2023 Frugal Living Challenge

zaxdog

Loads of chores done today. Does that count as frugal exercise?

Sausage casserole made with freebie veg in the slow cooker for dinner, will steam some freebie cabbage to have with it.

My amazing parents sent me a beautiful glass pen and some ink so tomorrow will be playing with that 

Auntycaz

@patentgirl a good place to check prices if you are able to get to several different supermarkets is trolley.co.uk I have found it very useful for checking prices.

QueenJess

zaxdog said:

My amazing parents sent me a beautiful glass pen and some ink so tomorrow will be playing with that 

That sounds interesting. Any chance of a photo?

Cas

I've a pretty good start to the frugal year and I want to keep up the enthusiasm!

Wins 

• Returned my faulty steam mop to Amazon – awaiting £130 refund. 

• Returned my faulty walking boots to Mountain Warehouse – awaiting £62 refund. Not holding my breath on this one as my experience of MW’s returns service has been dreadful.

• Some y/s from Morrisons - beef olives, a leg of pork, potatoes, carrots, onions and basil all for £7.  The pork alone will do us several meals – roast, risotto, soup, sandwiches, etc.  I didn’t know it at the time but there was a money off spend offer sitting on my loyalty card so £4 off at the till!

• Emptied our piggy banks - £99.48!  It's taken a few years to save this but it just goes to show you how all these small amounts soon add up.

• Made yoghurt in my Ninja Foodie using the last of our supermarket yoghurt as a starter.  Strained it a bit to thicken it and the whey’s destined for the next batch of overnight slow cooker porridge.  

• Working our way through the past its best fruit and veg, eg pears added to porridge, tomatoes made into a pasta sauce, carrots and onions roasted underneath beef olives.

• Still eating out the freezer – soup, chilli, curry, chicken kiev and lasagne so far.

• Dug out the dehumidifier and using that to dry the laundry instead of the tumble dryer especially if I can’t get the washing (partly) dried outside.  

• Got an email advising I’ve been selected by SuperSavvy to try out a bundle of Fairy laundry goodies and it’s arriving today.  That will save on some laundry costs.

• Heating already on timer and I’ve now turned the “On” temperatures down so max temperature is 18C.  Probably won’t lower any time soon as it’s just the right side of bearable.

Could do better

• Had to use the washer dryer for the puppy’s coats, towels and bedding.  We’ve had a fair bit of rain recently and she’s also in the middle of her first season so it feels like the w/d is always on.  Her season will probably last another couple of weeks after which we should have less of her washing to do.

Still to do

• I’ve still got a pumpkin leftover from Halloween and if I don't do something with it soon it will end up being wasted.  Will use it and some of veg that’s languishing in the freezer to soup.  

• MIL gave us lots of apples from her sister’s mini orchard.  Not sure what I’m going to do with them so they’re all individually wrapped in newspaper and stored in a cool place meantime.

• We have a bit of spare ground at the side of the house so I am going to look into growing my own veg.  We already grow wild garlic, rhubarb, strawberries, blackcurrants and sometime potatoes in pots but I’d like to try growing salad crops, chard, spinach etc.  We have a couple of hazel bushes too but the squirrels beat us to the nuts every year!  

• Will need to get one of these devices that tells you how much energy an appliance is using so I can see how much the dehumidifier costs to run.

• DH is going to Costco next week to bulk buy some non-perishables so he’ll be given a list and told to stick to it!

Love some of the ideas I've read on this thread - it's certainly got me thinking about what else I can do like @Auntycaz suggestion of using trolley.co.uk to check prices.  Thank you all for the inspiration!

