2023 Frugal Living Challenge

patentgirl

JIL said:

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.

Thanks for reminding me completely forgot can do that at Iceland.

Cas

cw18 said:

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.)

I have a tiny utility room where I hang up our laundry and I'm always surprised by the amount of water the dehumidifier removes.  There was a lot of mould on our old kitchen/diner door thanks to condensation and with DH being asthmatic to me it makes sense using the dehumidifier to lessen the chance of mould.  Not sure the wattage of our dehumidifier except that it's less than the w/d but for me the reduction in the chance of damp means it's worth the cost. 

 

-taff

I use sainsburys gold label tea but they do an extra strong red tea. I also like storng tea and I do but Yorkshire if it's on offer, but I was usually buying pg tips because the bags could be put in the compost.

DiamondLil

Am I the last of the dinosaurs ? I buy loose tea and use a teapot.

Landgirlinthelittlecity

DiamondLil said:

Am I the last of the dinosaurs ? I buy loose tea and use a teapot.

I have lots of loose tea and use a teapot, there are so many flavors you can get that I just find it so much more better. 

Soontobeoap

I can remember back in the late 60,s my Aunty sent my Mum some of "these new fangled tea bags" to try. Mum couldnt undersand what all of the fuss was about as the tea was so fine it went straght through the  strainer! She had cut each individual bag open and used as normal. 😅🤣😂

cw18

Cas said:

I have a tiny utility room where I hang up our laundry and I'm always surprised by the amount of water the dehumidifier removes.  There was a lot of mould on our old kitchen/diner door thanks to condensation and with DH being asthmatic to me it makes sense using the dehumidifier to lessen the chance of mould.  Not sure the wattage of our dehumidifier except that it's less than the w/d but for me the reduction in the chance of damp means it's worth the cost.

Mine doesn't seem to collect half as much water as I'd expected after reading lots of postive posts about them on FB.   But I suspect that's in part down the to the temperature of my house.....

I ordered the one I did because it said it operates at temperatures down to 10C, and most were quoting closer to 20.   But when it arrived it has a sticker on it which mentioned 15C, so I contacted the manufacturers.   To give credit where it's due, they responded very promplty despite it being almost Christmas weekend, but the answer said that whilst it WILL work as low as 10C it doesn't work as effeciently below 15C !    As I tend to run my washer at the weekend or in an evening when my heating runs at 13C (weekend daytime) or 15.5C (evenings) it's not going to run as well as it could unless I turn my thermostat up - and that means using more gas which means running the dehumidier would actually cost a lot more than the 2.2p/hour.     If I have to turn the heating thermostat up, then that alone will dry my washing quicker.....     

I've been drying indoors for years and not seen any signs of mould or damp from doing so, so I'm not actually worried about health issues.   I just thought it would be nice to have things dry quicker and minimise the risk of mould/damp in the future (especially now I've turned my thermostat down from the 18C it ran at for previous years), and I had some Amaz0n vouchers for scanning in shopping that covered the cost effectively making it free (although there are other things I could use it for - such as 2 more smart themostatic radiator valves for my central heating system).

Millie2008_2

May I join please? I'm an MSE old timer, who took a 10 year? break!

I'm a bit out of the loop, so don't have a spending figure in mind, but I thought I'd just record "wins"- I have got into the habit of grabbing coffee, etc on the hoof, so I thought that every time I resist that, I'll transfer the equivalent into savings

I'm otherwise fairly frugal, love charity shopping and yellow sticker/bargain food hunting. I'm a crafter, with a decent stash, so I make gifts, etc, which saves money

Recent wins include
- Finding DD's Christmas day dress in a charity shop for £2.50- Monsoon and looks brand new!
- Lots of Christmas presents were handmade and well received- including pendants made with seaglass (which was free!)
- Lots of NSDs over the past 2 and a bit weeks- mostly because I have been housebound and poorly
-

Madbat60

Evening all
It's been a frugal weekend for me with three no spend days 😊

the_cross_rabbit

Started planning our big summer walk, booked 3 nights in a yha, a week in a holiday cottage, just need to book 11 nights in various campsites. The walk was originally planned for 2020, but was obviously cancelled. The cost is covered from an inheritance. The rest of day was spent watching TV as I have a very heavy cold.
CRx