2023 Frugal Living Challenge

nannygladys

-taff - my ex fil used to do those big sweetie jars full of salted green beans but I wasn't into preserving in those days but I often wish I had taken more notice of him and my nanny and nanan (as I used to call them) as they had big gardens and grew loads, post war days, and preserved for the winter months, made pickles and jams, kept chickens etc, I can still smell the hash that the chickens ate, when I was little I apparently tried some but wasn't very impressed😀

2Scratters

@spudsmum you are doing a great job with having the pots running as it is.
This is a hiccup in that process and that you did have some money saved.
If, as you say you feel there may be a pot with too much sat in there for too long, consider halving that balance (if safe enough or whatever you are comfortable with skimming off) and pay some debt off.
It is great to have the money there and it not be needed but as you say every penny needs to work and if that means splitting/skimming a pot and using towards a debt then it means it's worked twice as hard for you.

2 Scratters xx

wort

With regards to drying outside, I check the weather forcast online for my town, and wash on a good day, having said that yesterday was looking ok in the morning so did a quick wash and got it out for a couple of hours ,then hung in my bathroom on hangers I was able to put away last night.,if I’m home I can keep an eye on weather also use my spidey senses😂 looking out to the west I can usually see the weather clouds coming in, 

JGreenwood

Wow, this is cool. I think I might have to give this a go. I need to streamline my spending, it's one of my aims for 2023 to be smarter with my spending. Seeing some of these results is really inspiring

mandy47

Yesterday I signed up with the curious cat app. 
Someone mentioned it on the forum but sorry to say I can't remember who.
I wanted to say thanks, I've made £2.28 already. 
Hopefully will help out with the grocery fund, helps cover the price increases. 

boultdj

To dehydrate strawberries, wash, slice and put in lemon water whilst you do the lot, then drain and dry, put on dehydrator for 12 to 16  hours, till they are dry like crisps, mine is the round Lakeland machine, so just an on/off button.
I store mine in a big glass coffee jar.  
Just eat as a snack, add to fruit I am cooking if I am doing a mixed fruit pudding. hth

nannygladys

boultdj - thats the one I have. What temp do  you use for the strawberries 🍓? I'm going to look out for some cheap ones to have a go. I grow loads in the summer and usually make jam of freeze them, as well as use them fresh, I bet the kids would love them 🙂

Madbat60

Afternoon all

Not much spending going on here. I still have £30 left from last week's grocery budget. Food shopping day is tomorrow.  All is good 😊 

SecondStar

Does anyone here make their own yogurt?

I eat an awful lot of yogurt, mostly fruit flavoured, highly sweetened, store bought ones; but occasionally I’ll fancy Greek style with honey mixed in.

I’d been thinking about buying a yogurt maker - the brand that looks like a big red thermos flask, not sure if I can say the brand name in here - but I’d rather make the yogurt from scratch rather than using their powdered yogurt mixes.

Any suggestions as to whether this is a good idea towards frugality?

Glittering_M

SecondStar said:

Does anyone here make their own yogurt?

I eat an awful lot of yogurt, mostly fruit flavoured, highly sweetened, store bought ones; but occasionally I’ll fancy Greek style with honey mixed in.

I’d been thinking about buying a yogurt maker - the brand that looks like a big red thermos flask, not sure if I can say the brand name in here - but I’d rather make the yogurt from scratch rather than using their powdered yogurt mixes.

Any suggestions as to whether this is a good idea towards frugality?

Hi,
I have once or twice but I mean to do it more. You don't need a yoghurt maker, just somewhere that will keep it warm. A thermos itself is fine, although I'm not sure how easy it will be to clean. I think some use jars wrapped in tea towels and put in airing cupboards, microwaves or switched off ovens. A yoghurt maker potentially gives more consistent results as the heat is more evenly distributed.

From memory, you get a bit of shop bought yoghurt (ideally some with good bacteria so one of the live ones) and milk. You then heat the milk to a set point and then let it cool a bit, once it gets to a certain temperature you mix in the yoghurt then store it somewhere warm. You can then save some of what you made to create the next batch with more milk.

For greek style, my understanding is you can get something similar by straining the yoghurt in a muslin cloth.

I think it probably is cheaper if you eat a lot of live yoghurt as that can be expensive but if you eat bog standard yoghurt then it may not be.

On the dairy note, has anyone tried making paneer? I've made it twice and I can't get the consistency right. It is very soft, almost like ricotta. I'd love to be able to make it as I often struggle to find it. Again, I'm not sure if that is particularly money saving though given how much milk it uses!