Politicians and governments do not make a country. It is the people that make a country. The politicians that end up in power and the policies that they peddle are a reflection on the collective choices of the individuals that make up a country. It’s as simple as that.

It is very easy to blame the politicians for the poor state of the country that we live in. Or the immigrants. Or the criminals. It is far harder to admit we might have played a part in the mess. It is partly our mess, caused by our own mistakes. Even if we think we are ‘good people’, doing our best, trying to be responsible citizens, we all make mistakes. We drive when we could walk. We waste a bit of food here, generate unnecessary trash there. None of us are perfect. I am, most definitely, very far from perfect.

Tomorrow the government of England will likely look very different, and there will undoubtedly be many people that are not happy with the outcome. I have friends who told me they would utterly despair if the Conservatives rise to power. I can sympathise.

But that is not the end of the story. There will be another election, and another, and another – the only constant thing in this world is change. That is an encouraging thought – whatever the outcome tomorrow, the possibilities are still endless.

I, for one, am going to take on board the immortal words of Michael Jackson:
“I’m starting with the Man in the Mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer. If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make a change.”

In the midst of all the noise and complexity of electioneering, I feel that own role in the future of this country is very simple indeed.

For the month of April, our little household decided to stop buying food. No groceries. No eating out. Nada. Why would we do such a crazy thing? Well, that is another whole blog post. Let’s say it was, at least in part, a ‘faith experiment’ inspired by George Muller - a man who believed that God could be trusted completely to provide everything he needed and started several large orphanages in the Bristol area of England solely on the basis of unsolicited gifts and donations.

We thought it seemed like a good idea at the time. In retrospect, it was a great idea. Mid-experiment, I did wonder if we’d gone mad. It was really worth doing, though. We kept it a secret from all our friends and family, which is why I’m only blogging about it now.

Here’s what a discovered. We had well in excess of a month’s worth of food in our fridge, freezer and cupboards. Not a month of gourmet dining, but definitely enough nutrition to ensure that we didn’t starve to death. At the end of our experiment, we still have a few kilograms of different varieties of flour (spelt, rice, chickpea, etc), a large quantity of rice, some dried pulses and a bit of pasta and quite a few packets of noodles. Not to mention our full spice rack and an obscene quantity of herbal teas. The meals were getting a bit ropey by the end of week, but my toddler never seemed phased. In fact, he didn’t seem to notice any particular change in our eating habits.

We did cheat a little bit – my husband sometimes brought home food from work, but it was not substantial. A bit of fruit here, some cheese there. My friend slipped a five pound note into my pocket one day, and I decided to use it to buy some vegetables, of which we had almost none left – only a very sad carrot and a bit of frozen spinach and broccoli. I discovered that five pounds can go a VERY long way.

We ran out of bread. Then we ran out of yeast. Then we ran out of baking powder, and wheat flour. Our breakfast options were reduced to oats or some form of pancake or scone that could be made without any eggs or milk, and with a minimum quantity of butter or oil.

We were given food, completely out of the blue. Invitations to other people’s homes for meals were not refused. Food was definitely not wasted. I split up bottles of milk and froze small portions so that we could use it more slowly and ensure that it did not go off. I felt more grateful for what we did have.

I wondered what the rest of the world eats. You know – the majority of the world – those that do not enjoy the luxury of supermarkets and a regular paycheck deposited electronically into their bank account. Those that live on no more than a couple of dollars a day. I thought about some of the luxury food ingredients that I have, up until now, considered essential. Butter and sugar for example. How many people cook most of their food without these ingredients, I thought?

I realised how much I depend on the availability of a few key ingredients in the food I prepare – notably, wheat flour, milk, butter, eggs and rice. I thought about what would happen if we had to produce our own food. What would our diet look like then?

And in the middle of all this, I stumbled across the Transition movement, and started thinking about how our eating habits might have to change, in light of growing evidence of the peak oil phenomenon. It is caused me to start asking all manner of interesting questions about our lifestyle, and, in particular, the food we eat.

More to follow, but for now – do you think you could survive for a month without groceries?

For example, there is this nice idea of ‘cooking from scratch’. This really appeals to me – I love cooking, and I prefer to use fresh, locally sourced, organic (if possible) ingredients and to prepare food that is as healthy as it is delicious. However, cooking from scratch becomes significantly less appealing at 5pm in the evening when my toddler starts hanging off my leg and pulling everything out of the kitchen cupboards while I am in the middle of preparing a meal.