Madbat60

Thank you @Auntycaz for the link. Sleeves set in my new dress. Just the hem to do. I'll do that tomorrow.  I tend to pick up material on offer, also duvet covers in charity shops, freecycle and olio have loads of fabric in them.   Today I peeled some sweet potatoes that were hanging around, boiled them for 10 minutes, they're now on a tray freezing.  We grow a lot of veg in our garden.  I've left one of the sweet potatoes in the cupboard to sprout slips then DP will grow them on.  

the_cross_rabbit

Frugal wins. 
1. Leftovers for lunch and tea. 
2. Breakfast were syrup pancakes, they were 2 weeks out of date. Checked for mould, none, so ate them. 
3. Managed to get 2 walking tops from Cs, which have been on my list of needs, a pair of jeans and a dress for dd2 also from Cs.
4. Sent the link for sun Holidays to dd1 as a cheap holiday for her and her friends , forgot it started today,  so missed today's code.
5. The hubbster managed to fix the gate with bits and bobs we already have in the just incase garage of stuff.
6. Utilities are regulary coming in at £4.50 each, which is better than it was, but could be better.
CRx 

cw18

patentgirl said:

Definitely agree prices going up and up we have always brought Yorkshire tea was horrified when I brought it last week £4.95 for 160 often used  to get extra free went right through display none! Come back told DH we will have to try different brands anyone got recommendations for cheaper brands please ? We prefer strongish tea.

I use supermarket own brands in red boxes - but Aldi seemed to change their blend some months ago, and I'm less keen on theirs now.    The one from Tesco is fine.    I drink strong tea, and I use 1 teabag in a Sp0rts Direct mug (if you don't know those, it holds almost a pint of liquid).

ladyholly

I found the Aldi teabags tend to break so you end you with a cup of tea leaves. I tend to use Tesco or Sainsbury which are fine. I have my tea quite weak so I can get 2 or sometimes 3 cups out of 1 bag. Years ago my mum gave me a little dish to hold teabags so they go on that until I am ready for the next cup.

cw18

Cas said:

Dug out the dehumidifier and using that to dry the laundry instead of the tumble dryer especially if I can’t get the washing (partly) dried outside. 

Heating already on timer and I’ve now turned the “On” temperatures down so max temperature is 18C.  Probably won’t lower any time soon as it’s just the right side of bearable.

Will need to get one of these devices that tells you how much energy an appliance is using so I can see how much the dehumidifier costs to run.

In order......

I recently purchased a dehumidifier - partly with the idea it would be of benefit when drying washing (always done indoors here).    I'm not especially impressed by it given what it cost to buy and what it costs to run, so it's almost certainly going back!

This winter my thermostat has been set to 17 for the mornings as I get up, and 15.5 in the evenings.   But the last couple of days I've reduced the morning temp to 16 and not noticed any difference.   In previous years it ran at 18 when on, but I'm coping fine at the lower level (along with warmer slippers, throws for over my legs when sitting in the living room, and a sweatshirt, fleece or 0odie type top).   If I know we're in for an especially cold night/morning, I put an electric heater in my bedroom onto a timer - and that comes on before my alarm goes and warms the room enough to encourage me to get up long before the central heating would.   But the central heating is up to a reasonable temperature by the time I'm washed and dressed (I have an en-suite, so don't need to venture out of my room until then).

My dehumidifier is listed as 65w, and my energy monitor confirms it to be running at pretty much exactly that.   So, at 34p/kWh, that means it cost me 2.2p/hour.   By running it for 12 hours it meant my hoodies dried in 18 hours instead of 24, and I'm really not sure that it's worth 26p a time (plus the £90 purchase price) for the time it saves.   But I am only washing for me, it isn't replacing the use of a tumble dryer (I own one but don't use it any more), and I do have space in the house to have washing hanging up for 2 days (I actually tend to leave it pegged out until I either need the item or do my next wash load, and the next wash load can be anything up to 10 days later!).     My energy monitor is built into a smart plug, which means I can turn it on and off remotely - and also see the usage and costs via an app on my phone.   (I can also turn it on/off via my Amaz0n Ech0 devices.)

JIL

I wont drink anything but Yorkshire tea. I would rather find an offer than change brand. I bought my last big bag I think 480 teabags, from Iceland food warehouse at £10.99 with 10% off cause I had my over 60 with me on a Tuesday.