2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Hughesfamily

@wishus sending you lots of love and strength x
@willow_loulou sending you hugs x
We have a mini stockpile which will be getting bigger soon as I empty my FIL house out. We had to throw some stuff as it was well out of date and looked / smelled off. But things like the hot chocolate mix (over 1kg in various open / unopened pots) we have kept and will use up. All the tinned stuff is great but a lot of the freezer foods are too far gone to use, which is a shame as there are two full freezer's worth. The ice cream was rubbery which was not a nice discovery!
We are eating from home stores this week - payday is next Monday and I have set myself the challenge of keeping food shop as low as possible through February and paying £350 off the credit card bill, more if possible. No fuel needed this month as I have the full tank from what I put in to it from January pay, so that £60 will go to the emergency fund. We are walking everywhere that we can to try and minimise some pounds off me!
I have set my daughter a domestic science challenge for home schooling, she has to find a recipe for cakes / biscuits and make them so she has snacks at the ready. I'll add maths into that as well by getting her to cost it all as if we bought the ingredients at different supermarkets and making the comparison of who is the most expensive. Trying to start her off early on the budgeting!

Frugal things today: making a draught excluder from a pair of hole-y leggings and clothes which are not good enough to sell, but will fill the excluder perfectly. Tacking two curtains together to make a front door curtain as we discovered that the wind blows through the door frame and makes the hall sub-zero. Making the left over cooked veg from the past couple of days into bubble and squeak (will add in some left over garlic and herb cheese from Xmas) and freezing this in silicone bun cases to have easy grab portions for lunches. Cooking a full dinner using last of the cooked & sliced turkey from Christmas, some sprouty potatoes and some YS vegetables that we picked up at the weekend.  Once the dinner has cooked, I'll put the clotheshorse in front of the cooker to dry whatever washing has not dried during the day. I am trying to get my 10 year old into better sleep patterns as bedtime had slipped from Christmas and with lockdown - she is getting grotty moods and very lethargic so 8.30 bedtime for both of us - I can watch TV or read and we can have the heating going off at 8.00 so another saving!
Right, best get some work done.....

Oldstylethriftylady

Afternoon all, not much frugaling being done today as not gone out etc, it’s just me for dinner tonight though so having a fridge clear out nachos for dinner. I get paid on Monday so have sorted out our budget and put down £250 for food shopping, it’s just two of us. I’m hoping to get it less than that though as worked out if I want to put savings away for the rates we’re minus £20 odd a month!! 

sashacat

Good evening all. 
I also had an end of life visit this week but person is hanging on. It is so hard.
still not been near a shop so my total grocery spend this month is the £1.20 I spent on bread that my friend added to her shopping list.
Another friend swopped 2 loaves, a box of cereal and some teabags for a portion of home made  (and home grown) leek quiche and lots of jars of home made pickles and chutney. A neighbour brought me 12 bantam eggs for £1. So I have plenty of food. 
I do grow all of my own veg and fruit (except oranges and bananas obviously). 
I stockpile but it is mostly meals or soup from homegrown veg or fruit.

Couldsavemore

Thanks for all the comments around stores and when you replace things..
I'm still trying to get my head round proper meal planning, keeping a reasonable store cupboard and buying whats needed and avoiding wanted.
On the frugal front my mam is experimenting with vegan recipes as she wants to do her bit for climate change by cutting back on meat and dairy.
I cooked for her on sunday, so yesterday she brought me jackfruit chilli and baked spud and left me another spud for today... so that saved me.  Means my soup will cover lunch on sat and sun so less food shopping.

the_cross_rabbit

Tea was supplied by the basil and nasturtiums we grew this summer and we made into pesto. Tasted of summer. Low cost tea, have several more frozen blocks of summer to look forward to.
CRx

Viking_mfw

Whizzed out to get breakfast for me and lunch for DH and DS1 from a pret Olio FWH, plus a gingerbread man for DS1. Last of the turkey for tea as a sort of pie, topped with broken taco shells, and the leftover for my lunch tmw. A NSD, although mostly because it was too grim to pop out to the post office and send off a couple of things. I have spent the afternoon decluttering to music magpie and Fb marketplace among other things. More to go - plenty more!

Frugaldom

zafiro1984 said:

The roof over the wood store is finished  Once the wood has dried out and been chopped my aim is not to use the electric oven or hob just to use the one fuelled by wood. I am lucky enough to have an endless supply of free wood so it seems a shame not to use it. Hopefully, it should also save some money. 

Well done! An endless supply f free wood should definitely be used for free heat and hot water whenever and wherever possible so good luck getting it all stacked and dried or seasoned, whichever, and make the most of it. I can't wait to get organised and start using the wood burner again but it's been so wet and so time consuming getting all the other jobs done that gathering wood just hasn't been squeezed in to my winter schedule. 2020 was a year that I'd practically written off! Here's hoping 2021 is better - eventually.

Frugaldom

Oldstylethriftylady said:

Morning all, starting the day with porridge and jam, hoping this year is going to be different as in 2019 our pick your own place closed but another was supposed to be starting up, haven’t heard anything more but I used up all my homemade jam last year so using store bought this year and I can never find fruit cheap enough to make my own at the moment. It’s also terribly wet so sadly don’t think I’ll be able to turn off the light today as wfh during the lockdown. Hope everyone is ok x

I like starting the day with porridge and if I don't fancy jam, I add a handful of sultanas to the porridge when cooking it then eat a drizzle of honey. I managed to get 2 free cartons of peaches and some apples via Olio a couple of weeks ago so I stewed them together with some sugar and am now using that either with my porridge or in plain yoghurt, which was also free via the app. Have you checked it out? Olioex.com and look for your nearest food waste hero. It's all about saving food from going to waste.

Frugaldom

AskYouWillGet said:

Hello, I would like to join please. Looking forward to sharing and learning from others on becoming self-sufficient and save money. I will be growing own veg, selling, swapping or giving seeds, seedlings and produce with friends who also growing - I'm the only one who is using the Hugelkultur method.  I've started buying in bulk when offers are worthy and now researching more ways to cut back on buying when could use things that are already available in my home, such as upcycling clothes, cleaning without chemicals,  make, mend and do, and the like  

Welcome to the challenge - you're the first person here I can think of who has mentioned Hugelkultur - I called mine frugalHugels

Frugaldom

moneyonmymindsam said:

Evening everyone I would love to join please 
I have read the entire thread with much enthusiasm 😂 wow so much going on.
Willow sorry to hear about your neighbours, and Wishus I'm another thinking about you and wishing you strength. 

I am very frugal, very minimal but always learning and picking up tips.
No olio round my way and the too good to go always gone or to far but I have seen a lidl veg box and was very impressed with it. I no longer prep for armageddon but have around 8 days a time worth of food in the house mainly as I ran down all stocks which saw us through some bleak times. 

I pretty much have 2 of everything as I like a spare but this is a habit (or OCD🤔😂) that I need to change. 

Thank you to everyone for the chat, hints and tips I've picked up reading the thread. 
Sam x

Welcome to the challenge, Sam. You'll probably develop what many of us know as 'numerical OCD' once you start rounding down any debts or rounding up any savings. I found it incredibly helpful. It's all a numbers game and we make it fun whenever and however possible. If I had 2 of everything in my cupboard, I'd call it my food ark.