2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Living_proof

YoungBlueEyes said:

Re cash. I can't remember the details now but at a place I used to work (pub/restaurant, not a chain jobber) the boss used to complain about people paying in cash because it was literally costing him. When he went to the bank they'd only take so much before they made him get a different type of account (.....?) so he could bank the takings. They only accepted a little cash per transaction, so his choice was bank all the takings and pay a fee for the privilege of going over their little limit, open an account that'll accept any amount of cash - which had a monthly fee, or bank daily - which was a 40 mile round trip cos they'd closed the local branch.

I'm pro cash myself, that was just an illustration from the other side of the coin (ba dum tsch!)

That is why it makes sense for a business to give cash back as they end up with less cash and still keep on the right side of HMRC 

Siebrie

 A friend of mine had a small business where she took small change; she had a deal with a local touristy shop to take her change for notes, which she could bank free of charge (or just spend).

Frugaldom

Good afternoon to all. I'm sorry to say that I've fallen well behind on the newsy bits and debates on here so have missed a lot of whatever has been said about the poultry and the cash/cashless debate. As a registered poultry keeper. I have always tried to follow the laws of the land with regards to animal husbandry. Scotland has different laws from England, Wales and Northern Ireland in many departments so I am often unaware of what's happening across the border, especially in the wake of the pandemic, as we've had umpteen changes and major differences along the way regarding lockdowns, face coverings, public interactions and also in the poultry / avian flu debacle. What I would say, however, is this... ALL biosecurity measures are worth it, no matter what. Whether human, animal, bird, insect, virus or bacteria, anything that spreads harm that can be minimised to reduce risk has to be a good thing. I see now that scientists are still finding live, viable virus in permafrost, proving these things can lay dormant for 100s and even thousands of years - let's not bring back the bubonic plague.

Staying within the law can be a good thing, although pushing the boundaries can be equally good, especially where change is needed. It's common sense, but some common beliefs (and rules) simply do not make full sense. I have to have a Govt. registration for keeping poultry; I need a County/Parish/Holding number, a flock number and individual registration numbers & ear tags for our rescued goats - Goatis Redding and Vincent Van Goat. I need individual licences for these goats registered for walking them off our property (goat walking is fun), I need individual passports and microchips for every equine, be it retired, rescued or rehomed, I need a licence to say we are authority-approved to operate as an animal welfare establishment, I need a licence to say it's legal for us to operate our 5 motorhome/campervan stopover site at Frugaldom, I need separate insurance policies for each and every project we set up, plus a landlord registration number to allow someone to rent a place to stay, a licence to watch television (I know the rules, I know not everyone needs one but I do), I need a licence to say the car is roadworthy and taxed, insurance for that and blah, blah, blah... the list is endless. I also live in an area where there is absolutely no mobile signal, no superfast fibre optic broadband, no mains gas, no mains sewerage, no daily public transport, no smart meters. Nor is there anywhere to spend cash, so I very seldom have 'real' cash and probably wouldn't miss it if it vanished overnight. Frugaldom is totally off grid so no pottable water, electricity or sewerage infrastructure. It's all relevant - convenience is king and what is convenient for some is far from so for others. Nobody can keep all of the people happy all of the time, it's impossible. So let's make 2023 another year of striving to find, use and demonstrate that elusive thing known as basic common sense. If we get our hands dirty, we wash them, we don't lick them clean then complain about a sore throat, upset stomach or other symptoms a couple of days later. If wild ducks are landing nearby and dying, don't wade in with them then walk home to your own ducks and let them chew on your wellies. Cat flu, dog parvovirus etc, equine influenza, bird flu, monkey pox (sorry, I mean MPox)... new rules and recommendations are emerging daily in an effort to keep as many people (and animals and businesses) allive as possible. Probably a billion viruses and bacterium pass through our households on a regular basis - a little bit of care can literally save lives. Science cannot keep up with the proliferation of mutations so extreme measures such as lockdowns are put in place in an attempt to make those who haven't quite grasped common sense a little more aware of how naure can work for or against us all. Nature will always win but it's good to know we did our bit to help protect vulnerable others who are unable to do similar for themselves. Finding affordable ways of doing things that need to be done is all part of frugal living. Keeping as fi and healthy as possible is part of frugal living. Helping protect and preserve our civilisation is part of frugal living. I'm passionate about frugal living and can find a connection to it in almost anything. Look! This almost turned into an entire frugal chapter! Oops!

