2022 Frugal Living Challenge

willow_loulou

Prudent said:

Can I join, please? I used to be very careful with money and need to get back into good habits with the cost of everything rising.

Welcome x

willow_loulou

The warm home grant is going up £10. I know it’s not a lot but as I’m usually guaranteed it being disabled it’s been really helpful so I’m very glad of it. 

I’ve also started registering with companies as vulnerable, meaning if there is an emergency or supply issue I’ll get swift assistance. I’d done it with broadband 2 years ago (work from home too) and when we had an outage recently it was my house they went to first (much to others disgust) so I know it works. I thought I’d mention it as who knows where things are going with this crisis and mad weather events, so if you’re vulnerable (there are categories to select) register with your utilities. I’ve had written confirmation from the water company now. 

Rianam

Have joined Shopmium recently and have saved a nice amount of money. They offer cashback on certain items and sometimes you get all the money back so you benefit from a free product. 

If you fancy free Pringles and would like to just try the site for that I have a referral code: EP2P6H

MazzieD

Another no spend week.  My grocery order is lasting well although I've run out of salad which isn't the end of the world.  I'll head off to the shops and get some more in the next couple of days, I'm fine carrying light shopping now.

All I can say about yesterday is Ouch.  Think I might be eating a lot more salad!!..

Heating has been off since Monday, temperatures are in double figures here and quite mild so it won't go back on until the next cold spell.

shala_moo

Been bumbling along here with frugalling, the price rises made for quite shocking reading yesterday. We bought quite a large house when we both worked, an investment as such, so we don't qualify for the council tax rebate - we're a band E so just miss out. The only "positive" that i can see is that I don't work so the NI increase won't affect me personally but will affect OH.

Onto some things we can control, saved £146 on our usual grocery spend in January so i'm really pleased with that as it also included some bulk buying for future months. I've set myself up a spreadsheet now that has a list of all our meals and recipes on, we then meal plan for the month and buy groceries weekly (after checking what we've already got in the cupboards). Made some bread rolls yesterday too, they should last me a week, used old flour and cooked them in the ninja grill so no need for the big oven to come on.

Also been having some trouble with the light fittings in the hallway/landing and bedroom so we've bought some new fittings and going to attempt to change them myself , can't imagine an electrician would come out to do such a small job anyway and hopefully Y0utube is a good enough instructor! Wish me luck.. 

Primrose

For those who find it difficult keeping lettuce heads fresh, I really recommend buying something like a "Hispi" variety (green pointy type) cabbage.  The hearts  keep for ages in a fridge salad drawer and when shredded up finely with other salad ingredients make an excellent lettuce substitute. Used with a little salad dressing they are tasty and very filling too.

ionafan

Re keeping lettuce/cabbage/etc fresh:

About 10 years ago I bought some of these vegetable storage bags.   Yes, they are plastic, but definitely not single-use!  They have been brilliant - thick, durable, easily washable, reused many times, and I've only only just thrown away the last one because it had a hole in it.  I don't think I've ever had to throw away anything because of wilt if it was stored in one of these, so they have saved me £££ during their lifetime and I have been more than happy to buy a new pack (it works out at only 70p a year over 10 years for 20 bags).

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

I have ordered a new credit card so I can do a balance transfer as I have a 0% deal ending this month.  Cold here, I have had heating on for an hour first thing and an hour at lunchtime, now under my heated blanket for a bit.

I am sticking to my rule of not using the car on a Thursday or Friday when I WFH which is working well.  Most weeks we dont use it much over the weekend either and I am still using the £50 diesel that I bought on 20th January.  Such an easy win.

DH has been sorting out seeds for salad and veg growing, we will be glad of that this summer.

I have ordered some heating oil but have enough to pay for it.  DH has managed a little work this week on top of his ESA which is great.  Bits and pieces to do but I feel the need to nap for half an hour.  Will hold out on lighting the fire for a bit longer.

nannygladys

Haven't been in much today, but at least I haven't spent any money!!!!

Planning a no spend weekend as I know I have enough food in, and I'm going to make some sweet treat, cakes, biscuits etc tomorrow, and I might go for a walk around the local pond if it's dry because it's usually very muddy.
Nannyg

spudsmum

Happy Friday everyone. 

I'm so glad this week is over its been so long and tiring. 

Good haul at the pantry today — they had some short dated meats so I got both chicken breast and steak mince, 2 boxes of cereal, some tinned meat and fish, the usual carrier bag stuffed full of veg and a massive 3kg bag of oven chips - with a bit of padding out that will be most of our meals for the week. 

£5.03 on surveys so I'll send that to cc - I'm going to do a balance transfer once my next DD has gone out. That should save me about £50 a month in interest. 

Still on track with budgets - came in £8 under spending budget this week - not a massive amount but its the 5th week in a row I've come in under budget after several months of going massively over.