Saving Money: 5 Easy Ideas To Adopt

All the news of inflation (sitting at 5.2% as of yesterday) climbing, utilities companies earning huge profits through increased prices, and fuel costs spiralling, does make it seem as though the economy is conspiring against us as we try to cut costs. 

Now, I don't want anyone to be under any impression that I can whittle up a meal from thin air or sew an entire outfit from curtains.  Thrifty Mummy I may be - or at least aspire to be - but I need to work at it and one of my ways is by planning (incidentally, in my business planning is something that I constantly 'bleat on about' to clients so maybe it's genetic!).

There are 5 really easy ways to help reduce your shopping bills.  I follow them myself and they work.  They're not the only ways that I try to reduce my bills but they're a good place to start...

1. Always Plan your Weekly Menus  That way, you know what you're going to eat and when and you can plan for it - only buying what you need and not chucking out so much at the end of the week either.

2. Write a Shopping List - this follows on from the point above, as you should draw up a list from your weekly menu, but I find if I don't have a list, I flit about from aisle to aisle buying what I fancy and spending a fortune as a result.

3. Don't Shop when You're Hungry - if I ever go for a run and then follow it up with a trip to Tesco's I spend much more than I need to (usually on chocolate).

4. Try Not to Shop with the Kids - now I know this isn't always easy, particularly if you've got little ones but it was the bigger/school age ones that I was thinking of excluding anyway.  If I take Cheeky Boy (age 8) on a shopping expedition, he pesters the living daylights out of me to buy things that aren't on the list.  I'm not saying that I always give in but even if I cave in on just a few of his 'special requests' to change items on the list for a brand that he's seen on TV instead and my bill has already gone up. 

5. Play to Your Strengths & Be Realistic - if you like to cook everything from scratch every night that's grand but if you know you don't have the time or inclination then don't feel that you have to become a domestic goddess to save money.  Of course, it makes sense to cook as much from scratch as you can as it will save you money (and be better for you) but if you know that's unrealistic or won't fit with your week, plan to have a few 'easy meals' in there or do a big cook at the weekend and freeze some of it for mid-week meals.  Easy meals could be beans on toast, baked potato with tuna & cheese or French toast.  Our busy day is a Tuesday and I try to make sure the kids have a cooked school lunch and plenty of snacks before swimming and badminton so a smaller tea is fine for them.


None of these are particularly difficult to implement and you don't need to be a fabulous cook either.  Tuesday's are often fish finger days and I don't feel remotely guilty as I make sure the kids get loads of veg with them and fruit for pudding too.  It also means that Tuesday's we have a grown up tea together later on (we try to eat with the kids every other night) so Thai curry or Mussels are on the menu for us on Tuesdays which the kids hate but we love!

Feeling Autumnal - anyone?

After the balmy weather a few weeks ago it's definitely now autumn.  Grey, cold, grey, wet, grey... you get the picture.  So, feeling a tad depressed the other day as the sun refused to shine and it didn't seem to get light all day - welcome to Scotland - I decided to bake some scones to cheer myself up and found this recipe which is decidedly autumnal (I think).  

Hope you enjoy these as much as we all did!

Makes 8 scones

Ingredients:
225g self raising flour, plus extra for dusting
50g butter
4 tbsp golden caster sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
125ml milk, plus extra for brushing
clotted cream and raspberry compote (sort of - will explain below)


1. Heat oven to 220C/200 fan/gas 7.  Tip flour into a bowl with butter then rub with fingers until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs.  Stir in sugar and cinnamon then add apple and give everything a mix.

2. Pour in milk and stir quickly, then fold dough over 2 - 3 times until smoother.  Tip onto a lightly floured surface; pat into a round about 3cm deep - I'd be tempted to make these slightly deeper if you want bigger scones, although it means you might get less than 8.

3. Using a 5cm cutter, cut out the scones until all the dough is used up.  Brush tops with milk then place onto a lightly floured baking sheet and bake for 18 - 20 minutes until risen and golden.  Allow to cool on the tray.

I served these warm with butter (yum) and a cheats raspberry compote that I made with some squished raspberries sprinkled with 2 tablespoons of caster sugar (icing would work too) to sweeten them up.  Or, if you've been foraging for autumn blackberries (or been to the supermarket) you could make some of my super easy microwave jam. Delicious! 

I got this recipe from Good Food and I'd be tempted to use a cooking apple rather than a dessert apple next time to give them more of an apple-y taste.  I'd also bump up the cinnamon to 1/2 teaspoon too but really depends on your taste.

Run(ning) Bean & Courgette Soup

After turning half my bumper crop of runner beans into relish (as yet untested - still a month to go!) I decided to turn the rest, plus my courgettes, into a soup.  .  The results were rather good - although I did have to really blitz it as I didn't bother de-stringing the beans beforehand.  Give it a try with a swirl of either fresh pesto - which was delicious - or half fat creme fraiche depending on your preference.

