2024 Frugal Living Challenge

Prudent

Thank you for all of the wonderful information about laundry liquid and wreath making. I will follow through with both.

I am awake at silly o’clock with a very distressed cat beside me in need of some reassurance.The whole house is being shaken with the ferocity of storm Darragh just now. I think there will be a fair bit of structural damage in the area in the morning. Last night the storm ripped off some local garage roofs and the community Facebook page had requests for roofers. Workmen had left plastic barriers, cones and signs on the road outside the house as they were digging up the pavement (again) for ultra fast board band cables. They were strewn down the street and OH and a neighbour had the stack them and weight them down before they caused an accident. I can hear some crashing and rattling noises as I type. Definitely something moving at the side of the house. Hopefully it is just the bins falling over. I hope your wood drys out okay Frugaldom. 

Frugaldom

@Prudent I hope everyone and everything is ok after the storm. Logs will dry out and they're all covered over now with extra weights to hold down the tarpaulins.

On the laundry liquid topic, I've posted on here several times to the 'recipe' I use, which is just grated soap, washing soda and water with a few drops essential oil if preferred. It's on my Frugaldom blog and social media pages, too. I tried the soap nuts for a while, as even they are cheaper than the commercial laundry washing products. I'm not into fabric conditioners etc, a cup of white vinegar would suffice if really needed but even that is becoming harder to find at a reasonable price.

Nelliegrace

We went to an amateur choir Christmas concert on Saturday. It was a lovely evening to get into the Christmas spirit. We took a flask of coffee and sandwiches, and wrapped warmly, the worst of the storm was over. Mince pies, shortbread and snacks were provided. We heard some good singing, and had fun joining in some carols and songs. 
There was a raffle in aid of the Air Ambulance, very appropriate. 

We used to make our own entertainments in the village hall when I was young, a concert, amateur theatricals, a dance, a children’s Christmas party, and Christmas Fair.  

I am looking forward to the Church Carol Service, another special event, even if I don’t know the newer carols. 

Prudent

Thank you @Frugaldom. One of the roof tiles has dislodged slightly and broken and the garden was strewn with rubbish from overturned bins. Some of it might have been ours, some definitely blew in from elsewhere. We have a good roofer so once he has helped with more urgent jobs we will ask him to replace the tile. I am glad your logs will dry. 

This morning was a total contrast to the wild night. The sky was blue and the sun was shining, albeit still very windy. The hills were beautiful russet and sage green shades. I had a lovely walk along the riverside and watched the swans. A kestrel landed on the path a few feet from me which surprised me, but perhaps it was disorientated after the storm. I had left washing on the line and by the time I had returned and made some spicy cauliflower soup for lunch the washing was almost dry.

@Nelliegrace I love a carol concert. The lead up to Christmas is always so busy with community events and it is welcome to see everyone coming together. 

2Scratters

Morning All,

Hope no serious or expensive damage has been caused for anyone.

I am so off kilter and focus about keeping an eye on the coffers. Fortunately no major problems have occurred but it reminds me of never letting things go too slack as it takes too long to get back to a good position if that was to occur.

I keep cash in a stash as a just in case the system crashes as it has done from time to time. Nothing like getting caught out. I love to use the internet banking don't get me wrong.

2 Scratters xx

Frugaldom

@2Scratters I've always thought it best to shop with my debit/credit card so I have an easy way of checking on all my spends but with all this technology taking over almost everything, I am definitely seeing a need for a cash stash. I still save all loose change and tried to keep up with my £2 coin savings but there's so little cash flowing about here that I'd to give up the latter. Can't remember the last time I even received a £2 coin. As we approach the end of the year, I'm not even sure what to do with my jar of small change so I will probably look for the nearest charity box.

Zero Christmas shopping done - zero days off to go shopping - zero chance of spending money but I have resorted to absolute practicalities here. Gifts will be food-related or funds for whatever family members most need. How things have changed over the years of this challenge. Finding it hard to find anything festive here other than seeing a local(ish) tractor rally on social media. 

