Frugal fritters and our last £20

Dear reader,
Good morning from a slightly sunny Kent coast and a warm welcome to a new follower Hard up Hester.
You may have noticed in the top right hand corner, I have added a small poll about the best ways to save money.  I found it when I was messing about on the blog layout tool as I am new to blogging and haven't sussed it all out yet.
I thought it would be interesting to get your votes on this and see what you think.
The cook from scratch option looks like its leading the way.

As you know I hardly eat out now and we have had a good look at what we spend our money on.
I laugh at the prices charged for takeaway food such as £15.99 for a pizza? Dough, tomato paste a few topping and some cheese. Lots of people must still be buying them as those annoying little hair dryer mopeds keep whizzing past me on the inside with a hot one on board.
I looked up some interesting facts about food, here's some

40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
Pasta and pizza were once peasants food as they are so cheap to make
A bottle of wine in a restaurant has at least 200% mark up

Yesterday we fancied a cooked breakfast (I blame the cold weather). I had seen a tin of sweetcorn in the cupboard and it was more brunch time so I made, for the first time, sweetcorn fritters which I found on Frugal Queens blog. 
So easy, so quick, so so tasty.

Blitz a tin of sweetcorn
Add 1 tablespoon SR flour
Add one egg
Drop tablespoonfuls into very shallow oil.

Served with crispy bacon and poached eggs and toast.

                  


I also totally picked all the meat from the chicken we had left and did a huge chicken and avocado salad. I put all the bones in the slow cooker and made a hot and sour Chinese style chicken soup with spring onions and shreds of chicken.  Our chicken has been well and truly used.

No spend day yesterday and today looks the same. We are enjoying a simple break from work, dog walking, cooking, reading and blogging. The best things in life are free.

We are counting the days till payday. I am checking the bank account daily to make sure nothing forgotten goes out. It's not a feeling I like being so short of money. We have a £10 note in cash and £10 in the bank account. The car has fuel and we have food and we will just have to survive.
Even when we get paid, there will be nothing left after everything has been accounted for.

How about you, do you count the days till pay day?

Have a relaxing and restful day.

Sarah x

A very frugal dinner.

Dear reader,

A massive welcome to the wonderful Frugal Queen. I'm sure you will agree she is an inspiration to us all. Also another huge welcome to Ruby Tuesday who has also joined my humble blog. Thank you ladies.
Yesterday I had yet another bill, this time for a car service, £131. The car has been expensive this month. It shows that I haven't been organised with my money and need to budget for the car as the same bills come round every year. Mot, tax, insurance, service and tyres. I have therefore set us an account and will put £100 in every month. Anything left can be rolled over and monthly amount reduced or saved for a new car when the times comes.

I had some braising steak, onion, carrots and potato in the slow cooker which I used as a filling for pasties. Not my own pastry just some puff I had in the freezer. They turned out well and we had them for lunch with a few left over which I will freeze for packed lunches.

The beef left a lot of nice gravy in the bottom of the slow cooker along with a few bits of veg and beefy bits. Determined not to waste it, I left the slow cooker on and added a handful of dried, red lentils, some curry powder and a few Indian spices that lurk in the cupboard.
Here is the crock pot (boot sale bargain £4-still in the box)

Flour- any sort

Tablespoon oil

Teaspoon salt

Warm water

Form a dough, divide and roll out.

Get a hot frying pan, no need to oil. 

Few seconds on each side till lightly brown.

I served it with plain rice and garlic and coriander flatbreads. Recipe above. I never measure for these I just add more flour if too wet.
I am chuffed that I made a whole dinner for two out of what was left. Since becoming more frugal we hardly have any food waste. Any left over veg goes into stir fries, soups or curries. Any small bits of meat get added to lentils for curries. Bread ends are frozen for breadcrumbs. We don't have waste as I now meal plan and shop for what we need rather than what the supermarkets want me to buy.

We have £20 in our joint account last till next Wednesday when we get paid. This account is just for food and bills so there is never supposed to be anything left anyway. We have managed to pay for Big Mans car tax and my car service from here as we have a surplus. With no cigarettes to buy we just don't go in shops much. It used to be a packet (or 2 of cigarettes =£14) plus little extras, perhaps a packet of gum, a drink. £20 had been spent on nothing.