It is also difficult to devote time to preparing food from scratch when there is so much else to be done. In the coming months I’m going to be heavily pregnant, and then later there will be a tiny baby to cope with. If I am finding it a challenge to put my beliefs into practice now, just think what it will be like in a few months’ time!

These are the thoughts that have been running through my head in recent weeks. I have realised that I spend more time, on a daily basis, preparing food and clearing up than I do on any other activity (besides sleeping). That’s a lot of time! Part of this has to do with having a toddler (meal-times take such a long time) but I think there’s more to it than that.

So, being a determined little bunny, and not one to accept defeat easily, I have tried to devise some cunning strategies to ease the practical burden on myself – specifically in relation to food. I thought this might make an interesting blog post for any other mums or ‘whiz in the kitchen’ wannabes who, frankly, find the whole food preparation thing a bit hard to cope with at times. I think, if we’re honest, we all do. That’s why the takeaway business is a multi-million dollar industry!

Here are my mini-goals for the month ahead:

• To continue planning meals a week in advance and doing the weekly grocery shop based on the meal plan
• To have a firm budget for the weekly grocery bill, and to stick to it
• To make a big pot of hearty vegetable soup once a week that will serve for at least one evening meal and one hot lunch (to coincide with our meat-free day and to be incorporated into the meal plan)
• Wherever possible, to always cook enough for two meals so that I can have every other night off cooking (this is to be incorporated into the meal plan)
• To plan so that a maximum of one meal per day requires any significant preparation
• To incorporate more ‘whole foods’ that can be eaten raw and cold dishes that do not require cooking or reheating into our diet
• To plan so that I can have one full day off of cooking (and doing the dishes, hopefully, if the husband will oblige!)
• To regularly reflect on what has and hasn’t been working in terms of specific recipes, portion sizes, quantities of ingredients purchased in the weekly grocery shop, etc and to try to learn from past mistakes and successes

A lot of inspiration for this blog post is due to the Frugal Girl, whose blog I stumbled across recently, and who seems to do an amazing job at coping with a very busy lifestyle while still managing to cook from scratch. Let’s see how I do putting her top tips into practice! Any other suggestions would be very welcome – please feel free to leave a comment.

One of the things I struggle with is my overinflated appetite for leisure. I guess it is hardly surprising, given that advertising media is constantly encouraging us to ‘treat’ and ‘reward’ and ‘indulge’ ourselves. A European Commission Working Paper in 2005 collated time use survey data from across Europe and showed that Europeans enjoy, on average, between 4 and 6 hours per day of ‘free time’ – that is, time that is not used for eating, sleeping,working or study, personal hygeine, domestic chores or travel. 4 to 6 hours is a lot of disposable time on our hands on a daily basis! It is little wonder, then, that there are so many businesses out their peddling wares to ensure that we enjoy every last minute of our spare hours.

When I think of how I’d like to spend an idle hour, espresso, cake and comfy armchairs in an upmarket cafe inevitably spring to mind. Similarly, a ‘night off’ should involve takeaways, a bottle of wine, and a DVD. I quickly develop cabin fever at home with my toddler, and get bored of the same mealtime routine at the very same dining table, day after day. I can find it difficult to come up with ideas to inject interest into our daytime routine that don’t involve eating out, or spending money.

That is why tonight I thought I’d write a brief blog post celebrating a few ‘simple pleasures’ that we enjoyed throughout the course of today. This will hopefully remind me – and perhaps also inspire others – that we don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy life.

Simple Pleasure 1: A walk in the woods

A picture of my son from a previous walk, about a fortnight ago

We are lucky to live close to some beautiful green spaces. The photo I have included is taken within 5 minutes walk of our front door, on a public footpath, overlooking literally acres of farmland.

I have discovered that our toddler LOVES kicking fallen leaves and splashing in puddles. I find watching him bound along a country lane like an overexcited puppy to be more entertaining than a trip to the cinema.

Today was sunny and the snow is long gone. Daddy came too, and we enjoyed crouching in the woods, looking up towards the sky and watching the treetops swaying in the breeze. Who needs television when you’ve got nature?

Simple Pleasure 2: Magnets

This afternoon, following the walk, toddler and father entertained themselves for over an hour with these:

We picked up this set of magnets from a car boot sale a month or two back for less than a couple of quid – a small fraction of what they would cost to buy new.

