2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Rianam

Primrose said:

I subscribe to a Kitchen Garden magazine monthly by post.  We get four free packets of different veg seeds nearly every month so perhaps it was that one?

Do you only get edible seeds with the magazine??

Primrose

Yes, vegetable seeds and sometimes herbs.  Can't recall ever having had any flowers.

cw18

Well, having said I need to start whittling down my grocery stock piles I've only been and done a big (for me) shop this afternoon to increase said stock piles !!!

There are some items I've run right down (or am now completely out of) that I use very regularly, and I admit to be worried about how much prices will increase with the higher energy costs.   Manufacturers are going to have bigger bills they'll pass on to the stores, and the stores are also going to have bigger fuel bill as well as those higher stock costs.  Those will be passed on to the customers who are also having to contend with higher fuel bills at home - as well as higher interest rates and higher NI contributions if they pay either (or both) of those

So I've figured out what I'm likely to end up having to raise my DD to in order to cover my fuels bills (based on using the same amount of energy as last year), and have decided that the difference between what I'm currently paying and what I think it will have to go up to can be used for stock-piling until it actually goes up.

Based on the figures I've seen for the new caps, my payments will have to go up to £105/month - ouch!    I've been using an average of under £44 (on a fixed tariff which ended on 31st Jan), but have been paying £55.    So that's £50 available from January - a huge chunk of which covers the £30 worth of tuna I bought in Lidl when they had cases of 48 tins as an XL offer (I bought 2 cases dated late 2023).   I've been in touch with my energy company to increase my payments to £70 from my Feb payment (as I'm now on the October variable prices, which mean I should be paying £66-ish), so I can add another £35 to the pot for Feb, and another £35 for March.

As I decided to use my car to get to my voluntary 'job' today (I walk greyhounds for a rehoming centre when not at work) due to the fact it was tipping it down and it's a mile and half each way (on top of the 3 miles I do with a dog), I figured today would be a good chance to start my 'top-up' shopping - especially as it meant I could head somewhere with more choice of stores.

I started in Qu@lity Save where I picked up

2 packs of 3 toothbrushes (that's me sorted for the year as I recently put my last one into use)

2 deodorants (should now have enough in for the year)

3 bottles of eye drops (I have mild 'dry eye' which sometimes causes problems with my contacts - so I need to have a bottle with me at all times - the one from here works well and is contact lens friendly at a fraction of the price I'd pay elsewhere)

2 boxes of tissues to replace the replacements for a couple I've finished off in recent months (they last a good while, but I keep in several rooms)

2 strips of plasters (half way through my last box, and seem to need fairly regularly!)

I then timed my arrival at £Stretcherz to perfection, as a member of staff was just starting to restock a previously totally empty space on the shelf!

2 rolls of cheap and nasty 'freezer' bags I use for taking butties to work - enough for the rest of this year and then some.   May get me through to late summer 2023, as I also use the bags my bread rolls come in when I use the last couple (at least one day a week) - and I have a fair pile of empty bags from loaves that I can also use (saved to use as bin bags, but use more loaves of bread than I need for this purpose).

Nipped into A!di to double check prices on a few things, and came away with

6 jars of marmalade (I'm going to get more of this as I use at least a jar a week!)

4 pouches of stir-fry sauce (could do with more, but there don't seem to be as many flavours around these days - and I don't like most I can find at an affordable price)

Then I hit Tesc0, which is a rare event for me these days!

6kg of pasta (1kg for now, 5kg for stocks).   Disappointed that nowhere seems to sell 3kg bags of wholewheat pasta any more (I'd checked all the supermarket websites before heading out), so I've had to buy 1kg bags which is dearer - but I didn't want to go back to white pasta.   Effectively cost me an extra 20p/kg (or 2p per meal as I have large portions!)

4 jars of cheap pasta sauce (I'm also going to pick up nicer ones, but some meals work just as well with the cheaper one so I may as well save that 16p/jar)

2kg of dried lentils for padding out mince based meals (have enough for a few more batch cooks, but was already looking to get more in)

8 tins of kidney beans (I love chilli - adding lentils, oats and kidney beans makes a pack of mince go a looooong way),

720 tea bags - I could have got cheaper tea bags in Qu@lity Save, but I don't know the make so I decided it was too much of a gamble.   The A1di ones seem to have changed a few months ago (don't brew as strongly), and no longer come in the foil pouches of 40 within the boxes (I find that keeps them better).   So I've gone back to Tesc0 for this shop which should last me 7-8 months (and I already had enough in hand for about 4 months - so should now be set until year end )

2 cartons of passata - not something I use on a monthly basis, but I do use a few times a year and had run out

3 boxes of instant soups (5 sachets in each).  I have a few boxes need finishing off, but I do use these a fair bit when off work - and sometimes have one if I get home a couple of hours before tea time but feel peckish. Stops me eating junk food!

