2021 Frugal Living Challenge

balabooberlies

Willow it always amazes me how possesive shop staff feel over rtc/ys foods.  It's as if they resent you getting a bargain.  It doesn't belong to them and as far as I know they are at liberty to buy it themselves.  With their staff discount on top !

bala

willow_loulou

Agreed Bala! If this store is so precious over it perhaps they should designate the bags like everywhere else I’ve been! I’m going to stick with M&S for a while with a weekly or so Nero or Greggs. 

They literally have about 20 bags a night so I think they need to look at their ordering systems before getting snarky at people like me. 

Blackcats

GSDmum - thanks for the tip about storing potatoes and onions separately.  I have been storing them together and my spuds get very sprouty very quickly.  In fact the ones in the cupboard are probably growing faster than the ones I've planted in the garden 🤣.  I did make an effort storing my apples from the garden this year and they lasted a really long time.  

I got a few YS bargains today which counteract the non frugal purchase of the expensive brand of cat food which is the only food my cats will eat. However,  I have been successful in downshifting their cat treats from Dreami*s to own brand 🙀

StrawberrySuze

Hi all, hope everyone is doing ok 🙂

Good to hear of all the frugal successes and all the swapping going on.

You are doing well with the bags @willow_loulou, I miss most of them!

I've had a few wins the last week or so. Got some free paving slabs and some more plant pots, I gave the man a spider and money plant which he was really pleased with, he seems to give lots of things away but I don't think he is used to being offered anything in return.

Got a free chimney pot and piece of slate, I'd been looking at chimney pots for ages but they tended to be at least £30 so I am well pleased!

Bought a nearly new food processor with lots of accessories for £40 which would have cost about £130 new. 

As it's getting much busier around here, I've started putting the dogs in the car when I go collecting things and finding random footpaths for a walk, it's great and usually really quiet, I often end up wandering around the edge of farmers fields trying to find where the path went though 🤣 All good fun and free!

Been doing quite well on Prolific recently and finally got up to another £50 on Yougov which I should be paid tomorrow, takes a while but the surveys are usually interesting, Prolific is my favourite though, some of the surveys are very random!

Received a £20 voucher for C0 0p, I complained about a sticky toffee pudding which really was not nice, I ended up throwing it away, was pleased with the voucher though!

Have a good rest of week all. I have a weeks holiday next week, hoping to do some more sorting in the garden but if we have a heatwave it might be mainly sitting in the garden reading 🙂

MazzieD

Been another busy start to the week, away again for work.  This time managed to see my sister and kids but unable to stay with or visit  her at home as not in my bubble and lives in mid-terrace so no way of getting to back garden!.  

Trying to catch up with everything today, managed to stop off at one of the many CS's in local high street and buy a couple of belts on the way home.  (My weight fluctuates quite a lot so in-between sizes at the moment). 

Batch cooking in slow cooker as run out of meals, it's really handy and doesn't take long to prep food,  other benefits are it's about the same electric usage as a lightbulb and can use cheaper cuts of meat which become really tender with a long slow cook.  Just got a basic one and use a mechanical timer.  

AskYouWillGet

This week are garden freebies or reduced wins:
Free Iris plants for the new pond area  (re:washing up bowl buried in ground). Found a toad and RSPB has plenty of free ideas for helping nature. Small birds are visiting for drinks and a bath.
My daily garden bird watch (BTO free to join) has become my favourite hobby! Made some bird cakes and refilled a cocunut shell using melted suet and bird seed. 

Bought half price geraniums from B. &. Q  at about 7pm very quiet but not much choice on the reduced section. The garden centre at weekend was the busiest ever seen, so didn't even enter. I enjoy the challenge of reviving dead looking plants and usually quite successful... Better than growing from seed anyhow! 
Planted them into hanging basket and a trough. 

 @willow_loulou Healthier option and top quality at the other TGTG shops. 
@Blackcats glad your cats have accepted a down grade! My old moggy is now on fish (frozen), tins not pouches but still wastes too much. And this week he has taken to his biscuits being soggy! Discovered after it rained on his alfresco lunch yesterday! 

I read somewhere on here that old tights are used for storing onions. Will this work on potatoes and / or other veg? 

joedenise

@AskYouWillGet - potatoes need to be stored dry in a cool place in paper sacks.  I use an old potato sack from when I bought a big bag.  Old tights only really work for onions - it's best to tie a knot between each one to separate them and hang them up in a cool place.

Agentmomo

The most often TGTG bags around here are Spar shops and they are always very good. At a cost of £3.09 tonight I received the following:

A wholemeal loaf
Pack of Fresh raspberries
Nomadic Yogurt and Oat clusters (I've received these before and are really yummy!)
Ready to eat Bacon and cheese straws
Warbutons pancakes 
Tub of ready to use Tomato and Basil sauce
A bag of salad leaves
A tub of salad
A fresh fruit and Digestive biscuit, cathedral city cheese combo
And a packet of Walkers Cheese and Onion Crisps

Really thrilled with that haul!

StrawberrySuze

@Agentmomo That's great value and a good variety 🤗

balabooberlies

StrawberrySuze said:

@Agentmomo That's great value and a good variety 🤗

Ditto !

I keep thinking of you and your fire when I see wooden pallets...............

bala