2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Raincoat

willow_loulou said:

Really pleased with my food shopping this month. If you’ve not thought about a veg box delivery it really is worth it. I’m back into £25 a week food shop for 2 and I’m shopping in M&S for some things still. 

I spend £12 on my box (tho I’m adding on bits) and between 8 and 12 on other things. I spent a little more this week and M&S had their sausages on offer so I got 2 and froze one for next week. I also got 2 lots of their own butter as that was on offer. 

All I should need shopping wise before the end of the month will be milk, bread, extra salad and ham/cheese. That’s approximately £7 if I get olio bread if not £8. I’m looking forward to adding it up at month end to see. 

Delurking to say I also was pleasantly surprised that Oddbox has curtailed some of my grocery spend. I find the boxes are generously filled, so I end up making fewer additional trips to the supermarket (an area of weakness for me). I've had different veg box schemes in the past but really love the spirit of OB, including the FB group that they set up (other subscribers share their recipes - the purple carrot surplus earlier this year was quite fun, given everything turned pink!)
I still struggle to understand what is "odd" about some things though, it really underlines how daft our system is if onions are rejected for being slightly too small. 

QueenJess

Raincoat said:

willow_loulou said:

Really pleased with my food shopping this month. If you’ve not thought about a veg box delivery it really is worth it. I’m back into £25 a week food shop for 2 and I’m shopping in M&S for some things still. 

I spend £12 on my box (tho I’m adding on bits) and between 8 and 12 on other things. I spent a little more this week and M&S had their sausages on offer so I got 2 and froze one for next week. I also got 2 lots of their own butter as that was on offer. 

All I should need shopping wise before the end of the month will be milk, bread, extra salad and ham/cheese. That’s approximately £7 if I get olio bread if not £8. I’m looking forward to adding it up at month end to see. 

Delurking to say I also was pleasantly surprised that Oddbox has curtailed some of my grocery spend. I find the boxes are generously filled, so I end up making fewer additional trips to the supermarket (an area of weakness for me). I've had different veg box schemes in the past but really love the spirit of OB, including the FB group that they set up (other subscribers share their recipes - the purple carrot surplus earlier this year was quite fun, given everything turned pink!)
I still struggle to understand what is "odd" about some things though, it really underlines how daft our system is if onions are rejected for being slightly too small. 

When I’ve bought wonky veg in the past I’ve thought exactly the same thing. It’s so annoying that supermarkets still seem to require silly standards and presumably leads to so much waste before it is even bought by the end consumer. The wonky veg offerings in supermarkets aren’t even the tip of the iceberg - it’s basically greenwashing imo.

It’s interesting that you have people like Oddbox trying to fill the gaps - they have no incentive to get any change in the market since they would do themselves out of business. A bit doom and gloom, sorry!

Oddbox sent junk through my door trying to get me to use the scheme, but when I looked at it, they don’t even deliver to my postcode! What a waste of resources!

cw18

QueenJess said:

Oddbox sent junk through my door trying to get me to use the scheme, but when I looked at it, they don’t even deliver to my postcode! What a waste of resources!

I seem to recall that when I first looked at the site (in my case I'd seen something on the internet) they didn't deliver to me - but there was a way of registering interest / asking to be notified if they started to deliver around me.

I've since been notified that they do - and was given a discount code for an initial order.   But having looked at it and weighed up everything, I've decided it's not for me.   I tried getting a box from elsewhere when I was feeding a family of 4, and always ended up throwing lots away - both because delivery was only mid-week and I really only cooked for all of us at the weekend, but also because there were some things that I had no idea what to do with them and/or most of the family refused to try anything new to them.   I cancelled after 3 or 4 deliveries as it was a total waste of money for us.

Now I'm on my own I really can't see me using half of what comes in even the smallest box before it starts to go off - and it seems expensive compared to picking up locally (even when buying from A1di means buying pre-packed bags that I'll end up binning part of!).     I very rarely buy fresh veg these days (apart from onions, mushrooms, garlic and potatoes) as there's much less / no waste using frozen, only eat salad during the hottest weeks in a year (other than in butties when I'm away from home!), and the only fruit I eat even semi-regularly is bananas.   I'd eat more raspberries and strawberries, but unless I find them on reduction I can't justify the expense.  I hate oranges other than satsumas, melons other than honeydew, grapes other than green seedless, and there aren't many apples I like.   Most of the more unusual/more expensive ones like kiwi are a total no-go for me.

2Scratters

I too received an Obox discount and was tempted by it. There are some veg I can't eat it really does not like me and they always seem to be in boxes. I really didn't like the bit about continuous payment authority : so that resulted in the advertisement card straight to the bin. 
Otherwise the house keeping money is holding up very well even after an eye opening trip to FFoods, Shredded Wh**t boxes are now down to 24 biscuits from 32  Looks like I'll have to cut down to 1 a meal 

MazzieD

I've looked at Odd box a couple of times, it's a great idea.  Looks like they are trying to expand, it was originally just London and then South East England (where I am) was added.  Think if I was going to have a veg box delivered this would definitely be the one.  

Weather was lovely over the weekend, ventured out into the garden yesterday for the first time this year.  Did a drastic pruning session towards the end of last year so it wasn't looking too bad.  Had an enjoyable hour or so tidying up the bushes and shrubs with my secateurs and my furry helper who enjoys a gardening session!.

joedenise

I looked to see if Oddbox deliver to my area but currently they don't (I'm in SE England!).  They deliver to my DD1s area but that would be a 15 mile drive each way to collect so not really feasible.  Will keep checking from time to time to see if they expand to where I live and if they do will give them a go.

willow_loulou

joedenise said:

I looked to see if Oddbox deliver to my area but currently they don't (I'm in SE England!).  They deliver to my DD1s area but that would be a 15 mile drive each way to collect so not really feasible.  Will keep checking from time to time to see if they expand to where I live and if they do will give them a go.

I had the same initial problem but shortly after a recent mail shot they started delivering to my area. I’m in SE too, right in the coast. We’re typically last to get any initiative as we’re an area of high deprivation in an area deemed to be affluent. I think me registering my interest helped. 

Can anyone recommend a not highly scented effective fabric softener please ? Vinegar is not enough on my sons work trousers and they need a little something more. (Not interested in making a load as I can’t store) 

Floss

Willow, any of the own-label sensitive ones are virtually unscented, I use Asda on everything except bedding which gets Wilko's lavender one. I find vinegar runs straight into the drum for some reason.

joedenise

I don't use much softener but when I do I use Asda own brand which doesn't have a lot of scent as @Floss says.  I only use it if I wash woollens either by hand or a full machine load of them but usually don't do them separately so a bottle lasts me ages!  It's also fairly cheap.  It reminds me of Fairy softener so don't know if it's made by the same company!

carolbee

willow_loulou said:

joedenise said:

I looked to see if Oddbox deliver to my area but currently they don't (I'm in SE England!).  They deliver to my DD1s area but that would be a 15 mile drive each way to collect so not really feasible.  Will keep checking from time to time to see if they expand to where I live and if they do will give them a go.

I had the same initial problem but shortly after a recent mail shot they started delivering to my area. I’m in SE too, right in the coast. We’re typically last to get any initiative as we’re an area of high deprivation in an area deemed to be affluent. I think me registering my interest helped. 

Can anyone recommend a not highly scented effective fabric softener please ? Vinegar is not enough on my sons work trousers and they need a little something more. (Not interested in making a load as I can’t store) 

I’m SE coastal too, nearMargate