2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Bluegreen143

Loving all the chat on here.

Pallets - I can’t suggest anything to do with them in this house. My husband (a talented woodworker) refuses to use them anymore for various reasons, though I think mainly laziness as he hates taking out the nails 😆 (we’ve had a few literally studded with nails). He does usually get reclaimed wood from the local wood recycling centre, reuse bits from old furniture and pick up driftwood from the beach so he saves money on wood that way.

Stretching meat - I tend to use grated veg (carrot, courgette) or slice in peppers, celery, mushrooms etc, in stews it’s small bits of diced swede, carrot, onion etc. Or lentils/beans. Nobody in this house minds the grated veg or lentils though so I don’t need to hide it as such which is why I sometimes use beans or cubed/sliced veg - grated is definitely the way to go for hiding it. We do eat a lot of rice/pasta dishes and I also find serving food in wraps goes down very well here and makes it go farther + the children eat things in wraps they wouldn’t normally eat, eg they love veg/bean or chicken burritos but they wouldn’t eat the filling bit on its own.

TV license - why would you pay for a service you don’t use? Simple as that really. Agree with the others, I can chat frugality to my mum but I know my friends generally have very different lifestyles/priorities so wouldn’t understand a lot of the stuff I do. I think given we’re in our early 30s and most of my uni friends haven’t got kids yet (and my mum friends I made through NCT so are mainly very well off) they mainly think I’m weirdly old fashioned 😂 which is fine, most of them are very into running and CrossFit and I am soooo unfit and can’t afford CrossFit. We are still good friends as have other stuff in common but I’d love a real life frugal pal or two to geek out over batch cooking and gardening and YNAB with!

Tightpants24

I have bought toys for my little niece & nephew's birthdays via J0hn L3w1s today as they have £10 off £50 spend.  Plus I had 5.75 in PayPal from z1ff1t.  So only paid just over £34 for £50 purchases.  Not exactly frugal but still a saving. 😊 
On a more frugal note I did get a bigger cutlery tray via FB market for £3.  Recycling and thrifty as I was going to buy the same one for £15 new.  Since I have started the thrifty lifestyle I have started taking the time to consider if I really need something and if so how do I get it cheaper or free.  I feel I must have been so wasteful before.

mumsiemum

Hi
I am hoping you can help with a quick question!
I have been gifted some packs of sliced ham, use by yesterday.  It smells absolutely fine, but it doesn't say anything on the packaging about freezing it.  I have attached photos.
Do you think it would be OK to freeze - I don't want it to go to waste
TIA
MM

mandy47

I freeze ham and other cooked meats and never had any problems once defrosted.

marionmgcars

I always freeze ham and it is always ok when I take it out and use it.
I agree with everyone here.  You have to know which of your friends can understand being frugal.  Some people might think I am just tight with my money, but then I can go out and buy my car for cash and not have a load of debt hanging around.  They don't understand there is a huge difference in being frugal and not wasting money/food/resources and just being tight.  One of my most wealthy friends is the most frugal lady I know.  Another one of my best dressed friends always gets her clothes in a charity shop or in the sales, even though she could afford to buy in any high street store.  yet other friends always owe a fortune by paying for holidays abroad on their credit cards which they struggle to pay off.  At least last year they will have saved money on that !!  Good luck with your frugal challenges.  xx

Kerry_Woman

Was under budget for food and general spending this month.  Managed to get on free online CBT course through local MH service. Had self referred in January this year. Slowly working through it.  Got free online event this evening to attend through my favourite shop loyalty card.  Have booked another free online talk next week about the big clock tower in London. Have booked extra shifts at work on bank holidays and weekends at my current location and at different location.  Know that I have another 2 months at my current location.  Making plans as to what I need to get/do next month when shops etc open.

flossyblog

 @MazzieD I'm always looking out for good weather days to get out in the garden and struck lucky, I did another pruning session yesterday, we have a branches collection twice a year and mine are tied and ready for the 16th of April. I.m working on motivation for spreading out foxglove seedlings and dividing the rudbeckia  next.
My total expenses for March came in at  €507.68, groceries €313.18, bills €194.50.

Blackcats

Tightpants - that sounds like a good combination of tactics to save £16 and get some nice gifts.  If you lost £16 you'd be cross so it's great to keep that £16 in your purse and not in the shop's coffers.  I've found that there is often money off discount codes if you sign up for newsletters etc when buying on line.  I've set up a separate generic email address for when I sign up for these.  I used this tactic a lot at Christmas and saved nearly £30.  I also sign up for loyalty schemes that give you a birthday bonus - only for shops I'd normally use.  I get £5 from body shop and £5 for hobby craft. I've finally realised that these little savings do add up.

MazzieD

I've managed to get out in the back garden and got the tidying up done @flossyblog.  As well as the weather I also have to dodge the awful man next door, think he's retired or similar, it's not a Lockdown problem.  I'm tall and the garden wall isn't, might have to consider putting closed fencing or some form of screen across the top which isn't planned for in my budget  I'm quite concerned about him, his wife and some other resident's behaviour, as it's off topic I won't go into details.

Managed to get a TGTG Morries magic box, first one for months!.  Quite a good mix of veg, some white bread and cakes.  Never had any meat, eggs or dairy products in the ones I've had.  

Olio crashed earlier in the week and a survey appeared about 'Olio Supporter' so sounds like take up has been low.  Decided to delete my account (again).

Got some YS meat yesterday in A*da as it was payday although April budget really starts today so including it this month.  I've put all DD's on my spreadsheet at the new rates.  This month is going to be interesting particularly groceries as it'll be the first one with a F&V box every week, frozen veg and just some salad full price. I can't rely on meat or salad being YS, used to do quite well at L*dl but my 2 local's are so popular they have very little left of anything.

As it's almost the Chocolate Feast (aka Easter) I was looking at eggs/hot x buns yesterday, does anyone make their own/buy them on offer or not bother?   

mumsiemum

mandy47 said:

I freeze ham and other cooked meats and never had any problems once defrosted

marionmgcars said:

I always freeze ham and it is always ok when I take it out and use it.

Hi
Thank you so much for your help - its all safely tucked away on the freezer