2021 Frugal Living Challenge

t14cy_t

Bala, so sorry for your loss. you were so very kind to me when i lost my mum in june. sending virtual hugs. xx

Ellie79

It is so cold here this morning! Packed my very frugal lunch and breakfast. I take extra for my oldest daughter as I give her a lift a couple of days a week and she is on a much tighter budget than me. Last night I warmed the beds with the new hot water bottles. I begrudge the cost of gas at the best of times, worse now. Extra layers and the heating has only been on once since the start of November (our 'official' date for using it). Everyone in the house has been very good at extra layers, blankets and hot water bottles/hot drinks on an evening. I fear it is getting to the point that we will start to need the heating much more. Brr. 

willow_loulou

Ellie I lit my fire this morning. That’s only the second time since it was swept at the tail end of the summer. I don’t normally avoid lighting it but I’m concerned about wood availability and my stores, although good won’t last that long. Friday I am stocking up even more. Getting pallets has become impossible as I physically can’t cut it anymore. 

Sigh. 

summertime_2

Here's the next  7 day money saving challenge..cleaning..but this 7 days is 'time saving' .if  you follow even just a few of the tips, pay yourself into your saving jar ,even if its just a few £1 coins.

The old saying 'time is money' is true and people are very busy nowadays either working from home or outside home. Even if you do surveys etc online, to try to earn a little, thats working, So cleaning is one more etc chore to do..so here's my time saving tips.
did you know to have your house cleaned by professionals cleaner, once a week, is between £50 to £70 or more !! .
l follow a daily time saving routine, it works for us, you might find it useful to do follow a routine so that you have all that extra time left over.
Here's some tips l got from my friend who used to own  a business as a Professional Cleaner.

We have 6 rooms in our small cottage, one room is the guest room, so that is left.
After l have pegged my washing out at 9am, we spend just 10mins per room tidying it up. Some people do this at night time, we like to do this in morning. l like to put on an apron (makes me motivated to get job done) with duster and bin bag in apron pocket.  and l take the laundry baskets l just used from hanging out the washing.

Starting from left to right from door, go around room ONCE, quick dusting and tidying ie fluff up pillow s or if in bedroom, make bed, put clothes away etc, If something in room is in wrong place or belongs in other room ,put it in laundry basket to replace item when you go to that room.After room tidied up, l like to light scented burner, or in summer windows thrown open.
The professional tip is to only go around the room ONCE. That is the key.not to go backwards and forwards  but to go in one direction tidying or cleaning.
Time is money to a Professional Cleaner and they are trained to go around room only once as they work.
no deep cleaning or vacumning, just tidying up. l start it in this order, bedroom ,livingroom, hallway, kitchen, bathroom last which has deeper cleaning ie toilet cleaned.
so 10mins per my 5 rooms = 50mins  but l usually do it in 30mins as only 2 of us.
Now while iv still got apron on,  we deep clean one room a day, taking only 30mins per room to deep clean ie polish, vacumn,  wipe, mop, etc.  Again work from left to right as you deep clean and go around room once and mop or vacumn last.
My routine is ie monday is kitchen, ( floor and oven cleaning etc)  Tuesday hallways,Wednesday bathroom, Thursday living room, Friday bedroom ie change sheets etc. My hubby cleans all the windows once a week for me.

so my total tidying/cleaning per day is just l hour.! and iv save between £50 to £70 

If you get into cleaning routine, once a day, you will have clean house with no heavy cleaning later in year.
take off your apron, have a cuppa and remind yourself how much you have just 'saved' from not having to pay a Professional Cleaner come in even if you could afford to pay one.
Remember they can charge from £10 to £15 or more per hour !
 If you have children remind them its their job to clean their own room..as a family you are all team workers so 10mins daily tidy up ie make their bed/clothes away  etc and a 30mins weekly clean their room..  even a little one can put toys away and wipe around their room. Tell them it then gives you more time to either work from home or outside the home ,so you can save to buy all the extra treats.

next week its 7  days money saving on heating, energy bills etc.

Blackcats

Bala - sorry for your loss - your dad sounds wonderful.  Take your time to grieve and gradually for your pain to be soothed.  My mum died in August and I feel untethered without her, she was so wise and kind and happy.  I now wear her bangle as it feels like a memory of her wrapped round me and encircling me with her love.
thanks for the cleaning tips summertime.  I remember Alex Polizzi in the hotel inspector saying that you should start in one corner and work round the room and I do try to do that.  I should probably be more methodical and get a room by room routine each week.  

