2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Kittencat

Happy New Year All
First use of Olio today. Almond and Coconut milk which I use all the time in smoothies but I have just realised it is Barista milk. Can I still use this in my smoothies do you think?  

skint_chick

Have been busy listing things on various selling sites - OH's old electronics he finally allowed me to list, some clothes we no longer wear (although not too many in this category as I have a very minimal wardrobe), and some other bits and bobs. Gave lovely neighbour with 3 teenage girls stuff from my toiletry stash that I will never use (mostly bits I've received as gifts), and still have enough to get through the rest of the year without buying any toiletries or makeup. I thought last year would have used most of the stash up - I ended up buying 2 toothpastes - but I am still working my way through the mountain!

Haven't had to buy groceries either as we only got home a few days ago and as I've not been home for a couple of months there's plenty in the cupboards and freezer to take us through the rest of the month. Bought some fresh veggies but only spent £4 odd on enough to do for January as we have tons of frozen stuff to use up. Did buy a little diary for my handbag as using phone diary isn't working, so have spent £1 so far this year. 

Tomorrow I'm going to batch cook for the next week or so, and then make a meal plan for the rest of the month. It's a close friend's birthday at the end of the month, but have decided on homemade card and crafted present using up my supplies which I will make a start on this week (it's a custom embroidery for her new downstairs loo). 

This year I plan to continue using my library card to read ebooks and download audiobooks and magazines to read - last year I spent nothing in this category by also using a free audible trial for a new release I wanted to listen to. We've talked about holidays and have decided that this year we will just road trip to visit family and maybe stay over somewhere en route like we did last year as I really enjoyed the few days we spent hiking and exploring outdoor heritage in May. 

never_too_old

Frugaldom said:

pelirocco said:

never_too_old said:

I am an Olio volunteer and collect from a supermarket once a week,used to do 3 but on some weeks i dont get 1 request for food.

How do find being a volunteer ?
 I've signed up ,but yet to commit to start collecting  

This is quite sad, isn't it? A friend collects and I have absolutely no qualms about requesting food but had another friend (now former friend) accuse us of taking from those who need it more. I tried to explain that this is what is left over AFTER the charities get their share and tat they cannot redistribute food late at night but nope, there was no  reasoning with said person. I've encountered it several times - people are too proud to be seen accepting handouts and refuse to look at it from the moral perspective of rescuing perfectly ggod food from being binned. Only by being part of Olio and other waste reducing projects can some of us actuallu afford to donate cash to charities. Some will never understand that and some will refuse to understand it. Most, I've found, don't actually care about the state of the planet or how much is being wasted every single day.

@never_too_old on the weeks that you have nobody requesting, do you have a local organisation that can use up the leftover food, either as animal feed or for composting? All the extras donated to Frugaldom (and we are not a charity) gets split between ponies, goats, wild birds and composting but not before I make what I can from it - mostly soup - and share with whoever is here at the time. I do have some rather cheeky (in my opinion) associates who say they will take whatever is available but they won't actually sign up to the app, request or collect it! 

I used to be able to take the excess to a small farm but since covid they haven't wanted it.I try to give it to neighbours etc to limit what goes in my food waste bin.
If anyone makes a comment on you taking things away from more deserving people here's a brief breakdown on Olio.
It's not a charity.If charities want the food they get preference through fairshare.Most charities do not want the food Olio get as its given away on the bb or use by date. Olio charge supermarkets for us volunteers to distribute it ,we are allowed to keep 10% of what we collect and cant give any food away past its use by date,1 day for bb. You aren't means tested so to save waste we can give to anyone whom requests  it.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

In the office today, DH was home and managed to get the washing hung out for a bit.  He also lit the fire to save having the heating on, it is bitterly cold here and we have plenty of free firewood.  We had curry on the mealplan for tomorrow and DH asked me to get coconut milk, the only shop that had it was £1.50 or £2.20 a tin, the joys of living rurally!

I enjoyed my homemade soup for lunch, there is probably enough for another 2 days.  Went to the library so I have plenty of free reading material.  Back in the office tomorrow, hoping for milder weather next week so I can cycle in (no gritting gets done on the road to work so its not safe in these temperatures).

