2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Blackcats

Lots of cooking and baking happening on this thread - very good use of resources and I'm a convert to knowing exactly what I've got in my food because I've made it myself.  I'm taken aback by the sheer number of ingredients in some shop bought biscuits and cakes and how long their use by dates are!   The biscuits I made at the weekend just had flour, sugar, butter, egg and lemon in and they were nice and tasty - they won't last long though and that's not because they don't contain preservatives 😋

Frugaldom

Hello from Frugaldom and sorry for going AWOL again but work just doesn't get any easier - the sooner Covid restrictions ease in Scotland the better, as I really need to find some help for this summer and that means having someone to stay, as we need to provide board & lodgings for volunteers unless they are local. There isn't much that's local to us, though, unless you're a holidaymaker at a nearby site. 

Managed to score some Olio bits and pieces via a friend plus the hens and ducks are laying so shopping trips are still off the cards. Every available penny is being saved into my build-a-cabin fund in the hope of doing that this year but other things keep cropping up, like setting aside funds for car tax, insurances, mot, vet bills and work that needs done. 

I cooked up a batch of Bolognese sauce and a big pan of soup and my freezer is full again. I have lemons, limes and tangerines (or satsumas?) so MUST get more marmalade made this week, as well as some more blackcurrant jelly.

I need 36 hours in each day just to keep up with things as I pledged to do NaNoWriMo this month, which means writing 50,000 words. I'm already behind with that, too, so I'll try my absolute best to catch up with the forums in between updating, writing and working.

Hope everyone is doing OK and hanging on n there during this unbelievable long, strange and surreal lifestyle imposed upon us all. Stay strong, stay safe, stay sane - it has to end sometime, surely?!

Frugaldom

Tightpants24 said:

Hi Frugal People 
I wondered if making bread would be cheaper than buying it?  I have made it in the past but didn't get into the habit.  I was thinking about getting a 2nd hand bread maker or borrowing one.  What's your thoughts on this?

Check to see if there are any Olio (www.olioex.com) food heroes in your area as bread is one of the top listed items for giving away free. I claim some whenever I see it listed nearby and pop it into the freezer. We do have several posts about the price of breadmaking. If it is of any help, here is a link to some breadmaking posts on the old blog

Frugaldom

Annies_too said:

I have been lurking for far too long...  my April intentions: 1) to get selling online (money towards a holiday) and freecycle more things. I have far too much clutter but I can’t just throw good things away. I’ve been an avid recycler/make do and mender for many years. 2) this will stretch into May... empty my chest freezer to make space for this years allotment produce. Anyone got any recipes for gooseberries (apart from crumble and fool)?

Gooseberry jam is quite nice and I quite like stewed gooseberries as they are nice with something like yoghurt or even ice cream

Frugaldom

Deleted_User said:

Day 1 of 17 NSDs 😊

Good morning,

Today is officially day 1 of my 17 day no spend challenge. Our plans for the day include sowing all of the remaining vegetable seeds using our own compost, selling some surplus eggs to a neighbour, taking a walk to forage for kindling and doing a little research into selling something I own that may prove to be worth a few pounds. Breakfast will be homemade hot cross buns (given to me by a friend, my baking skills are limited!), lunch will be mushrooms omelettes with eggs 🥚 from our girls 👏🏻 and dinner is oven pizza and chips. No need to spend on anything at all. 

Have lovely frugal good Fridays all xx

I am only just catching up with the forum posts and want to wish you every success with this. Not spending, for me, is much more fun than spending.

Frugaldom

MazzieD said:

I'm back.  Lurking isn't my strong point, I prefer to join in but it was interesting to see why so many have stopped posting and the high viewing figures compared to the numbers actually posting on here.  Sometimes you need to step back and figure out why, I don't normally announce my intentions but there was a reason behind it!.

I've been busy seeing a couple of close friends (socially distanced etc).  So nice to sit in someone else's garden in the sunshine yesterday, still a bit chilly but we managed and enjoyed a hot cross bun or two with good company.  Haven't laughed so much in ages.

I don't normally eat chocolate but was given a rather posh salted caramel Easter Egg by one of them so looking forward to trying it tomorrow.  Just have to hope that it doesn't give me chocolate cravings, I used to be a chocoholic 

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.  Haven't caught up since my last post but think it's more important to actually get on here and write something in the hope that others will as well.  This is a good thread and obviously a lot of people are reading along so let's give them something to read and not leave it to one or two people trying to post every day to keep it alive and going.  

MazzieD, I haven't read back through all the posts I've missed yet but would just like to add to what you have said as it's very relevant and I thank you for broaching the subject.

