2022 Frugal Living Challenge

London_1

Primrose said:

Well that should keep the circulation in your  fingers moving JackieO !

It certainly will, I'm pleased its got here at last, only taken several weeks to get to Kent from West Yorkshire think it was the pony express .
JackieO xx

mama67

It's been all change here.

DS1 has now purchased a house with his GF (both teachers) and they moved in the middle of Nov.
Luckily their mortgage was approved & fixed before the interest hikes.
So he now has the joys of everything to do with running a house and living permanently with 2 children (9 & 7).

DS2 has changed his work outlook and we no longer run the fencing business; he now is working in an Apprenticeship scheme through a sizeable local Engineering firm, so he will become a "turner" once completed. His GF is at University training to become a teacher and they will both complete their courses at the same time.

For myself & hubby, we are adjusting to not having both lads living here and sometimes having DS2 GF here; he splits his time between us & her parent's house.

We moved from the fencing to selling Kiln Dried sustainable logs. It fits with DH working at the energy plant where the logs are produced.
I am still doing bookkeeping from home.

Siebrie

Just saw this moneysaving tip on reddit and have to share: "y'all have to be naughty this year, so Santa gives you coal for christmas!"

Soontobeoap

I have had cold feet for several days. I just could not get them warm. Found some chenille wool that i bought in charity shop a few months ago in my craft cupboard and crocheted a pair of slipper socks today. My feet are now nice and toastie.

On another note. I am really annoyed that I missed this one. I have been trying to check every shop to find out if they are a nectar partner before purchasing christmas gifts. Having already booked our christmas stay through booking. Com I have discovered they are a nectar partner. I need to be much more savvy with my shopping next year!!! 

Frugaldom

Hi guys.just doing another quick catch-up but not before I tried my hand at the 'decent standard of living'calculator that smeone posted the link to last week. The results said...

For a decent standard of living, you and your partner each need to earn:

£17,247

(£34,494 per year between you), giving a net income of £592.66 per week

I'm sorry, but WHAT??? Suffice to say, I seem to have an indecent standard of living.

===================================

Onwards and upwards - I struck it lucky with Olio at the weekend and have been eating vegan delicacies since then.(Im not vegan, I just like rescuing leftovers to keep them from being binned.) I can honestly say that Tesco's spinach and garlic gluiten-free ravioli is quite delicious, even with coconut milk based cheese substitute.One thing I will admit to, though, is being ultra extravagant and grating a little extra cheddar cheese over the top of my second meal. Vegan sliced sausages, veg, potatoes,  apples and a giant pomello all came our way.Wasn't sure what a pomello was but I love grapefruit so all is well.

Supermarket spots - basic porridge oats seem to have dropped in price to 70p/kilo, which means it costs 3.5p for breakfast. With cheapest sultanas costing 9.5p per 50g, you can afford to have one of your 5-a-day included and even a teaspoon of honey for a couple of pence extra.It sets you off for the day with a filling,warm meal.I still microwave mine but if you soak the oats,sultanas and pinch of salt overnight then it only takes a couple of minutes on full power to cook. Including the electricity needed to cook the porridge, it's still less than 20p for a hot breakfast.  (I make my porridge with water, no milk required)

Basic store cupboard items that I rely on are porridge oats, long grain rice, dried pasta, dried spaghetti, red lentils and tinned tomatoes plus salt, pepper, chilli & curry powder, paprika, nutmeg, all spice, ginger and cinnamon. Our diet varies depending on food prices so frugality is very much about adaptability,a love of homemade soup and the trusty porridge.I no longer bake bread as there's usually an Olio listing somewhere for that and if all else fails,flour and water with a bit seasoning and oil makes a perfecly acceptable alternative.

2023 is going to be a very tough year for many so please don't hesitate to contactme if you have any questions or need some help.

London_1

I'm aother one who makes their porridge with water and I add salt and once dished up a small splash of milk around the edges.I soak the oats overnight as well then its just a few minutes cooking and stirring and jobs a good'un.  
I may try adding a few sultanas as I like those as welland I have quite an abundance of those in the cupboards.

I made four of my grandsons a box of  4 dozen sausage rolls from some  packs of reduced price puff pastry from the freezer and stripped some sausages also from the freezer and used the meat for the filling.
 I went to get some dried herbs from my herb cupboard and found I was out of stock !!! , but I found some lemon pepper and garlic pepper which I used to put a bit of zip into the sausage meat and the boys wolfed them down.

I had a delicious curry at youngest  DDs house tonight as it was her  53rd birthday and one of my grandsons handed me the empty box back that was full last night, and said 'Any more for Christmas please Nanny they were delicious'
So I know what I will be doing this Friday. cooking some more for the boys, and also a box for my eldest DD as I am off to her house on Saturday evening until Sunday then back to the youngest Dds until the day after Boxing day then back to the eldests again for a few days. They both want mince pies as well.Gosh I earn my Christmas dinner :)but I don't mind as they both work hard and I have a bit more time than they do.
Youngest DD has the four boys at home until the New Year, then Mikey goes back to Uni ,another Ben the eldest one goes back to his house in north London and the third one Jack  starts his new residential job at an independant boarding school near Tunbridge Wells so she will be down to just Henry at home, so the food bill will drop dramatically. 

Just got the scan photo of my new little great-granddaughter-to-be waving  my eldest DD is so chuffed as she didn't think she would ever be a Nanny as her son Danny and his wife never seemed to be bothered about children. They will have to decide before she is born if 'mum' is coming home from the USA to have the baby or if she will have her in New York. They have excellent health cover out there but they are not sure if they want to have the baby so far from the family.

Right time I got the kettle on I think 
keep warm and take care chums ,most of the snow seems to have gone in my area of Kent thank goodness

JackieO xx

weenancyinAmerica

London_1 if she is born in New York, she will have US citizenship. That might make a difference pro or con depending on what she wants to do later. 

cw18

weenancyinAmerica said:

London_1 if she is born in New York, she will have US citizenship. That might make a difference pro or con depending on what she wants to do later. 

I was also thinking about the possible benefits for the little one if she was born out there.

Bluegreen143

On the flip side…. Maternity care in the US is extremely medicalised & driven by profit (doctors rather than midwifes even for low risk pregnancies) and as a result they don’t have such good outcomes for mum & baby as we do (in fact I believe in the US they have the worst maternity outcomes in the developed world…). Her chances of ending up with an unnecessary c section or other interventions like forceps are statistically higher in the US than here. 

Soontobeoap

Well thats encouraging @Bluegreen143. I am sure mum and baby will be fine wherever little one is born. Something lovely to look forward to in 2023.New babies bring such hope and joy