2022 Frugal Living Challenge

annieb64

I wonder how the people who won't eat home grown veg would have survived in past times. My Dad's family lived on the veg from their garden, eggs from their hens, game that my Grandfather shot or rabbits that he kept in hutches in the garden. They had a goat for milk too.

I remember asking Dad about rationing in the war. He said he hadn't noticed any difference in his diet.

Floss

Beshki said:

... Cereal instead of expensive bars, cheapest variety of fruit, no yoghurt...

It will probably work out cheaper to buy large tubs of plain natural sm own brand yogurt, plop a few spoonfuls into a small tupperware and add fruit / jam / cereal then you'll still get your calcium.

JinJinBlue

-taff said:

JinJinBlue said:

Good grief! Pears grown in Argentina and packed in Thailand! By the time that little pot arrives here how many miles will its contents have travelled? Its a wonder that they haven't shrivelled up with jet lag. I was trying to decide whether to buy some dwarf fruit trees that would grow in pots. I think that they are called column trees and are specially bred to be grown in small spaces. I think Broomsticks picture has just decided me. 🤔🍒🍐🍏🍎

I'd never heard of these, so I've just spent a pleasant ten minutes googling and being really impressed...I may will have to get some for myself when the house is done and I can concentrate on the garden....

Taff there are some available on W0w(her in groups of 3 or 5. I've ordered some. I went mad and got five. Pear, plum, cherry and 2 apple varieties.. 

JinJinBlue

PS  They call them pillar trees. 

Beshki

Floss said:

Beshki said:

... Cereal instead of expensive bars, cheapest variety of fruit, no yoghurt...

It will probably work out cheaper to buy large tubs of plain natural sm own brand yogurt, plop a few spoonfuls into a small tupperware and add fruit / jam / cereal then you'll still get your calcium.

Thanks, I am vegan though and it’s very expensive at almost £2 that does me two days.

London_1

I usually buy the large tub of basic low-fat greek yogurt from Tesco's which is pretty good and not too expensive
I add a spoonful of honey aand maybe some crushed up bran flakes, or even left over biscuit crumbs from the bottom of the biscuit box (absolute zero waste in my house ) to give the yogurt a bit of crunch No different than those expensive mueller ones with corners . Add a spoonful of jam or some chopped fruit and its good to go  

Just read on the news that food prices are going to be around 15% higher this summer  

So belts will be tightened even more. I haven't been food shopping now for around 10 days and not even been in Aldi's since the beginning of the month I checked the online prices yesterday for special fruit and veg offers and see that Aldi's special fresh fruit and veg offers are now 70p when they used to be around 39-40p on offer, and then I checked Tesco's and their fresh fruit and veg special offers are around 49-59p Ok not a great deal of difference, but well worth checking out before you go shopping

 I'm lucky where I live as Aldi's and Tescos are almost opposite each other, so I always price check their stuff before I go shopping.
 I am on holiday in two weeks time so am not buying much in as I want to run my fridge down My freezer is almost empty so will do a complete defrost next week hopefully.

I'm using up as much as possible the fresh stuff in the fridge and will finish off the freezer bits next week and use up more of the tinned bits as well.

I will do a 'Big ' shop when I come home from my holiday in mid-July, and hopefully I will refill my freezer as well , perhaps next week after the defrost, a day of batch cooking will soon fill it up again.

Then its a case of squirrelling the food and cash  away for the coming winter.

JackieO xx

Sweetlittledaydreams

12 hour night shift done and came home with 2 more free plants from a colleague, loose leaf tea which smells lovely and is in a gorgeous little tin which is my favourite colour and was free on olio, and 8 cookies and 4 loaves which cost £2 on tgtg, last time I collected from there I got either 6 or 8 loaves so not as good this time but still pretty good, the bread has gone in the freezer, the quails are fed and I'm going to bed pleased with my frugal achievements. Also pay slips are out today even though we aren't paid for a few more days, but it's my best one to date! The hard work keeps paying off! 
Anybody with poultry have any top tips for keeping them cool in this warm weather? So far I've put ice cubes in their drinking water and paddling water, and yesterday I sprayed them and the ground with a mist of cool water which half of them seemed to like and the rest seemed puzzled by, they've also got a parasol to give then shade but I still noticed one of them panting at times yesterday.
Stay frugal my friends.

Siebrie

I'm growing 'proper' veg: cress, in a saucer in my windowsill. That'll feed my family for a month! /s

On the 'real' front: we've picked all the cherries the birds have left us, picked the neighbour's rhubarb (with permission), the redcurrants, raspberries, and gooseberries are ripe. I'm cooking 'jam' (chunky, not a lot of sugar) with any mixed berries I pick that day and freeze it, for use in the winter in my breakfast yoghurt.

RateTartExtraordinaire

Hey @Beshki thanks for the post. You have set me thinking whether I could make my own yoghurt for cheaper. I'm vegan and I buy a pot a week of live oat yoghurt, but it is ridiculously expensive (but I value my good gut bacteria).

Since the 70s my mum made yoghurt for the family. Using a starter yoghurt and milk and a bit of extra skimmed milk! Back then she used a large pyrex dish and stored it in the airing cupboard She continued doing this for decades. These days she buys a large value tub from the sm. 

I used to have a yoghurt maker, but it was lost in a house move abroad. Then I was on a low salary and couldn't find live yoghurt in the local shops. I was vegetarian but not vegan back then.

After a quick google, I've found a blog about making soya yoghurt, might give it a go...
https://www.alphafoodie.com/how-to-make-soy-yogurt-vegan-yogurt-recipe/

I will let you know how I get on. 

FrugalHedonist

London_1 said:

I usually buy the large tub of basic low-fat greek yogurt from Tesco's which is pretty good and not too expensive
I add a spoonful of honey aand maybe some crushed up bran flakes, or even left over biscuit crumbs from the bottom of the biscuit box (absolute zero waste in my house ) to give the yogurt a bit of crunch No different than those expensive mueller ones with corners . Add a spoonful of jam or some chopped fruit and its good to go  

Just read on the news that food prices are going to be around 15% higher this summer  

So belts will be tightened even more. I haven't been food shopping now for around 10 days and not even been in Aldi's since the beginning of the month I checked the online prices yesterday for special fruit and veg offers and see that Aldi's special fresh fruit and veg offers are now 70p when they used to be around 39-40p on offer, and then I checked Tesco's and their fresh fruit and veg special offers are around 49-59p Ok not a great deal of difference, but well worth checking out before you go shopping

 I'm lucky where I live as Aldi's and Tescos are almost opposite each other, so I always price check their stuff before I go shopping.
 I am on holiday in two weeks time so am not buying much in as I want to run my fridge down My freezer is almost empty so will do a complete defrost next week hopefully.

I'm using up as much as possible the fresh stuff in the fridge and will finish off the freezer bits next week and use up more of the tinned bits as well.

I will do a 'Big ' shop when I come home from my holiday in mid-July, and hopefully I will refill my freezer as well , perhaps next week after the defrost, a day of batch cooking will soon fill it up again.

Then its a case of squirrelling the food and cash  away for the coming winter.

JackieO xx

Thanks for this - I'm an A1d1 shopper and really have been shocked by the price rises and just assumed it was the way of things. I know my branch seems a heck of a lot busier than it used to be so not sure if people have jumped ship presuming it to be the cheapest option. I may have to try and shop around a bit