Frugal Feb gives way to Money-Saving March. Now featuring austerity health and beauty tips!

[Lexilicious]

Third thread after first and second

Let's get saving and enjoying our frugal wins!

summary of links so far
//www.organizedhome.com
www.supersavvyme.co.uk/
womenfreebies.co.uk/
www.lovemoney.com/
www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/discount-voucher-codes/
www.poundland.co.uk/top-tips/gardening-2012/
www.purlbee.com/
www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/halfterm
www.makeupstop.co.uk/
www.approvedfood.co.uk/
www.goodtoknow.co.uk/money/cheap-food-deals
www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/perfect_portions

[Lexilicious]

Ooooops
this was the first thread
rubbish start eh, wasting a post!

[Lexilicious]

Ahem

I'll be back when I've finished my Lemsip. {sympathy please}

[ThePinkPussycat]

Well, I've got to spend £100 on a mediation assessment today which I could have saved if just-become-ex had been reasonable about financial settlement

[LadyHarrietDeSpook]

Assuming we're not limited to health and beauty... I thought some of this info in the link was interesting, particularly the part about refreezing previously frozen meat.

Would anyone risk this?

Reminds me of a very painful afternoon making homemade meatballs for the girls...from frozen meat...putting it back in the freezer...feeling satisfied with myself...then realising...feeling sick...and binning the lot.

uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/never-put-eggs-in-the-fridge--a-dozen-food-myths-that-could-cost-you.html

[LadyHarrietDeSpook]

Feel better Lexi!

[duchesse]

HArriet- gosh I do it all the time. We're all still alive and well!

[LadyHarrietDeSpook]

Oh that is SO GOOD to know. Seriously?

[duchesse]

Absolutely! As long as you're sensible and don't defrost a whole chicken by leaving it out in a warm kitchen for 48 hours, then refreeze it raw, which would obviously be stupid, then use your nouse on food handling. The food safety rules are made to be as close to 100% foolproof as possible I think, factoring in extreme idiocy. In your example you could have cooked the meatballs up in a sauce and refrozen the whole dish for use as a ready meal later.

[Lexilicious]

Great link! Wow. We use the rule of twice each for freezing/cooking. e.g. buy fresh meat/fish, freeze it raw (or frozen and put it straight in the freezer), take it out, defrost, cook it, cool and freeze in portions (as small as possible so if you have four people you take out 2x2person tubs rather than having a 4person portion that will hang around until you have that many hungry mouths at the same time), then reheat and serve. There was something the other day on the news, also from Love Food Hate Waste I think, about the savings that would be made if the supermarkets remove that line on packaging saying "freeze on day of purchase". You can freeze at any time while it's still good, and the deterioration will just sort of be halted at that point.

I am feeling tempted to go downstairs to the cafe and buy a cake but I am going to make more of the office biscuit tin, as the next month's payment is coming around soon and I don't think I've had my £5 worth!

Does anyone use any online sites/apps that you can store your meal plans and other spending records on - particularly if they can be shared by more than one user?

[TheresASpareChairOverThere]

I'm getting in early on this new thread! It's been a really good boost reading this. I was inspired to try even harder after I turned in a massive saving during the two weeks of snow - because I couldn't go food shopping, so even my stingy budgeting was eked out further.

[naughtymummy]

Hello all, bad luck fishpond it's awful when.something.like that happens and blows your plans out of the window.
Boffinmum in your finiacial crisis meal plan, would not home made soup be.cheaper and better for you than tinned ? I am always shocked at how much readymade soup costs. It costs pennies to make...

[roguepixie]

Found you!

Have a confession to make ... I have just spent £108 on wool . I know, I know. In my defence (don't think I really have one but can hope) it is for a lovely alpaca cardigan for my gorgeous DS ... but £108!! I feel faint.

Then spent £35.00 in M&S food department.

Am obviously having a NNSD (No No Spend Day).

I have earnt that much (plus a bit) from Ebay so am justifying the spend as having come out of Ebay earning ... really really stretching for the plus side here.

How many Hail Mary's do I get???

P.s. - thank you lexi for starting the new thread.

[BoffinMum]

Hello everyone.
I was about to repost the MSE voucher site linky, but I see that Lexi has been incredibly efficient and put it all in one place for us.

[dinkystinkyexpectations]

Hello all - thought would come mark my place on this lovely shiny new thread (sounding like DS2 now who is obsessed with all things shiny!). Fishpond - dont kick yourself - these things happen, especially with pregnancy brain. I once spent ages looking for the tv remote when pregnant with DS1 only to find I'd binned it (that was NOT a good day)...

Rogue - how much on wool! I expect you to be able to knit plenty from all that wool though so may well be a saving in the long run.

Am off for my op on my knee on Monday so next week will be expensive with taxi fare back home from operation (hospital is other side of london to where we live)

[moomoo1967]

Marking my place......bad week this week due to spending money on lemsips, throat lozenges, tissues etc. Plus normally on a wednesday I work but am off ill today and have spent £13 on magazines to read :(

[BoffinMum]

I thought about that but in Asda you can get tinned soup for 24p a can and feed four people for 48p. Making it presumes quite a lot of fresh veggies, additional fuel costs, and so on. So yes, if you happen to have a chicken carcass and unlimited carrots and lentils lying around, you can indeed make cheap soup yourself. If you are in dire straights then I have the feeling a tin or two might be a more reliable souping solution.

[BoffinMum]

I must say I don't eat tinned soup myself very often, as I think it tastes a bit wierd, but I would rather people eat some at lunchtime than miss meals, which is what the lady on the other thread has got herself doing.

[moomoo1967]

Budget software, still getting to grips with this
www.budgetpulse.com/
Recipe storing, featured on Dragons Den
www.mydish.co.uk/?gclid=CM2KlZPSsa4CFYsntAodmQoORg
or you can store recipes in a "binder" on
www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/

[naughtymummy]

Very good point Boffin.

[naughtymummy]

Can you link that thread please? I missed it (work totally getting in the way of mumsnet recently)

[BoffinMum]

I feel the same about frozen sausages which are only 50% meat and 50% 'rusk'. Normally I'd buy nice ones from our local butcher, but I can imagine being very relieved if I had very little money, and realised I could get a pack of 12 sausages very cheaply so the family could get a full, warm feeling from eating them along with some mash - what's not to like? They are no worse than the school dinner sausages on offer in many places, and it's much better than living on toast.

[BoffinMum]

Financial crisis thread here

[roguepixie]

I know dinky ... I am horrified at myself and it's only one garment - it's for DS but he's the size of a small man (he's 11 ) - tall and lean but I need to make it at that size. However, I bought it from JLewis and they will refund any unused balls, no matter the timescale as long as I have the receipt.

moomoo, how much on magazines - although tbh, they cost so much nowadays it is probably only three, isn't it?

Wanted to add, the £35 shop in M&S included 3 x packs of lean minced beef, 3 x packs of diced chicken and 4 packs of bacon ... all on offer. So, an additional spend but one which will do a lot of meals. Feeding DS is like feeding an adult anyway so I always have to have 'stuff in', as Nanna used to say .

fishy, we all have days like that. I seem to recall reading somewhere that pregnancy makes the woman's brain shrink . Apparently it does go back to normal size after the pregnancy ... think I am still waiting for that .

[Debs75]

Another new thread, hopefully you will have missed my very bad day.

[ThePinkPussycat]

pixie you are being pound wise (see last thread re proverbs)

It will keep you occupied for hours, and you will end up with a quality hand knitted garment for DS.

Back in the days of wool shops you could put wool by, so you paid for what you used as you used it, but didn't have mismatches from different batches.