2026 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

MayDogsandCoffee said:

So excited yesterday to find frugaldom photos and a short video come up in my Facebook feed.

Oh no! I hope you don't get inundated now as I post there several times a day. 😊 It's where most of my income goes. This is the latest video loaded, if I can get a FB link to stick here. 
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17mboxCEkA/ 

I managed to get some hedge trimming done yesterday and there's a friend coming over tomorrow so we are going to tackle the raised beds to see what can go in them this year. The strawberry plants are running amok but many of the runners get potted and rooted then sat out at the gate for folks to help themselves. I also need to get manure bagged up and sat out there. 

Olio app threw up quite a few bits and pieces this week so once again, I won't be needing to buy any groceries this week. January is eat from stores and freezer month so meals can get interesting. A friend has given me a box of stored apples from her trees and I kid you not, one apple is almost big enough to make into an apple sponge! Absolutely delicious, they are, but I've only 2 left now so they will be part of lunch tomorrow, along with oatcakes and cheese.

Today I spent! Nae, I invested! I ordered two new solar panels. Chatting to friend about them and had a quick look online, which was fortuitous, as the panels I was saving for (2 x 200w) had been reduced by 10%. Right now, I survive in the cabin with 2 x 100w panels connected to leisure batteries and this is enough for phone charging and lights during Scottish winters. If the sun shines, it's enough to recharge the tablet. 5 years ago, I paid £140 for 2 x 100w panel (70p per watt) Today, I spent £107.99 Inc delivery for 2 x 200w (27p per watt). I'm sure I could have found cheaper still but the cost of running around collecting secondhand panels outweighs the savings. For anyone who isn't aware, I always advocate that everyone should be prepared for emergencies and power outages so, over the past few years, we have installed stand along log burners, rainwater collection tanks and leisure batteries recharging on portable solar panels. I have a wind up torch, light and radio, plus solar rechargeable batteries wherever possible. These new panels will allow me to relocate the old ones so we have all the huts at Frugaldom and H's workroom at home with 'free' electricity. In the hut/cabin, I have an old fridge kept cold using 2 x 5 litre containers of frozen water. I keep 2 in my freezer at home and swap them over every couple of days and it works a treat. It also ensures the freezer is full and if power goes out, the big ice blocks will take 3+ days to thaw. 

Gem-gem

Good evening, 
Windscreen wiper broke today so a new one was purchased and fitted on the way home. 

A pair of long boots were purchased to replace the pair that I threw out before Christmas. Alas the pairs in the sale did not fit but they did have a promotion on full priced boots so I did get a discount. I now need to look for a pair of walking boots as the soles are coming away and flapping and they are disintegrating on the sides. I've had them for more than twenty years. 

Tonight we won a pub quiz. £2 to enter, which goes to charity plus £13 on drinks for the two of us. We won a drink each which we will bank and use next time we go in. 

Yesterday was a NSD. 

Greying_Pilgrim

Morning - I'm all behind, and have only skim-read, and I know that PipneyJane has mentioned MrT's stocking dried beans at CC prices. 

I'm just back from fArmf00ds, and I wanted to just amend what I'd said about dried beans in our branch.  I was gonna take a pic, but I'll give you 3 guesses who forgot their phone 🙄

So, our branch still had a shelf that was stocked with dried pulses.  it was above a couple of freezers that had dinosaur shaped nuggets, some sort of fish fingers (but I don't think it was the main Capt. B-E fish porducts freezer....).  Elsewhere on the shelf there was; olive oil (I buy the spanish Abr1l OO for £4.99, the EVO version is £5.99 - it's a match for discounters OO), vegetable oil, passata, tinned chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegars, tinned beans; butter, red kidney, chickpeas, ghee, salt, tomato puree, bAtch3l0rs tinned sweetcorn, mushy peas, mixed veg, coconut milk (I got 2 x tins of "light" coconut milk for 39p ea) etc etc.  

So there were no B-E beans again 😭 but the 1 kg bags that were there; Red Kidney beans £1.49, Chickpeas £1.29 and red spilt lentils 99p.  They were all....... 1ndus brand (I think).  There were laila butter beans (tinned) 2 for £1, I got 3 tins of 1ndus RKB's for £1, the chickpeas were 3 for £1 (r0yal cr0wn brand only - laila were dearer), plus today there were 100g bags of spices; chilli, garam masala, paprika and Turmeric, and they appeared to be all (I think) 79p each or 3 for £2.  With the tins, the bags of dried pulses and the spices, there was quite a stand out 'world foods' bit.  

I forgot to look at the butter, as I was keeling over at the price of bay-bee-bells at £2.99 for 15 (and yes I know that's cheap, but.......), but I did pick up a punnet of black grapes for 99p, and a large tin of fruit cocktail (in juice) for 99p.  

HTH someone - and I wish i lived closer to mumtoomany as I'd hoover up the dried RKB's and deliver them to her 😁

Greying X

Nelliegrace

I have ordered a glass bottle of washable blue ink and a deluxe cartridge pen converter for £14.84 instead of the usual 20 cartridges for £11.89 which last 30 months. I hope it will be worth the extra. It will save just a little throw away plastic. My pen must be thirty years old at least. 
Handwriting in a journal with an ink pen seems to be good for the brain. At least I know what I did yesterday.

