Biting Back

Tip Of The Day: Wallpaper

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:25:00 +0000

Don't throw out those left over pieces of wallpaper. Use them for:

wrapping presents
lining drawers
your children's craftwork
decoupage
creative decorating - do have enough for one signature wall or a chimney breast?
brightening up furniture - you can affix wallpaper to panels in drawer-fronts, for example

Think outside the box and you can save money.

Cheap Haircare Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:06:00 +0000

HAIRCARE can be expensive, although I know quite a few men who would love to have that problem. There are ways, however, you can cut the cost - and be kind to the environment too as no chemicals are involved.

Add a red tone to your hair by boiling some ordinary brown onion skins in water. Allow to cool and strain. Add the liquid to your final hair rinse. Leave hair in the solution for a few moments and dry as normal.
The result will not be instant, but should show after using it two or three times.

Get lovely shiny hair by adding one or two tablespoons of vinegar to your final rinse.

Give hair body and shine by pouring beer over your hair after washing it, massage well in and rinse out thoroughly.

Add softness and shine: Dissolve a spoonful of honey into three or four cups of warm water. Once the honey is thoroughly mixed, pour the mixture over wet, freshly washed hair. Gently wring excessive moisture from your hair, but do not rinse the mixture out. Use a towel to lightly pat hair dry and then style as normal.

Go a shade more blonde by using the juice of one lemon, brushing it into your hair and letting it dry in the sun. You can use this method for blonde streaks too.

Keep your hair blonde by brewing two camomile tea teabags or use two tablespoons of camomile tea, strain and add it to your final rinse. Don't expect to see an immediate difference. It will take a few rinses before you notice.

Here's a recipe for a natural hair tonic. Take 1 lb of stinging nettles and bring to boil in one pint of water. Leave to cool, strain. Rub it gently into scalp and shampoo as usual. It prevents dandruff and also hair loss.

Mayonnaise makes a good hair conditioner. Apply it to dry hair, cover with a shower cap, wrap in warm towel and wiat for 20 to 30 minutes. Wash as usual. Conditioner:

Treat dry hair by beating one egg with two tablespoons of olive oil. Smooth the mixture evenly throughout your hair and then cover with a shower cap. Allow the mixture to remain on hair for ten minutes and then rinse thoroughly. The high protein and amino acid content of the egg will add strength and shine to your hair while the olive oil will help to soften and condition dry hair.

Treat oily hair: Mix the juice of two lemons with a quart of water and use for the final rinse.

Frugal Christmas Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:34:00 +0000

EVERY year I battle through crowds in my lunch hour to do my Christmas shopping. Apart from the stress and the expense, there is the worry about finding the right present.

I usually buy gift tokens for the teenage members of my family because what can you buy a young person that won’t necessitate a sharp dig in their ribs and a hissed, "say thank you to Auntie” from their mum?

Not that any of the teenagers in my family resemble Harry Enfield’s monstrous creations Kevin and Perry. They are all perfectly pleasant kids who treat this aunt with bemused tolerance... but their tastes change faster than my better half downs a pint (and that’s Guinness Book of Records standard, I can assure you).

It seems like only yesterday I was buying Lego sets and outfits for Barbie. Now I don't know from one day to the next what's "coo-el" and what isn't. I try to engage them in conversation about a band that yesterday was "totally awesome". Today, any mention of the band's name and eyes roll back into heads as if I had suggested they might quite like to listen to my Vera Lynn’s Greatest Hits album.

So gift tokens it is. I don’t want to be like one aunt in the family who bought Dinky toys for her 15-year-old nephew. I remember wondering how she could do such a thing – now I know. He may be six-foot tall with a six o' clock shadow but in my head he's still that little boy banging nails into a felt-covered pad with a wooden hammer.

Gift tokens apart, I am this year determined to cut my Christmas spending to a minimum. I don’t mind shelling out on my nearest and dearest - I might be frugal but I'm not Scrooge's meaner sister - but I don’t want to get them something that will be shoved in the back of a cupboard and forgotten about.

The following are all presents that should cost under £10. Wrap them or package them imaginatively and they will look twice the price.

1. If you are good at writing, buy a cheap cuddly toy and write a personalised story to go with it.

2. An unusual mug filled with chocolates, sweets or nuts. Or you can be really imaginative and tailor it to the recipient’s interests – nails and screws for a DIY fan, fruit teabags for a tea conoisseur or oil paints for an artist, for example.

3. Mini hamper or serving dish filled with unusual food items.

4. A plant pot filled with gardening items like seeds and plant food.

5. A stationery set. Find the cheapest items you can – ballpoint pens, sticky notes, paper, notebook and put them in a pretty stationery box.

6. A bathroom set with scented soap, a sponge, shampoo, flannel etc.

7. Assemble a sewing set.

8. Basket filled with jams, chutneys and pickles (even cheaper if you’ve made them yourself)

9. A pack of cards and book of card games.

10. Nail polish kit with cotton wool buds, selection of varnishes and remover.

A great idea for the person, or family, who has everything is to buy a charity gift for the developing world in their name. World Vision has a great selection for under £10, including fruit trees, chickens, school textbooks, blankets and mosquito nets.

All you have to do is to pay for the gift online and it will go winging its way to a needy person. A card is sent to the person in whose name the item has been sent.

Do you have any ideas for cheap Christmas gifts? Email me by clicking here

or leave a comment.

Bargain Books

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:21:00 +0000

WHAT guilty little addictions do you have? I’m not talking about the big addictions – drugs, sex, rock and roll, 12 pints of Buckfast before breakfast – but the little ones.

Mine is books. I read a review and the next thing I know I’m on the Amazon website and ordering it. My better half shakes his head in bemusement and makes comments like: “Just what we need in this house, another book.”

I have developed the expertise of an alcoholic but instead of a bottle of vodka in the bread bin, it’s A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. I have The Blind Assassin in my wardrobe, Anna Karenina under my pillow and A Suitable Boy under my bed.

It’s a family thing. We’re forever lugging about carrier bags full of “gear” and whispering things out the sides of our mouths like, “This Bill Bryson came in last night. Grade A. Interested?”

“Yeah, I’ll swap you two Minette Walters, a Ruth Rendell and a P.D. James for the Bryson, an old John Fowles and a Margaret Atwood.”

“Deal.”

I have a house full of books. They have spread from the bookcases, crept under beds, into cupboards, into cardboard boxes in the garden shed and up a ladder into the loft. I daren’t count them and I daren’t tot up how much they have cost me over the years.

I have now resolved to stop buying books – or, at least, stop buying books at their full price.

