Homemade's Frugal February

[Homemade]

Like many people on this forum I have to be frugal of neccessity so most of the big savings are already in place.

This year we have decided to grow more of our own food on the allotment. And to eat as healthily as possible which by happy coincidence means more veg and less bought meat.

In preperation we have spent money on a small 2nd freezer. It is a budget model and came with tes&co vouchers which will go towards the holidays.

The stored veg from last season will not last much longer in the spare room so we have started to process it. Last weekend (starting february early) we turned one very large pumpkin into...
2 kg pumpkin made 12 portions of curries using some fantastic curry mixes that were a xmas gift
1 kg pumpkin made 12 portions of soup using the xmas turkey stock
1 kg pumpkin made 6 jars jam using an old vanilla pod found in the back of the cupboard and 1kg sugar so cost under £1
1 kg pumpkin made 6 portions african veg casserole used about £2 other ingredients
1 kg pumpkin made 6 portions of risotto about £1
2kg given away
1kg used in various meals.
1 kg cooked and sweetened for puddings
1/2kg chopped and frozen
It was a very very large pumpkin!! One of the plants from the seed Sara sent in a seed swap so even that was free and I have saved some seed for next year and the rest the chicken ate.

These have gone into the freezer and we are using them as meals on days when I work late so that we won't be tempted to use quick food like pasties or sausages.

Other savings this month will include spending to save as we have just "liked" lilde on facebook and got a £5 voucher to spend tomorrow. We will only buy nonperishables of things we will use eg catfood so is a genuine saving.

Our shopping is already noticeably less in the last couple of weeks as we are using up xmas food and doing the fasting diet on 2 days.

[perchy]

Brilliant, that indeed is a massive saving on meals and as you grew it yourself you know it is fresh

[manda]

Fantastic Homemade

[Homemade]

As part of the healthy living kick I have organised some friends to do a weekly pilates class as our local professionals have stopped running their courses. As we only have to pay for hall hire that will only cost £3.50 a week.

And I have completed week 1 of the nutrition course part of which investigated the claims for glucosamine supplements which I take for arthritis. Verdict from scientific studies - no benefits ! So I won't buy any more -another saving.

[Willow]

Your'e quids in already

[Homemade]

Thanks,

good news -cheap meals,
bad news - all pumpkin,
good news -pumpkin is low calorie,
bad news - pumpkin promotes wind

Today we spent 2.80 on totally frivolous coffees in the library cafe so that we could sit in the modern foyer and pretend that we were grown ups with normal incomes.

[lancashire lass]

we turned one very large pumpkin into...
2 kg pumpkin made 12 portions of curries using some fantastic curry mixes that were a xmas gift
1 kg pumpkin made 12 portions of soup using the xmas turkey stock
1 kg pumpkin made 6 jars jam using an old vanilla pod found in the back of the cupboard and 1kg sugar so cost under £1
1 kg pumpkin made 6 portions african veg casserole used about £2 other ingredients
1 kg pumpkin made 6 portions of risotto about £1
1kg used in various meals.
1 kg cooked and sweetened for puddings
1/2kg chopped and frozen

good news -cheap meals,
bad news - all pumpkin,
good news -pumpkin is low calorie,
bad news - pumpkin promotes wind

oops ... and there's plenty more by the sounds of it LOL

This year we have decided to grow more of our own food on the allotment. And to eat as healthily as possible which by happy coincidence means more veg and less bought meat

I must admit that concentrating on winter veg (whether left on the plot to harvest as and when or growing to put into store) is more effective at savings than summer cropping. I think I'm also lazy - in summer I find that I can end up with a glut of fresh produce that needs to be dealt with as soon as it is picked (to eat or freeze) and too often they end up in the compost bin. Growing grain (like amaranth or quinoa) as well as beans adds protein to meals and they are so easy to grow, as well as have pretty flowers so means less meat.

[HappyBob]

Sounds like you got a plan morbidia, like the bit about growing more veg. I,m nearly self sufficient with veg although we do run out of tatties and onions earlier then we,d like but these are reasonably cheap if bought in bulk.

