Monthly Archives: June 2015

Today was summer! All day!

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Hello Dear Reader,

It was great to press the pause button tonight. The sun was still hot when we got home at five pm and we could lie in the sun until almost seven. I had such a job trying to convince my dogs to lie in the shade and not the sun. It was hot, I started off in shorts and ended up in my underwear!


I got the podgy knees out!

I dozed happily in the rare bit of sun we get here. In fact, sun is so rare that if I were Prime Minister, I would make hot sunny days National days off. On those days you would all have my blessing to lie in the garden in your knickers!

There’s something so indulgent about doing nothing for a couple of hours. I skipped slimming club tonight so I’ll just have to wait a week to find out what I weigh.

If the sun comes out tomorrow and you’re not at work could you go out in the sun for me, when it’s not too hot for you, put your feet up and enjoy it.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx





It could happen to me at any time

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Hello Dear Reader,

I am not a fatalist, nor do I think I’ve been dealt a hand but I do think I make my own future even though it is within parameters. I can not change political whim, I can not directly affect a rising or falling economy and I can not predict the future. I could be a fatalist, spend every penny I have and take the philosophy that I could be run over by a bus but in truth, I’m most likely to dwindle my old age in a degenerative haze not knowing what I had for breakfast. There are worst ways to go!

I am likely, just like most of my family members to be fit and active well into my retirement years with many more ahead of me to enjoy the freedom of not being part of the rat race. I may even be a bit morbid to some of you that we’re thinking that far ahead but having older (they are far from showing any signs of ageing!) parents who still enjoy very active lives, makes me realise that we’ve got some great years ahead of us and it’s worth making the financial sacrifices now to prepare for the times ahead.

So, I may not have a basement with six months food, I may not have several months water supply, have hunting and fishing skills but we are in are own way prepared, as best we can, for our future. We are not dreamers but people who practically prepare for the future. We don’t spend all of our income and make sure we live off as little as possible and in fact, save more than we spend each month. We live well beneath our means, our hobbies and habits are modest and we make sure when we spend, that we do so mindfully.

I often think of where I could have spent money. We could have upgraded the kitchen and bathroom, re carpeted and had new furniture but it would have been an over spend on a very modest house in a very modest area. In short, we’d never re-coup it and it would be wasted. I could have bought that APQS quilting machine that I’ve longed after but it would never pay for itself and it would be an utter indulgence that I can live without. When ever I have a ‘fancy’ or ‘whim’ to spend money I always take time to think of where it’s a want or a need. I always ask myself how much I want it and somehow I always manage to stop myself and see sense.

We’re both 50 next year (I will be so in December and DB next December) and we could have planned some indulgent ‘treat’ but have instead planned another cheapie (all relative) to some where self catering and affordable. We’ll be careful all year to pay for it and still save for other eventualities alongside that. We won’t wear unwashed clothes, have no heating, or eat lentils (though nothing wrong with them) and will budget carefully throughout the year. We’ll carry on as the ‘normal’ we created when we worked out way out of debt.

In the almost twenty years that DB have been together, DB has been made redundant, had a forced 10% pay cut, faced another round of redundancies and we’ve just made it. He’s a front line public sector worker and really appreciates the way he’s kept his job when the austerity cuts meant that so many lost theirs. We have experienced first hand that an income can be lost at any time and that keeps us living well beneath our means, saving more than we spend and living as modestly as we can.

I don’t suggest anyone else lives the way I do and everyone’s situation is unique to them. I write, as I do today, as a reflection on how hard we have to work to keep finances in check and we had to cope with change and continue to do so. It doesn’t matter that we’re debt free, it doesn’t matter that our overheads are low and it doesn’t matter that we have saved an emergency fund; we still have to remain financially focused as what happened before could happen to us at any time.

To some, all of this money management might seem just too much hard work but we know that change can happen at any time and we need to be able to survive it if it does.

So Dear Reader, just plain boring or the reality of life in an every changing world?

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxx







Thrifty holidays

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Hello Dear Reader,

I’m not packing Red Cross parcels, this is my packing that I’ve added to over the weeks for our holiday. We self cater and take everything we need. I take stacking boxes and bring them back empty as we’ve used almost everything whilst we’re there. At the end of the trip we usually have just one box left and stack the others.

I’ve never rented anything in the UK so can’t tell you what you’ll find in a British holiday rental but French rentals are quite sparse and you might well need to take more than you anticipated. You’ll also be expected to ‘leave it as you found it’ and give it a thorough clean before you go. You’ll also need to take cleaning products, cleaning resources such as scrubbies and dishcloths. I stocked up on the £1 cleaning items from Asda. Most accommodation doesn’t have a washing machine or a standard oven either and will have a combi or mini oven. It’s basic but it’s way cheaper than accommodation here. (Ours way £700 for two weeks in the school summer holiday with 10% cash back through Quidco and Owners Direct). We also use launderette away from the tourist area and hang it on the flat balcony, just like the locals do. Most ‘bits’ get washed by hand

Also, most changeovers are a Saturday and quite late in the day, usually 4 pm. By the time you’ve unpacked, the last thing you’ll want to do is hunt down tea and milk once you’ve found the supermarket so we take basics with us. Another thing we do is cook something and take it with us to eat on the first few days: a cooked piece of meat, salad, maybe a cottage pie or something that could be easily reheated.

