2020 Frugal Living Challenge

cw18

Went back to work today.  The office of 24 delivery staff is now 'only' down by 9 !!!
Came home with a banging headache despite making sure I drank more at work than I did when I was last at work - only to discover I'd barely touched my morning brew....    I suspect half the problem was tannin withdrawal, as I've had problems with that before and was drinking more tea while I was off.

Downed what was left of my brew - and took myself off to bed for 4 hours    Unfortunately that means I'm now wide awake when I should be in bed

Nipped into A1di on the way home, and was chuffed to find a half price pack of mince still knocking around that late in the day.   I plan to make a batch of chilli tomorrow, which will be a change from all the chicken I've been eating the last few weeks - some with a jacket spud, some with rice, and some in wraps so I'll still be ringing the changes.   Also have a tub of salad to use with it - one of the things I went in for, but I was expecting to be using it with chicken (again).  I've given up buying loose salad ingredients as I wasn't getting through a whole lettuce / pack of tomatoes / cucumber before they started to get a touch unappetising.   I now buy a ready made mixed box which has more variety in it and lasts me 2 or 3 days (3 if I'm having potatoes/pasta/rice alongside it).   I don't think it's working out any more expensive for me, but it's a more interesting mix and there's a lot less waste which is a good thing.

Not so impressed by the (lack of) social distancing     They were restricing the number of people going in, and the queues at the till were fine, but walking around the store was very tricky.   I don't think it's helped by narrow aisles, but when an aisle is already less than 2 metres wide it's certainly not helped by people coming back against the flow of traffic!

DawnW

Morning all

It is interesting to hear how people in different circumstances are coping with the situation we currently have. I find I am relying on local businesses more than the supermarkets. I always used the local butchers (we are fortunate to have 2 in our little town) and the milk delivery, farm shops etc, and much prefer them, and the markets in local towns, which are sadly closed at the moment, at the best of times, let alone now when you have to queue to get into supermarkets and contact with other people is hard to avoid. Some things are a little dearer, but many are not - supermarkets are not particularly cheap for meat, for example. Unless you manage to get reduced stuff, and the supermarkets here don't reduce by much, the butchers are often cheaper, much of their meat is local and they will prepare it as you request. And if you only want to buy one sausage, that is fine, too

It is things like baking ingredients, tinned tomatoes, pasta, cleaning stuff etc that I need the supermarket for, plus occasional luxuries such as olives etc. The little local shop only has a small selection of basics sadly. Other than that, I wouldn't care if I never went in a supermarket again.

I have been occupying myself by doing a proper spring clean like my grandmother used to do. I dislike housework by and large, but my little garden is up together for now, and it isn't as if there is much else to do at the moment   I am managing to find a bit of salad in the garden, such as overwintering spinach and chard and self sown land cress, the rhubarb is growing enough to pick a little each week, and there are the herbs. I have seedlings coming up, but sadly not much else in the garden yet.

Finstickle

We're currently self isolating so currently very grateful for the local shops and glad to live in the countryside. When supermarket deliveries can't be found I have a delivery from local farmshop tomorrow (which should include some cleaning products) and a butchers delivery on Saturday.   I am however expecting to spend more as obviously more expensive choices so really focusing on stretching food. Enjoying the process and inventiveness. This lockdown is definitely reigniting my love of cooking and bread baking.

Hope all are keeping spirits up. 

patentgirl

Morning all still trying to be frugal in these worrying times not posted for a while but still doing our best to save for early retirement had 4 premium bond wins since Oct.  This has shown us we can live together without all going mad! That's without going out too DH loves golf so missing that and sports of every kind on tv! I am still working part time as in care industry DH is working from home and DD3 has just been furlonged from airline industry. We are all giving each other space which is important the garden is coming on a great still long way to go but plenty of projects on go DH painting decking today I am preparing seed beds only potatoes in at moment we wasn't that successful last year didn't help we had 3 weeks away holidaying which won't be happening this year. Lots of reading and listening to radio at moment.Dawn W I am doing same supporting local butchers and green grocers and our local corner shop so far been good got pasta flour milk etc. no problem.
Keep save and well everyone thanks for photos frugaldom🐓

cw18

"Little local shops" are very few and far between around me.    There are none at all in the town where I live   There is a butcher in the town where I work, but I don't like the fact there are no prices on display anywhere I can see from outside (and don't like the look of a lot of the meat in the window - of which there is very little left by the time I finish work).  There is also a green-grocer there, but having nipped in a few times in the past I have to say I've found everything to be over priced.  And my experience of green-grocers hasn't been great - there used to be one in my town that I tried to use rather than the supermarket (despite it being dearer), but nothing seemed to last for more than 2 or 3 days which meant I couldn't ditch the supermarkets as the only day I could get to the store was a Saturday.