And loo roll - 12 'double length' rolls which will hopefully get me to at least the end of October when added to what I already have in the house.   I may go back for another pack (or may pick up my normal ones from A1di as I can carry home from there)

Some of the Tesc0 purchases were the same price in A1di, but I have a reloadable payment card for Tesc0 through work which saves me 4% (they deduct 96p from my bank for each £1 I load onto it, so it's an instant saving) - and I also get Clubc@rd points from Tesc0 which is a little more saved in the long run.    I had a £1.50 voucher due to expire at the end of the month, and remembered to scan that when paying (I 'lost' £1 at the end of November as I'd forgotten I needed to go and pick something up just to get it used).   In the past I've always exchanged for deals, but I no longer earn enough points to exchange for anything worthwhile (even over a 2 year period) - and there's next to nothing that actually interests me anyway, so I've decided I'm best off using them for shopping in store at face value.   But I recently updated my account so that in future I get all my vouchers in November.  This means I won't have dribs and drabs split over the year going forward which seems much more sensible

So of the £120 stockpile fund I've spent £78.05 (including the tuna, and after deducting the £1.50 voucher and my discount for loading the payment card).   I need to see how far I can stretch the remaining £32, but I can leave my fuel payments at a lower level for a month or two as I have a hefty credit balance.   I also need to finalise my grocery budget spend from January, and I've anything left there I'd feel justified in using that.    I know my spend for week 1 of Feb has been above budget (too many sweet treats which I need to eke out over the month, as well as a few bits to kick-start week 2), but I still have 3 weeks to claw that back and try and add some more to the 'pot'.

I used to pick up reasonably sized (and not too overly priced) bags of dried beans in the world food section of Tesc0, but it appears they're no longer stocked.   So when I'm next off work for more than 1 day (w/c 28th Feb) I plan to walk into a different town and hit some small shops in the hope I can get from there (mostly Muslim, but with a few Polish having appeared as well - and I know I can get spices and such from them at much better prices than in the supermarkets).   In the past I've made a bean casserole thing I can eat hot (normally with sausages or chicken) or cold (fine on it's own as a snack meal, or as a 'side salad' with salmon, chicken or pork steak).  Very filling, and (if made with dried beans) very cheap for what it is.  I looked at using tinned beans once (it was all I could get), and the cost made me ditch the plans.   If I can get the beans I may need to stock up on more tinned chopped tomatoes (another vital ingredient).

I already have plenty of rice and noodles, so I don't need any of those.   Will be having another look through my stocks to see if there's anything else I'm running low on that may be worth topping up (in the knowledge it will be used in the next 12 months).   Pretty certain I'm OK for shampoo and conditioner, and know I'm find for shower gel - but I don't think I have any toothpaste other than the opened one (it's on a list in my head to pick up soon which makes me think that was my last).   I have plenty of paracetamol (I was taking them alongside prescription meds as per GP instructions), but am currently finding ibuprofen to be more useful (and I don't think I've many boxes of those left - so may start picking up when I nip into A1di for my regular bread shops).   I've opened my last washing up liquid which will last a good while, but I'll probably get another now rather than when I only have about 25% of the bottle left (my normal restock point).   I have plenty of washing powder though, so don't need that.

I should also look at trying to get my garden sorted and some veggies planted.   I've never done well with growing foods, but it has to be worth another try!

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning all

That all sounds really organised cw18.  I dont have anywhere to store food stocks other than my kitchen cupboards so I only buy what I need, which works for me, but I did do a full inventory yesterday and we should only need a few extra bits for the next couple of weeks.

I was wondering about our electricity DD as well.  We are £231 in credit and I could ask for some to be refunded, but I am letting it build up to absorb some of the future costs.  I have been keeping a close eye on our usage and I know that our DD is a bit too high but I want to save something towards the increases that are coming.  We also need to save for heating oil too.

