Men and proper dinners.

Dear reader,

I was just having a little wonder about frugal living and all the great blogs that I read and get tips from and a thought crossed my mind. Are there any men out there?

I read one blog that is a man, frugality living.blogspot.co.uk but all the others are women. What's going on?

The tips that you publish and have shared in this wonderful blogging family that I feel I have joined all seem to be from us girlies and usually about girlie stuff, cooking, household savings and the like. (That sounds sexist, but you know what I mean)

A lot of us mention our partners, particularly Frugal Queen who often shares pictures of  her great husband. I know they must also be partaking in the frugal life or do they just go along with it?
Is it us woman leading the way in saving?

Are there any men readers out there with blokey frugal tips?

Today I came home from work at 1530 and despite my good intentions I have had to turn on the heating for a short while as it is so cold in here. I have definately become used to having the house cooler and I now moan at work as I find it too hot and have to wear a t-shirt in the office.
I also have the log burner on as I am drying some heavy clothes and towels in front of it.

I did a huge shop last week and the freezer is fit to bursting. Big man and I take lunches into work, usually sandwiches but as he is working late into the evenings I try to do him a proper dinner to take.
I got some Maggi so juicy roasting bags with BBQ seasoning from Approved Foods last time and I put some chicken thighs and drumsticks in the oven last night. I wouldn't normally buy these at normal price but I have to say they are very good. No mess in the roasting tin and very tender and tasty. Although I did crisp them up a bit under the grill as they kind of just steam in their own juices.

I made a huge soup last night of all the veg I had in the fridge. Cabbage ( yes, I know and yes it did!)
Carrots, celery, peppers and a handful of basil and parsley from the window herbs. I gave it a dash of hot sauce and it was great.

A big thank you to Emma who has sent me her bread recipe for my bread maker as mine comes out a big cake like. Also, an appeal to K2D who won my first giveaway. Please email me your address so I can send you the book.

All the best for the rest of the weekend.

Sarah x

What what have you stopped to save money?

Dear reader,

I asked you for your money saving ways and the things you do to avoid waste.
You didn't disappoint!

You have some ingenious ideas and I will be publishing these at the weekend.

I have listed some of the things I have stopped below.

I have not been to the hairdresser since last July. I used to have my hair hi lighted blonde in a longish, straight bob.
This cost between £80-£100 every 8 weeks and a lot of conditioning, blow drying and straightening in between. My hair is brown and curly so it was a constant battle.
I got so sick of the reverse skunk look of the roots and my hair never seemed to grow probably due to the bleach. I have now let it grow au natural. I needed a trim recently but just didn't fancy paying £25 for someone to cut a tiny bit off the ends. Big man did it instead and the end result was the same except it was FREE.
I do colour it occasionally due to a couple of greys but only every 2 months or so and just buy a dye from the supermarket.

Eating out is another of my stops to save money. As you know I'm a girl who likes her grub. A big old curry, rice naan and a few vodka and diet cokes is what I like. (Yes, diet coke because you could have an onion bhaji for the saved calories you see.)
A meal out for two as a local curry house with drinks would have been £60 for the two of us.
£60! That's more then my weekly shop now.

We are paying back our debts and have had a couple that have had to be paid now before any fees apply. Both car taxes were due this month as well as the house insurance so we are actually, totally skint this month. The gas is off, except for hot water, we have a few more logs to last us. My car needs fuel so I am driving really slowly. On the good side, we get paid in 2 weeks  and the freezer is full for the rest of the month, we just need bread and milk.

Please send me your tips for money saving to go on my list.

Thanks
Sarah x

Frugal life changes

Dear reader,

Since starting our more frugal life I have compiled a list of the things I do or have done to save money.

1. Stopped smoking

2. Wash our clothes now when they are marked or smell less than fresh. (Don't get me wrong, I don't let us stink and Big Man gets his stuff washed more, being a man but we let towels dry rather than keep washing them and wear stuff longer than I used to)
NOTE: this does not include undies!