Here at the North Devon Journal we have our own ‘library’ of books. Various members of staff have donated books and we pay a small fee to borrow one. All the money collected will go to the Guardsman Chris King Memorial Appeal (which supports Help for Heroes and North Devon Army Cadets).

Here are a few more tips to cut down the bills.
1. The obvious answer is to join the library. If you live in the country, check out the mobile library which visits most villages. Don’t incur fines, though; that is defeating the object of cheap reading. These days it’s easy to renew via the internet so there’s no excuse. If you want to read a particular book, you can order it or you can reserve it if it’s being read by someone else.
2. I’ve spent many a happy hour browsing secondhand book shops. But you can also buy used books from charity shops and community events like bring-and-buy and car boot sales.
3. Many book shops and supermarkets have great offers, like three books for £5 or boxed sets.
4. Swap books with friends and family or via the internet. Put the words ‘book swap websites’ into Google and several sites will be mentioned. For example at Green Metropolis you can buy a book for £3.75 but you can get £3 for each one you sell. Amazon Marketplace or eBay are great sites for selling your books.
5. Don’t rush out to buy an expensive hardback book – it will soon be much cheaper in paperback.

Yes, it's time to turn over a new leaf.

Price Check: 10p And Under

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:05:00 +0000

I’VE set myself a bit of a challenge this week. I have been compiling the “price check” section for The Register page in the North Devon Journal, searching through supermarkets to find the week’s best bargains.

It’s been an interesting exercise which has changed the way I shop. Now I’m on high alert every time I go shopping. I’m like a bloodhound tracking down escaped convicts, but I’m sniffing out the BOGOFs, the 3 for 2s and the multisaves. I trawl through the supermarket websites to see if there’s any offer that can feed a family of four for a fiver – and still have enough leftovers for the dog and the cat and to make a nourishing soup the following day. (I’m leaving the five loaves, two fishes and a gathering of 5,000 to a higher power.)

Items under a £1 are commonplace so I thought I’d search out a few items for 10p and under. I was only successful on the Tesco and Sainsbury’s websites – but if any other supermarket has similar offers, let me know and I’ll include them in my next post.

The cheapest item I could find was a tin of Tesco Value Curry Sauce (390g) for an eye-watering 4p a tin.

There were some sweet sensations with a Tesco Value packet of strawberry whip (38g) for 6p and the Value and Basics ranges both offering 70g packets of custard powder for 7p. Both had their own brand strawberry jelly (128g) for 7p. Sainsbury’s Basics also included a no added sugar chocolate dessert mix (38g) for 9p.

If all that sweetness makes you fear for your teeth, both supermarkets were offering two toothbrushes for a staggering 10p (yes, just 5p each).

There was a Tesco Value batter mix (128g) for 8p. And if you’re a fan of instant noodles, Tesco Value has a chicken flavour (65g) and Sainsbury’s Basics a curry flavour, both for 9p.

I’d love to hear from anyone who can find an item for 10p or under. Email me by clicking here.

The Folly Of Food Labels

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:56:00 +0000

I TAKE no notice of best-before, sell-by or use-by dates, I’m more of a sniff-by kind of a girl. If it doesn’t smell whiffy, it’s edible as far as I’m concerned. Now I’m pleased to hear — and a little surprised — that the Government agrees with me.

Environment secretary Hilary Benn has pointed out the sheer folly of slinging out perfectly good food just because it’s past its best-before date. Note, he's not suggesting that anyone ignores the use-by date, probably not wanting to get sued for an outbreak of botulism. Personally, I trust my own judgement.

My friends and I have different attitudes to that “best before” date-stamp on food. Some religiously throw out anything that has passed its shelf life while others use the date as a guide.

I, however, look on those dates as a challenge. A packet of custard powder that orders me to use it by October 7, 2009? Pah! I’ll make that raspberry trifle when I want to and I may not want to until January 7, 2020.

To me it’s always seemed madness (and somehow immoral) to throw away what is obviously perfectly good food. In fact, as a nation we throw away ONE-THIRD of all the food that we buy. I’ve written about this before here.

Not only is this an incredible waste of money but is environmentally disastrous. I refuse to believe that a tin of beans that is perfectly safe to eat at 11.59pm, suddenly becomes poisonous a minute later. If it were true, Dr Crippen wouldn’t have bothered with the hyoscine hydrobromide to poison his wife, he would have opened a dodgy packet of prawns and made her a sandwich instead. (In the interests of historical accuracy, Crippen TRIED to poison his wife but gave her too much hyoscine hydrobromide — she went screamingly mad and he shot her. Oh well... can’t win ’em all.)

Mr Benn said: “In the past, long before such labels existed, people would look at food in the fridge or larder and decide whether it was OK. Throwing food away costs us money. And if it goes to landfill it produces methane and that adds to the problem of climate change."

Mr Benn also said Britain must produce more food to avert world hunger.

If you look in the back of my cupboards you’ll probably find tins of Carnation milk that my grandmother squirrelled away in the war — the First World War. If bottles of wine from the Napoleonic era can make hundreds of thousands of pounds, my tins of Carnation must be worth a few quid, surely?

I haven’t poisoned anybody yet. At least, I don’t think I have. Which reminds me, I wonder what happened to my old schoolfriend who popped round for a sandwich in 2003? She hasn’t been back since.

Frugal Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:58:00 +0000

EVERY once in a while the Marigolds and the feather duster come out at my home at Chez Disarray.

And yes, I am talking about spring-cleaning, not some weird practice for which certain men pay good money in Soho.

I do occasionally get caught up in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) because my house needs a good clean and tidy.

It’s then that I am particularly susceptible to all those advertisements on television, convinced that I must spend good money on something that promises me “one squirt and the dirt is gone”. One squirt, ten minutes of scrubbing, nine minutes of swearing and the dirt is gone, would be more accurate.

I have in the past spent a fortune on cleaning products, which admittedly all did a good enough job, before realising that cheaper alternatives are just as effective. So here are a few of my best cheapo cleaning tips:

1. A teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda on a damp cloth works as well as expensive cream cleaners.

2. Use vinegar for cleaning glass. It cuts through grease brilliantly. Use half vinegar and half water in an old spray bottle, put in a jar and dip in a clean cloth.

3. Essential oils are great for general cleaning too and very economical as you need so little. A couple of drops of tea tree oil on a damp cloth will disinfect surfaces.

4. Forget the proprietary clothes whiteners . Add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to your washing powder. Incidentally, you can cut down on the recommended amount of soap powder - at least by half if your clothes are grubby rather than dirty.