Who else remembers being the ink monitor at school, washing out all of the ceramic ink pots which fitted into the desks? There was an enamelled ink jug with a long, thin spout for topping up the pots. 

I made a batch of Rhonda’s Laundry Liquid from Down To Earth. Grated my knuckle slightly while grating the soap. 

Arrietty

Prudent said:

@Arriety that's great progress. I found I needed a lot less money when I stopped working. I didn't need work clothes, commuting costs and money for all those endless collections at work. I also saved a lot through having more time for frugal activities. You might be able to just do a couple of days at that point. 

@Prudent that's exactly what I'm thinking!

I'll have time for growing food at home / go back to allotment sharing.
I'll have time for shopping around or making things. To be honest, I probably do have some time now but mentally and physically I'm drained by 7pm ( probably more this season than in spring and summer) 

I won't have to pay £182 per year to park at work (annual permit + monthly charge) 

I've already contributed to one colleague's wedding gift and another's new baby, we have the Secret Santa and do the same for birthdays - guess who got the colleague who's birthday is 22 December  - so that's been nearly £100 extra in the last month.

My manager knows I want to reduce to 4 days and doesn't forsee any problems with that which is great.
3 days would be my ideal but I don't think I could manage the workload or the salary decrease!

You are all such an inspiration to keep me motivated - I thank you 

boultdj

The people looking for sardines might want to grab them when you see them next, most come from Marocco and the fish stocks are starting to collapse according to an article I was reading last week.
I made sure to grad the mackerel that was on offer last week as that is my prefered oily fish. 

kayannie

That might explain why there were no sardines at all in A!d! today. Worth buying a few extra when they're available.
KA

PipneyJane

Greying_Pilgrim said:

Morning - I'm all behind, and have only skim-read, and I know that PipneyJane has mentioned MrT's stocking dried beans at CC pricesz. 

I'm just back from fArmf00ds, and I wanted to just amend what I'd said about dried beans in our branch.  I was gonna take a pic, but I'll give you 3 guesses who forgot their phone 🙄

So, our branch still had a shelf that was stocked with dried pulses.  it was above a couple of freezers that had dinosaur shaped nuggets, some sort of fish fingers (but I don't think it was the main Capt. B-E fish porducts freezer....).  Elsewhere on the shelf there was; olive oil (I buy the spanish Abr1l OO for £4.99, the EVO version is £5.99 - it's a match for discounters OO), vegetable oil, passata, tinned chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegars, tinned beans; butter, red kidney, chickpeas, ghee, salt, tomato puree, bAtch3l0rs tinned sweetcorn, mushy peas, mixed veg, coconut milk (I got 2 x tins of "light" coconut milk for 39p ea) etc etc.  

So there were no B-E beans again 😭 but the 1 kg bags that were there; Red Kidney beans £1.49, Chickpeas £1.29 and red spilt lentils 99p.  They were all....... 1ndus brand (I think).  There were laila butter beans (tinned) 2 for £1, I got 3 tins of 1ndus RKB's for £1, the chickpeas were 3 for £1 (r0yal cr0wn brand only - laila were dearer), plus today there were 100g bags of spices; chilli, garam masala, paprika and Turmeric, and they appeared to be all (I think) 79p each or 3 for £2.  With the tins, the bags of dried pulses and the spices, there was quite a stand out 'world foods' bit.  

I forgot to look at the butter, as I was keeling over at the price of bay-bee-bells at £2.99 for 15 (and yes I know that's cheap, but.......), but I did pick up a punnet of black grapes for 99p, and a large tin of fruit cocktail (in juice) for 99p.  

HTH someone - and I wish i lived closer to mumtoomany as I'd hoover up the dried RKB's and deliver them to her 😁

Greying X

@Greying_Pilgrim  I was thinking about beans on my shopping trip yesterday, wandering around our local market town.  I had a 75p voucher expiring on my H&B account and, inexplicably, there are two branches in town, one in each of the shopping malls at either end of the high street.  Neither had any dried pulses.  In fact, they had very little in the way of food.  I remember them as being a good source of dried beans, dried fruit, seeds and nuts.  Not now, although they still had some seeds and nuts in store.  (Mind you, my memories are from the 1990’s, when I worked near several branches.)

In the end, I spent my voucher on a can of kombucha, cutting the price down to 60p.

- Pip

sheilavw

m n s had small tins of baked beans reduced to 17p a tin yesterday. dated sometime in 2027 so I picked up 4

patentgirl

No sardines for us neither will have to go further afield. Another one on bandwagon for retiring early I retired at 60 was looking after my poorly dad and trying to do a stressful job at same time had to give up in end and apart from my dad passing away year after never looked back my pension arrives this time next year coming round really quickly got small private one DH still works part time he has got few pensions but you definitely spend less as everyone states less on food,work do’s, transport, clothing and quality of life so much better. 

This year saving all DH salary just living on pensions as I would like him to give up paid work too we booked two holidays this year a budget week next month to Spain a lot cheaper but weather not guaranteed but that suits us and a road trip around Yorkshire and Northumberland in April both paid for just concentrating on sorting spending money out without touching DH salary which is doable with continuing to be frugal in every way. Have a good Sunday everyone x