I often need to go MIA but it is purely through lack of time as I'm outside working (unpaid) 7 days a week with no options for time off since the Covid pandemic began. Many people I know are in similar situations, finding a huge increase in workload with a corresponding drop in income. I need to put in even more hours of self-employment just to earn enough to cover the costs of keeping Frugaldom running long enough to make it out the other end of this dire Covid situation. I know it's bad that I run these challenges and have fallen behind with the posting and reading so I can only apologise for that.

My hat is off to every single person who has found themselves here, looking for a means of survival, reading quietly in the background, forced into frugal living because of circumstances beyond their control. Joining here to learn about survival on a shoestring budget takes courage and for those of you who take the plunge and actually post, it makes you all very brave and special people. Over the past few years I stopped posting the list of names taking part because so few remained posting by the end of each year. At first i was quite soul destroying but I gradually understood it. Some found their way clear of their debts and no longer needed this challenge, some fell by the wayside or sought other options. Quite a few succeed and begin running their own challenges to share their journeys. I still think of everyone who has passed through here over the years but each of them left their mark, their words for others to read.

Sudden loss of income is always something we have tried to be prepared for but I don't think anyone was prepared for such prolonged national lockdowns, families being kept apart, jobs lost, relationships failing, businesses closing and, the big one for us here at Frugaldom, as a volunteer run project, the loss of all our volunteers and ban on organising the open days and fundraisers. These things all explain why I don't post on here as often as I should, along with a couple of other reasons, like writing elsewhere and keeping our social media channels updated.

To anyone who happens to read this challenge without posting or making yourselves known, if there is anything you would like to see discussed on here, please private message, email or contact @Frugaldom via social media and I can raise the subject or point you towards previous posts of relevance without including any names. Frugal living is about affording to live a life you can embrace and learn to love, its also about the freedom to pursue that lifestyle in whatever way you see fit. It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all as everyone's situations are different, we all have different incomes, overheads, obligations and thought processes. What is frugal for one may not appear frugal for another but we are all in this together while doing it our own individual ways. 

Frugaldom

Mummy2cheekymonkeys said:

Isnt it funny how people react when money is mentioned. I'm always called tight by my family because I am careful with money. Funnily enough though I am doing a 7 mile walk tomorrow to raise money for the national autistic society and yet none of those same family members want to part with a penny. I'm always generous when it comes to charity yet because I dont constantly buy new stuff I dont need I am labelled tight!! Makes you laugh. 

I totally get this! I had one 'friend' wanted to learn every trick in the book about frugal living and how to do x, y, z but then when I did a sponsored walk for local lifeboat, she refused me 50p because it wasn't one of her preferred charities! I didn't fall out over it but she has never been back to visit. Not sure if she is still reading on here (she never posts) but if so, no hard feelings, we all have friends like this.

Frugaldom

zafiro1984 said:

I'm wondering what people use to stretch meat, I've used lentils and also mushrooms. I have to bear in mind DH is quite fussy so I need to do it without him realising what I'm doing. (he doesn't eat pasta or rice, he's of the generation where that is foreign!!)  Any ideas please. 

Sorry if tis has already been suggested but as well as the bulking out with things like oats, beans, veggies and pulses, don't forget things like pastry and what some of us refer to as dough-balls, aka suet dumplings. If I'm doing mince, I add in a couple of doughballs per person and a couple extra as they can also be frozen. I sometimes make them with mixed herbs, sometimes with garlic and sometimes just leave them plain or seasoned with just salt and pepper. Suet, flour and water and excellent when you find suet on special offer.

Frugaldom

StrawberrySuze said:

Hi all, just realised it is now gone 2am with the clocks, It's like being back in the clubbing days!

Would be good for some more people to post something, doesn't matter what! Maybe we could have a topic a week or something 🙂

I suggest pallets! I'm going to make a settee for the garden and then get/ make a padded seat. Has anyone else made anything out of pallets?

Pallets - there should be loads of posts from previously about pallets as they are practically fought over about these parts. My hay shelter, pony shelter, log store and a garden fence are all made from pallets. I've used them as paths, bridges, raised beds, herb beds and for hanging a vertical garden. Pallets are fab!

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I'm going to have to continue with my catch up another night as it's now gone 3am and I need to be up for pony-work in the morning,

I will try my best to update on the frugaling aspects of life on here. My rhubarb is growing and my rhubarb seeds have germinated but I haven't sown anything else yet as it's still frost in the mornings. I did manage to clean out the potting shed and pin up the hardy kiwi vine. I definitely need more hours in my days to get everything done and also need to find some honest, hard-working, kindred spirits who can actually come out here and share the vision. I just don't know where to start looking any more as Covid restrictions are still in place for the foreseeable future. It's been 13 months since our last helpers stayed.

t14cy_t

6 pots of assorted mcdonalds sauces,  a roll of gaffer tape and sausage and chips collected on our walk this morning. zeus was proud as punch!