5. Here’s a great (and cheap) carpet stain remover: Mix white vinegar and baking soda together to form a paste. Then, work the paste into the carpet stain with an old toothbrush, or something similar. Allow the paste to dry; then vacuum up the baking soda, and the stain should be gone. Some stains may need to be treated more than once.

6. Vinegar comes into its own again in the loo. Pour a couple cups of vinegar into the toilet before bed, swish it with a toilet brush in the morning, and flush. This will sanitise your toilet and remove stubborn hard water stains.

7. And it’s vinegar again for the microwave. Fill a microwave-safe bowl with a mixture of half vinegar and half water, and put in on high for two minutes. Then, dip a sponge into the vinegar-water (be careful it’s not too hot) solution, and use it to wipe the food off of the walls of the microwave. It’ll wipe away easily.

8. Lemon juice is great for cleaning brass and copper. Mix to a paste with baking soda and rub on. Clean off and polish with a dry cloth.

9. The best tip, of course, is never to let anything get too dirty or stained in the first place. Then you will need minimal products and elbow grease to get everything clean and sparkling again.

If you have any cleaning tips you want to share, leave a comment or email me by clicking here.

Soft Soap Your Friends To Save Money

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:31:00 +0000

Bizarre tip of the day:

Here's a real cheapskate tip you could try if you have enough cheek! I'm much too honest to try it myself but I know someone who briefly got away with this.... Pretend that your washing-machine has broken down and ask family and friends in turn whether you can use their machine. It should work at least once with each person.

Sensible tip of the day:

Pause for thought if you are tempted to buy an item that isn't an absolute necessity. Wait a week, during which time decide whether you really want it and, if you do, it gives you time to compare prices or come up with a cheaper alternative.

If you have any tips you want to share, leave a comment or email me by clicking here.

Tips For Cutting Food Waste

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:47:00 +0000

I’VE written before about food waste here. Since then I have gathered a few more tips from family and friends. Readers have also e-mailed me with their own tips (click here if you want to share your ideas) or left comments.

1 Before you go shopping take a good look at your stocks of food and write a list of what you need. Then resist the temptation to buy anything that’s not on your list, unless it’s a really good bargain and will not go off before you’ve had chance to eat it.

2 Once a week, do a stock check and see what’s close to its ‘use by’ date. If you have too much veg, make soup and freeze it. Chop up fruit that’s near the end of its life and marinate in something fruity or boozy for a fruit salad or cook it for the base of a crumble. Old fruits are great for making ice cream or sauces, while black bananas are perfect for smoothies.

3 If you have soft left-over tomatoes, remove stalks and place whole into freezer bags. Add the frozen tomato to dishes where you would normally use tinned tomatoes, like bolognese sauce.

4 Make sure you rotate your tins and packets so that the oldest items are always near the front of the shelf.

5 Don’t stockpile spices and dried herbs. They start to lose their flavour after a while. It’s better to buy little and often.

6 Boil a chicken carcass or left-over meat from a joint in the vegetable cooking water to make stock. You can freeze this if you want.

7 Always use fish within a day of cooking. If you have left-overs you can flake it and add it to scrambled egg or make into a pate by mixing with cream cheese.

8 We never get left-over cake in my house, but some people do! Cake freezes well so don’t let it go stale or mouldy.

9 Never cook more food than you need. Get some kitchen scales so that you don’t end up with lots of left-over pasta, for example.

10 ‘Best before’ dates refer to quality not food safety and can still be used if they look and smell fine. ‘Use by’ dates are more serious and you should not eat products after this date. If you’re feeling brave read this article click here. but take it all with a pinch of salt!

Tip For Using A Glut Of Onions

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:14:00 +0000

THIS week I bought a huge bag of onions in Sainsbury's, Barnstaple, for 50p. It seemed a great bargain until I got the onions home and wondered if I would ever use them up before they went soft. So, before I got tears in my eyes contemplating squidgy onions sprouting green shoots, I phoned my mother for suggestions.

She gave me the recipe below, which has no name but which I think is an onion compote. Compote is not a word I would ever use with my mother, not unless I wanted that withering, "Who do you think you are?" look that I occasionally get when I use a "fancy" term!

You can serve it hot or cold, like a pickle, or to accompany a roast. I remember having it as a child with a ploughman's lunch - it's great with cheese. It's good spread thinly as a base for a Welsh rarebit or on you can use it on a pizza.

I made a big pan full and have frozen some and bottled some. It will keep about a month in a jar in the fridge.

Below is the basic recipe. You can add things like walnuts or raisins if you like. If you want to use it with pork, add some fresh sage. These additions should be stirred in near the end of cooking.

Onion Compote

1kg onions, peeled and roughly chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sugar or 100g runny honey
1 tbsp vinegar (you can also use balsamic or a red or white wine vinegar)
1 tsp salt
3 bay leaves (optional)
Water

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat.
Add the onion and bay leaves, stir and spread out evenly.
Add water until the onion is just covered.
Cover (with a lid or tin foil) and bring to the boil.
Remove the lid and stir in sugar or honey salt and vinegar.
Simmer slowly for an hour. Stir occasionally so the onion doesn't stick.
After 45 minutes, put the lid back on. If at any time during the cooking process it starts to get too dry, add a little more water.

How To Make Very Cheap Beer

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:07:00 +0000

IN these days of credit-crunching and frugality, let me give you the following recipe.

I should warn you that I haven't tried it so have no idea how it tastes. The website it came from says it creates "a delightful, if not usual, tasting beer". Make of that what you will!

If anyone is brave enough to make any, let me know your opinion either by commenting or by email (click here).

Nettle Beer

This is an easy recipe to follow. It is very cheap to make and follows a traditional English recipe. Before hops were widely used in the 17th century all sorts of plants were used to flavor the ale including nettles.It was also thought to help alleviate rheumatic pain, gout and asthma. Nettle beer can still be bought in the Czech republic and in the north of England where it is brewed with hops and is called Internettle.

Ingredients

900grams (2lb) young nettle tops
3.8lts (1 gallon) of water
230 grams (8oz) of sugar, brown or demerara sugar works best.
7.5 grams (0.25oz) of fresh yeast
small piece of toast
7.5 grams (0.25oz) of ground ginger

Method

Boil the nettle tops in the water for half an hour (you will need a very large pan for this or preferably a cauldron).

Keeping the mixture, strain and add sugar, stirring to dissolve. I mentioned keeping the mixture as the first time I did this I strained it and poured the liquid down the sink, so had to go out and pick more nettles. Also stir in the ginger. Pour mixture into a sterile container, ask at most home brew shops for details, if you don't have a home brew shop near you then a big branch of Boots should offer a Brewers bucket.