3. Shower instead of bath. (Bath is a Sunday treat)

4. Shop at Lidl. (Much, much cheaper)

5. Bulk cooking. As we always have something in the freezer no need for expensive takeaways.

6. Drive much more slowly. Safer, cheaper and more relaxing. Did you know the safest lane is lane one as you always have an escape route?

7. We do "free" days out. More country walks thus excersising more and we now take a neighbours dog out with us who never went out before.

8. Eat less meat. I now do a few more veggie or rice dishes. (Helped by meat scandal)

9. Our heating is now off. Completely off, no one or two hours in the morning. We have the log burner if needed and just get into bed at night. I feel much more rested for it too. Mega plus is that B. Gas (and we know what that stands for) gets much less of our money.

10. Big saving made by taking packed lunches and a drink to work.

If you have just one thing that you do to save money please send a comment and I will compile and publish them at the weekend. I reckon we could share our tips and all save a bit more.

All the best for the week ahead

Sarah x

Tired and hungry.

Dear reader,

You know that hair dye advert where Cheryl Cole swishes her hair and says she got her Mojo back? Well mine is definately on holiday. Is it just me?

I work about 10 hours a day which involves getting up at about 0530. Not terrible you may think but I am totally not a morning person. It just knackers me out for the rest of the day, no matter how early I go to bed.
I come home and do a dinner which I don't mind as I love cooking. It's never a major cook fest for example, last night was pre made faggots (by me, not packet ones) roast spuds and roast carrots and peas.
I usually watch tv and go to bed about 2200 ish. I don't do housework in the week but may do a wash, that's all and obviously a bit of washing up.

I'm hoping the longer nights may help as it feels I have been getting up and going out in the dark and coming home the same. I suppose we all feel like this in the winter.

I have been cold in the house and despite me absolutely loathing the thought of paying them, we have had the heating on. Just for a couple of hours morning and evening. I know the bill will be huge and I will turn it off again.
Money just seems to be going going going this month. Home insurance, two car taxes. Big mans is £135 and mine is a huge £280. I wouldn't mind but consider pot hole dodging to be a daily sport!

I scoffed my way thought today as follows: (please don't think too badly of me)

One toast with tea at home
One sausage and fried egg sandwich at work
One huge cream slice at work
One homemade roast beef sandwich at work
A large bag of Tangfastics
My bosses left over chips
Half a glass of wine at home

How bad is that? No fruit, no veg. Bad bad bad girl. It happens when I am tired, I get hungry!

The food supply in the house is running low which is just as well I suppose. Will endeavour to get more healthy food this weekend.


I really don't know how working mothers do it. I admire you.

How do you cope with a busy life? Does your Mojo go in the winter. Please say its not just me.

Sarah. X

What is a girl to do?

Dear reader,

I am asking for your help today. It's about weight loss, money saving and waste.
No, not all about food but about clothes.

This morning I eventually pulled two massive bags of clothes out of our loft. They are in various sizes depending on the weight I was at the time.
I bundled them all away while we decorated and moved into our new house which as it type I have realised is a year today! 27/02/2012. How weird.

I have sizes 12,14 and 16 squirrelled away. I am a 16 now (but a bit of a squeeze) and you know how some shops vary the sizes so much. Take for instance, Karen Millen. A 16 in there is a small 14 everywhere else.
If I am ever out at the shops, which is rare now, I do pop in if I am passing, just to have a look.
I can see the thin and snooty sales assistants peering at me, thinking.... Nothing in your size luv.
I actually now say, "it's ok, I'm just looking at the bags and shoes" before they get a chance.
What I really want to say it, "At least I have tits and these bad boys are real!"

My dilemma is what should I do with all the lovely clothes. They are classics and won't go out of fashion. I'm loathe to put them on ebay for a fraction of what they cost but then again they are shoved in the loft, probably got a Glis Glis nesting in something expensive as we speak. (See post "A lodger called Cous Cous)

What is a girl to do?
Discipline myself and diet back into them?
Pros-will look better, feel better about myself and be healthier.
Cons-Have no self discipline and love my grub.

