2024 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

Hello, hello, hello, I hope everyone is doing ok and hanging on to the frugal bandwagon. Sorry to have been missing for so long, yet again, but it has been one thing after another and not a spare minute in my days. Schools are now back so no more babysitting for a bit but it has been quite fun having little ones showing an avid interest in the bugs, beasties, mud and madness of Frugaldom. Even our little princess clean hands got stuck in and lost her wellies to the mud several times.

Mixed results here with the fruit - with volunteers and visitors here most days, the strawberries got eaten as they got picked. Raspberries are tiny, cherries and gooseberries got scoffed by the birds before we could harvest any and the blueberries and blackberries are just beginning to ripen. We still haven't had an entirely dry week this year so far! It has been unbelievably wet, despite some warmer temperatures, but then nighttime comes and temps are still dipping into single figures, according to the trail cams.

Spending wise... I've lost count but will tot up my receipts. I'm almost sure it will be within budget as we have been pooling our resources and sharing Olio and any bargains spotted. Now for the conundrum... next post.

Frugaldom

CONUNDRUM / DILEMMA RESOLVED

Our little cottage has been vacated by tenant and is now lying empty. Roof work was scheduled for this month but weather has been against us, then house needs redecorating once again. I was worried that we would instantly be hit with a 200% council tax bill, as well as the standing charges and energy as well as the usual landlord insurances. However, I've just found out that we have until 31st March 2025 to complete the work and find a new tenant before we incur council tax liability. Phew! That should be plenty of time to do what needs to be done so I can breath easy once again.

Debsnewbudget

Just defrosted and sorted out the freezer
Can you believe we have ingredients for 34 main meals in there along with a whole freezer basket of fruit for puddings. 

A lot of it is free food from Olio that has recently just been pushed in without any organisation. Including a guinea fowl and a large gammon joint that I cut into 3. (That will make 8 meals in total)   One of the advantages of being a distributor is you get to keep 10% of your collection, so some weeks we get something worthwhile, other weeks we don't even keep anything. 
We go away on Friday for 2 weeks, so whilst away, I will be menu planning for when we get home.

Siebrie

@Frugaldom Do you have a fruitcage for the gooseberries (and redcurrants)? I have built my own from the skeleton of a cheap glasshouse (which was a thick flexible plastic cover) and a net from Aldi.

Frugaldom

Siebrie said:

@Frugaldom Do you have a fruitcage for the gooseberries (and redcurrants)? I have built my own from the skeleton of a cheap glasshouse (which was a thick flexible plastic cover) and a net from Aldi.

No fruit cage as the layout doesn't lend itself to doing anything like that. They are all planted hedge-style in various locations at Frugaldom, they aren't in the house garden. My time management has gone out the window since starting this project and 10 years on, I'm growing very little, aside from the fruit. Peppers and tomatoes are just not getting enough heat or sunshing, courgettes look stunted, cabbages have been eaten by the slugs and my bed of carrots and beetroot that were recent;y resown, all got pilled out by an overly helpful volunteer who went and did some weeding, unsupervised. We've had no proper summer - not a full dry week this year, as far as I can remember. It's so frustrating. Not sure how the potatoes are doing and the runner beans are only just starting to flower. At least we got a few strawberries, although I had to retrieve some runners from the bin today after another volunteer 'weeded' the herb garden. Thank goodness we still get Olio - tonight's was fruit, pastries, sandwiches and meat feast pizza.

Almost another month gone and still not got my accounts done and sel-assessment submitted. This age thing is really speeding away time at an alarming rate.

Keep on frugaling, folks. You just never know what is around the next corner. Good luck to all who still play safe and hold a few premium bonds.

Elisheba

RateTartExtraordinaire said:

My mum has had raspberries for donkey's years. They are all looking good this year. 
Last year was not great for the fruit which didn't get much rain when it needed it. 

I have a much smaller outdoor area and have mainly pots. So I have a bay tree and some herbs growing but would love to get a fruit tree if I could grow it in a large container. I've got a south facing garden so lots of sun all day. Any suggestions?

I made my own vegan ice cream this week. 
recipe
2 cans of coconut milk 400ml with highest fat content poss. I used a SM own brand version at 85p each.
100 grams of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

It was delicious, has no additives and preservatives, costs less money than the normal vanilla tub I buy which is £3 for 750ml
Only trouble is, it needs using up quicker...which I don't really see as a problem

Oooh, thanks for this. I have some coconut milk that needs using up!

Prudent

It is good to hear that people are benefiting from Olio in such tough times. I am not sure how it works. I did download the app and look at what people were offering locally. It mainly seems to be bread and salad. 

I am still doing well with the Lidl £1.50 veg boxes. I usually get at least two or three a week and have an abundance of fruit and vegetables. The allotment has yielded very little due to the terrible weather this year. Our summer has been very similar to Frugaldom’s summer. Next year we are changing the allotment to just producing fruit and flowers due to my health issues and my partner’s age. He loves being there so wants to find a way to enjoy it but not be too tied down.

August has been quite a tough month financially but I got there in the end. We had just enough in the ‘house’ budget to get a bread maker in the Lakeland sale and I am delighted with it. I bought some good quality men’s shirts in charity shops summer sales for £1 each and I have cut them up this evening to reuse the fabric to sew bread bags. 

I go away next weekend for a free respitality week in a cottage and will also visit my daughter as it is nearer to her than where I live. 

I am very much enjoying using the tartan I found in a charity shop. This week I have been making fabric bowls lined with a contrasting fabric. I saw the idea in a local craft shop and I am pleased how they have turned out. I have extended the project to use some lovely fabric I cut of sample books for curtain fabrics. I will keep some and donate some to Christmas fundraising sales. 

Siebrie

My strawberries have not produced any fruit for the last 3 years. I can see the occasional flower, but it never comes to edible fruit; there are only a few stunted attempts at fruit. I do do the 3-year rotation.

@Frugaldom You are out of luck with your volunteers! Maybe set them to mucking the field?

Frugaldom

@Siebrie Its been so wet that the field is currently off limits to all - ponies and volunteers We will soon begin more tree planting - ever hopeful of the trees soaking up aome of the excess water. It really isa case of water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. 

New month, temperatures still low and rain still falling, although we actually had a love;y day of Sunshine on Saturday. Today, I'd to light the stove to yake the dampness and chill off the air and dry dripping clothes so while that was lit, I boiled up a pan of soup from free veggies - 3 onions (2 brown, 1 red), 3 carrots, a small butternut squash, plus half a small pack of lentils (approx £1). That should do lunches for several few days.

Next, electricity. I was checking out Octopus and good reviews seem to outweigh bad but I'm still horrified at how high the daily standing charges are. Pretty soon, it's going to cost £5 a week just to have an electrical supply before using any of it and that's just ridiculous.

Frugaldom

@Prudent Not sure when you are away but have a fabulous time.