2022 Frugal Living Challenge

islandhoppa

Thanks for the washing tips, will give these a try ☺️

IntoTheForest

balabooberlies said:

I did something today that I had ear-marked for the 1st of January but it has taken me a whole week to drum up the courage and face my fears.

With much encouragement on another thread I finally did it.  Went to Experian and found out exactly how much I owe.

Now the work begins.

bala

x

Well done! I also put off finding out my figures for so long. Once I had done it I felt so much more in control, and my anxiety levels dropped considerably. I'm sure I used a template from this site (was quite a few years ago now) and managed to freeze the interest on most of my debts. 

fionaandphil

@balabooberlies and @IntoTheForest I hope you managed to get the free reports on MSE 😁 I get a monthly update report from them which I find useful. Well done everyone, good start to the year!

I've been at work a few days this week so will have some extra income and also got fed at a training event. We've been eating from stores and from the freezer, only spent about £8 so far on milk and bread.

Hope you all have a frugal weekend planned. We're going to eat what is in the house, play board games, watch something on Disney and sit in front of the fire and stay warm.

babs_103

Thank you @florianatwobob and @Viking_mfw   for the Becky Excell recommendation. I have ordered her book and will pick it up tomorrow, got points on it so that is me being fugal!

shala_moo

Thanks cw18 and Mazzie, i've been putting the energy companies off for years when they pester me for having them fitted as we swap energy suppliers most years. I do read the meters every month and have a good handle on what uses lots of power so i'll leave the smart meters until forced.

EskarinaWeatherwax said:

I’m under a cat and a blanket now as I am most evenings. If anybody’s got any other ideas on saving energy I’d be really interested.

More cats?  Although i have 2 and neither of them sit anywhere near us for warmth to be fair.

Popped a joint of pork in the pressure cooker today for pulled pork which will do us a few dinners, the pork was free from OH's company who provide the Christmas meat for their staff each year. We end up with 18lbs of the stuff   there's still half of it left in the freezer - any ideas for meals please feel free to share - tonight it's Pork Carnitas and making a Pork/Pumpkin lasagne on Sunday to use up some gifted pumpkins

I also popped to Icel@nd Warehouse for chicken and bagged a Christmas ham (6kg) the sticker said half price at £11.50 but went through at £5 so that was an amazing bargain.

The freezer is definitely filled up again, so we'll be eating out of there until the end of the month.

joedenise

@shala_moo - I like pork schnitzels but could only do that if you have actually cut the meat up in the freezer.  You could use some of it for curry or what about in a sweet and sour sauce?  I'm sure Mr Google could come up with lots of different ideas!

Beshki

So I am a newbie to this thread but desperately need to become more frugal, my income just doesn’t cover my outgoings sadly. Starting with a new idea, currently I do a weekly food shop order. Going to try and do a monthly meal plan and buy the frozen/tinned aspects once a month only, with just a small top-up shop once a week for the fresh. Who knows if it will work, but worth a go. 

IntoTheForest

@shala_moo if you like Chinese food then I can completely recommend pretty much every dish on "made with Lau". They have a website and youtube channel. The Char Siu, salt and pepper pork chops, and sweet and sour pork are amazing. 

@Beshki how much are you short by each month? I have managed to half our shopping bill by meal planning and eating less meat. 

RateTartExtraordinaire

Frugal things done today:

1. washed the car
2. filled up tyres using my rechargeable tyre inflator (used £20 Halfords voucher in part payment from confused.com offer)
3. Halfords sent me £5 off my next purchase today because I agreed to sign up to emails when I shopped online

Anyone catch Steph's Packed Lunch on Channel 4? Today there were some saving tips which were freebies. The one I will be trying is Boots have an offer on at the moment when you recycle packaging with them they will give you £5 worth of free Boots advantage points. They showed things that were hard to recycle at other places, like empty tubes of toothpaste and packaging from wipes. 
Another one was Topcashback are offering £10 for signing up to a free Experian account (new customers only). Plus there was a happy hour offer at a chain of Caribbean restaurants called Turtle Bay (Walthamstow, Ealing, Brixton). It isn't close to me though. Cheers if you can take it up!

barole

Hello All!

Well a week into 2022, and it has been a mixed start, but I think mostly good.

Having sorted out my Freezer  and doing a stocktake, I have not had to do a supermarket shop. Every day I have taken out a freeze ahead meal from last year. This has always been a surprize as I don't label them at the time, thinking that I will remember what they are!! Going forward, this must change!

So since Christmas I have had 12 NSD's which I am pleased with. Taking food to eat at work, (we get free tea and coffee).

I have collected parsnips, lettuce and bread rolls from Olio. I will keep a look out for fresh food that I need and will use and am thinking of becoming a volunteer. I live in a cul-de-sac with a residents association and will see whether they will be interested in saving food from landfill.

I caught the bus into town yesterday to meet up with a friend who had been organising the funeral arrangements for their recently deceased, last surviving, parent. I took them out for a pizza. Unplanned expenditure, but i wanted to do this for them at such a sad time. thinking about it, I am glad I was able to do this for them. Back on the wagon now!

I have been onto a couple of clothes websites that have substantial January sales. I got as far as choosing what I would like to buy and putting them in my virtual baskets, but actually I really don't need anything so have resisted so far!

I am continuing to keep a track of all expenditure in my Budget Book, checking my bank statement daily to keep a track of where it goes, and will review it monthly.

Working nights now for the weekend, so that should keep me out of trouble.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experience!

Barole