2020 Frugal Living Challenge

[Deleted User]

The lockdown spurred me into action if I'm honest - lots of things I've intended to do (getting veg beds built, sorting the fascias, guttering and flat roof on the house) have either been done or are in the process of being done now. It has been expensive but will enable us to be more frugal in the future -  growing our own veg and a small amount of fruit will dramatically reduce our costs as I only buy organic produce, the flat roof will be insulated so will reduce heating costs and the replacement of the fascias will mean that the heat loss from the roof will reduce (the old stuff was full of holes and a favourite squirrel hang out! 🙈) 
We never ate out much but I can't see us doing it again for the foreseeable future- I also can't see us having any holidays for another year or two as the restrictions will probably impact for a long period and I don't see the point in spending the money to go abroad if I can't explore properly! 
I've always loved being at home anyway - which is why I spent so much time and money over the past couple of years getting the internal renovations done - and next year I will be at a point where I can actually just sit back and enjoy it all. I'll be spending a lot more time in the garden, making preserves, making wine and enjoying spending less money! 😉 

sashacat

The lockdown has changed my life completely. I have a specialist hobby and I usually spend a lot of time travelling around the UK and Ireland teaching or giving talks about this hobby. I earn about £10,000 a year extra to my pension although some of that is travelling expenses. So I have been at home for 3 and a half months. I miss the money but I have enjoyed more time in the garden and am now completely self sufficient in veg and more or less so in fruit (I buy oranges and bananas occasionally).
Throughout this time I have had a new conservatory built but with a solid roof. It is costing a fortune but worth every penny. I am frugal, watch every penny and save up so that I can do things like that. But I could have done with the extra cash. 
I think I will do less travelling about and stay at home more and live on less money. Lockdown has definitely changed me. 
I now spend most days in the garden or greenhouse faffing about. I love it. 
I hate shopping. To me it is just a necessary chore. I only buy clothes when things get too many holes in them that I can’t mend them. 

Frugaldom

Hi guys, I love hearing about changes in lifestyle and how frugal living helps get you all to where you want to be. But @sashacat you are really going to have to tell us what your moneyspinning hobby is, as I'm in awe of anyone earning an extra £10k p.a. from their hobbies.  
Today I have been planting donated irises around the pond and raking out some sand to help solve a bit of a mud problem. ortunately, the rain stayed away and the sun shone. 
Shopping-wise, I have just discovered that Morrisons now deliver to my postcode. My nearest store is over 40 miles round trip from home or about 35 miles round trip from Frugaldom so the delivery cost is less than what a gallon of petrol would cost me. (Our nearest supermarket of any description is 20+ miles round trip and nearest village store about 3 or 4 miles from the house.
The first month on the new BT tariff kicked in so that is saving £15 per month! I did a price comparison for my car insurance but even after cashback, none of them cmpare to my automatic renewal, so that's sorted.

nannygladys

Lockdown has made me aware that I must have gone out more than I thought as I have only filled the car up once since March!! I haven't spent as much on food as I started doing a fortnightly shop and sticking to my menu plan and shopping list, so that is definitely staying. I have also been using my stash of wool and material to start making 'C' pressies and completed so many kits that were lurking in drawers that I had forgotten about so that will change as Im not buying anymore kits from shopping channels that seem like a 'bargain' at the time! I completed a dress that I had cut out about 3 years ago and it fits lovely, so will be looking  in CS shops when I feel confident enough to go in them for clothes to alter or remodel. 
I have been in touch with people that I don't normally have much to do with and I would like to keep that up. I have missed my dgc although I do talk to them via WhatsApp etc its not the same as having a cuddle and playing with them. And I will also spend more time at the lottie and really sort it out ready for next year - I didn't start that much off as I wasn't sure about going and its about 4/5 miles away. There the main things that will stay or go a we emerge from LO.
Nannyg

mumtoomany

Hi Frugaldom, and others. Here too we have not really been affected by lockdown. As a smallholding we work here every day anyway, the rest of our income is from childcare of our three oldest granchildren (5,3,and 2). Their parents both work for NHS so that's no different either. The only real change is that youngest DD has had to stop driving lessons, so a little less money spent there, but she is having to be driven back and to to work, so more diesel. Normally she goes straight to work from college and just needs collecting at 10.30pm, no buses after 7pm here. What will i change? Probably nothing.
To nananibbles, you said your daughter is  going to university in September and worried about childcare costs. Tell her to ask at the uni about funding. I owned an after school club several years ago. Two of the parents were at uni, and the fees for their children were covered by the uni, she may be able to get help. Worth asking.
Thanks Frugaldom for the info about Morrisons. I've been checking for delivery from them since moving here. Seems that they deliver here now too, useful in winter or if the car plays up. 
Take care all, mumtoomany.

