2022 Frugal Living Challenge

joedenise

ladyholly said:

We cook on electric - not my choice but cant have gas due to kitchen cupboards being too near. We have however a cooker in our van so have got an extra cylinder of gas in preparation for possible winter problems. I have also started to build stocks with easy cook food. We also have an LED lighting bar that works off an old car battery along with a tv that does the same. It is very small but at least we will be able to get the news. There was someone on the radio this morning talking about possible power cuts. Are we going to replay the 3 day week? I, for one, wouldnt be surprised or at least a version of it.

 

My next purchase will be thermal curtains for the lounge which will be pricey as we have big windows. I also want a door curtain for the front door which will also be expensive as it needs to be double width or 2 curtains. Before next summer we will be getting blinds for the conservatory which should help summer and winter I hope.

You might be able to get some suitable curtains from a charity shop, particularly for the front door.  You might get lucky and be able to get thermal curtains as well.

Alternatively you could get some thermal liners to hang with the curtains you currently have which would be far cheaper.  You can get them from places like Dunelm at reasonable prices.

annieb64

Nmaria-Delia Smith has a good recipe for pickled sliced cucumbers in her original book. I've used it a few times . We don't grow cucumbers but friends sometimes give us some.

ladyholly

joedenise said:

You might be able to get some suitable curtains from a charity shop, particularly for the front door.  You might get lucky and be able to get thermal curtains as well.

Alternatively you could get some thermal liners to hang with the curtains you currently have which would be far cheaper.  You can get them from places like Dunelm at reasonable prices.

Thank you. I didnt know you could get liners for existing curtains. I will have a look.  You would think at gong on for 70 I would know these things. The charity shops might be harder as they firstly the one round here arent very good and secondly my walking isnt brilliant and they all involve a bit of a walk. However when the weather is cooler I will go and see what I can find.

boxer234

I’m an 80s child I was speaking to my mum about the cost of living a few days ago.  I grew up in a council house no double glazing, the vent style heating and a gas fire.  We didn’t have much money so the heating system wasn’t used a lot.  My mum put us in snuggly pjs, we had a duvet, sheet and blanket.

  I don’t remember being cold or uncomfortable at all.  A lot of our food was simple; pasta with broccoli and grated cheese no sauce, jacket spuds a roast on Sunday.  Now I am an adult I realise how poor we were but I never went hungry. 

florianatwobob

@boxer234 I’m a very late 70s council house child! We had one really warm room in the the house heated by an electric fire and a couple of plug in radiators and no double glazing. Dad was  made redundant in the early 80s and struggled to get regular work after due to his age. Money was tight, especially with 4 kids including 3 teenagers. Whilst we were broke we were also acutely aware that there were people nearby in even worse states than us. 

Mum was a wonder at keeping us all fed, clothed and warm and we were never hungry (Dad used to say Mum could
make a meal out of nothing). Both Mum & Dad were WWII vintage and I think that did contribute to a more frugal outlook on life. 

annieb64

My father always said that he was sure that my grandmother thought we still had rationing in the 1960s-she and my grandfather were so careful not to waste anything.

I can remember ice on the bedroom windows and bringing my clothes downstairs to get dressed in front of the rayburn. The only heater upstairs was in the bathroom and was only turned on for a short time when we had our weekly bath. We had chilblains and our legs were scorched from sitting too close to the fire.

boxer234

florianatwobob said:

@boxer234 I’m a very late 70s council house child! We had one really warm room in the the house heated by an electric fire and a couple of plug in radiators and no double glazing. Dad was  made redundant in the early 80s and struggled to get regular work after due to his age. Money was tight, especially with 4 kids including 3 teenagers. Whilst we were broke we were also acutely aware that there were people nearby in even worse states than us. 

Mum was a wonder at keeping us all fed, clothed and warm and we were never hungry (Dad used to say Mum could
make a meal out of nothing). Both Mum & Dad were WWII vintage and I think that did contribute to a more frugal outlook on life. 

We had one of those gas fires you weren’t supposed to go near in your shell suit! It’s amazing the budget my mum worked off unfortunately I didn’t inherit her money saving skills. 

newlywed

ladyholly said:

joedenise said:

You might be able to get some suitable curtains from a charity shop, particularly for the front door.  You might get lucky and be able to get thermal curtains as well.

Alternatively you could get some thermal liners to hang with the curtains you currently have which would be far cheaper.  You can get them from places like Dunelm at reasonable prices.

Thank you. I didnt know you could get liners for existing curtains. I will have a look.  You would think at gong on for 70 I would know these things. The charity shops might be harder as they firstly the one round here arent very good and secondly my walking isnt brilliant and they all involve a bit of a walk. However when the weather is cooler I will go and see what I can find.

We ordered our door curtain from Dunelm. It’s pretty wide as we wanted to block off the entrance hall as well. Wasn’t too pricey either.

Sweetlittledaydreams

I hope we don't get to a point where we are having regular power cuts, since a child I've always found them scary and irrationally worry that they're terror related. Not sure why because usually I am pretty happy go lucky and resilient but there's something about the idea of someone being able to take away something we are so reliant on and they could just not turn it back on, that really scares me! I think I should do a charity shop walk around for candles tomorrow. I've got two jumpers that are really warm but not bulky, might have a look for another one, and I'm ok for blankets but if I see any reduced teddy fleece bedding I might get it. Cant believe im planning this when the weather is currently so hot! Booked a 12 hour shift today in a place I knew had air con so that kept me nice and cool and ive earned some extra cash. Think I will also buy 2 bags of animal feed rather than one next time I go to the store because not sure what else would meet all their nutritional needs if that ran out and they provide me with a constant supply of eggs, haven't had to buy eggs for months now they're all laying well. Going to see about picking fruit to make wine or cider soon, I've got apples in the garden and will see about picking blackberries and plums if I can find any. It feels like this is going to be a tough winter, so planning ahead should help, so I appreciate all the advice on here. Will start using the library more too and look for jigsaws in the charity shops, think this winter it will be having friends round for a cuppa rather than going out for lunch, so jigsaws and games might come in handy. 

MazzieD

Had a very local power cut on Friday for about 5 hours, really unusual as there haven't been any for years. It did make me think about all the appliances that depend on electricity, so it might be worth thinking about this just in case we do get regular power cuts.. 

Gas boilers need electricity to ignite so even if you aren't planning to have the heating on this winter it will also apply to hot water.  No idea if this also applies to gas cookers as I have never owned one.

Do you use rechargeable batteries?.  Might be worth buying standard batteries for any small essential appliances as a backup or making sure you recharge batteries when the electricity is on.  I have a universal mobile phone charger for use in my car.

If you don't have a log burner and are dependant on an electric cooker how will you manage?.  Think this has been covered by those posting about camping gas stoves but again worth thinking about.

Keep the fridge and freezer doors shut as much as possible.  


Feel free to add anything you want, this is just my initial thoughts.