Winter veg is where its at and year upon year i find myself growing more and of course that means saving more. We have a large 6ft freezer that gets filled every year with veg and a dozen or so rabbits from shooting but I never went out as often as I should last year.

I dont keep chickens but again I barter for eggs when I can, and as a lot of people have chickens on our site so eggs are plentifull that I dont have a need to keep them yet.

Hope all your plans come to fruition morbidia and good luck.

[MissEllie]

Good luck homemade, my OH has started a plan of what to grow this year so hopefully we'll have some lovely fresh veg too (although not quite on your scale I think)

Good job you like pumpkin!!

[Homemade]

Today was a gardening work day, but I got to bring home the wood from the branches I pruned. Enough logs for next winter for the woodburner

[Homemade]

Growing grain (like amaranth or quinoa) as well as beans adds protein to meals and they are so easy to grow, as well as have pretty flowers so means less meat.

I've never grown those. Sounds interesting LL. Where do you get the seed?

[Mo]

good news -cheap meals,
bad news - all pumpkin,

Well, you don't have to eat all the pumpkin in Feb. It's frugally frozen and ready to add variety to your meals throughout the year. 36 portions will last for months at one pumpkin meal a week.

[lancashire lass]

Growing grain (like amaranth or quinoa) as well as beans adds protein to meals and they are so easy to grow, as well as have pretty flowers so means less meat.

I've never grown those. Sounds interesting LL. Where do you get the seed?

I bought them from The Real Seeds Catalogue - if you've never heard of it, they sell open pollinated varieties and encourage gardeners to save their own seed and how to go about pollinating to retain the strain. They have some unusual varieties and re-introduce strains that have been lost. It's also where I bought my Oca aka New Zealand Yam which I posted a thread in the Vegetable Gardening section called Something Different. Admittedly the tubers are expensive for what you get but they are amazingly prolific and you just save some tubers from the harvest to plant the following year. I think they make a good alternate to potatoes

[Homemade]

Well, you don't have to eat all the pumpkin in Feb. It's frugally frozen and ready to add variety to your meals throughout the year. 36 portions will last for months at one pumpkin meal a week.

No, but I have 6 more pumpkin or squash in the spare room

Thanks for the info LL will look into these.

Well not been particularly more frugal than usual this month as we are on a very tight budget here anyway.
Have been collecting firewood from work for next year.
Am going to change my phone company (only pay as you go anyway).

Have had several money off when you spend vouchers for supermarkets so have been using these which means an increased spend now to stock up on offers and non perishables. Should mean a big reduction in next months spending.

Have brought £10 set of digital bathroom scales to help in the health drive.
Will be making an order of wholefoods and grains online as a cheaper way of buying these than in the highstreet wholefoods shops.

[Homemade]

Well February is nearly over already.

All that spending to save has paid off this week as we only brought fresh fruit and veg.

Went into town yesterday and brought 3 panes of glass to repair the greenhouse, (boys being enthusiastic with a football!). Tried to get my glasses mended but they said they couldn't mend them and I would have to buy a new pair, so I brought them home and "fixed" them myself.

Brought some seed online (I blame Lancashire Lass for tempting me) but these are for future veggies.

Had a frugal birthday using up biscuits and chocs from xmas.

Found a new cake recipe which uses oil instead of butter which is lovely and cheaper.

Made another batch of 12 Pumpkin Kormas. And made our own sausages which work out about the same price as the lowest cost ones but with real meat in and no nasty surprises.
Blanched and frozen the last stored carrots and beetroot before they go soft, still using the very last of our onions, leeks, parsnips and kale. Should get into March before we have to buy any.

Will take the children into town tomorrow for a treat, we'll go to the library. Cost will be one bus ticket, and a drink in a cafe as its still too cold to take a snack to the park with the littlest. I think it is good for them to learn to behave in public too.

Time to arrange the next Jumble sale - hopefully will get a whole lot of clothes and stuff for pennies.