2020 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

sashacat said:

Frugaldom, I know you are in a remote place but where I live (in a country village) people sell manure bagged up. They put a sign by the road saying something like “£1 a bag” and a lot of people buy it. It may not bring in much but it is a start. 10 ponies are a lot to feed. 
I am lucky as I get it from my next door neighbour free, but then I do give her plants for her polytunnel. 
It is raining here at last. My water butts are full again. 

Thanks @sashacat , that is always the first thing everyone things of but I am in a place where everyone around me has horses & ponies. Many need to pay to have manure taken away or have a big enough trailer that it can be towed by a local farmer in his tractor.   We use ours all around the project for the fruit and veg, plus we grow dog roses and rosa ragusa for the rosehips in banks of manure. I also give any away to anyone who wants to come and collect it. It has started to rain here too, so I hope it stays with us long enough for the water butts to fill. Fundraising and sponsrships take care of feeding & caring for all the ponies but we need rain for our water.

Frugalistamama

I've not posted for a while but rest assured i have been frugaling like crazy. I was on here in early march telling you all that i can't stop spending. Well lockdown put an end to that and have got back on the right track. Compulsion has been curbed! I am so so happy as i have been so frugal with grocery spending and not spending on much else that I've managed to pay off £1355 off my debts!! I don't know how as we never had any spare money but with cooking from scratch and not wasting anything, plus not spending in kids/ school crap in lockdown I've been squirreling money away. Plus I've been getting money back on things etc. I even have some more for my hubby's birthday! Unheard of! 
My aim now is to make a bit of extra money on the side. Going to get rid of this big credit card debt this year. Thank you!! ❤️

sashacat

Of course Frugaldom, I forget that where you are everyone has ponies and horses. 
I am intrigued by the dog roses for the rose hips? What do you do with the rose hips? Syrup? 
It rained very heavily here and the water butts filled up from empty overnight. I also put a lot of containers out and collected as much as I could. I am on a water meter but I have a lot of veggies growing so, if necessary I use the hose pipe although I feel as if I am just wasting money. 

Frugaldom

@Frugalistamama, WELL DONE!  That is an amazing amount to save/pay off debts. At that rate, you'll be free in no time.
@Sashacat, the rosehips can be used in syrups and hedgerow jellies & jams and in the future, we plan on offering foraging days or weekends. The rosehips can also be dried and used as treats for ponies. We harvest all sorts of herbs and 'planty things' for the ponies to supplement their diets.
The £1 bargain extra from Musclefood comprised 4 indvidual meals, so it proved to be worthwhile. Meals here are involving more eggs, as some of the newly rehomed hens have started laying. The ducks have all stopped laying and one is still sitting tight on about a dozen eggs. Not sure if any will hatch but we should find out in about another week or so.

willow_loulou

@Frugaldom baby ducks ❤️ I do miss having birds. We started talking about having quails, being smaller I can have them close to the house and safer from Mr fox who is the reason we stopped. What do you do to prevent foxes wiping your birds out? @Frugalistamama congratulations on paying off so much! It’s astounding how much we can manage to pay with the right mind set isn’t it!

Frugaldom

@willow_loulou The hens and ducks have their own spaces in the barn at nights. I' not going to hold my breath waiting for ducklings but it would be lovely to see them running aorund. we havent had chicks or ducklings for a few years. Quail, I used to have hundreds of those in the past, several varieties, with the Japanese Coturnix being the mainstay of egg-production at that time. I don't have the facilities for them at Frugaldom yet but I did hold onto one incubator, just in case. They are crazy little birds!
On the shopping front, I have submitted a second order to musclefoods, as their £1 add-on bargain seems really good, plus there's still space in the freezer as thiis is the first proper food shopping I have done this year!   I've been relying on stores and the local village shop since Christmas but it doesn't sell butcher meat.
First potatoes looking about ready for harvesting so it's going to be potatoes with everything if they all crop.

Manxcottageonthehill

Hello, I know it’s half way through the year but can I join in? I’ve been reading the past treads and think this is what I’d like to focus on, on the second half of this year.

Jazee

I've been reading along and have been frugal because of lockdown but now I need to join in properly because DH is leaving his job in two weeks and I'm not sure what the future will hold.  The plan is to finish using our stocks from last winter/ coronavirus then restock for winter/Brexit.

Frugaldom

Welcome on board, frugal folks, there is always room for newcomers and returning frugalers. This is the lifestyle that provides more choice for less.

sashacat

Frugaldom, I had a look at Muscle Foods. Their stuff looks good and clearly you think it is good value. Do you reckon it is better than supermarket stuff?