2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Sweetlittledaydreams

Hopefuljoy said:

@Sweetlittledaydreams It's great that you can take on extra shifts. Especially as prices of everything are going up. And I remember from growing veg that feeling of excitement knowing I'd produced something wonderful from a tiny seed. I recently got some foraging books out of the library where I work and they were inspiring. However, I haven't done any as I lack confidence which seems silly now I've written it down. 

Sorry for a really late reply - the last month has just flown by for me. It doesn't seem silly at all to lack confidence when it comes to foraging, I mean there really are lots of things that look like another thing that could make you really ill, especially when it comes to mushrooms - that's something I'd like to get into but am super wary of making a mis-identity. Yesterday I went for a 3 hour walk with a friend, lovely weather and good fresh air, also nice to me able to talk and laugh, very good for the soul. also picked nettles for tea or soups, dandelions for jam and wild garlic for either curry or to make into pesto, so a productive and free day. 
Last week I had to go to another town for 2 days training, afterwards thought I might aswell have a look round as it's 40 miles away so unlikely to go back very often, anyway got a country wine making book for £1.50, also got a lift on the second day with someone I met the day before so that saves on the petrol as she was able to use a work vehicle.
Ive been looking at no bake recipes what with gas prices rising so much. Made nice no bake flapjacks at the weekend, and someone further up said about tiffin and chocolate nest cakes  so will be making that too. I've always thought that baking your own bread and cakes is cheaper than buying from the shop but I wonder if that balance will tip now energy prices are rising so much, or whether shops will have to put there prices up too and it will stay the same.
 It's a bit miserable looking at the smart meter, I've not had it long but used to try and keep it below £2 a day for gas and electric, at the weekend i had the central heating on for about 1.5 hours because it was 10.7c in the lounge, got it up to 15c then turned it off, also did 2 loads of laundry but on short 15 minute washes with an extra spin and the smart meter showed almost £4. 
I've lost track of my spending and saving over March, have been a bit unfocused so I need to go back over it all. I know I've spent a bit setting up a coop but now I have two lovely little quail and I'm getting an egg a day, but they're not a money saving tactic they're pets! And spoilt pets at that!! 
I've run out of coffee so now I am debating do I go to the shops and pick up a jar or use up all the dried herbal teas I've made, which will probably take about a year because I got a bit carried away last summer picking and drying everything edible I could find! But then I do really like coffee and I'm working night shift this week so might well need the boost so we'll see.

missmoneywatch

Trying to grow more at home this year for us aswell we have peas spring onions radish and lettuce seedlings in shed,bought a couple of strawberry plants and added two more raspberry canes so we'll see how it goes depends on the English weather a bit! Going to enjoy a picnic dinner today and roll our decorated eggs so should be a NSD. 

Wraithlady

I got the grow-your-own bug last year, so have bean, mangetout and tomato seedlings and have planted salady-things, courgettes and some woad seeds I found at the bottom of the tin - from memory, the bees and lacewings love them!

Apart from the woad, I'm going for things which are fairly expensive (mangetout and courgettes) or taste so much better fresh-picked (tomatoes and salad) - also got an unexpected bonus as the rocket and spinach I thought had died over winter have sprouted again so had my first crop in a salad yesterday.

bluesooz

just harvested the first asparagus - only 2 spears mindyou, but there are more showing through.  Still harvesting the purple sprouting broccoli but don't know for how much longer before it manages to flower before i can eat it all!   Rhubarb looks ready to harvest too.

Bees have been all over the broad bean flowers and there are baby broad bean pods already.

All the usual seedlings doing well and i've tempted fate by sowing the french/runner beans outdoors already.  (We're in the south east and weather has been very warm.)  

bargainbetty

I've taken the plunge and planted a 'square foot garden' box (four sections, each a foot square) with onions, garlic, rocket and radishes - things I will eat and on a scale that I won't get upset about if it fails miserably!

If people have any tips on these items, I'd be grateful to hear them. 

Primrose

pick the rocket leaves regularly once they start growing or they will quickly grow wiry and tough. Radishes will quickly grow woody too.

weenancyinAmerica

Keep replanting radish seeds every couple of weeks. I really like the first radish leaves that come out on bread and butter. You can eat the greens without waiting to have a radish bulb. The leaves taste just like the radish and have lots of food value. So if you sow them too thickly don't worry about it.

2Scratters

We'd popped out last night for a chippy tea which ended up (cheaper) more cost effective than we anticipated  when we got home DH was stood at the driveway looking up the side of the house smiling, turns out the neighbour who borrows tools and bits from DH had borrowed the wheelbarrow in the morning and had returned it as he had finished with it and was full of chopped up wood for our burner, even better it is Ash wood too. That will see us over about a weeks nights or longer if this temperature continues 

Kitchenbunny

So, I realise I’m starting this very late... to be honest I didn’t realise this thread was here and it’s only recent situations that have made me come back. I’ve been a member a while but haven’t posted seriously in A Long Time. I think before I was doing it because it was good to save money, and now it feels more like I need to save money. 

I hold my hands up - I’m terrible for starting challenges and falling off the wagon when things get tougher or it feels unfair. Time to change all that, and I’m going to do it properly. I’m using this month as a base to identify exactly what is going where, then set budgets and monitor them for the months ahead. By the end of the year I should be able to estimate the ones I’ve missed and set a decent enough budget. 

There’s just me and DH, both work full time right now, neither fussy eaters thankfully. I’m really trying to build up an emergency fund for when things go wrong. Hope you don’t mind an old bunny coming back. 

Meals are planned, a little extra cooked for lunches tomorrow and that should
do for today’s wins. 

Sweetlittledaydreams

Super cheap meals so far this week, 17p for a loaf of bread reduced to go, eaten half so far and it's still soft enough to keep eating. Wild garlic and nettle risotto - foraged, healthy and obviously cheap! Less healthy tonight but still tasty and filling, spaghetti hoops 16p a tin, some of the bread and eggs from the garden chicks, and homemade cider.
I've requested a statement to see how much I've got left to pay on the mortgage, just to get me back on track.
I've also ordered mushroom spores this morning and plan to make a mushroom bed in a shady bit of the garden, I'm vegetarian and eat a lot of mushrooms so this should be good if it's successful. Also now it's getting warmer I'm going to dry grass cuttings to make straw for the mushrooms to grow in. My garden is quite small but I'm trying to make it as productive as possible.