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

missymoo81

Just caught up! You’re doing so well.
i love all the little things you’re doing to try and cut costs. I too have started turning things off at the socket. And we now have a duvet that lives in the lounge to keep us warm on colder nights. Keep up your amazing work.

Elisheba

Hi @missymoo81 Good t see you!  Its amazing the difference turning everything off at the wall is making.  I double checked on my energy bill and the electric this month is about half to a third less than it was last July and August when I was away looking after my injured mother for almost the two whole months! And so much less carbon into the atmosphere as well 

Elisheba

Morning all.  New week, new start!

I think today should be a NSD.  I'm working all day, and then over to a friends for coffee in the evening after dinner and dog walk.  

I remembered to cancel my free audible subscription today, the Tails.com subscription, the Kindle Unlimited subscription and the 3 months for a tenner subscription I got on Spotify when i was being less frugal before Xmas.  I also renewed my library books, so all that should keep the wolf from the door.

Food wise I have some mushroom soup and some veggie mince that need using today so all meals will be based around them. 

I noticed that Aldi now have a click and collect service,  As its a fiver a go i won't be using it, but it is nice to be able to check food prices online now.  i am now out of amrmite and good coffee, but I don't need them urgently so they can go on the list for next months shop (depending on what I decide to do about Lent.  Although i can justify marmite as essential, not sure i can with coffee!).

Hope everyone had a good day. I am spending a lot of time dreaming about my future cottage in the country right now, with the wood burning stove and and a garden and maybe a bit of land.  Ideally I'll have alpacas, goats and chickens - although they might have to wait for early retirement!  I'm thinking I can learn how to spin the alpacas fleece and knit thermal undergarments!  Maybe I will learn some pottery.  I can find out how to milk the goats and make cheese with it, so with the milk and cheese and eggs all my 'dairy' needs will be most met  .  I never want to actually really on it for self sufficiency - self sufficiency sounds insanely hard (see books by Simon Dawkins to see what i mean) but t would be nice to have some home produced produce.

Ah well, head down, chin up, and onwards I march.  I'll get there at some point!

missymoo81

Loving the sound of your cottage and retired life. Sounds positively lovely. It really helps to have a goal doesn’t it.

Elisheba

Bit of a frugal fail today with food. The mushroom soup was fine, but the veggie mince had gone bad - which I only realised after adding some potatoes and having it heat in the slow cooker all afternoon! And I can't even give it to my dog because it has onions in it. What a waster and how annoying. I must do better - there are people starving, not to mention its money in the bin.

Had tea and homemade cake around at someone's house tonight, and to be honest I wasn't hungry anyway. I had soup, bread, and a big portion of apple crumble with Greek yogurt for lunch and that really filled me up. So the ruined dinner wasn't a problem for me in itself, just a waste.

I must try and remember to zap my receipts tomorrow, and post my brother's birthday card. I need to buy butter so might walk to Tesco's. I was also thinking, what with it being hard to get basic white bread flour right now, that if I'm following my current system I should probably buy wholemeal anyway. No food that doesn't pull its weight with nutrition. So maybe I'll buy some brown bread flour and make a loaf and some rolls sometime soon. 

sunshine_raincloud

Just wanted to say I have been reading through your diary and loving all the frugal tips! My cat is exceptionally spoilt- thinking now I should probably try to save more on cheaper brand of cat food for him but worried he has got used to the finer things in life! Anyway, thanks for all the great money-saving tips and keep going! 

Elisheba

Oh thanks @sunshine_raincloud. I was thinking the other day I should probably read through my diary again and remind myself of some of the frugal tips I've found  .
With cats, they are a bit of a law unto themselves aren't they? Mine won't eat any shop brand cat food, and won't eat biscuits and they insist on using cat litter despite having a cat flap   They have been eating Butchers Classic for years now so I'm pretty confident to bulk buy it, but honestly you never know with them! 

Elisheba

Morning all,

Okay so the big money saving news today, and you are going to think I am mad as a hatter, and I'm not sure I am not, but... I am going to give reusable toilet wipes a go....

It came up on one of the frugal threads recently, and having never even thought about it before at first I was like 'Hell, no'.  But then someone pointed out that it was no worse than reusable nappies, which I thought was was a very good point. Then I thought, well it really wouldn't save much money as being on my own its not like I use much loo roll.  Anyway it has been bubbling in the back on my mind, and I googled it to find out how it would work and came across this post which seemed to explain it all very well https://www.frugallivingnw.com/reusable-cloth-toilet-paper-faqs/

So, its a soft launch for now.  I have an old plastic bucket with a lid that seals that I have put in my bathroom and my dog can't get into, and I have loads of old napkins I don't need that I have piled in there as well.  So the first test will be if my dog leaves all of it alone - if he doesn't its over because it just won't work.  Then  it will be on to the testing phase - are there any problems, is there any smell, how many cloths will I need, how often will they need washed, do they work, do they wash well and on what temperature? 

So I will see how I get on with all of that, and if it does seem to be working out, then I can cut the napkins into quarters, and I have some old clothes I can cut up as well to make enough cloths.  Hopefully the whole experiment will cost nothing as I think I have all I need to hand, and I might sprinkle some bicarb in the bucket but I have a massive tub of that so that's okay.

To be honest the main drive for this isn't money saving for me , its environmental.  I buy Lidl basic rolls just now at £1.97 for 6, and I use maybe one of 2 packets a month I think.  So that's between a £2 - £4 a month savings, or or £24 to £48 a year saving which isn't massive.  However, those rolls are not environmentally friendly  and if I used more eco-friendly recycled, plastic free rolls they are £3.30 a packet.  This is a way to be more environmentally friendly and save money rather than spend more.  I also like the idea of not being reliant on supermarkets for these basic necessities.  After the great loo roll shortages of 2020 I would prefer to be self sufficient in this regard rather than be vulnerable to panic buying.

And there is a saving to be made, of course.  One of vlogs I have been watching lately says to treat all savings the same, whether pennies or pounds (only they used American money), so its another shaving off the grocery bill (if it works out!).

The proviso to this is that I will keep a few rolls in the house for when friends are are over! To be honest I don't think I'll really tell anyone other than on here where I am anonymous, as I can't be bothered with all the disbelief and even possible rants I would received from people who think it is going far too far    

sunshine_raincloud

Elisheba said:

With cats, they are a bit of a law unto themselves aren't they? 

Couldn't have said it better myself! My boy randomly decided he didn't like previous brand he was eating one flavour at a time and will only eat dry food if he is desperate and I have ignored his miaows for more wet food. He also wanders around outside for a bit then comes back in and uses his litter tray... but he brings me so much happiness I let him do as he pleases! 

I have just done some quick maths though and seen that if I swap him from current sachets to even just tinned food I will save £140 per year! I might buy a few tins and see if I can do a slow transition as you suggested. 

Elisheba

Its amazing how much of a con the cat food sachet are @sunshine_raincloud Its a pet peeve of mine!  how marketing got us to accept less for more. Amazing really!