2014 Frugal Living Challenge

cw18

Great news about the Asda deliveries for you - long may they last

mummy2threeboys

[QUOTE=Frugaldom;66406030

Fir those who know me, you will be delighted to hear that A$da are running a trial delivery service all the way out to our corner of SW Scotland, so quite a number of us are taking part. At long last, we have access to supermarket prices!

Made a new batch of laundry gloop, it has saved me an absolutr fortune over the past few years.

.[/QUOTE]

:beer: woo hoo too the asda shops! I have quite bad anxiety issues so hubby does the weekly shop, otherwise id be stuck, thankfully he enjoys it (strange man!) , i love gloop making day makes the whole kitchen smell nice and clean and warm!
Im currently trying to keep on top of the clothes wash whilst the weathers okish. Ive also discovered a fab rotation system for us, which involves 3 drying racks..but th ewhole family of 5 gets done no issues in winter, and for big things or fleeces towels they get hung over the attic banisers across the walkway, they are dry wthin a day! Currebtly trying to move on from wool clothes and pic more fleece as they seem just as warm but dry quicker..sadly you cant knit with fleece lol .

sparrer

I picked up all the cobnuts which have fallen from the tree overhanging my garden from the orchard beyond, and collected a pudding basin full. There are plenty more to come yet and when I hit the branches with a broom it's best not to stand underneath! Some I'll grind down to add to bread dough, some will be made into a nutella-type spread. Free food, yum

Frugaldom

Ihave never, ever found cobnuts but crushing them to make spreadable paste sounds brilliant. Planting gifted hazelnut trees in the Frugaldom garden, maybe the will grow quickly enough that I'll live to see those produce an edible harvest. For now, it's crab apples galore. Anyone else in or near SW Scotland who could use some?

kb_soma

sparrer wrote: »

I picked up all the cobnuts which have fallen from the tree overhanging my garden from the orchard beyond, and collected a pudding basin full. There are plenty more to come yet and when I hit the branches with a broom it's best not to stand underneath! Some I'll grind down to add to bread dough, some will be made into a nutella-type spread. Free food, yum

I found a load of cobnuts on my walk home from work the other day, I may walk home today so that I can collect them. Recipes here: http://www.cobnuts.co.uk/recipes.htm yummy!

mummy2threeboys

I must be the only unlucky one whenever i pick cobnuts (just as they are starting to fall, they are allways rotton or tiny even the ones i pick of the trees) and living in kent we are surrounded by them..although i have found 2 large hazelnut trees, on an unused slip road owned by the council , can i pick them legally?

Frugaldom

Thanks for sharing the cobnuts link - saved for future use in case I ever find any or if the little trees at Frugaldom HQ grow to produce any.

I would say that if the tree is on public access land then foraging, within reason, should be perfectly legal, but I am in Scotland where we have Open Access most places.

Shortie

Hi all, I'm having a bit of a blank moment.... Our house insurance and electricity tariff are due for renewal mid October. I've been having a nose at new tariffs and have found better deals (plus Quid0 cash back I can get all this organised? I suspect it's too soon to start off the online processes?

Nicki_Sue

Morning all - hope everyone is well?

My new bank account hit the online banking system this morning, that maks four with the same bank. This makes life much easier as I can use them as "pots" for various spends and budgets.
A digital envelope budget for online spends and direct debits
I still use envelopes for cash spends but this works well for me for everything else.

Xmas planning is going well too, my Park vouchers should arrive by mid October. Lists are nearly made and saved wrapping paper has been dug out so the majority shoud be done by the end of October, wrapped and away. We have a big NCT sale in October too which is perfeect for picking up top quality very cheap bargains for the kids in the family too.

cw18

Shortie wrote: »

I suspect it's too soon to start off the online processes?

I assume your electricity was a fixed price deal with minimum contract term? Did it have exit fees? As far as I'm aware they're not allowed to charge you exit fees if you're within 49 days of the end of your contract, so you be able to set things off soon. And according to uSwitch, the process takes 4-6 weeks which means you're best to get things moving as soon as you're within that 49 days as you can.


I found this on http://www.which.co.uk/switch/energy-advice/guide-to-switching-supplier

"The good news is that all suppliers should now allow you to leave up to 49 days ahead of your tariff's end date without incurring a penalty."




You can normally get fairly accurate insurance prices a month ahead of time, but you need to check how long they'll hold that price.