2020 Frugal Living Challenge

FrankieM

Frugaldom said:

@FrankieM, I still like my spreadsheets and have now almost given up on cash completely but with no shops etc nearby, it is easier for me to keep track of all spends, especially with overheads at an all time high. I'm also trying to be paper free but it's impossible so I use the backs of envelopes and mail to scrawl mini budgets, just so I know exactly where I'm at when ordering anything or paying anything. When is your house move? I'll need to send you some herb cuttings and veg seeds for your new garden.  

I've always preferred to not use cash. I spend less when I uses my card...
I think it's the seeing whats left that I'm liking about writing things down. It gives me a clear reminder of what I have left and it's helping me budget accordingly.
I'm hoping to move the week after next. I just need to confirm the date with work and the removal company.

Frugaldom

@mumtoomany . thanks for responding to the question about the spreadsheet from @Deleted_User It's a very basic model but it has served me well for many years.
I have finally tallied up my grocery spends year to date and included my supermarket order, which is due delivered tomorrow night. The total will be a few £s out as it includes the delivery charges for 9 orders but it isn't looking too bad, despite what's been happening over the past year with price increases almost everywhere. In total, I have spent £763.52 and that's for 2 of us plus any visitors but there haven't been many visitors over the past year because of the Covid-19 situation. I'm quite pleased with this as it has included many luxury extras that I wouldn't normally buy. This has been hugely helped along by being part of a sharing community, swapping, trading, giving and receiving all sorts of free food. It has been further helped by the arrival of a handful more 'Olio' members and a neighbour becoming our local food hero who collects and shares the weekend leftvers from our nearest Tesco Extra store. It's a very small store but it seems to have an incredible amount of what would normally have gone into the skips for landfill. Even after prioritising the leftovers to make sure charities benefit first, what is left at the weekend has made many around our rural location very happy indeed. I've made lemon marmalade with all the free lemons, filled the freezer with bread and other items and am now cooking cherry tomatoes into base sauce for bolognese, chili or pizza base.  I'm still snowed under with apples off our own trees so am now listing those as giveaways. I have sadly missed our local LETS group since its demise but this latest development has brought back more opportunities for pursuing zero waste at community level. Our meals are now entirely dependent on what needs to be used up first, so it's stir fries, soups, curries and anything bread-based being made most days recently. I should also add that my grocery budget includes toiletries and laundry products but I did spend some extra on a Groupon offer for toilet rolls. This budget does not include animal / pet / poultry food.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Just amended Asd@ order which comes in at £150, which has to last 2 weeks.  DH and I had leftover curry out of the freezer for tea, we have been out for a nice walk today so I havent spent anything at all this weekend.  Its not been too cold, so trying to keep heating off as much as possible.  I have a few birthdays coming up, including DSs, so being careful about what I spend on presents, and keeping to budget.  All fairly positive, I am off to do my yoga (free on Youtube) then get in my PJs.

sashacat

Good evening all, 
and well done to everyone on budgeting and debt reduction. 
Great  news on Olio Frugaldom. It is unbelievable how much food went into landfill.
I have joined but my nearest food hero is about 7 miles away and everything seems to be late at night. But I will keep looking. 
I went for a lovely autumn walk with a friend yesterday and as we were returning another villager pointed to the step outside outer Covid closed village pub. ( we have no shops, street lights, pavements or buses...but we do have a lovely pub) .
there were trays of eggs piled up....at least 20 trays and lots of pumpkins and squashes. 
There was a notice saying to help ourselves so I now have a free tray of 30 eggs and a butternut squash. I could not believe it. 
Poached eggs for tonight’s meal. I will make soup from the squash. 
I needed to buy eggs so that has saved me quite a bit of money that I will transfer to savings. 
I want to go travelling when this pandemic is over so I am quite literally saving every penny. 

Frugaldom

Great news about the squash and eggs, @sashacat, all these little extra gifts mount up over a year and make a huge difference, plus it's always good to give away whatever we have surplus to requirement. Our hens and ducks have now stopped laying for the winter but I'll do without eggs for now. It means the difference between apple sponge or apple crumble here - crumble is for winter when there are no eggs available.   Olio is late at night here, too. The person organising the collection doesn't get messaged until about 7pm to go and collect whatever is left so it's another hour just doing that part and then they need to get the items listed. It was after 9pm by the time I got the notifications but I wasn't passing up the opportunity to go on a food rescue mission jjust a short walk away, even in pitch dark and rain. Frugal fun!


I usually swap eggs for other things (although a couple of people do insist on paying cash) and I also swap hay, straw, plants, herbs, apples, or anything else I can think of trading. I prefer trading to actual shopping, so we have a 'Trading Post' at Frugaldom and planned on holding mini-fairs and fundraisers throughout summer However, Covid restrictions mean we haven't had any events this year. We are tree planting from this week but there are no volunteers as we can't have people come and stay with us. Never mind, all the savings made are being ploughed into getting things more user friendly on site so we're prepared for almost all emergencies and can carry on regardless. I do hope some of you will be able to come visit one day and see what this lengthy challenge has achieved here as the whole premise is to have a place open to all frugal living enthusiasts.

willow_loulou

Frugaldom I would love to visit some day!
So I think my budget is set for next year but then I realise I’ve not factored In birthdays and the new front door I desperately need. 

