Turn away if you scare easily!

 If you're feeling brave enough: read on! I'm going to share this months (every jeffin' month) budget. Here it is! And remember, I warned you!!

Salary in today at midnight - £2506. Let's all do the.......I'm actually very rich dance! At midnight tonight, on the 1st of the month the following will be paid. £1063 for the mortgage. £199 for the car loan. £373 for the Lloyd's bank loan and £500 for the Virgin 0% card (actual payment is £30 a month.....but I over pay by £470 a month). Money in = £2506 and Money out = £2135 Leaving me £371 a month. (We have DB's salary too and he pays all the domestic DD's and all the other debt repayments.)



 I then spend £100 a month on travel costs to get to work. I put £25 a month into our emergencies savings fund.  I pay £30 a month towards my water costs. £140 a month on groceries and I am left with the huge sum of £76 a month to 'play' with. I'm going to make sure I severely cut back on food costs this month and I won't go to work for a couple of weeks  due to the Easter break and I'm hoping to put £100 away this month towards our holiday. I'm going to be blogging about 'store cupboard' recipes over the next few days as I intend to eat everything in the house, before I buy any thing else.

This month, I'm going 'frugal extreme' and will see exactly how little I can do with, use, spend, buy and how much I can save. You see, to me, having £76 a month spare seems like a lot of money. I clothes shop off the pound rail in the charity shop, buy all toiletries in with my food budget and anything else can be made, bartered or borrowed from the library.

I'm going to use up every little last bit of everything I have. I'm going to need some help!

I'm going to need you guys, at the side of the road, with the banners and hooters; rooting for me. Today is my 500th post and it would be lovely if those of you who are not followers yet could do so, so I could have 500 followers. Tell your friends and get them reading too. This month will be full of recipes, making things over the holidays, decorating the house with what I have, house maintenance without any trips to the DIY store and entertaining friends with what's in the freezer or cupboards. Drop by everyday and make a difference to my month of 'frugal extreme'.

Until tomorrow,

Froogs xxxxx

Perseverance, determination and never, ever giving up!

 At heart, I'm a bit of a Dory! I don't stay worried, angry, upset or disappointed for long. I just keep swimming. I was asked to give advice about staying frugal,  when there's no energy, no will, it's the end of the month, there's no money and everything seems against you. Well here's the tough love coming up. You have no choice. I have no choice either. I can not go out, have my hair done, buy some lipstick and get dressed up for a night out in a restaurant. I have no credit cards at all, no overdraft facility, I have no money, I don't get paid until tomorrow and I just have to keep going. Of course, I get totally pissed off, but it's not a hand I've been dealt......I hand selected everyone of those cards and I laid them down. It's my life and I have to deal with it.

 I do a lot of work to make sure I stay on track. I get tired from time to time, so I have meals in the freezer, or store cupboard that I can pull out. I know I will have low times, so I prepare for that. I buy birthday cards in charity shops, I'd rather give the charity the money and have cards   addressed and in date order, ready to send. I make gifts, preserves and soaps all year in readiness to give to people. I get my hands dirty by proactively creating a budget, down to the last carrot and I stick to it! I make sure there is enough diesel in the car to take us to the moors or the beach so I have two outings a month. I save money so I have £100 a year to spend on shoes and clothes (I have so far spent £36 this year). By doing that, I prepare for each little thing that could worry me, or cause me anxiety or get me down. I don't have a suit of armour and life gets to me, in the same way it does every one of you. But, if you know a brick bat is coming your way, at least you can duck.

 I keep going because every day is a no shop day. I don't carry a purse or any money. I have no credit card, just a debit card and that stays at home every week day. I never pop to the shops; I only go when I'm prepared, with a budget, a menu plan and a detailed list. I check mysupermarket first for prices, I then log onto the Lidl and Aldi websites and check their prices too. I know exactly what I'm going to cook, what I'm going to buy and where I'm going to get it from. Consequently, there are very few transactions on my online bank statement. 

