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Thrift
Thursday, 2 October 2008

Mother and Father Muir came to stay last week, to see the final night of Guys and Dolls and to spend a bit of time with us before Baby Merrick arrives. They were incredibly kind and hoovered up Mandu's fluff off the carpet whilst I was in school for my last day, made a lovely dinner for us and left promising to return in a few weeks to help with the inevitable sleepless nights and nappy-filled days that await us. During the dinnertime chat, the conversation was steered towards the subject of the current credit crunch, at which point Mother Muir commented “A Guide Is Thrifty!” This was not as random an interjection as it may seem – Grandma Madge was a keen guide leader, and MM and I both became Queen's Guides before leaving school. When recently unpacking boxes in our new house, I came across a fantastic cartoon copied from a Guide annual or some such marvellous source, entreating camping Guides not to leave gates open or to stand on each other's shoes at bedtime, which Mubsy had sent to me a while ago. It made me giggle with a warm sense of nostalgia, and I must find it and copy it to send to my friend Debs who appreciates these things as much as I do (see also “How To Run Your Home Without Help” for more delights of yesteryear). Anyway, to return to the original point, A Guide Is Thrifty, according to the original version of the Guide Law, and as a former Guide, this is an excellent challenge for me to aim to undertake in these days of financial uncertainty. Not a day goes by without several articles being printed in the papers on this subject, and I read one earlier this morning on the pertinent subject of packed lunches, entreating us all to take in a healthy, low-cost meal in cling film every day instead of lazily wandering into Pret-a-Manger or the office canteen and spending ridiculous sums of money on additive-packed sandwiches and E-ridden fizzy drinks. Apparently we could all save £1000 per year, which seems to be more than worth it to me!


I also happened upon a great website recently, named “Money-Saving Mom” (via another lovely site called “Good Like A Medicine” which I really recommend) which suggested several ways in which money might be saved in the home and during everyday life. I've blogged before about being frugal, prior to everything started costing a ridiculous amount and before we embarked upon single-salary living, but it's even more important now. So I've been thinking about all the ways in which I can make the difference in our home – here they are!



Ben and I have recently decided that shower gel is a scandalous waste of money. Unless purchased as part of a 3 for 2 or BOGOF deal (which Boots introduce regularly, but you still have all that plastic to think about in the form of the packaging), it is so much more expensive than soap and I'm convinced the manufacturers have started making it more viscous so greater quantities are used every morning when you sleepily apply it to your sponge or pouffe. So after finishing off a bottle of admittedly lovely and fragrant Radox, I rummaged in the seagrass chests we keep in the bathroom for storage, and came across a vast array of soaps that I have received in Christmas stockings over the past few years (including some bars of Wrights Coal Tar, which is tremendously evocative of my childhood and my grandparents in particular), and which are likely to keep us going for weeks. And when the supply is used up, you can get 4 bars of Palmolive for £1 – much cheapness!



Having spent years benefiting from online delivery of food from Asda, we have recently moved to a house which has a Co-Op conveniently situated next door. I am a huge fan of the Co-Op because of its Fairtrade policy, and so many more of its products are ethically produced and sold in comparison to some other supermarkets. So I've started experimenting with shopping for what I need when I need it, walking literally a couple of hundred yards to do so, and the difference in what I spend is amazing. Online shopping is a brilliant invention and does allow you to buy everything in one go and have it dropped off at your door without being faced with the temptation to drop tasty extra treats into the trolley. But it's only worth doing if you order in bulk (and then you get saddled with thousands of plastic bags; I once had an order delivered to me in which – I kid you not – a single aubergine, 2 pats of butter, one tin of tuna, one bottle of washing up liquid and many other single items were all packed separately in individual plastic bags! I can't imagine how many I handed over to the van driver for recycling the next time a delivery came, but it was many more than I might have wished) and then you have the extra dilemma of food going off (especially if your packer hasn't been very scrupulous and has loaded you up with lots of “fresh” produce which is already teetering on the brink of its use-by date). I am a big milk drinker, and going out to buy a few pints at a time when the previous bottle is almost empty is much better than my previous practice of freezing individual pints and cramming them into an already full freezer, or allowing the bit in the bottom to go rancid because I over-ordered from the website and didn't have space to freeze the surplus. I do realise this option is only available to those who live near a supermarket or pass one on their way home, but it is working really well for me so far. If I can plan that we are going to eat something in particular for dinner, check the cupboards and then go and buy exactly what is necessary, I come home with only the essentials in my handy reusable bag (hung on the back door so I don't forget it) and spend a much smaller amount in the process. Of course, this needs discipline, which I don't always have in abundance – there are usually too many bars of chocolate, albeit Fairtrade, lingering in the bottom of said bag when I unpack it later!



