2025 Frugal Living Challenge

MayDogsandCoffee

Delurking.  I have followed this page for years now and have picked up so many tips.  I do feel a bit of a fraud though as I do have a fairly expenses hobby which I am going to continue with as long as I am able to.  I am still working full time but do save half my salary in prep for an early retirement.  My expenses won't go down much due to hobby and I work from home so no huge petrol bills.  I am extremely tight though and hate shopping unless it is for said hobby so don't do too badly.  I have an excel spreadsheet where I track budget and set my challenges for spending less.  I wear clothes to the point that I would be ashamed to put them into a charity bag!  (good job I work from home).  My downfall is eating out, I need to reduce this, I tend to take a flask out but am questioning the need for coffee and cake out so often.  This year I will only do C&C if it is part of a social event or if I am working away from home. I do batch cook but I don't bake, there is just me at home + dog so all bills and savings are mine.

mama67

Have just used up some bits from the fridge. 

Broccoli & Stilton soup with added leeks. Plenty for lunches. 

Another portion of Stilton into the freezer for a future batch. 

Catlady2025

Today I popped into Aldi. Bought a £30 gift card with EverUp and used cashback from my account so it was only £22.55. I still have some money left on the card too. I did 'accidentally' pop a box of malteasers in the trolley... I forgot how busy supermarkets are during a normal day. 

Treated myself to a pizza for lunch and will be having leftovers for tea. 

5 NSDs so far this year! 

Gem-gem

Good evening everyone. 

DH and I went to the gym this morning and then popped to a couple of shops. Had to get some things for my Mum. Whilst out spotted a pair of socks - 40% off which will be appreciated by my friend next Christmas. (She is only one of two friends that I exchange a present with - she lives by herself and recently lost her Mum. My other friends - we stopped giving each other presents for birthday / Christmas and said that we will meet / have an experience together instead). 

Dinner tonight - concoction of roasted veg (some grown in our garden) and a quarter of a butternut squash (that my BIL grew) roasted in a little olive oil and smoked paprika. Sausages were scored into quarters and placed on top and then cooked rice added 15 minutes before the end. With a splash of Nando's sauce. It was delicious. 

Also for the first time - I deseeded the rest of the butternut squash, washed and dried the seeds, then tossed in a little olive oil and salt and roasted them. They were also delicious. My DH sprinkled some over his dinner. The rest we can eat as a snack. Has anyone else tried roasting any other types of vegetable seeds? 

NSD: 4 out of 6

dND

Maldon sea salt butter has been made from the cream in the TGTG box 😁😁

I made 2 batches of 600ml of cream, the first gave me 341g of butter and the second 346g.  It was quite a bit of effort but I don't eat a lot of butter so it will last me quite a while.  I try to instill a bit of portion control hence making all the little pats.  All are now in the freezer apart from the little butter roll which I'm enjoying.

It really shows how much fat there is in cream 😱  I'm one of those people who loves cream although now I get very bad sinus reaction so have had to limit myself. 😞  The plus point though is it's better for my health and waistline that I don't try to drink the whole tub of cream. 🤣
Dx

Woodwose

Hello. January has gone well thus far. We had a few things break last month which can't be repaired. Rather than just rush out and buy new I made a list of what we needed and pinned it on my noticeboard. All of these things are ones we use regularly so need to replace. Much of what I have is preloved and this is the avenue I started with. We now a new to us Christmas tree and a working microwave from a couple of free sites. Usually it's me giving things away for free, so I'm very grateful to be on the receiving end. I like the way thrift makes me think in new ways and be more resourceful. My intention is to have a go at making a mock turkey in the coming weeks for something new to try.

suzeesu2000

Very cold wind here today but also a nice blue sky and the sun did peep out for a wee while. 

After my huge shop pre Christmas, only a small fresh top up this week. Just fresh veggies, salad, rolls and milk. Yay me. Eating from the well stocked freezers. 

MissRikkiC

Well done everyone being frugal today and for those who couldn’t be, there is always tomorrow. 

nannygladys

Still following my no spend month, well on my food anyway I may have to buy the pooch some more meat later in the month, but for now we are managing. It's strange as I really want to do this and yet I seem to be eating healthier and with more thought put into it, still early days I suppose and I can envisage some strange concoctions down the line

Frugaldom

MissRikkiC said:

@Frugaldom will you please share your b fee as recipe? I’m tinkering about with some recipes for sandwich bread as we get through quite a lot at home (and my son has allergies so have to shop in certain places). I’d rather make it myself

Can you let me know what the recipe part should say, please? I think it's a typo. 😊

Managed to contact BT and we've been promised a new hub will be sent out overnight and told that compensation for lack of service should be calculated automatically and credited to the next bill. We will see. (We have had no broadband since the storm just before Christmas.)

Grandkids visit on Tuesdays and DD usually brings snacks and milk so I'm still on my No Spend roll with plenty of food in the cupboards, fridge and freezer. 

I spent some time sorting out domain names and web 'stuff' today, cancelling as much as possible in the run up to winding down that side of work. I have kept my blogs and plan on returning to them soon. I also raked out one of my mini challenges from 2007/8, back when I first brought this challenge over to MSE. I can't work out how to post photos here so will post to a blog as soon as I find the relevant past thread. 😊