Spread the yeast onto the toast and float on the surface of the nettle liquid. Cover and leave for about 3 days at room temperature, do not allow the temperature to fluctuate too much as this will ruin the fermentation process.

Strain again and put into clean, strong screw top beer bottles, or sealable wine bottles (the recipe-writer used plastic bottles and said it still worked). This can be drunk after about 2 days.

The author said: "Still not sure how alcoholic this beer is as I have never drank more than one pint in a go; it does taste like it should be though. "

To find the recipe in its original click here.

Tips of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Bizarre tip of the day:
Are your little dears using as much toilet paper as the Andrex puppy? Here's an easy way to put a brake on their consumption. Before you put the roll on the holder, step on it (not too hard) to squeeze it out of shape. Now it doesn't roll quite so freely and you'll find they use less.

Sensible tip of the day:
Do you keep throwing out stale bread? Buy a big loaf (you can buy half sizes but it works out dearer) and put half in the freezer in an old loaf wrapper (no need to use a new polythene bag). It defrosts really quickly, especially if you carefully separate the slices. Don't store your bread in the fridge - it goes stale faster there than in a bread bin.

If you have any tips you want to share, leave a comment or email me by clicking here.

Grow Your Own

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:04:00 +0000

ONE way to beat the Credit Crunch is to get crunching on your own vegetables.

Unfortunately, I have the opposite of green fingers (purple toes?) and previous efforts to ‘grow my own’ haven’t been particularly successful. Slugs and other leaf and root-munching little creatures set up home all too readily in my garden.

I only have to walk past a plant for it to shrivel up and die in front of my eyes. I can get a cutting, water it with tears, dip it in rooting powder, keep it in a polythene bag in the airing cupboard, pray over it, cast magic spells, and wait for it to start shooting. And wait. And wait. And wait.

I really ought to apply to the BBC’s Gardener’s World project. The programme is looking for three North Devon gardeners to take part in a special televised course which aims to improve the basic skills of keen gardeners in the area.

It’s all very cloak and dagger at the moment with filming taking place ‘at a top secret location’ somewhere on the outskirts of Barnstaple. The course will offer a grounding in the basics of gardening including planting, pruning and propagating.

Anyone interested should email Howard Shannon at howie.shannon@bbc.co.uk and include their contact details, a little bit about themselves and why they want to take part in the course. There's not much time left to apply, so you will need to get moving.

An easier option – and one I will definitely take up – is to attend a Grow Your Own Veg Day at Eggesford Gardens on Sunday, February 22 (11am- 4pm; free entry).

There will be advice on selecting the best crops for your garden along with growing tips from local horticultural expert David Loder. There will also be special offers on the day along with fun and games and competitions for all the family.

For more information go to http://www.eggesfordgardens.com/

You never know, I may even end up understanding that arcane language in which gardening seems to be conducted.

Friends and family ask me things like, "Did you remember to prep the soil?" I might have. I might not have. What's it to you? "Do you double dig?" Look, I have trouble getting my ass in gear to single dig. "Some cultivars would look good over there." No doubt. So would some Bolivars, Magyars and Tartars, as long as they knew about gardening.

Yes, it's definitely time to turn over a new leaf.

Tips Of The Day

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:08:00 +0000

Bizarre tip of the day:
Once you have cut a slice of lemon for your gin and tonic, how much do you end up wasting? The lemon, that is …. not much gin gets wasted in my house. Slice up any leftover lemon or lime into small chunks or slices, put them into an ice cube tray and cover with water. The next time you want a drink, you have the “ice and a slice” all ready to use.

Sensible tip of the day:
Switch off electrical appliances at the plug rather than use 'standby'. During standby the appliances are still using electricity, and this accounts for an astonishing 6% of all electricity used in the home.

Get A Free Hippo - And Save Water

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:37:00 +0000

MY colleague Adam emailed me to say he had switched to a water meter in October and since then his water bill had halved.

He wrote: “We are two adults and a baby, so not huge water users, but we do throw the boy in a bath every now and then and hose down the worst of it.”

He also admitted to having "a strange selection" of plants which required water – but that his car was rather a stranger to the wet stuff.

As Adam says, this is a handy tip for the water-savvy reader.

His email prompted me to look into the whole water-saving business. Top of the list seems to be to switch to a meter, if you don’t already have one. It may not be economic if you have a large family of water-guzzling little tikes but for most people it will save money.

Our water comes from rivers and groundwater so every drop we use has a direct effect on the environment. Limiting our intake makes sense not only financially but environmentally too.

There’s lots you can do to save water. I’ve trawled the internet on your behalf and the following are the top tips.

* Put a displacement device like a ‘hippo’ in your toilet cistern. If you don’t know what a water hippo is or want more information, click here. You can get a free hippo and free 24-page water conservation advice booklet from South West Water – click here.

* Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth. Leaving it on can waste up to 5 litres of water per minute.

* Always run washing machines and dishwashers with a full load and on the economy setting

* Fix dripping taps; they can waste up to four litres of water a day.

* Use a bowl of water to wash fruit and vegetables. Leftover water can be used for watering plants.

* Use the minimum amount of water required when you boil water in saucepans and kettles.

* Wait until you have a full load before switching the washing-machine or dishwasher. Some have a ‘half load’ setting but these use more than half the normal amount of water.

* A 5-minute shower uses about a third of the water of a bath. But power showers can use more water than a bath in less than 5 minutes.
* Burst water pipes can cause serious damage as well as waste water. Ensure your water pipes and external taps are lagged in time for the cold winter months.

Here some water-saving tips for outdoors which are straight from gardening guru Alan Titchmarsh:

* Water your garden in the cool of the early morning or evening. This will reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation.

* If you water plants and shrubs too often their roots will remain shallow, weakening the plant. Leave them alone until they show signs of wilting.
Collect rainwater in water-butts and use a watering can instead of a hose. If you prefer to use a hosepipe, fit a trigger nozzle to control the flow.
Regularly weed and hoe your garden, to ensure that watering helps plants and not weeds.

* Plant flowers and shrubs that thrive in hot and dry conditions such as thyme, evening primrose, rock rose, Californian poppy, pinks, lavender, buddleia and hebes.
Mulches such as wood chips, bark and gravel help to prevent water evaporation and also suppress weed growth, saving you both water and time spent weeding.

* Lawns can survive long periods of dry weather if the grass is not cut too short. Even if the grass turns brown, it will quickly recover after a few days of rain.
Garden sprinklers can use as much water in an hour as a family of four uses in a day. If you use a sprinkler, many water companies require you to have a water meter fitted.

