Monthly Archives: February 2014

Checking your finances every single month!

Budgeting

Hello Dear Reader,

It’s the first of the month tomorrow and I hope you are ready for it. Today, being the last day of the month is pay day and I don’t want any of you to spend any money until you have well and truly prepared yourselves for next month.

If you are a parents, make sure you have checked out the school website and that you are aware of any upcoming expenses, charity events coming over the next month. Book day is on the way. Dressing up may be required, a readathon might be involved and there will certainly be books on sale. Being aware of the school calendar will allow you to budget for what you want to participate in or spend on. If you are not in the position to do any of this, then a polite letter each half term to the head teacher with a copy to the chair of governors to explain that you don’t want your child left out but can’t afford to join in will help the school discreetly support your choices without anyone noticing. Also, we can all be busy but be aware of the school calendar so you can budget for school expenses, such as cookery, school trips, music lessons and make sure you have made allowances in your funds or not to participate as is your choice.


Everyone of you will have expenses of one kind or other over the next month. Always know when insurances are ready for renewal. Get a wall calendar and mark it. Check that calendar each month and be ready for the next expense. Start saving for the next year when you’ve paid that bill. If you are not that disciplined then you might need to make the choice to spread your payments over twelve months.

If you’ve checked and know there are no insurance to renew, no car to tax or MOT, no tyres to buy then stop yourself from spending - this can be a savings month. You could put the money aside for planned spending, in our case new windows and a holiday, or long term savings such as new car, wedding, or house deposit or if you are already someone with a mortgage then consider making a mortgage over payment. We fix this a small set amount each month (as we are setting aside money for home improvements) and pay that on the first of the month so the money goes straight away.


So, you’ve checked the school calendar (remember, if it’s not for the children, the bills, the food, get to work transport then nothing else is essential!!) and there’s nothing on this month. It won’t hurt to start thinking about next month or the month after. I used to buy school uniform, PE kit and equipment throughout the year as and when I could afford it. When September came, I only had shoes to buy and I’d put money aside for this. We never had much money but we always sent the kids on school trips, they did after school activities and they always had plenty of clean uniform. In the same way, I used to buy small items that the children would need throughout the year such as pyjamas, play clothes or underwear and I spread the costs of this over the year. I did the same for birthdays and Christmas.

I always use the end of one month to mentally prepare myself for the next. I make sure I have all activities and planned events up on the wall calendar. I set aside days each month for earning extra income. You could do the same by having a ‘clear out, photograph and get it on ebay’ day a month. You could set aside time to put adverts into the local freeads. You could set aside time each month to check your finances and make plans for any costs you may incur over the next month.

We have nothing but food and fuel to buy in March and we will judiciously make sure we stick to that. Meaning, we will buy nothing new, spend nothing on entertainment, spend nothing on the house, nothing on the pet and nothing on ourselves this month. We will eat down our supplies and keep our food spending to a minimum, keep our transport costs to essentials only and make sure we set aside all the money promised to pay for our windows and holiday.

It might seems a bit drastic to have months like this but the rewards will be a warm secure home and two weeks just to ourselves.

I have lots to keep me busy: a quilt to finish, two cookery workshops and a quilting/sewing workshop at the end of the month. Everyday we go to work and I go to the gym after work. The housework gets done at the weekend, menus get planned, batch cooking gets done. We walk the dogs, meet with friends and life has an easy pace.

We certainly don’t miss ready cash! We do enjoy planned budgeting, planned spending and saving.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxx

p.s - please follow the link below and nominate http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk for: blog of the year, best food blog and best thrifty blog - thanks lovely people xxxx

Sausage hotpot for 67p a portion.

frugal food


Hello Dear Reader,

Here’s a recipe you just have to add to your favourites! This is perfect for a mid-week supper and I think children would love this……………I know mine did and even though they’ve grown and flown, they still do.

