What's YOUR GYO Credit Crunch Idea?

[wellie]

I've been busy in The Holly Kitchen today (and just turned off the kitchen lights to save electrickery whilst I'm on the forum starting this thread?!) and I've made a completely wicked Denis Cotter 'Cafe Paradiso' Chilli today, as I do every Autumn. And whilst I was spooning it into the freezer containers, I thought to myself: "I could pad this out a bit with courgettes, which would make it go further, without affecting the taste, AND get rid of a couple more courgettes into the bargain"?
And THEN I got to thinking - just what brilliant stuff are my GYO Friends thinking to save themselves money, without even trying too hard in this here Credit Crunch?

[zazen999]

Everything is padded out with courgettes at the minute.

I'm saving all the tiny spuds so that I don't have to buy any seed potatoes next spring. And, joining in with Duronal's potato experiment. And growing spuds from cut off sprouting bits of spud rather than wasting a whole potato.

Apart from that, the usual money saving stuff, making own bread and all that jazz.

We did buy a SMEG which has a huge freezer section, just to grow our own food and freeze it. All part of the bigger picture.

[Hans Mum]

i;m giving homemade jams/chutneys/etc as christmas pressies to family & friends, & yes ive made marrow chutney

& we also got some of these

http://www.smjuk.com/files/energy_saving_leaflet.pdf

saves having to crawl under furniture etc to turn off electrical equipment & they were on offer when we bought them

[di]

Was tempted to arm my children with sticks & order them to go catch their dinner whilst mummy & daddy toil the lottie~but then found out the bunnies there have mixy!!The courgettes should keep us going for many months in pickles & cakes & everything else~& then the pumpkins shall retrieve their crown!!We ate the last of our(my) pumpkin curry a couple of w/e's ago!
Anyone got a recipe for courgette or pumpkin wine??!

[lynda66]

basically the same as always .... to be honest if i get a freezer full of veg, it will save me a fortune anyway, so without a car or a mortgage, or credit, i can't really say i've noticed.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Frugal Haze always plays a game to see how far to stretch a pack of mince by adding onions/mushrooms/courgette/bloody beans/spinach/anything else off the plot for cottage pies, BUT I will surely save on the ol' Barclacard this year at Christmas by giving home made yummy chutneys and wine as presents.

Beetroot chutney and delectable smooth parsnip wine to my cherished ones, tomato chutney, solid blackcurrant jam and fruity light rhubarb wine to my favourite party peeps, however if you get a bottle of celery wine from me, then knock me off the christmas card list...

[Farmer_Gyles]

i'm not severely affected by the credit crunch, but i'm now aiming for total self-sufficiency in veggies / jams etc over the next 12 months
i'll try dual cropping - summer and winter crops - grow as much as i possible can
i'll be growing stuff i wouldn't normally eat (leeks / pumpkins / courgettes etc) to make better use of the land, and finding ways to use these veggies, ie, soups etc (i'm not one for soups, but if it helps save me a fortune ...)
i'll be cooking in bulk and freezing ready meals etc
we're picking wild blackberries for crumbles, jams, etc
will make loads of wine / cider etc
the list goes on ...........

[zazen999]

One thing is I'm trying to make a litre of washing liquid last a year; every time it gets to half full, I add in a mix of washing soda and water. Only a few months to go, and it is surprising how little you actually need to wash clothes, you can cut the amount that they tell you to use right down and they still come out sparkling. It still smells of the original washing liquid, 9 months in. Plus, i use either vinegar for fabric softener [white not malt], or none at all...again good results.

Having said this, I've never been in a position until now where I haven't had to be frugal; my bank balance is relatively healthy and we over pay our mortgage by the max amount each month which will bring it down considerably. But, it's a case of wanting to rather than having to; in case I get to the position where I do have to it won't be too much of a shock.

I have made my own soap this year, but then decided that I don't like using soap per se after all...

Anyone interested in really going 'Old Style' can nip over to moneysavingexpert.com and go to the Old Style board on the forums, if you really want some hints and tips on cutting right back; we've more than halved our shopping bill without even really cutting back at all.

