2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Marghirl

I also have M.E. And the powers that be decided I was fit for work so I only have a small pension coming in but I can’t get other benefits as I have healthy savings. I have fought with benefits system for so long and an fed up with it. The letters they send you makes you out to be a liar and unfortunately with M.E. You can be good one day and rubbish the next. They don’t take that into consideration. They did admit I had M.E. But gave me no points whatsoever, I could work for an hour or so at a time but there are very little jobs like that

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

We are keeping a close eye on our electricity usage which is averaging 11 units a day, which might sound like a lot but we have no mains gas, so other than heating everything is electric (and our oil heating uses an electric pump).  When both boys were at home we used to average over 15 units a day!

I managed to cycle to work one day last week, which I am pleased about, I want to do this more - weather depending.  We are doing well with cooking from scratch, meal planning and not using the oven every day.  We are still having problems with the car but after a lot of discussion have decided to keep our existing car going rather than spend money on a new one, trying to find anything at the lower end of the price range that will do what we need is virtually impossible.

Washing partly dried outside, it will now go over the airer with the dehumidifier on.  DS2 is visiting but rather than go out we are having homemade lasagne with Eve's pudding made with gifted apples.  DS1 wants an ironing board for his birthday!  So I am going to see what I can find online, or I might buy him a voucher so he can choose his own.

tboo

YORKSHIRELASS said:

Eve's pudding made with gifted apples. 

Wasn't sure what this was, looked it up and it sounds and looks delicious.

You can also cook one in the slow cooker, which will be a win for me as I am actively trying to use the oven less.

ancientmum

I have been lurking and not posting for the last few months and just wanted to say thank you to everyone for sharing their tips.  I thought that I was good at frugalling but there is always something new to learn.  Summertime_2, I have just made a leaf cage on my allotment with bamboo canes and wombled plastic netting, only about 18" square. I had blight on the plot the last two years so was not going to bother with potatoes but will now try planting in this and see what happens, thank you.

zafiro1984

ancientmum said:

I had blight on the plot the last two years so was not going to bother with potatoes but will now try planting in this and see what happens, thank you.

Try Sarpo Mira very blight resistant as is carolus and setanta. Those three are main crop. Acoustic is an earlier variety and also blight resistant as is Sarpo Una, which might be easier to get than Acoustic. I've had blight here for at least the last five years. Be careful if you have outdoor tomatoes as they get blight - try the crimson family (Crimson Cherry, crimson Blush, crimson crush) all blight resistant. I even get blight in my polytunnels as its so bad here. 
You could also go on line and get seed catalogues - they're free, and will have other varieties you can try.
I've never suffered with blight since using the above varieties. - good luck.

summertime_2

Do you eat much meat.?
 l was wondering  that this mornings as hubby and l have always eaten only about only 2 or 3 oz meat (each) per evening meal. l bulk the meat meals out with protein rich veg ie beans or spinach or lentils or peas or mushrooms etc. and we have one day a week meat free.
Lunch is usually hm veg soups or cheese toasties or baked pot with hm ratatouille, so always meat free apart from our Saturday ham and salad sandwiches we have after morning shopping.
l was worried this was too low, but lv just checked and iv read its healthy and to try to keep meat to low amount and eat more in protein rich veg, like they did in the War years. l'd love to go  Vegetarian or Vegan, but hubby wont, so l just keep the meat low. its really interesting to read how  much minimum protein a adult needs daily and  much protein is in some veg ie peas. If lv read it right, the minimum a adults needs in protein is 8g and a pork chop is 25g in protein, so in the War years the rations were worked out to the lowest amount a person needed to stay healthy.
So iv decided l might have more meat free days and grow more protein rich veg next year.
We must be doing ok as hubby went for his Yearly Health check up a month ago at the doctors and was told to carry on doing what he does ,as he's very healthy for a 70 yr old. 

Siebrie

@summertime_2 the Dutch advice used to be (I have moved and don't know the current advice) that meat the size of a deck of cards was enough per adult, including all meals. So, bacon for breakfast and ham on your sandwich would more or less be the right amount for the day.

YORKSHIRELASS

Tboo it is really nice, we try to not to use our oven too much either so I made a decent sized pudding while the lasagnes were cooking, then we will just heat portions up in the microwave.

Summertime I am 90% vegetarian but DH loves his meat so we cook a lot of separate meals in this house.  I eat pulses, nuts, dairy and some fish so I am fairly sure I get enough protein.  Potatoes and green veg are good sources of protein and we grow these too.

We used the car to drive to the coast today.  Parked for free, took a picnic and did a 4.5 mile walk which was lovely.  Feels like we have had a nice frugal weekend, which is good.

RainbowHippie

@summertime_2 I love your idea of crafting in autumn and winter in preparation for the needs of the coming season. So organised!

We're also mainly veggie/vegan at home (OH eats cheese, i have cheese once a month or so and he'll eat meat on the rare occasions we get takeaway or go out for food). Partly because we think it steers us towards a healthier diet but definitely helpful financially too! We do make sure we get the recommended vitamin supplements to 'compensate', although apparently plenty of non-veggies are deficient in things like B12 too.

@willowloulou massive well done on your overpayments, it must be very satisfying to be so far ahead of their plans and even your own target.

Thanks @YORKSHIRELASS and @tboo for the idea of slow cooker eve's pudding! I also hadn't heard of it before but will be giving it a go, and will be the first time i've baked in the slow cooker so looking forward to trying that

We've had a frugal and enjoyable Sunday afternoon out, walking along the river, taking our own coffee and snacks and enjoying the scenery. Had baked sweet potatoes, beans and salad for tea - something we used to eat all the time but haven't had for a few years, odd how we seem to go in phases with favourite meals but that one will definitely be back on the menu again for a while.

Now that i've finally caught up with the end of this year's thread i plan to go back and read some of the previous years' ones - it's a lovely break from work to read while i eat my lunch every day, and helps keep my mind focussed on frugal living.

Take care all xx

Sweetlittledaydreams

Good day today, didn't spend anything and got a last minute extra night shift, so that'll be an extra £200 towards the mortgage, and have managed to reorganise some of next weeks day shifts into night shifts so that's a little bit extra pay. Will be starting a new job in around about a months time that won't offer any night shifts so making the most of the extra available income now. It'll be a nice day when everything is paid off and I'll be able to work because I want to not because I have to, goodbye fitting in overtime and sacrificing sleep, weekends, family holidays and my own health!
Will look to take advantage of the upcoming black Friday sales and see if I can swap to cheaper Internet and phone line as my contract has ended now. 
@summertime_2 I'd definitely recommend going vegetarian. Would your husband agree to vegetarian meals during the week then for him to cook his own meat based meals at the weekend, you could still have vegetarian food then? This worked well for me in a past relationship, that way you both get to eat what you like but you don't end up making multiple meals each night or resenting the fact that you're cooking meat you don't want to eat, or him resenting the fact he's missing out on something he does want to eat. 
Sweet dreams everyone 😴