Frugal living

I introduced myself yesterday as a newbie and expressed an interest in frugal living - by necessity and choice. Somebody greeted me and suggested I start a thread - so here I am.

There are certain things I don't skimp on - e.g the dog gets the best food and my car is essential to my quality of life but I've started to think more carefully about my supermarket shop each week.

Since food prices have begun to rise I have become more and more interested in vegetarian food and have been astounded at just how much money I can save. This is for 2 reasons, firstly and obviously the ingredients for vegetarian dishes are much cheaper but also it involves me in having to think ahead and cook from recipes. Prior to this - say - if I had minced beef I'd make a bolognaise that we'd probably demolish in one sitting, now if I make a lentil bake (delicious), it probably last for 2 or sometimes 3 meals.

In terms of energy - we haven't had the central heating on all winter, we have a gas make-believe coal fire in the front room and that stays on low all the time.

Does anybody else have any frugal living tips - in point of fact the small the tip the better I like them i.e newspapers for cleaning windows etc..

thanks in advance
Sandy

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It seems crackers to me to feed your animal better than yourself!

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Sandy darlin' - you don't have to turn vegetarian to save lots of money. You will find on the 'Food & Drink' section a whole section devoted to recipes which I and others have contributed to over the months and years we've been here. If you haven't got one, I would seriously suggest you invest in the purchase of a slow cooker - its fabulous to use and a real time and money saver.

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Good suggestion there by Uncle Joe, Sandie.

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Sandy, bear in mind with vegetarian meals that you will need to watch your iron intake. You can get iron from lentils, beans, spinach (don't eat too much of that though) etc but it is poor quality iron and not easily absorbed - make sure you get enough protein as well.

I'm an out and out omnivore so not much help with vegetarian dishes I'm afraid.

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Yes I have got a slow cooker.

I eat vegetarian by choice and economy really and since investigating different recipes have quite enjoyed the challenge and it does mean I'm not eating horse!

Sandy

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hi Ben varrey

Thanks for the heads about re: iron, it's a pertinent point. I do eat quite a lot of lentils and beans.

I didn't mean the thread to be about vegetarianism as such but more about frugal living and vegetarianism being one such aspect.

Sandy

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Hi Sandy.. we took early retirement in our 50's and have become pretty good at 'frugal', but very good omnivorous living. We grow as many vegetables as possible (mainly things you can't get easily), forrage for wild fruit etc...
We've also been given pheasants from local shoots and obtained a number or whole roe deer which we've learned how to gut and butcher.

I was going to say that no way would I feed pets better than myself, but I must admit to spending a bit on feeding the wildlife round the place.

We have oil central heating which is expensive, but we've invested a lot insulating the house which has helped greatly. We buy logs for the fire in bulk - about 2 tons at a time - a fraction of the price of bagged logs.

I don't mind eating horse - but I want to see accurate labeling.

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Sandy darlin' - I've (knowingly) eaten horse meat many years ago whilst in France. There's nothing wrong with horse meat per se, its quite tasty actually. However, its about 1/4 the price of premium beef and the furore over the food scandal has been that we've all been charged premium price for beef, when the contents of the food sold is primarily horse meat. As you will see from reading some of my posts, I'm game for trying most things, and apart from eating horse meat per se, have a good butcher near me who sells 'safari meats' from African and Australian animals - meat which is very healthy because there's no fat on it at all - just good wholesome solid chunks of flesh.

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I must admit since deciding to live more frugally it's become a hobby in itself. I feel quite proud of myself when I can save a bob or two here and there. Lots of people in the neighbourhood have started growing their own fruit and veg. my husband tried it once but the veg weren't very nice!

We'd love a log fire - as we're planning on moving in the next year or two it wouldn't be economical to replace the pretend fire we've got at present but when we move it will be the first thing we do as there is a large amount of discarded wood in the area.

Sandy