If You Are Interested...

I will be entering my competition at The Kings Bromley Village Show in Staffordshire..
If you want to attend and it is a good day out for all the family.
More information can be found here.
Frugally yours.
Abigail
x

Food Waste Friday.

It is that time of the week again. Food Waste Friday. I link up with Frugal Girl in an effort to shame myself into better kitchen organisation.

Oh Dear not a good week at W Towers! 2 things to report.

First of all half a bag of green beans. The reality is, I love green beans so goodness knows how these developed a nasty of “stinkus veggus”. I swear they were fine earlier this week. If they were on Facebook, they would have changed their status from “fresh and delicious” to “liquid” within a space of 3 minutes. Ah well!

Secondly on Sunday, was searching the bowels of W Towers' kitchen I came across a rather nice tin of Venison Pate. It was obviously bought in better days involving afternoon tea and Cath Kidston aprons. It was delicious on hot toast for a snack. I then emptied the tin into some opaque Tupperware where it sat forgotten, until a root around found it yesterday evening. Shucks! I seem to recall it was about £3 for a small tin and I am upset it got wasted.

On a happier note the instant mash I made on Wednesday has been stretched to another 2 meals.

I added a tin of Tesco value tuna (54p) to the cold mash yesterday evening and formed it into fish cakes. I then fried them in a little sunflower oil and had 2 for my tea. Another 2 tonight with some frozen vegetables and £1’s worth of instant mash and tuna I think has done pretty well.

I forgot to take a pic I am afraid.

Olympics start tonight in case you have had you head stuck in the sand for the last 7 years. I just wanted to say Good Luck and God Bless to Team GB. I am so proud to be British. I will be watching the whole Opening Ceremony whilst baking in my little kitchen ready for tomorrow’s competition.

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Tasty and Nutritious!

It is a week to pay day. For those who read my blog regularly, you will know from past history that I am always skint about now. July is no exception.

I have £40 in my current account to last until Thursday 2^nd. Hopefully another £20 in petrol will cover me and the final £20 I have will cover the Indian meal TC and I have booked for Saturday evening.

Unfortunately though I am entering a baking competition this weekend and need another £10-20 to cover the ingredients. Even those with the most rudimentary maths, will see the figures just do not add up.

So save hitting my savings which are at an all time low, I will try to magic some cash up from somewhere.

Meals now consist of raiding the nooks and crannies of cupboards and freezer compartments in the search for something tasty.

Yesterday a good rummage in the freezer led to the discovery of a piece of seabass with only the slightest burn on the edges. I defrosted it in some cold water, patted it dry and covered it with some fajitas dry mix I opened 2 weeks ago.

Wrap it in tin foil into a hot oven for 20 mins.

Veggies are running a little low too. But, I did find a packet of own brand cheese and onion instant mash, that I bought 6months ago and never plucked up the courage to try. That’ll do.

Actually, following the instructions led to some very tasty accompaniment to the fish in about 30 seconds start to finish that was very cheesy. I would definitely buy it again for 59p. Plus enough to do something with tonight too.

Finished the whole meal off with a tin of peas 36p which also provide veggies for tonight.

So my tea looked like this (sorry for the poor quality photos) and meant no more trips to the supermarket for the foreseeable future. Good news!  

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

I wish...

I used to spend a lot of my time wishing for fame riches and the perfect figure.

I know now that I am "grown up" as my wishes are far more prosaic.

• I wish I had a new shower as mine broke last week.
• I wish I had the money to buy a new garage door as mine is dangerous.
• I wish my car was not coming up for its first MOT in September.
• I wish the tickets for the show The Chap wants to attend in October were not so expensive.

Notice how all my wishes are to do with money? That really grates. Especially when funds are just dwindling all the time. Some days, I can be very down about it.

Yet, I am lucky.

• I have a bath that works.
• I have a home with a garage
• My car is only 3 yrs old.
• The Chap wants to go away for a weekend

So I go back to scrimping and saving and rarely spending. My goodness though sometimes it sucks! The bathroom shower going last week just seems the last straw.

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

Coping With Stress.

I mentioned yesterday that work is very stressful at the moment as I cover for the Director who is in sunnier climates.

I am being pulled in many different directions with the office and trying to do two persons work without the assistance of comic book superpowers is proving somewhat trying.

I got in yesterday evening and as motioned decided to de-stress by baking.

I do not know about you but I find that doing a task involving my hands rather than my brain allows me to slowly calm down after the rigours of the numpties I was dealing with in my "9-5".

I had noticed I was running low on bread at the weekend, so decided to make another couple of loaves to fill up the freezer again.

As I opened the the pantry door, I noticed this little bag looking wistfully at me in a corner.

It had been a freebie from my mum some months ago.

Being a free spirit, open to new possibilities kinda gal. I thought what the hell and grabbed it to have a go.

Possibly the easiest loaf in the world to make. Add 300ml of water then knead for 5 mins, leave for 5mins and then shape and place in baking tin to prove for about an hour. Bake for 35 minute and Bobs your Uncle, a perfect loaf.

In the end I brought it into work with me and shared it with others. All agreed it was delicious especially for being granary which I have not made before.

I think this is a good idea for people just starting out with bread making as it gives you a guaranteed loaf quickly, however at about £1 a bag for one loaf, it is certainly not a frugal option going forward.

However the time it gave me to wind down after a very busy day was priceless.