 I've learnt to save money too. I know it's silly when I have debts, but remember, if my car needs fixing, my washing machine breaks down; I have no credit facilities and need to have money put aside. I can only save £25 a month, but I make sure I do. At the end of the year, when it's still there, I don't touch it and keep adding. The advice is to have £1000 saved up, just in case. I'm no where near there, but knowing I have something to fall back on, keeps me going when I'm worried about money, especially when I don't have any in my current account.

 I know, I can and do fail miserably. I often feel very sorry for myself. I feel isolated from the mainstream and unable to join the party. I feel like the poor kid who watched the kids with pocket money go into the village post office for sweets, when I had to stand outside and watch them buy them and eat them in front of me. But I always remember, they didn't last long and soon enough, they were just like me, sweetless. I have had moments when I've been home alone when Dearly Beloved has been away looking after his mum, the house has been freezing, I've not been able to afford the train fare to visit a single soul and I have felt abandoned. I don't always feel good and some days are truly shite. But I get up, and in true Dory style, I just keep swimming.

 I know, there are people who are reading this who are not paid until tomorrow who have a freezer full of home grown veg, a pantry full of preserves, a dry store full of dry goods, the under stairs cupboard is full of loo rolls, the second drawer in your bedroom is full of toothpaste, talc and soap and no matter what, you won't go without. I also know what it's like to be 24 hours from a giro (that's how benefits were paid when I was a single mum with my son), with the last few seconds of emergency money ticking away on the electricity meter, a scrape of marg and 2 slices of bread to give a six year old boy his breakfast, and nothing else. I know that some of you who read this, did not deal your own hand but had it dealt to you and your frugal life style is not chosen by you. I know some of you are finding this extremely hard and if you allow me, to just hold your hand gently and say quietly to you. Just hang on. You have a rough journey ahead of you, more will join you, us, me along the way. It's not easy. All you actually have to sustain you is perseverance, determination and never, never giving up.

Until tomorrow,

Froogs xxxx

Cook once, eat twice....or more!

 Like all working people, I have a busy life. I need, we need............I forget, I'm not talking to myself, to keep things simple. This morning, I popped some casserole steak into the slow cooker, with water, salt and pepper. I didn't have time to do any more. I came home, peeled two meals worth of potatoes, enough veg for two days and then added gravy mix to the beef and called that supper. Meat eating is expensive, but we make do with around 100g of meat each per meal. Neither of us feel deprived. (Food costs today - 83p worth of beef each and the veg came to 16p, plus gravy, just takes the meal to £1)

 We've all eaten too much for too long and now the economy measures are not only needed financially, but health wise too. We should all be aiming to eat less meat and 100g of protein a day is more than enough. We're also used to a huge variety of food and we seldom eat the same thing twice in a month. Not in Frugal Towers I'm afraid. Even though I saved money by cooking all the veggies in a tower steamer, I shall save more money, time and energy and simply pop a replay of tonight's supper in the microwave tomorrow and for an encore, we'll eat the same again. Plus! There will be only two plates and two lids to wash up

I hope we'll all settle down tomorrow night to watch Superscrimpers: Waste not, want not. The TV show is going to visit a family who spend £24K a year more than they earn. Did Channel 4 come knocking on my door? Well researchers, you should have read my blog by now so come on over, but I warn you, come in the summer or you'll need a coat! If anyone local to me, wants me to be their personal money saving expert, you know where to come and find me.

Again, thanks to everyone who dropped by, for those who commented and those who became followers. If you're still lurking and we haven't had a chat yet, then just let me know you are there. It would be lovely to hear from you. It's always lovely to see who's reading so, if you haven't already, then it would be even lovelier if you became a followers. Thanks again for dropping by,

Until tomorrow,

Froogs
xx

End of the month finances.

Hello everyone,

Thanks again to everyone who dropped by yesterday. Again, almost 2000 of you clicked onto Frugal Queen and in total, since I began blogging, you have logged 4845 comments and to date, 311, 281 have logged onto the site at some time or other. You say the most complimentary things. It's the end of the month, finances are low but spirits are high. In the main, because so many of you have: stopped by, said hello and since last week, over 100 more of you have become followers. It's lovely to know who you are and would be wonderful if you read, to let me know who you are by becoming followers.