If you have any tips you want to share, leave a comment or email me by clicking here.

Tips of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Bizarre tip of the day:

Always reverse into parking spaces. Tim Shallcross, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, says drivers can save 40p a day by doing this. Beginning a trip by reversing out of a parking space burns up more fuel because a cold engine uses more petrol than a hot one. When a driver parks he probably has to do a few manoeuvres. “It’s much better to do that with a warm engine using thimblefuls of fuel rather than a cold engine using bucketloads,” he says.

Sensible tip of the day:

Instead of using expensive cream cleaners use a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda on a damp cloth - it works just as well.

Picture: Advanced motorist Mike Hill reverses into a parking space.

Tips of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:13:00 +0000

Bizarre tip of the day:
If you have to take your kids to the supermarket with you, play Bargain Hunt. Give them a list of items you need and the one who finds the cheapest wins. They won’t want dearer branded items and it will keep the little dears, with their incessant “I want….”, out of your hair while you shop. Prizes? Are you kidding – the glory of winning is enough!

Sensible tip of the day:
This is a great tip which was left by “anonymous” on a previous posting: Every time you dial an 0870, 0871, 0844 or 0845 number, you're paying money to big corporations like British Gas, the DVLA, TV Licensing and Barclays. Consumer group Which? says the DVLA made £3.4million from its 0870 line last year. This means we've all been paying for the privilege of making a complaint or getting something fixed. Visit http://www.saynoto0870.com/ . This site lists well-known firms and their geographical numbers. For instance, if you have a licence enquiry, the DVLA wants you to ring 0870 2400009 - but you can call 01792 782341 and avoid the rip-off charges.

Frugal Children's Parties

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:27:00 +0000

IF you need to save money, make one of your New Year’s resolutions to spend less on children’s parties.

It seems that these days mums try to outdo each other with the lavishness of their entertainment and party bags. Do you really need to hire a clown or a magician? Or spend hundreds on holding a party in a fast food restaurant? Do you need to spend more on gifts for the little dears to take home than the Gross National Product of a small country? No, of course not.

When I was a child (admittedly many moons ago), there were parties with musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey and pass the parcel with a birthday tea of cheap jelly and icecream. Guests brought presents; they weren’t sent home with bags packed with the contents of Toys R Us.

Birthdays are supposed to be special but ‘special’ needn’t mean expensive. You will find that scaling back on celebrations will make them better - certainly less stressful - by putting the focus back where it was supposed to be all along, on the children. You don’t need cash – you just need a little imagination.

One of my friends cut costs drastically by holding a Fairy Party for her six-year-old daughter. All the guests came dressed as fairies - there would have been elves too if her daughter had wanted any boys at the party. The food was lots of tiny little nibbles – “fairy food” - including little open sandwiches the size of a 50p coin, miniature sausages cut into three, individual swiss rolls cut into even tinier rolls and little dishes of dolly mixtures and miniature marsh mallows.

There were tiny carrot and celery sticks with dip (served in little receptacles like screw top lids) and plates of fruit chopped into small pieces served with chocolate dip. There were individual birthday cakes - those individual sponge rolls cut up and iced, each with its own candle. The little people all ate daintily and loved the food.

They played “fairy” games with prizes of tiny trophies – cheap egg cups decorated with sparkly bits. The most popular game was one she made up herself called Fairy Forfeits. She bought a packet of chocolate buttons and carved a number on each sweet. She then made a pack of cards. The cards had a number on one side and a Fairy Forfeit on the other. The children took it in turns to pick a button (which they then ate), selected the card with the same number on it and turned it over to read what they had to do – some had to do a fairy dance, some had to make up a fairy song, some had to cast a nice fairy spell.

My friend also choreographed a fairy dance, which they all learned and performed for the adults present. When they went home they each took a cheap plastic wand which she had decorated with ribbons. She reckoned the whole party, including the food, hadn’t cost much more than a tenner – and the children absolutely loved it.

Another friend with a 13-year-old son was filled with trepidation after her experiences at a young teenage boy’s party where the little dears had run riot, throwing food around, yelling and racing about and fighting over who had won the games with their expensive prizes. The poor host was hoarse by the end of the day and had a mountain of debris to clear up. She had a laid on a lavish tea which had cost a fortune, and most ended up ground into the carpet.

No way, am I going through that, my friend thought. She sent all the boys out into the garden and served them hot dogs and beef burgers. The birthday boy had been given an action film DVD as a present which they all settled down to watch after the food with mum bringing round popcorn and ice creams during the “interval”. That was all they did – and there wasn’t one murmur of complaint.

If you have teenage children, take a look at cheap hotel deals. They will love a weekend away where they can make use of hotel facilities like a gym , sauna and tennis courts. You might be surprised at how reasonable the rates are, especially out of season. The North Devon Journal’s Reader Holidays often include a real bargain. Keep a look-out too for holiday coupons in newspapers – one national paper was recently offering very cheap breaks in a Cornish holiday park.

Or have a dressing up party with mum’s dresses and high heels or dad’s T-shirts and big shoes. You could buy some hats in a charity shop or be lucky enough to find some children’s fancy dress costumes. Provide cheap make-up (the boys could use eyeliner pencil to create stubble) and jewellery and old watches and they’re set for hours of fun.

One variation on this is to have lots of strange items in a big bag. The children take it in turns to pick an item (without looking) and have to wear it. They keep picking until all the items are gone. Mum or dad then acts as official photographer to take their pictures with a digital camera and print the results out for them to take home.

Be sensible with the goodie bags. Buy plain bags and decorate them yourself – getting your children to decorate them is even better. For young children you can print off colouring sheets from various children’s activity websites. Pop those in with some cheap crayons. Buy a family bag of cheap sweets and share them out. Have a “themed” goodie bag, like The Cake Shop, which is filled with cheap cakes. Or start a trend and dispense with them altogether. I’m sure the other parents will be thrilled.

My own birthday parties were great. I was born in June so the weather was nearly always good. My mother couldn't be bothered with all that party game stuff; she sent us out to play. I was a farmer's daughter and a health and safety inspector would have had a fit as we climbed over the farmyard machinery with its spikes and blades honed to razor sharpness, clambered to the top of precarious piles of straw bales and made dens in animal pens that no doubt harboured virulent strains of e-coli, salmonella and brucellosis. I'll say one thing for my mother, though, she might have subjected us to the risk of amputation, suffocation and respiratory failure but she did produce a very fine birthday tea....

