process by flicking the pressure valve open.    Before I knew what had happened the entire contents of the pressure cooker emptied themselves over the kitchen ceiling, surrounding walls and the nearby cabinets.   

We had to wash down and redecorate the kitchen as the contents dried like grains of sands.

Floss

As a child I had 2 weeks family-stay and 1 week self catering holidays each year until I was 12. We'd moved house the summer previously & had a week in a hotel for 2 adults & 4 kids. After that we had a couple more s/c holidays until my brothers no longer come along & week-long hotel breaks began round about 1980. 

For my family, we did Haven or other caravan holidays when small, then camping & 1 summer fortnight in Corfu & 1 Christmas ski week in Andorra before divorce. After that they were back to a week s/c with me!

Nowadays, I don't have a level of disposable income that permits holidays.

kiloranbay

I'm scared of pressure cookers too. And scared to use a rice cooker on current electric tariff!

Frugal fail today on what would otherwise be a NSD as I've had to pay £25 parking fine, £4.99 debit card replacement fee and £3.35 postage, all in ADHD tax. (i.e., costs I wouldn't have had if I'd remembered where I'd left things or done tasks on time).

As I get older and my organisation and coping mechanisms get better my ADHD tax has diminished, but I should probably face the facts and incorporate it into my annual budget. There have been some months where it hit the triple figures (mainly when travel is necessitated, like getting the train to fetch something I left in another city... Or once, re-booking a next-day flight from China! So painful!)

YORKSHIRELASS

Thanks 2Scratters good tip.

Absolutely frozen all day today despite a thermal and 2 jumpers, I am hoping that this is not my thyroid misbehaving.  DH has been researching heated gilets for me.

Worked from home today so not been further than the end of the garden.  I have had the washing machine on as I have washed doggie blankets but I managed to get them dried outside.

Jellytotts

When DDs were younger we managed a few long weekends at pontins but only the nearest one to us and because we'd got a deal the first time round we were offered 3 nights each following year for £39 for the 4 of us.  All food was brought from home and we snuck rum or vodka in to the evening entertainment in one of the kids drinks bottles and just purchased a few cokes for the entire evening. It was all we could afford yet DDs both still talk really fondly about those holidays.

We are actually away next week for 4 nights on a "sun" holiday, we've not opted for entertainment passes as we don't need them, I've got all 4 nights meals prepped and ready to pack and we've got a small budget for days out.  I'm taking our flasks and thermal cups and I've got all the makings of packed lunches ready to pop in our backpack.  The holiday has cost us £64 and includes all linens and electric so I'm more than happy with that.  We've got a bag of things packed to do of an evening, card games, a puzzle, some crossword books and we have some audio books to listen to.   We shall enjoy each other's company, a glass of wine or 2 and the beautiful coast line we are looking forward to seeing.  I don't need a swanky 5 star hotel and heat, I want bracing walks along a beach in autumn, I want a few charity shops to have a nose in and I want to know I've cooked something for dinner we can both eat (various allergies means we can rarely eat out).

London_1

When I go with my DD and family on our annual holidays its always self catering as she has three dogs. Four sons either come with us, or turn up at various times so we alway get a four bedroomed house.
Its what we budget for every year and without fail take cards a jigsaw or two plus our scrabble set as DD and I love scrabble.

We take books  to read, and I enjoy a crossword or two. We rarely watch TV as we like to natter, and my son-in-law is a great cook so meals are pretty chatter-filled.

Lots of dog walking involved and we only go out to the local pub for a meal on our last night as by then we have normally used most of our food up.

We also have a spring carvan holiday ,but as the boys are older its usually just DD her OH and the dogs and depending how I feel myself, and maybe one of the boys

They are all virtually adults now, so can choose if they wish to come or not depending on their comittments work, Uni, etc.

I have a five day break next month via a coach to Devon, with eldest DDs Ma-in-law and youngest DD will be going off to the caravan with her OH and the dogs for a week next month

But we all enjoy self catering in the summer as it means we can go back every year to the IoW which we all love for the peace and quiet and just walking the beaches,  and relaxing rejuvenates us all.

DD goes fishing and what she catches we normally eat.
Ive been everywhere I wish to go around the world so I'm more than happy to holiday in the UK now.

No queueing at airports and exchanging currancy and spending hours in delays .No the IoW suits us all. Had a brilliant time this year in July as it was before the schools broke up so the beaches were almost empty and this summer was fantastic for weather 

JackieO xx