I was left some interesting advice yesterday, from using 'pop bottles' as cloches to get my plants started early, to using loo roll inners as seed starters to promote long and healthy roots. I was also asked a question by Sandy, if I knew of any ways of making hand cream or face cream. I will go back through the blogs I read as one blogger did just that. I can not suggest how to make it, but I have found the answer to Frugal beauty. A long time ago, I was recommended the Lacura beauty range at Aldi. It really is top end at bottom shelf prices. Their anti-wrinkle day cream is £1.99 and now, I'm a bit more financially safe, I also use their eye cream. I find the face cream lasts well over a month, if not two and the eye cream is just fantastic. I feel really indulgent using it, a real luxury and it smells wonderful

Pay day seems a long way off this month and we need to carry on being tight as duck's bums as we're putting away every penny for a short holiday soonish (not saying when in case you rob my house for my charity shop books!) and I'm finding the money by making further cuts on everything. Even though money is tight, everything is budgeted for. We have enough food to last well over another week, there is money for transport and every direct debit goes out on time, every month. Even by drastically over paying and snowballing, we are able to live on less and less every month. Today, thanks for Approved Foods and bargains from Lidl, we ate like kings for pennies.

Today,we had salad, with potato salad and chicken, stir fried in a sesame, spring onion and garlic sauce. Quite indulgent for us and a hefty 77p each, due mainly to the high cost of the salad. Two large Lidl chicken breasts were £1! They were on offer at £1.99 for four chicken breasts, so I bought several packs and decanted them into freezer bags and stored them for days like this. I bought three jars of stir fry sauce for £1 and 9 bottles of low fat mayonnaise for £1 and three bottles of honey and mustard salad dressing for £1. Items like sauces and condiments don't usually make their way into my shopping basket but I have a stash of goodies in my pantry because of Approved Foods.

Spciy chicken, salad with posh dressing, home made potato salad

The finished result was a belly busting plateful and as ever, for an encore, we'll eat the same again for lunch tomorrow. I'm having a great day today and really heartened by those of you who comment; drop by and become followers. However, a dear dear friend of mine in blog land and the real world is not having a good day. She/Foster Mummy  helped me through some incredibly hard times in my life, she is the most loving and genuine person I have ever met and today, she's hurting. Just as you sustained me, pop over and see her and let her know you care.

Today, she's under here. Let's make sure our love is with her.

Until tomorrow,

Froogs xxxxx

Making the most of what we have.

 Hello everyone,

Thanks again; almost 2000 visitors clicked onto Frugal Queen yesterday and lots of you have become followers. I really appreciate the comments, and always love hearing from you all. The offer is still open if anyone wants me to blog about any frugal matters in particular, and if I can help in any way, then I would be glad to. It would also be lovely if you've considered, but haven't taken the 'plunge' yet and for you to become a follower. I often wonder who reads this. It's so good to know that I'm not talking to myself.

Yesterday, I had the guided tour of Foster Mummy's vegetable garden and she's well ahead, with beds prepared and enough seedlings to share some with me. I now have a multitude of squash, sweetcorn, coriander and garlic in the greenhouse. I swear she can grow anything. I am blessed, I have a lot of time off in the summer and every weekend. Our garden is our sanctuary and where we entertain and relax. Our summer house is a great delight to us. This weekend we 'opened' it up in readiness of the warmer weather.

 It's where I complete school work when the weather is good, a lovely place for a cuppa, the afternoon play and feet up in the warm. It's such a sun trap and the deck affords the best view in the garden. I sit there, in the afternoon sun and count my blessings. I too, got some gardening done this weekend.

