2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

cw18 said:

RateTartExtraodinaire said:

 
I'm just using up my bubble bath for now...it has been sitting around for years and no-one was using it.

I'm using mine up as shower gel.

I'm still using up all the shower gels from the time we all did a massive stock pile at the changeover of the packaging at Tesc0  It gets used as shampoo, hand soap and shower gel. Now on the last bottle so I'll start looking out for bargains to restock the toiletries. 

Other cleaning 'stuff' - I'm struggling to find cheap vinegar so will be stocking up on that as soon as I find some. I'll also stock up on washing soda, bicarbonate of soda and basic soap.

Olio is still throwing up a random assortment of foodstuffs but I managed to get decaffeinated coffee last week, along with burgers and vegan kebab 'meat' that is now in the freezer. I also got bags of baking potatoes. We had a Frugaldom experience weekend last week, 9 of us in total around a camp fire (washing macine drum) doing some free star gazing and watching the half moon rising. Fab night discussing alternative energy, off grid living and general catch-up chitchat. I made a big pot of lentil soup and quite a few baked potatoes. It cost about £1.50 to feed everyone even allowing for the mugs of coffee. I swapped some little hand-carved mushrooms for a couple of bags of marshmallows so it was fun toasting those over the fire, too. 23rd is autumn equinox so it would be a good excuse to have another campfire if the rain stays away then I could cook some more of the potatoes. Getting into the final quarter of the year is always a wake-up call as it means another year is almost gone.

Jobs needing done:

1. Mark out an area for a no-dig veg plot so I can finally start my soup garden. 
2. Start collecting brown cardboard for laying down as weed suppressant
3. Fill up planters ready for sowing seeds.
4. Clean out the potting shed
5. Prune the vines
6. Cut herbs
7. Cut back brambles
8. Top up raised beds
9. Pick apples & blackberries
10. Mulch fruit trees

Beshki

@Frugaldom Sounds exciting. What seeds are you sowing? We are no dig gardeners, we find it an excellent growing method

[Deleted User]

London_1 said:

I had to post a letter this afternoon so when I popped across to thepost box I had a quick mooch around the little Tesco Metro in the small precinct about three minutes from my house. I didn't buy anything, as I was just pricing things up.

 But I did notice that from last week the cost of McVities Hobnobs had shot up from £1.10p to £1.70p. Came home and made my own oatie biscuits for a lot less, and far nicer.

Also made a apple crumble from windfalls I had been given ,and a semolina pudding as the oven was on. I cooked a couple of jacket spuds on the bottom of the oven so had a mid week bake up and the oven was filled. No shopping needed until probably Saturday then it will be the last shop of the month
 
JackieO xx

I had a similar experience with my apricot jam, went up 24p in 6 days - i won't buy that anymore, i buy the budget strawberry one now !
It sounds petty to some but i knew you would all understand, i don't mind spending more if i feel it's value for money but jam is simply there to give me a 'sweetness' fix when i'm craving something sugary !

Musing here ........ I wonder if any under 40s hear the saying, from their great grandparents "if you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves" ? !😋

Frugaldom

Beshki said:

@Frugaldom Sounds exciting. What seeds are you sowing? We are no dig gardeners, we find it an excellent growing method

The soup garden will be mostly carrots, onions, potatoes, leeks, peas and possibly celery, but I've never previously managed that successfully. We have very little soil so I'm relying entirely on composted horse manure and whatever molehills I can salvage, plus straw. Protecting it all from rabbits will be a challenge in itself, as will creating suitable growing space in the first place as the original pallet fence is now in dire need of repair. I have saved some green windbreak mesh to put around it. If you have a page I can follow on social media, I'd love to see how you do your no dig garden. Ours is all no dig in as far as I haven't dug anything for years but the veg growing fell by the wayside when Olio came along to our area. Now it's catch up time.

Frugaldom

Beshki said:

@Frugaldom Sounds exciting. What seeds are you sowing? We are no dig gardeners, we find it an excellent growing method

I forgot to mention seeds - I'm going through my seed collection checking what can be sown in Autumn and will set off a few of anything suitable. I've also got wild flower seeds to sow in what I call the sensory garden.

Siebrie

Last week I was in the right location at the right time, so I could do 2 Too Good To Go pick-ups. A box of goodies from the Asian supermarket and kitchen left-overs from IKEA. The Asian stuff was €3.99 and included a packet of sweetened roasted sunflower seeds, a cup of red bean milk tea, a packet of roasted broad beans, 3 sauces/marinades, sesame biscuits, spicy ramen noodles, and some items I forgot. IKEA was €2,99, for 60 meatballs, 2 portions of grainbased pilav, 4 buns, 3 pastries, 2 portions of salad.

AnimalTribe

Frugaldom said:

AnimalTribe said:

Frugaldom asked "Is anyone on here fully off-grid?". I've been reading along but not posting. I am fully off-grid. Solar panels, wind turbine, generator for electricity. Gas bottles for cooking. Oil, wood burner for heating. Well for water. Septic tank for waste. Satellite broadband. BT phone line, mobile phone reception 1/4 mile away. Solar panels are great in summer, but our wind turbine is slowly failing after 20 years of service. My DH does all of the regular maintenance, as specialist engineers can be expensive, and they charge a lot for travelling time to such a remote location. I'm no expert but I'm happy to answer any questions on the forum or by PM.

Thank you for posting your response and well done living off grid. It's certainly not an easy option. Where are you located?

North East Northumberland, Not far south of the Scottish border. DH and I were looking for somewhere fairly remote, where I could have a few pet animals. Money was limited. It didn't occur to us to live off-grid, but we fell in love with the place. It was a tough learning curve, but I wouldn't go back.

MazzieD

Sweetlittledaydreams said:

Productive money saving day today 😌 saved £90 on home insurance plus will be getting a £20 voucher back, and saved £10 on roadside cover, so all in I've saved £120 from the comfort of my sofa! It took a bit of time but it was worth it. 

Just reminded me about renewing insurance, when I came to renew my home insurance my existing insurer offered me free legal protection and free home emergency cover as well as a fairly competitive renewal quote. 

My car insurance isn't due yet but had an email this morning from existing insurer offering free RAC roadside and recovery breakdown IF I renew my policy with them and only available to existing customers, not available from comparison websites etc.   In previous years I have just had a standard 'your renewal premium is £___ 'with no freebies.   Not sure if this is co-incidence or maybe a concerted effort to retain customers.  I will still do the price comparisons as usual but this did take me by surprise.

Living_proof

My life revolves around car boot sales and charity shops and regular Olio gifts and I only spend what I can’t find from these sources 

Last weekend I had a terrific find at a local cbs and initially bought a boxed Ecoegg out of curiosity. It was £2 so worth a punt. Later in the afternoon I saw another so out of interest I enquired how much, and at 50p I couldn’t resist. At home I was amazed to find both boxes totally unused and one is sufficient for 864 washes and the other 720! At 3 washes a week that’s 10 YEARS supply for £2.50. 

I have used it for this weeks washes and it seems to work really well although I appreciate that stains may need pre-treatment. Suggest you familiarise yourself with the packaging and grab one if you see such a great bargain!

Floss

Not sure what you regarding as cheap:

Golden Swan White Vinegar, 5 l (Pack of 4) https://amzn.eu/d/40Jt3jv