2021 Frugal Living Challenge

willow_loulou

Thank you @MazzieD xx we’ve started actively avoiding them and nipping out if we need to when they are already out. It makes life much easier. Low profile is definitely the way forward with hideous neighbours. 

Can I ask the £1:50 veg box - do you have to go at a certain time of day? Or is it preorder ? We’re getting a new big L and a new A here so interested in what will be available 

MazzieD

@willow_loulou You don't need to pre-order but they aren't guaranteed to be available. They have them in the morning from opening time and as far as I know they give them to Charities after 12 noon, but I'm not sure if it might be a bit later than that.

willow_loulou

Brilliant thank you xx

Shopaholic_no_more

Hi everyone
@Frugaldom Thankyou....I am utterly determined to do this so calm, positive and focused are going to be my middle names from now on. I am so impressed by what you have achieved over the years and thankyou so much for setting up this forum. You will never know how much it is helping but I can promise you I have had my lightbulb moment and I am looking straight down that dark tunnel for that chink of light at the end. It may take a while...but I WILL see it eventually and you guys on here are, hopefully, going to keep pushing me...because that is what I need ...so let the practising start here 😊. 

@StrawberrySuze... your situation with the credit cards sounds just like mine does now! 
Believe me when I say, it was a dark day last week and I have tried many times to write down on here what is really going through my head and it arrived like a train hitting a wall so to speak...I don’t feel brave I feel embarrassed and ashamed that I have got myself in this situation and I am now facing it head on...which I guess is the brave bit... well it is for me haha.
I have signed up to Prolific so will check it out and see how it works.. great idea...thanks for that! Thankyou...something has to change ...my mental health needs to be in a better place and I know it’s the money situation that’s causing it. I love your signature by the way 🤗 xx

@Couldsavemore I totally understand your embarrassment...I feel the same now! Yes, I do think for definite it is my unhealthy attitude towards my food budget...I just keep going for the easy options and that, ultimately, is costing me ridiculously more money. I was doing cash envelopes in 2019 and that definitely seemed to help but then Covid came along...no one was using cash...but it’s better now so I am going to go back to cash for sure. My hairdressers was still refusing cash but some people need to use cash. I do appreciate money more when I can see it ....online it’s just a load of numbers and I don’t have the same relationship with it at all...crikey that sounds terrible doesn’t it?!

@-taff This is the next thing for me to sort out...meal planning and batch cooking which will actually help me a great deal besides the money saving side of it because I now have to do shift work because of covid and so DOH will be able to just reheat something that has already been made..so a double result. I would say our cat food is the most expensive but only because DOH, bless him, he loves them as do I but he keeps putting food down even when they are not hungry and so it doesn’t get eaten...dries up....and ends up being thrown away....this I struggle with a lot...throwing money in the bin...but I don’t know the best way to go about stopping it without causing any upset. Any suggestions greatly received! 

@nannygladys I like the idea of all your separate accounts too and the fact that you set yourself challenges. This could also work for me. Thankyou! 

@skogar....this is what I am going to do from now on...cash for food...and when it’s gone it’s gone...this will make me think doubly hard about what I SHOULD buy and stick to it. Thankyou 🤗

@AskYouWillGet My childhood was spent with my parents always watching the pennies and my mum was always baking ....great memories...she said to me the other day that in those days they had no choice...there was no mountains of choice in everything food wise like there is today...this is definitely something that distracts me when I am shopping....blinkers on and stick to my list...thankyou for your story...🤗

@roblou27 so sorry to hear about your DF ...speedy recovery for him I hope. At least, you and hubby can still go out and work....your story about what really matters in life has totally resonated with me as well as this is why I am feeling like I am at the moment because I’ve come to realise I don’t want to be on this endless treadmill anymore and the way out of it is to get ahead of my money situation and stay there! Love your food ideas and the crossword idea....brilliant 🙌. I used to live by the sea and I miss it dreadful....this is now going to be my motivation. I hope you have been having better nights than you have. Take care x 

@willow_loulou....this time of year doesn’t help does it along with everything else that is going on. I grew tomatoes last year and was very chuffed with them but I bought it as a plant....so do I need to be planting tomato seeds now if I want to do them this way? I have also had unfriendly neighbours in the past too so I totally sympathise with you. Sending a virtual hug x 

I have been given some carrot seeds which I am going to plant up this year along with some more runner beans and maybe even some potatoes....if only I could get a palllet home in my car to make a raised bed for them...

