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Ali Lives Well on Less
United Kingdom
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 30 พ.ค. 2012
Is it possible to live well on less money? Absolutely! I retired early from teaching in 2023 at age 57 and now live well on a teacher's pension of around £9K a year. This is a reduced pension due to many years of part time teaching while raising my family. I have 9 more years until I get my State pension at age 67. It has taken me 14 years of frugal living, planning and saving to get to this stage. In May 2024 I made the huge leap to downsize my home. I bought a small 2 bedroom house for myself and a 2 bedroom flat for a family member. I enjoy DIY and making things from not much money. I usually try to grow as much food as I can although this year has been a write off due to moving house. Join me on my journey and I'll share my frugal and simple living tips and tricks along the way!
Sweet and sour veggie stir fry (in real time)
I'm sharing a typical meal I make regularly from start to finish in 10 mins that's cheap and nutritious using pre prepped veggies from the freezer and storecupboard items
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December spending and donations
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An extra Money Monday type video to update my December spending and November's ad revenue donations. The holidays have made everything all out of sync!!
How to become consciously frugal in 2025 (part 1)
มุมมอง 8K12 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา
In response to a viewer's question asking how to become more frugal, I'm starting a wee series of videos where I explain how I changed my habits and became consciously frugal in order to save for early retirement. We all have different reasons for our frugal lifestyles so while I'm sharing what I do, there are many other ways that might suit your circumstances better
Yellow stickers shopping haul and batch cooking
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An unexpected shopping haul to round off December and fill the freezers. Plus a test run with my new equipment. Link to my making butter video th-cam.com/video/CpCo-34btvQ/w-d-xo.html
Haggis sausage rolls
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A quick storecupboard snack/lunch that tastes delicious. Smaller dainty ones would make a good buffet addition that's a wee bit different!
2 ideas for using up Christmas dinner leftovers
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Got some leftovers from the big meal to use up? Or still got a load of cheap veggies from the supermarket and looking for meal ideas? Here are 2 tasty ways to use them up.
Going forward in 2025
มุมมอง 4.7Kวันที่ผ่านมา
In today's video I'm talking about how I'll be splitting the ad revenue and how I'm moving the channel forward in 2025. Further explanation is on the blog aliliveswellonless.blogspot.com/
Making oatcakes and potted cheese, cost £1.09
มุมมอง 2.9K14 วันที่ผ่านมา
In my penultimate Foodie Friday of the year, I'm making Christmas nibbles that don't cost a fortune. Full recipes on the blog aliliveswellonless.blogspot.com/
Tattie scones
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Luna 'helps' me make traditional potato scones. Recipe on the blog for more details aliliveswellonless.blogspot.com/
Why my frugality might not look like yours and why it shouldn't
มุมมอง 4.7K14 วันที่ผ่านมา
This video is my 100th on the channel! I'm sharing my thoughts on how frugality means different things to different people and why we shouldn't compare ourselves with other people's journey
Freezer tour and how my no spend December is going
มุมมอง 5K21 วันที่ผ่านมา
I'm still eating out of the freezers and storecupboards and have plenty of food to last me into January. Freezer contents photos are now on the blog aliliveswellonless.blogspot.com/
A very honest personal reflection on the emotional costs of Christmas
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I've been in a very reflective mood this week about Christmases past and how it's influenced the way I've chosen to approach it this year. Plus, how much for a turkey???
A Christmas short: spiced nuts
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A quick yummy snack from storecupboard ingredients from one of my favourite Christmas books. Full recipe ingredients: 300g mixed nuts, 30g butter, 2 tbsp dark brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 2 tsp paprika, good pinch of sea salt
Caramelised onion chutney
มุมมอง 2.7K28 วันที่ผ่านมา
Today I'm making a frugal gourmet chutney with some help from Luna of course! More details and photos on the blog aliliveswellonless.blogspot.com/ Plus here's the link to the original recipe www.talesfromthekitchenshed.com/2021/10/caramelised-onion-chutney/#recipe
November spending and why I'm doing a No Spend December
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November spending and why I'm doing a No Spend December
A Lidl box, free stuff and meeting a viewer!
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A Lidl box, free stuff and meeting a viewer!