It might not sound like a holiday to some but the treat to us is being away from the ‘everyday’ here and idoing it ‘on a budget’ means it doesn’t break the bank and we’ll really enjoy ourselves.

I know some will say, if you go to another country, you should spend money there, we will buy all our fresh food when we get there.

Over to you, any suggestions of what I should take so I can budget for it before I go.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs

Thrifty shopping and cooking

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Hello Dear Reader,
I get paid this week and that’s the time I stock up for the month or even two months. I also like to stock up the freezer with lunches that DB can just take, ready wrapped in foil and stick in his back pack. So, there’s nine pasties in the freezer and one inside DB
There’s two quiches, each cut into six and eight portions respectively and a fruit cake in the tin, which keeps well for over the week.
I’ve stocked up on store cupboard items like tea, coffee and UHT milk, tinned fish and loo rolls. I also went to the local butchers and filled an entire drawer of the freezer with meat for the month.
I’m on holiday countdown now. We self cater and take everything we need with us. I’ll get together everything I need over the next few weeks. It might sound a bit stingy but the big treat for us is being away on holiday and we don’t want to spend more than we’ve budgeted for when we get there. We don’t buy new clothes, feed ourselves when we get there, take what we have and amuse ourselves with bike rides, walking, reading and if the weather’s any good, sitting on the beach.
Today has been sunny enough that all the laundry was dried outside, the dogs have been walked, the windows have been wide open and the house has been aired. The cupboards and freezer have been stocked, the house has been cleaned and we’re well rested.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs

Save money at Waitrose

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Hello Dear Reader,

I’ve long been signed up to all of the supermarkets. That means I get to hear about the deals and discounts almost daily by email. I have the option of most of the supermarkets including Waitrose on my way home from work. It might seems arduous signing up to all of them but it does mean I keep a very close eye on what is on offer. Waitrose sent me a voucher to spend instore for the purpose of this post, however, I buy all of my branded items from there as they are competitively price matched.

Here’s what popped into my inbox this evening from Waitrose. You can choose ten items of which you will pay 20% less than you would normally at the till. After buying them, they will email you a £6 off £60 voucher to use later. They also have an offer, that you can’t use with any other offer that if you order on line, which you can have delivered for free over £60 or click and collect from the store where you add ECMWPY30 at the checkout and get £30 off your order over £100. A 30% discount is brilliant!

I chose to Pick my own offers as we needed coffee, de-caff tea and various other branded items that I can’t buy in discount supermarkets. I buy ‘branded’ items from Waitrose as they price match the major supermarkets so I can’t buy it cheaper else where and it’s on my home bound commute. I’m buying those items any way, the original prices were price matched and now I’ve got a 20% discount. Do you have a Waitrose in your area? Have you, like me, found really competitive prices there? What would you choose to have with a 20% discount?

If you search for discount, use discount codes, look for click and collect or free delivery, use supermarket coupons in any way and know of any then please leave a comment and share where they can be found. You’ll need to hint as to where you can be found as a British offer won’t be a lot of use in Kansas or New South Wales.

I’m picking up my shopping on my way home tomorrow and always love getting a good deal.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx

Frugal Laundry?

frugal home

Hello Dear Reader,

I’m writing in the response to the email you sent me about ‘laundry and what temperatures to wash things’. Firstly, thanks for taking the time to get in contact and that’s a question that will be well debated.

I think what I’m about to write is generic but you wrote and asked and I’ll take the time to answer.

DB and I have ‘front line services’ public sector jobs where we are expected to present ourselves smartly and be clean and tidy. That means we have to wear decent clothes, keep them clean and have them pressed and looking smart. Neither of us do ‘dirty’ jobs and that means our clothes can have a quick wash and freshen up as they haven’t really got dirty and neither of us are particularly ‘hot and bothered’ so a quick wash will do.

Our washing machine will wash at 20 degrees C and that’s the setting we use. I also use the quick wash of one hour and I use a much smaller dosage of laundry liquid. I use Ecover as I can take my bottle to the local shop and get a refill which saves me money and the same container gets used over and over again.


I don’t use biological soaps but will use the laundry liquid neat on a mark or stain or just rub a bar of soap over it and then leave it to soak if it’s stubborn. I don’t use biological simply because I don’t feel we need it as we don’t have dirty jobs. If we did, it might be different.

