2022 Frugal Living Challenge

MazzieD

Welcome @boxer234.  Congratulations, buying a property on your own is a real achievement and I completely understand the stress and financial drain.  Being a sensible woman I decided that buying and owning my own property was my top priority some time ago.  Have to say it was the best financial decision I have ever made.

@zafiro1984 I had to look up Medlars as had never heard of them!. You are really lucky to have all that fruit.  

@Primrose haven't tried your suggestion for fluffy monster yet as he seems to have settled down a bit and slept through the night (thankfully).

MazzieD

I keep forgetting to mention this so for all the newbies, lurkers and anyone else who is re-joining the thread or thinking about joining.

Have a look at page 1 of this thread, read Frugaldom's introduction if you haven't already.  There is a really good, simple spreadsheet that you can download.  You will need to have Excel or similar already downloaded on whatever device you use to access it.  (I use a free spreadsheet called LibreOffice which also includes various other Microsoft Windows stuff).

Also on Page 1 are links to all the previous years Frugal Living Challenges and it is well worth taking the time to read through them all, lots of money saving tips.  It does take a while to wade through all the comments but I found it really useful when I joined.  I would suggest you have a pen and paper or wherever you make notes on hand if you do this

HTH

Frugalista

zafiro1984 said:

I've got my eyes on the Rowen tree, It's giving a huge crop this year, I'll use YouTube to see if I can find a recipe.

I have a recipe for Rowan Jam if you'd like me to post it.  I've never made it, but had saved it in my "Preserves" file just in case!

zafiro1984

Frugalista said:

zafiro1984 said:

I've got my eyes on the Rowen tree, It's giving a huge crop this year, I'll use YouTube to see if I can find a recipe.

I have a recipe for Rowan Jam if you'd like me to post it.  I've never made it, but had saved it in my "Preserves" file just in case!

Yes please, I would be interested to have a go 

pelirocco

Primrose said:

London_1 

Well belt-tightening has started and having seen martins video things look like they will be getting tough this coming winter so laying in some extra stocks to help streetch the cash flow a bit.

A few extra tins a week help and I'm using the book case in my spare room to store stuff as I have decluttered it from a lot of books to the CS. 

Hopefully we will all get through by careful budgetting and using everything up I have a zero waste policy in my house for both food and rubbish. 
Basically if its been bought to eat then it will get eaten. My freezer now has been filled up, and the cupboards are looking pretty full as well, so extra tins etc will go upstairs to my spare room.
Onwards and upwards chums this cost of Living stuff won't defeat this old woman i've lived through a lot worse  

JackieO xx

Inspirational post!  I like the idea of the "bookcase library" for storing dry goods.  Easy to find and access but keep your curtains   closed when people like your  window cleaner arrives in case they want to come shopping!.  We could store a lot of extra stuff in only my OH would declutter the many books he never reads!   

Having tinned goods which require little fuel for cooking will really help minimise  gas or electricity bills this winter especially for those living solo where a tin of something can be stretched over two days with a little ingenuity .

i read today thwt the public  are already being urged  cut their energy use to avoid winter lackouts so a little forward meal planning now will help adaptability.  I hope all those empty offices and shops wil switch  their lights off at night when the buildings are unoccupied.  Such a waste of electricity!

Because window cleaners  are well known theives  of dried goods ?
Good grief 

Frugalista

This harsh but sweet marmalade consists of stewed Rowan Berries, apple pulp and caramelized sugar.

Before you collect the Rowan Berries taste whether the berries are just hard or very bitter. The very bitter ones are not good for making marmalade. The mild berries can be found mainly where people live and cultivate the trees for optical reasons.

·         250 gr Rowan Berries

·         250 gr Apple, cut in pieces

·         Some Water

·         250 gr Sugar

 Pick the Rowan Berries from the little stalks and wash them.

Peel and cut the apples.

Put both into a pot together with some water.

Heat the fruits until they boil.

Cook the fruits until the Rowan Berries are soft.

That can take about half an hour.