Have a great weekend, your comments, as usual will be received with thanks and replied to.

Do you feel ripped off at the shops?

Dear reader,

Have woken up this morning to grey skies and drizzle. Yesterday was sunny and we managed to get the dogs out for 2 hours. We are both trying to eat a little more healthily and fancied chicken salad for dinner last night. We went into Sandwich which is a beautiful little town with some unusually named streets. I like No Name Street.


We picked up some chicken breasts that were £4.50. I then saw some hot chicken on the rotisserie which had been reduced from £5.00 to £2.50 so we got two whole cooked chickens which will last us a couple of days for lunchtime sandwiches and salads.
Big man likes to eat a lot of tinned tuna and has it in salads, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and with pasta so I always try to have some in my cupboard. I buy it so often I know that 4 tins in the plastic wrap is always about £4. I was therefore horrified to see it for £7.99 in the Co-op.
I always hunt for the best prices and Poundsavers have it for £3 for 4 tins so I have stocked up with 16 tins. John West either in brine or sunflower oil.
What a price difference, it annoys me as I don't like to feel ripped off. We also bought a loaf of bread, I like the seedy stuff. It was £1.60 a loaf! I think the time has come for us to try again with the breadmaking machine.

I have some braising beef in the slow cooker with carrots and onions and will be adding some cooked, diced potato later and attempting some pies. I was inspired by a lovely fellow blogger who is an expert pie maker. http://chelmarshchunterings.blogspot.co.uk/
She has some lovely recipes, do pop in and have a look.

What food prices shock you reader? Is £1.60 a lot for our daily bread and do you use the pound shops for any food purchases?

Have a good day hope its better weather where you are.

Sarah x

What I will and won't do to save money.

Dear reader,

The sun is shining and the birds are singing. It's a beautiful morning here in Kent.

I was reading about the couple who turned off their heating three years ago. They had enough of the price hikes and wanted to make a small protest. There were pictures of them sitting there in a freezing house and I thought there are some things I will do and some I will not in the name of energy saving.

The I wills

Just heat our lounge with log burner
Wear more clothes around the house
Have a throw over me on the sofa
Shower more bath less
Go to bed earlier to be warm

The I will nots

Won't get so cold I have to wear hat and gloves indoors
Won't totally suffer, if I am really cold and just need heat now-will turn on heating for a short while

I figure that I have a lot more wills than will nots so must be a good thing.

I have been reading a lot of blogs lately and trawling other sites since I am not at work. I have a large credit card bill as we had to put something unexpected on it. I hardly ever use it and when I do I pay it all off in one go. Because of this unexpected amount we wont not be able to do so this time. Therefore, I took some advice and applied for an interest free card which is approved and no interest for 2 years. The amount will be paid off long before that but it's nice to have a breather.

I'm enjoying the MSE forums as people write about becoming mortgage free, they are inspiring me to keep going.
After your supportive comments yesterday I have decided that in 2014 we are having a holiday. I am going to try to save the non smoking money, £400 a month and use some of it for going away somewhere hot.

Yesterday was a No Spend Day-yippee. We took the dogs to Pegwell Bay and they had a great run and dipped paws into the sea. Did a bit of spring cleaning for my mum then relaxed. Watched a recording of Superscimpers but didn't think much of it. Need Ilona back on it-she's hardcore. If you haven't already dropped in her blog is called Life after money.

What will you do to save energy? Is there anything else I could do without causing too much discomfort?

Sarah x

Can you have treats when you have debts?

Dear reader,

As we are off work I feel like we are on holiday, a bit. This is my excuse for spending yesterday.
The trouble is, most of the time I am really good. Very frugal with food, heating and I never buy any clothes or get my hair cut. In fact I am looking a bit scruffy at the moment.
I don't want to buy any clothes either because I am too fat!

Anyway, yesterday we decided to drive to the shops and we treated ourselves to, wait for it.................
A bath mat. £16

I also bought my mum a new kettle. She lives in a hard water area here in Kent and the filter had disintegrated. I had tried to descale it and gave it a bit of a scrub on the outside and torn all the colouring off. £25 reduced from £50

Then, as it was cold and wintery, I got hungry. We didn't want anything junk foodie so we drove past a Toby car very and popped in.  As you know we don't eat out and we hadn't had a Toby for some years. It was packed when we went in, retired people, groups of friends, families with pre school children. I was surprised for a Tuesday. It was ok inside, tables all clean, no frills but it was fine.

