2020 Frugal Living Challenge

willow_loulou

The bias binding I’ve ordered arrived this morning! Amazing service for the price. 

A friend found me a pallet to burn and carried it home (we live a few houses apart) she’s amazing! Will get the eldest to start chopping. 

Trying to balance my month as I’ve had an unexpected bill, I think my food budget can take the hit thankfully. I’m very glad I bought extra corned beef when I saw it cheaper. 

I’ve been following olio all week trying to get an idea of when the closest people list. I should be able to collect Friday morning which will help with food next week

Frugaldom

Frugal living really is a complete lifestyule choice as it can take so long to do everything essential to maintain low cash spends but it also allows us to budget for things we don't have the time, otherwise, to do. One thing I always like to remind people is work costs - many overlook jjust how much it costs them to go out and do their employed job, what with transport, meals, coffees, childcare, workwear, occasions, events etc, etc, etc. It is always a good idea to calculate the annual cost of working to see if there is a way of either cutting down those costs or cutting down the hours you need to work just to pay bills and debts that may actually be exacerbated by the cost of work itself. It happens.

Batch cooking in rescuing surplus food from being wasted can fill your freezer in no time. I'm now finding that with the Olio offers available here at weekends, I'd rather find a use for food I wouldn't normally have than see it go to waste so I have had to make space in the little chest freezer by defrosting several kilos of blackcurrants. These are now being boiled down for making into jam, jelly and cordial that will last all of next year plus be enough to share with friends. I've never made fruit leathers for a very long time so I'll need to refresh my memory and have a go at making them with some of the fruit, too. I still have the homegrown rasps in the freezer plus a few peaches to use up so fruit leathers could be on the cards this weekend. If anyone has a foolproof recipe handy, please share here, thank you

The change-saving pots usually egt emptied at the end of the year so I have begun counting out the coins. Did you know that a tiny plastic Benecol bottle holds £30 in pound coins? Now You Know!

Frugaldom

I HAVE OPENED UP THE NEW THREAD FOR 2021 CHALLENGE HERE
The challenge will not begin until 1st January 2021 but this will allow time for transitioning
Meanwhile, please keep posting here until the end of the year, thank you.

YORKSHIRELASS

MazzieD this is a local thing for us, it is very new here but the idea is that local supermarkets and smaller shops donate spare food, or food that is going out of date and volunteers set it out in the local church hall where anyone can take what they need.  I didnt manage to get there again today, work has been manic.

Nothing much to report except that I havent left the house all day so I havent spent anything.  Washing dried over the airer, but the heating has been on a bit because DS has been at home.  Oh and I received my Christmas present from my brother, a £70 hamper from a local deli - which is lovely but very over the top and I am a tiny bit cross because we agreed to scale back the presents this year.  We will enjoy it though.

nannygladys

 Hi everyone, I have just managed to delete the post I wrote, but the gist was we all have to find our own frugality and the way we wish to live and not judge other people for the way they live, I have sometimes been guilty of this when I worked, but that is how they chose to live. Anyway, I went into the city early today to finish my Xmas shopping and Im glad I only stayed an hour as it got very busy (all on the same mission as me I reckon), not much distancing and frayed tempers!   Glad to get back home, but that's me done except for a final small food shop a couple of days before the big one and that will be locally.
YorkshireLass - enjoy your hamper, I would imagine items from the deli will be very yummy (my sort of food!)
Take care all and keep safe
Nannyg

FrankieM

Thanks for the new thread @Frugaldom. I'll keep posting here til closer to the end of the year when I'll put my plans for 2021 on the new one.
For now, I'm just trying to get through the rest of the year without spending too much.
I've bought vouchers for most of my children so only a few presents to get, but I also need to help my mum get her presents for everyone which we'll do online, so that will be very different for her as she has previously shunned all technology. But I'm not sure I could face going into town to do shopping.
I've also got some garden tidying to do so I'll potter on with that

MazzieD

Thanks @YORKSHIRELASS, I'll see if there is anything local to me.  Also thanks @willow_loulou, I've switched notifications to frequent on Olio - what a good idea about looking at when local food heroes post.  Collections seem to be mainly day-time here, I have some flexibility on working hours - one of the joys of working at home and a very good employer, I have my work mobile with me at all times so they don't mind as long as I am contactable.