I’ve just bought a new desktop pc (coming Tuesday or Wednesday) on my cc so I need to budget that in so I don’t pay too much interest on it. I really needed it for work and study as laptop was basically useless. I just need a memory stick now, But that can wait for The next prolific payout.  

I’ve had a week resting so back to getting on with things now. I’m going to write a list and hopefully get it all done.  

Any suggestions on indoor food growing? I have Basil, mint, chives, parsley and kale has just gone in. Thanks. 💙

FrankieM

Morning All
I'm off to work, thankfully they provide food during the day so I've only got evening meals to think about and I'm currently trying to eat through the fridge and freezer so I have less to move.
Tonight is chicken in a chinese type sauce, mushroom rice and salad. I think that'll feature alot this week to use up those ingredients.
@sashacat I'm also hoping to travel once the world is back to some normality and will be adding to the travel saving pot to be able to do that.

mumtoomany

No problem, Frugaldom. Glad to help. The spreadsheet served me well too, until the computer died and ate it! Paper and pencil now.
We too barter. Our neighbour has ten times as many sheep as us and four times as much land for hay. We help with shearing and scanning, in return for our sheep being scanned and sheared. We help them during hay making and watch their place and animals if they go away. I also donate veg and eggs to them. In return I know that I can always call on their expertise during lambing or if we have a sick sheep. 
During the summer I have a table at the gate, I sell surplus veg at very low prices, covers the cost of seeds and compost and helps others to eat healthier. Mumtoomany.

[Deleted User]

Good evening frugal friends 😊😊

It has been an interesting couple of days here, and I thought I would post my thoughts/musings on here. At work, I have spoken to numerous colleagues, all of whom are stressed about completing their Christmas shopping. I have to admit, I have never been the sort to spend a lot on Christmas and my children certainly do not get great big piles of gifts. This year, each child is getting a small number of presents that I know will be used and enjoyed. These have already been purchased and are all secondhand 😍😍

🥳 It has felt quite liberating these past couple of days to be able to sit quietly listening to their "OMG I must rush out and spend a fortune on brand-new presents" conversations without having the accompanying stress. I keep thinking to myself I honestly don't know how they can be bothered. Secondly, a good friend of mine is in the process of getting a new kitchen. Hers was perfectly fine beforehand, she just wants a new one. The process has been incredibly stressful for her and she has wasted hours dealing with the kitchen company in question and their incompetence. Again, it got me thinking, I really couldn't think of anything worse than having to endure that. My priorities with regards to spending on the house will purely be if something breaks and needs replacing, not just updating for the sake of updating. Again, I just keep thinking I honestly couldn't be bothered with the faff. 

I can see that I am going through a big shift in mindset, and that I have no real interest in spending money on fripperies for the sake of it. Don't get me wrong I still have my own few personal luxuries but these are small in comparison to most, for example a nice bottle of wine on a weekend, a lovely smelling wax melt. 

I have been rereading the first original 'live on £4000 per year' challenge. It has encouraged me to look hard at my own figures again and see where I could make savings for next year. Having looked closely at everything, excluding mortgage and council tax, my annual direct debits total just over £2600. I am therefore going to set myself a personal challenge of living on £5000 next year. After deducting my direct debits, this will leave me with just under £200 per calendar month for food, school trips, clothing, treats etc. This does sound tight however I am determined to give it my best go. The children are both still young and do not have any expensive hobbies.

I am very excited and looking forward to it already. I am not waiting until January to start, the hard-core frugal fun begins now. My main motivation for doing this, is that if I am able to live off that amount for a full 12 months I will be in a position next year whereby I will have saved enough to pay a vast chunk of my mortgage. It wouldn't quite make me a mortgage free, but close. Who needs more motivation than that?!👑👑

sashacat

Good evening folks, 
I love trading things or just sharing. My problem is that I love growing vegetables and fruit and sometimes I am overwhelmed by the amount that grows. So I deliver it to the old people in my village. I gave away lots of cauliflowers and gooseberries this year.
 Lots of villagers just leave boxes of excess outside the houses with a sign saying “help yourself”. 
I also take their spare wood, either off cuts or branches and grass clippings, for the compost, as long as they don’t use weed/feed on the lawn.
Small greenery gets chipped for the compost. I try hard to live a no waste, frugal life. 
Two neighbours give me lots of windfall apples so I have lots already cooked in the freezer. I have them on top of my porridge (Scottish style) every morning. 
And of course I forage for black currants and elderberries. I just wish I could find some sweet chestnuts, as I love them. 
And I would love to learn more (well anything really) about mushrooms so that I could forage for those. Luckily I am retired so I have the time, especially now during lockdown. 
Today I made a large leek quiche...with leeks from the garden and a big egg custard to use up some of the stash of eggs. 
Frugaldom, in normal times I travel regularly up to Scotland to visit my friend just south of Perth. We go beekeeping together. I would love to call in on my way sometime as I think I must go reasonably close to you. ....M6...M74 I think.
Has anybody got a wormery? I’d love one but I am not sure so would be interested in opinions.