2021 Frugal Living Challenge

StrawberrySuze

MazzieD said:

Lots of new places signed up on 'Too Good to Go' before Lockdown.  Has anyone tried the Costa bag?.  Getting the Morries one is impossible, they sell out in a couple of minutes and the pick up time is during my 'core' hours in the week,  Olio is really quiet, no food heroes so far this week or food listings.  

I've tried the Costa bag and was quite underwhelmed, I won't buy again, I think I've been spoilt with the magic bag from a local baker!

willow_loulou

@cuddlymarm I’m worried too, also a seaside town with busy beaches even at 1degree temps. I’m so glad I can stay home but I still need to exercise the dogs 

threepenny_bit

I did a little shop using a gift voucher and then spent and extra $5. I just needed milk, bread and some fruit and veg to keep us going till I get our monthly fruit and veg box, this has been paid for already so dont have to budget for it. I have one more small voucher to use  later this month; I don't need any meat etc so it will just be milk and bits and bobs. 
Need to find ways to raise cash this month  to pay off some credit card debt - need to sort out some things to put on local groups this month.

MazzieD

StrawberrySuze said:

MazzieD said:

Lots of new places signed up on 'Too Good to Go' before Lockdown.  Has anyone tried the Costa bag?.  Getting the Morries one is impossible, they sell out in a couple of minutes and the pick up time is during my 'core' hours in the week,  Olio is really quiet, no food heroes so far this week or food listings.  

I've tried the Costa bag and was quite underwhelmed, I won't buy again, I think I've been spoilt with the magic bag from a local baker!

Thanks, that's interesting.  I'm not a huge fan of their food and it explains why they 'sell' really slowly.

I don't 'subscribe' to many email newsletters but my local city council do a weekly one which is well worth reading.  It came 2 days early this week which is always a bad sign as they publish the local Covid figures.  Covid numbers have shot up and it looks like the new mutant Ciovid has arrived here.  Full on frugalling and a quick supermarket trip are in order I think.  Olio has sprung back into life as well so it's not all bad news!.

thriftylynny

Really enjoying this thread & tips ! Been trying to set up the olio app & my samsung won't let me do it , just realised it might only work on apple devices ,is that right?

mumof3.12kindebt

Morning frugal friends, 
I have lots of stuff I want to get done today.
On a very positive note. We paid off the catalogue this morning. (Was bnpl so didn't lay any interest on it) double win ! 

I'm hoping to list loads of stuff for sale today so I can add some money to the car fund and do some surveys too. 
I also have a doctors appointment this morning for my smear - a little reminder for anyone that is due ! 
Also we have only spent budgeted money so far since I started my second debt free diary in December and our food shops since have come in under budget. I cannot stress enough how important it is too shop from your kitchen first, meal plan and take a list and calculator also don't forget your bags and mask ! And trolley token if you shop at aldi or Lidl. Since switching back to aldi we have done alot better ie budget..  I go to a!di first and then Mr t for the stuff I can't get at A!di I've also managed to work out when they do the yellow sticker reductions at mr t so I try and get there for then.. but next week I'm going to go to tesxo for yellow stickers then go to aldi instead and see how that works out re budget 

Anyway off to get ready for the doctors have a great day frugal friends 

stellata

So far keeping to my budget, got a grocery delivery as I panicked a bit after the lockdown news, but that's it now till feb. Also given myself a target to sell one thing a week to offset any spending. Done for this week.

MandM90

Missywissy we don't insure our cats. We always keep a 6 month emergency fund (6 months living expenses) and would dip into that in an emergency, otherwise I chuck £50 into a pot monthly for vet expenses. One of my cats is on meds which is why it's quite high.
Jealous of the Lidl veg box someone posted. Always used to get one when we lived in SE England, here in NI I've not seen them, not in Belfast anyway. Will keep eyes peeled. My local shops do amazing yellow stickers though.
the_cross_rabbit you've reminded me about my lemons. I'm going to get that done this morning. We've run out of squash so the frozen lemon slices might jazz up water enough to help keep my family from begging me to do a top up shop.
O_Laney what would you recommend as an easy craft to get into? I've ordered a journal to start bullet journalling. I used to sew a lot but it's so hard to get everything out and put it away again. We only really have the dining table here, and I have 10 month old breastfed baby so finding time and space is hard. We are moving to a 5 bed soon with a few reception areas I could steal for sewing, yay.
rolorich which nut trees did you get? We were thinking of getting walnut and hazel trees at the next place but from what I've read it takes a few years for a decent harvest?
Gutted I missed the 99p Kate Humble book. I get 'bookbub' but not Kindle daily deals. To be honest I have too many unread books, and three on the go at the moment, so it's probably for the best!
Made a crumble last night with frozen mixed berries. I didn't have any but it went down well with the troops. Treats like these help me keep the budget down as they don't notice the other things we've run out of!
This Friday we won't be having a takeaway. I have vegan 'nuggets' and a sack of spuds and I'll be deep frying our own chips, yum.  On Sunday we will go to a local NT property for our entertainment. Apart from groceries and a pair of slippers for OH (the Tesco ones I bought him for Xmas fell apart nearly instantly!) it should be a no spend week, unless we need fuel, but we haven't been going anywhere so I think that can wait until next week.

Shopaholic_no_more

Morning everyone
A quick tip....some of you may well already do this but when buying frozen peas (or sometimes frozen fruit) try to get the ones with the resealable bags because when they are empty they can be washed out and reused as freezer bags for your own use 😊.
I now have a drawer full of empty frozen pea bags....good for the pocket...good for the environment..win win all round!

DawnW

thriftylynny said:

Really enjoying this thread & tips ! Been trying to set up the olio app & my samsung won't let me do it , just realised it might only work on apple devices ,is that right?

@thriftylynny the app works fine on Android devices. I have it installed on my old Motorola phone.