I am a very prolific reader, and have an enormous selection of books by my side of the bed. This is partly because I like to have a choice of reading material when I climb under the duvet at the end of the day, but also partly because we have realised that we have far more books than we can currently store on the shelves we have in the house. Clearly, this is something of a problem. So during my summer holiday I gathered together some ID and proof of address, and skipped down the lane to join our local library (which is next door to the helpful Co-Op – I love our local facilities!). It was free, and although it's not the most enormous library I've ever seen, I came away with three books I really wanted to read, at no cost (until I incurred a fine for failing to take them back on time, but never mind...). I am also a huge fan of buying other people's old books on Amazon, because they are always a fraction of the original price but usually in really good condition. And because so many people have been kind enough to pass on their used baby equipment to us over the past couple of months, we have spent far less than we might otherwise have done on expensive essentials, which is great. 



I extolled the virtues of Claypot Cooking on yesterday's Autumn blog, and it is worth saying again! I am not a very adventurous cook and until quite recently had never made a casserole, but when we were given a gorgeous terracotta claypot for Christmas, I dived enthusiastically into the accompanying book (by the amusingly-named Bridget Jones) and discovered all manner of delicious recipes, all of which were low-maintenance and inexpensive. Diced casserole beef is incredibly cheap, as are root vegetables (unless you buy 'Taste The Difference' etc brands which are unnecessarily expensive in my view: ethical meat, yes - luxury carrots, no) and all you have to do is throw them all in together with some stock and herbs and leave it in the oven at whichever temperature suits you. So you can go out for several hours and leave it all in there on a low heat, or do it quickly in the evening in a hot oven if you've just come in. Brilliant and incredibly tasty!



We were given a breadmaker a few years ago, and recently got it out again with the intention of making loaves (although I am not good with technology, have lost the instructions, and can't remember how to work it. Ben will know, however) every Friday night so we can have both fresh bread and its gorgeous aroma to wake up to on a Saturday morning. Homemade bread doesn't tend to work so well with sandwiches as you have to slice it yourself and there's always a crumby mess afterwards, so it's not great for packed lunches. But can we just discuss the gaping discrepancy in price between a shop-bought focaccia and a packet mix you can whip up yourself with the greatest of ease?! Asda charges 77p for a 500g bread mix, which takes 10 minutes to knead and 30 minutes in the oven after it's had some time to rise, and which makes a massive focaccia to serve about 8 or lasts 2 people several days if you make it in small portions. You can smear it with oil, rock salt and rosemary and it tastes just as nice. And once you've started making your own bread, you realise that making your own pasta sauce with tomatoes and a stock cube and water and herbs is quite cheap and pretty tasty as well, and that baking cakes is much cheaper than buying them and that a home-made trifle isn't such a bad idea either... and then all you need is a copy of whichever Nigella book is relevant and you're away. I concede that baking and trifle-making might be more easily achieved at the weekend given the pressures of time during the week, but pasta sauce takes care of itself on the hob whilst you're putting on a load of laundry or squirting surfaces with anti-bacterial spray. And it has fewer sinister ingredients lurking inside. 



