2020 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

Homemade plant food and compost
You can start making plant feed as soon as the nettles begin to grow. Old net curtain or similar makes a good bag to fill with nettles. Stuff it into a big bucket, fill bucket with water and leave it to 'stew' into stinky nettle tea for feeding plants. It really stinks so put a lid on the bucket. You can also watch out for any molehills that can be scooped up for soil and save your old tea for adding around plants like blueberries, any that like slightly acidic soil. It's much cheaper than buying ecanaceous (sp?) compost. One if our volunteers has kindly donated 3 bags of compost, now used, and I will try to get 3 more. We have an endless supply of horse manure.   I'm trying to compost some of that, too. 

Nonnadiluca

I don't post often, but would like to thank you Frugaldom for your posts; great advice and a sane voice in a crazy world! 
Much appreciated x

Shopaholic_no_more

Oh my gosh I have been absent for a couple of months....how on earth did we end up in this situation so quickly?! I am reeling from it all in all honesty..
Last week most of the staff were furloughed at our company, including myself, for the foreseeable as we supply to non essential shops which have been told to close so I am on 80% income but I will be a bit better off than I should be as it won’t be costing me around 100 pounds a month to get to work at the minute. Even with my debt I should scrape by. Thankfully, my mortgage is not too big.  OH is still working as he is a postie and they are very much needed at the moment so at least we have his money still coming in but tbh, right now, I would rather he was home and safe    

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well and trying to make the best of this truly awful situation 

Kerry_Woman

Just added up the totals for the categories that I have for March. Happy with the totals.  I did a big food shop last week for April.  I have not done a food shop since the panic buying had started and my anxiety kicked in big time.  I have only done my usual big food shop which I have been doing before the current circumstances started.  Will only have to do food top up shops if and only when required. Have done a budget for April.   Got things in to keep me busy, eg mindfulness colouring books, cross stitching.  Still going out for a walk in local park - daily exercise.

lcc86

Frugalistamama said:

lcc86 said:

Afternoon all, hope you are all coping in the current climate. I am feeling stressed, we found out yesterday that OH (self-employed) isnt entitled to any support because he hasn't yet filed his first tax return. He's also not eligible for UC as I checked and I apparently earn too much. So we're in a tricky position, just hoping that the lockdown ends sooner rather than later otherwise OH says he will be forced back to work  we have some savings so fingers crossed we can get by.

I think they are allowing another four weeks to get the 2019 tax return in. I'm in the same position and was going to file and see what happens x

I think they are allowing another four weeks to get the 2019 tax return in. I'm in the same position and was going to file and see what happens x

I thought this was only for those who's tax return was already overdue? If it isn't then fab we will get one in asap.

CraftyLittleLisa

Well I have just done a check of my spreadsheet as we have come to the end of another month.  I have had 9 no spend days this month which is an improvement on the last two months.  I'm sure next month my no spend days will increase as I won't be going anywhere to spend anything.  I don't do a lot of online shopping but I may get some bits for the garden/allotment side of things.  I don't need any seeds though as I had a sort out of what I had and I have loads of veg seeds.  I feel as if I should up my game on the edible side to make sure myself and my family have some food supplies.  I have got homemade plant food (made from comfrey) and I am also going to have a go at making some natural weedkiller (using white vinegar) to be used carefully, I do have some homemade compost but there isn't that much of it so I will probably need to get some of that ordered.

On the food side, unfortunately, I spent over my budget.  I think this was due to the fact that I couldn't buy a lot of my usual products so had to buy either more expensive brands or buy from more expensive places.  I couldn't stockpile even if I wanted to as I just don't have anywhere to store it all.  However, as I am at home more than usual (especially as I am working from home now) I may have a go at making some different things from scratch and if they work it may save me money in the long run as I can just buy the ingredients.  Sourdough bread is one thing I particularly want to try.

