Monthly Archives: October 2012

I’ve made it to the end of Stoptober

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Hello Dear Reader,

I made it to the end of Stoptober. The shower died (I had a shower ‘in stock’), as did the bread machine and I did my best to cut back my spending as far as I could. I didn’t buy any fabric, any quilting magazines, I didn’t incur any library fines, I didn’t buy any clothes, I didn’t charity shop, I didn’t make any un-necessary journeys by car.



I did write a review for the bread machine on their website so the machine didn’t cost me, I did get my hair cut for nothing, I did an infographic on my blog site and I did get a tax refund (more than paid for the shower installation) so my incomings exceeded my out goings this month. I had a smaller water bill than last quarter and hope to reduce it further. I switched energy suppliers to get a better deal than I’m currently on and have fixed the prices for another two years.


I have started a deep pre-winter clean and have sorted out five bags of recycling which we have taken to the charity shop. We have used free listings on ebay and have made a few quid there and have moved money from paypal to our accounts.


I’ve made four gifts so far, I’m in the middle of another quilt project and tomorrow is marmalade and cake day, also in readiness for gifts.

Has all this been worth it? If I add what I didn’t spend last month, to what I haven’t spent this month, my mortgage overpayment for October/Stoptober (paid November 1st) is £1500…….so I’ll say OH YEAH! At the current rate, I’ll be mortgage free in eight years. Bring it on!

Off for a glass of sloe gin!

Froogs xxxxx

Quick and Easy Housework

frugal home

Hello Dear Reader,

I am, by my own admission, one of those freaks of nature who loves keeping my house clean and tidy. I have been called repressed, old fashioned and even been told to get a life. By the fact that I am living and breathing, is to me, obvious proof of being alive. On a working week, I put aside a little time every day to clean. I do the following things daily to keep the house in order, tidy rooms, make beds, put laundry colour sorted bags, empty rubbish bins, stack the dishwasher, wash clothes and hang them up to dry, put dishes away, spray and wipe over the cooker, wipe down surfaces with damp cloth and go over wooden floors with a broom and a damp mop to keep the dust at bay.


When I have time, which is the weekends and when I have time off work, I have a really good clean. I wash the sofa covers, wash curtains, clean windows, clean the interior and exterior window frames, clean down interior doors and skirting boards, pull out furniture and vacuum and wash behind them. I launder jumpers and coats. I will spot clean upstairs and stair carpets. At the weekend, I often hand wash/shampoo a couple of stairs/steps and put a sticky spot of the side of the last stair I cleaned. I’ll also use time to empty cupboards, wash down surfaces and generally tidy out cupboards, wardrobes and storage areas.

As I admitted, I enjoy every minute of this. I find it soothing and relaxing. My home is my sanctuary and I genuinely love looking after it.

Over to you Dear Reader, feel free to hate housework or love it! Who else loves a stay at home and sort the house day?

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx

Saving water to save £1000 a year

Saving money, saving water

Hello Dear Reader,

Our water bills are iniquitously expensive. Un-metered water for my house costs £1400 a year. The rising costs of energy and water means that a deep hot bath is a distant memory. I can neither afford the water or the gas to heat it. The boiler is off and we’ve thrown away the bath plug so we don’t even think of a bath. Since moving to our current home five years ago, our energy bills have doubled and our salaries have reduced, mine by choice and Dearly Beloved by having his salary reduced by 10%. It’s not unusual for families with two working people in the UK to have to count every penny due to the rising cost of living. I have though reduced my water bill to under £400 a year.

Here are all the things I do to save water:
1. Keep a bowl in the sink and use the hand washing water to flush the loo.

2. Shower standing in a stacker box or baby bath and use the water to flush the loo.

3. Use floor washing water to flush the loo.

4. Use a bucket and soapy water to scrub the steps and patio instead of a hose pipe.

5. I make sure clothes are actually dirty before I wash them - I only use a short wash programme.

6.I don’t use our hot water system - there’s no running the tap to wait for hot water - there’s no hot water!

7. I only boil one cup of water at a time - saves electricity too.

8. We wash the car with two buckets of water, one to wash, one to rinse.

9. I get my hair wet in one bowl of water in the sink, with the hot water from my kettle, wash it and then rinse it in the shower.

