2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Living_proof

@MazzieD How greedy that lady was! I have never seen anyone take more than one Lidl box, and most people seem to turn their nose up at them. I have ended up giving 30 onions away on Olio from the last box, as I already have more than enough. A friend works in a warehouse where there is a staff shop where goods are sold at a fraction of their normal price and was horrified to see that one worker took all 9 Fajita kits (usually about £2) at the price of 50p for two. I think they will have to enforce a limit of two or three items each or World War Three will break out there.

frostie101

Thanks @roblou27
In bed at the moment with a chest infection and just spent the last two hours watching 'What Vivi did Next.'
Can't wait till I can get the sewing machine out.
Have got all my mums old buttons in a tin somewhere just got to find them have  a jacket that a change of buttons will perk up.
Can't wait until we can get back to charity shops and look for some bargains. 
Stay safe everyone. 

annieb64

Just watched her on Youtube. Very interesting.  Not sure I'd be brave enough  to give up my job but hope she manages to carry on.

Viking_mfw

If you have the Nectar app worth checking because they've got a "juicy boost" where you can get some of the points you would have got if you'd used all the vouchers you could have, if you see what I mean. I got 220 which is £1.10 worth. 

tryingtodobetter

Viking_mfw said:

If you have the Nectar app worth checking because they've got a "juicy boost" where you can get some of the points you would have got if you'd used all the vouchers you could have, if you see what I mean. I got 220 which is £1.10 worth. 

Thank you, I just got 400 points 

[Deleted User]

Evening frugal friends

I am pleased to report that we haven’t spent anything at all this week. I went to the local food waste share last night and got absolutely loads of things, which will last us for a week at least. Our hens are laying well and we get around 3 eggs a day at the moment.

I took the children and dog for a long walk earlier, and we collected lots of sticks and other bits of wood for the fire. Decided not to light it today as we didn’t get home until after 4, and by the time I’d cooked tea etc it was kiddies bedtime with hot water bottles. I’m in bed now with the electric blanket on, lovely and snug. 

I made a huge batch of chilli in the slow cooker and padded it out with loads of chick peas and kidney beans, looking forward to eating that.

Tomorrow I am walking to a friend’s who has been saving wine corks for me; they make fab fire lighters when they’ve been left to dry.

Frugaldom

Living_proof said:

I recently took swab tests for the Imperial College survey, assessing the Covid infection in the population overall. The worst part, by the way, was constructing the box required to send it back - like something out of the Krypton Factor. One of the questions on the survey asked that if you found you had an unexpected but necessary expense of £850, would you have the resources to pay it? It has bothered me that the specific amount was mentioned - do you thing the Government is going to slap us with some sort of bill in the future and they are trying to assess what sort of amount would be reasonable? Or maybe I am just cynical.

Like you, I would also be wondering about the £850 figure and the reasons for asking such a question in the first place. I can just see the spin on the resulting findings though, rolled out on some TV documentary and as headline news, something along the lines of "79% of the population have less than £850 in emergency savings". This is purely made up on my part as a bit of a cynical joke but it does make me wonder. 

Frugaldom

Good evening frugal folks, I'm on another very late night catch-up so can only apologise for not posting more often and responding to individual posts. I, too, use containers f all shapes and sizes as we did a container garden challenge a few years ago. Over the years I've collected all sorts but found free is definitely best. Posting on any of the free ads sites usually nets loads of pots but I now also use farm tubs of various sizes - most contained sheep or cattle vitamin / mineral licks and range in size from 2kg right up to 80kg so the biggest ones are deep enough for carrots. And then there's the milk carton gardening that one of our fellow frugalers introduced some years ago - I still call mine 'Mishy-pods'. They are great! Not sure this link will work but here are some of mine at Frugaldom. 
I have to add here that since we first began using the milk cartons, the quality of the plastic used in manufacturing them has changed to the point that you only get a year or 2 from them before they go brittle and start falling to pieces. I'm assuming it is to make them more degradable or recyclable but it's still a cheap way of making a hanging garden for strawberries, salad leaves, herbs, peas, cherry tomatoes, spring onions and even a few radishes. I really like pod gardening and will continue using them. I hang mine on broom handles as the garden canes snap too easily. 

MazzieD

@Frugaldom I totally agree that free is best, but I'm banging my head against a brick wall with Covid,  I'm looking at all options but not rushing or wanting to spend much, I'm keeping an eye on the Free adverts on Gumtree as well.  I've just re-joined Olio for the Non food section in case any containers come up.  

Apart from lack of space, i was planning on getting concrete slabs removed to have a very small veg plot.  This is still my preferred option so containers/large plant pots may well be a short term solution but would be good to have some anyway as most of the garden is concrete/slabs.  It will have to be a very limited number of veg in any case as I want to see how it goes.  I'm delaying planting any seeds indoors partly due to the weather but I will need to start planning potting them on.  My garden was designed for the previous owner who had mobility problems so its 'low maintenance' (concrete slabs with tiny flower beds and mainly shrubs and bushes).

Walking to Wilko later to have a nose.  I'm very good at looking but not buying and then going back after I've had a look round elsewhere.  I like to see what size things are in real life, I usually do this before buying online as well.

Shopaholic_no_more

Green Renaissance on YouTube.....a self funded channel by the most incredible film maker.....so inspiring and makes you appreciate the things that are so important in this life. Watching these videos also helps me get a kick up the backside to get rid of this debt. Hopefully, it may inspire others too. Happy Friday everyone ❤️