2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

Skint_chick i like the sound of your chorizo stew. I have some chorizo in the fridge that needs using so i'm going to pinch your idea and make some for lunch tomorrow. I have a lot of spinach beet in the garden that can be thrown in as well. I'm going to do some batch cooking tomorrow for the freezer. I have got the pork and beef mince out of the freezer and will bulk it out with lots of blended up onion, celery and carrots and some red lentils. Will make it into bolognese, chilli and cottage pie. 
We went for a walk along the beach but me and OH feel shattered now. Might have been too far while we are both still recovering but it was nice to get some fresh air and it always keeps the boys entertained.

Frugaldom

willow_loulou said:

@Bluegreen143 I don’t envy you ! I’d open the door and say run and find me a stone to paint then that’s enough fresh air 😂 

Well lockdown has returned peace to my neighbourhood, it’s fabulous. So far at least! My lovely neighbour topped up my electric meter key for me so I have plenty and I’ve ordered some eco logs, a different type the burn longer. We shall see. I’m having to do this as some lovely person stole my pallet so I’ve no free wood left. I’m just hoping they needed it for warmth too.
dd is considering leaving uni and reapplying to the closer uni next September, it’s been a terrible experience for her and she’s definitely not got the her monies worth. It’s all an absolute mess. Any advice is very welcome. 

Isn't it amazing that pallets are so valuable to some and yet rubbish that gets skipped to others? We LOVE pallets and I'd be really upset if any went walkabout. On the university topic, several of our volunteers have gone through similar situations when they just became so disenchanted or over-awed by the whole uni process that they wanted to either quit or get back closer to home but it seemed to be a phase that gradually passed. Many came to us because they had taken a year out to decide if they could face going back and I'm happy to say that after a few weeks, or in some case months, staying with us, helping at Frugaldom, the place cleared their minds. Some changed courses but all returned and completed their studies. We have one lovely student now in NZ doing her doctorate, one is a doctor, one has moved permanently to Scotland and is studying law... they just need to find their feet and get used to a new way of life. Covid has made that much more difficult but we are all fighting a common enemy with the advantage of modern technology. She'll ultimately make the right decision, whatever it may be and however long it takes

Frugaldom

Mummy2cheekymonkeys said:

We had strata for dinner last night which is basically a savoury bread and butter pudding. It used up a large chunk of the homemade loaf i made the other day.  I added some broccoli, spinach and chorizo. It was very tasty and stopped the bread being wasted. 
I finally managed to get the sky tv cancelled after nearly 3 hours on the online chat. I was out of contract for the broadband so renegotiated that as well and managed to get the bill down from £58.74 a month to £27! Very happy with that, even if it did take a long time.

The above deserves special recognition as that is a huge saving! Well done cancelling 1 and saving on the other!

@Missywissy - I have never had any pet insurance for anything, ever, and I have had pets and livestock my entire life. I have public liability for the ponies and anything else needs to rely on savings. You could just set aside some contingency funds each month for such emergencies. Most vets, if you are open with them about a situation, should a major emergency arrive, will negotiate terms as long as you can pay a decent deposit and commit to a strict payment plan. Don't let anyone back you into a corner and convince you that pet insurance is a necessity.

the_cross_rabbit

Finally got round to taking up a couple of pairs of jeans that I got from a charity shop before Christmas. Also made a sticky toffee pudding with the leftover dates from Christmas mmmmmmm.
CRx

willow_loulou

Thank you @Frugaldom that’s reassuring to know. It’s not a good time to be a student. 

My dinner this evening cost pennies, about 50p each, a tin of chicken and veg soup, 60p, a stock cube, 8p. About 25p of frozen veg and a 50p pack of dumpling mix. In the slow cooker, I chucked in some left over potato’s too not sure how much they’d be but the bag was 20p. It was so yummy. 

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

Frugaldom said:

Mummy2cheekymonkeys said:

We had strata for dinner last night which is basically a savoury bread and butter pudding. It used up a large chunk of the homemade loaf i made the other day.  I added some broccoli, spinach and chorizo. It was very tasty and stopped the bread being wasted. 
I finally managed to get the sky tv cancelled after nearly 3 hours on the online chat. I was out of contract for the broadband so renegotiated that as well and managed to get the bill down from £58.74 a month to £27! Very happy with that, even if it did take a long time.

The above deserves special recognition as that is a huge saving! Well done cancelling 1 and saving on the other!

Thank you. It was a no brainer really. The sky box wasnt working from time to time and my sons like watching the same programmes which we can get on amazon prime so it seemed silly to be paying nearly £30 a month for something we werent using. I should have done it weeks ago really. 

Frugaldom

My mini challenge is not to buy any food this month. There are no longer any supermarket delivery slots available here so my grocery challenge just stepped up another notch. January has become a month of use what we have, make the most of Olio, and hope that winter is short so food starts growing soon. My main item that runs out most often is milk but I have UHT as a back-up, then powdered milk to back-up the back-up supply. Milk is what I run out of most often but I have some UHT skimmed, almond milk and dried milk powder. I'm not driving15 mile round trip just to buy milk.

Doom_and_Gloom

Although I haven't officially joined this thread I have been reading this thread from the start and we do need to be careful with the budget now I am no longer working.
May put a budget here at some point. 

Frugaldom - would home made oat/soya/quinoa/nut milks and the like work for you at all? They aren't hard to make and you can strain it with any clean cloth or cheese/muslin cloth it doesn't have to be a specially bought milk bag or anything.
You can also use the pulp to make other dishes so you don't have waste. 

sashacat

I have not spent a penny this year,(except for the electrician...just sent me the bill for some necessary work last year).
I know it’s only 6 days but it sounds good.
I have run out of bread so will have to make some, buy some or get some from olio.
Apart from bread I have everything I need. And to be honest I don’t actually need bread. 

cuddlymarm

I spent £23 in L*dl this morning. I had a T online spot for next week and didn’t really need to buy enough to cover the minimum spend as I’ve loads left so I cancelled my slot. Someone else needs it more. I was aiming for £15 a week but the veg looked lovely so I stocked up, it should last me until the end of next week at least. I try to stay in as much as possible.
I live and work in a small seaside town and it’s far too busy, this new strain has me worried as at 59 I’m no spring chicken but I can’t afford not to work. I just have to hope I’m lucky enough not to catch it. 

Anyway enough of that, I’ve already managed to knock £125 off my credit cards since Xmas. My target is to get them to 0 as soon as possible so 2021 is the year of frugal living.
Keep safe and warm frugallers