[Sue]

Hi
Having been made redundant due to company closure money saving is high on the agenda at the moment.
I've found making a shopping list spreadsheet so I can keep a record of prices in various shops to a) find out best prices and b) work out list in advance to enable a strict sticking to budget is both eyeopening and cost saving.

Have also stepped up the cooking and doing a lot of recipe research for recipes that use mainly allotment produce with the fewest supplementary ingredients, I'd already started doing this and it has proved really useful, feel a great sense of achievment when only extra ingredients are a spoonfull of oil and some salt and pepper.

Bartering some of my eggs for other produce helps and with the extra time am able to take full advantage of offers of all the windfalls I can gather and picking all the blackberries I can for winter fruit supplies.
Cats have been successfully moved off their expensive diet on to a cheaper diet and that's saved a lot too oh and tea drinking over coffee is much cheaper!
Sue
Will start plannning on homemade christmas gifts to cut down extras there too.

[Scotkat]

I started at the start of the year changing over to eco cleaning as I finished normal replaced with eco and last a long time cheaper inthe end.

Changed over to eco washing up liquid its 78p whne i bought first it is now 98p.

Got a good tip and use tiem about to finish old products.

Dish washer eco tablets I do like adn I dont need to use rinse aid a saving on its own.

Dont use bleach in toliet use vinegar washing soda and peppermint oil .

Could go on maybe be show have a topic on eco friendly views.I like the products and no chemicals and helping enviorment as well.

[Farmer_Gyles]

gonna make use of weeds too - dandelion and burdock ...........

does anyone have any recipies for grass cuttings???

[Pootle]

Making Christmas pressies this year - had intended to do so last year but was a bit too late in starting

Hampers of chutney/jam (jars from Freecycle, ingredients from the plot or hedgerows), homemade shortbread, homemade bathbombs and wheaty warmers made with bits of leftover fabric I've got hanging around. Maybe a few soft toys too (just unearthed a mountain of odd socks so sock monsters are on the agenda)

[HeyWayne]

gonna make use of weeds too - dandelion and burdock ...........

does anyone have any recipies for grass cuttings???

No idea about grass cuttings, but watching Paddy & Rory last night - you could sell on those nettles.

Money saving? Not really sure what we're doing now that we haven't been doing for ages anyway - we're drinking less (LadyWayne isn't drinking at all - which as a result, I'm hardly drinking anything).

I'm driving LW's car for the time being and I'll be buying a diesel when we get back from holiday.

I try to discourage LW from using the tumble dryer, but with this weather it's been tough, and we only have the heating on 20c anyway - so radiators aren't much cop at drying for us.

Other than that, it's business as usual.

Radiators are turned off in rooms that aren't used.

As are lights.

All bulbs in the house are energy efficient - except for our bedroom which has a dimmer, and energy efficient bulbs don't work very well with dimmer switches.

If we use the oven we leave the door open when finished to let the heat escape into the room.

We have a new energy efficient boiler.

We have a new energy efficient fridge/freezer.

We have a new energy efficent washing machine which we only ever use the 40 degree wash on anyway - with the odd exception.

We're making an effort to cook only the food we need rather than being wasteful. When we do cook to much we try and make something else with leftovers.

Every appliance is switched off at the plug when not in use.

Kettle is only ever filled with the water required.

Pans used for boiling have their lids on to speed up the heating process. Pans used are the correct size for the burner.

Bath is used maybe twice a year by me, maybe once a month for LW. The rest of the time we shower.

We don't smoke.

We rarely go out.

Oh, and we're having a baby.

[lainey lou]

Oh, and we're having a baby.

That'll be all your good work outta the window then hun!

[jackie j]

We have always switched off lights etc only cook amount we need use up any that are leftover when cooked too much.
Dont smoke
Dont drink
Both have cars but I dont use mine much but cant be without, town is two mins away.
Everthing switched off at plugs no standby.
Made a shopping list on computer that has everthing we buy on it makes it easier to shop, only buy what we need.
Think do we really need this iem before we buy.
Cut down on amount spent on christmas and save during the year for it.
Nothing on credit cards. Dont have any if we can afford it we dont but it.
Grow as much as I can at my loitte saved me a fortune in veg.