Prudent

@2Scratters I used to keep some spare cash, but have long given up. It might be good to have a wee emergency amount though. I tend to rely on OH having some cash on the odd occasion that I need it such as buying from a craft sale in my local church. I keep a separate card for food and it is the easiest way to track my purchases. Next year I am going to do the same for clothes. Not because I overspend, as apart from underwear and nightwear, everything comes from a charity shop. Simply because I am curious to know what I am spending over a year. I had another lovely bargain this week and got a pair of brand new Boden formal trousers for £3. 

@Frugaldom I was thinking of your tranquility in the pre Christmas madness yesterday. Today I am doing a Gingerbread house workshop. The only thing I need to provide is an icing bag and an egg white. December is always busy in a nice way for me as I am involved in so many community groups. In between yesterday’s two activities I slipped in to B&M to buy some more icing bags. There were 19 people ahead of me in the queue and all of the four queues were equally long. I passed the time by filling my head with lovely images of mud monsters and badgers. 

Walking home on Monday I came across some kind of supermarket surplus cates that someone had put outside their house with a sign saying ‘free, please take’. I got two packets of courgettes, two packets of M&S sandwiches and a net of tangerines. I made courgette soup (always such an easy, tasty, speedy make) and we had that and the sandwiches followed by a tangerine for lunch. 

RavenRover

Sorry been MIA for a while and just catching up with myself.  Life seems to have got in the way.  Things have gone south with my job, so now am working from home for 2 communities -good- but only 12ish hrs a week.  Waiting to see a benefits advisor.   Housing association have known since Sept but still haven't arranged a meeting.  Going to get on to them next week.

My wee adopted gran died in September so we are finally getting all her things sorted out. I certainly wouldn't want any of my relatives in a nursing home.  I have dealt with a few good ones in my old job, but that one has put me off

It's great seeing what everyone has been up to.  I am intrigued but can't remember who made the comment, about storing the 15p veg till easter. Any tips on how to do this will be gratefully received. 

Still doing Olio pick ups and boy what a life saver they are becoming. Between my 10 percent and then the left overs I am managing to eat fairly healthily.   Learning so much about how to preserve food for later.  Spent the last few days drying out 90 lemons to send to my friend up north to make into throat and cough remedies which she gives away.

Hope everybody is keeping well xx

Elisheba

Dizzycap said:

Prudent, I recently got a new BIG electric heated throw from TheRange for under £40 with FREE delivery:

https://www.therange.co.uk/home-furnishings/bedding/electric-blankets-and-throws/heated-throw-electric-fleece-blanket#2750517

It's super for my legs, hips and back

The others I looked at at a similar size were £75 upwards

That's really nice and would suit my living room perfectly. I really wish my dog wasn't inclined to go mad over anything fleecy and chew it to bits 🙄. Ah well, nevermind. He doesn't touch things I am wearing so oodies are fine and I managed most of the time with that and a cotton type of blanket on my lap (which he doesn't get quite so excited about).

Frugaldom

Good morning to my Frugaldom living friends. The frost has gone from here but it is still grey, damp and quite icy over the pond. 

@Prudent, it's lovely of you whiling away time in a queue by thinking of the mud monsters and badgers. One day, you will hopefully make it here for a cabin camping and see/meet them all in person. 

@RavenRover I agree about Olio, it is such a great project. Food rescue should be considered a priority, in my humble opinion, with a drive for less waste. Whole all news of methane control in bovines is being hotly debated, folks are forgetting the amount of methane produced by landfill and the atrocious state the world's oceans are in. My current (free hobby) research has been into the ultimate in recycling - the international space station. But even that was jettisoning garbage, adding to all the space junk already orbiting our planet. 'Leave no trace' is a great rule but rubbish and waste has to go somewhere. I'm sure the great scientists will continue to filter it down into food of some description but it's an endless problem. Good luck with housing, benefits system and work situation. Don't be stuck - message me if there's anything I can do to help during these unsettled times. 

Daily chores here now include log splitting and I've started cutting back the herb garden. Not many herbs actually get used so extra strawberry beds have been made instead. Veg growing is at a complete standstill as there's just no energy left for gardening after all the essential day to day work gets done. My challenges for 2025 need to include finding help looking after Frugaldom but as a voluntary project, there's no pay. 

Keep battling, folks! Frugal living is a fabulous lifestyle once you are into the swing of it.