Serves 4

6 Pork Sausages - (£3 for 18 at my butchers 65% pork) £1. cut each sausage into three.
4 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced - 28p
1 tin of chopped tomatoes 34p Aldi
1 tin of baked beans 32p Aldi
3 carrots, peeled and finely diced - 15p Aldi
3 cloves of garlic - 3p
15ml of olive oil - 4p
1 large onion, finely diced - 22p Aldi
Sprinkle of mixed herbs and paprika, squirt of ‘brown sauce’ 5p
1/4 bag of mixed frozen veg and whole green beans - 22p Aldi
1 stock cube and half litre of boiling water. 3p Aldi

Total cost - £2.68 - 67p per portion.


heat the oven to 200 - cook the cut up sausages - don’t over cook.
Boil potatoes until just cooked, don’t over cook them as they will go in the oven.


Fry the onions, garlic and carrots.


Add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes until the carrots are soft.

Add the tomatoes, baked beans and season to taste.


I also chucked into some spinach that I had for lunch salads that was beginning to get limp.


Add the veggies and sauce mix to the sausages.





Layer the potatoes on top, drizzle with some oil or dot with butter. I sprinkled it with garlic salt.


Bake for 40 minutes and towards the end of the cooking, steam the veggies.


Admittedly, it’s more veggies than sausage but it goes a long way and it’s totally delicious! You can add more sausages as per your budget or even add (I think they’re are tasteless but you take your pick) quorn sausages.


There’s plenty left for us to take to work in our lunch boxes tomorrow. I think this would go a long way and it would even be great with salad and some crusty bread. I’m all for feeding a family as many veggies as possible and this is a great way to do it!


Over to you Dear Reader, who else has a ‘hotpot’ recipe to share. It’s basically a stew or casserole of some type with layered potatoes on top.

Thanks to everyone who has nominated Frugal Queen for a blog awards and if you haven’t already nominated it would be wonderful if you did. Click the link below and copy and paste http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk into:blog of the year, best food blog and best thrifty blog.

I hope you love this recipe as much as we do.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxx

Marinated pork with paprika potatoes - £1.05 per serving.

frugal food

Hello Dear Reader,

No gym today and came home early, so tired! I knew I was tired when I tried to have a bath with my bra on! It didn’t bode well!

It was lovely to get home early and get the dinner cooked for DB.

To make this, you will need:

2 pork shoulder steaks - left whole (600g pack for £1.99 - contains 4) Aldi - £1
2 large spuds (600g - 12.5KG for £6 - lay by Cornish supermarket) 28p
1/5 bag of frozen green beans (£1 a bag at Morrisons) 20p
15ml of olive oil for the spuds 4p
15ml of soy sauce (3 bottles for £1 from Approved Food) 5p
45ml/g of runny honey (99p a jar in Aldi - approx 1/10th of a jar) 10p
2 crushed cloves of garlic - 3p Aldi
15ml of wholegrain mustard (57p a jar - Morrisons) 5p
Sprinkle of smoked paprika (87p Morrisons) 8p
Total Cost - £2.10 - £1.05 per person.

(Lay by Cornish Supermarket - where farmers sell their veg direct, usually out of the back of a trailer - I buy veg this way such as greens, cabbage and potatoes - the money goes straight to the person who has grown it)


1. Before you go to work, or first thing in the morning, place your pork shoulder steaks in a plastic bag.


Add the garlic, mustard, soy sauce and honey.


Seal the bag and shake well.

Leave in the fridge to marinate all day.


When you get home, set the oven to 180 and peel enough potatoes to suit your liking.

Toss the potatoes in oil, paprika and salt and place on a baking tray.

Place your marinated pork in a roasting dish and roast both the meat and potatoes for 45 - 60 minutes. Check occasionally.

Steam the green beans, or veggies or your choice and serve.


Unctuous, sticky, garlicky, soft and tender with crunchy beans and smoky spicy potatoes. All for just over £1.

Spoon the extra sauce over the beans and spuds. Eat in the dining room with gentle chatter.



Over to you Dear Reader, I would love to hear about your recipes for marinades and who else marinades all day or over night? I’m also delighted to hear about the dear readers who have been converted to more affordable cuts of meat such as pork shoulder. Most of the supermarkets seem to have pork on offer at the moment and it freezes well. Who else roasts in the minimum of oil but still gets good results? Anyone else a fan of smoked paprika?