10. We use a shower timer and have four minutes.

11. I only use my dishwasher once a day or less to only use it when it’s full.

12. I scrape the plates and dishes so they only need the minimum wash time.


I don’t consider any of this to be a hardship, instead, I just see this as the way it is. There’s no point in complaining or feeling resentful that in some areas of the UK, water is part of council tax or in certain areas you can fill a Olympic swimming pool for forty quid. I have no choice but to be shafted sideways by the local water company (South West ‘eckin’ Water) but I will do all I can to give them as little money as possible!!

Here are a multitude of ways you can save water and money.

Visit the OHOP website for more saving water tips


I hope you found this useful. Over to you Dear Reader, any one else saving water to save money. How many cubic meters of water do you use a quarter or a year? We use 200 litres of water a day and I wonder if we could cut it back further?

Until tomorrow, Love Froogs


Our Home, our planet paid me to place the infographic, but I can assure you that saving water will save money and it’s a valuable global resource and we shouldn’t waste it. I will use the money to help pay for my utilities.

Busy mum day

Frugal Christmas, frugal quilting, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post

Hello Dear Reader,

My son is twenty five and I rarely get an opportunity to do anything for him any more. In fact, it’s the other way round and he does a lot for us. Today, I got to do mum stuff. He needed a wisdom tooth taking out and the dental surgery sent him to the hospital for this. Thank you to the staff at the surgical dental clinic at the hospital for doing this and for the NHS for not charging us! His wisdom tooth looked like a comedy tooth in a cartoon as it was so large and came home, rather gruesomely in his pocket! He’s taken a couple of days off and I get the rare opportunity to play mum for a couple of days.

I came home and got busy and made another stocking. A bit smaller, to put some gifts in for my son. I know he’s twenty five and I’ve made this for him. I know what he likes and it won’t cost much and it won’t take much packing and this means I don’t have to wrap anything and his gifts can go in here. Now, would you believe, DB wants one!


A very Dear Reader, sent me a quilt in progress, all made by hand in the tiniest stitches which I’m afraid, I won’t be doing. I’ll be finishing this by machine. It’s so cold here, that we’ll need all the quilts we can cover ourselves with. All my gifts will be small this year, home made and certainly more thought than value.

I remember my children being small and letting them have a budget and letting them choose, they would get some of the things on their lists and they knew they couldn’t have everything. My dad let slip that the cost of chocolate and nuts and snacks means he doesn’t buy much anymore…..so I know what I can buy him! Mum is sewing again, so I know what I can buy her! My grown up kids like useful things such as tea bags and socks as well as a few beer tokens. Over to you Dear Reader, how are you going to keep the costs of Christmas to a budget?

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxx

Like on the telly……..but cheaper!

craft


Hello Dear Reader,

I was up at stupid o’clock this morning as the ‘clock change’ always puts me out of kilter and I spend four days not knowing what time it is. I flicked through the TV channels and came across the ‘Create Crap’ channel where a lovely lady made a Christmas stocking from a kit she was flogging for £31. I knew I had enough odds and sods lying around to make one for next to nothing. I had some spare batting, some old pyjamas, some scrap material and a cut up man’s shirt from the charity shop. The lovely ‘Create Crap’ channel has a small video of the very nice lady making the stocking and here’s the link

I cut out a stocking shape, you can do this in any size you want. I then found some decorative fabrics to cover and back the stocking and an old linen table cloth ( I bought a job lot for 99p on ebay have been using them for a variety of craft activities ever since) I used the flip and stitch method of quilting and she shows you how on her video

Here’s the close up.

Once I covered the entire stocking shape and pinned the edges and then sewed down the edges.

I used some snowmen jim jams for the backing.

I put the backing and the fronting right sides together and two layers of inning or inny bits on the bottom of the pile. I pinned it and then trimmed it.

Here’s the pinned and trimmed stocking.

I then sewed all round the edge to secure the whole lot.

I then turned it all to the right side - here’s the back with Mr Snowy.

Here’s the front.

I then decided I wanted a Yoosta-Bee logo on it………..this would have been easier if I had done this before assembling the entire thing!

A stocking needs a loop to hang it. I used the cuff off the short sleeved shirt and turned it in on itself and then stitched it.

