2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

Frugaldom

PLEASE NOBODY QUOTE THE SPAM MESSAGE - I HAVE NOW REPORTED IT and hope it'll be gone next time I check back.

DdraigGoch

Nyk, your contention that the cost of living may well be higher in rural areas versus urban has been proven in my case. I used to live in London and found it easier to save money, not spend money and generally keep within a fixed amount than I do living miles away from everything. Rates may or may not be lower, as you said, these are not part of this challenge, but prices are usually a great deal higher for the vast majority of goods, and those that aren't are generally a long way away and the expense of a car journey - no buses or trains around me either - defeats the object of finding "it" cheaper. Even charity shops are fewer and further away.:rolleyes:

I would not change where I live for anything, I am happy to put up with the anti-rural message that comes from this and most governments, I can tolerate the anti-country vitriol that passes for comment by many living in urban areas, but why is there all this unpleasantness? Why? And also, why on earth is it presumed that just because your neighbour is over a mile away that everything in the shops is 80% cheaper?! *shakes head in confusion* and how come if it's so much cheaper to buy property "out here", how come all my chums from towns reckon I must be incredibly rich to live "out here"?!:rotfl:

"The Countryside - it's where your food lives"

Frugaldom

I've been fastiduously frugal for a full week! Today was my 7th no spend day in succession, so that has allowed me to catch up (a little) with my budget.

Plans have been changed for next weekend (Easter), as I'm now only working away from the house on the Friday and Saturday, so I can go visit family on the Sunday/Monday. I'm expecting to spend around £25 to cover the trip.

Still no word on the Victorian grate, so I'm no further forward with regards to finding out if I'll be getting it. This is a real pity, because tomorrow is 'the big day' when we are going to attempt to sweep the chimneys, hopefully without causing a major catas(soot)trophe. :eek: Say that one carefully in case you get strange looks! :rotfl:

This weekend will see frugalistic home maintenance gone mad! :rotfl: Rods at the ready, dust covers in attendance and vacuums on stand-by. And it's not just the chimney brushes, we have the drain rods to master as well, because the drain pipes are making increasingly strange gurgles and thumps that are vibrating right through the kitchen and seem to be resounding from within the washing machine now!

Today's intermittent cook-a-thon was slightly upset by the burning of the first batch of biscuits! :mad: For some weird reason, whilst the oven was on, the grill came on and it's a combi! I now have carbon edged, crunchy hobnobs and a crispy, brown-tinged apple tart! Thank goodness it wasn't my bread! This time, I baked the pastry trimmings with grated cheese inside, rather than grated apple, and that seems to work too - there's none left! Oh, and if anyone is wondering how the ham & mushroom pie turned out, it turned into the aforementioned apple pie, 3 servings of cheese and ham pasta for tonight's dinner and a further 3 portions for the freezer. (I thought it would stretch further that way. ) I baked the three loaves of bread and then stuck another batch of twink's hob-nobs in to bake whilst the over was cooling down. I love baking in an oven that's switched off, don't you? :T Can't get much more frugal than that

Thanks to all who have commented on the 'cost of living' differences between the city and the country. Excellent post, Ddraig!
As sophiesmum pointed out recently, we can introduce as much of 'the good life' as possible, regardless of location. It's individual lifestyles that reflect the cost of living, not our individual locations. Someone mentioned the distance to nearest major store - we have a 70 mile round trip for Tesco and a 120 mile round trip in the event of a hospital visit. On the plus side, it's only a 7 mile drive or bus ride to catch the Belfast/London coach, although I have never used the service.

Easter ideas - handmade cards with decorated eggs. You need an oval cut in the front of the card so it closes over the top of the half egg shell inside, and decorate the shell before sticking it in place. I haven't mastered how to cut an egg in half yet, will let you know how that foes and may, yet, resort to the papier mache Easter baskets. Then again, I might jusy bake some cakes. :rotfl:

DdraigGoch

[/rant] sorry

Anyway - Frugal Easter Eggs - the answer is closer than you think!