Saving on my car insurance and donating October's ad revenue
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Saving on my car insurance and donating October's ad revenue
Useful hobbies and skills that could save you money
มุมมอง 4.9Kหลายเดือนก่อน
Useful hobbies and skills that could save you money
Making butter and things to look for in supermarkets
มุมมอง 4.3Kหลายเดือนก่อน
Making butter and things to look for in supermarkets
Health is wealth, thank you NHS Scotland!
มุมมอง 4.2Kหลายเดือนก่อน
Health is wealth, thank you NHS Scotland!
20 minute soup and asking 'What do you call it?'
มุมมอง 4.9K2 หลายเดือนก่อน
20 minute soup and asking 'What do you call it?'
How I became a YouTuber and how much I made last month
มุมมอง 30K2 หลายเดือนก่อน
How I became a TH-camr and how much I made last month
Hi Ali, thanks for the demo - I also freeze leftover rice; I don't normally put veggies in the freezer, but I will chop up any veggies that are in the fridge before we go away on holiday etc. Very useful. Do you do as I do and dilute your soy sauce? I know you can get the bottles with the green lids that are low sodium, but I reckon it's just as good to dilute with water. Enjoy your weekend!
When you said "stroganoffie" with that beautifiul scottish accent, I admit that I thought of bannoffie pie. :)
I am not sure if you are a fan of dijon mustard, but that is a lovely addition to the creamy pork (stroganoff) dish. :) Happy New Year from Canada!
I hope you and Luna stay safe and warm through this weekend with it's severe weather warnings ❤
Thank you for helping animals 😊
Happy new year Ali and Luna ❤
Looks really good 😊
Proof that you dont need to dial up for a food delivery from your favourite app or local Chinese restaurant! Brilliant! I often put cabbage in my stir fry. Or frozen green beans.
Thank you for tasty recipe! I have plenty of mixed nuts and shall be making this. Funny luna in background haha Please do a what you eat in a week ❤
Ohh, I'm craving sweet and sour now😍. This is a great way to cook. I freeze things like peppers when they go on sale but rarely to have it on hand chopped and finished. Will do that, it makes for a quick meal!
If you'd had the Chinese five-spice, how much would you have added, and is there anything else you suggest I could add instead? I think I may have the five-spice though it could be out of date!
I'd add about 1/2 tsp. Spices don't really go out of date, they just lose some flavour so add a bit more! Although if they're years old I'd chuck them out! If I had garlic and ginger I'd add them. If you like a bit more spice, you could add chilli. Or spring onions or mushrooms. The possibilities are endless :-)
Delicious! Have bit of red cabbage from Christmas in fridge...going to try tomorrow! Happy New Year to you and Luna!
You haven’t actually said very much and the flashing up of your monthly expenses too quick to absorb easily.
You can pause the video if you want to look closely but these are old expenses from a few years ago I was using as an example. The point I'm making in the video is that for some people, becoming frugal is difficult so I'm suggesting a soft approach. Make a list of all your fixed expenses and track your spending for the month of January. I'll go into more detail in follow up videos. If you're in an emergency situation there are loads of great channels out there who can give advice on that. I'm just talking about what I did to get to where I am now :-)
❤❤
Looks delicious, Ali! I have some left over duck from Xmas day that would go very well in that pan. Enjoyable video!
Super I think it’s good when you can see how quickly a meal can be prepared, especially if you’re wanting to try meat free alternative meals.
Looks wonderful! I haven’t made a stir fry in too long. It slays me that i’m all bundled up to my eyeballs and you’re in short sleeves! 😊😊😊
My wee house really holds the heat with the heating on for just a few hours!
Voice over Ali nailed it! And that all looked really tasty!
If you have home insurance, sometimes the freezer contents are covered in case it fails. Worth checking the small print 😊
Luna is gorgeous. Happy retirement with your doggy 😊
Great savings love it.... Your voice over could have been a bit louder.. hope this helps...
Yep, working on it! :-)
I put some sausages in my stir fry .
Your council tax is cheap! Mines £154 with 25% discount and no water rates included. Council tax band C in Buckinghamshire.
I do have a very small house that I deliberately chose for it's council tax band :-)
Do you freeze your peppers and carrot raw? Love the ideas you come up with xx
Yes I freeze my veggies raw and my meat cooked
@ thank you will try that x
Thank you very interesting.. I do something similar with meat in it.. this is a good alternative..
