Frugal, thrifty, make do, mend! Let this debt come to an end!

Makingabobor2

Definitely take your phone with you when you go out. Just have it in your bag for emergencies. I know people managed before phones, but it always makes me feel safer when out alone, especially as I've got older. 
I am starting from today with NOT doom scrolling on FB and just using it for my exercise group. Also not checking the news so often. 

I write my bin collection days on a calendar stuck on front of fridge. 

Elisheba

Very quickly popping on here to say I have started a new thread on the Old Style board for tips and tricks on how to reuse whatever we can.  Please do share your ideas and tips -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6607863/reusing-and-repurposing-frugal-ideas-and-tips-on-how-to-reuse-and-repurpose-virtually-everything#latest

foxgloves

Yes, I agree re always having a mobile phone with us when going out. It doesn't mean we have to keep using it for all the frustrating thieves of time like social media (& in my case, being a shocking news junkie). Surprisingly, I first bought a mobile phone before Mr F, who is a much greater lover of gadgets & gizmos than I, but the thing which tipped me into being a relatively early adopter was my personal safety. My car had recently broken down meaning a mile walk in silly shoes to phone for breakdown help, then there followed an evening when I took a taxi home in the early hours & felt very uncomfortable in the presence of the driver, so much so that I asked to be dropped off a couple of streets away from my home so that he wouldn't know where I lived. On the digital detox stuff though, I am absolutely with you, @Elisheba. It's the way scrolling along gobbles up our time that's the problem. Recently. I've been cutting down on this a little simply by asking myself (when about to disappear into a load of comments or something about somebody's dog or new kitchen or the latest uneducated political spewings-forth)....would I read this if it was an article in a newspaper or a book? And I wouldn't, because I wouldn't have sufficient interest, so I'm finding this quite a good way of putting my phone down. Still HEAPS of room for improvement on this though!
F

Makingabobor2

Elisheba said:

Very quickly popping on here to say I have started a new thread on the Old Style board for tips and tricks on how to reuse whatever we can.  Please do share your ideas and tips -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6607863/reusing-and-repurposing-frugal-ideas-and-tips-on-how-to-reuse-and-repurpose-virtually-everything#latest

Great idea. I will pop over and subscribe. 

Elisheba

Evening, chums,

Thank you for all your comments. They are really interesting and I'll try to reply to them properly tomorrow.

Well, the best laid plans and all that. Tried to do the remaining Scout training this evening after Beavers but the website wasn't working 🙄. I still have tomorrow to finish it by, so hopefully the website will be working by then or else I'll need to get onto the phone to someone. They suspend my membershipnif I miss the deadlines.

Other than that it has been a good day. Work was fairly productive. I got a washing done, and hung out on the line this morning, and it was dry by this evening so I have brought it in, but not out it away as yet.

It was another NSD day so that was good. NSDs are so much easier when you've decided you don't need anything and consumerism is a con 🤣.

Lunch was berries, nuts and yogurt. Then a couple of squares of 85% chocolate and a big bite of smoked cheddar before Beavers, and 2 boiled eggs and 2 veggie sausages done in the airfrier, with some reduced sugar ketchup, for dinner afterwards. Not very good on the veg front but it was a busy day.

Stepwise I'm just over 10k for the day, and I did climb a hill at lunch time walking silly dog so that's extra healthy 😆. 

Poor silly dog wasn't himself at all today. He threw up his entire breakfast, tried to eat it again, and then threw that up as well. Poor silly dog, he really is very silly indeed. Not quite his energetic self all day, but he did enjoy his walk although he ate some grass so obviously his stomach still wasn't quite right. He ate dinner fine and kept it down, so hopefully whatever it is has sorted itself out. No problems with toileting so I'm not sure if it's something he has eaten or not. 

I saw a caravan for £230 for a week in North Devon in October for me and silly dog, and was very tempted by it as it's after a busy period for me. I've just realised I'm already away the second weekend though so I'll have to leave it this time. It's very cheap again in March and April next year, so maybe a break then. If the weather is terrible I can just read for the week!

