2022 Frugal Living Challenge

mumof3.12kindebt

Good afternoon everyone .


Car is in for mot today.  Hope it passes. 


I have the next few days off work, just how it fell on the rota. 

Im going to bake some cakes, make some popcorn and possibly waffles for snacks for the kids. 

Other than the car,  today will be a no spend day. I'm absolutely determined to pay our debt off by the end of July. To do that we Need to be spending as little as possible. So im still working our way through the cupboards and freezer and trying to spend as little as possible food wise. 

zafiro1984

DawnW said:

@zafiro1984 it is probably worth your while to buy a slow cooker for when your stove isn't alight. 

Thanks Dawn, I do actually have a couple of slow cookers but I'm actually trying to be as frugal as possible.
I've just put 2.5kg of venison, some chilli, carrots, mushrooms, chestnuts, thyme, leeks, flour and bay leaves in a very large cast iron roasting tray - it was so heavy when I added the liquid - and it's now in the Ironheart oven on the bottom shelf. Should be ready for tea at about 7.30pm plus plenty to freeze.

Floss

@zafiro1984 have you contacted your water company about your lack of drainage?

atrixa

I stopped using fabric softener a few years ago when I realised that you aren't meant to use it on towels or sportswear. It stops the towels from absorbing properly and stops the technical fabrics in sportswear wicking sweat away. Fabric softener coats the fabric in a lipid layer, and apparently it only works on cotton. I used to like the fragrances but I like saving money more. Pointless product for me when I do mixed loads.

otb666

i think batch cooking will be too expensive going forward because a fridge freezer costs 30-60pm which is quite a lot and we will have to go back to buying and eating what we need weekly. So something that you cook becomes more expensive when you included storage costs. eg say 30 items in freezer cost you £1-2 per month per item to store So the costs for that cheap meal go up the longer you store it.

Living_proof

otb666 said:

i think batch cooking will be too expensive going forward because a fridge freezer costs 30-60pm which is quite a lot and we will have to go back to buying and eating what we need weekly. So something that you cook becomes more expensive when you included storage costs. eg say 30 items in freezer cost you £1-2 per month per item to store So the costs for that cheap meal go up the longer you store it.

How do you justify these figures please? On this basis my bills should be enormous!

cw18

otb666 said:

i think batch cooking will be too expensive going forward because a fridge freezer costs 30-60pm which is quite a lot

30-60 what?    My electricity usage for the whole house averages at 4kWh/day - which is about 120kWh/month.  Amongst that I'm running a fridge/freezer AND an upright freezer.

Just had a dig for details, and the manufacturers figures are

Fridge/Freezer - 291kWh/year (24.24kWh/month).  At my April prices that would be £81.54, which is £6.80/month
Upright Freezer - 231kWh/year (19.25kWh/month).   April prices take it to £64.73/year, or £5.40/month

My fridge/freezer has roughly equal height parts for each half, with each being about the same as an under counter appliance.

My freestanding freezer is about 5' tall.

zafiro1984

Floss said:

@zafiro1984 have you contacted your water company about your lack of drainage?

I was told that the water inwards was the water companies responsibilities but the sewage out plus the water runoff ie road drains was the councils responsibility. if you know differently please let me know and I'll ring the water company.

otb666 said:
i think batch cooking will be too expensive going forward because a fridge freezer costs 30-60pm which is quite a lot and we will have to go back to buying and eating what we need weekly. So something that you cook becomes more expensive when you included storage costs. eg say 30 items in freezer cost you £1-2 per month per item to store So the costs for that cheap meal go up the longer you store it.

otb666 - I'll take on board what you say and monitor the costs closely.
However, I know the fridge part of a fridge freezer can be expensive to run because the fridge has just one aim and that is to stay cold so every time you open the fridge door the temp goes up as the cold air descends out of the fridge. I used to be one of those people who opened the fridge door - had a look around before choosing what to take out - apparently that is an expensive way of doing things. Now, I have a mental picture of what is in the fridge, so I don't have the door open for long. 
Upright freezers must work on the same principal, but I'm pretty sure chest freezers are cheaper to run especially if they are full. My mother back in the 1950's (she was ahead of her time) would put blankets in her freezer if it wasn't full to occupy the empty space. I have 2 large chest freezers, one tall upright freezer, and the small one under the fridge. My average daily kw over the last month was 15.32 for the whole house. Last year for the same period it was 24.87kw daily.

Floss

zafiro1984 said:

Floss said:

@zafiro1984 have you contacted your water company about your lack of drainage?

I was told that the water inwards was the water companies responsibilities but the sewage out plus the water runoff ie road drains was the councils responsibility. if you know differently please let me know and I'll ring the water company....

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/your-water-bill/unmetered/

zafiro1984

Floss said:

zafiro1984 said:

Floss said:

@zafiro1984 have you contacted your water company about your lack of drainage?

I was told that the water inwards was the water companies responsibilities but the sewage out plus the water runoff ie road drains was the councils responsibility. if you know differently please let me know and I'll ring the water company....

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/your-water-bill/unmetered/

Brilliant - many thanks - I will get in touch with them and let you know what happens