Frugaldom

Cash challenges - I still keep my EEK (Everything Else Kitty) spare change in tubs because it does come in handy sometimes. Last week, I was able to help out a friend who had forgotten her purse and gone to the laundry without coins for the machines. Little tubs of spare change are definitely something you are likely to encounter indoors, outdoors, in car, in the barn... if you find a few pennies, don't toss them away (this absolutely horrifies me), drop them in a donations tin anywhere you see one or drop them in your own EEK jar.

YoungBlueEyes

Forgive me making light of your serious post @frugaldom, but Goatis Redding and Vincent van Goat is the funniest thing I've heard in ages!  

mumtoomany

Our neighbours have a ram, that I have named vincent. He only has one ear. Hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

Frugaldom

I should probably do a proper round-down of all the things that have happened (and materialised) over the past 23 years since going public with this moneysaving challenge. 2023 will be year 16 of the challenge here on MSE forums but so much had already happened and been achieved prior to this that it's impossible to keep everyone up to date when we have so many new frugal friends joining us every year.   I promise to bring everyone up to date before this year is out so you can see that I really do put my money where my mouth is and keep frugal living as my prefered lifestyle. I simpy love it and don't know how else I wiuld live if I had millions in the bank and freedom to choose anything I wanted. I wouldn't know what to want if riches befell me so I'd probably play a game of secret santa and go in search a few like-minded others to help keep the frugal living flames alight. I currently give sanctuary to 9 ponies, 2 goats, several hens & ducks, 2 fostered guinea pigs and Scruffy the cat, who has been with us for the past 12 or 13 years. And then there's the wildlife, including a pet pheasant that seems to have adopted me (Penny pheasant) and the family of badgers that live in our garden.

Goatis Redding and Vincent van Goat were rescued last summer. They'd been bought as pets, had been tethered and then managed to break loose and gain access to the owner's prize flowers. For this, they were sentenced to die at the hands of said owner, who refused to believe that what was about to happen was cruel and illegal... It was literally a case of them having a knife in one hand, YouTube in the other, plying the goats with alcohol to "make them more manageable" for killing.   Friend and I staged an emergency intervention and brought the goats back to Frugaldom in the back of her landrover. We named them, did all the legal licensing and regisrations stuff and now they live happy lives with their own little fan club pitching in to help pay their keep.

Frugaldom

Grocery challenge in the Frugaldom household has, for several years, been based on the £1 per person per day for all meals, plus toiletries, laundry and cleaning products. With 2 of us to feed plus whoever comes along to visit (or volunteer), I tended to round up to a maximum of £1,000, of which £800 is supposed to be food.  I took my eye off the ball, let stores run down, failed to grow sufficient fruit & vegetables and as for the batch cooking, well... that kept going out the window through lack of time and energy. However, I've just done my final shop of the year so the cupboards, fridge and freezer are all full and the total annual spend amounted to £1,095.81  I'll try harder in 2023 to keep tabs on everything and see if it is at all possible to drive costs back down to get closer to my target. For now. the average per person including toiletries, laundry and cleaning products worked out at £1.50 per person per day for everything.  As well as the spends, I made great use of the Olio app to take advantage of some rather luxury items that I wouldn't normally have bought. This week has netted us milk, fruit, veg and cakes. The other thing about the gross overspend on grocery shopping is tha it includes many luxury items, such as cakes, crisps, chocolate and sweets. There doesn't look to be any real problem in getting spending back to £1 per person per day other than the fact that I would need to cut out all the luxuries.

Jazee

I've been following all year and have now prepped my budget for next year.  Not a lot of leeway but a bit spare for a few luxuries I hope.

willow_loulou

Thanks for the updates @Frugaldom I do follow you elsewhere but it’s lovely to see it some of it written out. I had no idea how much of an intervention was needed for VVG &GR! Thank you for saving them 😭

I was shocked to find out my income is £12000 under the minimum expected for a single person! It’s amazing that disabled people are not even considered in these things. I’d certainly be overwhelmed if I was suddenly that much better off though! (Might actually get some house repairs done tho) 

My actual must pays not including food are very low compared to most, I own my home and get help with council tax so £300 a month covers the basics. Water, insurances, tv, internet, ctax petrol. 

The car insurance and service comes in around £500 over the year and my Ocado delivery is between £43 -£50 a week ish for 2 of us. (Plus the chicken gets something fresh each week) 

Now I’m debt free I’m working on getting the house in order, finally getting on with the bathroom and saving EEK moneys (great name happily stealing thanks!) 

I need however….
Fencing
New shower
new bath (it’s beyond repair) 

Bathroom flooring and ceiling 
new windows 🥲😳

Very grateful son in law to be is a Jack of all and an amazing tiler.