So tomorrow the plan is to get this Scout training done first thing, and get the whole house hoovered at some point. The hoover is in the charger preparing itself for it's duty. Lunch will be berries, nuts and yogurt again. I've decided to try my hand at making yogurt again as that will save quite a bit of money with the amount eat, but that will be later on in the week when I've finished what I have already got. Dinner will be cauliflower pizza using the base I made at the weekend that's in the fridge. I didn't like the recipe I used this time nearly as much as I liked the previous one, so I'll go back to that next time I make it. Oh, and I've also decided I'm going to attempt making some sugar free ginger cordial at some point soon, so if that works out it'll keep me off the UPF squashes which I do admit I have a weakness for.

I have a church group tomorrow night, so after dinner it'll pretty much be straight out to that, then straight to bed when I get in. Haven't made much progress with current book, The Shellseekers, today and likely won't make much tomorrow either.

I have been quite busy this evening organising some social activities with friends in the upcoming weeks, so I'm looking forward to those. 

Right, time for me to go to sleep I think. I do hope Monday has been kind to you all. 

weenancyinAmerica

When the Shellseekers first came out, I was traveling in Virginia with a friend of mine. We went to visit an historic house and were there too early. So we noticed that the garden shop was open and went in there. An author was setting up her books for her book signing that day. We sat and talked with her about being an author (we both wrote genealogy books - much easier than fiction) and helped set up her remaining books while we were at it. We each bought one and she autographed it for us. We went on the tour of the house and when we came out, there was a line out the door of garden center and out the gate of the historic house and then down the block waiting to get her autograph - from Rosamunde Pilcher! We had really enjoyed our talk with her - which started because one of my mother's ancestors was also named Pilcher. 

angela110660

Gosh meeting Rosamunde Pilcher was amazing Nancy. I have met Bill Bryson and Elly Griffiths at events and both were lovely. Your genealogy books sound very interesting too. 

weenancyinAmerica

I get to meet a lot of authors at our meetings. Used to be able to meet up with a number of English Genealogists too - like Michael Gandy and Colin Chapman. Went to several Ulster Historical Foundation events also. I was nice to get around and see people. It seems like a long time ago now - over 20 years since my last trip to England. Time is moving too fast.

Elisheba

Good afternoon, frugal friends,

@weenancyinAmerica How fab, meeting Rosamunde Pilcher, all unknowing, and having a good chat!  

All is going well at Elisheba Cottage.  I get paid tomorrow so that is the start of the new financial month for me, but everything is already totted up for May.  Although the food budget is much better than it was in April, it is still a far sight off where I want it to be so my June focus is going to be keeping that reined in.  I think a big saver for me will be making my own yogurt again, so I really need to get onto that.  It won't be this weekend though as I am almost chockablock the whole weekend.

I was feeling very bleurgh indeed over the bank holiday weekend, so although I had nothing planned I didn't get any of the house activities done that I wanted. Just read silly romances all weekend  .  However I am feeling much more the thing now, so I am back on track. Over the last couple of days I have been cleaning our my office/spare room a bit.  I now have a big pile of notepads with paper still in them ready to be used, have cleared all my attempts at journaling over the years in to a pile and stored them away, have sorted out most of the stray wires I have collected, organised the shelves a bit and given the desk a good clean.  

This afternoon on my lunch break I attacked the 2 fitted wardrobes in my bedroom.  I've pulled out all the junk in the bottom and will get it sorted out into mending, rags, sell, charity shop or bin. I have no idea what I will do with the rag pile as I don't do any quilting and very little sewing. I may end up sending most of it to the by weight fabric recycling, but at least I will have it all in one pile! I have also sorted out some clothes I want to sell, so will get them and the charity shop clothes all washed over the weekend and aim to get them listed next week.

