2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Bluegreen143

@elbree highly recommend it, it’s making me think much more about getting out. I’m at at 16.5hr so far for the year (you can start any date as you track it yourself but I went from the 1st). So don’t think I’ll get to 1000 but we’ve been to a park after school every day so far this week. Not going tomorrow though as we need to swap our library books. 

I don’t think people I know IRL would understand the warm fuzzy satisfied feeling I get to know my children’s childhood is filled with outdoor time and library visits and home baking 😅 sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era 🙈 

Zero waste shop research done after the park visit. 

I got olive oil which was nearly £8 for 800g (they sell it by weight which makes it hard to compare). Double or more than double the big standard EV olive oil I get from Tesco but in fairness it’s a “nice” organic one so if you compared to those in Tesco it’s probably on par. But still pricey. It’ll last me a while so I’ll decide if I want to keep buying that there or switch back. 

Also got organic plain flour, Demerara sugar and granulated sugar, all comparable with similar products in Tesco (comparing like to like, so not comparing the organic flour to value flour). I wouldn’t normally buy organic flour but it’s not too expensive so happy to keep getting it there. 

Finally picked up chilli roasted peanuts from their snack section which are absolutely delicious and not expensive (38p per 100g) so will definitely keep buying them. They do a lovely chocolate covered peanut too but much to Monkey’s dismay they were out of stock just now 😂

All spent £12.92 but most of that was the olive oil.

EskarinaWeatherwax

@spudsmum I’m veggie too and when i started cycling distance in earnest last year, before, my injury, I was eating loss of protein. I buy peanut butter by the kilo and dried chickpeas which I then soak and boil in bulk, and freeze in can sized portions. I’d often make hummus - ideally with a lot of chickpeas left whole - before going out and just tear through the lot when I got back. It id have a tbsp or two of PB from the kilo tub which depletes it slowed than those smaller jars. Butter beans also work for hummus type dips though to be honest I eat them and chickpeas like peanuts!

Primrose

butter beans are very good protein.  Does anybody have any ideas for turning them into unusual savoury dips?
I do find chick peas a little boring on their own an need something to liven them up.

Thrifty_Taylor

Yes, it's Orkney that I live on. Moved here 35 years ago as a child, to one of the smaller islands. Parents bought the croft unseen. The house had no electricity, toilet or hot water. Just a cold tap in the porch (no sink). We had our own beach & used to go up on the moor to dig peat in the summertime, ready to burn in wintertime once it had dried out. It was all very hard work & had no money coming in apart from the £14 a week family allowance. A bit of a shock to the system, after living in a town in Robin Hood country. Made us close as a family though.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Not a bad frugal week here, although DH is not well and not currently working so we are going to have to work out how we are going to manage without his income.  Turns out his tax bill is much less than we thought which is a relief.  I renewed Mum and Dad's car insurance and got a £20 Li@l voucher which they said I could keep, waiting for that to come through.

Keeping everything else to a minimum and doing well with that.  I have updated my spreadsheets tonight and seem to have too much left but I am too tired to look at it now.

Managed a nice free walk at lunchtime which perked me up.

We have a free food hub in the town near us but they ask that you only use it if you need to which is a bit off putting!  Nothing like Olio around here.

willow_loulou

Primrose said:

butter beans are very good protein.  Does anybody have any ideas for turning them into unusual savoury dips?
I do find chick peas a little boring on their own an need something to liven them up.

Tahini (mushed sesame) - garlic - pinch of salt - hummus recipe. I’d try it with butter beans. 

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
The first online shop of the year arrived today. I had that much stuff in that we’ve just needed a few bits each week so the money went in my emergency fund. Well actually it’s the pram fund at the moment because I’m going to be a granny for the first time and we’ve said we’ll pay for pram/pushchair/carseat thing. It’s very exciting.

I was absolutely horrified that the tram ticket went up from £2.10 to £2.60 ( I work that out at around 20%) It’s only two stops 😱
The shop where I work has put some prices up last weekend and some more this weekend. I know it’s necessary but it won’t be popular.
I’m feeling a bit yucky at the moment as I’ve come down with a nasty cold ( definitely not COVID ) but I didn’t come down with any last year and it’s been a shock to my system. So I made myself a big pot of parsnip soup with the last of the Xmas parsnips, some onion and a lot of paprika, yummy and warming and I’ve some left for tomorrow and some in the freezer.
We’ve been keeping the heating off as much as possible but as OH has a cold too we’re keeping warm with blankets and the heater on low.
So tomorrow is going to be a lazy day. The housework will still be there when I feel better.
Well done guys for all the positive posts, I’m having trouble keeping up.
Night night.

nannygladys

Spudsmum - I didn't realise you had a sort of warranty at an NHS dentist, regarding fillings etc, that's handy to know, I go every 6 six months and have had a lot of work done over the years but never realized, not that I have ever needed it thank goodness, but you never know

MazzieD

Thank you again for all your good wishes.  At least I'll have time to keep up with this thread!.  I'll be reading along until things settle down a bit.  I  have a lovely purring furry hot water bottle on my lap, preferable to a hot water bottle as no hot water required!.   Having a cat in this cold weather is great!.

@willow_loulou Hope you're ok,  really wise words in your post about not rushing to return to normal.

spudsmum

nannygladys said:

Spudsmum - I didn't realise you had a sort of warranty at an NHS dentist, regarding fillings etc, that's handy to know, I go every 6 six months and have had a lot of work done over the years but never realized, not that I have ever needed it thank goodness, but you never know

@nannygladys

Yes according to the NHS website certain repair work such as fillings are guaranteed for a year. 

Glad I read up because u was expecting them to try it on - my little family dentist has been taken over by a big company now and gone mostly private - they had to agree to retain current NHS patients but they weren't happy about it so they are trying to get as much money as they can out of us.

Things like "oh dentist A (NHS) is on holiday/too busy etc so you'll be booked in with dentist B" what they don't tell you is dentist B is independent so doesn't come under NHS and can charge what she likes - they are very crafty and  ask you to sign a bit of paper when you go in acknowledging that "there may be extra charges" I wonder how many just sign it without reading.

I'd love to change sadly next nearest NHS dentist is 25 miles away and has a 2.5 year waiting list