2021 Frugal Living Challenge

balabooberlies

Willow

the problem is that I am not a great cook.  So my attempts at vegetarian meals are hit and miss.  Personally for myself I would eat roast potatoes and salad pretty much everyday.  

bala

x

Thrifty_Taylor

For the condensation problem, I've read about putting cat litter in an old sock or leg of some tights. Haven't tried it myself though

flossyblog

Hi everyone,  Here are my total expenses for  November

357.67 = food

255.55 = dentist

  63.00 = New coat for me

  37.49 = New Bedding

195.50 bills

909.21 - total

We have final invoices for gas and electric now

total gas bill for the year €949 get €11 refund

total electric for the year €337 get €47 refund  
my year total is €12,836 so far which includes €3129 health insurance. .

willow_loulou

Thrifty_Taylor said:

For the condensation problem, I've read about putting cat litter in an old sock or leg of some tights. Haven't tried it myself though

Brilliant idea, my son is allergic to it though so will have to check types.  Cheers! 

zafiro1984

YORKSHIRELASS said:

After much dithering I have bought a mini-oven.  I hate putting on the big electric oven for small portions of food for just the two of us, the mini oven is only 1500w and we have a cheaper version in our folding camper so I know they work.

I also have a mini oven a 1500w. I've just had a look but can't see the name, however it has 1 shelf and a grill pan, a timer for 45mins (no hot plates). It cost about £60. I rarely use my main oven, certainly less than once a month. I had a Cookware mini oven a few years ago which was good but couldn't find the same model when I came to replace it.
The downsides:- they come in a variety of sizes so I choose one with the largest capacity as possible, it takes a swiss roll tin with ease.  It's very difficult to keep spotlessly clean so the second purchase was immediately lined with that washable/reusable liner. People say the door leaks but I've not found that to be a problem.
The current one is about five yrs old and despite the liners it is starting to look a bit tatty inside so it will probably be replaced next year. Over the years I'm sure it has paid for itself many times over with savings on the electric and I'm sure I'll get another one.

My cooking regime is
First - to use the ironheart woodburner as it has an oven and two hotplates. I even do the Christmas turkey in it. Last years turkey was 24lb (I rear my own)
Second -  the mini oven. it even cooks sponges well. I don't do fruit cakes as the timer is only 45mins and unless I'm around I can't reset it.
Third  - the big 3 oven range only gets used for meringues or rich fruit cakes. I use it so little that sometimes I have to read the instruction book to get the 'programme' I want.

RainbowHippie

Thanks everyone for the good wishes about the house. We've had some information packs through already, much more quickly than anticipated so hopefully that's a good sign! We're trying to be realistic and planning for a three-month turnaround (so around end of Feb), it could be longer but unlikely to be less than that. We've been lucky enough to find a long house-sit close to family and friends over December and some of January, and another long one close-ish to the new house that will take us to the end of February, so we won't mind too much if it takes the full three months. My ideal would be to get the keys mid-February so we have a chance to scour marketplace/ebay for the bare minimum of furniture before moving in. Planning to try and source as much as possible for free or very cheap. All we really want to start with is a bed, an office chair for OH and possibly a sofa, we have OH's desk in storage and a folding table and gym ball i can use for my office setup. As long as we can sleep and work in relative comfort we can take our time with the rest.

Hope all those who have been affected by the stormy weather are ok and have not had too much damage to deal with from the high winds. If the snow has now gone i hope the roads have been cleared and services restored. @AnimalTribe sorry to hear about the devastation in your area, glad you have come out of it relatively unscathed!

@sweetlittledaydreams i really like your idea of having a visual representation of your savings goals. It must be so satisfying to see so clearly the progress you've made.

@Frugaldom so lovely to hear updates on the progress of your hut! It sounds amazing already.

Take care all. xx

Nonnadiluca

Fingers crossed RainbowHippie, hope all goes well for you. My DGD furnished a large 2 bedroom flat for just under £500, including a fridge freezer, washing machine and dishwasher! All her furniture is solid wood and she has upcycled some pieces and now has a lovely home. It's amazing what people get rid of!! 

YORKSHIRELASS

Scottiedog I bought a Russell Hobbs one for £79, which felt like quite a lot but it got good reviews and it was big enough to take a 10" x 12" tray inside.  Zario your advice is useful too.  I now try to use the microwave for things like cooking frozen veg rather then the hob, we have no mains gas so all our cooking is electric.

Electric usage has been high this week again due to DS and GF staying over last weekend, but overall it is massively down on the same time last year which is great.

Some more Christmas shopping done today, carefully chosen items all within budget.  Family visiting at the weekend and there will be 9 of us to feed on Saturday night so there will be treats, but I be sensible with my shopping.

Scottiedog_3

YORKSHIRELASS said:

Scottiedog I bought a Russell Hobbs one for £79, which felt like quite a lot but it got good reviews and it was big enough to take a 10" x 12" tray .

That sounds like the business! I can put my next £50 survey bonus towards that. A former cleaner ruined my present cooker by attempting to clean the ceramic hob with Windolene : "How wiz ah tae know it wisnae glass?"
I do use my slow cooker and microwave extensively but sometimes only an oven will do.

mumtoomany

Hi all, hope everyone is well. Had an interesting week! The storm took out our electricity for seven hours, luckily mostly overnight. The local village were without for over thirty! Vodafone connection was lost for three days, not really a problem, reception is poor anyway. Worse the wind took down a third huge branch from our now very depleted beech tree. Luckily this time the fence was not damaged. We need to get out and start logging it at some point. Half of the tin roof of the barn where we keep the tractor blew off. It took out a large piece of the slate roof on the brick barn. A section about thirty by ten feet. Unfortunately it is at the end where we keep the hay, so fifty bales moved to a dryer bay. The doors at the back, around twelve feet high, were also damaged, the frame coming away from the wall, so temporary fix done there. The side of the tractor barn also collapsed. The top section of it was made of old window frames, so lots of broken glass to pick up before a temporary fix to the wall too, stopping the sheep getting through. 
I've had vertigo for the last three days, although it is subsiding now, to add to the mix, along with sorting sheep to put in with the rams, minding grandchildren, running DD3 around and all the normal cooking, cleaning, etc. Hard work this being semi retired! 
On a frugal note. Too busy to spend any money! Have managed to get enough Amazon vouchers for all the grandchildren's presents. Am slowly emptying the freezers for a sheep to fit in. Take care all, mumtoomany.