Debts? Don't Panic

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:38:00 +0000

IT’S all very well being prudent and cutting costs but what if things have already gone too far and debts are staring you in the face? If you are struggling, here are some simple tips to help you get on top of things:

1. Don’t bury your head in the sand
Ignoring your debt problems will only make them worse. Don’t ignore calls or letters from the people to whom you owe money. Contact them to explain why you’re having problems. The sooner you do this, the more options you’ll have for solving your financial problems.

2. Get advice

There are many organisations which offer free and independent money advice such as Citizens’ Advice, Shelter, National Debtline, and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. Their debt advisers can assess your situation and work out the best course of action for you.

3. Pay your priority debts first
There are some debts you need to pay first before others, because the consequences of not paying them can be much more serious. For example, mortgage or rent debts are a priority as if you don’t pay these you could lose your home. Debt advisers can help you plan your budget and pay your priority debts first.

4. Pay what you can each month
Work out how much money you’ve got coming in and going out of your household on essential expenses like food and bills. Then work how much you’ve got left over to pay your creditors. If you can’t afford to pay back all the money you owe, work out how much you can afford and offer to pay this. A debt adviser can help you do this.

5. Maximise your income
Are you getting all the money you’re entitled to? There may be benefits or tax credits you can get such as Pension Credit or Disability Living Allowance which you haven’t claimed. Working Tax Credit is an in-work benefit which is not just available to people with children. You might be able to get it if you work enough hours and are disabled or your income is low enough, even if you don’t have children. You may be able to get Council Tax Benefit or Housing Benefit to help you pay your council tax and rent. You don’t necessarily have to be out of work to get these benefits. You may be able to get help with your health costs such as prescription charges and dental costs. You may be able to claim help with education costs such as school meals and clothing. You may be able to get a grant to help you pay for things like fitting home insulation and improving energy efficiency. This can help cut down the fuel bills. Your gas and electricity supplier may be able to help you if you have fuel debts. To find out if you can get help, visit the British Gas Energy Trust website at: http://www.britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/ or the EDF Energy Trust website at: http://www.edfenergytrust.org.uk/ There are also some charities which give grants to people to help pay their bills or buy essential items. You can find a list of these charities on the Turn 2 Us website at: http://www.turn2us.org.uk/ An adviser can help you maximise your income. For details of organisations which can help, go to the bottom of this page.

6. Make savings on your household expenses
Look carefully at your spending and see if there is anything you are able to cut down on. For example, you could shop around for a cheaper gas or electricity provider, or look at cheaper mortgage or insurance providers. You can find more information about changing your gas and electricity suppliers from the website of the consumer watchdog, Consumer Focus at: http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/ To find out more about how to save money on financial products such as mortgages and insurance, go to the website of financial watchdog the Financial Services Authority at: http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/.

7. Think twice about taking out a loan to pay off all your debts
You may end up paying back a lot more than you borrowed and at very high interest rates. You may not be able to afford the repayments and the loan may be secured against your home which you could then lose.

8. Facing possession proceedings? Don’t panic
Always attend the court hearings yourself. Court proceedings do not mean that you will automatically lose your home. The court process acts as a final check to make sure repossession is the last resort. Some courts have advice desks which can provide last minute assistance.

9. Take care with “mortgage rescue schemes”
Selling your home and renting it back might seem like a quick fix to your debt problems. But, many of these schemes offer very little security. You could end up paying very high rent or even being evicted. These schemes are also not regulated so you will not have access to the same protections as a mortgage holder.

10. Don’t abandon your property
If you are struggling with mortgage repayments you may be tempted to send the keys to your lender or abandon your property. Don’t do this without advice. You could still be responsible for the debt on the property and may be pursued for it years later.

The Use-It-All Cookbook: review

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:07:00 +0000

THE trouble with oranges is that there is no way of knowing how sweet or juicy they are until after you have bought them.

So, there I was last week with two lovely looking oranges which, when I peeled them, were fairly dry inside. Normally I might have eaten them anyway, not liking to waste food, or hidden the segments in a fruit salad, hoping a good soaking in fruit juice would plump them up.

Then I remembered I had a book to review, The Use-It-All Cookbook. It had the tagline, “with an A-Z of leftover ingredients and how to use them”. I turned inside for advice on how to use leftover orange and found a recipe for Caramelised Oranges.

It told me the recipe was an excellent way of using up any slightly dried-out oranges. I’m not the best cook in the world but the recipe worked perfectly.

Author Bish Muir lives near Barnstaple in “an increasingly self-sufficient and eco-friendly farmhouse”. Her cookbook includes more than 100 recipes and ideas for using up leftovers. But it is not just a cookbook. There is a wealth of other information, including facts about how wasteful the western world is. There is also a section on planning your shopping and others on “must have” ingredients and kitchen tools and how to store leftovers.

The A to Z of leftover ingredients, mentioned above, is a clever concept. Each item gives suggestions for recipes; something “quick and easy” you can do with the leftover; and general tips.

I looked up bread, having half a loaf that was no longer beautifully soft and fresh. The suggested recipes included fish pie, rissoles, summer pudding and bread and butter pudding. Something “quick and easy” was bread sauce and the tips included making and freezing breadcrumbs and making croutons.

In these credit crunch times, this is an excellent book, packed full of information, hints and recipes. Now, instead of throwing away those wrinkly apples, I’m going to have a go at making an apple and onion confit to accompany roast pork.

The Use-It-All Cookbook is published by Green Books and is available at £12.95.

How To Save Petrol

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:41:00 +0000

I'M on a completely different tack this week. I have left the soggy tomatoes and wilting lettuce behind and have turned my attention to saving petrol.
There are several things motorists can do to cut fuel consumption, which not only saves money but helps save the environment too.
Here are the top tips. If you have any more, leave a comment and I’ll include them in my next blog.

Slow down: There’s no need to drive about as if you’re Lewis Hamilton on speed. That doesn’t mean you have to drive so slowly that elderly people on bicycles overtake you. If you cut your speed from a modest 70mph to 60 mph you will cut your petrol consumption by about 15 per cent. If you cut it from 70mph to 50mph, you will cut it by 38 per cent.

Drive smoothly: Accelerating and decelerating uses a lot of fuel. The smoother you drive, the less fuel you will use. Gently decelerate when approaching a junction, for example. Don’t pull away from traffic lights as if you’re life depended on you getting from 0 to 60 in five seconds. Don’t sit impatiently in a queue of traffic, revving the engine like some hormone-infused adoloscent who’s just passed his test. As well pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, you are using up fuel. Drive more like your maiden aunt than your boy-racer brother.