My polyvinyl is now nurturing: french beans, onions, radishes, chard, garlic, courgettes, salad leaves, beetroot and shallots. I will still have to bring in the tender plants into the house if there is a frost but everything else should cope. We also opened up the compost to dry it slightly before removing the composted material that's ready to use and turning the rest. I'll not buy any more containers but will use the pots, containers and bags for life that I already have. It's easy to spend money on gardening, instead there are ways to save money. Seed sharing.....do you use the whole packet? Seedlings can be swapped. My neighbours have lettuce seedling on the way for me and in return, I always have too many courgettes and will pass them onto him. I get wood ash from my neighbour and, in the little estate I live on, people who were older offered their green houses or veggie plots to people who could use them. I haven't taken up the offer yet, but the young couple who live on the cul de sac have a green house that they never use and I might ask them if I may. In return, I can pay them back in tomatoes and chillies. So readers, what do you make do with? what do you make the best of? I always enjoy hearing from you.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx

Thank you Foster Mummy for a wonderful day

 I have been really well looked after today. We went into Plymouth this morning and I went in search of some new trousers. I'm tallish at 5' 10" and managed to find only one pair of trousers to fit me in the entire city! By eleven o clock, I was delighted to be on my way to Foster Mummy's house. Shopping leaves me feeling like a freak, where nothing fits me. Even tall sections of places such as M&S, Long Tall Sally and Next don't make things proportionally long enough in the body, so trouser legs are long enough, but the depth of the body isn't long enough. I'm not just tall, but long in the body, arm etc. Shirt sleeves are not long enough, so I stick to tee shirts, I can't buy dresses because the arm holes are not deep enough, the waist is too high and they are not long enough. In short, even with money in my pocket, if I can find one item to fit, it's a good day. I've trawled shopping malls in the past with a purse full of money and left with nothing.

By the time I had finished, I needed the sanctuary of my dear friend's home. FM made the most delicious veggie curry, Dal and flat breads. After that it was a walk in the sunshine to the charity shops.

We had a good root around a few charity shops. I bought a brand new apron for £2, an almost new M&S skirt for £3 and Dearly Beloved bought some books. Best of all, was the walk with friends in the sunshine and back home afterwards for a cup of tea.

Tonight at 8.30, we're joining in with Earth hour and will turn all the power off in our home. We'll read by candle light and reflect on our impact on the planet. Until tomorrow, thanks again Foster Mummy, as ever, you restored me to self validity; I really can't do without you xxxxx

Friday night and feet up with a pizza

Hello Readers,

Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up and become a follower and those kind enough to leave comments. I truly appreciate hearing from you. It reminds me, in hard times, that I'm on this journey with so many, many people. If you've not commented before, then I'd love to hear from you and let me know who you are by becoming a follower. Again, to the 2500 of you who clicked 'Frugal Queen' yesterday, thanks for dropping by xxxx

We've made it through another week, pull up a cuppa, put your feet up and take the night off. I wondered how much a 'delivered' pizza costs. We sometimes buy pizza in Lidl or Aldi, when they are so cheap it would be silly not to buy one. Every time I do, it's total let down. Limp and sugary bread, dripping with fat and overly salted. Well, in Domino's a large pizza costs £15.99. For that, I want it cooked in front of me by Gino D'Campo! Dressed, as he was on 'This Morning'. On that note, I remembered why I always make my own. A £20 takeaway a week, over the year adds up to £1040..............so when you're frugalling away at home, just remember what you are saving.

I love it, the presenters looked anywhere but at him! So funny.

My homemade pizza costs 38p a portion. Here's how I do it. As Jamie Oliver would say, "Get your 30 minute meals head on" so get your oven on and set it to 200.

 Follow your bread maker's instructions for a 750g loaf and whilst it's mixing and needing, grate the cheese, slice any thing you like to go on your pizza. Have it all ready.

 Roll out your dough on a floured board. I don't let any thing stand or rise, I just roll it and get on with it.

 You get the drift..............roll it to the size of the pan you have to fit.

 Rub one side with a smear of olive oil and place that, oily side down on a baking tray. Mine has holes in it, so it cooks really well.

 Finish by pushing the dough into the final shape you would like. It's fine if it's thin.

 Use a third of a jar of pasta sauce. Any kind will do. We bought a stock pile the last time we went to Asda and they had it on offer.

 Now chuck anything you like on top. We often use pilchards, tuna, just veg, any meat, including left over chicken. Anything goes on our pizzas.

 Here it it! Loaded with lovely cheap goodies.

 Now the cheese, we actually only needed half of this and the rest went back into the fridge.

 A final finish with a sprinkle of black pepper and it's into the oven for 30 minutes. Be warned though, your oven is different from mine so that's only a rough guide.

