2024 Frugal Living Challenge

Working_Mum

ET22 said:

@Working_Mum, thats looks sooo lovely! Can i ask how much the oasis was and what size and shape you used? 

 

Thank you ET22. I buy oasis spheres - 16cm size - they come in pack of 2 for about £11. I buy in bulk nowadays as Pomander Sunday has grown over the last 10 years or so - this one I had 25 people turn up!

I buy 22m long rolls of wide ribbon for about £6.

I posted the instructions elsewhere on here recently:-

I started making pomanders about 10 years ago - I was so skint I couldn't afford to pay the £50 to buy one. So I thought "I can do that" , invited a few friends and we made our first pomanders in my kitchen. I found a video from Martha Stewart (which I can't find now) and adapted my process. There are recent videos for making ki55ing balls  

You need:-
1 x styro foam 15cm sphere (you can get 2 for about £11)
1 x wide straw (for piercing through the sphere)
1 x 2m  length of wide ribbon
2 x matchsticks or lolly stick (acts as a 'stop' so the ball doesn't fall through)
masses of greenery (yew and laurel are great as they stay green for a long time)
baubles (plastic), ribbons and decorations in your choice of colour
floristry wire sticks 

Take the styro foam ball and drill the wide straw through  the centre of it - leave it in place - fold the wide ribbon in half - thread the ribbon through the straw - at about half-ish way down tie a knot - place the matchsticks or lolly sticks in a cross shape and tie them in with a second knot.

Soak the sphere in water.

Now it's time to start sticking in the greenery - imagine the ball will have a massive hair do - so cut each of the base greenery stems to an even size - I strip away a couple of inches of the stem and then stick it into the styro foam sphere - I work from top to bottom and then move the sphere, try to work evenly round so that you have a fairly even base covering of green - you can do patterns i.e a column of yew and then one of laurel but it doesn't have to be neat and tidy.

Once you've got your base layer done you can then add in baubles, hyacinth heads, variegated foliage etc. just squeeze then in. I attach them to the floristry wire stick and then slide the wire in and push until the object nestles snugly in the greenery. Keep doing this until you have the look you want. Mind you I would keep adding to mine for a few days afterwards.

Bear in mind where you'll be hanging them so make sure that you step back regularly and take a skeg to make sure it's looking how you want. Often the undersides can be ignored and when you hang them up they can be a bit bare.

If you keep them watered they will last months - I added Easter decorations in one year! I'd love to see pics if you make one. 

OT, I am eating my way through the freezer at the moment  - I'll be doing a big shop next week for Christmas. I'm enjoying the unusual food combinations at the moment

Have a great weekend everyone,

WM

t14cy_t

non collected olio items were 12 packs of salad leaves, so chooks happy and 12 litres of soya milk! i will get through it albeit slowly. made lots of macaroni cheeses for grandkids as they love it, 20 mn2 lires goner already! the rest ive popped in freezer.

Nelliegrace

We had a lovely flower arranging demonstration at the W.I. Day last week, from a local farmer and flower grower. The November bouquet had the last of the roses, some dried flowers, seed heads and evergreens. The Christmas wreath was made from willow, with moss instead of oasis, and holly and evergreens.

I saved the wire coat hanger bent into a ring, from the wreath I made last year. The trees around here are neglected and covered in ivy, so long creepers of that are available. I use garden string to tie things on, so everything in my wreath is compostable or reusable.

We are having a vintage, frugal, junk-free Christmas. 
We are going to the Christmas tree festival at the town church today.

Frugaldom

Good evening chatty frugal friends 😊 I see all questions suitably answered and some great comments about the rescued food and charity shop shopping. I think my biggest worry got those struggling to get to grips with frugal living is that all the cutting back and scrimping, saving or moving down a brand has to end somewhere as there's no place left to go when you reach the bottom prices. My best suggestion is to put away any savings made by buying secondhand, rescuing free food or buying bargains. This is the only way I can think of safeguarding against the sudden loss of the likes of olio, too good to go, community larders etc. as the end of the year approaches, I like to stock up on things like pasta, rice, dried and tinned goods. Someone reminded me of Nectar card so I think I'll try checking out the balance on mine to see if it is enough to set myself a small challenge that will entail a trip to Sainsbury's. 