Silly dog was walked this morning before work, so after work I am going to hoover downstairs, make dinner (scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms (as I don't like omelette) probably with a garden salad including some dandelion leaves I pulled up from the garden this morning), and then I am going to sit and read the new Barbara Kingsolver book I got from the library yesterday about how she ate locally for a year and try and inspire myself. 

I am very torn between spending more on fruit and veg and buying from the local greengrocers, or being as frugal as possible and buying frozen where possible from budget supermarkets. I do feel that while I am in debt I should be as frugal as possible, but when do I start being as eco as possible?  I manage the debt with no problem now and I have some savings, so is it now?.   Is it when the debt has gone? Or when I have achieved buying a house? There is no right answer obviously, and I don't know in my own head when I will be comfortable with the switch so I'll just have to keep thinking about it.

Weight loss wise I made up a chart with lots of targets - so 5%, 10%, 1 stone, 1/3 of way to target, etc., and wrote down what weight in kg I'll need to be to achieve them all.  By next week or the week after I should be 1/4 of the way to my ultimate target, so that feels very positive.  I'm hoping by this time next year I'll be the BMI I want to be, and hopefully all the diabetes blood tests will come back in the clear as well. 

I'm getting a bit concerned about flabby skin with the amount of weight I need to lose.  I have noticed my chin skin (I have always had a bit of a double chin) is looking a bit wattled now I've lost some weight, which I'm not hugely happy about.   I was hoping I would have another 10 years before I needed to worry about that sort of thing.  So I have googled if there is anything I can do and other than staying hydrated, wearing sun screen to prevent damage, etc. the only actual cream that seems any use is body cream with retinol in it, so I am contemplating buying some.  There are some reasonably priced bottles out there so I will mull it over.  

I'm still digital detoxing and I am loving it.  I normally check my messages about dinner time, and will quickly check my phone in the morning as well to see if there is anything urgent/any banking etc., that needs to be done.  It is just meaning that all the little bits of time that I would previously be checking my phone I am now doing something a bit more useful with, or actually relaxing.  I feel more productive, and less stressed and will be keeping on with it.

I hope everyone is doing well.  It is much more tea and jumper weather now than lovely and sunny, but I heard on the radio at least one area is worried about drought so its for the best, no doubt.  

foxgloves

It's an interesting question about lowest fruit/veg prices V wanting to be more ethical/eco. Do you have a local market? Or even somewhere where there is a weekly greengrocer stall? (One of our local cities has a Saturday greengrocer stall with a huge range & well-priced) Am just thinking these should be cheaper than a shop as market stall rents will have lower overheads. An advantage of greengrocers/markets is that everything is more likely to be loose, so if your list says you need 2 onions, 2 bananas, 2 apples, a lettuce & 150g of mushrooms for a recipe, you can buy in these small quantities. I often visit our local farm market stall in town & ask for just a single leek if that's all I need. Do you have any outdoor space for a growing a couple of troughs of cut & come again leaves such as 'Salad bowl' lettuce for some easy-grow fresh salad stuff? On some things, frozen does work out much cheaper. I'm enjoying mixed berries with kefir, yoghurt & nuts for lunches atm & buying all the different types of berries fresh each week would work out as more expensive than I'm really prepared to pay, though I might buy one type if they are on offer. Pick your own fruit farms can be worth a go but you'd still need to freeze them if you found it was enough of a money saver to go for a bulk picking. I think if more people knew that blackberries are as nutritious & packed with polyphenols as the much hyped (& usually imported & in plastic containers) blueberry, there'd be a whole lot more folk heading out to the hedgerows with buckets!
We've been moving to a more sustainable lifestyle from when we started debt-busting, really, but have taken it at a pace which is achievable, replacing a few products each year with better alternatives, while accepting that there are some price differentials which are too significant for us to swap atm. Don't forget though that a frugal lifestyle can in itself be a very sustainable one because the greenest products available are always going to be those things you choose not to buy. 
F x