This recipe makes a sweet and sour sauce that is a lot healthier than jars and has no additives. It is quick and easy to make, and often I can make it with what I [...]

I do not understand why there is a stigma about saving money.  In this cost of living crisis, people are trying to hide that they are struggling. They carry on with habits that are making [...]

One of the hardest things I found about living on a low income was that I couldn't treat my kids to everything they wanted. When I split from my youngest's dad we had gone from [...]

This is an easy, tasty meal that I used to make on a Sunday instead of a roast when times were hard. I often had to make my toad in the hole with only 4 [...]

Mr S made some cookies for a relative whilst I was away.  She loves biscuits but is having trouble biting anything hard at the moment, and so he made her these easy cookies that are [...]

Spending money is often linked to our emotions, and how we are feeling.  These emotional triggers are what make us feel compelled to spend.  In order to stop spending it is important that we recognise [...]

We are having family over for a Halloween meal.  I wanted to make it special as the grand children are getting to the age when they will not be children much longer.  I did not [...]

Some one asked me how to make a soup.  Every soup I make is different as I mix and match ingredients to make my soup, depending what needs using up in the fridge and what [...]

What is a sinking fund? I mention sinking funds in my blogs to my group some times and often get asked what they are.  It is a tool that I use to help me stay [...]

I try to be eco friendly and hate food waste. last year I started to make some orange, eco friendly cleaner. lemons and other citrus fruit work just as well. I hate the use of [...]

I am trying to make food go as far as possible at the moment.  A lot of my supplies in my kitchen cupboards are running low and I don't want to spend any money or [...]

Do we need to worry about being food secure? There is a lot of disruption in the world at the moment, and some natural disasters that are putting a strain on food supply.  Farmers are [...]

It is World Mental Health day today.  Every year I hope that the mental health of those around me will have improved but with the cost of living, fears about war, fear mongering about new [...]

My philosophy is that you do not need to spend a lot of money to make an occasion special.  It just takes effort and creativity.  We are holding a Halloween dinner for family at the [...]

Caramelised onion chutney is the favourite preserve of Mr S and we try to make it every autumn. We made 4 12oz jars of it from this recipe last night.  Our eyes were streaming as [...]

Living abundantly can mean what ever you want.  It is what ever brings you joy.  Sometimes living frugally can be hard and a grind, even now when I am retired.  Saving money and living sustainably [...]

Last week I had a cold.  I did the normal things of taking in lots of vitamin C through an elderflower mixture, keeping hydrated, and sleeping a lot to heal my body.  However, I also [...]

The chilly mornings have come with a vengeance which means that I want something more substantial for my breakfast but that does not take lots of time to make.  Overnight oats are useful for keeping [...]

Cheese, potato and onion pie brings back memories of my gran.  She was making this simple recipe well over 60 years ago.  We would have this served with vegetables (usually green beans that she grew [...]

I wanted to have a go at growing some kind of grain to become more self sufficient and so I grew quinoa for the first time this year.  I did not know what a beautiful [...]

I like to use any free resources around me to save money.  One of the ways that I get free soil for my containers that I grow my vegetables in, is to make leaf mould [...]

Phase 1 Ever since I have had a family, I have had periods of time when I have intentionally not spent any money. These are called ‘no spend’ weeks, or months.  In the old days [...]

Bread and butter pudding is a favourite of Mr S.  I usually only make it in winter, but a friend was throwing lots of crusts away after making an afternoon tea, and, hating waste I [...]

Sometimes when Mr S is at work, I don't feel like cooking him a meal for when he gets home.  On these days I will make him something quickly in the last 20 minutes before [...]

I am always looking for ways to save money or to visit the supermarket less.  During the pandemic I ran out of wholemeal bread flour and so I foraged some dock seeds and used that [...]

At this time of year I am processing lots of tomatoes grown in the garden.  I roast them and take the skins off before making them into passata or bolognaise sauce.  I hate waste and [...]

Flavoured gins and vodkas are all the rage now, but they can be expensive.  The nicest ones I have ever tasted are home made blackberry gin and vodka.  They bring back that taste of summer [...]

I like to be as self sustainable as possible and at the end of every season I let a few of my crops flower and go to seed, or I save the seed from the [...]

This is the favourite pickle of Mr S.    The origins of this pickle are in south east Asia. One of the first recorded recipes for making this in the UK was written by Mrs [...]

It is that time of year again when I am busy preserving foraged food and things from the garden.  When ever I cook black berries (brambles) I usually mix them with foraged apples to stretch [...]

We eat a lot of Mediterranean food, and curries in our house, and since we have making all our own yoghurt (I use a slow cooker batch which works out really cheap), I have been [...]

Are you living on auto pilot and bored with your life? Have you forgotten what makes your soul sing, or how to be happy anymore? Have you sacrificed most of your dreams and desires and [...]

Mr S had some cucumber pickles at a restaurant and loved them and so we decided to make some of our own.  We have plenty of cucumbers growing outside in the garden (I didn't use [...]

Living intentionally. Before I retired, I used to think that simple living meant that you had no plan and stopped having goals.  I thought it would be spontaneous, and I would just see where the [...]

We tend to go on a lot of self-catering holidays out of season as it is possible to find really cheap, last- minute deals.  We have seen a lot of Britain in this way. Life [...]

I needed to make some room in my freezer the other day as I was making bread and it doesn't last as long as shop bought because it doesn't have the additives. I tend to [...]