Thanks again to everyone who stops by, especially those who comment as I love to hear from you and thanks again if you have nominated http://www.frugalqueen for :blog of the year, best food blog and best thrifty blog. If you haven’t so far, it would be lovely if you did.

Many thanks and I’ll speak to you again tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx


Sweet and Sour Pork and Broccoli (Listen again to Radio Cornwall)

frugal food

Hello Dear Reader,

A million thanks for your support, emails, the 10,280 who clicked onto Frugal Queen yesterday, the 277,255 who logged on over the last month and 6,723,756 who have opened the Frugal Queen home page since I started writing the blog back in 2009. A thrifty life can be a bit quiet at times and it’s great to have you, Dear Reader, to have a chat with every day.

I was really hungry again tonight. I’m working on serious butt reduction and attended a forty five minute spin bike class and then……(as I’m used to this now and it just feels like a warm up!) went on to spend half an hour in the gym weight training! I nearly ate the steering wheel driving home!


To make the stir fry I used:
1 sachet of sweet and sour sauce from the Zombie Apocalypse cupboard (Approved Food - 6 for £1) 17p
1 tablespoon of ginger (2 jars for £1 from Approved Food) 5p
1 sliced green pepper - 36p Aldi
100g sliced mushrooms - 21p Aldi
2 crushed cloves of garlic - 3p Aldi
15ml olive oil - 4p
2 pork shoulder steaks - finely sliced (600g pack for £1.99 - contains 4) Aldi - £1.
1 pack of broccoli, cut into florets- 49p - Aldi.
100g rice (uncooked weight) - 4p - Aldi

Total cost - £2.97 - 3 portions, our supper and DB’s lunch for tomorrow - 99p per portion.


1. Cook the rice in a steamer (in the water below) with the broccoli cooking above.
2. Heat the oil in pan (where the heck is my wok???)
3. Stir fry the pork and veg.
4 When the pork is cooked and veggies are still crunchy, add the broccoli and stir fry sauce. (I can’t make it cheaper! so I use the ones I have from Approved Food…..you know, the sauce with the dragon on the front in sachets).


Serve with rice………..we’re still on short rations as we are still trying to reduce the ampleness of all we have!


As ever, I pad out the stir fry with loads of veggies.


Lucky for DB, he’s got all this again tomorrow…………I on the other hand have a fast day of 600 calories, which means sniff all until supper time! Anyone else on a 5:2 cut down the calories diet? It reminds me of the diet of my youth, which was basically coffee and Malboro lights with the odd diet coke thrown in! Thank heavens I eat better these days!

In case anyone wants to listen, here I am HERE with Tracy Wilson on Radio Cornwall on Sunday, just move the slider to the last hour and I’m on after the news. Thanks to everyone who emailed and phoned in and left messages for us to read out. We have a theme every time we get together and this week we had a good chat about living a good life even if you do so thriftily.

Over to you Dear Reader, who else believes that a good life doesn’t have to cost that much at all. As ever, I look forward to your comments. Also, as the deadline zooms closer, I would love it if you could nominate me for a blog award (blog of the year, best food blog, best thrifty blog) by following the link below and copying and pasting in http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk

Thanks so much lovelies xxx

As ever, I’ll see you tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxx

How to make chicken and mushroom risotto

frugal food

Hello Dear Reader,

Back to affordable nosh! I’m new to risotto and wish I’d discovered it years ago. It’s the ultimate comfort food! I got back to the gym tonight for a spin class (AKA sweat your norks off on a bike class!) As it burns off hundreds of calories I needed something substantial tonight.

To make this you will need:
2 Chicken breasts - (5 small frozen from Aldi £3.79) £1.50 - cut into cubes
150g of Arborio rice (1.09 for 700g Aldi) 24p
3 garlic cloves (3 bulbs 49p Aldi - 10 cloves per bulb) 5p - finely diced
6 frozen lumps of spinach 50g- (£1.25 kg Morrisons) 6p - thrown in frozen
1 veg stock cube (39p for 12 Aldi) - 4p - dissolved in 1 litre of boiling water
100g of chopped mushrooms (£1.58 for 750g Aldi) 21p
15ml olive oil (£2.89 L - Aldi) 4p
10g of Parmegiano Reggiano - (£2.99 for 200g Aldi) 15p

Total cost - £2.29 for two people - £1.15 each.