1. take one water bomb balloon.
2. blow up to reasonable [NOT as big as it will go!] size and tie off tightly
3. break up chosen chocolate and melt GENTLY
4. don't bother with piping bags, just use a spoon
and then
5. drizzle chocolate in swirls and lines all over the balloon, top and bottom,
until it is covered with a web of chocolate.
6. hang it by the "stem" in a dry and cool place
7. handling very carefully as it is very delicate, pop the balloon with a pin and extract the bits
8. Present incredibly frugal and elegant chocolate egg, handmade and utterly exclusive to you, on a bed of crumpled or shredded tissue.
9. Stand back and await compliments!
10. If you want to be very fancy - just use the three different colours of chocolate, one at a time, to swirl the web over the balloon.
11. If you REALLY want to impress her, obtain a heart shaped balloon and use that as your base
12. if the recipient is convinced that quantity = quality, use a bigger balloon!


IMPORTANT POINT - REMEMBER TO LEAVE ONE SMALL AREA, PREFERABLY THE BASE, CLEAR TO EXTRACT THE REMAINS OF THE BALLOON THROUGH! Don't ask how I know this ..... :rotfl:

wendyw1947

Janey51 wrote: »

We have a griddle pan which is 100yrs old according to DH. Makes ace girdle scones and is also suitable for inflicting severe head trauma when provoked. (See previous post):rolleyes:

sorry for laughing janey but was still smiling bout the bit of you fuming in the bath loudly , and just got this picture of you chasing DH round a large object in the middle of your kitchen brandishing a griddle pan hope you've cooled down by now ,and everything turns out ok for you:o

mumzyof2

DdraigGoch wrote: »

[/rant] sorry

Anyway - Frugal Easter Eggs - the answer is closer than you think!

1. take one water bomb balloon.
2. blow up to reasonable [NOT as big as it will go!] size and tie off tightly
3. break up chosen chocolate and melt GENTLY
4. don't bother with piping bags, just use a spoon
and then
5. drizzle chocolate in swirls and lines all over the balloon, top and bottom,
until it is covered with a web of chocolate.
6. hang it by the "stem" in a dry and cool place
7. handling very carefully as it is very delicate, pop the balloon with a pin and extract the bits
8. Present incredibly frugal and elegant chocolate egg, handmade and utterly exclusive to you, on a bed of crumpled or shredded tissue.
9. Stand back and await compliments!
10. If you want to be very fancy - just use the three different colours of chocolate, one at a time, to swirl the web over the balloon.
11. If you REALLY want to impress her, obtain a heart shaped balloon and use that as your base
12. if the recipient is convinced that quantity = quality, use a bigger balloon!


IMPORTANT POINT - REMEMBER TO LEAVE ONE SMALL AREA, PREFERABLY THE BASE, CLEAR TO EXTRACT THE REMAINS OF THE BALLOON THROUGH! Don't ask how I know this ..... :rotfl:

How could i make different coloured chochlate like red or pink etc? food dye? LOL :rotfl:

Frugaldom

mumzyof2 wrote: »

How could i make different coloured chochlate like red or pink etc? food dye? LOL :rotfl:

I think it means white, milk and plain, but does anyone remember Pink Panther bars? Pink 'chocolate'!

Brilliant idea with the balloons, though, and how 'posh' would that look? Wonder if you could make a chocolate bird cage and fit a furry chick inside, like the ones you see in the easter cakes? :rotfl:

wendyw1947

nykmedia well done for putting that city slicker in their place ,hope all goes well with the chimmey sweep.The baking you did sounds delish,been on the market today and stocked up with cheap fruit and veggies,made a joint of brisket last 3days for dinners and one teatime for sandwiches normaly i would be pushing it for 2 days;i'm getting a chicken for the weekend and seeing how far i can stretch that ! mmmmmmm cant stop thinking bout your apple pie ,i ,dont have puddings cos i've lost a lot of weight and dont want to put it on again i think thats why i'm struggling with my budget a bit cos i'm buying a lot of fruit and yogurts still i will have to make some more soup and fill up on that.I will be frugal and i'll just have to try harder.:rolleyes:

mumzyof2

nykmedia wrote: »

I think it means white, milk and plain, but does anyone remember Pink Panther bars? Pink 'chocolate'!

Brilliant idea with the balloons, though, and how 'posh' would that look? Wonder if you could make a chocolate bird cage and fit a furry chick inside, like the ones you see in the easter cakes? :rotfl:

awww i wanted coloured choc

mumzyof2

ive just made some carrot and corriander but i dont like it but kids might and ohand his mum will have it. made rice pud again and semalina.