Willows frugal February
Willows frugal FebruaryMy Frugal Feb will not be a competition to see who can save the most for one month, or having to feel bad if for some reason because I’ve had to buy something which doesn’t seem too frugal.
For me its getting out of the rut of feeling sorry for myself and actually doing something positive. That will mean refocusing, getting organised, and, with the help of the other participants , gathering ideas on how to save money and having a laugh & supporting each other along the way . I am going to start by having a grand clear out of all cupboards, fridge and freezer to take stock (thanks Perchy, excellent idea) but not only in the kitchen, also in the bathroom and of ‘that’ drawer that seem to be a dumping ground for little bits & pieces that then disappear & end up being bought again. I had a quick look at the cupboard in the bathroom and seem to have stockpiled half empty and full bottles of bubble bath, bath crystals, shower gel, body lotions etc (birthday & xmas presents) these will get sorted and used up! I have also started sorting the ‘medicine drawer’… well, besides finding loads of old out of date medication which will now be going back to the pharmacy.. I also found perfectly good pain killers, antiseptic creams, and other bits and bobs that had been re bought because they had disappeared out of sight! In ‘that’ dumping ground drawer - a very quick shuffle ‘found’ Sellotape, an unopened box of plasters, loads of batteries (unopened) all of which have doubles in other drawers! Lord knows what else I’m going to unearth.. I shall also buy in a stock of long life milk. It may sound daft, but it will stop the little trips to the corner shop, and besides the long life milk being cheaper, the temptation to buy the odd bar of chocolate etc. shall be no more! I am going to dilute my ‘general’ cleaning liquid and fill the cleaning spray bottles in the bathroom and kitchen with the diluted mixture. I’m also going to see how just adding an inch of water to my washing up liquid bottle affects the washing up – probably not at all because I think I use to much anyway and yes I could just squirt less but I know me and habits are hard to break.. this way the one squirt will use less.. The same also goes for shampoo, I think most of us habitually use far too much, I recon getting into the habit of using half the amount will make the shampoo last twice as long! Besides all that, I am going to make a real effort to plan meals ahead of time, cook larger amounts and freeze the extra. And try really hard not to waste anything! "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Albert Einstein
Re: Willows frugal February
I got into long life milk a long time ago for similar reasons (I do one grocery shop per week) - so much so, I prefer long life milk to fresh now. I'm not a big milk drinker as such but I have noticed that when I have a good stash in my understairs cupboard, I seem to subconsciously have excuses to make more milky things (creamy sauce, custard, etc) than usual, and it doesn't last as long as say the usual weekly buy, so be aware. I like the idea of sorting out dumping drawers ... I'm sure I've got plenty of duplicates as how many times I need something, can't find it and have had to buy another only to find the original less than a week later, grrrrr. I need a proper drawer tidy too Good luck with your plans Willow - sounds like you have sussed out some of your weaknesses. Re: Willows frugal FebruaryWillow, well done you, you are really thinking about it, I also am not going to be miserable about it, we have chosen to give it a go, I think it also can be fun, and the achievement is great, you have already saved by finding all those things in the drawer so you are already in credit, I too have long life milk, although do have a pint delivered everyday, I struggled with this last year, should the milk man go? not at the moment, he delivers in all weathers.
Re: Willows frugal FebruaryI like the milk idea too, and may also get some powdered coffee creamer. We keep lists but go to the store more often than needed and with the cost of running the vehicle we could save twice. Thanks!
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Re: Willows frugal FebruaryWell the drawer clear out extended to the bedroom & my bedside drawers & sorting out bags..