I did get some cashback this month from when I switched energy supplier so that will be going into my savings.  I am still waiting for my credit to be refunded by my previous supplier though. If I don't hear anything in another week I think I will have to chase them.  I am expecting a refund of £93 from my booked yoga class.  I cancelled it before the lock down because I am in the "at risk" group.  The good thing is I cancelled my enrollment within the timeframe to get a full refund.

One last money saving thing from this month is I found some old opaque tights with holes in so I had a go at repairing them.  Hopefully that will make them last a little bit longer.

I'm going to try and make the most of this lockdown by getting some jobs done at home that I have  had on my to do list for a while and the plus side they shouldn't cost me any money as I have what I need to do them.  I know its not nice being in this situation but it is a necessary evil and I am determined to try and turn it into a positive.

Stay safe everyone.

Frugaldom

Good morning frugalers and welcome to April! Let's all try to find some extra positivity to share with one another during this grim lockdown. Nobody knows how our countries will fair in the aftermath or how soon the economy can even begin to recovery. I actually think part should be funded by the war chest, as we are fighting for survival of nations.
 I am proud and loud about frugal living and am convinced it is the right path for financial survival, come what may.  Now that I have discovered photo sharing on here, let's share our best achievements during lockdown.
 Fortunately, I still get out to work, albeit unpaid, as food growing and livestock are involved. Life carries on beyond our biosecurity measures. Today, I am going to be grooming rescued orphan foals after feeding them and barrowing manure.. I'll also plant more willows, as they make great edible fences for ponies and actual fencing is off the cards gir now.  Later, I will sow more seeds before scrubbing up for dinner.
This is day 1 of another 'Nile mince' tour.   Progress of this journey will be documented. 

Siebrie

These are the days that I'm happy that for both husband as well as me, food is just food, something to sustain you. We don't do fancy ingredients, hours of chopping hundreds of ingredients. It's still tasty, but mostly local, seasonal (which helps with the taste!), and un-expensive (not necessarily cheap). We don't get too bored eating the same type of lunch or breakfast; eating something different on a Saturday morning sets us up of another week of unashamed sameness.

Finstickle

The being stuck at home is leading to Internet shopping for baby clothes 
I am done now, but £42 spent I hadn't budgeted (mostly ebay and a couple of independent suppliers).

March only had 5 NSDs, 2 less then Feb, but overall spend down by £300 so happy with that.  Grocery shop stayed the same but included the meat order which is sporadic, so £65 improvement on std monthly shopping - again happy.

Frustrated by other people's panic buying, impossible to find single items that we actually need as waited for them to run out as usual!!!

Plus side, DH not complaining about eating lentils now as I just tell him I'm making stocks stretch 😄😄😄. Other than a few key bits pretty happy with where we are and like others using the time at home to work through the 'to do' list. 

nat21luv

I haven’t commented for 4 weeks and look how much the world has changed. I honestly can’t believe it, oh how our lives have changed! I’m self employed and won’t be receiving a payment until June. Until then, I receive a small amount of tax credits as I’m a single parent, plus child maintenance, income from what little work I currently have, and the rest will be made up with savings. The past few weeks have been a strain but these last few days I’ve really struggled. The final straw was the news that I wouldn’t be seeing my partner for the next 5 weeks as he’s a key worker and required to have close contact with people, so he’s opted to stay away to protect me and my children. Until then, I’m on my own and navigating a whole new world. 

Some positives: 

*my daughter has come along great with her 11+ training because of the extra time I’m able to give her. Hopefully a silver lining out of all of this is that she’ll pass, even if she doesn’t, it’s wonderful to see her progress in a short period of time.
*frugal living is paying off! I had a lot of the basic staples in the cupboards so I didn’t need to panic buy, but I’ll admit to buying a few extra packs of pasta as we’re veggies and survive off of it! Lots of money being saved by visiting Lidl once per week too.
*budget is super strict, essentials only and everything else is going to an increased emergency fund.

Im glad for the brighter weather and hope to keep some plants alive this year. I’m heading to Lidl on Monday so I do hope they’re stocking compost, if not I’ll head to Asda.

Hope you’re all keeping well, I look forward to your updates.