CraftyLittleLisa

Thanks for that question about lockdown and lifestyle Frugaldom as it has really got me thinking.

I suppose the biggest change for me is where I have had to slow down I feel calmer and I am not feeling so overwhelmed with things I have to do.  I used to got out to work every day (as most people do), try and keep a flat clean and organised and do the usual admin etc related to that, keep an allotment and garden up together, go to my exercise classes to try and stay fit and then try and fit in the other things I wanted to do such as meeting up with friends and going to see shows/films/meals out and the like.  It all felt a bit like a juggling act.  Since lockdown I have managed to get into a good routine where I can do my job (from home) and I can squeeze in the household chores and some exercise before work in the morning (because I don't have to make lunch, walk to work, pack bags) and then the weekends are completely free for me to do my gardening, sewing, video chats and the like.  I'm really hoping that where I work will consider letting me continue to work from home indefinitely so that I can continue this routine as I think it will help me stay in this sense of calm.  I have saved a few pennies in some areas but not necessarily in others as I have been getting the allotment/garden/sewing up together which I have had to spend money on that I probably wouldn't have done just yet if it hadn't been for the lockdown.  I am keeping to a good budget on food and I am really watching what I eat (healthy and not over-eating) and cooking from scratch even more.  That is also something I want to try and continue when everything goes back to normal eventually.  I'm just really enjoying the slower pace of life for me.

sashacat

Frugaldom i will pm you about my hobby if I can but as I am one of the very few who go round the country giving talks etc it would be completely outing if I posted it here. . I am very envious of your pond and lillies. My pond is very tiny and it leaked so I need to redo it. 
I am hoping to get frogs and newts. 

cw18

I'm another for whom very little has changed during the pandemic.    I still went to work and I still shopped in stores for food (this initially involved queuing, but I've not had to do that for several weeks now).   I do very little other shopping (especially in stores), rarely eat out, almost as rarely get a takeaway, don't go to pubs, and don't go to the cinema or theatre.   The only significant differences for me were not being able to see my fella (for 12 weeks until they introduced social bubbles), not being able to visit my grand-children, daughter and parents (or not properly - I've done one socially distanced visit), and having to cancel two planned visits to the Lakes.

I've had live races (runs) cancelled - but most went 'virtual' so I still have the medals, which I earned by doing the relevant distances local to home on my own.   I've also picked up a load more virtuals for events that have wonderful medal but that I wouldn't normally be able to get to due to distance from home (and days they happen on).   I guess this is the one thing that will change afterwards - I need to stop spending as much money on lots of wonderful bling

Frugaldom

sashacat said:

Frugaldom i will pm you about my hobby if I can but as I am one of the very few who go round the country giving talks etc it would be completely outing if I posted it here. . I am very envious of your pond and lillies. My pond is very tiny and it leaked so I need to redo it. 
I am hoping to get frogs and newts. 

Our ponds were dug as part of drainage works and to try and create more wildlife zones at Frugaldom. The newest one hasn't been touched yet, so I'll do the frugal thing and leave it to naturally regenerate around the edges. I just need to hope the ponies won't go too close once they get access to the area around it later this summer. I love ponds! We now have about 5 in different areas at Frugaldom and we have 2 at home - one duck pond and one tiny 'patio' pond. The biggest is a natural pond, more of a widened out area of the burn, but this year we have a pair of geese nesting near it. I keep watching for goslings but the grass around the edge is now so high that it's impossible to see. I thought we may have had some ducklings but Mrs Broody duck abandoned her eggs. This is the pond we had dug out 3 years ago - looking at it now, you would think it had always been there. I took the photo from where I was planting the yellow flag iris today after being given them yesterday. This pond is just under a metre deep in the centre, whereas the natural one, part of the burn, measured in at over 4m deep in the centre when a survey was being done.


The joy of a pond is that it costs nothing to simply dig a hole and allow it to fill with rain water then plant some reeds and willows around it. I'm now planning more willows for coppicing the whips (or withies) for weaving material.

Frugaldom

@sashacat Forgot to say, yes, feel free to PM me anytime