1. Heat the pan and oil
2. Fry the mushrooms, chicken and garlic
3. Add the rice and stir well to absorb all the flavours.


5. Add a third of the stock and stir continuously until absorbed.


6. Add the spinach and keep adding the stock and keep stirring.


The frozen spinach defrosts, unfurls and colours the risotto beautifully. It’s just as good for you as fresh and a whole lot cheaper and great in cooking such as veggie lasagne.



At the last minute stir the cheese through. I’m sure any hard cheese would do. We love hard Italian cheese as it lasts for months and a tiny amount goes a very long way.


We eat less rice in our risotto but you could easily double the amount of stock and rice and make this feed four people with hardly a difference in cost. You could serve this with green beans or salad or even crusty bread to make this for a lot further.


After leaving the house at seven am, working all day, a rigorous workout on a spin bike , a chilly rainy run back from the gym to the car park and then home to cook supper. I needed this.

Over to you Dear Reader, any other Aldi fans? More and more people I know are moving away from the regular supermarkets as they get so much more for their hard earned cash in the budget supermarkets. On a serious note, who else is keeping up with regular exercise? Who else is managing to maintain healthy eating on a budget…………but who else is finding it increasingly expensive?

If you haven’t nominated me (Blog of the year, Best Food Blog and Best Thrifty Blog) you’ve got a bit of time left. Help me keep the thrifty message in the public eye. Click on the link below and paste http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk into the nomination forms.

I love to hear from you and as ever, I’ll see you tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxx




How to say no to the things you can’t afford!

VLOG

//player.vimeo.com/video/87355879
You cant afford it…… How to say no. from frugal queen on Vimeo.
Hello Dear Reader,

Thanks for emailing, I hope I’ve answered your question. Take a look at today’s vlog and I would love to know how you maintain self-discipline to pay off debts or save for a better future for your family. How do you set money aside for long term goals or just to keep your heads above water.

This Sunday, I’ll be discussing this with Tracy Wilson on Radio Cornwall. I would love to hear from you if you are some one who needs to be a role model to all of us. Are you one of the people who have always been thrifty and have saved for everything you need or want. Tell us if you saved for five years to get married, or for a house deposit. Who is sitting on the sofa you had when you were first married as it’s good enough for your needs? Who is prepared to say no and go without for as long as it takes? Who has the breaking strain of a Kit-Kat and never saves?

Get in touch with [email protected] and we’ll read out your email on air. On Sunday, you can call 01872 222222 between 11 and 12 and tell us how you say no or how you just can’t say no.

It’s always great to hear from you,

Love Froogs

Learn to sew to save money.

frugal quilting

Hello Dear Reader,

I have two days of sewing workshops here at frugal cottage.

I learned to sew, cut patterns, match seams, iron open seams and unpick them and start again at school. They were basic skills and I’ve never forgotten them. I brushed up my skills by using tutorials on You Tube and there are plenty of how to sew type of short clips on the toooooooooob! I learned to quilt in exactly the same way.

Our libraries are full of books on craft and sewing and I refer a lot to books and website. The easiest tutorials that I’ve found are from Bonnie Hunter and Missouri Star quilt company.

You can of course go on day courses learning how to sew………….or you could come to me.

I don’t charge, I just ask participants to make a donation of what they can afford or what they thought the day was worth.


I used to have a box room for sewing and sewing workshops were held in my dining room, now I have a dedicated sewing space, albeit a bit cosy. I can fit three participants if I put my desk top computer away.

Today is a learn to sew from scratch day.

We will learn how to hold the fabric, guide it through a sewing machine, control the foot pedal and be comfortable with the machine.

We’ll move onto threading the machine and how to solve problems if they arise.

A quick break for a cup of coffee and some choccie cake (gluten free and of course, made by me) and onto:

choosing contrasting fabric,
measuring and cutting,
creating 5″ squares,
sewing a nine patch,


cutting a nine patch and making a disappearing nine patch block


And making a cushion cover.


