2020 Frugal Living Challenge

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sashacat said:

I have just collected 3 bags of seaweed from a nearby beach. It’s ok to take as long as it is above the high tide mark and not attached to anything like a rock or stones. I only take the really dried out stuff.
It is great to add to the compost or as a mulch or just to cover the empty veg beds over the winter. It adds a lot of nutrients and the worms and insects seem to take it down so there is never any left when I uncover the beds in the spring.

Great idea sashacat!! 😊

willow_loulou

Ahhh sad day here, the wind over night killed off my cucumbers. I’ve decided to go with peas instead as that’s a quicker harvest yield and I can have them on my bedroo. windowsill if the weather turns - it’s low enough to not be an effort. 

@Frugaldom I have had some willow arrive on my doorstep, but thank you! I would be grateful for some in due course! 

After my very expensive supermarket trip I am trying to meal plan from what I have. But I think I’ll need more veg. It’s a bit annoying as I’ve either had the option of the freezer store which is limited, or the local delivery which is very expensive. But I can buy less over all so it evens out. But I think we could perhaps just have peas as the veg a few days so I can  do a freezer shop delivery with milk and bread etc at the end of the week. 

I’m very scared of a new spike despite murmurings of the virus fading out, how are the virus numbers where you all live? 

cw18

I’m very scared of a new spike despite murmurings of the virus fading out, how are the virus numbers where you all live? 

I don't know how numbers look around me, but I'm very worried about a second spike because of the numbers of people who are no longer following the rules - and because I know some of them are people I really wouldn't have expected to do this which (to my mind) makes it even more likely.    I was very careful when I 'visited' family on Thursday, which I think did all of us a favour with regards to mental health.   It was sooooo hard not to give them all hugs though, especially the younger two grand-children who had to be reminded to back off a few times (but were generally really, really good about it).

On Friday I spotted that my immediate neghbours had their cleaner back in despite the fact the chap who lives there works in health care (probably putting him at higher risk than I am) and the woman is working from home and home educating their 2 children.  The cleaner was washing the outside of the downstairs window when I spotted her, but wasn't wearing a mask or any kind of gloves at that point which makes me feel it was unlikely she did indoors either.   It is possible they were all out while the cleaner was there, but I heard noises that suggested that wasn't the case.   And today I've seen a workman going in (short ladder and dustcloth - could be an emergency repair, but again no gloves or mask) whilst they also have visitors (a lady and two children I don't recognise - and they're not staying outside / at a distance).  This is a couple I'd always had pegged as being responsible people since they moved in over 12 months ago.    The house the other side of them are shielding due to medical issues and have a week old baby (as well as an older but still pre-school child) in the house, so we really, really don't want the virus on our shared driveway

[Deleted User]

Our day has been frugal as we've done nothing and eaten leftovers! 😂
I have to say that thinking about it, I haven't really been frugal this year (or last year!) - I've spent shed loads of cash but it's mainly been on 'future proofing' and getting in a position that means that next year we can really embark on the frugal lifestyle wholeheartedly 😉 I've done it all without incurring debt - I pay my cc's off monthly- but I have been planning my salary away before I've actually received it! 🙈 By the end of this year, my home renovations will be totally completed inside and out (mortgage and internal renovations were completed last year) and I'll be pretty much self-sufficient in veg 🙌 so it feels like an investment even though it's been scarily expensive. 
Anyway, the reason I'm waffling about this is that I do feel a bit guilty/cheeky posting on here because I know how much I am spending on 'wants' as opposed to 'needs' and as an ethical consumer I pay a lot more than I 'need' to on much of what I buy,  but I really like this thread and it fits in with my overall mentality! 

Kerry_Woman

Sorry for not reporting in on a regular basis.  Trying to be careful about spending. Been keeping a total of my nsd's. Being resisting on buying somethings.  Have enough food in until beginning of June.  Trying to go out for a daily walk in local park. Catching up with jobs around the flat that I kept putting off and trying to keep on top of other things in the flat.  Doing self care, eg meditation, reading books by my favourite author(which I have already on my bookshelf) to help with my mh. My orders have all been delivered, most of them are eco friendly cleaning products. Only got what I needed.  There was a free online eco friendly festival where there were talks on different topics. Watched some of them.

CraftyLittleLisa

Just checked by budget spreadsheet and my food spend this month has been exceeded.  I'm not sure how as I have only been buying what I need.  Today I baked some bread, sliced it up and put it in the freezer.  I only really use bread for toast so I thought that was the best way to keep it rather than leave it in the bread bin to then go stale.  That has saved me a couple of quid this month.  I have been doing my own baking rather than buying snacks.  I may have to revise my monthly food budget up by £20 to accommodate the increase in food prices.  Hopefully when the summer comes I will be able to feed myself a little from my vegetables I am growing at the allotment.  There are some gooseberries, strawberries and tayberries growing well.  I have put runner beans and green beans in today and there are some onions, beetroot and parsnips growing in the ground already.  At home I have got peas growing as well as carrots, onions and broad beans.  We really need some rain down south though as everything is parched and my water butt is now empty so I am having to water everything from the mains water - that will be another bill that is going to increase even more on top of the fact that it has increased because I am working from home now.