  

summertime_2

Blackcats; a new routine takes approx 3 weeks to become a habit..l learnt that when l worked in a office years ago and we did a time-and -motion training day. l guarantee that a quick 10 min tidy up per room a day and a one room deep clean a week will become a habit after about 3 weeks. Plus l also guarantee that when you do your 10min per room tidy up you will be turning down the central heating and taking off a jumper as you will get so warm doing this little routine.  Do any of you find you are cleaning on and off all day and never seem to stop and getting over whelmed with it all, then give the routine a go...
  l started late to day but Iv just finished my routine and im so warm lol. l did my 30 min deep clean on one of the rooms which today my hallway as l wanted to tidy up my bookshelves l have in there+ give the front door a clean and mop the floor. And that its for the day..l wont worry about what didnt get done (or if l miss a day because of going out) as it will be done tomorrow. And that's me all done ,house clean and tidy and im free  to do whatever l want to do for rest of day., usually by 11am.
Never go back and do more cleaning later in day, if  you have already done each room, just leave it alone , You have done your work and dont worry about it anymore.
 ll be crafting usually  rest of day,then at 4pm when ll bring my washing in (yes its out there even though its cloudy), we will shut all the curtains at dusk to keep in any warmth and need to put lights on ( we never have lights on in the daytime) We'll have our 4pm cuppa, ll take a quick look at the news on the computor and clear emails( only look at emails once a day as its time wasting logging in  to the read them all the time), again time and motion office tips) then 5pm  we'll  put veg on and dish up slowcooker dinner at 5.30. Tuesday or Thursday is usually our market shopping day, so ll just leave the days routine as l know tomorrow ll get back to it. Hubby washes up at 6pm and the evening is all mine again to do what l want.

Siebrie

@zafiro1984 I have been known to ask supermarkets for their 'apple and pear inserts' (the soft, shaped cardboard they use inside the sturdy box, to keep the apples and the pears separate and display nicely. It kept my fruit well for a few weeks longer than normal.

We treated dds to McD happymeal last week, and they were give a small bag of apple parts to go with it. They don't eat McD often, but they do know that they don't like the taste of the conservation method used, so they gave the baggies to me and I popped them in the fridge. After a week, once I got round to using them, they were still as fresh as when they got them, not even a brown spot or going soft! They are now apple sauce, together with some wrinkly apples

On the subject of baby's sleeping outdoors: there is a new rise in interest in the Netherlands, and nurseries offer outside sleeping (google buitenbedjes or babyhuisje), they are similar to rabbit hutches, and were popular in the olden days (sorry, no idea about whether that was 100 or 300 years ago...).

Scottiedog_3

On the subject of baby's sleeping outdoors: there is a new rise in interest in the Netherlands, and nurseries offer outside sleeping (google buitenbedjes or babyhuisje), they are similar to rabbit hutches, and were popular in the olden days (sorry, no idea about whether that was 100 or 300 years ago...).

Just googled it and I don't think that would ever catch on in Scotland!

  

RainbowHippie

@balabooberlies sorry to hear about your father.

Thanks for all the responses everyone about fixing things,glad i am not alone in trying to fix almost anything! Interesting to learn about the risks of darned socks for people with diabetes though, something i will keep in mind as it does affect a couple of people i know.

I've really enjoyed reading about the old-style housework routines and 'airing' of babies, it does make sense that early exposure to the outside world would be good for baby's immune system (and for mum's sleep!).

I've had a not-so-frugal few days with an expensive train journey that wasn't strictly essential but will hopefully advance our current goals. I'm just on my way back from a visit up north to view a couple of houses, both ones we liked the look of months ago but sold quickly before either of us was able to get back up to see them. Both came back on the market last week after having fallen through, so i booked viewings as soon as possible. Decided to go by train, slightly more expensive than driving but much less stressful, and it's meant i can work on the journey, so almost pays for itself in a manner of speaking. I was able to stay with my parents who live about an hour from the properties i was viewing, they very kindly added me to my mum's car insurance so i could borrow it (apparently it actually brought the insurance cost down so they're planning to add me next year too now!) and i was able to take flasks of coffee, butties etc with me on all journeys so haven't paid for any food or drink out. I rang up this morning to put in an offer so keeping everything crossed, if it is successful it will be full frugal steam ahead in earnest!!

Hope you are all well and have a lovely day xx

willow_loulou

Fingers crossed that your offer is accepted Rainbow!