If anyone wants to come along to a sewing workshop then email me on [email protected]. The next few will be held on Saturdays and I will try and fit in one a month.

Having basic sewing skills mean you can alter thrifted clothes, make your own soft furnishing, upcycle shirts into quilts and in turn, keep your whole family warm.

I’m passionate about saving money and living an affordable life and a few skills are really useful.

Come sew with me?

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxx


Please would you nominate me?

MAD blog awards





Hello Dear Reader,

The MAD Blog Awards have come round again. Winning Best Thrifty Blog in 2012 and Best Food Blog in 2013 changed my life. It enabled me to take ‘Frugal Queen’ to a wider audience.

Changing my life to one where I live beneath my means, where I save more than I spend means I live without the stresses and strains that so many people have when they are trying to live up to the Jones. I’m more than happy to be a torch bearer for a thrifty life. I’m delighted that people are trying my low cost menus, that people are trying quilting and are making do and mending. I love to hear of your free days out, of entertaining your children at home and how you even holiday on a tiny budget.

Not so long ago, in times of affluenza, everyone thought it was just so normal to run up debts just to have a ‘lifestyle. Everyone wanted more and more and mostly couldn’t afford it.

I’m one of hundreds of thrifty bloggers. We share the message that there is a different way.

We don’t need the new and shiny and hunt down alternatives at car boot sales. We don’t need processed or ready made and cook at home instead. We furtle around the bottom shelves in supermarkets for value brands and turn them into suppers where no one could guess the price.

We save money at every turn and build the best financial security we can for our families.

Being a thrifty blogger and winning twice with the UK’s biggest mum and dad blogger awards has given me public exposure. I now share my advice on Radio Cornwall, have been interviewed by Radio 4 and now get to pay it forward. I share my quilting and sewing skills with readers and host sewing, bag making and quilting workshops. I give talks to local groups including Christians Against Poverty and have been invited to speak to the W.I . I will be hosting ten frugal food workshops for Cornwall One Parent Support and none of that would have been possible without exposure that being a MADS Blog Award winner brings. It changed my life and now, thanks to your support, I get to help others and pay it forward.

Help me to keep ‘a different’ way of living in the media. If one family finds their way here and starts to get their family budget on track, pay down debts and live within or hopefully beneath their means, then all the begging for nominations and votes will be worth it. Here’s where I need your help.

Please click on the box below and nominate me in the thrifty and food sections. My blog is called

www.frugalqueen.co.uk and you can just copy and paste that into the boxes as required. I know just asking for votes is totally shameless but your support has enabled me to spread the message that you do not need to live up to anyone else’s expectations and you certainly don’t have to live a life you can’t afford!

Thanks so much and please nominate me.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx

Froog’s Sewing Bee

Uncategorized

Hello Dear Reader,

No spoilers about the Great British Sewing Bee on the Beeb! I’ve saved it on the Digi’ box and I’ll watch it later.

I have two sewing bees…………….on in this case, quilting bees on Thursday and Friday. To the beginners on Thursday, we’ll be making a cushion cover from with a disappearing nine patch front, so nothing dreadfully difficult. The aim is to be able to use a sewing machine, measure and cut fabric, pin and sew then iron seams open so they sit accurately. I’ve been testing some new blocks (all from Bonnie Hunter’s designs) to try out with the more experienced sewers on Friday. The block above is 8″ in the middle and finished to 12″ with the border.

This ‘Jacob’s ladder block is a 9″ block and is far easier than it looks.


This lovely little star block is finished to 8″. I find the smaller and more intricate the block, the more I enjoy the challenge of making it. All of these ‘orphan’ blocks will go towards my crumb quilt and will be practised again by me on Friday. I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone, to having a dedicated sewing space to work in and of course the fun of a really good chit chat.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Truro Branch of Christians Against Poverty for inviting me to tell my story today. I met some inspirational people who have done so much to change their lives for the better. Thanks for lunch and my love to everyone.

It’s been a great day all round. An inspirational morning with some amazing people, coffee and a catch up with one of my very dearest friends this afternoon and an evening playing with fabric. Days off don’t get much better than this!!!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx