2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Ellie79

Evening all! Day 6 and I have  had a negative lft. If tomorrow is clear also I am then free. Thankfully! Again another enforced low spend Day, did need top ups from the shop and it was my turn to pay. My OH is one who doesn't look for 'bargains' which is one sense is great in that he just picks up what we need. So minimal spend on bread and essentials as he (obviously) went. 

I'm feeling nearly human again, although cannot taste very much at all. Quite a strange feeling. Fingers crossed it doesn't last long. 

elbree

Good to hear @Ellie79! Hope you are fully restored soon. I've managed a NSD today and have stuck to my meal plan like glue all week. I might meet my grocery target this week 🙌

cybertortoise

Thankd @joedenise and @-taff I managed to grab one from the big A earlier, half price!

I forgot to add yesterday that we had spaghetti bolognese for dinner, I used a jar of sauce but it was half price and is our favourite. I added about a half cup of rolled oats to bulk it out, some frozen mushrooms and 3 cubes of frozen spinach. It was tasty and had extra vitamins! No one noticed the oats   

I switched from prepayment on my gas and electric today to credit and now my little electric doohicky reckons I've used almost £3 in one day so we'll see what the bill looks like when I get it. It should end up being cheaper as the unit prices for credit are all a little lower han for prepayment. I did have to run the dishwasher and washing machine today, I'll see what it says tomorrow as I've got plenty of laundry to catch up on.

I'll be checking out the fashion challenge too, I have a sewing machine and some very good patterns for dresses, tops, undies and myself and my DD2 need new clothes desperately. I'd like to make some items, I've made us a matching dress each and it was great. I just find the cutting and measuring tedious, plus I don't have an iron so I reckon I'd need to buy one.

balabooberlies

cybertortoise said:

Thankd @joedenise and @-taff I managed to grab one from the big A earlier, half price!

I forgot to add yesterday that we had spaghetti bolognese for dinner, I used a jar of sauce but it was half price and is our favourite. I added about a half cup of rolled oats to bulk it out, some frozen mushrooms and 3 cubes of frozen spinach. It was tasty and had extra vitamins! No one noticed the oats   

I switched from prepayment on my gas and electric today to credit and now my little electric doohicky reckons I've used almost £3 in one day so we'll see what the bill looks like when I get it. It should end up being cheaper as the unit prices for credit are all a little lower han for prepayment. I did have to run the dishwasher and washing machine today, I'll see what it says tomorrow as I've got plenty of laundry to catch up on.

I'll be checking out the fashion challenge too, I have a sewing machine and some very good patterns for dresses, tops, undies and myself and my DD2 need new clothes desperately. I'd like to make some items, I've made us a matching dress each and it was great. I just find the cutting and measuring tedious, plus I don't have an iron so I reckon I'd need to buy one.

For your iron try freecycle or facebook marketplace.

Last year I ended up with a fabulous toaster because they upgraded to a whopping 120 pound toaster and they no longer needed their very nice old one.  I was suitably grateful and still am.

bala

willow_loulou

RateTartExtraodinaire said:

@willow_loulou, and anyone else that uses refill shops:

I have been thinking of ways to cut out single use packaging and was interested to see on 'zerowaster.com' that there are a couple of refill shops local-ish to me. 

Have you found them to be good for being frugal?
What containers are best for filling up? 

It depends on the product, I usually reuse the liquids original containers- fabric wash, vinegar etc. Washing up liquid is in a drunks bottle with a pump added. Herbs original container, linseed in coffee jar, garlic powder in a curry sauce jar, frankincense in a take away container. I dish wash any glass jar for refilling but I only buy in relatively quick use amounts so I don’t need to worry about dates (though I do write it on the label) 

I just got bulger wheat for the first time with no clue what to do with it or how long it lasts! I often try new things this way. If I don’t have a jar or I pre order they do it up in paper bags and wait to see if I have liquid containers when I come in. 

It saves lots of money. For example, refill mixed herbs jar for 9p. Cheapest jar I have found is 45p. 

willow_loulou

natnat13 said:

Can I ask please - when you take your own pots or jars to a refill shop do they weigh your jar first then deduct it from the total weight when you've filled it or do you pay for the weight of your container too? I hope that makes sense. 

Back to work now which helps me to be frugal because I work 12 hour days Mon - Fri, although I discovered I owed over £20 for lunches from last year! Debt paid and have taken my own lunch so far this year. 

Mine weigh the containers then fill them for you 

MazzieD

Interesting posts about refill shops.  Walked into the city centre early yesterday morning and took a different route.  Discovered a wholefood co-operative shop which sells all sorts of refillable spices, pulses, washing liquid etc.  Only problem is it doesn't open until 10am so just looked through the windows!.  Definitely going to go in have a look when I have a day off or at the weekend, their on-line price list isn't very comprehensive.  More than happy to reduce plastic use.

Trying to decide how long I can manage without filling up the car.  Don't use it much so but just about to hit the red line on the dashboard indicator, ideally not until next month but that might be wishful thinking on my part!.  Not too keen on the E10 petrol, my old car is supposed to be ok with it but not convinced so need to check how much more expensive the E5 is when I next fill up.  .

joedenise

Could you try using the E5 every 4th fill for example and use E10 the rest of the time.  This may help the engine cope a bit better.

AnimalTribe

joedenise said:

@AnimalTribe - is it this thread you mean:  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4798135/eating-out-of-the-freezer-and-cupboards-challenge-part-two#latest

Thank you this is exactly the one I have been looking for. I'm off to subscribe but I'll be back to try and catch up on the rest of this thread. It moves so quickly and I only come on the internet every couple of days.

shala_moo

HI all, would love to join you here if that's ok. 

I'm aiming to be as frugal as possible rather than set a budget as I'm currently not working (took voluntary redundancy from an awful stressful job back in Sept 2020) and I'd like to eke that out as long as possible, then return to work part time.

The main area to focus on for this household is groceries! We spent roughly £400 a month for 2 adults and 2 cats in 2021 We used to be fairly good but once the work/life balance started getting skewed then the grocery spends definitely went up. I haven't tackled it before now as there were still stresses going on, but 2022 is the year i get my life back on track (or at least try to!)

I have already renegotiated my car insurance renewal £100 cheaper, currently counting my penny jar (£45+ in there), completed surveys and competitions for the day/week, meal planned for the whole month and took an inventory of the kitchen. 

Things to do for the rest of the week :
- look into smart meters - do people recommend them?
- start looking into some recipes to use odd ingredients up
- put recipe books on Ziffit - tend to use google more these days

Looking forward to picking up some tips.