Sell on Ebay
Pros-will clear space and get some money.
Cons-will be miffed about how much they really cost. Will have the hassle of buyers and their questions. The wrapping, weighing and posting.

Please, dear reader, what do you think is best?

Blasted well got lost, again!

Dear reader,

Had a busy cooking day yesterday. I realised I use an onion in nearly every meal. Curry, faggots, stir fry. I buy a big sack from Lidl every month which is much cheaper than buying a few here and there.
Yesterday I peeled 6, which was all I could manage at 0830 in the morning. Onion hands first thing is just not a good smell. I put them thought the food processor and after using some for faggots and some for shepherds pies I decided to freeze the rest.
I wanted the right amount for each meal not just a big block so made little onion muffins in my silicone muffin tray which I then froze to have the right amount for cooking.

After my cook fest I felt like a bit of fresh air an excersize so me and Big Man took the fat dog at the end of the road out to Wycombe Hill. It's a lovely National Trust village with a huge hill that goes up to Hellfire caves which were the meeting place for Francis Dashwood and the Hell fire club.
I think there were some notorious parties there.
Have a look here http://www.hellfirecaves.co.uk/


Up a bit higher is a lovely church


And a mausoleum


We went off through the wood which are full of deer and wildlife with the Red Kites circling overhead. I took charge of the route which is not my strong point and was certain it was right. Sadly 3 hours later I admitted defeat and we got back to the car. Still, the little dog had a fab time.
Do go here if you get a chance it's a good day out and our walk was free!

Are there any good walks near you? We may pop by one day.

Sarah x

Sunday cooking.

Dear reader,

Haven't had a chance to blog as have been at work every day since last Sunday, 10 hours plus a day.
Did manage to get to Asda one night and stocked up on a few things. Spent £50 and got a reduced organic chicken for £7. I roasted it and let it cool then stripped it yesterday and used it for the hoisin duck wrap packs I got from Approved Food for 50p with some onions and plum sauce in wraps and it was lovely.

I only have today off work and didn't want to waste it so got up at 0830 and cracked on with some cooking and washing.
I set my food processor to work and diced a load on onions to freeze as I seem to use a chopped onion in most meals. I also did the same to celery and carrots and used half of these to fry for a shepherds pie. I then added two packets of Quorn mince. These are on offer in Asda, x3 for £5.
Added a couple of beef stock cubes and some onion gravy and have a large pie and 2 small ones.

I also tried some Quorn sausages and Big Man reckoned they were more sausagey than meat sausages. As you know, the meat/horse saga has really put me off and I can't even look at the mince in the shops anymore. I was really surprised the other night to see people buying processed ready meals still. Mind you they had been greatly reduced.
I am always surprised that people buy a curry or a shepherds pie when they are so easy to make yourself.

I then made bread crumbs from the ends of a few loaves. I always keep the unused bread end and put the in the freezer. When I need breadcrumbs I just put them in the toaster and the put in the processor for instant breadcrumbs and no waste.

I also minced some pork chops, liver and added to the breadcrumbs and onion and made 20 faggots.
I will cook these later when I do our dinner. I will then bag the fagotts in an onion gravy and will have instant dinners for a couple of weeks. They taste very good and you must try them. They are not really livery and you can always just say they are meatballs if the faggots word puts anyone off.
They would be nice in a rich tomato sauce on some buttery noodles

For dinner I got 2 organic lamb steaks and will fry these later and serve with some roasties, carrots and peas.

We have a smattering of snow here this morning and it is cold so we have the heating on. Will be walking the fat dog later and may go up to Hughendon and take him in the woods there. It's a lovely National Trust property which we can visit free since we joined last year. It was only £66 for the two of us and I reckon we saved nearly they in just 2 visits. Have a look at their website, there are some fantastic places to go to and I reckon we save loads by doing this rather than mooching round the shops.

What are you cooking this week?

Sarah x