2020 Frugal Living Challenge

jammy_dodger

carolinerunner wrote: »

I'd like to use bars of soap but I find they make the sink need cleaning sooner than handwash. Also they get all messy (the soft bits) even if you use a soap dish, is there a way round that?

One tip I heard, maybe well known, is that bath stuff is often identical to shower gel and much cheaper per 100ml. I know, doesn't help with the plastic. My local handmade naturals shop lets you take back your bottle for a refill, lovely stuff too, no chemicals at all

carolinerunner have a google at making your own felted soap
basically you cover your soap bar with fine layers of wool
{which you can get from craft stores }and with agitation and a hot water it felts around the soap keeping the bar intact and acts as a pleasant exfoliation .I too hate soggy soap its great fun to make
the felt will shrink around your shrinking bar of soap as you use it
JD

[Deleted User]

jammy_dodger wrote: »

carolinerunner have a google at making your own felted soap
basically you cover your soap bar with fine layers of wool
{which you can get from craft stores }and with agitation and a hot water it felts around the soap keeping the bar intact and acts as a pleasant exfoliation .I too hate soggy soap its great fun to make
the felt will shrink around your shrinking bar of soap as you use it
JD

What a brilliant idea, especially the exfoliation aspect:j. I'll definitely be trying it:T:beer:

Frugallife

Elisheba wrote: »

I'll definitely be taking part in this challenge this year . I've started a diary on Debt Free Wannabe, and also signed up to WW2 Clothes Rationing challenge, and Make do, Mend and Minimise.

I need to reduce debt, and have my eyes set on the big prize of a deposit for a house. I also just want to consume less though. We are all being told we need stuff, so we buy stuff, to keep other people rich, and it's polluting and poisoning the planet at the same time. It's utter madness.

So this year its all about frugality for me. Make do and mend, reuse and recycle. How low can I go in terms of buying stuff? I'm really excited to see how I get on!

And to the person on here who mentioned the severe lack of Xmas puddings in the post Christmas sales, I know! Where are they all? I love Xmas pudding!

Someone also asked about toilet roll recommendations. You can get them for 0.33 per roll at Home Bargains and Lidl, but I've just seen on a bulk buying post that if you buy 135 on Groupon they come in at 0.26 a roll. At 0.07 a roll cheaper, that's £9.45 saving. It will probably take me 2 plus years to use all those loo rolls, but I can store them under my bed and thats a tenner I can spend on something that's not literally going down the drain :rotfl:

Thank you for the loo roll recommendation!

Frugallife

sams247 wrote: »

I chose Panda, mainly as its made from Bamboo and the wrapping is recyclable. To be personal - it is also soft and doesnt fall into pieces on use.

I finally had it delievered on a day I told them I wasnt in but luckily my neighbour took it in for me

Thank you x

Sparkly_Shoes

Have been reading along but haven’t posted for the last week - definitely not being as mindful, so have given myself a shake and a talking to!

Budget is a bit in flux at the minute which is very unsettling but am trying to keep spending under control despite this. Will be able to make a proper budget out for February thankfully! Order will be restored!

Filled the tank with petrol today and got a food delivery so pretty much set for the rest of the month. Absolutely no unnecessary spending if I can possibly help it.

Plan for tomorrow is all meals from stores. Hoping for either no spend day or very low spend day!

Jazee

Spent £23.50 today on lunch out with a friend but it was booked before Xmas which is before I decided to go frugal and I hadn't seen this friend for months. Had a lovely time. I too will get order restored later this week when I'm paid.

sinkorswim2018

Carolinerunner I have a solution to your messy soap problem. Look up 'PERIWIN Soap Holder, Home Bathroom Magnetic Soap Holder Containe'
on Amaz0n - sorry, couldn't do a link. I got one for a very small sink where there was room for neither a liquid or bar of soap.

miss_empty_piggy

I've had a £10 win on the postcode lottery which has paid for this month's subscription which is excellent.:T

Then HR at work let me know my exact salary and I realised that what I currently get paid is more than the job that I am about to apply for. I was actually really looking forward to the possibility of a change but there were other things also - less holidays and more travel costs so even though I think I'd really love the challenge and the change (been in current position for 13 years) I don't think that it was meant to be just yet.

The main positive of today has been that I've had a 'win' while trying to sort a present out for my best friend's 50th birthday. As a few of our friendship group are turning 50 this year, we have organised a weekend away together so that it is a) good fun, and b) not overly expensive having to go on lots of nights out etc. However, even though my friend and I don't generally buy for each other I decided to get her something nice. I found a lovely framed quote that's relevant to us, and set about ordering it for approx £32. Once in my basket I noticed that the delivery cost was £49! Every option I tried they were all coming from USA. Eventually I found a digital download for £4.00, I printed it onto some lovely quality brown paper and put it into a lovely frame. It looks EXACTLY the same as the one I was about to spend £80 on! Feels like a win to me.

sams247

This frugal lark is expensive! I am cooking batch food, getting bulk buys home products, got some things from charity shops that I'm making into gifts. So.... in the future I'll be frugal city but this month seems spend spend! Even though I'm buying food at reduced rates and seeking bargains. I'm on target with my month budget but only just.....

Elisheba

Frugal things I've tried today:

1) I've now moved the furniture in the office/bedroom around, as well as the living room, to get the benefit of the radiator in there when I'm working in there. It was so much more toasty afterwards!

2) I've watered down the milk and can't really notice the difference. That'll save me a good chunk in my grocery bill from now on. My brother thinks this is hilarious and doesn't believe its drinkable. More fool him, eh?

3) I've started using less tinned cat food and adding some biscuits to their bowls. I remember my Gran doing that with the dogs when I was a kid. They seem happy enough with it so far, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed as it will probably be about 1/3 cheaper a month.

4) I invested 59p in a radiator key and bled all the radiators. I then turned all the radiators off in rooms I wasn't using.

I'm still working my way through the Sneaky Ways to save Pennies threads, but so many good ideas on there! A few odd ones as well ��