2024 Frugal Living Challenge

Prudent

I really like that quote @Viking_mfw. This year I have been focused on trying to use existing resources and only adding replacement (ideally secondhand) after carefully auditing what I have. 

My focus over the past few weeks has been clothing. I live in a small house so in the autumn all the lightweight clothes go in the loft until the spring. I won’t call them summer clothes after the past six months of Scottish weather! I tend to run clothes into the ground. I like to sew and at the moment I am enjoying some slow stitching, learning from the visible mending trend. I spent some time doing some stitching before deciding what could be stored for next year and what needed to become a cleaning cloth.

Last spring I put very few clothes into the loft as so much had reached the cloth stage. Over the past couple of weeks I have been using my bus pass to go to local towns and potter around the charity shops with a friend. I am going to visit family for a week and needed enough decent clothes to take. I have been so happy with the clothes, many brand new and at a fraction of the original price. The best buy ‘price versus original cost’ was an M&S blouse at £2.50, new with a £29 label. Yesterday I got a lovely warm long line new Next cardigan, a skirt, three pairs of trousers (two M&S used and one new Cotton traders) for £17.50.  My ‘big’ purchase for this year was to be a new long padded coat. I found a Next new one in a charity shop for £25. Exactly the same one still in Next for £64. £25 is my biggest single clothing spend for a long time, but the last time I bought a padded coat was 2017 so they last well. 

Sweetbriarrose

Good morning everyone, thank you Viking wfe, for the quote and everyone who writes on this thread, 
 Which has been an inspiration to me.
 Frugaldom and the journey to get there, Amazing, i
I have followed for many years it has helped me in so many ways to make me feel normal in a world that is buy buy buy. 

I was out of step with those around me, when I found the good folk on mse I knew I was not alone, I have made the most of my modest income, buying in second hand shops and budgeting for the things I needed or wanted to buy. 

I mend, bake, preserve and think carefully how to spend my money and this was before the internet, which has made it so much easier to gain skills to do things for myself.

Viking_mfw

Your clothing finds sound amazing @Prudent . I do my best but rarely find my sizes. I do better for the kids, and take full advantage of handmedown groups on facebook (and then contribute in my turn). Children wear clothes for such little time that it makes no sense to buy brand new. Smaller child needed extra trousers because apparently he is at the age where his older sibling trashed all of them falling over in new and inventive ways. Have picked up a few on facebook, and have just bought a tracksuit on v*nted to be the base of a Halloween costume, but which he will then have as clothes after. (For the princely sum of £1.92, delivered!) 

Frugaldom

Welcome to @Sweetbriarrose - hopefully, you have found many like-minded others within the forums of MSE

I'm just popping in to say SALAD CREAM! I ran out and needed some so thought I'd pop into the local store and just pay their prices as no way was I driving into town and burning half a gallon of petrol. However, I left the salad cream on the shelf as they only had Heinz and it was £4.30  I'm still in shock.

Prudent

Good grief. I had a salad at lunchtime and used salad cream I had bought from the community shop which cost 35p as part of their 10 items for £3.50 offer. I haven't been yet this month but I think it went up to £4.50 for 10 items on 1st October. 

London_1

Use it up  todayI used up some brown seeded bread from the freezer with my soup at lunchtime

Wear it out Found a cardi in my wardrobe that I had forgotten about, several missing buttons so dug around in my button tin and found a set of 3 silvery ones to replace the three missing ones, as its a grey cardi with grey buttons.
 I just moved a couple so it now has one grey, one silver, one grey, one silver and then one grey and the bottom one silver,.
 Now I have a nice cardi for the autumn weather to wear under my top coat, the cardi is made from cotton not wool,  so a nice layer to keep me warm, my grey cardi is useable again just by moving some buttons

Made do  Had some left over mixed grapes that were, according to the label three days out of date, washed them ,diced them up topped with natural yogurt and a squirt of honey ,sprinkled a teaspoon of cinnamon in the mix, mixed it all together and had it for breakfast.:)
 Made a change from cereal or porridge and used up what, if my DD had seen it would have binned them. She's a date watcher unlike me I use my eyes and nose I hate binning food
Perfectly fine and nothing wrong with them just made something different for breakfast  

Do without walked down into town instead of using the car ,its all downhill which got me some exercise and fresh air, but I must admit it clouded over a bit so used my bus pass and got the bus back up the hill before it started to shower a little

Made it to the Drs for my cardiac clinic appointment and home again without even stopping for a cup of coffee, so didn't even spend any cash today win-win I think

I shall keep this in mind, a good motto I think to have 


JackieO x

London_1

Frugaldom 

  I'm just popping in to say SALAD CREAM! I ran out and needed some so thought I'd pop into the local store and just pay their prices as no way was I driving into town and burning half a gallon of petrol. However, I left the salad cream on the shelf as they only had Heinz and it was £4.30  I'm still in shock.

Hi I was in my local Tescos last Friday and thought I'd buy a jelly to make a trifle at the weekend and nearly fell through the floor it was 97p ! ! ! I know i've not made one for awhile but nearly a quid for a jelly ! it was about 55p last time I bought one  earlier this year, not even a fancy Rowntrees one either which are always dearer.
My DD and I are the only ones who like a trifle as my son-in-law isn't keen, and I used  make two from one pack of jelly, one for her which I used to take to her house when we lived separately, and one for me.

As we all live together now I shall cut this one in half and make one for us both this week, and wrap the other half in cling film and save it for a week or so then use it to make a second one. The price rise is absurd for a blooming jelly

JackieO xx

Viking_mfw

@London_1 I love you ingenuity with the cardigan Jackie! Very neatly done. 

Re jelly I buy the sachets of powder instead of the chunky packets and that's cheaper though I can't remember exactly. However it would be much harder to use half a sachet. (They come in 2s and one sachet makes a litre - I can't even remember how much a proper pack makes!)

joedenise

@Viking_mfw - I buy the sachet jelly as well but the ones I buy only make a pint not a litre.  I make 4 individual ones in ramekins for DH and myself.  If I've got some fruit to use up then I'll use a basin and pour the jelly over the fruit - it will still do us a couple of days with a bit of yoghurt on top.

Viking_mfw

Oops, no you're right that's a pint not a litre!