2020 Frugal Living Challenge

mumtoomany

Frugaldom, I think you have mistakenly thought that I am in some way competent! I will try to post a photo of the chicks, but don't hold your breath, ha ha mumtoomany. Watch this space!

mumtoomany

Tried to take a photo, my phone died! OH took a photo. Tried to bluetooth it to my tablet, the app he'd installed for me is in spanish! After about ten minutes got the photo. Now trying to post it. Technology is for the young! 

mumtoomany

Well that sort of worked. Why did it end up in the middle of the text? They are not all in the picture, some were camera shy. They are living in an old dressing table drawer at the moment, lined with an old feed bag. Their water dish is a repurposed frisby, their feed dish a baking tray that OH dug up out of field and straightened out. On top we have a cover made from discarded wood and old mesh. A car wheel sits on top of that to keep the dog/rodents out. The only new thing in the whole set up is the bulb in the heat lamp, even the lamp is second hand. Taking frugality to a new level! Hope you all like the picture, mumtoomany.

mumtoomany

And now I'm on a roll, the newest lambs. Two of triplets, the third was sadly stillborn. Doing well. Really pleased with these two. Their mum prolapse last year, ended up having a cesarian, and lost all three of her lambs. Much better result for her this year.

Frugaldom

Thank you for sharing! Lovely chicks and gorgeous lambs - I love the onw with all the white. Not that up on sheep breeds but I'd sweep that one away in a minute to come stay with black and white foal here. (I really like black & white.)
. 
MOneysaving is going not too badly here prject being closed and no hosting any exchange students means only 2 to be fed (plus the livestock) so between that and the exceptionally warm weather meaning no heating needed, we are saving a small fortune. This, of course, may be offset somewhat by the loss of income but we're getting creative and managng to plug any gaps that were appearing and should survive wthout the need to apply for funding / grants etc. Frugal living is a definite bonus and even makes you creative when looking after 'special needs' animals.

df-MRes_student

stirchleygirl said:

thanks df-MRes_student for the link to the place where you get your inks from - it doesn't look like they do them for my printer as it is a few years old and has all the colours in one cartridge but i'll be having a look at other similar suppliers who do have my type and see how they compare.

If you can manage to get a special offer to sign up to Which? for a month trial and then cancel the subscription before the month trial ends (which is what I did) you'll be able to find details of suppliers that foot the bill there. Otherwise, ask a question here and see what others suggest.
Btw, glad your health appointment went okay.
Stay safe, stirchleygirl!
Best,

df-MRes_student

willow_loulou said:

Scrimps said:

willow_loulou said:

Just needed to tell someone.., I just paid off my store card! £88:15! I’m so happy. 

I might have to dip into other money before Friday if something comes up but I’ve cleared it all before the statement date yay! So happy 😀 thank you all for keeping me frugal. On to the credit card now!! 

Fantastic news!  well done!

Thank you! I’m so chuffed with myself. I was head in the sand last year - this thread in particular but the whole forum has made a huge difference - so grateful 

Oh, well done, willow_loulou! That must be a relief... Congrats!
Stay safe!
Best,

df-MRes_student

Frugaldom said:

Thank you for sharing! Lovely chicks and gorgeous lambs - I love the onw with all the white. Not that up on sheep breeds but I'd sweep that one away in a minute to come stay with black and white foal here. (I really like black & white.)
. 
MOneysaving is going not too badly here prject being closed and no hosting any exchange students means only 2 to be fed (plus the livestock) so between that and the exceptionally warm weather meaning no heating needed, we are saving a small fortune. This, of course, may be offset somewhat by the loss of income but we're getting creative and managng to plug any gaps that were appearing and should survive wthout the need to apply for funding / grants etc. Frugal living is a definite bonus and even makes you creative when looking after 'special needs' animals.

How wonderful! Beautiful, Frugaldom...
Best,

df-MRes_student

mumtoomany said:

And now I'm on a roll, the newest lambs. Two of triplets, the third was sadly stillborn. Doing well. Really pleased with these two. Their mum prolapse last year, ended up having a cesarian, and lost all three of her lambs. Much better result for her this year.

Your pics are lovely, mumtoomany! How inventive with the drawer, heat lamp and tyre set-up...
Best wishes. Stay safe and well.

mumtoomany

Frugaldom, they are mongrel sheep. The grandmother of the lambs is a Zvartble. We started with six of these, bought from a neighbour. We don't have our own tup, so they go back to said neighbour for breading. They therefore mate with whatever ram he is using. Hence we never know what each lamb will look like. We have all black, all white and mixtures. New white lamb born yesterday to black mum. The two in the picture have now been named Johnny 3 and Johnny 4 by DGD1, she's only three, so good names. Still around 15 more to lamb yet.
df-MRes, necessity is the mother of invention they say, I think it's poverty. Everything we need we try first to make or reuse, then if not we try to beg or borrow, before going down the second hand route. Almost nothing is new. This week we've replaced a rotted gate post with a length of old telegraph pole, old post now fire wood. Fixed and reattached the fencing with reused nails, we have several buckets full. Replaced the gutter in the barn, it's made from an old down-pipe cut in half lengthwise, put up with reused screws. This now runs into an old tank, bought second hand, collecting rain water again for the livestock. The only problem is all these thing tack so much more time than just "getting a man in". Good job time is the only thing we have enough of. 
Mumtoomany.