2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Shammyjoe

Hello all.. 

I have been lurking for years reading everyone's posts. At various times I've really needed the motivation to be frugal but then when things take a turn for the better, I fall off the frugal wagon and land back on square one again, back in debt with no savings and a bleak road ahead of me. I thought about waiting until next year to join but no, it's time to seize the day and get to work on making my frugal lifestyle a permanent one. 

Chipps

Shammyjoe said:

Hello all.. 

I have been lurking for years reading everyone's posts. At various times I've really needed the motivation to be frugal but then when things take a turn for the better, I fall off the frugal wagon and land back on square one again, back in debt with no savings and a bleak road ahead of me. I thought about waiting until next year to join but no, it's time to seize the day and get to work on making my frugal lifestyle a permanent one. 

Me too! I was just thinking pretty much the same thing, then saw your post. We will be home from holiday tomorrow & I will be climbing back onto that wagon again!
By the way, does anyone else find the term “staycation” for a holiday in ones own country offensive? Surely a staycation is when you stay at home and go out for days?  A holiday in another part of the country is just that, a holiday!
(rant over!)

fionaandphil

@Mummy2cheekymonkeys can you tell us how you made the apple and cinnamon syrup - it sounds interesting and might go down well here with porridge

Welcome @chipps and @shammyjoe, never too late to start, lots of inspiring people on this board and great ideas

willow_loulou

Welcome welcome, don’t forget @Frugaldom has loads of threads and info all available on the front page of this thread. 

Well I needed fuel, first garage was shut and the 2nd was a massive queue. I had to sit and wait though as my fuel light was on and I always fill up on payday which is today. Sigh. 

I’ve been tough with myself this month and restricted my budgets. I’ve allocated more into the winter prep section of my budget instead. I think this in the long run will pay off. Now I have better storage I’ll do that all year round. 

Planted some kale and grass seed today. The majority of which is animal feed but we will have the kale too. I need a cold frame. Having the garden partially done is wonderful, it’s only cleared so nothing to look at but it’s a better starting point for the spring. 

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

I kind of followed this recipe Apple Cinnamon Syrup | Created by Diane (createdby-diane.com)
I used 1 cup of the liquid I had from straining the apples I had simmered, then added 1 cup of sugar and then the cinnamon. I haven't tested the end result yet so can't comment on the taste but the smell is amazing. It was an experiment on my part as I thought there was too much liquid there for apple jelly. I got 10 jars of jelly out of what I had left so thats more then enough for us but I wanted to try something different. 
I had an email from topcashback to say they are running a bonus today for £2 when you spend £5 so I went to george at asda and ordered a hot water bottle for £5 and am getting it sent to my nearest store to save on postage. So it will only cost me £3 and I thought it would be a good thing to have on standby just in case this winter!!

Frugaldom

@Mummy2cheekymonkeys thanks you for the syrup recipe info and link. I have also activated the bonus £2 on TCB so will need to get on and order something before it expires.

fionaandphil

Thanks @Mummy2cheekymonkeys, I will give it a try

Frugaldom

Thank you for reminding folks about all the previous and other info, @willow_loulou 😊

Welcome to the challenge, @Shammyjoe and @Chipps. I hope you will enjoy being a part of the online world of frugaldom and the route to debt freedom. 

We were having a good day despite the rain then it cleared away and the sun shone. I picked more apples and made another crumble. I still think I need a bigger freezer but can't warrant the cost and can't fit one in my car even if I could find one on the local ads pages. I'll keep thinking about that one as there are too many other things needed before a freezer and the old one is still doing ok. (Freebie from several years ago)

Frugalista

Having looked at the apple syrup recipe, I was thinking it could be made even more frugal by just using the equivalent weight of peel and cores left over from other apple "projects". At least it would make use of bits that would otherwise be thrown away (or fed to the animals). I would probably remove most of the pips first though.

willow_loulou

@Frugaldom there is just so much practical advice in your threads and lists, it’s got to be shared. 

Picking up a pile of stationary for free tomorrow. Most is for work but there is an ink pen I’m quite excited by! I picked up a few bits in M&S yellow stickered of course. But I was pleased to see they’ve kept their prices the same where others are hiking. 36p for spaghetti hoops, my T hasn’t had own brand for ages. 

I also got some curtains today for £1. I need a new draft excluder and I know someone who needs one too. So I’ll make a couple probably from one curtain. The other can go over the guineapig cage when it’s colder.