I used another shirt to make the edging and I did this just as I edge my quilts.

My hand sewing on the inside, isn’t so neat but it can’t be seen from the outside.

Here’s the finished stocking.

Close up of the back.

Close up of the front.

A long shot of all of it.


One stripy Christmas stocking, didn’t cost £31! and took me about an hour to make it. Now I just need to make the items to go in it for my daughter! Then, one for my son!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx

Frugal Ragu Sauce

frugal food

Hello Dear Reader,

I’ve been out and about today, trying to make the best of the good weather even though it’s been freezing cold. I work on the basis that the weather might not be good again until June, so get out! I came home with what felt like finger nibbling frost bite and wanted something really wholesome. I make a ragu sauce and then make a couple of lasagnes after we’ve had the ragu sauce with pasta. My sauce is two thirds vegetables and one third meat. To make my sauce, you will need: one pack of minced beef - about 300-400g, a head of celery, one large or three small onions, five small or two large carrots, a lot of tomato paste (i got huge tins from approved food), some garlic powder, granules or fresh garlic, 2 teaspoons of mixed herbs, one level teaspoon of ground black pepper, one level teaspoon of salt and water.

Get a pan hot. Wash and peel the carrots, peel and roughly chop the onions, wash and roughly chop the celery.

Place them in the food processor and blitz into little bits.

Get a pan hot, add the mince and veggies and fry on a low heat until cooked through.

Add loads of tomato paste. Don’t use tinned tomatoes if you have this as tinned toms makes it watery. The tomato concentrate makes this rich and delicious.

Add water to loosen and simmer on a low heat for a couple of hours. If your ragu sauce lacks depth and flavour, then it’s probably not cooked for long enough.

Here’s the finished result. You don’t need much as it’s so rich.

The tiniest grating of cheddar, which is too expensive to be indulgent with, a stir through and it’s perfect.

Finally, over the last few evening, I’ve finished another Yoosta-Bee creation. Old shirts, thrifted fabric, the backing is a sheet sent to me from a reader, lots of the fabric was donated from a Dear Reader in America, some vintage pillow cases and the resulting ‘true blue’ quilt will be in the post on Monday to another Dear Reader who helped me out.


I’m on a week’s holiday next week and will be busy, busy, busy…………….so watch this space!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxx

Butter bean and Chorizo Stew with Sweetcorn Fritters

frugal food

Hello Dear Reader,

I needed to make supper really quickly tonight. It was late and we were hungry. I made Butterbean and Chorizo Stew with Sweetcorn Fritters. I’ll start with the fritters. To make these, you will need: one tin of sweetcorn, one egg, one heaped tablespoon of flour. It works really well with SR flour but I used corn flour as I wanted to use it up. Start by blitzing the sweetcorn. I do this in the tin and then scrape any extra off the blades.

Add the flour and stir through thoroughly.

Add and egg and a dash of salt.

Mix all through thoroughly until a batter consistency.

Fry in some hot oil and turn when golden. Here’s the finished result. I used to make these for my children as a tea time snack.

To make the Butter bean and Chorizo stew, you will need: Half a Chorizo sausage skinned and cut into thick slices, a tin of butter beans, a tin of tomatoes, some garlic powder, four carrots skinned and cut into slices, one onion finely chopped and one pepper cut into small chunks. Heat the pan and fry the onions, add the carrots, Chorizo and pepper. Fry gently until soft. When soft, add the tin of chopped tomatoes and cook on a low heat until the carrots are cooked. You might need to add some water. When the carrots are cooked until you like them, add the butter beans and cook for a further fifteen minutes.


Here’s the finished result. Friday night supper, from the store cupboard and bottom of the fridge all cooked and ready to eat in thirty minutes. It was lovely too! I cooked this in less time that it would have taken to have gone for a take away and certainly cost a lot less!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxx

Making bread in a bread machine

frugal food

Hello Dear Reader,

I am always aghast when I read the ingredients on a pack of sliced bread. It’s reads like a chemistry experiment and it certainly doesn’t inspire me to eat it. I’m also concerned that a good loaf of sliced bread can be £1.50. People often ask about the way I make bread so here’s as much information as I can possibly give you. A bread machine always asks the user to put in the water and oil, or the fluids first. To make a 2lb loaf I used a cup and a quarter of water and four tbsp of cooking oil. I then added 2 level teaspoons of salt, 4 cups of strong white flour and a one and a quarter teaspoons of dried fast action yeast. That’s it! No chemicals, no colours, no preservatives. That’s all that goes into our home made bread.