Ingredients:
500g runner beans, sliced (and destringed)
500g courgettes, chopped
1 large white onion
1.5 pints of vegetable stock (I used Antony Worrall Thomson's Gluten free stock cubes as my mum is celiac)
1 tablespoon of oil - I used Black & Gold's Rapeseed Oil

1. Heat the oil before adding finely chopped onion and fry until soft (but not brown) in the oil.

2. Add the runner beans and sweat for 5 minutes before adding courgettes and sweating for another 5 - 10 minutes.

3. Add the stock, then bring to the boil before turning down and simmering for 25 - 30 minutes.   Season to taste.

4. Either serve chunky with a swirl of pesto or creme fraiche or, if your kids are like mine, blitz to within an inch of its life then serve!

Admittedly, it is a slightly odd shade of green but it tasted good!







The running reference is because, having been out for a run that morning (our weekend was rubbish on the weather front unlike the south of England who were experiencing sub-tropical conditions for October!) I was glad of a wee bowl of soup and a roll when I got back.  Felt very wholesome and healthy!



Runner Bean(tastic)!
Get Picking

Runner Bean-tastic!

As the photo in my last blog post hopefully illustrated, I got rather a lot of runner beans off my plants this year.  The vast majority were picked and eaten in the summer but I still ended up with lots and lots last weekend of the, frankly, much tougher variety!  Far too tough to eat!  So, after scouring cookbooks, the internet - and my cupboards - I made some relish.  I have no idea how good it is as you're supposed to leave it for a month before tasting but here goes...

Spiced Pickled Runner Beans- makes around 6 half litre jars

Ingredients:
900g runner beans, trimmed and sliced
700g onions, chopped
40g cornflour
850ml malt vinegar
1 heaped tablespoon of mustard powder (English)
1 rounded tablespoon of turmeric
225g soft brown sugar
450g demerara sugar

1. Put chopped onions into a large saucepan with 275ml of the vinegar.  Bring to a simmer and then continue to simmer gently for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook the sliced runner beans for 5 minutes in boiling salted water, strain, then add to onions.

2. In a small bowl, mix cornflour, mustard and turmeric with a little of the remaining vinegar - enough to make a smooth paste - then add the mixture to the onions and runner beans.  Pour in the rest of the vinegar and simmer the whole lot for 10 minutes.

3. Then, stir in the sugars until they're dissolved and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.  Pot into warm, sterilised jars (I sterilised mine in the dishwasher but you can sterilise by washing in warm soapy water and then drying out in a low/medium over for 5 minutes).  Seal and label when cold and keep for at least 1 month before serving.

As I said, I've no idea what this will taste like but it did smell a little like picallili while I was making it so I'm hopeful (as I'm quite partial to a spot of picallili).

It’s Life, Jim, but not as we know it.

OK, not being a Trekkie, that might not be the exact quote but you get the idea.  Like every other parent on the planet, my life changed beyond recognition after the arrival of Cheeky Boy nearly eight years ago – possibly slightly before.  Lack of sleep was due to endless hours pacing the living room floor rather than spent staying far too late in bars chatting with friends.  Here I was (terrifyingly) responsible for this gorgeous, sweet, little bundle of energy.  

 Three short years later and Stinker Dhu (also known as Toots) came along, making me determined to change my working situation (I’d had to go back full-time for a number of reasons).  I also became the mummy who used and enthused (probably bored people to tears in reality) about real nappies, breast fed her until she was two and insisted that we all move to the countryside (well, in reality, a small town in the countryside) but still a world away from all our favourite restaurants, theatres, cinemas and friends in the city (well, who doesn’t drive these days?!).

After 18 months working four days a week and commuting 60 miles a day, Mr Thrifty and I decided enough was enough (if I’m honest, I think he was exhausted listening to me complain endlessly about the situation) and I handed in my notice (what a fabulous feeling that was!) and went freelance. 

I’m not that different from lots of others who’ve had kids – i.e. my life is chaos, I’m an unpaid taxi service and I have no money.  In the interests of saving money, doing a wee bit for the planet and trying to be a bit more creative, I’ve decided to fully embrace a Make Do and Mend attitude that would make my Granny proud (actually, she was THE original consumer but let’s pretend she was like those grannies the media are always bleating on about). 

So, here’s my diary of my own personal (well, family) experiment.  And my new commandments:

I will grow my own fruit and veg;

It shall be cooked and eaten by the family (Toots is likely to put a spanner in the works there!);

and (time will tell if the next decision is sensible or foolhardy) I will make, rather than buy, certain items for the house. 

To kick it off, we’re having a homemade Hallowe’en – so I thought I’d share the pain – and perhaps get some tips from others who are much better at this than me!