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MrsMac's bare-bones challenge

7K views 126 replies 23 participants last post by  mrsmac62 
#1 ·
Well here goes! After reading other posts I feel not only the inspiration but the neccessity to challenge myself.
I am single, living on an invalid benefit. The system we have here in NZ is generous, I am subsidized for my rent and have doc visits & meds paid for.
Still, the economy is crazy and prices are going high for food, power, petrol. You guys know how it is!
I am mobile most of the time and can garden, sew, bake.
Once a week I have lunch for $4 at the community mental health centre (nikau), and can also drop in for free tea & coffee & afternoon tea, usually scones & fruit. I try to walk there instead of driving.
I have 2 very supportive dd's nearby.

My challenges

Not buy what I can make or grow
Pay down debt
Use up food in pantry & freezer ( will inventory these over next little while)

Today I -

Made yoghurt cheese
Sowed lettuce and zucchini seed
Am making lamb & veg curry
 
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#4 ·
Thanks I will bookmark it.
 
#5 ·
I've finished my pantry & freezer inventory.

Realistically I could get by with purchasing just fruit & veg over the next 2 months.

I estimate 4kg of meat & fish in freezer & lots of cooked beans

My pantry has lots of rice (I love one pot meals based on rice), lentils, teabags, & lots of asian bits & bobs for sushi & curries.

The Plan:

When I am paid on Tues I will buy- flour to bake bread, rolled oats for porridge, & fresh fruit & veges. Will attempt $25 limit, including my Thurs lunch out.

Made $128 on TradeMe today, $100 will go to Visa
 
#8 ·
Sorry about the link malfunction. It is a great site. I read it everyday.

It sounds to me like you have all the tools and knowledge to get to where you need to be and now you just need to visit with us here likeminded folk.

Everyone needs someone who understands what they are doing and why and it isn't easy to find that in the "real" world like it is here in the Village.
 
#9 ·
It's a beautiful spring day here, I'm listening to the birds & watching them collect grass and scraps for nest building. Unfortunately they are doing it in my roof cavity! They are very noisy up there but I don't have the heart to evict them.
Cricketlegs- I love the down-to-earth site. Stayed up much to late last night reading thru some of the articles, will have to ration myself to a few a day.
Today I am going to the local recycling centre, where we can drop of paper, cardboard etc, but there are also 2 shops with everything from clothing to lawnmowers people drop in.
Am hoping to get something suitable for a compost bin & some plastic popsicle molds. Spending limit $5
Thanks all for your support :)
 
#11 ·
I got paid early because of the long weekend (tomorrow is labour day) so I picked up a few things while I had the car out for the recycling centre.
Couldn't find a container suitable for compost, but got a large planter box (for radishes) & a co-axial cable for my dvd for $1.20
Fruit prices still scary- 3 apples
6 bananas
1 avocado
$4.70
Bought a loaf of bread $2.90
Realized I need to use my energy for sewing rather than bread making this week.
Have CFS among other things, have to plan carefully! Desparately need to make a couple of blouses, have the patterns & fabric already. Need to muster up energy to lay it all out, have to use floor 'cos table too small.
A friend dropped in a beautiful pair of shoes for me, brand new burgundy maryjanes. She bought them & doesnt like them. I will give her some vege plants in return.
Shortly I will make red lentil & pumpkin soup. Am inventing it. :)
 
#12 ·
Slightly frustrating day today, startd off with a migraine so I havent got as much done as I would have liked.
Since I've already gone over the $25 for this weeks groceries have decided to work the cost into $125 until the end of Nov. since today's purchases were bulk items, except for the choc bar:shame: oops

1kg milk powder $10.99
1.1kg oats $2.49
choc $1.09
5kg wholemeal stoneground flour $13.49

Total: $28.06

$35.66/$125

I cut my hair earlier, it looks, um, interesting :wink: it will grow fast

Having leftover soup for dinner, it worked out well, will add the last of my curly kale to it

Any suggestions on how to keep cats off the garden? I've had to replant the lettuce because my neighbours cat uses my garden as a toilet.
 
#14 ·
Funny you should mention coffee grounds, I spread a huge bag over the garden on Friday. Must be a caffeine loving cat! :kitty::coffee:

I don't buy citrus but will ask my dd's to save peels for me. They are used to my strange requests!
 
#15 ·
This week is $1.49 hanging garment day at Goodwill. That is usually when I get new clothes and where I drop off old. I am NOT shopping this week. I have plenty.

I know what you mean about the down to earth site. RhondaJean taught me how to make bread! Bless her I just love her.

The soup sounds interesting lol.

Sorry about the headache. My sister and my oldest dd have them too.

