2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Kerry_Woman

Just want to say many thanks for the suggestions.  Much appreciated.  Will look into them.

[Deleted User]

Hi folks, I am continuing to find my way back to my frugal self and enjoying it.  Before lockdown last year I had set myself the task of not buying any more books and making use of my local library.  Well not being able to access the library for most of last year put paid to that so I got back into old habits again.  I did a big book purchase in January and that will be my last this year.  With that in mind, I recently did an order from the local library as you can now sort of  'click and collect'.    I have just finished one of the books I got from there and I really enjoyed it.  

I have loved reading about everyone's March motivation.  I have set myself a bit of a stretch goal to have a certain amount saved by the time I retire, in about 7 years.  The only way I will make this goal is by working a frugal lifestyle.  My planned spends are done for March so the rest of the month should be NSDs besides groceries.  In truth I have plenty at home to keep me occupied - baking and cooking, books, the garden to make a start on getting it tidied for the new season and just good old fashioned conversation with OH.  

the_cross_rabbit

mummy2cheeckymonkeys, my daughter wore nappies till she was 9 due to disabilities. I can’t remember what age she was but roughly around 4 and our health visitor managed to get us free nappies on prescription. Might be worth a chat.
had a go a making our own flatbreads to go with our curry. They were edible but not pretty looking. Will freeze the left overs for another day. 

CRx

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

the_cross_rabbit said:

mummy2cheeckymonkeys, my daughter wore nappies till she was 9 due to disabilities. I can’t remember what age she was but roughly around 4 and our health visitor managed to get us free nappies on prescription. Might be worth a chat.
had a go a making our own flatbreads to go with our curry. They were edible but not pretty looking. Will freeze the left overs for another day. 

CRx

Thank you. Yes my eldest has just started getting these after he turned 4. They give you 4 per day but unfortunately he really suffers with his bowel movements and some days he can go through 4 in an hour so I am still needing to buy lots. My youngest is in them as well but as he has just turned 3 does not qualify yet. 

the_cross_rabbit

We had the same issue so kept nagging them to give me more, which they eventually did. Good luck. 

CRx

elbree

Deleted_User said:

Hi frugal friends,
I haven't posted for a while, work has been very busy and I am still frugalling along. My greatest expense over the past couple of months has been heating; even with the woodburner I am using the GCH more. When I don't get home from work until gone 4pm, by the time the woodburner has heated the downstairs through properly it's bedtime (I go up early with a cuppa to read). Also, the price of logs has jumped by £10 a bag from my usual supplier, and I only have a few left so I am using the woodburner at weekends only. I am totally out of free wood. 

Still sticking to an all in budget after bills of £40 per week for food and anything else we need (which isn't much!). I haven't spent any money since Friday, and will be fine until this Friday at which point I will get around £15 of bits from the butcher. The hens are laying well, we get between 5-6 eggs a day, I just need to get better at baking! 

All in all, savings are going very well, I personally cannot wait for our library to open again as I hate buying new books. Take care one and all x

I read a lot too and was gutted when the libraries closed. In the first lockdown I set myself the challenge of rereading all the books I had and then either selling or keeping them, but I've kind of done that now 🤔. Thinking I might sign up to a free month of Kindle Unlimited....

Bluegreen143

Wraithlady said:

Bluegreen143 said:

Can’t wait for my seeds to come! You are all making me jealous!

We ordered online a few weeks ago and they keep emailing to say they are delayed and we really want to get certain things planted (chillies & tomatoes mainly, in Scotland so have to be careful not to plant other stuff too early).

I got a free pack of tomatoes with my seed order - it's labelled as 'tombola' which I think is a sort of pot luck packet.
You're quite welcome to them if you wish

Oh that’s so kind of you! I’m hoping that they should be here in the next week anyway now 🤞🏼 As they said that everything would be arriving within 28 days and that will be then. Just annoying as it was supposed to be arriving right away when we ordered and we thought we were all organised. Thank you so much for the kind offer though x

gran3

Check your local library . They have online borrowing, the app in Hampshire is Borrowbox and its really good, you can reserve a book if its already 'out'. You can also renew if you are a slower reader.

Wraithlady

@Bluegreen143, just let me know if you want them. 

marionmgcars

I love to read, but during lockdown I have downloaded talking books from out local library and they use Borrow Box and RBDigital.  both are great.  I usually have my bluetooth headphones on so can listen while cooking, or when I'm sitting knitting.