We grown lots of salad leaves, courgettes, spinach, kale, cabbage, french and runner beans, peppers, rhubarb, raspberries and strawberries.  We mostly grow in raised beds and are lucky to have a greenhouse.  We have done this for a few years and have worked out what we can grow fairly easily, what we will use, and what's not worth trying to grow because it is so cheap in the supermarket.  DH does most of the gardening and enjoys it.

cuddlymarm

Good morning guys
I had a couple of weeks of not reading and it’s taken me ages to catch up, it’s so busy and positive on here.
As I’ve finally caught up I thought I’d check in.
January has been a game of two halves. We finally got to go on holiday, a canaries cruise. Really good value because we got money off in the Black Friday sales and had a refund from the holiday company that we got from being brought home early on a holiday as Covid began. We’ve tried to go 3 times and each time got cancelled so this was lovely. Such a treat. We were frugal by not booking any of the trips. It cost us £5 each one day for a transfer bus but apart from that we just pottered around the ports and sat in the sun.
Our other expense was a pram/car seat set from DS1 and his partner. We’re finally getting a grandbaby and I’m so excited.
But on the frugal side we’ve hardly spent anything apart from that. 

OH has decided that I can do more veggie meals, to save the planet as well as money so the food in the freezer is holding up well. However, with prices rising every time you shop I decided to still do my weekly online shop, making up the £40 with tins, teabags, rice etc. 

Another plus was that I listened to Marin Lewis and transferred my premium bonds and what was in my National savings account to pay off my older 0% credit card that was about to start charging interest. So now I’m concentrating on getting rid of my other one. I should easily shift it by the end of the year as long as I am disciplined.
So onwards and upwards frugallers. Times are difficult but with the support on here so much easier.
Anyway I better get on 
Have a good day 
Cuddlymarm

joedenise

Can you get your CC onto another 0% deal to reduce the amount you need to pay @cuddlymarm?  As you've just finished a 0% deal it's quite likely you'd be able to get another.  The money is better in your bank than the CC company's!

Do you have any space under your bed, in your wardrobe, on top of cupboards @YORKSHIRELASS?  I use some of the shelves at the side of one of our wardrobes to store tins, dishwasher tabs, laundry liquid, shampoo, conditioner etc.  Can't use the underbed storage as we have a waterbed which is heated which I don't think would be good for food or toiletries!  I do however keep things like wrapping paper and bubblewrap under there!

MazzieD

Just had my gas and electric bill, I am absolutely stunned.  My gas consumption has dropped by 75 kilowatts compared to this time last year, even allowing for the fact that it was fixed rate this is the lowest bill I've ever had. Just goes to show what changing settings on the boiler and being very careful can achieve as only use gas for central heating and I haven't changed any timing or the temperature..

 My electricity consumption went up a bit but that is probably due to using the oven as I rarely use it. 

@cw18 What a great idea, extra supplies are always useful and not a waste of money.

missmoneywatch

MazzieD said:

Just had my gas and electric bill, I am absolutely stunned.  My gas consumption has dropped by 75 kilowatts compared to this time last year, even allowing for the fact that it was fixed rate this is the lowest bill I've ever had. Just goes to show what changing settings on the boiler and being very careful can achieve as only use gas for central heating and I haven't changed any timing or the temperature..

 My electricity consumption went up a bit but that is probably due to using the oven as I rarely use it. 

@cw18 What a great idea, extra supplies are always useful and not a waste of money.

Great to hear from someone who has been trying hard and it's showing in your bills.We have knocked the thermostat down 2 degrees and are being careful about what's switched on when, hoping it will pay off when we get the next bill before the big price hikes happen.

Debsnewbudget

Just been to our local food waste prevention shop. They have loads of chickens at £2.  They are labelled up for a large supermarket who has decided they don't want them. So the supplier finds it cheaper to send them to landfill rather  than repackage them. The local shop gets them and sells them. The shop also helps people in need with free bread and milk and lots of other free or very cheap food.
At the beginning I was worried that I would be taking food from people who needed it, but was told that wanting to prevent food from going to landfill and paying a small amount towards it, also helps the shop help people in actual need.  I do feel the need to donate them an odd fiver when I visit and ask them to use it to pay  for someones shopping.
so todays haul was 4 large chickens, a bag of Kale, a cucumber, 2 ready meals for DH to take on his hols next week and a catering box of frozen Asparagus spears …. All for £10.50

Beshki

Using up what we have as best I can. No idea how we ended up with so many carrots lol! So I’ve got carrot and coriander soup for lunch all week this week. Also noted that there seemed to be a lot of limp celery hanging around, so set to Googling recipes & that’ll make up tonight’s dinner and possibly some celery soup too if that doesn’t get used up. Also going to try making my own hummus going forward, hopefully it tastes good as previous attempts haven’t really! 

Trying for a no spend week, feeling quite overwhelmed with all the recent news stories. I keep jotting down things to stock up on when we go to various shops, and will continue to do what we are doing with using what we have in before doing a shop. So far this is working. 

I will start sorting through my seeds and plan my veg beds at the weekend. A pleasant job