Fantastic giving the money to charity. I did that for August, September and November but I get a lot less than you. I also need to put money away for tax. Otherwise another tax bill coming my way! You'll have to do a tax return I guess.
Wow £900 from ad revenue in one month is super well done.
According to Frugal Queen, October and November are always high months so I doubt that will be the regular amount in future!
What a nightmare getting an electrician out
I hope you have a Happy New Year🎉🎉
I don't see how you've saved anything if you just bought everything you need in November.
The intention wasn't to save money. I just didn't want to go to the supermarket in December as it's just crazy here especially the parking!!
Chinese Fakeaway in a flash, without spending loads of time and money. Looking forward to seeing your weekly eats video. We had family staying over the Christmas holiday, and so we're now eating up our prepped food. All delicious and nothing goes to waste. Great video. Love to Miss Luna 🐾
Looked delicious. Luna is a sweetie and I would love to see more of her, especially her naughty antics. 😆
Made my mouth water - looked so good. Miss Luna 🐶😂!
Thanks for that great idea!
My daughter saw a TikTok where somebody made homemade soup with reduced fluid, cooked it and blended it and then froze it into large ice cubes. We put a frozen soup cube into a food thermos and at lunchtime at work she added boiling water and she had homemade soup. I have just made a batch of curried parsnip soup with the 15p veg to freeze. Hope this is of use to somebody.
Great idea!!
Looks delicious 😋 yes to the what I eat in a day/ week videos x
Nice wee video, Ali. You're definitely inspiring me to do more veg prepping in advance. Thank you!
Ali that looks delicious 😋 loving the whole prepped ideas 💡 great for a midweek quick tea ❤definitely going to try this one thanks 🙏 Agarve syrup is a great vegan 🌱 alternative for the honey 🍯
Thanks, I was trying to think of another honey alternative but my mind went blank!!!
@ date syrup might work too
@@Livingonthev-edge Ooo yes that would work!
Happy New Year to you too. You’re doing a great job Ali and you’re very generous with the donations. Luna is a beautiful girl 😘
Thank you for the info, I’m using a lot of your recipes and ideas and I’m enjoying them. Absolutely love seeing and hearing luna she makes my day. 😘
Luna..mam mam mam make a film and do talkies! 🐶 mam it’s yoghurty fryday! Woof I mean foodie day🐶
🤣🤣🤣
Hi Ali, I love your videos but only started watching recently. When freezing the veg (carrots and peppers) do you parboil them first or just chop and put into the freezer? Thanks.
Thanks! Fruit and veg I mostly freeze raw (open freeze on trays or flat in bags) except potatoes (they go black) and fruit compote. I like to cook meat first and then divide into single portions to freeze. Defrosting reduced raw meat needs to be done with care. I just find this works better for me as I can batch cook or prep when I have time or am in the mood. Then actual cooking times for meals is low. Hope that helps!
@ Thanks. I appreciate you responding.
Happy new year 🎉 ✨️ Ali and of course luna 🎉🎉🎉
Happy New Year 🎊🎊🎊
Luna is living her best life with Ali. Happy New Year!
Terrific video Ali! I have a chocolate Labrador who is nearly 12 years old, an elderly gentleman named Sheldon. I love to hear Miss Luna 🤍
Morning Ali, loved the meal you made I love sweet and sour chicken. For New Years Eve my son made his own sweet and sour sauce with egg fried rice it was absolutely delicious. Miss Luna just wanted to get in on the act🤣🤣
Thank you for the video. This is very similar to what I do when I have a few leftover vegetables in my fridge to use to avoid chucking them away! And I often use cashews and sesame seeds to add protein and healthy fats when I’m on a tight budget and don’t have meat or fish! Otherwise I use tofu as well, plain firm one or if I splurge I would get the Tofu Rosso (red) which is absolutely delicious but difficult to find.. love Luna and her appearances! She’s truly your guest star! 💓
Lol, she's definitely a scene stealer!
She is! I hope you’ll show her in more videos. 🙏💓
Happy New Year Ali I find pork for me is only edible low and slow simmered in stock before frying to brown off. I read that when you fry straight away it tightens up and becomes tough and it certainly seems to be the case from my experience.
Yes please for a what I eat in a week video.