I also joined in for a little while, and was entertained by our toddler’s confusion when he could not get two pieces of magnet to get close to each other (opposite forces attract and like forces repel – he was trying to stick the ‘like’ ends together …). Physics can be fun; my science teacher was right.

Simple Pleasure 3: Music

Besides the weather, few things have the capacity to transform my mood like music does. This afternoon, I put on some nice music while I did some computer work and the effect was immediate.

I listen to an internet-based radio service for free which lets me pick my own playlist. It’s got ads but they’re very short, and I seem to find it easy to ignore them. If I put on a bit of lounge music, and make myself a nice coffee, I could close my eyes and almost believe that I am in a trendy cafe somewhere …

If you’re reading this, I’d love to hear your suggestions for free or inexpensive ways to inject a bit of interest into the daily routine – please leave a comment below.

If so, you have an insight into my world.

There are nasty half finished jobs and ‘dirty little secrets’ (as I like to call them) like that hidden all over our house. After a week or so of inaction, those blots on my conscience take on a life of their own, turning into horrible little monsters that torment me when I have a free moment and feel that I should probably be doing something productive.

Fortunately this blog has NOT become like that, but I do feel very bad for not having posted anything for about four months. Oh well, I am new to this blogging lark, and I expect that I will get that hang of it with time.

A wise and favourite author of mine, C S Lewis, in one of his non-fiction works, talks about the nature of time and how we are foolish if we tend to focus too much on the past or the future. The only ‘time’ that we have any control over is this moment – right now. You are choosing to spend the only moment in your life that you have any control over – this moment, now – reading my blog. Thank you!

I have decided to seize this particular moment by writing a new blog post.

So how has our adventure been progressing over the last six months? Well, I hope to explain further in blog posts to follow, but for now I will summarise by saying:

• I have been trying to continue with some of the ‘simple living’ habits that we began to adopt in the Autumn, especially in regards to planning our meals a week ahead and only buying what we need from the supermarket. It has been hard going.
• I took a trip to New Zealand to see my family over Christmas, which means that my ‘carbon footprint’ for this past year is now absolutely hideous! Compared to the environmental impact of my return flight from London, any gains I have made this last six months through energy saving in the home now look ridiculously insignificant. This has given me a lot of food for thought….
• Our toddler is now 18 months old. Need I say more? Busy, busy, busy times ….
• … and I am pregnant again. Less energy plus an energetic little boy equals being forced to slow down and to ‘simplify’ in a very practical sense of the word.
• I have been enjoying reading a number of blogs to which I now regularly subscribe. In particular, My Year Without Spending and The Non-Consumer Advocate have been great sources of inspiration and have continued to keep me mulling over a number of issues even though I have not been writing about them. Thanks for your faithful blogging guys!

And as for those nasty little half finished jobs … well, there is one that springs to mind that I am going to tackle right NOW!

Well, this morning I was very proud to have achieved my first ever two minute shower! I wouldn’t have believed it possible, but thanks to the employment of Japanese bathing habits, and the assistance of our little friend Mr Duck the Shower Timer, it finally happened.

I didn’t wash my hair, which would’ve undoubtedly doubled my time. My hair doesn’t get as much attention now as it once used to, mainly due to having a small child, although environmental concerns are right up there – honest!

Most importantly, I employed Japanese bathing techniques, minus the dip in a hot bath at the end, to cut my time right down.

Japanese bathing techniques? Well, the Japanese don’t shower, as we do, stood in the bathtub with the water running constantly while they wash themselves. The Japanese really prefer baths to showers. In Japan, a person would ordinarily wash themselves all over before getting into a steaming bath. To wash, a person sits on a little stool on the tiled floor outside of the bathtub. Water is used as conservatively as possible – a shower head is used to wet the body all over, the person then washes using soap, and afterwards rinses off again using the shower head. Then it is time to ‘soak’ in a relaxing bath.

I skipped the bath at the end, and simply switched our shower off part-way through so that I could wash myself all over without letting the hot water run down the plughole in the meantime. (I also paused the timer while the shower was not running.) So the hot water was only running for two minutes, and I managed to get myself lovely and clean without wasting all those extra litres of water.

When I think that, in the past, I have averaged 10 to 15 minutes per shower, assuming an average 3 minute shower each day from this point on, I will be reducing my water consumption (due to bathing) by a staggering 75 to 85 % – wow!

I challenge you to give this technique a go and let me know how you are getting on in the comments section.