I'm now about £20 better off by finding 50p & £1.00 coins and two 'hidden' £5.00 notes - all coins under 50p have been popped into the change pot. I know what I've got regarding toiletries now (wont need to buy any for a long while).. also basic first aid bits and pain killers are sorted (wont be needing to buy them for quite a bit either) My drawer clear out unearthed the remainder of the passport photos I had taken to renew my passport so wont have to pay to have them redone for my driving licence (photo needed renewing). I made 3 plain victoria sponge cakes with oldish eggs and have frozen 2 1/2 of them. and when I took them out of the oven, I popped and old lump of dry bread in to get it really dry, and then turned it into a good sized bag of breadcrumbs I've had a pork casserole on the go in my slow cooker overnight, all ingredients from stock.. and the slow cooker will remain to hand rather than being put back up on the kitchen cupboard out of sight. Today I'm going to go through the freezer and the kitchen cupboard to take stock and plan some meals.. If I have time, I'm going to get a load of meals cooked and frozen in portions. I shall also buy my stock of long life milk and other bits I will need (ie Loo paper) in bulk. AND I'm going to chop and freeze a pile of onions I have before they sprout or go soft. I did this before and its so handy to be able to grab a bag of prepared onions out of the freezer.. Going good so far!!
Last edited by Willow on 02 Feb 2013, 10:06, edited 1 time in total.
"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Albert Einstein Re: Willows frugal FebruarySounds like you are well on to it, and having a tidy up into the bargain
Well done, the onions is a great idea and also AlandDi have onions on offer 39p, nearly everything I make has onions in it
Re: Willows frugal FebruaryI use tons of onions too Perchy.. thanks for the tip, I'll be getting a load of them from Albi to then
(All paid for with the money 'found' ) "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Albert Einstein
Re: Willows frugal FebruaryGood idea Willow about onions, we bought a bag from the lidy shop £1.99 for big bag. Do you know, I did not know you could freeze onions, so job for hubby, (former army chef so does`nt cry when doing onions) next week.
Re: Willows frugal February
They are so great to have ready prepared... not so great to have to stand and chop a pile though "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Albert Einstein
Re: Willows frugal FebruaryI cheat and use my food processor if I have lots of onions to chop. Sometimes I chop onions/carrots/celery and mix together & freeze - lots of things I make start out with those three.
"Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder..." Thoreau.
Re: Willows frugal February
Why have I never thought of using the food processor to chop onions ??? "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Albert Einstein
Re: Willows frugal FebruaryMaybe you're not as lazy as me lol It's still an eye-watering job, but over with more quickly. You might need to experiment, mine cuts them very fine, almost to much - which is fine for sauces etc, but sometimes you want them more coarsely chopped.
"Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder..." Thoreau.
Re: Willows frugal FebruaryDue to sudden emergency orders for my 'sewn stuff' I havent been able to tackle the kitchen cupboards properly yet but other than that my frugal Feb is going well.
I bought both carrots and onions which were on special offer in Albi and made a big pot of carrot & corriander soup, and a big pot of my Grandmas carrot & potato soup /stew.. Its basically the same amount of carrots & potatoes, onion, a little pork, dried parsely, stock and salt & pepper, cooked in a presure cooker and mashed.. really lovely comfort food.. I bought 4 pks of the carrots @ 0.39p per pack and a bag of bog standard spuds, the onions were also 0.39p per pack.. I tried using the Albi stock and found that its really not bad (and v cheap).. I've frozen 4 x 2 meal portions of each soup which cost pennies to make I've been sticking to my 'half amount of shampoo' thing and I am getting into the habit, so money saved for years to come.. Also using diluted general cleaner in spray bottles is working really well.. I've noticed zero difference between that and using 'special' bathroom cleaners.. (except that this way works out at a fraction of the price). Oh and after making the carrot based stews & soups I decided to use the remaining carrots to bake 2 carrot cakes, (which I'd never done before) I have got to say its flippin' lovely!! We have eaten no convienience foods, have not been 'popping' down to the corner shop and have only been to the shops once since end january I'm trieing to see how long I can go without having to shop for anything "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Albert Einstein
Re: Willows frugal February"I'll make tea tonight" said OH.. Great I thought, and carried on with my sewing...
Next thing I know a chinese meal is delivered!!!! What part of 'accounting for every penny and seeing how little we can manage on' did he not understand??? "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Albert Einstein |
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