I am an enthusiastic muffin-maker, but am unfortunately the only enthuasiastic muffin-consumer in the house. So in order to avoid obesity I have started making smaller batches (halving the quantities stipulated on the marvellous www.muffin-recipes.co.uk - this week I substituted sultanas for blackberries in the apple recipe - gorgeous) and also freezing the ones that don't get eaten in time, because they make splendid bases for the aforementioned trifles. Nigella makes a divine Chocolate Cherry Trifle, and leftover double chocolate muffins are perfect for lining the bottom of the bowl rather than going out and buying a chocolate loaf cake to slice up. Bananas that are going brown and squishy can also be popped in the freezer to use in banana muffins - and there's no slicing required once they've defrosted; just squeeze out the fruit like toothpaste from a tube. And they make entertaining percussion instruments when taken straight from the freezer, although the wearing of gloves is probably wise. 



I read somewhere recently - possibly in Good Housekeeping - that it is a total waste of money and doesn't do much anyway if you use 2-in-1 tablets or liquitabs. This is probably quite true, and while we can still put laundry on the line instead of using a tumble dryer, clothes are not going to suffer unduly for it. Conditioner on the hair I am all for. Conditioner on clothes has now been vetoed in the Merrick household.



I do realise that even a brisk walk with a dog is not going to burn off the same number of calories as 30 minutes on the StairMaster. But as someone who forked out for gym membership for quite a while and didn't make use of its facilities often enough to justify paying the ridiculous monthly amount, I now rejoice in the same fitness levels and am happier for enjoying Autumn walks through leaves in preference to comparing myself with thin and sweaty people in front of mirrors at the gym whilst being subjected to loud, thumping music. Ben is doing the Great North Run this Sunday and has been training for several months. Cost = one pair of new trainers. Swimming is clearly a nice exception to this rule, as you can pay for exactly the number of visits you make to the pool. 



My lovely friend Sarah brought lunch over yesterday and we had a wonderful few hours chatting and putting the world to rights - maternity leave and a part-time job is a nice combination when it comes to meeting up with friends, I am discovering! I am now eating a hunk of quiche which we didn't finish, some salad leaves and a microwaved bowl of cheesy mash from dinner the other night (combined with sausages and popped in the fridge under some foil to be saved for just such an occasion). Result: free, low-maintenance lunchie. And as the plumber is supposed to be coming round sometime in the next hour, it has also meant I don't need to go out for provisions from the Co-Op. 




My lovely friend Charlotte, who lives in rural Cumbria, is a big grower of salad, spinach and other healthy greenstuffs, and also makes gorgeous elderflower wine and damson gin. All you have to do is throw seeds in some compost in a trough or Growbag, and occasionally give the seedlings a bit of attention. After the summer we've had, the potential for waterlogged salad is high, but you can get delightful little tent-sheds in garden centres which protect your leaves and allow you to pop outside and snip off the appropriate amount each day, rather than opening a bag of packaged stuff which is bound to go limp a day later, unless you use it all that evening. Ditto herbs - and they make the garden smell so lovely! And there's always the windowsill if the English weather gets too rainy and cold to contemplate the growing of salad. 



There's just no way to disagree with this one. The difference in price between buying prepackaged sandwiches and bottled drinks, and making sandwiches and taking in a Thermos of squash, is astounding. Apparently one bought lunch costs roughly the same as a week's worth of picnics. And, once you're on the subject of how much packed lunches cost in general, why is it that Penguin biscuits cost literally twice as much as own-brand Polars and Puffins?



Clearly, all these things are very obvious ideas for saving money, and I am sure I am the last one to have cottoned on to some of them; I'm not writing anything new and exciting! But the point of blogging about them all here was thus: if I write about them, I might be reminded to carry on doing them. It's so easy to spend ten extra minutes in bed instead of getting up to make the sandwiches, and I for one am easily persuaded back under the duvet on a cold October morning. But I know I'll be grateful to myself in the end; spending frivolously is fun in the short term, but not so much if you're wincing every time you go to check the bank balance. And on that note, I think I shall spend some of this afternoon doing a little Christmas shopping - as long as no one plays Christmas carols whilst I'm doing it: that's one thing that can wait until December!


posted by My name is Fiona, @ 11:13

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