2023 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

RavenRover said:

I am so glad to live north of the border when I read what you folks have to deal with.  It would truly melt my wee brain!!!

On top of the C T rise and just the price of living going up constantly I have now been hit with the threat of redundancy.   Looks like the frugality is going to have to increase a notch or two!

Had planned to grow a lot more veg this year anyway as I got rid of my pond - it appeared to be toxic to the 4 dead frogs I found!  So that will be filled in and a load of potatoes put in.  Need to do a bit of research on preserving and freezing for the winter months.  Got some seeds from our local seed library, so will hopefully have chard and kale for the winter months.

Wish I could use olio but to go to the nearest shop using it is a 30 mile round trip and I can't justify that.  No one locally posts anything.  Lately I have discovered that the ex SIL is on it too and she really doesn't need to know where I am!!!!

Oh no! Possible redundancy is not good and nor is a 30 mile round trip for bargains. I'll keep everything crossed for your job situation and there are plenty of hints and tips for frugal food recipes, veg growing and preserving in these forums. If all else fails, just ask and someone will definitely respond.

I'm quite shocked at how quickly food prices are escalating and, in some supermarkets, quite a few empty shelf space. Home deliveries seem worst hit as so many items are listed as unavailable. Tonight I had a throw together of ingredients to make biscuits without butter or margarine - corn oil had to suffice. Olio food rescues were ok this week so I'll be making more soup and eating most meals with wraps. 

Weather hasn't been dry enough for or warm enough to plant any veg here yet and the forecast keeps saying more of the same. 

My quest to find  fully waterproof gloves is over... Best ever turns out to be cheap work gloves with rubber gloves underneath - much warmer in wet weather, too. Leaky wellies are fine with feet in plastic bags!

cw18

ellenvan said:

Tesco also show the price per unit in very small lettering on the price tags

Unfortunately they're not always easy to compare.   Some give 'per tin/packet', some 'per 100g', some 'per kg' (I can convert easily between the last 2, but have met people who can't!).   and on ice-cream, some are 'per 100ml' whilst others are 'per 100g' - but for ice-cream products, 1g isn't 1ml.

kboss2010 said:

... and then one person replied ‘I often leave my phone in the car though!’

My response to that would be along the lines of 'surely it's at least as easy to take it in with you as it is to hide it in the car - and if it's not on silent and someone rings you, then people will know it's there even if it's hidden.  you're asking to have your car broken into and your phone stolen!'

Madbat60

@RateTartExtraodinaire we have our water butts linked up with hose pipe to get the most of all our rain water. 

Madbat60

Just catching up on everything.  I've been off all week from my night job which has been lovely.  One pair of pyjamas made out of my fabric store, no spend there.  I am on a water meter and pay £48 per month 🙀.  My council tax has gone up.  We don't have a green waste bin.  Food waste goes into one compost bin.  We have a large compost bin, made by DP for green waste. Any woody stems are dried out and used as kindling.   

-taff

kboss2010 said:

Apparently saying ‘most people have a phone in 2023’ was a radical, offensive statement and then one person replied ‘I often leave my phone in the car though!’ and then was offended because I had the audacity to say ‘Well pick it up and take it with you if you want to use it’ - the mind boggles at some people online 😆

I increasingly hate Facebook these days, too many nasty people.

hmmm...ok....So these people don't have clubcards or nectar apps or lidl plus or whatever to take advantage of any freebie bits that may come their way? Rubbish...

I agree with you about Facebook [Meta - I'm writing this all out so hopefully one more disgruntled customer can be noted] . If I didn't run a group on there with over 2,000 people that I would have to remove individually to close it, I'd be off there. There's always someone ready with a stupid remark, or antagonistic, or just rude or self centered or condescending and it gets right on my nerves.

Also chilli plants will overwinter, they'll lose their leaves but if you can keep them warm ish...

And I've just got myself another two waterbutts because last year I completely ran out and had to use tap water. I don't want to be doing that again...

cw18

-taff said:

hmmm...ok....So these people don't have clubcards or nectar apps or lidl plus or whatever to take advantage of any freebie bits that may come their way? Rubbish...

I have Clubcard and Nectar as physical cards.   I also use the physical card in Iceland (with one exception, where they offered me a deal if I scanned the app - then went back to physical card) and Boots.   So you can't assume that they don't use these just because they don't take a phone into the stores.

I hate using my phone for these things.   I can't get connected to the 'in store' Wifi in many of the shops, nor am I particularly keen to do so.   And even fewer allow me to connect to my data - which I only have a small allowance for.    I don't like that the Lidl one is via an App only, but rarely shop there.   If I plan to be in the vicinity I check the coupons before I leave home, and then only connect my phone to the internet if there was a voucher I wanted to use AND found the item for.   No point me scanning for just the spend, as I never spend enough in a month for even the most basic reward (unlikely to visit more than once every 6 or 7 weeks, and £10 is a big spend for me).

My Mother has only recently got her first smartphone, and is still struggling to find her way around it.    My OHs Mother has a smartphone as that was the best deal when she needed a replacement, but she only uses it for calls and texts - she doesn't even have an email to allow use of those apps as she doesn't have internet at home and doesn't want to start using it.

Auntycaz

I know what you mean about using clubcards and your smartphones in stores. I never use my phone instore and I think it's sad that people who don't have access to apps are restricted from benefitting from money-saving offers but it is more about the attitude of the people in the facebook group that the poster was talking about.
She was offering a moneysaving tip that could help some of the group, so she should not have received nasty comments for trying to help.
It was me that said most people nowadays have a phone and I am pretty much a dinosaur when it comes to technology and I don't even know where the calculator is on my phone but I am fortunate that I am good with maths and I can work out what items are best value, but for people who can't a phone calculator could be really helpful or failing that a hand calculator or pen and paper
I don't drive or have access to Olio or community shops but I don't criticise people who post about it as I know it can be very helpful to others. We join these groups to give and receive help in order to save money and feed our families after all.

maisie_cat

willow_loulou said:

What I really miss is the little clip boards Tesco used to have on their trolly. 

I suspect that somebody realised that people with list right in front of them spend less.
I use a post it note regularly as a list now so it sticks to the handle.

-taff

That's another reason I use my phone, I make a shopping list in the notes and delete as I go...

2Scratters

@Madbat60 re your water bill.
 Are you in a position to collect rain water from a shed roof or tap into your down spout from your house? If so it can be very financially beneficial to have a go. We collect running water from the tap before the water runs warm some use this for the loo flush we use it for water that gets filtered and kept in the fridge in one of those good water filter products. (we have also gone onto the re useable cartridges only changing the carbon filter stuff)
I think DH did think in the beginning why all this fuss? but he is now more onboard and he's actually saving the showered water even in winter. 
Just to help put this work into perspective our last water bill covering past 6 months worked out at £18 pcm. I was hoping to have got it under £100 will just have to work a little harder at that. Having said that the water did run out as we hadn't had rain since Christmas for about 6 weeks! 
We (I) am looking to invest in a very cost effective way, another unit to collect sufficient water to improve what we are already managing to achieve in money not going out 

2 Scratters xx