2022 Frugal Living Challenge

maryb

I probably do a minimum of three washes a week.  One wash for towels or bedding and kitchen cloths then one for lights and another for darks.   That’s for two people.   I tend not to use high temperature washes so I don’t need to separate more than that.  I’ll use the pre wash setting with some Napisan if necessary for hygiene 

Broomstick

I'm doing a machine load about once a week.  I live alone and don't work outside home at the moment which obviously reduces the volume of washing each week.

I sleep in a single bed so I can do two sets of bedding in the machine and wait until I've used both sets before washing them together (so usually about once a month).  The mattress protector is done probably once every couple of months.  The bed gets aired. It helps to have all my clothes able to go together into a mixed coloured wash. Flannels and (small) hand towels go in with them. I hand wash underwear. Towel and bath mat get done when they need it. Now I've reduced showers down to every other day and just strip wash on the other days, it reduces the frequency of dealing with very wet towels. 

I don't have doormats, just change into slippers at the door and wash the floors by hand when needed.  I don't have pets. 

2Scratters

Morning Peeps,
driving down day to day operating costs (c/o @Hopefuljoy DS ) The water bill arrived at the weekend and we are on a meter. This has come down £30 over the winter period and is £10 cheaper than the last winter bill even with charges going up. We are definitely frugal with that especially as the toilet cistern is old and can hold a lot - there is water displacement gadget in there. Never flush overnight its usually only me doing my nightly trips there  we also have a filter in the fridge to improve the water taste so each time when running the hot water, until it kicks in we collect the cold to tepid water and utilise the what would be down the plug wasted water. We don't tend to wash up during the day and there is only the 2 of us anyway. Have made a faux pas with the council tax I forgot I had put it on SO and not DD so have made 2 extra payments 
I have found a camping poncho that I purchased many moons ago in a wardrobe that I had bought for DS GF and she won't use it. So I'm sat here with it on all nice and warm till DH gets up as he is not an early riser due to his health so he isn't suffering with my frugality   
Shuffled some items around in the fridge released some eggs from the cartons they were purchased and and realised how long they had been there  need to do some baking to get them used up today.
DH is managing to size down his meat portions onto the plates so food goes a bit further. He is seeing the benefit as we went out on Sunday night something we haven't done for far too long.
Have a good week & stay safe

2Sratters xx

willow_loulou

Seeing the potential for fuel bills to be even higher - almost to half my income - I had a moment yesterday. I went about bought tins of beans and spaghetti and will buy more Friday. I am so so glad I have the log burner. 

I was really pleased to see they were still only 39p a tin. We won’t eat like kings but we will eat! 

Bluegreen143

I’m quite lazy about changing bedding, we hang dry and reuse towels quite a few times, and we don’t have a bath mat or pet bedding or washable door mats. But between cleaning rags, towels and clothes we are still at a load pretty much every day for a family of four. When we used cloth nappies I also washed those 3x a week so we did 10 loads a week. 

Broomstick

I know this sounds a bit bizarre and may only make sense to those who've been really pushed for cash but years ago, when my children were little, it was the inability to afford two bath mats but knowing that, from a practical point of view we really needed two, that meant that I cut in half the cheap bath mat I'd just bought and re-hemmed it giving me two that were easier to wash and dry.  (We had no spare towels that I could have used.)  

Maybe, for those with animals, their towels and bedding don't need to be so big as well? Could that help reduce laundry costs? Halving towels or blankets could mean washing them once a fortnight rather than once a week.

MazzieD

Work is getting easier, three days this week and my brain is back in gear.  Just about to have lunch before ploughing on, being very strict with myself about working set hours until I'm full time again.  Wish I could afford to go part time permanently as I'm enjoying the luxury of having time during the week but sadly that isn't going to happen anytime soon with prices the way they are.  

The car passed it's MOT yesterday so delivery finally arranged for tomorrow morning (not holding my breath, little bit cynical after all the messing around, more a case of I'll believe it when I see it)..  Glad it's really economical to run, just been catching up with petrol prices (sharp intake of breath - how much???!!!),  get daily e mail alerts (petrolprices.com) but was deleting them.  

I'm a bit sad, I don't find washing machines very interesting.  My current house was completely refurbished with brand new central heating, boiler and appliances before i bought it so didn't choose anything apart from the fridge/freezer which came with me when I moved.  Everything is energy efficient AAA+ which I'm happy about and that's what counts for me..  .

willow_loulou

Broomstick said:

I know this sounds a bit bizarre and may only make sense to those who've been really pushed for cash but years ago, when my children were little, it was the inability to afford two bath mats but knowing that, from a practical point of view we really needed two, that meant that I cut in half the cheap bath mat I'd just bought and re-hemmed it giving me two that were easier to wash and dry.  (We had no spare towels that I could have used.)  

Maybe, for those with animals, their towels and bedding don't need to be so big as well? Could that help reduce laundry costs? Halving towels or blankets could mean washing them once a fortnight rather than once a week.

I’m quite happy with 2 hand towels, thin ones wash and dry so easily. I use one as a bath mat too, I sewed a ribbon across the shorter ends to identify it. 

-taff

I have a Beko one as well, 7-9kg, I do a 38 mintue 40 degree 1400 spin wash on pretty much everything. Ocassionally, I'll do the towels hotter. I use powder because I find it cheaper, chuck it in the drum. It's been going for 7 years now. Also from AO.

Also another vote for topcashback.

DawnW

Broomstick said:

I know this sounds a bit bizarre and may only make sense to those who've been really pushed for cash but years ago, when my children were little, it was the inability to afford two bath mats but knowing that, from a practical point of view we really needed two, that meant that I cut in half the cheap bath mat I'd just bought and re-hemmed it giving me two that were easier to wash and dry.  (We had no spare towels that I could have used.)  

It doesn't seem bizarre to me at all @Broomstick - I was in a similar position when my children were small.