Merle

HappyFrugal new year Everyone

Sweetlittledaydreams

First snow of the year! I'm sure snow makes everywhere look at least 10 times more beautiful.
Lovely day off work today, and another no spend day complete. I was tempted this evening to go and bag some yellow sticker bargains but then I thought even though reduced is good I don't really need anything this week so not buying anything would be an even better bargain. It's trying to get out of the mindset of doing a shop because its been a week rather than because I've run out of things. 
Using up the store cupboard stock and I had cous cous this evening- a really good frugal food that is cheap to buy then just add boiling water, so other than boiling the kettle there is very little electric or gas used to prepare it. I will try and use it as an alternative to rice more often, once I've eaten all the rice that is left that is. Enjoying using up the stores because it is forcing me to be more creative with the cooking. Meals are prepared for tomorrow which is good, working 12.5 hrs shifts if I don't prepare food then the temptation to get chips is often too strong to resist.
Also got given some lovely clothes today, I love hand me downs!! Have been given some household things to sell aswell, and I've opted out of the work lottery so cashed out last years winnings of just over £15, I'm seeing how all these little things add up and that's a nice feeling.
Hope everyone that is feeling poorly or in pain starts to feel better soon, and I hope everyone that is well stays well. 

islandhoppa

Used the community food share for the first time this week and was surprised how much food there was - happy to prevent it going to landfill whilst saving the pennies. I like what @Frugaldoms said of saving a year in advance in early self employment, I confess to feeling bewildered at not knowing exactly how much my income will be on a week to week basis. So my first challenge is to put one months expenses away, then build up to 2 etc. One year would be amazing but may not be possible for some time. My savings buffer was always well over 6 months income but this has been wiped out purchasing the business and this makes me uneasy. Any other tips on surviving self employment would be gratefully received.

Got lots of veg so planning some soup making and also got some organge stickered meat in Lidl this morning whilst spending my £10 voucher, my freezer stocks were run down ahead of Xmas so stocking up with bargains where I can.

nannygladys

I have been doing grandma duties today, so last night prepared a pasta salad, put my clothes out so I was up and ready! We went a walk but it didn't involve any shops so no money was spent and dried daughters washing for her outside and got it back in dry before a bad hail storm.

Made sushi for tea and that's about it. Going to a local free food hub tomorrow so hopefully will get enough fruit and veggies for the week and hopefully the community pantry is also open for a few bits on Thursday, so all in all its going ok. At least with being at dds I saved in g&e
Nannyg

cybertortoise

Evening all.

I had a couple of successes today! I went out to get a new diary for 2022, couldn't find one with a page per day so looked in another shop. No luck so I picked up a notebook, stood in the queue for a few seconds and realised I have a diary at home I can use that lasts til end of 2022! Thankfully I remembered before I paid for it.

I was going to go to the shop to buy some chocolate, I had to spend today anyway so wouldn't have cost me a no spend day. Then I realised I spent 58p on some YS mince pies and extra thick Baileys cream earlier. I was in my coat, if my son had been quicker getting ready to come with me I would've been back from the shop before I remembered. And my supper was delicious if a bit more boozy than I'd usually go for.

Big shopping tomorrow - I'm going to have a good plan on some batch cooking recipes and try and get the freezer filled with this one shopping trip. I managed a month before with only a minimum of food needing to be bought. I need a very large stockpot, 10 litres minimum, anyone seen any at a reasonable price please? Preferably not from the big river company. Many thanks!

pelirocco

never_too_old said:

pelirocco said:

never_too_old said:

I am an Olio volunteer and collect from a supermarket once a week,used to do 3 but on some weeks i dont get 1 request for food.

How do find being a volunteer ?
 I've signed up ,but yet to commit to start collecting  

Hi go on the app,click on the 3 lines top right hand corner and go to volunteer hub to see if any available near you,You will have to do a few quizes but nothing taxing,

I mistyped it eas supposed yo say how do you find being a volunteer 
I've signed up ,done the endless tests  bit have yet to jump in as I'm not sure if it's too much of a commitment