Right, well i have lots of ideas, and having read all of your diarys im inspired
I want to drastically cut what we spend over the next 6 months, i dont think that everything will come together in one month but i can start the ball rolling and use this month to change things and start new habits... Sooo
I will keep all spare change, I have huge Ricard bottle that is doing nothing and over a dozen pots or jars with spare change in all over the house, not to mention all the 1 and 2 and 5 cents at the bar, moutains of it, so from now on all loose change can go into the big bottle and when i empty it that should pay for clothing and house stuff for me and liv, I only buy clothes for us twice a year, summer and winter unless liv needs some knickers or a jumper or something (Marc sorts his own clothes and stuff out - nothing to do with me!)
No wasting food at all and making a list of what meals i can cook and sticking to it
Also i will go through every room in the house with a charity/car boot bag and a bin bag and a box for all the things that shouldnt be in that room, i have batteries in 4 different places for example, so i want to organise everything so that i know what i have and where everything is and hopefully have a decent lot of stuff to sell at a car boot in the spring..
Insted of taking a lump of cash every tuesday and using all of it on a weekly shop, this week i have just bought a few bits (dog and cat food, cleaning stuff, and a couple of bits of food, cereal for liv etc) and kept 30€ in my purse for the rest of the week , Will see how that goes
Lots more ideas, but i think rather than restricting myself and forcing new rules i will see how each day pans out and tweak and change things as the month goes on
Good luck everyone
[center]Happy to have shown Titchy Clucker a little corner of France[/center]
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(¸.✰´¨(¸.✰ Manda
Living our version of the Good Life with 1 dog (who feels like we're living with 4!), 1 cats, a few sheep and 11 chooks. Don't get your knickers in a knot..it solves nothing ~ just makes you walk funny
I dont know about that Helen, That little lightbuld in my head keeps waking up but by the time i get a paper and pen, the thought as gone
A couple of things i have remembered....
When cooking on the hob, cut the gas and cover the pan, once the water is boiled it will continue to cook whatever is in there without the gas being on... Just takes a little longer and sometimes a quick boil at the end... Ive done this quite a lot, its suprising how much longer the gas bottle lasts for... I do the same with the oven now too
I bought myself a big termos cup for my tea, it always goes cold before ive finished the cup and im always wanting another straight after, My big cup equals two normal sized mugs, so i economise a tea bag for each cup, washing up as i keep the same cup all day, sugar as rather than 4 spoons in all i only use 3.... and electric reheating the cold tea .... I dont save on boiling water as i have a kettle on the wood burner
Im keeping a bucket in the bathroom and a bowl in the kitchen sink..... It struck me last night, how many liters of water go down the plug hole while i wait for the hot water to come through.... So ive started collecting it and it either goes into the dogs bucket (its clean, no reason why not) or onto the plants, or into the bath so that i only need to add hot water for livs bath...
I change the dogs water every day, but they have a big bucket (easier when there is a lot of them, doesnt need refilling every hour!) There is always a bit of water left in the bottom, i give it scrub out with the brush, and then chuck the dirty water onto my house plants...
Ive also swapped fresh milk for long life, for some reason the fresh milk is 1€20 for a litre bottle but the uht is 45 cents for a litre carton;...
A few thoughts for the day.;.... I will start carrying my notebook with me to keep track of these ideas
[center]Happy to have shown Titchy Clucker a little corner of France[/center]
Hi Sara, thats a really good idea about saving water while waiting for it to run hot. Ours is like that and am hoping to pick up a free water butt to fill for watering in summer.
Very good idea about using lids on cooking pots and turning the gas down... My elderly aunt has always gone on at me because if I used the lids I would need less water in the pots = less gas used... I shall start doing that myself..
"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"
Along the same lines but i dont think it saves any money, just maybe clearing up, To stop something boiling over put a wooden spoon across the top of the open pan and it will somehow stop water boiling over
[center]Happy to have shown Titchy Clucker a little corner of France[/center]
We switched to Corning pots many years ago and because the glass holds so much heat, you can turn the heat down and switch it off before metal ones, and the food stays hot until you need it. And now they're cheaper than metal ones!
One of your fb DTL admins with Manda Powdrill and Christy Poole.
That works with steamers too, I have used metal colanders with foil on the top if I don't have a lid, I am attempting to use "one pan" with steamer on top as much as possible and not have a pan and several items for microwaving
Great ideas Sara, I am going to try the cooking with less gas one and use a lid, I also steam my veg on top pf my potatoes if I am cooking both so that saves hob space and gas
Well, I think evrything is going ok ish.... Well apart from breaking my blackberry, which unless the garantee works, is going to cost me to replace.... Maybe later...
Last summer i treated myself to my dream handbag, it goes across the body and is like a canvas type material.... The only thing is, its biege, great in theory but after a summer of being dragged to festivals and going everywhere with me, it was stained and looking quite sad, so this week rather than buy a dark colour bag for the winter, i have dyed it .... I was a little worried that the leather underneath would colour, but it has come out perfect... So i now have my dream bag, its dark blue, the bag i wanted to buy was the same but dark blue, and cost 45€, the dye cost me 4€ so i think thats a good saving
Went shopping today, and got everything i needed for 40€ less than i would usually spend by being careful... Also found out that the supermarket here marks down a lot more meat than usual on a monday, as tuesday is when the weeks special offers are in, so not only was the supermarket empty but i also got loads of marked down to half price for the freezer
Got to get the train a bit over the next few days so im going to take my time and make sure i get off peak tickets to save a few pennies...
Also saw an ad for a lady in town looking to swap kids clothes, she has from 4 yrs plus and wants up to 4 years.... So we are going swap kiddie clothes, meaning that with a little luck i will have very few clothes to buy for liv over the next couple of years and i will get rid of several boxes of clothes that are hanging about....
Im thinking of fitting a pipe and large container of some sort underneath the sink.... I have a double sink, and one side im forever using to run water, to get rid of the calcaire before making squash, to run hot water for the mop bucket or rincing a cup etc, so i really want to collect that water, Its all clean and could be stored for the garden.... I know , im getting a slight obbession with saving water ; )
Im going to look at the pipes under the sink
[center]Happy to have shown Titchy Clucker a little corner of France[/center]
Well ive been a little busy since i last wrote here....
Ive been to lucys and Helens houses for a lovely little beak, I was very careful to not spend over what i took with me in cash, Only used my card once and stayed within the budget i set myself so im happy with that... We really were very frugal staying in and not going out to eat or drink
Other than that, I have just been pottering along as normal, I dont think i have spent more than usual, probably less but i havent made any effort to save or find extra money ....
I shall have a little think later, and get back into it.... I have a dresser to tidy up and sell...
[center]Happy to have shown Titchy Clucker a little corner of France[/center]
You certainly were frugal on your trip over. You only had three things on your shopping list. Maybe we could have a competition to see if members could guess what they were Dom