DawnW

We are lucky in that respect I guess. I live in a small market town surrounded by villages, countryside and other market towns. We have quite a few independent shops, though sadly no longer a greengrocer. Downside is poor public transport.

cw18

My area doesn't score well for public transport either.   We used to be able to get to most of the big local towns without having to change bus, and on services that ran at least once every 30 mins (one exception being every hour).  It was also affordable, although fares went up a bit depending on where you were going in a day as many routes changed operator at one point, so you had to buy a ticket for the area rather than a single operator.   But then they brought in a guided busway on what used to be a railway line many, many years ago (and by the time I moved here it was a nice green public footpath which we've lost in the process).   This bus route runs from two towns (one NW of me, the other SW - they merge in my town) to the edge of the city centre (it used to go in and terminate there) and then on to a large hospital the far side of the city to me.   It was then decided that we no longer needed the buses that ran on the roads, so we lost most of our services - many places now requiring 2 or 3 buses by convoluted routes, if we can even get there!   Recently we've had even more changes to local operators, with one folding completely and being taken over by 3 different ones - so even more trips mean we need the dearer ticket.   However it's still a lot more affordable than around my parents, so I guess we're not tooooo badly off.

Yet people still can't understand why I find it easier to walk or cycle to the larger towns if I'm going there to get some shopping I can't get locally.......

Frugaldom

Good evening, frugalers

Making the most of dry weather, getting seeds sown and I've started saving my eggshells for drying to use as slug & snail deterrent in the veg pots. I cleared a tiny space along the wall so I can plant some more herbs and flowers, and I transplanted 2 roots of perpetual spinach beet that had been growing in a repurposed fish crate for the past couple of years

'Nile' mince day today again so this time it was chilli & rice. The last of the leeks from the freezer have gone into the slow cooker along with ham stock, lentils, carrots, onion and some sticks of celery. That will do lunches for the week.

Still not much chance of a supermarket order and I've no intentions of driving 20 mile round trip to reach one. We're still making do with whatever is in the fridge, freezer and cupboards.  

As frugal living afficionados, I hope you are all sharing your hints, tips, suggestions and moneysaving ideas to help those in need right now. Some young, normally working, young families have never had to budget ot cook from scratch so le's not overlook that fact no matter bhow shocking or sirprising it may seem. Maybe this would be a good time to repost the 101 things to do with eggs.

Siebrie

102 things to do with eggs: stop your husband from suddenly eating 3 per day in his morning omelette. He normally eats an omelette on Saturdays, but this last week, he has had an omelette every morning.... We now have 6 eggs left of the 24 he bought last week.

Frugaldom

Siebrie said:

102 things to do with eggs: stop your husband from suddenly eating 3 per day in his morning omelette. He normally eats an omelette on Saturdays, but this last week, he has had an omelette every morning.... We now have 6 eggs left of the 24 he bought last week.

Siebrie, I have read so many posts about massively increased eating habits by those stuck at home who would normally be at work so I don't think you are alone with this problem. It also won't help an already stretched budget, but unless we all try to keep bodies and minds busy,  reaching for extra food seems to be the 'go to' solution to shutdown directives. On the 3-egg omlette front, maybe a reminder of what too many eggs can do to the digestive system while regular exercise may be affected could encourage him to having something like porridge every other day? It's cheap and cheerul if you buy the 75p per kilo bags and cook it the Scottish way, using water.   I cook mine in the microwave - 1 small cup oats, 2 small cups water, salt to taste and a handful of sultanas t ensure a portion of fruit is included. I also have a teaspoon of honey wih mine, which is a bit of a luxury but porridge is a favourite meal of mine.