[too many girls]

hi. if you have a baby, instead of buying expensive baby food, puree, then freeze your left over vegtables in ice cube trays.when you come to need them , just pop the veg of your choice on a plate and heat in the microwave. its great  because as your baby gets bigger, and they need a bt more, just add a few cubes of each veg instead of one. you will be suprised how much money it saves you.

if using this tip remember not to add salt when cooking.

[BobandJack]

On the combi boiler theme, just set your timer to come on for the times when you know you're going to need it - first thing in the morning & after work etc & just have it on for an hour or so, far too much of a luxury to have hot water all the time.

Also, if you're on economy 7 get a timer for washing machine/dishwasher & run them in the middle of the night.  In the case of washing it does involve checking the next day's forecast though 

[John]

The competition is now closed - I'll be announcing the winner later on today.

Fantastic responses - thank you everyone. Now decisions, decisions ...

[too many girls]

have i won?

[John]

Well we had a lot of great tips and hints - thanks to everyone who entered. A lot are actually in Low Cost Living - so I know I'm not the only one!!

The winner has to be mark.carline for the excellent description of Freecycle.

I'm also awarding a prize to Teen76 for describing an attitude to life as much as anything.

Thanks again to everybody

[Patricia]

Congratulations Mark.carline and Teen76.

[Teen76]

Wow I just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to John.

It's just really how I've been brought up really.  When you don't have a lot in the way of money you find other ways to compensate.  And if it does something to help the environment then that's a big added bonus.

I'm still in shock for winning something.  Many thanks once again. 

Oh and thanks to Patricia for your Congrats!

[mark.carline]

great & many thanks !!!

mark

[barney rubble]

Congratulations Mark & Teen

[mark.carline]

Just a note to say thanks for the book (just received it today).

I have just read the introduction and it sounds great and right up our street.......

Both of us have been working in IT for 10 years and over the last 12 months we have changed our life somewhat (got married, had our 1st child, shes been made redundant, paid off the mortage and then got an allotment).

Now I just need to remember to borrow those "Good Life" DVDs from a guy at work.

ace !

[John]

Glad the book arrived OK - bit jealous on your mortgage payoff though. 10 years! It took us 32 years to pay off a £3,000 mortgage. Mind you, we borrowed a bit more along the way

Tom & Barbara were role models for us but John Seymour was the guru

[mark.carline]

Glad the book arrived OK - bit jealous on your mortgage payoff though. 10 years! It took us 32 years to pay off a £3,000 mortgage. Mind you, we borrowed a bit more along the way

Tom & Barbara were role models for us but John Seymour was the guru

It easy when you live within your means and just lead a simple life

yes I couldn't belive when you mentioned John Seymour in the introduction!

Great book and I can certainly recommend it to anyway (plug plug !).

[John]

Thanks Mark - all plugs gratefully received! If it sold as much as Harry Potter then I could write a follow up "Living like a retired banker"

OK, OK, I can dream can't I??

[harry]

  don't forget to check the out of date shelf in the supermarket. Remember sell by dates don't mean food is off

[Kristen]

bit jealous on your mortgage payoff though. 10 years! It took us 32 years to pay off a £3,000 mortgage.

For folk wanting to pay off their mortgage MoneySavingExpert might help - there is quite a lot of group self-encouragement type material - e.g. this Forum:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=98