In the waiting time you can prepare the glasses.

Best is to clean them in the dish washer.

But if you don't have a dish washer you can wash the glasses in hot water and let them dry on a kitchen paper.

Hang a sieve into another pot.

Pour the boiled fruits into the sieve.

Rub the fruits through the sieve.

The stone and the peel of the Rowan Berries stay in the sieve.

In the pot you get the fruit pulp.

Like this you can produce fresh Rowan Berry pulp. Don't use apples in this case.

Put the sugar and some water in a clean pot.

Beware! When the sugar is caramelizing later, everything hast to happen very fast. So put the fruit pulp beside the sugar pot.

Heat the sugar and stir it.

After a while the sugar starts melting.

The water is steaming.

When the sugar starts to boil or gets brown the busy moment has come.

The next step has to follow very soon!

Pour the fruit pulp into the boiling sugar and stir.

Let pulp and sugar cook for a few minutes.

You can make a gelatinize test on a cool surface like a plate.

Put a small amount of the boiling marmalade on the plate.

If it thickens fast the marmalade is ready.

Pour the marmalade into the glasses.

Remove marmalade traces from the edge of the glasses with a clean kitchen paper.

Close the glasses as long as they are still hot.

Label them with content and date as soon as they have cooled down.

Hope this is of use to someone!

Primrose

I doubt there will be many wild berries around here for picking this year, or if there are, they will be tiny wizzened things.   The birds here seem desperate for food and will probably get to them before the humans.

Please everybody make sure you have a bowl of fresh water, preferably in a shady place, which is topped up daily for wildlife.  Like the rest of us, they need to drink regularly in this heatwave/

newroadahead

Morning  All

I have been asked by Jackie O to let you know she has been unable to log back into the site and even after various emails still has difficulty so will not be on for the foreseeable future

She sends you all her best

NRA 

joedenise

Thanks NRA for that.  I had messaged her a couple of days ago but not had a response so wondered if it was because she couldn't get on the site again.

Treasurequeen

My August frugal wins so far 

• River cottage preserves book for £1 in CS
• Yankee candle for £2 ready for colder nights 
• Went to local greengrocer got lettuce, radishes, spring onions and fruit for £4.00 all grown in uk, when I went into supermarket it would of cost me £7 for the same things but from different countries. The radishes and spring onions still had leaves on and mud and tasted delicious.
• Was Given a tub of posh ice cream free  which will be a nice treat for a few nights. 
• Bought thermal curtains to line inside windows frames to keep sun out and in the winter they will keep my house warm. Investment of £50.00 altogether to do three windows and patio door, my house is cooler so less need to use fans and hopefully in winter will save on heating bills. 
• Collecting water in buckets whilst I wait for hot water to come through to water my plants inside and out. As there is no sign of any rain for a long while yet. 
• Free box of chocolates for my birthday from Lakeland
• Set up automatic payments for mobile phone saving £1.00 a month 
• Cat food reduced saving £6.00 so stocked up on a few bags. 

In Tesco they do a party selection of party cakes that can be frozen. I pop the tray in and get a cake or two out when I fancy a treat with my cup of tea. They cost around £2 for 12 cakes and come in three different flavours. I’ve been downloading free books and been using BorrowBox to read books and listen to audiobooks as it’s free to use. I’ve been recording movies on my freeview box ready for a later date, I’ve got Netflix and now tv. At the moment now tv is on a special offer until end of October so I will see how it goes but if money gets tight they might need to be cancelled. 

I popped into my local CS the other day and a lot of people were buying board games and jigsaw puzzles. Along with candles, throws and thick jumpers. A lady that volunteered there said it’s been hectic as they can’t get stock out quick enough as it’s going quickly off the shelves. She said that it was the older folk getting ready with a few young family as well but in general the younger people have no idea what’s coming.
as A person in my late 20’s living with a disability  I’m preparing as I’ve heard stories from the older generation  of what times were like.  And being on here helps me stay focused too, so thank you all for the tips.