 Take out of the oven, slide onto a chopping board and cut into four. A Quarter each tonight and the rest wrapped in foil for tomorrow night's 'tea'. Here are the costs: Flour 15 p, onion 6p, yeast 10p, tomatoes 20p, green pepper 10p, ham 30p, sauce 28p, cheese 30 - total for a homemade pizza = £1.49. it took 15 minutes to make and 30 minutes to cook and was 38p per portion.

We don't need more. We don't need takeaways. We don't 'deserve' a bottle of wine and a meal on a weekend. The simplest pleasure of cooking a quick, tasty and cheap meal, to be eaten with fingers in front of the TV is all the reward I need. Tomorrow I will be treated, quite literally, like a Queen as we're off to Foster Mummy's for lunch and a womble around the local charity shops. I'm already excited about someone else cooking me lunch and when it's a wonderful as Foster Mummy's, we know we're in for a treat. Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs

A year's supply of soap and washing away worries.

 I made a few batches of soap last year, most of which became birthday and Christmas gifts for the family. It's still washing our delicates, the car, the windows, the worktops and the floor. Firstly, I chop it into cubes and then blitz it for a few seconds. I then add a couple of spoons of washing soda.

 The end result is a version of soap powder. I store it in a plastic box with a lid by the sink and use it for all household cleaning, including hand washing and of course, washing ourselves. I know soap is cheap, but hand made vegetable soap, which is cruelty free and planet friendly isn't. Mine costs 16p a bar.

I don't stock pile, I don't have the ready cash to do that. I have a few 'stashes, but I never have a year's worth. I often have three or four months supply around the house of 'staples' and I'm shocked when I buy them again, as they've always increased in price.

Again, I would like to thank anyone who has emailed me, or left messages of support. I have taken advice and now all messages are moderated by me before I then allow them in the 'comments'. It's easier to just delete. I've had over three thousand hits on the website today and the most moving emails from people who know we'll get through this together. To those people, and you know who you, and what you are personally going through, just hang in there. We have to. We are in it together. We are here for each other. If there's something you might think I can advise on, or you want help with; then leave a comment and I'll see what I can write about.

 I have a feeling it's going to get worse. One of the biggest employers in most economically developed countries such as the UK and  Australia etc are the public sector and they will be cut as the economy recedes. They employ millions of people, who are at risk of losing their jobs. Dearly Beloved is just waiting to find out about his job. I'm grateful for employment and as I have known the delicate situation of the private sector as I've been employed in it and have been an employer myself. I know many friends who have been made redundant, who were lucky enough to find another job only to be made redundant again in a very short time. We need to really 'cut our cloth' carefully. If we have debts we need to reduce them. If we spend, we need to be wise. If we use credit cards, we need to stop.

I don't want to tell anyone how to live their life, but I do want to share mine. It's been a painful journey and yet full of rewards. We have zero % transferred loans that we snowball and pay off in huge amounts. We pay off £1750 in debt repayments a month!!! And that doesn't include our mortage. We leave ourselves with £400 a month, which is more than adequate to feed ourselves, transport me to work, clothe ourselves, have days out, furnish our home, look after our pets, pay for hair cuts and care for our immediate family and friends. We've lived like this since November 2009 and it hasn't killed us. If I can help just one person cope with less, if just one person feels that they can make do and stop consuming, if one person just grows a potato plant in an old shopping bag on the front step, then deleting the odd cutting remark will be worth it. I might disappear occasionally when life bites me a bit harder than I can cope with, but I won't stop blogging.

Between you and me dear reader, I need this. It helps me make sense of the planet. I reflect and actually, I have a wonderful life. I'm healthy, well fed, well clothed, funny, clever, in love, a mum to two wonderful adults, daughter of two loving parents and I live in paradise. If you want to read, then read, but let me know it's worth it and become a follower and leave a comment every now and then.

Here's something for you to ponder and comment on today............if you were going to stock pile to get through hard time, or if you already do, let us know what it is and why.

As ever, Love Froogs

xxxxx

Think before I flush!