Your are all helping me more than you know and I am feeling so much more positive now....I am going to contact my credit card company about my interest payments and see what they have to say...I have also looked at the Stepchange forum on here just to see what sort of questions get asked and it seems that there are an awful lot of people in similar situations aren’t there?! If I get no joy from the cc company then this could be my way forward....although I’ll be honest it scares the life out of me.

have a good evening all x 

CRANKY40

I've switched from cash to debit card for food shopping Olaney but the other thing that I did was switch to the shop and scan thing in store which gives a running total of what I am spending as I scan it. I find that seeing the total is way more likely to put the brakes on my wilder ideas than anything else. 

There's no need to be embarrassed - the beauty of this site is that it's anonymous and unless you have been careless with your user name it's unlikely that anyone that you know in everyday life will find you here. I sort of feel like we're set up to be in debt. I came from a background of very little money and when I was offered my first credit card at 18 it felt like I'd won money. The thrill of buying something that I couldn't normally have afforded was amazing. Then once you owe money you're trapped. There have been times in my life when I haven't had credit card debt but this isn't one of them. I do at least have some savings again now (which probably isn't MSE as it would be more effective to pay the cash against the debt but the savings give me peace of mind). 

About the cat fud.....ours gets a little meal in the morning and a bigger one at night. It was harder when there was two as we didn't know who was eating what. maybe suggest that you have to get them on a regular feeding schedule in case they ever have to be looked after in an emergency? You could just hide the cat food from him, lol. Good luck with everything. It looks scary but like most things, it it's tackled step by little step it becomes achievable.

willow_loulou

@OLaney thanks I appreciate it. This forum is the best isn’t it! 

With tomatoes, yes absolutely the sooner you get them in the better, as long as you have a place indoors or a greenhouse they will do well, just be careful when you start to harden them off as a snap frost will kill them.  But do check your seed variety, cherry ones tend to fruit quicker for me so I leave them until end of Feb. 

Carrots will thank you for companion planting with an onion as they keep away the carrot fly. Also invest in some borage for fertiliser if you can, it’s a great companion plant, bug friendly and then great for next years soil. I use all sorts of things to grow in, jars, takeaway type pots, loo rolls etc. My friends always check before they recycle if I can use things. 

Try planting for bees to get a good crop and feed them. Seeds for them can be got very cheaply and add some pretty to your practical. I hanging basket them off fences using milk bottles - also good for herbs - just burn or poke holes in the bottom, cut a top side off and pop a little gravel in before the soil. I use cable ties to hang them. Will show you the next one I make if you like. 

Shopaholic_no_more

@willow_loulou that would be great thanks!! And Thankyou for the tips ....I will crack on with the tomato seeds this weekend 😊
@CRANKY40 I have tried hiding the cat food but he just went out and bought more because he thought we didn’t have any in 😂😂....I’m chipping away saying about throwing money in the bin as opposed to cat food....it may take a while but I’m hoping it will work in the end!
 I’m trying to do most of my shopping at Aldi for the foreseeable and sadly they don’t use those scanners do they? When I do go to one of the big 4 supermarkets I do like to use the scanners for exactly that reason....but for now it will just be to get decent coffee (I have to draw the line at cheap coffee haha). Thanks for the advice though! 

I have started using green lentils mixed in with mince and was shocked to see how much further it stretches so that one is definitely a keeper. I accidentally picked up a tin of black beans a month or so ago and have never used them before. Any ideas anyone? 

AskYouWillGet

willow_loulou said:

Sinus issues are horrid, I’ve just cleared mine after 3 weeks. I get a flare up at least twice a year but definitely think this was down to food choices. 

Today is a struggle getting going, I’m really at the wallowing in self pity point. 

But I need to plant up my back door seedling shelf and get them around the window sills so I can start more veg off. I’m going to empty another shelf by the back door for growing on as this seems a very effective growing spot. My DS got me more seeds so I’ve a different tomato I’ll start off today too. 

Oh no, I used to get them regular in the past too but this one is horrific on one side of my face with Trigeminal Neuralgia which I can feel is threatening to return! Going to have to ring GP in morning. Please woukd you mind telling me what foods I should avoid?
Have started of some tomatoes off too & excited to try new types too instead of cherry toms from shop!

roblou27

Olaney so envious of you living by the sea at one point in you life....I do love it winter or summer. Good news one more night on the settee then my bed awaits......ahhhhhh.😴😴😴😴

AskYouWillGet

Watching a new TV documentary about food - Ch5 Secrets of your supermarket - it is very enlightening.