Re the bus pass application, it seems to have submitted successfully and H has finally got around to doing similar. How crazy it seems that we have already got to this age! Where have the past 25 years gone? That's how long it is since I began writing and posting online about household money saving. 

Keep up the good work, everybody, and keep spreading the word that the frugal lifestyle is nothing to be ashamed of - it should be celebrated as a way of life open to anyone.

Nelliegrace

We had our members’ free hot drinks at the local garden centre and enjoyed looking round the plants. We have stopped buying cakes there since they stopped the 2 for 1 offer on cream scones. I used our two £1.50 vouchers on a small cyclamen and an African violet which should flower for a long time with care. 

dND

@Nelliegrace We obviously frequent the same garden centre chain.   I was debating about buying the membership for next year as it's gone up to £15 and I'm always tempted into rescuing their bargain plants when I'm there.  Everything else is so overpriced and at that price I'd rather support my local independent garden centre. 
That said, I just received my birthday treat of 2 coffees and 2 slices of cake - which I'm going to use to treat my son for all the help he's giving me.  A slice of cake has recently gone up to £4 and coffees are around £3.50 so I reason that the £15 covers an annual treat.  For the rest of the time I've started picking up a couple of bottles of their fruit drinks each month - I have an elderflower and a couple of ginger ones in the fridge for Christmas at the moment. I wouldn't buy myself  that during a normal shopping trip because sensible brain says it's unnecessary 🤣but it would be nice to have a few in the house for myself and guests.
So I think that I can make the £15 work for me although I do admit I will probably buy more plants 🤣🤣

Nelliegrace

I do wonder how much longer the offer will last, @dND. It started with a birthday £10 from MIL, and I paid £10 a year by D.D. for years. It went up to £12 last year. For that I get 2 medium hot drinks a month, and a birthday hot drink and cake for two, 10% off full price purchases, and some points. We are both members so we go twice a month, to have some time together with his mobile phone switched off. The restaurant has a lovely view and we like the staff. The place would be very empty without the regular customers, even if we don’t spend much each visit. 

I like to rescue plants from the sales area too. 

Prudent

I like to rescue plants from the sales area too @Nelliegrace. I didn’t pay the £15 this year my local one is a bit too far away to make it worth the petrol. It is decent value if you would go out for coffee nearby anyway.

Are ‘ memberships’ in general going up a lot though? For the last year nine years I have attended a local arts studio. It offers a wide variety of workshops and use of studio space. Mostly the funding is from large organisations such as the lottery. For the first five years it was free. Then it introduced a small charge, then £50 a year in 2022 and by this year that had jumped to £80. Yesterday I got given a consultation survey on the amount increasing to £240. I really enjoy my time there but will probably draw the line at that price as it would leave me no remaining budget to buy my materials. I live in a deprived area and feel most people will be in the same position. The cost of living doesn’t seem to be easing.

On a happier note I had two good charity shop buys yesterday. I love a long cardigan and spotted one in a beautiful deep red in my size. When I tried in on I noticed that its pure cashmere. It is brand new with the label and has a little pouch containing some thread for repairs. It cost me £6.50. I checked the company’s website and it is still for sale at £279. In the next charity shop I got a large Dunoon mug with a puffin design for £1. I had looked at the same mug in a gift shop recently and loved it. I had refused to pay £25 for a mug. I am glad that I held out.

I had a first attempt at making a Christmas wreath from foliage I had gathered on a walk. Not nearly as professional as @Working_Mum’s beautiful sphere but pretty and jolly enough to put on the front door. It cost me 80p for the metal ring and I used some left over decorations and some bits of ribbon from my sewing stash. My neighbour bought one from the local florist for £60. It is about the same size and does definitely look more professional. Next year I will watch some YouTube videos and get the hang of making them.

Nelliegrace

Home made decorations, like home made cakes, are far better than anything commercial. When DH’s loaf looks a bit wonky I tell him it is Artisan and he would pay extra in a bakery.

Prudent

@Nelliegrace artisan it is then!