2021 Frugal Living Challenge

MazzieD

Busy morning, up early and off to T*sco to get a couple of bits and my now weekly Wednesday walk to L*dl.  Got a box and it's a really good one, one slightly damaged blood orange skin which I've eaten but apart from that quality is much better than the last one.  It is so much better than frozen but it's a bit hit and miss as to whether I get there due to work commitments during the week, they had some on Saturday but I had blurred vision after eye drops so left it.  I've managed to fit in doing some work this morning as well. 

I'm trying to decide whether to put the F&V boxes in the recycling bin, it seems a pity as they are really strong and quite a good size but no lid.  Wondering if I can re-use them in some way, maybe for storing cleaning materials.
 
Good to see that everyone seems to have had minor side effects to the Oxford vaccine so far.  

willow_loulou

I use strong boxes as storage everywhere. I have one in the car boot for dog items, 3 on my cleaning and other stuff shelves. 4 in my tin store and 3 in my office. I stuck pretty paper I had on the front of the visible ones. 

I also now use 2 when I go shopping rather than bags, especially when self scan shopping. They’re just so useful and I’m keen to reuse until they drop! 

I may use them as Easter baskets and similar throughout the year.  I also was given some mushroom baskets which I’m going to repurpose somehow. I’m hoping to be able to glue them into a stack! 

Tightpants24

I am feeling quite virtuous as I have actually just sold a few of my DDs old school books on ziffit.  A princely sum of £6.03 will be paid once I post them.  Not much but they have been sitting in a box in the spare room for almost 2 years. 😄

Blackcats

Tight pants - every little helps - that's some books de-cluttered and £6.03 coming into your purse.  If you found £6.03 in the street you'd be very pleased!  

I've never managed to get a Lidl f and v box but I'm happy with the price and quality of the fruit and veg compared to my previous supermarket.  I used to spend fortunes on out of season fruit like strawberries that were expensive and tasteless and melons and pineapples that sat decoratively in the fruit bowl until they went rotten because I never got round to cutting them up 🤷‍♀️.  I also had a habit of buying ready prepared, chopped up fruit that was ultra super duper expensive.  I'm embarrassed to think of the waste of food and money.   I try hard now to plan what I need and use up what I've got.  I'm nowhere near as diligent as the people on here but I'm trying and I'm learning.  

elbree

Well done @Tightpants24, feels great to declutter. I did a lot off Zi**it and W*buybooks in lockdown 1. Very satisfying and some pennies for the pot. On my way to school this morning I saw they are opening up a big L*dl just around the corner. I am inordinately excited about this! Probably shows I should get out more 😂. Finally I might know people mean when they talk about the boxes. 

StrawberrySuze

@elbree That is indeed exciting about Lidl, they are my shop of choice, I really don't know how people choose what to buy in the big superstores with their 40000 lines, give me Lidl's with their 1600, even then I find it difficult at times! (I just looked those figures up!)

zafiro1984

I also use strong boxes a lot. I use them to move plants about, to store vegetables that don't need a fridge like potatoes and when they are past their usability they go on the compost heap if cardboard or in the woodburner is wooden.

Spent an hour or so this morning moving logs about, did four buggy runs with its back full of logs. All went into the covered trailer to dry for next winter - then my back started to hurt so stopped doing logs for today, but there're is still plenty more to move. 

Trying hard not to shop and to use what is in the freezers so that when my seeds have been planted out and started to crop there will be plenty of room in the freezers, also it gives me an opportunity to defrost and clean them.

Does anyone know when the hen lockdown will be lifted?  I've looked on the gov website and think it's still in place. They are occupying the the polytunnels at the moment (more space than their houses) but I want to start planting in the beds asap. 

This drive to save money, recycle and be frugal takes quite a lot of time and energy. I can understand why people use a tumble dryer, turn up the central heating and use ready meals. it's hard to resist but so far so good.

[Deleted User]

zafiro1984 said:

This drive to save money, recycle and be frugal takes quite a lot of time and energy. I can understand why people use a tumble dryer, turn up the central heating and use ready meals. it's hard to resist but so far so good.

Morning 🙂
I agree and found this the case at first, it does get easier as time passes. I've found winter much harder than summer, mainly due the volume of work needed to chop wood after work to keep us warm. However in some cases I've seen how it's much easier, e.g. a friend called round to drop some books off the other day, and she asked what we were having for lunch. Beans on toast was the answer. She texted me later to say she'd 'needed' a McDonald's and queued over an hour for one! That is so far removed from anything I would do nowadays, each to their own but I have come to loathe shopping so much that I am always looking to my cupboards and my own abilities to see what I can use instead. 

I was very kindly given some seeds by a fellow MSE friend, I've sown lots into upcycled tin cans with pretty labels on that my kids made and given some as a gift to a friend who recently gave me some clothes for DD that her daughter had outgrown. Yes it takes time but it's so satisfying and much better received I think than a shop bought gift.

elbree

@StrawberrySuze thanks! Not sure when it opens but as it's round the corner from my work I should be able to find a regular slot to go there. I usually do a 'big' grocery shop online with T*sco about once or twice a month. Partly to help with budgeting because I don't get tempted by extra things but also convenience. Getting a slot is impossible now so can replace that. 
@zafiro1984 there's a hen lockdown?? 

mumtoomany

Hi all, yes elbree, the chickens are in lockdown! Have been since last year. This is due to bird flu. Everyone needs to keep their chickens under cover to stop it being transmitted between them and wild birds. I too have mine in the tunnel, zafiro. I had hoped that they'd be out by now. I've lots of seedlings on windowsills, growing rather leggy. Last time, a few years ago, we had fewer chickens and shut them in their run. When they came out again the cockerel had become very protective, and kept attacking the grandchildren! Didn't want that to happen again. Hopefully not too much longer. Mumtoomany.