2025 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

Hi folks, power was restored this morning and all relevant elderly neighbours are on priority lists but even priority lists need to be prioritised in times of need when there's such a huge area affected and several other areas all over the country. My posts are sometimes delayed as I write them and then can't get them uploaded until I have mobile signal when out at Frugaldom. The project is fully off-grid so power it's don't affect us there unless the mobile masts get affected.

kayannie

We rely so much these days on having electricity etc that it makes me wonder how my poor mum coped when I was young.

 I was born in the late 1940's & until I was about 16 we lived on a smallholding in a very rural area. We had to walk through 2 fields to get to it, no driveway but we didn't really need one as we had no car, just bicycles. We had no electricity, no running water & a primitive outside toilet. Our light was provided by candles & tilley lamps, water had to be carried from a well a field away, cooking was either on an iron range or on the stove which ran on bottled gas. The gas bottle always seemed to run out & need changing when there was a cake in the oven! The well was situated next to a stream which used to overflow into the well after rain & I can remember frogs hopping about in the well! The water was boiled before we drank it when this happened but we remained healthy despite everything!

KA

suzeesu2000

Didn’t need to shop at all last week but no milk or bread or salad left so a small shop done today for delivery tomorrow. Doing well eating from freezer but doesn’t seem to be any space yet….it’s weird. 

@Frugaldom, welcome back to 2025🤣

Prudent

Sadly even being on the Priority services register hasn't helped people near me who were without power until last night. Although they were given the option of a hotel and meal allowance. This might not be ideal for people with pets or who rely on medical equipment that is installed at home. 

We would struggle for heat. Our gas boiler relies on electricity for things like the ignition and thermostat.  We need to order power banks as they were the thing I realised my emergency box lacked. 

Prudent

After the storm, I have been focusing on the simple joys that our frugal lifestyle brings.

This morning OH and I had a wee outing to a beautiful area about ten miles away and enjoyed a walk we found in lockdown. We didn't see another soul and just soaked in the scenery and wildlife. We took flasks and had a cup of tea half way around the route. We collected some OIio bananas on the way home. 

When we arrived home the sun was shining and it was quite breezy so I washed all the towels. Now they are blowing on the line. A line dry always feels like a small frugal win in January. I also washed all the downstairs windows as they were filthy from the storm. 

After lunch, I used a gift card to buy a small rucksack for my overnight coach journeys up north. I was pleasantly surprised that Mountain Warehouse let me use an additional money-off code with a gift card purchase.

Dinner tonight will be made from food I got cheaply at the community shop yesterday. I am about to read for a while and enjoy a book I got free from a book club that I have just joined. 

PipneyJane

dND said:

Thanks @maryb, you covered that far better than I did.  In France they canned/bottled just about everything and generally with no bother although there was the case of the cafe in Bordeaux a year or so ago who's sardines caused deaths. 😱

I keep wondering about a pressure canner - the website L0ve J4rs sells them - but can't justify the £350ish to buy one!  Currently my go to book is a 1980's book just called Preserving.  My copy is falling apart but I shall use it as long as possible.  I'm lucky that my DS2 bought me a hardback copy a few years ago but I'm guarding that in reserve 🤣 Dx

@dND I’m about 350 posts behind everyone else, but I couldn’t bypass your question about pressure canners.  I looked into this a while ago.  As long as your pressure cooker reaches 15lb of pressure and is large enough to fit the jars, you can use it safely to pressure “can”.  If it doesn’t, American recipes recommend adding another 20 minutes of time at pressure.  (The reason being that American pressure cookers only reach 5lb of pressure, while most European ones reach 15lb.) 

One thing you have to be wary of is putting your bottling jars directly on the base of the pan.  Mine didn’t come with a trivet, so I pad the bottom with a double layer of tea towels. I also wrap a tea towel around/between the jars to prevent them knocking together.  (I have a 10L pressure cooker, purchased 21 years ago from John Lewis.  It was the largest available and chosen deliberately with pressure canning in mind.  At best, it holds 4 jars at a time.)

- Pip

MissRikkiC

@Frugaldom You’re coping very well in the circumstances. Well done. Everything you’ve cultivated at Frugaldom is now coming into its own. 

I am almost at the end of my washing liquid bottle. I on a whim purchased a few things for making my own washing liquid, soap bars and crystals. Can you advise what else is needed (equipment as well as materials please) so that I can make some up this week

Frugaldom

MissRikkiC said:

@Frugaldom You’re coping very well in the circumstances. Well done. Everything you’ve cultivated at Frugaldom is now coming into its own. 

I am almost at the end of my washing liquid bottle. I on a whim purchased a few things for making my own washing liquid, soap bars and crystals. Can you advise what else is needed (equipment as well as materials please) so that I can make some up this week

I'll try to copy the link over for the dish washing liquid. 

https://frugaldom.blogspot.com/2013/09/frugal-homemade-laundry-cleaning.html 

MissRikkiC

Thank you. Sorry I meant laundry liquid but now I have your blog link I’m sure I’ll find it

Blackberrycurved

Does anyone us a bar of soap inside a net or one of those plastic soap holders with a handle that you swish about in the water to wash dishes? I have used them in youth hostels and campsites but might give them a go at home.