I have managed to do some frugal things though.  I made a curtain for my newly decorated kitchen from fabric in my stash, I got curtain hooks from my Mum to hang up said curtain as I didn't have any, made facemasks from my fabric stash (although I am hoping I won't have to wear them) and I have started a new book that I have borrowed from a book swap that we had at work (before lockdown).  I have got a few more jobs to do, that won't cost any money, to keep me occupied and I think I may concentrate on them for the rest of the month to keep the expenses down as much as possible.  Tomorrow is going for a walk, planting some sweet peas that I have grown from seeds and delivering the facemasks I have made to my family.

Stay safe everyone and take care.

MazzieD

Spent the weekend starting to read the 2019 challenge.  Really interesting and has made me think really carefully about where I can make savings.  Groceries are my biggest outlay, I have usually managed to do a monthly shop using a " spend £-- and save £__" voucher from Lidl or wherever. 

 Is it my imagination or have they disappeared since lockdown?.  I also use Topcashback and many food related offers have also disappeared:   Just have to use any other coupons I can find.  Trouble is a lot of them are for  grocery items I never buy so it really is going to be a frugal challenge.  I had a veg plot in my previous garden and really miss it, my current garden is a lot smaller, long, narrow and mainly concrete slabs.  Not sure about containers/pots at the moment, haven't got any and really need to decide whether to do an overhaul as there are some issues with the current layout anyway.  Think this will be a planning year, might be worth getting someone in to have a look at it as garden design is not one of my skills and would give an idea of budget .or might resort to raised beds on an area I don't really use

I'm also having a careful think about whether to cancel my TV licence after reading MSE article.  I haven't watched anything on any medium for some time but kept paying it just In case this changed and I started using iplayer.  Realistically this isn't going to happen as I listen to the radio.  

The spreadsheet is invaluable and I think there may be other savings.  Back to ploughing through the previous years.....

willow_loulou

@CraftyLittleLisa my food budget has gone out of the window, unless I start going to supermarkets I’m stuck with limited options. I’m well stocked on most things I can’t get delivered now so aiming to do a supermarket shop once every 6.- 8 weeks. But I think I’ve over doubled my budget - I’ve not checked properly as it’s done. I’ve save loads of money in other ways so I’m not too disappointed. The struggle will be going back to work and needing fuel as that’s a huge part of my out goings (I can’t walk far so car reliant) 

I planted up a tomato plant that was ready yesterday, I cut the ends off a 2l bottle and carefully threaded it over the cane and plant, hopefully it will protect it from the same fate as the cucumber plants. 

cw18

MazzieD said:

I'm also having a careful think about whether to cancel my TV licence after reading MSE article.  I haven't watched anything on any medium for some time but kept paying it just In case this changed and I started using iplayer.  Realistically this isn't going to happen as I listen to the radio. 

Get it cancelled this week - before month end.   That way you'll get next month refunded.   If you wait until next Monday (1st June), then you'll have to pay for all of next month.      If you do decide to use iPlayer you can always restart it.

I've been legally licence free since 01/01/2011 (you'll see my username pop up in the MSE thread at regular intervals), and I've almost never regretted it.   There have only been a few things I'd have liked to have been able to watch (one purely to see what all the fuss was about), but over time they tend to end up on streaming services outside of iPlayer anyway - or on DVD which I then buy cheaply once second hand copies start to flood the market       I've recently watched the first series of the one there was a lot of fuss about via Netf!ix (originally aired in 2013, though I'm not sure when it first appeared on Netfl!x despite it apparently being a joint venture - g00gle suggests 2015), and I'm not bothering taking it any further so I'm glad I didn't cave and reinstate my licence!     And if it's on iPlayer I can watch it when I'm staying in the Lakes - the property we use up there has a licence, and last year the a/v equipment was updated so that streaming services can now be used on the TV rather than a laptop/phone we take with us.   I created an iPlayer account attached to the property (which everyone who stays there has the password for), so it's all fully legal to view whilst there



With regards to groceries, I've read a lot of comments on Faceb00k about prices having risen and offers having disappeared, but have to confess I've not noticed this.   I know Tesc0 removed multibuy offers to try and stop people buying more than they actually needed, but I rarely shop there (and I visit other big name supermarkets even less).   Locally I have A!di, Her0n, BnM, P0undstretchers, and Icel@nd (who I rarely visit as it's small and doesn't have much I can't get better/cheaper elsewhere).  Near work I have a Tesc0 (I've nipped through 3 times in the last 9 weeks when there was no queue - only because I was looking for very specific items, and one of those was for a neighbour rather than me), H0me B@rgains, and a discount freezer shop (current reduced opening hours mean I've only managed the latter two once each, as they're shut by the time I finish work).   As for coupons - I can't remember the last time I used any.    The few I find (I don't get any magazines or papers) are always for big name brands, and even after I take off the value of the coupon I can get a cheaper alternative elsewhere.   I do sometimes have a quick look at offers on Check0utsm@rt though - once in a while they have something I can access which they refund the full cost of, although I do have to pay for it and then wait until I have enough credit in my account to withdraw it (something my bank account can cope with for now - but who knows once taxes go up after things calm down again).    And in the current climate I'm not walking miles on a day off work to do the rounds of the big chains to try and collect all the freebies like I normally would (pet food and baby items get collected and put into food bank collections as I have no use of them, alcohol goes to my fella or my son as I don't drink it).

willow_loulou

@cw18 I was going to Aldi before all this, I’ve not been since as the queues made me nervous and I can’t stand around for long periods. So my basic shop is much more expensive. I’m coming to the conclusion I will do my 6-8 week big shop there. I miss the cheapness of it all and the raspberry pudding lol. I think an evening may be quieter so will give it a go. It’s just annoy8ng I have to travel to my local one.