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

Modern Life

Modern technology is designed to make life easier.

Use email to save you time on posting. Call a person to save you time writing a letter. Use the dishwasher to save you time on washing up (God, I pray for a dishwasher).

So with all these "time savers" why do i feel like this?

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The holiday season is upon us now and colleagues are going away for a spell of summer sun sadly lacking in the UK. Since Friday I have been taking responsibility for my own workload plus the Director's. Friday evening I was on the phone at 10pm to a client and back on the damn thing at 9am Saturday.

I had to work late yesterday to get everything done, plus I was the recipient of a client's sharp tongued diatribe for a piece work I was only covering for.

I spend my work life emailing, faxing, texting and calling in an effort to meet an "immediate" client need that 15 years ago would have taken anyone in my industry a week to fulfill with no negative client effects.

But now humanity rushes around like busy bees, buzzing from one meeting to the next, trying to achieve deadlines of "yesterday" without the time to smell the flowers and breathe.

I need time to smell the flowers this week. I was lying in bed last night planning emails, work call and meetings that needed to be set up. I also thought about some documents I need to email today and alternations to our terms that needed to reviewed before the end of day. Not to mention where to locate a block paver for TC.

These are not restful thoughts. Modern technology is my biggest bugbear. Everyone feels they need a flat screen TV, ipad, internet enabled phone, or a hoover with a ball attached. Technology has become a consumable purchase and a status symbol needed to be regularly updated to keep up with society.

I am no hermit trying to live without the modern world. I do own an iphone, a digital camera and an mp3 player, and I love them all. But, they are all old models that I was bought (some of which were bought second hand) for me by family members. They all work perfectly well and make my life easier. But they are obviously old styles and those around me keep advising me to update the technology.

I will not replace these items unless items break and cannot be repaired and even then I know currently I could not afford replacements. Whilst I too am a fan of technology, I can and do predominantly live without it suffering no complaints.

So if someone gave me some money, what would I spend it on? Well the list is short 1) a haircut as it has not been cut since early January 2) resoling my boots 3) save the rest towards a new garage door.

Technology does not make my life easier. I make my life easier, and this evening in an effort to relax, I have decided to bake again as after a day spent looking at a computer screen. Doing something with my hands allows me to calm down and turn my attention away from the office.

But it could be interesting.... as yesterday evening in an effort to cut my gas bill I switched off the hot water timer and am going to try until the end of the month only heating water for a bath as and when I need it and boiling a kettle for daily washing. I have an electric shower so I can still access hot water as and when I need it.

I forgot to mention the last quarterly combined gas and electricity bill arrived a week ago - £249.00. B*ll*cks!

This could be a very interesting 16 days.

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

6 Months and Counting

Hello and welcome to my new follower StrawberryShazzy. I know who you are girl!!

It has been just over 6 months since I started blogging and I am really enjoying it.

Sometimes, I wake up and I have a post there in the my head already formed. Sometimes, a topic presents itself during the course of the day and other times I can spend ages writing to you only to delete it after 1 read through.

Knowing I have an audience to trying to paying off my debt and living a frugal life focuses me.

So I wanted today to write to the person who stumbles across my blog in a blind panic terrified by their personal debt and lying awake at night.

Firstly calm down. Nothing is insurmountable and you will get through this.

1. Face Your Problem. Write a list of all you debts. Credit Cards, Loans, Overdraft, Family loans etc. Get an honest total.
2. Get Help. If you think they are insurmountable and you are getting into arrears. Speak to the free experts and not some Numpty who wants you to consolidate and therefore extend your debt for another 20 years. If you are UK based this page will help
3. APR APR APR. Which debt is costing you the most in interest? Not the biggest debt but the highest APR. That is your priority debt. Keep all other debts to a minimum monthly repayment and throw everything at the highest APR. Once it is paid off then start on the next highest APR and so on.
4. Budget. Work out everything that you need to pay for and then budget for it. Mortgage, utilities, car, food, insurance etc. Work out what you have left. And then throw everything you can at your debt whilst also saving a little each month to cover prospective emergencies.
5. Sell. If it not nailed down and you do not need it then sell it. Spare shoes, handbags, electronics. Then use the money to pay off your debt.
6. Stop Buying. This probably seems really obvious. But if it is not food, medicine, petrol, or essential toiletries then DO NOT BUY IT.
7. Reclassify. This was one of the hardest things I had to do. Cut back everywhere. If you food shop somewhere nice then reduce your overheads by visiting a cheaper supermarket. Think Aldi and Lidl. If you got to the hairdresser once a month then dye yourself. Use Estee Lauder? Try Simple. etc etc You will be surprised how much judicious use of your shopping power will reduce your overheads.
8. No Treats. You do not deserve them. You are in debt. You need to pay it back. Stop treating yourself in an effort to cheer yourself up. Paying back your debts will make you happiest. So no meals out, or fancy hair styles or designer clothes until life is better.
9. Less Spending, Not More Money. I know a lot of people who seem to think they need a new job with more money to clear their debts. This is probably not true. You will only spend more. So stop spending the money you have.
10. Betting is Stupid. Do not attempt to clear debt by trying to win the money. The only winner in games of chance is the house.
11. Breathe. Things will better. Facing a problem, if half way to clearing it.

And finally, email me. I cannot solve your problems, but I can listen and support you.
You are not alone my friend.

Frugally yours
Abigail
x