2019 Frugal Living Challenge

Sea_Shell

A spend day today. £5 for phone top-up voucher (that'll last about 6 months!!) and a hair cut. It's been about 10 weeks since the last one, so i'll get my monies worth.

We don't think too much about the ECO of things...only in that we try not to buy what we don't need. We're not really avid consumers, so I take that as "doing our bit", as there's only the 2 of us. Over Christmas our bins were no fuller than a normal week. I bet there's not many households that can say that!!

natnat13

Brownhare I have put on 6 lbs in December. I knew I had and was slightly scared to get on the scales. I am about a stone and a half overweight. I am hoping that being frugal will aid weight loss through not buying unneccessary junk and takeaways, walking more and I've been for 4 runs since new year, I'm taking the children out, they are both a bit overweight too :-( my youngest (11) isn't keen but is coming round to the idea.

I have already started meal planning and making a shopping list for next week this week.

cw18

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Over Christmas our bins were no fuller than a normal week. I bet there's not many households that can say that!!

I live on my own and very rarely put my bins out at all (other than the food and garden one during lawn mowing season). My blue (paper & card) goes out roughly every 6-7 months, and brown (tins, glass & plastic) every 3-4 months - both are half size bins. My black (general rubbish) is full size and goes out about every 7 months - as long as I compost/recycle food rubbish properly instead of shoving it in here I don't have any problem with smells or flies.

sinkorswim2018

There was very little in my bin until I discovered the neighbours had filled it!

Frugaldom

Just another little word from me on the eco versus eco debate - never feel bad about your choices. We can all afford the freedom of choice but if we don't have the money then the choice is do without or buy what you can realistically afford without it impacting negatively on your pre-set budget. No matter what you buy, it all supports someone's wages somewhere. Having been targetted in the past for not 'buying local' so I know first hand how much pressure can be forced on us to comply with certain trends / preferences / beliefs etc. What I say is this - buy what fits your personal circumstances. Once you are free from debt with sufficient surplus cash to make such luxury decisions, as that's what they are, then you will have that freedom of choice but for many, the main choices can still be between eating and heating. As for throwing out food, a good place to save money is not to throw out any food a all. If you can't use it, give it to someone who can.

Extreme frugal living can be harsh but if it is what we really need to get and stay out of debt and be prepared for eventualities then it's what we need to do. Hope this helps those who have spoken to me about feeling bad at not affording to 'buy local' or 'go green'. As long as you keep on going, that is all that matters.

nannygladys

Hi everyone

Well said Frugaldom, in the past I have felt bad that I cant be as frugal as some others but I have to look after myself and as you said sometimes its a choice between eating and heating. I'm learning all the time and I'm a lot better now and sometimes cant believe how much food I used to throw away and how much plastic I used to buy for things.

CW18 really impressed with the refuse or lack of it. Im also on my own and my rubbish has gone right down since I have been careful with what Im buying, the recycling has also gone down as im coming more aware.

So this morning Ive fished some broccoli out of the fridge that Ive had in since Christmas and its on the stove being turning into soup, never made it before (and made it up) so it will be interesting to see how it tastes. I'll be putting some cheese into it so it should taste OK, and then for dinner I'll be having LO veggie stew from yesterday, so another frugal day.

Nannyg

the_cross_rabbit

To be honest the best eco thing people can do is to cut back on the amount of stuff they buy and reduce what they throw away, which is what this challenge is all about.
We've had a refund from our water company this week so buying the extra water butt and other water saving ways have paid off.
CRx

BrownHare

natnat13 - well done with your running! :T hopefully your children will start to enjoy their more active life when they're used to it.

I'm about 3 stone overweight :eek: so far today I had an extra long walk with the dogs and not succumbed to the dreaded snacks. It's only as I type I remember I've not drank enough water so I'm getting some now.

NSD today :cool:

Frugaldom - I'm enjoying your "a little word" posts.

Igamogam

We have very little 'waste'. We are 2 adults and a cat and sometimes 2 adult children and our non recyclable stuff goes out every 8- 10 weeks. We just dont create it if that makes sense! We have virtually no food waste and what little we do I put into a neighbours food waste bin - they do know! They also have very little waste. I think the council are soooo concerned we have no food waste because they keep leaving us food waste bins.....I keep the peanuts and bird seed in them as they are locking so no rodents get in !

cw18

the_cross_rabbit wrote: »

To be honest the best eco thing people can do is to cut back on the amount of stuff they buy and reduce what they throw away

I also buy a lot of stuff second hand. Especially DVDs, CDs, vinyl albums, books, games and clothes. Makes my £££s go further and keeps things out of landfill