My Off-grid and need to be frugal diary

AnimalTribe

Lots of wind today so lots of electricity generated. Two wash loads done and dried outside and more wild garlic dehydrated. I also managed to plant some peas and do lots of weeding and DH cut the grass. 

I finished off another small cross-stitch and organised the kits I've got. I buy kits from the charity shop when I see them as they are usually priced at 50p-£1 for smallish ones and £3 for large ones. I have so many now though that I think I should stop buying them for a while. I've sometimes got a kit home and found that it doesn't have the chart in the pack. However, I've found that if I can find a name of the magazine they've come from I can often find the chart on the internet by typing the magazine name and a description in Google.

All the cakes are finished so I think it will be a baking day tomorrow.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

I know this is probably my failure for not reading your fascinating diary closely enough, but I am uncertain as to how you finance your lifestyle. Are you are your DH retired or self- employed? How does your income compare to your expenditure? Sorry just being curious lol.

AnimalTribe

Ordinary_Yet_Unique I was made redundant (happily as I worked in a stressful environment) - the redundancy payment paid off the mortgage. We had no other debts. DH continued to work and his salary covers the expenses. I stay at home and do what I can to reduce costs and simplify our lives. Because we are off grid we don't pay a company for electricity, water or sewerage. The oil to run the generator and for heating is our main expense, followed by Council Tax. Water filters are not very expensive if bought in bulk, and we have a septic tank that we get emptied for a few hundred pounds every 3 years. I am vegetarian and the only meat DH likes is chicken so our grocery bill is reasonable. We do go out to eat, but usually to small cafes that are reasonably priced.

It’s been weird weather again. Lots of wind, sun and rain. DH made cheese and onion toasties for dinner. It’s not something we have very often as it’s greasy and the toastie machine uses a lot of electricity (so it can only be used when we have excess power). It’s a fine balancing act matching power to the equipment we want to use. Anything that becomes hot is a high energy user and we pick the times that we switch such things on.

I’ve dehydrated the last of the wild garlic. I also, made a couple of fruit cakes which will keep DH’s sweet tooth happy for a while.

rachmac3

That all sounds pretty perfect to me 😌 

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

Many thanks for your update and informative response.

AnimalTribe

Rachmac3 - thanks. It is perfect for me and DH, although some people think we're mad living so far off the beaten track and being off-grid.
Ordinary_Yet_Unique I'm glad it was somewhat useful.

I said DH just liked chicken, but that's not strictly true as he likes pepperoni pizza and ham sandwiches too. 

It's been extremely windy here today with lots of rain, so there was nothing I could do outside. DH bought groceries on his way home from town. He was very restrained and stuck to the shopping list (not a usual occurrence). I've spent the day being rather lazy searching for information on the internet and doing yet more cross-stitch.

Being so far out can cause problems and we have been snowed in more than once. Ages ago I sat down and thought about what I would need to get through a month being snowed in - I think I covered all of the usual, but then I considered what would happen if one of us were ill. I have a medicine cupboard with the usual pain killers, cough syrup, antiseptic. However, I thought what if we got toothache - it can be such a miserable, debilitating thing - so I bought a dental repair kit that would keep us going until we could get to our dentist. I did an inventory of the medicine cabinet recently and found the dental kit was OK but the dental filler it contained was out of date, so I ordered some more and it arrived today. It's got a use by date of December 2027 so that should cover us for the next 2 winters in case we have a problem. 

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

Does your DH work away from the house? With being so far out it must have quite a commute! How do you keep up with friends and relatives?

AnimalTribe

Ordinary_Yet_Unique DH used to work 60 miles or so away, so a 120-mile round trip a day. Fortunately, he now works mostly from home. As to friends and family – phone calls, e-mail and meet ups now and again. Sunday is my phoning around day. I never was much of a social butterfly, neither is DH – so a quieter life is fine for both of us.

There’s been no sun or wind today, so the generator kicked in late this afternoon – that’s what it’s therefore after all.

I did manage to get out in the garden this morning for more weeding and transplanting some plants that weren’t doing so well in the position I had them in.

I’ve discovered white fly on one of the sweet pepper plants but a soap spray should hopefully get rid of them. I’ve also discovered that one of my blackcurrant plants is under attack. The leaves are being eaten back to the ribs. I can’t see what’s causing the problem, but I’ve sprayed the plant. I’ve cut off the damaged leaves so at least I’ll be able to see any new damage straight away.

It rained this afternoon so I baked biscuits, did some crafting, and started reading another book.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

Thank you for your response. You seem very well suited to your chosen lifestyle.

AnimalTribe

Ordinary_Yet_Unique We get some walkers and cyclists going past in the summer and often they stop to talk to us. They either think we are the luckiest of people or that we must be completely bonkers living so far off the beaten track.

I haven't done anything extra today - just a bit more cross-stitch. The weather has been overcast and still so not much electricity generated. Hopefully, the batteries will last till morning.