Watch your rev counter: Engines run most economically at revs between 1,500 and 2,500 so try to keep between these two figures unless more power is required. To maintain low revs while driving you should change gear as soon as is practical. So no crunching through the gears from fourth to second without passing third, throwing up exhaust fumes like a smoke screen in a magic show. The only thing that will disappear is your petrol – and your money.

Get pumped up: Keeping your tyres inflated at the correct pressure is one way of instantly improving your fuel consumption. Under-inflated tyres increase resistance, causing cars to use more fuel. If your tyres are under inflated by 20% this will result in a 3% fuel consumption increase and reduce the tyre life by 30%. Bald tyres also harm fuel economy – not to mention being illegal and dangerous. Still, if you’re in a hospital bed you won’t be driving about.

Get warmed up: A cold engine uses twice as much fuel as a warm engine. A catalytic converter takes six miles to become effective. To save petrol, you have two choices, either drive ultra carefully for the first few miles or – if it’s just a short journey – walk.

Shut up and turn off: If you are driving fast, keep your windows shut. Windows open when driving over 50mph cause significant drag, which increases fuel consumption. If it’s too hot, turn the heating to its coldest setting and turn the fans on. Bear in mind that air-conditioning increases petrol consumption up to 10%. If you feel you must use it, then turn it on in short bursts.

Unload: Every 50kg extra weight in your car will increase petrol consumption by 2%. You can, if you like, use it as a good excuse not to take the in-laws out for the day. It may be more practical, and cause fewer arguments, to remove the roof rack when you’re not using it and to unload the boot of all those items you think you can’t live without, like golf clubs or every map of Britain you have ever owned.

Check your oil: Clean oil reduces the wear caused by friction of moving engine parts and so helps fuel consumption. On a petrol car you should change the oil once a year or every 7,500 miles. For a diesel engine it is recommended you change the oil every 6 months or 3,000 miles.

Service with a smile: Regular servicing will also help to keep your car running as efficiently as possible and so save fuel.

Check your tyres: Make sure your wheels are correctly aligned. If your tyres are wearing unevenly, the alignment is almost certainly out. Improper alignment affects the handling of your car and increases fuel consumption.

Plan ahead: You can reduce car journeys if you are more organised. For example, do your shopping on the way to visit a friend rather than make two separate journeys. Try to get out of the habit of popping to the shops in the car when you need something. Surely you can do without that packet of chocolate digestives until it’s time for the weekly/monthly shop. Get a wartime mentality – “Is my journey really necessary?”

Do you have to drive there? You can walk short distances, or hop on a bus, or cadge a lift from a neighbour. You don’t have to get the car out for every single journey. You can park further away from work and walk. You can car-share. Here in Devon the county council organises a car share scheme. Click here for more details. I’m sure other counties do something similar.

Compare petrol prices: There is sometimes quite a bit of difference between petrol prices. Take a note as you drive around. It’s obviously madness driving five miles out of your way to get cheaper petrol but if it’s on, or just off, your regular route it can save you money. For example, if you can save say 2.3p a litre by visiting a petrol station two miles away, you can save 92p every time you fill up a 40 litre tank. If you fill up twice a month, this is equal to £1.84, or £22.08 a year. May not seem a lot, but it’s a few bottles of red wine if, like me, you tend to buy them from supermarkets.

Penny-pinching: I’m down to the penny-pinching now with a few tips to save you a groat or two. The best time to buy fuel is early morning or late evening when it is coolest. Petrol becomes denser in colder temperatures and as pumps measure the volume of fuel that you pump and not the actual density, you get more for your money. (Warning: this will work for the majority of garages but some may store petrol in a different way). Always give the nozzle a good shake and elevate the hose to squeeze out every last drop of petrol.

Down-size: Do you really need such a big gas-guzzler? Have you checked out the miles per gallon of similar cars? Do your homework and you can save money.

A final comment from the late, great Tommy Cooper: "You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said 'Parking Fine'."

How To Use Up Leftovers

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:18:00 +0000

I AM proud to say that nearly all the veg that was languishing in the salad drawer of the fridge was this week used up. Not only did I buy more sensibly (see previous blog) but I also made a real effort to use up leftovers.

I’m indebted to Sandra, from Ilfracombe, who left a recipe for Bubble and Squeak (pictured) in the comment section. See bottom of the page for the recipe. I tried this on Monday evening using boiled potatoes, broccoli, carrots, peas and chopped fresh herbs. I even included that wilted half an onion she mentioned and I found a square of hard cheddar cheese which I grated into it. It was delicious.

I’ve started to look at food in a different way. I try not to have leftovers – with a little bit of imagination and ingenuity, they are the basis of another dish. No doubt, I will have some culinary disasters along the way (no change there then, my partner might say!) but by trial and error I’m aiming to slash my food bill.

Here are a few more tips:

Don’t throw away that chicken carcase. Break it up into pieces and boil it in water to make a stock. Strain and use as a base for soup using any leftover veg you have. Here’s a very basic recipe: three-quarters fill a medium saucepan with finely chopped veg. Use anything you have in the house, from potatoes and parsnips to cauliflower and carrots. If you haven’t got enough veg, open a tin of something – tomatoes, red kidney beans or peas, for example. Pour on the stock to cover. Stock made from a cube is fine you haven’t any home-made or other type of stock. Simmer for half an hour. Blitz up the veg to make a nice substantial soup. Add more stock if it’s looking too thick.

My sister told me that lettuce makes a great soup. I was dubious but had a go and it was lovely. If you’re a gardener, it’s an ideal way of using up lettuce that has bolted. Add mint or peas (tinned, fresh or frozen) if you want.

Other tips for leftovers:

(Refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within two or three days or freeze. Never re-freeze uncooked food, although you can freeze it again once it’s been cooked).

Dice leftover meat like roast beef, pork or turkey and use it in a casserole.

Leftover bread can be used to make bread pudding.

Bread can also be used to make croutons. Cut the bread into cubes. Toss with melted butter, seasoned salt and whatever other seasonings you like. Bake in a hot oven till the cubes are golden brown. Use these croutons to top salads or casseroles.

Cheese looking like it has seen better days? Grate it up and use it as a topping for all kinds of dishes, from tuna casserole to vegetable bake. Use it for a lasagne or any other dish that requires cheese sauce. Grate it, add a splash Worcestershire sauce; pile it onto bread (doesn’t matter if it’s getting a bit stale) and grill it for a delicious Welsh Rarebit.

Buy a very cheap pizza and liven it up with extra tomato, grated cheese, leftover ham, sausage or pepperoni. Even better, make your own base.

