Frugaleers chatting and saving even further into August...

[AGenie]

Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

Useful links copied from last year:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/1324074-For-those-who-cant-afford-to-use-central-heating-this-year-How-are-you-going-to-cope

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1543785-your-top-tips-for-money-saving-and-a-more-frugal-life

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1600030-Small-money-saving-habits-petty-even

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1628874-Gas-Elec-Bills-monthly-and-SKY-so-angry

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1911061-NO-MORE-COLD-MUMSNETTERS

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2209167-Slow-Cookers-are-shit

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2224969-saving-money

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2258202-Debt-mutual-support-thread-number-6-start-the-new-year-with-a-clear-purpose-and-keep-moving-forwards-even-by-tiny-steps?

orchard.tesco.com/ Sign up to this.

www.topcashback.co.uk/home And this.

www.quidco.com/home/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub ditto.

www.checkoutsmart.com/ Plus this.

www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new?page=3 Check this daily.

Snuggly I was batch cooking chicken breasts in the oven and I cooked them until they were kind of succulent and white right through, but I think I should have done it until they were sort of dry and fibrous right through. I've done this once before and it ended poorly last time too. Live 'n' learn.
Thanks for the kind words.

Ok I've just read back five pages.

Cag glad you found a bra. Hope it fits you well when it arrives. I agree with you about onesies. When the heating comes on, DD starts to overheat. They're good for cubs sleepovers and camping trips though.

lilac I missed your e-mail address so your identity is safe from me. We're probably distantly related

Em I've just awarded you the accolade 'Queen of e-bay'. Good work on the jam too.

Snuggly am I right in thinking that you're expecting twins! When did you find out? Do you have any other DC?

life the Dracula play sounds great

All the best for tomorrow all the best

Hope you feel better soon AGenie

Tryingtosave- that's terrible! I can get lovely local honey but it's about £6 a jar versus Aldi cheapest which I'm sure is under a £1- huge difference if your DC like a big blob in their porridge and on their Weetabix.

My brother keeps bees and makes his own honey. It hadn't occurred to me that good organic honey was a luxury. :-)

School shoe day, wish me luck. Also trainers and football gear

Same here life, good luck to us :)

Quick post as just off to work, but good luck for the shoe shopping!

The honey talk has been very interesting indeed, thanks for that trying, I had no idea about Chinese honey.

Need tea bags and wraps today, so a LSD.

Good luck life!

I've got the vets at 4:50 anyone know roughly how much a consultation is?

Going on a sleepover tonight at my friends with the children

Yes I am, Tayto, already have one DD so we're going to be busy!!

Are you feeling any better Agenie?

I'm going into work today for a little while just to start getting my head in the zone. I feel sick every time I think about going back, really dreading it this year!

No idea wreck! But the sleepover sounds so fun!

NSD today. Payday tomorrow. August has been so hard financially. I never prepare for 5 week months. I always forget.

We're going to order dominos and drink gin

I like the sound of that sleepover wreck!

Should be NSD or LSD today. Swimming with DC1. Might pop to Hobbycraft to pick up some card. She's got seriously into Mister Maker again and has been asking to make some of the stuff from the show!

Yes, I love the idea of honey laundering. I did some research on it last year.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with cheap supermarket honey. But it is pressure filtered to get the pollen etc out so that it stays runny. Generally honey will crystallise over time....this is natural and normal as the sugars in it form crystals, and heating it for a short while returns it to " runny".
When it's half crystallised and half" runny" it looks awful and no one would buy it. It's fine, it just looks terrible.
So, in order to prevent this happening the honey packers heat it to a high temperature ( thus destroying the enzymes) and the pressure filter, removing the pollen. It stays " runny"
It's great on porridge but not for hay fever or allergies or wounds.
I know honey from a beekeeper is expensive but I reckon most beekeeper so sell it at a loss. I know I do.
It costs a lot for the extracting equipment, jars, labels etc. and beekeeper shave to follow quite strict legal requirements because they are producing and selling food.
Anyway, NSD here, my 10th, I think this month. No choice really, car in for MOT ( oh shit, of course I will have to pay for that! ). Stuck in all day so weeding.

Thanks Snuggly I'm getting on. Turns out undercooked chicken is a great cure for constipation. I'm filling up on water this morning and MNing of course.

Talking of traditional remedies, my favourite is the sulphur and molasses tonic. Apparently they used it in the highlands of Scotland about a hundred years ago. As far as I can tell, the molasses were a vitamin supplement and the sulphur was an antiseptic, acting in the same sort of way as when we worm a cat. I read about it in a great book called "Bare feet and tacketty boots".

In the same book I learned that they used to use spider webs in place of sticking plasters. Apparently the webs would stop a cut from bleeding really quickly and keep it safe while healing occurred. Not tried that myself but it sounds fantastic. :-)

Genie - that sounds how I cook my meat so maybe that's a red herring? Maybe invest in a meat thermometer and take the internal temperature to reassure yourself? Food Thermometer, Amir® Digital Instant Read Candy / Meat Thermometer With Probe For Kitchen Cooking, BBQ, Poultry, Grill --- [Foldable, Fast & Auto On/Off] www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SKC24D6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rKvXxbTQHG77T

Thanks Shortlegz. I think I'll just carry on cooking the chicken the way that I know works. My inards take offence at all sorts of things that others find just fine, so I just generally go by what they prefer.

I see it's the last day of the month tomorrow. Ordinarily I look at the spreadsheet at this point to see if I have a little bit of budget left to spruce up the house or buy something educational for ds. However I am laughably overspent this month because of the £1340 British Citizenship application. Sincerely glad we didn't buy a car. LOL!

Well that was expensive
78p bubble gum, £35 and £15 dry cleaners, £3 pound world, £57 sports direct, £69 sainsburys, £63.50 school shoes. Going for a lie down in a dark room now before thinking about September

I saw this photo on FB and I really liked it. We can spend so much time wishing we had more that we forget to appreciate what we do have already.

That's a great pic tayto.

NSD for me today after a quite spendy day yesterday, tomorrow I'm out in London taking dd's to the theatre. Hopefully I won't spend any more than the £40 I've budgeted for the day, if the weather is good I'm hoping to stop off at RegentsPark for an hour or so.

I need to buy a red velvet cake for dd1 birthday birthday on Thursday- any recommendations? I have no time to bake one as I'm back at work

I have spent £9 on a turkey Baster. Probably sounds a bit ridiculous but since my last one bit the dust I've really missed one. I plan to use it to baste my roast potatoes. I am trying to perfect them for Christmas and I am rubbish at turning them so I'm going to try basting.

Tayto I like that picture.
Mummy I spent roughly the same on a veg peeler on Saturday so you're in good company

I have an oxo good grips peeler. And the julienne peeler. And the mandolin. And funnily enough this is oxo too. I love food gadgets.

Our new patio should be being laid next week. My final money from work (I was on mat leave and now I'm a SAHM) is paying for it. My new chairs come on Thursday and its Gabriel's birthday party a week on Sunday. Hopefully it all comes together!

Would you mind my asking what the patio is costing shortlegz? I got quotes for one earlier this summer but it was going to cost a bomb.

We are lucky with diy too as Dh is a builder. He gets loads of stuff free too.