A bread machine can take up to three hours and it makes the bread slowly, properly and the old fashioned way by kneading, leaving it to rise, knocking it back and kneading it again and then a final rise before baking it. The wonderful part of using a bread machine is that I can walk away and leave it to to it all by itself. I don’t have to worry about it.

Here’s the simple ingredients into my simple loaf of white bread. Breakfast will be toast and marmalade.


My Stoptober hasn’t gone as well as it could, first of all the shower died and then my bread machine. I searched for and found the best price on http://www.idealo.co.uk/compare/2451355/morphy-richards-48320-premium.html and as I’d had this machine before, I decided on the updated version and it’s much quieter and produces a better baked and darker loaf than my old machine. It’s an investment in good food and will save me money as my loaf costs under 20p and I know what’s in it.

Is there any thing more fragrant that a kitchen full of the smell of baking bread?

I’m really impressed how much better the bake is than on my old machine. Hark at me? I went all Paul Hollywood…………..much better bake!


There you are, I’ve been promising a bread baking blog for a while and I’m looking forward to toast for breakfast.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxx

Extending the life of a roller blind

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Hello Dear Reader,

Thanks for your concerns about mould. We only get it in our unheated bathroom. I spray a weak solution of bleach onto any mould in there, leave it a while and wipe off and the mould doesn’t grow for a while and we don’t get it in the warmer months at all. My roller blind had been sprouting mould for a while and I kept meaning to replace the blind. However, I did notice it was much longer than required and just decided to keep it going for a while longer.

I cut off the damaged section and then turned over a seam and ran it through my sewing machine. I reinstated the bar through the seam and re-fitted the blind.


No mould, as good as new and will last another year! Money saved and the bathroom has been de-moulded. Oh, the fun I have on a Wednesday night.


It’s the only negative of an un-heated bathroom. It’s certainly not somewhere that Cleopatra would like to soak but as I dash in and out for a three minute shower, it will do for me. There you are, don’t throw away a mouldy bathroom blind, just cut, sew and go on!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxx

Juggling money

Saving money

Hello Dear Reader,

Oh what a night!!!! I’ve made the time tonight, I scheduled it, to speak to energy providers. My energy providers have just put my costs up by 8.3% for electricity and 6.3% for gas. All of us, me included, are going to have to wrap up warm and use a lot less energy to pay no more than we did before.


The comparison websites are all so difficult to understand and I have ‘played’ with them over the last few week since the announcement of the price rises. I found it best to find the best on line deals and then get them to phone me and not to commit to anything until I had all of the best prices. I had a good deal previously and it just became uncompetitive over time. I’ve now changed energy suppliers and have spent the evening sorting it out. I found a really good deal via Money Saving Expert, Go Compare, Compare the market, money supermarket and all of the other comparison websites.

I have a good deal on my heating costs! I have ordered wood and it is exactly what I paid for it last year! Wood is no more expensive!I’m going to make sure I have all the wood I need for the winter and have two tonnes delivered next week. It’s my very own prepayment meter and I’ll feel really safe knowing we will not be cold!

As gas and electricity costs rise, many people are really going to struggle to keep warm, clean and fed. I will worry about recipes that take a lot of cooking and will think of food that requires less gas to cook. I will use my bread machine, slow cooker and mini oven at lot more and my main cooker a lot less. Even with a new supplier, a fixed price deal, I am going to have to be more careful than I was last year and I will still pay a lot for simple lighting and cooking.

Over to you Dear Reader, has anyone else switched suppliers? I changes to Scottish Power Online Fixed Price energy April 2014 - it’s a mouthful but that’s the name of the dual fuel tariff. It may not be the best for you, but it’s the best for us. Where have you found a good deal? How’s everyone else faring? Head torches? I’m wrapping up a lot and keeping moving…..what are you doing? Anyone else fighting mould through lack of heating?

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxxx