2020 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

PS: We are also fighting the mouse battle. No polytunnel here, just building more raised beds and corresponding defences but the mice beat us to the ground protection fabric and the butterfly mesh!    Oh, and the bunnies are burrowing in my barn! 

Frugaldom

CraftyLittleLisa said:

Its been a while since I posted on here.  I haven't been spending as much money as usual which is not surprising.  I'm still struggling a little to get into a routine but I guess I will get there eventually.  A few frugal things have happened to me over the last 3 weeks:

- I got given some plants to put in my garden.

- I used some half empty packets of baking ingredients to make flapjacks,

- I baked some fruit as it was past its best and had it as pudding over a couple of days.

- I turned some old courgettes into courgette cake.

- I discovered some potatoes that had started to shoot so I have put them in some soil to see if I can get a harvest from them later this year.

- I tidied up the edges of my allotment plot and path with bricks and slabs I had stored behind my shed at the allotment.

- To stock up my compost I sorted my compost heap to take out the compost that was ready to be used.

- I have done an inventory of my fridge and freezer to make sure I know what I have so I can do proper meal planning.

- I have also compiled a list of jobs that I can do over the lockdown period that don't need supplies.  Hopefully they will keep me going until the lockdown starts to ease and I can get supplies again.

- I've started running again and doing Youtube yoga classes to keep myself mobile whilst I cannot go to my usual exercise classes.

I think that is pretty much all the frugal things I have done.  Not much of a list I suppose but its something.

That is a fabulous, frugal list, Lisa! Well done!   It;s great that gardening and allotments are allowed to be done during lockdown. Perhaps we'll see a lot more of them being regularly harvested now many more people have witnessed the benefits.

Frugaldom

Good luck, FrankieM! I'm sure there are many people now on lockdown with husband, partners, family members who aren't normally cooped up 23/7 and trying to adapt. Makes you wonder how any strained or 'it's complicated' type relationships are doing. Can't be easy acclimatising to enforced close proximity nor can it be easy for those who choose not to co-habit, as they won't even be able to meet up during this time. What a crazy world.

mumtoomany

New arrivals again today, pictures just for you frugaldom. Two more ram lambs.

patentgirl

Hello everyone
Love the photos I am enjoying having time to do things I never normally get time to do like knitting finishing off couple projects started ages ok jigsaw puzzles on my 4th totally relaxing, gardening got lots of seeds on the go,baking and cooking don't think we have ever ate so well put on few pounds though. I am still working 20 hours a week supplying meals on wheels and shopping service's etc DH and DD3 at home. We are trying to use small businesses for food still. Overall we are saving more money watching our accounts grow at moment only downside that so many people have died or fighting for their lives. Keep safe everyone.

mumtoomany

Hi all, very quiet on here. Crazy today. Three grandchildren under six. Homeschooling, lambing, (another ewe lamb at lunch time) cooking cleaning etc. 
Frugal wise, just got a delivery of dishwasher tablets. £35 something for 500, on ebay. Lasts me a while. Started the present load on 23rd August, have around eight left. Dishwasher is on at least twice a day. Seven pence each, Lidl's are just over eight pence each. Looking after the pennies. Hope this of some use to someone. Mumtoomany

nannygladys

Hi everyone, I know I haven't been on the boards for an age, no real reason why but I think I fell down the you tube hole instead! Anyway, all is well here, life is continuing more or less normally. I only shop once a fortnight and on the day I go I catch up on everything outside the house, so I don't go out any other time. I have been doing some strange home baking, and some strange meals to eat everything fresh up but I quite enjoy the challenges! I have been doing lots of left over yarn sock knitting and sewing bits and bobs as well, but I haven't been to the lottie for a while, as I have to travel quite a way and to be honest Im very nervous about it. I have grown the usual veggies at home and potted them all up and they will need to go down for planting but Im very apprehensive/anxious about it - a problem I must get over. 
My life hasn't changed a great deal at the moment as Im retired and live on my own, my dds keep in touch by phone and I speak regularly with the dgc as well, but I do miss seeing them and also just going out for a wander round somewhere - first world problems as many people don't have half of what we have in this country, even with lockdown. 
Sorry this wasn't meant to be a pity party, all I can say is the frugalness continues!!!. Keep safe and well everyone.
Nannyg

Frugaldom

Thanks for sharing your lamb photos, mumtoomany

Patentgirl, you are doing really well between your meal deliveries, home cooking, crafting, baking and gardening! Well done with all of those things and the savings pot growing!   

