Top 20 Frugal Must Haves?

TheCatCameBack

In no particular order... (Thinking of 20 is hard!)

1. Freezer (albeit a small one) for batch cooking
2. Slow cooker for saving on the gas
3. Asda home delivery - our nearest supermarket (and food shop in general) is 15 miles away and they do a delivery option for £2.50 for an 8 hour slot - plus there's no impulse buying!
4. Forests - where I live is surrounded by greenery - great exercise and no gym membership needed
5. Toolbox - many a repair has stemmed from my dad passing down DIY knowledge to me
6. Pride - I'm proud that I've managed to save over £1000 recently despite OH being made redundant by being frugal
7. Need, not want - I haven't purchased anything I 'want' for a very long time. Finally getting rid of my materialistic mindset has been ace
8. Separate saving pots - one for coppers, one for silver, one for pounds/2pounds, and an envelope for spare notes when the purse is emptied every night
9. Willpower - my workmates eat out nearly every day costing them about £25 a week. I'm happy with my soup portion that cost about 30p to make

All in all you gotta enjoy the challenge of saving money! I have managed to get my OH into it (though not everything I want him to do sits right!) too - he was so chuffed to finally be out of his overdraft by 38p yesterday, only to get right back into it by paying his half of the rent :-(

TheCatCameBack

uncommonadvice wrote: »

Also surprised that no-one has said a Greenhouse.

I'd love so much to have a decent sized garden, but we're in a top floor flat, nearest allotment patches are about 15 miles away... defeats the point of it, which is such a shame

samanthaneww2d

Horace wrote: »

1) Slow cooker
2) Remoska
3) Aldi plus Tatco & Co-op's whoopsie shelves
4) Stardrops
5) Sandpaper, varnish, screwdrivers (for furniture refurb)
6) Freegle
7) Warm clothes including fleecy bedsocks
8) The internet
9) Books - I have loads that I re-read
10) MSE
11) Parents that send me home with food parcels
12) A freezer
13) Plastic tubs - useful for freezing stews etc and homemade ready meals
14) Microwave
15) Clothes airer
16) A decent butcher (who sells good meat inc cheap cuts)
17) A decent greengrocer (as yet no garden so need to get locally produced veg)
18) The ability to make something from nothing
19) Lists
20) A decent charity shop for books, furniture etc.

Not much I know but these are things that I cannot do without.

ha ha love number 11

flutterbyuk25

p-pincher wrote: »

Clothes airers , cant afford to run a tumble dryer(really really want a heated lakeland one for next winter)

p-pincher - my old flatmate had the Lakeland heated airer and to be honest I didn't rate it. It was ok to dry things like hoodies and jeans flat, but it still took ages to dry! I found that putting my stuff on a normal airer next to the storage heaters meant my stuff dried quicker than hers on the fancy airer! (although it was nice to put your pjs on for a sneaky warm :rotfl:). Thankfully I know live in a house with proper radiators and a garden with whirly so can dry stuff easily.

x

Horace

samanthaneww2d wrote: »

ha ha love number 11

When I was really down on my uppers - my parents stocked my store cupboard and freezer with food and loo rolls. I was at my parents last weekend for Sunday lunch and came home with 2 lamb steaks, a homemade apple pie (small), 4 small homemade cupcakes and a homemade cottage pie. I have previously come home with 36 cushelle loo rolls when mum discovered that they block up the loo and the pipes (she found out from her sister) so immediately they were sent home with me because I live in a flat.

Sometimes I come home with tins of stuff, packets, or homemade things.

My parents are pensioners and I feel like such a louse accepting help from them because I should be standing on my own two feet. I lost my business earlier this year which left me with nothing as stupidly I had used all my rainy day money (savings). My parents have paid off my credit card and have given me money for petrol, money towards rent and money to get my hair cut. I am slowly getting myself back together and have managed to save £136 which from nothing is good. I am on JSA at the mo too which sucks but despite applying for hundreds of jobs there is nothing on the horizon:mad:

I wonder what I shall get to bring home tomorrow? Maybe that chicken breast that mum has trying to palm off on me for a couple of months (it is frozen).

icecreamdogpark

p-pincher wrote: »

Ooooh great thread, mine would include

Clothes airers , cant afford to run a tumble dryer(really really want a heated lakeland one for next winter)
A nice big freezer
My bus pass so i dont have to run a car
The Asian supermarket nearby, bargains galore
My supermarket, never go shopping without having a gander
The Grocery challenge, keeps me focused
Food processor, makes the homemade frugal meals so much easier to prepare
Flannelette sheets in the winter, ditto slippers and extra blankets in the living room
Stardrops
Aldi
Home baking

I have an electric clothes airer cost about £30/£40 been going good for at least 6 years would never be without one now especially in the Autumn and spring when no heating is on or too cold outside to dry clothes ,I also love my hanging pegs thingy for smalls ie pants, cloths,socks etc as i cant be bothered to hang them outside as they dry quickly anyway

samanthaneww2d

Horace wrote: »

When I was really down on my uppers - my parents stocked my store cupboard and freezer with food and loo rolls. I was at my parents last weekend for Sunday lunch and came home with 2 lamb steaks, a homemade apple pie (small), 4 small homemade cupcakes and a homemade cottage pie. I have previously come home with 36 cushelle loo rolls when mum discovered that they block up the loo and the pipes (she found out from her sister) so immediately they were sent home with me because I live in a flat.

Sometimes I come home with tins of stuff, packets, or homemade things.

My parents are pensioners and I feel like such a louse accepting help from them because I should be standing on my own two feet. I lost my business earlier this year which left me with nothing as stupidly I had used all my rainy day money (savings). My parents have paid off my credit card and have given me money for petrol, money towards rent and money to get my hair cut. I am slowly getting myself back together and have managed to save £136 which from nothing is good. I am on JSA at the mo too which sucks but despite applying for hundreds of jobs there is nothing on the horizon:mad:

I wonder what I shall get to bring home tomorrow? Maybe that chicken breast that mum has trying to palm off on me for a couple of months (it is frozen).

Thats what parents do my son is away at uni and every time we go visit I take a car full of stuff I have collected and I take food I have made for his freezer . I was not laughing at you btw I was laughing at the fact that its a universal trait that parents have. Do not feel like a louse in todays economic climate lots of businesses are folding and you are trying to find work not just sitting around.I am sure that your parents are very proud of you and do not resent helping at all probably the opposite. Good luck with it all anyway and I hope I didn't offend you in anyway it was not my intention

littleowl

I would say forget the slow cooker. In my experience everything comes out tasting the same and I really don't see the need for an extra piece of kit when I can cook stews etc on the ring for half the time - and they taste better.

Just my opinion!

bellaquidsin

littleowl wrote: »

I would say forget the slow cooker. In my experience everything comes out tasting the same and I really don't see the need for an extra piece of kit when I can cook stews etc on the ring for half the time - and they taste better.

Just my opinion!

I think it depends what you put in the SC. I can assure you that my orange chicken tastes nothing like my pork curry.

Bella

seabright

Can't do 20 right now, but would add my two favourite meal stretchers:
1. Red lentils
2. Grated carrot

Add to any long-cooked stew or casserole, they dissolve to nothing whilst bulking out the meal, adding goodness and costing pennies.