The carvery was brilliant, there was a choice of four joints, Turkey, gammon, pork and beef. A huge selection of vegetables, parsnips, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower cheese, peas, mashed potato, roast potatoes and huge, fluffy, fresh Yorkshire pudding. Also a large bowl of crackling for non dieters!
I am ashamed to say, I deemed myself a non dieter yesterday. I had the lot, piled it up, lashings of hot gravy and I ate the lot. I think I got my £6.25 worth. The meal for two of us with drinks was £16.

So our spend yesterday was £57. I feel a bit naughty.
Sometimes on my frugal journey I feel hard done by and that I'm not getting much out of life. I miss the nice things, I miss the perfume, the hairdresser, the meals out, the holiday, the shoes the clothes.
I do have down days like this but I have to be strong and remember the dreaded debts. How I won't have to pay them every month, no more interest charges, no more worrying and checking accounts and shuffling money around.

So yesterday we had a treat, a bath mat and a cheap meal. We work hard, long hours. We no longer smoke so that's a huge saving and I want us to have a bit of a treat now and then to make it all feel worthwhile.

Does it sound bad, am I making excuses or should we have a few treats?
What do you do reader when you feel like this or is it just me?

Let me know. I read and reply to every comment.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah x

Ten frugal tips.

Dear reader,

I said I would list some money saving, frugal living tips and ideas. Thank you for sending them to me, there are loads. In no particular order.

1. A drawer/box in the freezer for bones and veg peelings for soups.

2. Grow as much as you can, I did lettuce last year as we eat a lot of salad, very easy and a big saving.

3.Forums on money saving expert to see what offers are in the shops, then bulk buying, if you would normally use it.

4. Using the cheaper supermarkets. Aldi and Lidl both have some quality goods and I notice a huge saving compared to regular supermarket.

5. A lot of you now do this one......Eat less meat. Have a few veggie meals instead, I like butternut squash and chick pea curry at the moment. Very filling.

6. Freeze the ends of bread. Great when you need breadcrumbs.

7. Many of you now.........make your own bread. At about £1 a loaf in the shops a lot of you DIY and say its much cheaper.

8. Some of us.........forage for fruit and then freeze it. I will be doing that this year. Lots of blackberries near me for crumbles.

9. Very popular with a lot of us.......Approved Food. A discount, online food seller.

10. Many people use the envelope system. At the start of the month or whenever they get paid they separate cash into envelopes for their regular shopping each week and don't go over.

Will you use any of these tips?
I will be doing , 2,3,4,5,6, trying 7, 8,9 perhaps 10 .

How about you reader, will any of these work for you or perhaps you are a 1-10 already. Let me know, I always love to hear from you.

Sarah x
Temporarily in Kent
Cold, gales and slight snow
4 cross dogs waiting for walk.

Walkies in Kent

Dear reader,
A massive welcome to my new follower, "Everyday life on a shoestring"

Big man and I have taken 2 weeks off work to come and look after my parents house and dogs as they are going away on holiday.
I have always been brought up with dogs and I love the but I have to say I don't miss the hair.
She has 4 dogs white, black and white, ginger and creamy coloured so whatever you wear it gets hairs on it!
They demand a walk every day for at least an hour at the exact same time (which is now and I have 16 brown eyes looking at me).
The weather here on the Kent coast is foul, snowing and blowy and freezing. Sadly the walk is most definately still expected and will be done shortly.
Despite us not going away abroad this year ( or last year) I really feel that I am on holiday. I suppose the change in surroundings has helped. I did a cooked breakfast this morning and have indulged myself in an early glass of wine this afternoon.
Still not smoking, neither of us and I have worked out we have saved £98 this week!
We have had to pay out a load of money this month so sadly this will not be saved as it has already been spent. I did find money this week on the floor and as I am doing the sealed pot challenge over at SFT's blog, I can report that the grand total of 36 pence was picked up and potted and found £2 in an old purse. How funny that these little finds make me happy.
Have to dash, am getting those " looks"  from the below.
Sarah x

Add caption