I think the best bit about this thread is reading about what other people do and sharing tips  No matter how frugal you think you are there is always something new to discover and learn.  My cat isn't particularly frugal but has been such a joy (and company for me) during lockdown and all the restrictions.  

Frugaldom

@Deleted_User WOW! Those are some amazing savings to get stashed away, well done! I can only dream of earning that amount, far less saving it. 😆 Here's hoping you can reach all your goals in 2021.

Bluegreen143

Big well done to @Deleted_User!

Totally agree about the costs of work @Frugaldom. Occasionally when Red makes noises about me getting a job I remind him that the cost of childcare x2, commuting, buying professional clothes etc won’t leave much left in all likelihood - and what is left, if my friends are anything to go by, will end up spent on convenience food, takeaways, comfort food and booze to de stress, feeling we “need” a holiday to unwind (whereas in our current lifestyle we have very low ongoing stress levels so like to spend holidays making things, gardening etc). I honestly feel like the current levels of mental ill health we see in our society as so linked to long, stressful working hours, lack of downtime, lack of time with loved ones and the exhausting consumerist carousel of “work hard to buy must-have item; be skint after buying must-have item; work hard again”. I don’t mind going back to work when the children are at school as long as we use that wage to really improve our quality of life (enriching experiences, long term saving etc) NOT just fritter it away on junk and an inflated lifestyle. Why give up the excellent quality of life we have now for me to work and then us be no better off in reality? The cost of work is also in the time you no longer have to spend with your family, volunteer, craft/cook/garden etc. I think people look down on those who don’t work or work less as if they aren’t “contributing” but there are so many ways to contribute to your family and wider community that don’t involve working. 

CraftyLittleLisa

I just wanted to say that after joining Olio a couple of weeks ago, last Friday I put my first order and got my first collection.  It wasn't a lot but it was something.  It was so straight forward and I am definitely going to be keeping up to date on offerings. 

No other major spends to report which I suppose is frugal.  I have also attempted to turn my gooseberries at the allotment into cordens (I saw they had done that on Gardeners World).  I thought it might make it easier to keep the birds off of them as well as easier to harvest and keep the pests at bay.  I used wooden posts that I had stored in my greenhouse for repurposing so that was a saving.  I also replaced a broken trellis which my rose was climbing up with an old  metal gate.  It looks much nicer and should last a very long time.  The broken trellis I have broken up and will use it to fill up some of the space in the bottom of the raised beds I am planning to build over the next few months so that I don't have to use so much compost.  Apparently if you put wood in the bottom, as it breaks down it creates heat which helps plants to grow.  I'm not sure how much truth there is in that but it will breakdown even so and will add drainage to the beds.  I also managed to repair some guttering on my shed and directed the downpipe into a water butt as well as sorting the downpipe on my greenhouse to another one.  I now have two full water butts.  I need to put up some guttering on the other side of the greenhouse to collect water for a third water butt but I will do that after Christmas. I have the guttering but I just need to get the accessories to finish it off properly.

As to my crafting stash I have been trying to declutter that.  I have culled a lot of paper patterns that I am not going to use.  I will offer them to people before taking to the charity shops if they will take them.  I have also sorted out my "planned" projects.  I have found loads of free gifts that I have got over the years with various magazines.  I am currently working through the Christmas ones to make new Christmas decorations.  So far I have knitted a star and made a felt elf tree decoration.  On the clothes front I knitted a wrap out of some wool stash and have made a Christmas top out of some fabric I had been saving for something nice.  I don't think there is really anything much else to report.

Take care everyone.