2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Living_proof

MazzieD said:

Living_proof said:

Welcome @retiredinfrance and I hope you have fun in your budget challenge!
@MazzieD I am sorry you didn't manage to get a box - it is almost the highlight of my week and I will go first thing tomorrow. I am close to two Lidl stores so my chances are higher I guess. I did get a Spar Magic Box yesterday, from the Too Good to Go app. but as I expected the majority of the contents was more suited to my omnivore friend. However, very much worth the £3.09 I paid for it and we help each other out with food all the time. The LIdl boxes are generally my best buy and some of their Vegan reductions, like Houmous and Felafel, salad bags and kale, etc. If only they offered a short-dated red wine, I would be a very happy bunny!

Quite by chance I went past at 8.15 this morning, dashed in as noticed they had 6 boxes and discovered they were all empty, it seems they now put them out later in the morning so I just need to adjust my timing!.  

Yes, I went in early today and the boxes hadn't been prepared but the reduced section was full to the brim. They are now pricing at 20p and 90p but generally I just go for the salad bags and houmous at 20p. I don't eat meat but noticed there were masses of joints and cuts reduced by 30%, so worth stocking up your freezer if you do like meat. Lots of bread and buns at 20p too.

zafiro1984

Deleted_User said:

GARDENING- as a complete novice who wants to grow spuds and raspberries this year, please could someone give me some basic advice on how to start? I am utterly clueless in the garden. DD and I eat absolutely loads of berries so this would save a fortune in summer.  

I try to grow as much as possible and eat with the seasons. I'm pretty well self sufficient in  vegetables, but I do have a couple of polytunnels which helps. This is how I grow potatoes and raspberries

Potatoes:- I use the no dig  method. 1) choose a piece of land, cut back the grass but no need to weed. 2) cover with a thick layer of newspapers, I use the empty feed bags from my poultry and horses. Space out your potatoes (I use the certified virus free ones but I know people who use the sprouted supermarket ones). 3) Cover with about 15cms of hay/straw or anything like that. Then cover the whole lot with about 6cms of good soil or compost. 4) When the green foliage emerges leave it until it's about 30cms high, then cover again, just leaving the tips showing, with more hay/straw followed by more soil. You can repeat the layers a few more times. I usually do it about four times - water well. Harvesting is really easy and the ground once bare of tubers is a really good base to grow other things next year.

raspberries:- The summer ones give far more of a crop than the autumn fruiting ones. However the summer ones need a lot more attention. They grow to about 6' high need tying to horizontal wires. It's a two year cycle. Canes grow and fruit the following year, they then need cutting out. You then have to tie in the current years growth so they can fruit the following year. - hence a two year cycle - I haven't the time to do all this so I grow the Autumn ones. They grow to about 3' high. They fruit on the canes that have grown that year. Books say to cut them back to the ground at the end of the year but I leave them and they grow into a sort of hedge. I get a bigger crop doing it this way as they continue to fruit on the old canes as well as the current years growth.  Yes; you do need to cover the raspberries as birds love them, 

Another good fruit to grow are blackcurrants, you get a good crop for the size of bush. White and red currents give a lesser crop for the space. Try rhubarb, that gives a huge crop if you feed and water it well.

skogar

I am certainly not a gardener but would also recommend the autumn raspberries - they don't need support and are very forgiving. Also I would agree that it is well worth growing black, red and white currants. Black and white currants are almost unobtainable fresh and redcurrants are very expensive to buy. They do take a bit of time to get established but once they do you get lots of fruit for very little effort. Also I agree about the rhubarb - if you like it. Again expensive to buy and because it appears so early in the year it fills a gap when there is no other fruit available in the garden.

moneyonmymindsam

I have just been recommended a channel on YT called what vivi did next 
Just thought I'd mention for those looking for something to watch.

Hope everyone is warm and well, my March seems more challenging than February at the moment but I'm hanging on in there with low spends and my budget. 
Sam x

willow_loulou

Morning all. Chilly but sunny here. 

@Frugaldom I’ve just been gifted some willow cuttings, I’ve just popped them in water as google offered too many options of what to do. Please can you tell me how you deal with them. 

I’m hopeful of shutting out the neighbours out front with them. 

My fig is going mad, it’s very happy on my windowsill! I hope it will stay that way until the frosts are past as I can get it outside. I’m on the lookout for a huge pot for it as my garden will be done over the next couple of years and I want to keep it safe until I can plant it where it will stay. (Currently under a pile of broken chicken runs and other stuff waiting for a skip) 

I’ve invested in a thermos coffee cup from the suggestions about keeping water warm, I actually managed to drink a whole coffee this morning! I’m looking for a new kettle now or something easy to connect to the cold tap to heat water. My immersion and water tank are beyond repair and I’m not going to bother to replace what I essentially only use to wash up and wash hands with. 

skint_chick

Frugaldom said:

@skint_chick Isn't it absolutely Baltic in the sea? The water has ice over it in the mornings here and the worst of the winter weather hasn't even visited us in SW Scotland yet (that I'm aware of, and if it even gets here). Brrrrrr... rather you than me!

It's freezing, I went this morning and managed just over 15 minutes. Once you're in and moving about you don't feel as cold, it's the getting in and out that needs to be done very quickly. I feel a bit calmer, and very healthy and virtuous, I had 2 towels wrapped round my body and a hoody over them to drive home. There will be no cycling to go swimming! 

Finally got a day off to get some decluttering and housework done, have to get the shed organised ready for planting some seeds soon. We've finalised our garden plans for this year, and I'm finally going to finish the BBQ stand/bar cart I started last year once it's warm enough to paint the pallets I salvaged.

the_cross_rabbit

Woohoo wild garlic is up. Will give it another week before I go foraging. Need to look up some recipes as I’ve only made pesto with it before.
CRx

t14cy_t

£1.90 spent on milk in tesco. also got gravy graules, used 50p off coupon instore and claimed 65p back with quidco so they cost me 15p. happy day!!

Tightpants24

If you want some free sunflower seeds go on the Nestle website and enter the code BEES for a free pack.  I don't know how many are in the pack but it is FREE! 🥳

Onebrokelady

I've bagged two more NSDs so that's three so far this month I've also made good use of my washing line this week because we have had some sunny windy days 😀