2020 Frugal Living Challenge

Shopaholic_no_more

Thankyou for the feedback @Noaidi and @sashacat. I would prefer it to be in something as I don't want to attract vermin so I think I will try the council. Thanks..  they never even crossed my mind! The incinerator is already going rusty to be honest so yes probably not a good idea 🤦‍♀️. 

Kerry_Woman

Have managed to keep within budget for each category this month.  Managed 25 nsd's.  Did find this month difficult due to my mh. Have set my budget for each category for June.  Made a note of somethings that I need to buy that is not food shopping, also things I want to achieve for June.

[Deleted User]

Another very busy day in the garden! I've lopped for britain, we've split a huge bamboo and the framework is sorted - tomorrow  (or Tuesday as I'm exhausted after this weekend! ) I will repot the raspberries, tayberries and loganberries - I have ordered some blueberries as they were on offer too! 😉 hopefully the veg will start to do something soon and we'll have lots of lovely food! We've done this load of work ourselves to save money - it would have been a lot quicker to get the gardener to sort it but it's probably a couple of hundred in our pocket and it's exactly how I want it! 😊 the brickwork is a professional job though and won't be done till the start of August...
We've eaten a combo of leftovers today - it's using up stuff and saving pennies too so good news all round!
Tomorrow I will get some sweet and sour seitan out of the freezer to have with rice and I will do a citrus salad to go along idea it. 
My 'log' maker arrived during the week so I want to get some paper soaking tomorrow to start some 'bricks' off - they save a fortune on fuel during the winter and we have a free supply of paper to make them with! 😊 I bought a shredder a couple of weeks ago so that will save plenty of time! All very frugal! 🙌

Frugaldom

willow_loulou said:

I joined a couple of sustainability living groups on fb oh my word they’re patronising! I think I’ll give them a miss! @Frugaldom did you say you have a website? 

Yes, I do, however, I made a new, temporary website for lockdown to save having to redo all the old pages. We're also on blogs, Facebook and Twitter etc. All are named Frugaldom but are mainly now about the project as so few people were using the original pages to discuss anything money-related. Now those 'sustainability' type pages are10 a penny I just tend to share anything interesting. Some of the old blogs are on https://frugaldom.blogspot.com/, which has a search facility.  Thank you for asking What I have found interesting are the recipes being posted on https://www.facebook.com/bbcfood/ but again, don't waste your time reading some of the ridiculous comments that can appear even on there. I just don't understand people's reactions to some things.
I've just swn a few more flower seeds and planted out more peas. The salad leaves are being harvested almost daily and I can see plenty of gooseberries and blackcurrants beginning to form on the fruit bushes. My blackcurrant cordial is lasting well, being used to make ice lollies and the hens are still laying enough eggs to keep us fed. Shopping seems like a long-forgotten virtual event as it's now more than 5 months since my last supermarket delivery and I cannot, honestly, remember the last time I was in a supermarket. Between local store and garden, we are doing just fine and a friend occasionally picks me up cheese, oats, tuna and/or chicken while in town. I really do hate shopping and could happily go completely cash free using virtual shopping.
Next phase of work at Frugaldom begins this week so even less time to spare.
Hope everyone is well and managing to save, save, save while realigning their spending and saving goals with enjoyable frugal lifestyles. The news of a second pay-out for the self-employed in encouraging news for those it applies to so I'm hopeful of either a second pay-out or the ability to reopen for business soon. Scotland is still pretty much on lockdown but I see England is allowing more leniency... STAY SAFE! It just takes one idiot to bring everything tumbling back into total lockdown.

Finally, on another frugal (or not so frugal, depending on the case) note - please, please, please listen out for people thinking it's moneysaving to buy a cheap puppy from an illegal breeder, dealer or smuggler. Our local port has, again, been targeted and more poor little puppies seized by SSPCA (we don't have RSPCA up here). Not all the puppies survived their ordeal but with prices escalating to capitalise on lockdown, the evil crooks are moving in on anyone gullible enough to fall for their puppy scams. It's so sad.

Frugaldom

Kerry_Woman said:

Have managed to keep within budget for each category this month.  Managed 25 nsd's.  Did find this month difficult due to my mh. Have set my budget for each category for June.  Made a note of somethings that I need to buy that is not food shopping, also things I want to achieve for June.

Sometimes our budgets need a fresh new look so have a play about with it, juggle your overall annual figures and see if you can make adjustments that counteract any overspends. I'm forever doing that and I nomally find that the overall annual figure is maintained. If it means someone getting less in a gift, so be it, this is the incentibe I need to make me pay more attention to how I can homemake items rather than buy them.   Hope you are ok - don't let lockdown get you down, we really wouldn't be doing all this if it wasn't absolutely paramount to global health. Keep up the good frugal fight.  

PS: where some count no spend days (NSD) I count spend days, as there are so few of them now. Makes me think more about getting all the spending over and done with within a few days over each month then anything left swept away into savings.

willow_loulou

Where do people get their online delivery from? 

[Deleted User]

This is the way we do it Frugaldom. Each pay refresh we buy what we need for the month in each budget, aside from groceries, although anything that is bulk bought happens at that point. After that period anything else we need it goes on a list until next pay refresh. What we enjoy is priorities changing over the month and something that was apparently needed weeks before hasn't been needed in the end. It's even better when a scavenged/made solution shows itself.

Finstickle

It's been an expensive month this month. Car tax and new clothes needed for DD and me.  Although from Ebay is still adds up and she seems to grow out of everything at the same time 😬
Although I have managed to pay >£500 off the credit card. The credit card was used to cover the shortfall during maternity leave, not used to having a balance so keen to clear it down ASAP. 

This month I have car insurance but managed to find somewhere £75 cheaper than my renewal quote so happy with that.  Also need a new laptop, but can use a savings scheme through work to hopefully reduce the cost 🤞🤞🤞

I had 14 NSDs in May which is my highest this year, but not sure it means much as I bulk bought. 
Target for June is no more clothes!!! 

sashacat

I grow tomatoes from seed and I always pick out the side shoots between the main stem and the branches. This ensures that the strength remains in the main plant and helps to get bigger or more tomatoes.
But, if you leave these little offshoots in place until they are about 2 inches big then cut them off and plant them you will get extra tomato plants at no extra cost. And because in reality they are the same age as the parent plant they root up quickly and catch up with the mother plant. 
Quite a frugal way of getting more tomatoes, especially if you have to buy the plants. So you can buy one plant and get several more plants from it. 

Frugaldom

willow_loulou said:

Where do people get their online delivery from? 

Online delivery?  Sorry, I must have missed a post somewhere, what is being delivered?