If you see comments from Caryn on down to earth, thats me!:grnwave:
 
#16 ·
A good day today. I had to use the car, but apart from that I resisted temptation. I went into town to the pharmacy for some eyedrops, there are sales everywherebut I kept the blinkers on. Ok, I did look at a book in a closing down sale, books are my weakness, but I put it down & didn't step inside the shop.
I had lunch at Nikau, have added the $4 to my grocery total. I was going to wait until Thursday but when I heard the meal was smoked chicken, asparagus & mushroom pasta I decided to stay.
I paid $20 for my Nov. break out of Trademe money. 5 days in the Marlborough Sounds, fishing, swimming, eating shellfish, mainly funded by Health Board. Am very grateful
Only needed an egg on toast for tea.
I saw on the news tonight that more & more people are having to rely on credit cards. 10% increase in credit applications over last 3 months. If only they knew what we do! It's great to belong to this supportive community.
Also a prediction (on the news) that 40,000 jobs are under threat. Thats huge in a country as small as NZ
One of my sil's was laid off last week and doesn't qualify for any benefits. Fortunately they have a good stockpile and a vege garden, my dd is good at budgeting.
He's in the position of having to accept whatever work is available, we live in a low wage town. I think as this economic crisis deepens we will all be sharing our resources & skillls a lot more.
The garden is looking good, no cat digging today! My broad beans are finally podding, I will sow some more seeds tomorrow.
After washing my hair again & fluffing it, it no longer looks heinous. No one noticed so it must be ok ;)
Am off to bed early, am planning a bread baking session tomorrow:ponder:
 
#17 ·
Sounds like a great day. It's so nice to hear about someone's garden coming on as mine has finally given it's last breath and has truly expired. Sorry about your son-in-law's job. :-(
 
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#19 ·
A swings & roundabouts day today. I woke up feeling sore & tired so I had to use the car to go to the post office, while I was out I picked up some more veges.
1 avocado
bag of celery
large bag of mushrooms
$5.84

I threw a casserole together in the crockpot using meat from freezer, sauce from stockpile. Will be enough to freeze 4 meals. I'm I don't have to think about dinner, the day got busy, my dd21 called in & asked if I'd go to the mall with her, she needed a hand, baby is 15months, new one due in 6 weeks so she is quite tired.
I ended up buying more eggs & some raisins. $6.74

But dd shouted me a hot choc & a head of broccoli ;)
I love broccoli but had been grizzling about the price! She's a sweetie

I had miscalculated the amount in my account so I only had $60 rather than $100 to put on my Visa, but a cheque for $30 arrived this morning for on-line surveys, so it almost balanced out. I put that on the Visa too, inspired by Mrs McDowall!

I got the fridge defrosted, wiped it out when I got home

Bread dough on the rise, bean seeds planted.

I have added the food prices to my 5 week total, gulp, am hoping that with some of the cost covering bulk items it will even out. If not, I can easily live off some of my fat ;)

I am hoping tomorrow will be an at home, no car, no spend day. I have an assignment overdue that I really need to finish. ( I am doing a freelance journalism course)

My other dd called in before & told me that sil has 2 job interviews tomorrow, they are both within walking distance, so here's hoping! One is for a produce manager, he would also get a staff discount, 10%, on grocery items. Not sure what the other one is.

Keep up the good work everyone!
 
#21 ·
Friday 31st

Yesterday was definately NOT restful. After dinner on wed. I got a call from dd's partner to say she was in hospital, they were monitoring the baby because she was in a lot of pain & running a temp.I went up & sat with her for a few hours so her dp could take dgs home to bed. She tested positive for a uti, they gave her meds & sent her home to rest.
When I got home I put the bread dough in the fridge & collapsed into bed. I spent yesterday form 11-7 at her home, doing housework, washing etc & playing with dgs so she could sleep. She had to go back up for some more monitoring in the afternoon & see the obstetrician, she is still in pain but they don't think the baby is at risk. If an early caesarian is required the baby is a good size. (Dgs was 10lb 3oz!)
I fed dgs, cooked dinner for his daddy then headed home and flung my bread in the oven.Didn't rise as much as usual but tastes delish. Now I remember why I stopped making my own bread. It tastes so good I want to eat more than usual!
Ihad fresh bread with avocado & cracked pepper for supper, had been too tired to eat at dinner time.
Bread & honey for breakfast today, still have leftovers for dinner. I haven't cleaned my kitchen yet but it's going to have to wait. Am going to lay down with a good book. Will probably have dgs for a while later, maybe take him to the park if it's not too windy.
So, no assignment done
 
#22 ·
You are doing a great job! This thread is really inspiring. Thank you for sharing this with us.
 
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#24 ·
Exciting News! My ds & dil are expecting a new baby! :baby: Due the first week in April. I'm hoping to see them soon, we don't get together often enough. Dil is working extra hours until the end of the year & will then be a sahm. I'm so happy for them, their dd (15months) will get a shock though. ;)

Fairly quiet day today. I took my dgd4 to the library & to visit. Her mum just rang me to say that dgd has been vomiting for the last hour, presuming I gave her something that disagreed, but being frugal we just had water. There's always something with wee ones.

Frugal eating- bread & avocado for breakfast, bread & cheese & raisins for lunch.
Felt I needed to make an effort with veges for dinner, so I made rice & veges, (my favorite, with fresh picked broad beans, yum) with a bit of grated cheese on top.

After getting home earlier I put my feet up for a while & read a few chapters of "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Along with 'The Long Winter" it's one of my favorite reads to rev me up for the frugal, work hard lifestyle. Although the descriptions of their meals always makes my tummy rumble.:hungry:

So, not much done around home, & I am starting another migraine, so I think I will hibernate tomorrow :couch:

Have a great weekend everyone!
 
#26 ·
The Little House books always remind me of winter... in part because my favorite Little House book is "The Long Winter" but also because one year, there was an ice storm here. We had no power for two weeks. I'd gotten a set of those books for my mother for Christmas (I'd torn hers up when I was a kid... she opened the gift and cried) and we read the entire set out loud.

All this talk about fresh bread is making me want to bake some!
 
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