Hello blogland xxxxx

Just a reminder that I'll be off soon, so get signed up if you want access, see my previous blog as to how. Again, I want to thank everyone for the wonderful remarks and 228 requests to 'follow' in the last 24 hours xxxxxxxxxx I am genuinely touched. The blog usually get around 1500 hits a day and yesterday, it went over 2000. I never, ever thought, when I started this blog, that anyone would read it. I see blogging as the sane way to talk to myself. I like to capture something of everyday and reflect on it. Usually, I'm counting my many, many blessings. As so many of you read, it would be lovely if more of you would comment, but I understand if you don't.

I take a reading of each of my utility meters every week and keep a very close eye on my consumption!

I want one, I want one!

Today, the budget has given us all time to think. I'm waiting to hear the details of the 'water bill relief' for the South West.  In metered water costs £900 for a two bedroom house or flat and a house like mine......it's £1200 a year. We had a meter installed just over a year ago. We now use less and less water every quarter. Here, metered water cost £1.67 a cubic meter to buy it and £2.81 a cubic meter to dispose of it, so £4.48 a cubic meter all together. I marvel, green with envy at the people with compost toilets, rain water collection systems that they filter and use for toilets, washing themselves and clothes. I'm certainly going to investigate rain water collection for flushing our toilet. Currently, with three people in the house, we use 7.5 cubic meters of water a month. We need to reduce that even further.

You know you're frugal when you check your utility meters every week and keep a reading!!! Any one want to keep this going? You know you're frugal when......

This blog will disappear shortly!

Dear lovely, lovely people xxxxx

Here I am, wounds licked, patched up and bandaged. No need to explain the whys or wheres; you have mostly accurately drawn your own conclusions. Your wonderful messages have sustained me through what I can only describe as a very rough time.


I'm opening the doors for a few days only for 100 followers only. Those really interested in frugality, living lightly on the planet, saving money, cooking from scratch, soap making, crafting, jumble sale hunting can apply. To be a follower you need to do the following.

1. Have a blog and be a blog author.


2. Email me on janemclark@hotmail.com, in it you need to include the hyperlink to your blog. I will keep your email address and then invite you to be an 'author' .

We bloggers can share our own little world, squirrelling away jam, making aprons out of old jeans, turning our collars and boiling our ham bones.

Vixen, Hester, Foster Mummy, Small holder wannabe.....etc.....come on over.

Thanks again for the incredible love and kindness sent my way xxxx

As ever, all my love,

Froogs xxxx

The joy of out door drying

I don't own a tumble drier. I usually get my washing out side, even if it's just for a while. It's such a delight to hang all of the laundry outside. We halved our electricity bill, and therefore our consumption, when we ditched the electric drier. I also have just one 'wash day', which is Saturday. I do this as I make sure I have a full coloured load, a full heavy load and a full whites load. I make sure the machine is full, on the coolest wash and I use the least soap possible. I never use conditioner as 'crispy' items such as towels just need a rigorous shake to loosen the pile. I like my clothes to have a starchy feel and I like them to smell of fresh air and not soap. Using the clothes stands, instead of a washing line means I can just lift them up and bring them in if the weather turns. My Saturday nights at home, are in front of a film or programme I've recorded with  the ironing board. Seeing my washing outside fills me with joy because the weather is so good, the sun is shining and I don't have it hanging around the living room.

Scrubbing away

I'm a great believer in scrubbing your cares away. After and extremely busy week of firefighting, it was home to clean the house. I even try to save money when I do that. The floors have been swept and washed in hot water, a squirt of soap and vinegar to take any grease off the floor.

 The sinks have been cleaned with bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice. They are sparkling and smell wonderful.

We make our own furniture polish from olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice. It keeps but don't make too much or the lemon juice loses its fragrance. I wipe the woodwork and then use the home made polish once every three weeks. I know polish is cheap, but the eco versions, which I prefer are not, that's unless you make your own.

 I clean the cooker and fridge with bicarbonate of soda and hot water. Last weekend, on her way here, Foster Mummy made crocheted a cotton dish cloth for me and it cleans everything so really well.

The windows have been washed in warm soapy and then buffed with screwed up newspaper. Now after all that exertion, I'm off to bed.

Froogs xxx