In the meantime, I’ve not had too much energy to worry about saving money. On the bright side, neither have I had any energy to go out and spend it. For the first few days, my husband stepped into the role of caterer and did a fantastic job of whipping up tasty food using whatever was to hand. Now he’s handed the baton back to me.

‘Ham day‘

Yesterday we succumbed to temptation and took a trip to the supermarket. The husband usually doesn’t get to come along, but he felt it important to ensure I didn’t suddenly collapse in a supermarket aisle due to post-viral fatigue. In truth, I think he just wanted to try and slip a few frozen pizzas into the trolley. He succeeded, and also slipped in a rather large packet of ham that was heavily discounted because it was fast approaching its ‘use by’ date.

Last night we enjoyed pizza with extra ham, which was great, but then today was ‘ham day’. It was ham for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I needed to ensure that we did not just end up eating ham sandwiches all day long. I dug out a couple of my top ways to use up ham that is approaching date:

Lunch: The BEST ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches

Dinner: Very special fried rice

These are simple recipes, but in the past I have prepared these dishes so many times with depressingly mediocre results. Recently I’ve learned a few little tricks that help these recipes to turn out perfect every time. It’s all there in the recipes section for your edification.

‘Boot-ilicious’

When I started out on my month of trying to live frugally, I hoped that we would make permanent changes to our lifestyle. Well, a few green shoots of new growth sprang forth today, when I decided to do something that I never do, and polish my boots.

My poor brown boots were looking haggard and old. I no longer wanted to take them places. I had secretly become ashamed of them. It wasn’t really their fault, I had not taken care of them very well. So I decided the time had come to give them some TLC. I  took to them with an old-fashioned tin of shoe polish and a brush, with fabulous results!

I was actually shocked at the difference. So shocked, in fact, that I had to upload this little picture.

I finished my  boots off with a coating of waterproofing spray, so that they will keep my feet toasty and dry for the duration of the winter. Let’s do a little comparison of the costs involved in restoring my boots to their former glory as opposed to buying a new pair:

Cost of materials to restore boots: £8.50 total

Shoe polish -  £1

Shoe polish brushes (set of 2) – £2.50

Waterproofing spray – £5

Cost of new boots: £40 +

Thankfully we already had the polish and stuff, and this will last for dozens of uses. Add in a bit of elbow grease and 15 minutes of my time, and it is sooooo much cheaper than buying a new pair of boots. Really we are talking about 20 pence of materials to restore my boots to their former glory. If I care for my boots in this way, the leather may maintain its youthful complexion long after mine has faded…

So, for all of you that have leather shoes, I encourage you to pamper and preen them. Remember that some poor animal sacrificed its skin so that you could put your best foot forward. Don’t forget you’ll be saving yourself money. And if you ever find yourself without a mirror, you can check your reflection in the gleaming surface of your freshly polished leather footwear.

We spend so much money on meat! I have realised that every so often, usually on a Saturday or Sunday, we eat meat for three meals of the day.  That is so excessive! Why do we do this? On average, Brits spend over 20% of their weekly grocery bill on meat.

Having disdained vegetarians for most of my life (sorry to all you vegetarian readers – I admit I’m a terrible bigot!), I think I am finally starting to understand some of the powerful arguments for vegetarianism.

According to this article, the chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommended that people institute one meat free day a week (at least) in order to combat climate change. It is estimated that meat production contributes to one fifth of greenhouse gases released globally each year. We also eat more meat than is healthy, according to the World Health Organisation.

In a nutshell, we need to cut down on meat production in order to combat global warming, which means eating less meat. Eating too much meat is unhealthy, anyway. Basically, we should eat less meat. One meat-free day is a good place to start. It will also save us money.

Ironically, I have just written this blog post after doing a grocery shop online and I have filled the freezer with meat (it was on offer – doh!). I am hoping to plan out my meals for the next couple of weeks so that we have at least one meat-free day per week. So, it is off to dig out lots of interesting vegetarian meal ideas. Any suggestions would be kindly appreciated.

In fact, the outlook for lunch and dinner seemed even more pessimistic. A trip to the supermarket appeared inevitable.

However, as we are endeavouring not to spend a lot this month, I decided to rustle up something from those food items that would otherwise languish, neglected, in the far reaches of our cupboards. This is a skill that I would like to acquire: the ability to create a delicious meal from whatever is in the cupboards, at short notice.

