2025 Frugal Living Challenge

MissRikkiC

Hi @Bunga12 nice to have another marathon runner in here (not yet am I one, I hasten to add but will be by the end of this year). How’s it’s going? 

We’re growing a lot of our own stuff this year, I’ve recently converted a patch of lawn to be a veg patch all fenced in off from the chickens. I put my potatoes (a few varieties this time) to chit yesterday and started off some peppers aubergines and mizuna last week. 

I too have boxes for appliances which I no longer need, phones, smart watches, headphones incase I ever want to sell them on. Doh. 

Frugaldom

@mama67 it was advertised as seasoned ash and he said there's also some birch among It. I've not finished stacking yet, had to leave them with a tarpaulin over the top as it's been absolutely torrential here. Stove is now lit.

I cooked too much rice for the curry last night so the excess has now been sweetened and is on the stove top with milk, a handful of sultanas and some grated nutmeg to make frugal rice pudding. I still have some Olio carrots and frozen onions so tomorrow I'll be carrot & lentil soup making.

The Frugaldom pond is alive with writhing frogs and toads; they are so loud that their chorus can be heard from inside the hut. What a fabulous sound to wake to this weekend. I've posted on my FB page inviting folks to come and experience this annual event for themselves, while we still have our certificate for campervans stopping overnight. (My licence expires on 31/03/25 and I'm not renewing it.)

Frugaldom

Quantaqa said:

DH and I are away for an overnight this weekend.  We wanted to see a talk at Pitlochry festival theatre by Peter MacQueen.  He's done a couple of programmes on BBC Alba (we watched on iplayer), the first being about Hutting which his talk is on.  We managed to get a really good deal on overnight accommodation and have a set budget for food while we are away.  We will take flasks of coffee/tea in the car and sandwiches for the drive up.

Hutting - are you in the Reforesting Scotland's Thousand Huts group or forum? I think hutting is in my blood. I absolutely love it and have been part of their campaign for over 10 years. We now have 3 of those 1,000 huts built at Frugaldom. 😊

Frugaldom

Teaparty_mum said:

Good evening,
Ive Recently rejoined and I’m wondering if I’m too late to join ?
 

It is never too late to join our frugal party 🥳 Welcome on board!

mama67

Frugaldom said:

@mama67 it was advertised as seasoned ash and he said there's also some birch among It. I've not finished stacking yet, had to leave them with a tarpaulin over the top as it's been absolutely torrential here. Stove is now lit.

I cooked too much rice for the curry last night so the excess has now been sweetened and is on the stove top with milk, a handful of sultanas and some grated nutmeg to make frugal rice pudding. I still have some Olio carrots and frozen onions so tomorrow I'll be carrot & lentil soup making.

The Frugaldom pond is alive with writhing frogs and toads; they are so loud that their chorus can be heard from inside the hut. What a fabulous sound to wake to this weekend. I've posted on my FB page inviting folks to come and experience this annual event for themselves, while we still have our certificate for campervans stopping overnight. (My licence expires on 31/03/25 and I'm not renewing it.)

If it’s seasoned Ash & Birch that’s a very good price. ❤️

fionaandphil

Ash burns really well and smells good too. We had to remove a tree about 3 years ago as it had dieback and we've just started using it now. I can't comment on price we've never had to buy logs!

dND

I found this poem very useful when deciding what trees to plant in France when I was there although it doesn't mention how tarry plum wood is - I was in the plum growing region of France. 🤣 Dx

The Firewood Poem

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.

Lady Celia Congreve

Prudent

Lovely poem @dND. I can’t imagine @Frugaldom sitting around in warmed slippers too often as she is a true grafter, but hopefully the ash logs will make her huts cosy after all that hard work. 

I can hear the birds outside the bedroom window as it starts to get light. We feed the birds at the allotment every morning, although there have not been nearly as many this year. It will soon be time to sort out the seed packets and get planting. We are decorating bed room 2 just now and once it is done I will set up the heated propagator on the window ledge. I am hoping for a dry weekend to start tidying, cleaning and organising the poly tunnel for the new season. We are mainly going to focus on fruit, herbs, salad and flowers this year. I am expecting to be away a fair bit and it needs to be easy enough for OH to manage on his own at those times. 

fionaandphil

Great poem @dND so glad we have ash rather than elder. We've had to have a few trees removed this year due to disease so they won't be ready for a few years. We usually leave them to sit for a year, then chop them up and leave them for at least one more year. We still have good stocks so will continue using those for now

Frugaldom

Good morning, I hope everyone is doing well and surviving the weather. Here, it is still torrential rain and getting blustery again. I'm expecting a hay & haylage delivery at the yard this afternoon so that's not good. However, needs must as we can't run out for the animals.

Friends should pop round tonight with my Olio bits & pieces and I'll cook the soup on the logburner at the hut this weekend. House decluttering is still progressing well, with H working on clearing out the sheds and dismantling old chicken runs. Our last pensioner chicken died last year and we now have only 3 pensioner ducks (drakes) remaining. I'm hoping the time has come to look at winding down a bit, so no more pets or animals. Current count being fed daily includes 8 ponies, 2 goats, 3 ducks, 1 house cat, several stray/feral cats, a clan of badgers and several pine martens. Putting food out for the wildlife and seeing it up close is the equivalent of watching TV when at the hut. 😊

I'm using up bananas as they seem to be available every week via Olio - it will be banana pancakes today. The ponies enjoy a bit banana, too.

Stubbornly sticking to my 'no spend, shop from stores' challenge but having to buy milk. Only one more week of this month to go then I'll need to fill car up with petrol and do a supermarket home delivery to restock the freezer. I'll also take a look at W0wcher and Gr0up0n via T0pcashback to get toilet roll prices.