Welcome back, NannyG! It's good to heard from you again. I do think this lockdown can be of benefit to many on the homefront, although I can see the problem with travelling to the allotment. However, the current guidelines clearly stated that tending allotments is permissible when done so in a sensible manner and allowing for social distancing. It may do you the world of good getting to sort it out before any weeds try to take over.

Day to day life contnues as usual here. I have hardly set foot in any shops or supermarkets this year at all, only the local village store for absolute basics. I had a supermarket delivery towards the end of January but since then, milk and basics have come from the village store. It's twice the price of big chain supermarkets but we are living on simple homecooked meals and as a weekend treat, we have a frozen pizza between us for lunch (£1.50)

Gardening is in full swing, seeds are germinating, potatoes are growing, fruit trees budding & blooming, and the new raised beds all need filling so that's the job we are currently doing. H made a total of 6 oblong beds then I made a triangular one to plant up as a rockery type herb garden. I've planted edible hedging along the far side

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Hang on in there, everyone - save your money and your sanity, help support tose who have never had to face frugal living or restricted lifestyles and look for a positive in everything. Meanwhile, the sun continues to shine and summer is fast approaching. 

Siebrie

I am loving the good weather! Today is a bit overcast, which will be good for working on my new veg bed. Husband has dug over a 2mx0,5m grassbed/former flowerbed. I need to remove the weed roots, put the old rabbit hutch on it, and then fill that with peas/mangetouts/white cabbage/kale. We don't have rabbits at the moment, and I don't want to go to a store for netting for the peas to climb up on and to protect the cabbages against birds.

The mizuna has been moved from their pot to an existing veg bed. Slowlyslowly.

The grapes husband bought last week were from India, I'm not sure we ever had grapes from India before.... Tunisia, Greece, Spain, etc, yes, but India? I'll have to pay more attention to my grapevine this year; it usually gives lovely sweet dark blue grapes, but they are small and have sharp pips. More pruning of grape bunches, perhaps? Thinning out both the number of bunches and the number of grapes on the bunch? It was an aldi buy several years ago. Friends have a large white vine that gives hugely large bunches without any input from them, so I'm thinking I just have the wrong vine.

Frugaldom

Good evening, frugalers. Hope everyone is keeping busy and able to make the most of the prolonged dry, hot spell. It's beginning to get a bit too long for us as our water supply is fast runnng out and the stream isnt much more than a trickle in the pony field.

Mostly gardening here, preparing raised beds for seedlings graduating from their makeshift cold frames. On the topic of vines, I have a blue and a white grape vine but they haven't been growing for long enough to get grapes - like you, Siebrie, I think I need to pay them more atention. I also have a hardy kiwi, which has started growing again but not sure what they like or should be fed as I haven't done much research into them. The vines are all discounted buys from a couple of years ago.

Potatoes all up and the buckets are now all filled to the brim so we'll see what gets produced from them. Some were donated seed potatoes, others were potatoes from the kitchen that were left to sprout / chit. I've plenty of seeds through now but won't rush them going into veg beds as previous years here have seen the temperatures drop below zero as late as mid-May; it isn't too late yet for a winter spell. 

Not spending much other than on basic electricity, gas cylinders, telephone / Internet, insurances, car costs, mobile and groceries. Council tax has increasd slightly, as has mobile. Interest rates on savings aren't worth even mentioning as they are so low so I am persisting in keeping some funds in Premium Bonds in case I get lucky.  I wonder if fuel costs will reduce now that the oil prices have completely collapsed? Anyone got oil central heating?