Our weekend clothes are a different matter. We don’t get them dirty either but we don’t have to be the ‘public face’ at the weekend and these clothes can we worn longer, don’t need to be washed that often so we wear them just for the weekend and if they’re not dirty or smelling of cooking, then they will go back in the wardrobe to be worn again.

Some items get a hotter wash. I wash towels once a week as I hang them up to dry after use. On a sunny day, they go onto the ‘clothes horse’ in the back porch with the windows open to dry off and get taken to the bathroom and used again for the rest of the week. In the winter, they get a dry in front of the fire and used again. At the end of the week, they get changed as do the bed sheets and get a hotter wash at 60 degrees with a little more liquid soap and a slightly longer rinse as they’ve had nude bodies in them and dried them for the past week. Underwear gets washed separately and usually in a ‘delicate’ cycle.

Everything I possibly can gets line dried, a few things get dried in front of the wood burner in the damp season and the very occasional thing goes in tumble drier but that is rare.

So, no I don’t use biological, I only light wash/freshen our work clothes, our weekend clothes get worn again and only towels and bedding get a hot wash.

Now, over to you Dear Reader. You might have a different opinion. Is it more effective and therefore cheaper to use biological? Do you have a job where you have to look clean and smart which means you have to change clothes daily and keep them clean? I think most staff have high standards and laundering clothes has a cost so how do you keep it to a minimum?

I look forward to your opinions.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx

Do a little dance!

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Hello Dear Reader,
Just a quick pop in.
I lost 7lbs this week. I had to wear clothes at Slimming club so my weight loss there was 6lbs. I’ve lost 18.5lbs in total and next week my target is to smash my 10% weight loss and have in excess of 20lbs in total.
What did I do differently?
Three days straight of lean protein only, two days of a water fast, two days of lean protein and low carb vegetables. I feed DB by adding a baked potato, new potatoes or bread to his meal along with some salad or steamed veggies. He gets to eat anything of his choosing on my fast days.
I’ll now repeat that pattern until I reach my target of 11 stone or 150lbs. I will aim to weigh less but that’s my first target. Start weight was 200lbs and my target weight is 150lbs or to lose 3.5 stone. When I get there, then everyday will be a low carb veg and protein day, with the addition of a piece of fruit a day although I get all my nutrients just fine from low carb veggies.
This feels very much like a confessional tonight.
Just for now, I feel a lot brighter for being lighter.
Excuse me whilst I do the crazy dance that only someone trying to get slimmer understands.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx

Homemade Guacamole

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Hello Dear a Reader,

Quick recipe tonight, after a weekend of not eating, the I just wanted something light and fresh. Couldn’t eat leftover Sunday lunch as I didn’t cook one.

Guacamole.


You will need: two avocados, two tomatoes, one chilli, one lime and one chilli.



Remove the flesh from the avocado and mash with a fork.



Quarter and core the tomatoes, removing the seeds.



Dice the tomatoes.



Remove the zest from the lime, either with a zester or grater and finely chop. Add to the avocado and tomatoes.



Squeeze the lime and add the juice to previous ingredients.


Finely chop the coriander and combine all the ingredients with salt and black pepper.



Pop on a plate and serve with salmon.



If you eat it, have some crusty bread too.

Very fresh and simple. I hope you enjoy this if you make it. 448 calories per portion and 10g of carbs, 33g of fat, albeit healthy fat from the Salmon and avocado.

Enjoy and let me know if you try it.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxx










Feeding DB

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Hello Dear Reader,

I’m feeling better for switching myself off for a couple of days. I took the photo above to show what I ate for lunch today, mine was the plate on the right…………yep, it’s empty. I’m totally off my food, so much to the point that I’m fasting. Anyone who’s done this for Lent will know that once you get into your stride that it’s easier than you think. I’ve given up a meal a day and once all meals every other day for Lent though I’ll admit it’s a long time since I’ve taken Lent that seriously. So, I’ll spend this weekend not eating which is no hardship as I really can’t get much past my lips at the moment…….IBS…..you don’t need to know anymore. DB is being fed.

We called into Lidl on our way home from work on Friday and I bought DB some affordable goodies such as Scotch eggs, pork pies, some crusty bread and coleslaw. I wanted something easy to feed him on as I can’t stomach food right now.


Typical, we’ve both been ill this weekend and a right sorry pair. He’s choking with hay fever and has sinus pain. I cheered him up with home made scones, which took twenty minutes to make including baking.


I took a pot of clotted cream out of the freezer and he ate a couple of scones with jam and crea.

It cheered him up no end.

I, on the other hand, still don’t dare eat anything. I risked a cup of warm milk earlier and that had dire consequences. I’ll go back to another twenty four hours on cooled boiled water.

Until I can muster up the strength to do much at all,

Froogs xxxxx