Supermarkets are a terrible place to go if we want to save money. I always get fooled into buying things on ‘special’. I have noticed supermarkets reducing the cost of an item by less than five pence and advertising it as ‘discounted’. Or advertising multi-buy offers where it would be cheaper to buy the items individually then to pay extra for the ‘discount’. The cheapest items often seem to offer the least nutritional value.

How do they get away with this?! Is the average consumer really so gullible as to fall for their clumsy ploys? Yes. Well, actually, not gullible so much as overwhelmed by the options and short of time to properly evaluate their choices. As far as I am concerned, supermarkets offer too many products. It actually becomes more difficult to exercise our choice in the way that we would like to, especially when we are being bombarded by all manner of subtle forms of marketing. For example, I have heard it said that supermarkets like to have a bakery on-site because the smell of bread baking makes customers hungry and therefore encourages them to buy more. It sounds plausible to me!

So here’s what I whipped up from the ingredients in the cupboard, without an expensive trip to the supermarket:

Breakfast: Plain and cheesy scones with jam and honey

Lunch: Soupy noodles with vegetables

Dinner: Vegetable risotto with crumbed chicken breast

Snack: Apple, raisin and oat muffins

See the recipe section of this website for information on how to prepare these dishes, if you are interested.

The flour, spreads, noodles, risotto rice, raisins, oats, sugar, syrup, jam and honey, and some of the vegetables were in the cupboards. The cheese, some other vegetables, and stewed cooking apples were in the fridge. I found the chicken breast in the freezer. My cupboards are jam-packed full of ingredients that I have ‘stocked up’ on and seldom use. I have decided that now is a good time to use them!

Estimated total cost for a day’s worth of meals for two adults and a child: approximately £4.50. If we continued like this, we could reduce our grocery bill to around £30  a week. That would be nice!

One last note: I’ve heard people argue that it is cheaper to buy ready-baked products rather than cook at home because of the energy cost involved in running the oven. Using the oven for 20 minutes to make scones should use no more than 1 unit of electricity, which will cost between 4p and 12p, depending on your supplier. Add the cost of the ingredients (less than 50p, including cheese or fruit), and it is still a lot cheaper than buying decent quality ready-to-eat scones from the supermarket.

Alternatively, if you want to completely cancel out the energy cost, and you live in an area that gets lots of sun, you could try making a  Solar Cooker out of a windshield shade. Energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and certain to impress others! What are you waiting for?

It has begun.

Last night, pondering the luxury-free month ahead, I was sorely tempted to order a takeaway for dinner – just one last little indulgence! In fact, I got as far as phoning the Chinese takeaway to ask if they deliver (they don’t), but thankfully ended up rethinking my decision. Instead, I managed to whip up a tasty and, at least partially, nutritious meal out of the cupboards and freezer.

Yum, Chinese for dinner? No, not tonight ...

Today, leaving a toddler group in the town centre approaching midday, my son was demanding his lunch and we were half an hour’s walk from home. It would have been so easy to pick up something to eat in town. My friend’s good influence encouraged me to persevere and weather the toddler’s protests as we pressed on towards home.

I estimate that I saved £15 – £20 by choosing not to give in to my desire for a ‘quick fix’ (even though the Chinese would have taken up to 50 minutes to arrive). This is money that could instead be used for one of the following:

• At least half of the cost of a week’s food shop
• 8 ‘coffee dates’ with friends at a nice cafe in town
• A month and half’s supply of milk (40 pints or twenty-something litres)
• Two to three months’ supply of bread

Or … I could blow it all on a Chinese takeaway and an overpriced sandwich in the park.

According to the Office for National Statistics, Britons spend, on average, £15 – £20 on takeaways and eating out each week. What is even scarier, however, is the fact that almost four times this amount is spent per week on recreation and culture – around £58 per week and significantly more than the average weekly grocery bill.

Do most of us really spend more on recreation than on our food shop? Do we realise that sacrificing one week’s worth of expensive ‘recreation and culture’ each month could potentially help a family in the developing world to escape the death grip of poverty? Could we enjoy simpler and less expensive pleasures (a scenic walk, a library book, friends over for brunch or dinner) so that others can enjoy a better quality of life?

I hope that we can take baby steps in the direction of a more just world as we attempt, as a family, to live more simply. I’ve heard that it is more blessed to give than it is to receive, but I’ve yet to experience it personally. I’d like to give it a go.