Leftover onions or peppers can be chopped, sealed in bags and frozen. It's economical and time-saving. Next time a recipe calls for chopped onions, just get them out of the freezer.

Leftover puff pastry? Roll in cheese and make into cheese straws.

Leftover yogurt? Try adding it to Indian dishes. Apricot yogurt goes well in chicken korma, for example. They can also be added to a marinade. Experiment. Try cherry yogurt in a marinade for duck, for example.

Tomatoes going soft? Use them up in a pasta sauce.

If you have any tips or recipes, leave a comment.
Here, as promised is Sandra's recipe.

Sandra’s Bubble and Squeak
A bubble and squeak type dish is one of my favourite ways of using up quite a few of those left over bits and pieces lying in the fridge and my kids love it. Use left over mash potato or mash up some cold boiled spuds. I have even mixed in some mashed up cold roast potatoes but if you do this, blot them first to get rid of as much oil as you can. Finely chop any leftover cooked veg you have – cabbage is traditional but I use anything I have left from Sunday lunch, like carrots, parsnips, cauliflower, broccoli or peas. I quite often have half a wilting onion lying in the bottom of the salad drawer so I finely chop that and cook it. In fact, you can use any odds of ends of raw veg as long as you finely chop or grate it and cook it first. It doesn’t matter if the veg has seen better days, it will all plump up in the cooking. You can also throw in any finely chopped cooked meat or cooked fish you have or you could fry off some bacon to go with it. If you have any dried cheese, grate it up and mix it in. I never worry about the proportions – sometimes it’s very veggie and sometimes very potatoey; sometimes very cheesy and sometimes with no cheese at all!! Form it into separate patties or one big round “cake” and fry in a little oil. With the addition of a poached egg and a nice salad or more veg, it makes a lovely Monday night meal.

How To Save £1,500 A Year

noreply@blogger.com (Pat Keenor) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:59:00 +0000

ONE-THIRD of all food bought in the UK ends up being thrown away. So if you spend £90 a week on food for your family, that’s £30 you are throwing in the bin… or £1,500 a year… or the price of new small car in four years.
When I heard that statistic my first reaction was to start making a list of all the things I could do with an extra £1,500 year, from the sensible, like paying off part of the mortgage, to the frivolous. Think how many pairs of shoes I could buy with £1,500 or, even better, how many bottles of red wine.
My second reaction was horror. Surely, I don’t throw away that much food. But then I took a look in my fridge and saw there were several things in there we were never going to eat – half a limp lettuce, soft and wrinkled carrots and peppers, some prawns in a Tupperware box, a chicken carcase with meat left on it and quarter of a jar of pasta sauce – all destined for the bin. In the fruit bowl were a couple of wrinkled apples and a dried up orange.

Another statistic: If we stopped wasting food it would have the same effect on carbon emissions as taking one in five cars off the road in the UK - because all that food has been treated, packaged and transported.

I have now taken a long, hard look at my shopping habits and I’m ashamed to say that I’m totally disorganised. I rush around the supermarket in my lunch hour, grabbing whatever takes my fancy, snapping up the Buy One Get One Free or Three for the Price of Two bargains and throwing fruit and veg in the trolley as if we were on the verge of a famine.

Another statistic: 40% (by weight) of the food thrown away is fruit and vegetables, which means we are either buying far too much to begin with and/or we are not storing it properly. In the UK we throw away 179,000 tonnes of apples every year.

I don’t know about you but I like to keep several pieces of fruit in a bowl in the kitchen. But I have now discovered that you shouldn’t store apples at room temperature. It’s far better to keep them in the fridge in a loosely tied plastic bag. This will help stop them shriveling up. You can take them out and put them in the fruit bowl to bring them to room temperature prior to eating.
My discovery about apples led me to do some more research and come up with some tips for storing fruit and veg so you don’t have to throw so much away.

Carrots should be kept in the fridge in a closed plastic bag with air perforations or peeled and submerged in water.
Putting tomatoes in the fridge makes the inside watery and shortens their shelf life. Keep them in a cool, dark place.
All leafy greens have high water content so they wilt easily. To ensure they stay fresh as long as possible, wash and dry them thoroughly. Rip the leaves into bite-sized pieces and put them in the fridge in a sealed plastic container with a tea towel or some paper towel to absorb excess moisture.
Broccoli will keep for up to a couple of weeks if you store it like a bouquet of flowers in the fridge. Cut about an inch off the stem right away and plunk it down in container filled with water - only submerging the stem. Change the water every couple of days and if the base of the stem seems a little slimy, just give it a new cut. Broccoli can also be kept in a plastic bag.
Store your potatoes in a cool, dark place. If you leave them exposed to light, they will turn a greenish colour. This greenish colour is called selenium and is toxic. Do not refrigerate, instead store in a cool, dark place with good air circulation. Potatoes can stay for a week or two at room temperature with good results.
Onions should be kept just below room temperature in a very dry place. Yellow and white onions tend to have a longer storage life than red onions. Never put onions in plastic bags. You can cut off a leg of an old pair of tights, put your onions in there and hang them in the garden shed.
Mushrooms should be kept in paper bags in the refrigerator. Plastic bags cause them to go mushy.
When storing celery, wrap it in aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator. It will keep for weeks.
Store cauliflower in a plastic bag in the refrigerator with the stem portion down.
Trim asparagus (I know they’re not the cheapest vegetable, but someone may give you some!) and stand upright in one inch of water.
Bananas should be kept separately from other fruit as they make surrounding fruit ripen faster and possibly spoil. However, if you need to ripen fruit such as hard peaches, store them with bananas. They are best at room temperature and shouldn’t be kept in the fridge.

Warning: Do not put ripe fruits together with vegetables in the salad compartment. Many ripe fruits produce ethylene gas, which causes yellowing of green vegetables, brown patches on lettuce, toughening of asparagus and a bitter taste in carrots.
Here are a few general tips to cut wastage.

Line the bottom of the salad drawer in the fridge with newspaper or paper towels to help keep vegetables fresh for longer.

Always look at the “best before” date on produce. A lot of food is wasted because it goes off before we have time to eat it.

When shopping, take items from the back of the shelf; they often have a longer expiry date. On the other hand some food items may be on special offer because the expiry date is soon. As long as you are eating it soon, it can be another way to save money.

I’m sure many of you will have your own tips for storing food and avoiding waste. If you do, I’d love to hear them. Just leave a comment on this blog.
In my next blog I will look at some ideas for using up left-overs. If you have any good recipes or tips, let me know.

Final statistic: 6.7 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK every year.

When so many people in the world are starving, this is obscene.