2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Debsnewbudget

I used to be a Food Waste Hero with Olio and I was happy to give to the same people, its all about making sure the food is collected. The only thing you have to do to make their life easier is request on each of the posts and tell them how many you need and when you can pick up.
for example if I had 50 sandwiches it made my life so much easier if people would say they wanted 6 and some idea of the type they wanted…. Rather than me having to message back to ask how many.

Primrose

Sweetlittledaydreams said:

Petrol prices are absolutely ridiculous, and annoyingly I travel about an hour a day for work so its an unavoidable cost but I am trying gto walk for shorter journeys on my days off. 

Is there any way you could find find somebody near you who works close to your workplace place to do a car sharing deal?  This would cut costs for both of you.  There are usually issues which make these arrangements difficult to accommodate but perhaps worth trying?

dreaming

JinJinBlue said:

Hi I've been watching Frugal Queen since I read a post by Jackie O. I think much of what she says makes good sense. I especially like her attitude towards snobbery. She doesn't care if people look down on her because she's frugal, let's the grey grow through, shops in discount supermarkets. That's one lesson that I've taken on board since watching. Not that I was a snob about such things myself but I have a friend who is. She won't eat anything that's grown in the garden or has a yellow sticker on it and neither will her family. Me? I'm not so daft. 

I also watch Frugal Queen in France, and used to read her blog when she lived in Cornwall. I agree she has a lot of good points, and admire her and her husband for living life "their way", but can find her a bit "preachy" at times. She always says that it is her personal opinions but her manner can be a bit too much for me at times. I have noticed however that her last couple of vlogs have been a bit more moderate in tone, so maybe she has been reading some of the comments on here, although she has said how worried she is about rising food prices. One of my favourite Youtubers is "What Vivi did Next", who is also extremely frugal and has been growing the vast majority of her food for some years (she is vegetarian) after giving up work due to illness and deciding to see if she could manage without a wage (and she doesn't claim benefits either).
I used to grow a lot of my own stuff (can't so easily now due to ill-health) and was eating a salad at work once and commented that apart from the cheese, everything was home-grown. "Ugh!", replied a colleague, "I won't be able to eat anything at your house if it just grown in dirt!".I asked her where she though her M&S salad was grown. "Yes but it gets washed doesn't it?" she said, so I pointed out that I actually had running water in my house, and a lot more control about what was put on my garden in the way of fertiliser (home-made compost at the time), plus I added that she should wait for an invitation before turning down my food. She also often bought pre-packed sandwiches but would throw half away as she was only small and "couldn't manage all of it".
I have been pondering more deeply about my budget as because of the illness I am having to rely on supermarket deliveries for the bulk of my shopping. I think I have sorted out a system now but it does mean I can't take advantage of any yellow stickers. Still, I am grateful that I am able to afford the deliveries and the delivery drivers have all been really cheerful and helpful so so far, so good.

Primrose

i had a relative who was appalledthat  I bought a lot of my  clothes from pcharity shops.  At one point in our lives, because of our frugal ways we were able to afford to buy a modest holiday home, many items for which  came from charity shops.   Same relative was very happy to stay there free of charge.  Attitudes can change to fit individual circumstances! 

florianatwobob

dreaming I also watch Frugal Queen in France, and used to read her blog when she lived in Cornwall. I agree she has a lot of good points, and admire her and her husband for living life "their way", but can find her a bit "preachy" at times. She always says that it is her personal opinions but her manner can be a bit too much for me at times. I have noticed however that her last couple of vlogs have been a bit more moderate in tone, so maybe she has been reading some of the comments on here, although she has said how worried she is about rising food prices. 

I know what you mean about the preachy tone, I sometimes find it easier to read the subtitles instead of listening 🤣

That said she does speak a lot of sense, especially about snobbery. However having grown up with a lot of own brand stuff there are times when branded stuff is better, lasts longer and own brand works out as false economy. It’s all about working out where the most effective economies can be made. 

JinJinBlue

Jackie O and cw18, that is exactly what I pointed out. Food is grown in what is essentially a big garden. "Ah yes", she said, "But it's proper food grown properly". "Oh", I said, "And sprayed with insecticide and goodness knows what else?" Some people have no idea and more money than sense. I'm glad she wasn't shopping with me today because I went into a charity shop and bought 6 nearly new paperbacks for £2.00. 50p each or 3 for £1.00. 
Then I went into T3sc0s and got a y/s haul of 12 veggie sausages, 2 pasties, 2 tubs of coleslaw,, a 3 bean chilli and potato bake, (which is big enough for 2 meals) and some baking potatoes  for £5.90.  I'm very pleased because now I have enough and will stay away from the shops and concentrate on my small garden with my "improper food" grown "improperly".  :-) 

DawnW

JinJinBlue said:

Jackie O and cw18, that is exactly what I pointed out. Food is grown in what is essentially a big garden. "Ah yes", she said, "But it's proper food grown properly". "Oh", I said, "And sprayed with insecticide and goodness knows what else?" Some people have no idea and more money than sense. I'm glad she wasn't shopping with me today because I went into a charity shop and bought 6 nearly new paperbacks for £2.00. 50p each or 3 for £1.00. 
Then I went into T3sc0s and got a y/s haul of 12 veggie sausages, 2 pasties, 2 tubs of coleslaw,, a 3 bean chilli and potato bake, (which is big enough for 2 meals) and some baking potatoes  for £5.90.  I'm very pleased because now I have enough and will stay away from the shops and concentrate on my small garden with my "improper food" grown "improperly".  :-) 

   I picked 'improper' new potatoes, mangetout, strawberries and a lettuce today, and harvested the improper garlic as well. Honestly, some people really are daft aren't they?

Glittering_M

Primrose said:

Somebody told me today she saves her daily orange skin and dries is as it makes an effective free firelighter  for her coal fire.  Never knew that. 

In the past I,ve often often frozen mine and saved it for making extra chunky peel-packed marmalade when Seville oranges are in season.

Never tried it to start the fire with one but I used to do this growing up and put it on my parents' wood log burner. 
Now when I have them it goes in the compost bin as we don't have a fire yet.

JinJinBlue

I hope that you enjoy your improper harvest DawnW. I'm looking forward to harvesting some of mine soon. Yes, daft is the right word. I think it was Jackie O who said it looks like it's going to be a hard winter. Apologies if it wasn't. Wonder what they will do if times get worse? As for me, I shall carry on reading the OS threads and making use of the collective wisdom, recipies and ideas that you all share. It is so much appreciated. 

ladyholly

We had "improper" spinach and courgettes with our roast dinner at the weekend and very tasty they were too.