2026 Frugal Living Challenge

Finstickle

Happy Saturday all,

I am going to try and start a weekly list of Frugal things I do mostly to highlight to myself that I am doing something!

- As per Martin Lewis' advice I fixed my Gas and Electric prices for the next year. This currently shows a slight increase monthly but with what is happening in the Middle East I am happy to take his advice on this one.

- Felt like some book retail therapy was required, took myself to the library instead.

- Bought new boots at the end of the season so got them discounted.

- Adjusted the timing on my heating as we move into the warmer months

- Brought coffee from home to go shopping.

Nothing earth shattering but doesn't need to be :-)

fionaandphil

I think we are all in a bit of a lull at this time of year. I was thinking I might start some seeds off today but woke up to frost so I will hold off a little longer. Lots of boring jobs this morning, topping up screen wash, checking oil, topping up wood baskets, firestarter and putting bins out. I also cut back the dead bits on the blackberry in the hope of lovely fruit in the summer.

I too am waiting for council tax and water bill updates to see how everything pans out. Our home heating oil was filled a few weeks ago and I am hoping will last well into summer - the price has more than doubled this week.

I also checked the freezers and food cupboard and we should be fine for most things with just top ups for bread and milk before Easter. The neverending Christmas veg is almost done!

I am trying to stay positive and appreciate that we've had some sunshine this week and I got some clothes on the washing line, not completely dry but not as long on the drier. Good weather ahead in the not too distant weeks.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

determined_new_ms

Hi everyone. Popping in to say hi after caching up with everyone's news.

Frugal things I've done this week:

• my isa matured so I've done some jiggling with my savings to maximise my return over the next year
• changed bank account for £175 bonus
• signed up to do a mystery shopping tomorrow - almost forgot about that!
• stored away some of the more snacky food items in the monthly groceries so they don't get eaten all at once!
• lots of use ups/and using of the freezer to make sure nothing perishes
• arranged to pick up some olio items
• just generally not spending money! Although I do note at this 2 months without spending and the turning of the season coming I'm starting to get thoughts of buying things….
• printed something at the library and I get 20 free pages a year
• felt joy as my seedlings are germinating!
• * submitted 3 lots of expenses, it's such a low return, but 3 months works out to be £60 so worth the effort!

Frugaldom

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81909913#Comment_81909913

No, I've no intentions of going down the charity route and no time to spare doing collections. We get the leftover Olio stuff dropped off by friends, along with whatever we have requested. This weekend included oranges, cheese and even a pack of sliced cooked meat.

Council tax chat reminded me that ours is increasing by 8.5%, which is quite a hike. I don't have the exact figure but we are B band minus the sewerage element, as we have a septic tank.

Is anyone here off-grid and on a private water supply, either borehole or well? We have no running water at Frugaldom but often wonder if the investment if a borehole or well would be worthwhile but even the filtration, servicing and testing costs are prohibitive without factoring in the many thousands to dig or bore.

RavenRover

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81907685#Comment_81907685

I used to allow collection to 11pm but would have a couple of folks come on at 11.05pm basically taking the proverbial. Most of my stuff is on from 8.45pm so plenty of time. Sadly the supermarket I use only allow pick up from 8.30pm. I used to have an agreement with the guy in charge of food waste that I could come for around 8pm as it was always sitting out and not left in the fridge but the shop cottoned on and stopped him from doing the gathering up.

Mamma2004

On the Council Tax chat, I finally got my Disabled Rebanding from B to A. 🥳

I live in a purpose-built, wheelchair-adapted bungalow so you would have thought it would be easy...

I applied last June and with no response got my local councillor onto it. I got a response 1 week later, although they've only backdated to June 2023 when they are supposed to go back to 1991, or when the resident moved in, which was October 2015 for me.

I've passed it back to the local councillor so we shall see! I'll update you if I get a big backpayment 🤗

suzeesu2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81914891#Comment_81914891

we tried too on the grounds of a bathroom with full adaptation for a wheelchair user. They said no s it’s the only full bathroom in the house. We have a downstairs loo which, apparently, disqualifies us. If we had another unadapted bathroom as well we would qualify. I don’t understand the rules, I really don’t. Well done on your rebranding though, hoo you can get the full back dated amount too.

Gem-gem

@Penny2myName Sorry to read of the passing of your mum.
Frugal things done these past few weeks: 1. Cleaned the car inside and out. 2. Planted out some potatoes. 3. Weeded and removed dead leaves from the strawberry plants. 4. Crocheted five woolly hats. Three will be presents. They are all pure wool. 5. Made soup using leeks from the garden. 6. Continued to buy YS food and take advantage of supermarket vouchers. 7. Ate before we went to a quiz night, so no fish and chips. Evening cost £7 for the two of us.

Frugaldom

Good luck @mamma2004 I hope you get a huge refund. 😊

I finally got round to renewing my mobile phone contract so have saved £6.50 per month. Thanks to a kindly fellow Frugaler on here, I can now also switch landline contracts without having to buy a new phone so that's next on the agenda.

Olio was quite good at the weekend with oranges & tangerines so I'm enjoying fresh fruit breakfasts with those and more apples brought by a friend last week.

I haven't ventured out to the petrol station to fill up so don't know how high the price of petrol has gone locally. Nor have I done anything about selling my car. Friends keep saying 'what if...' and encouraging me to keep said car. I can't decide! 🥴

@Penny2myName I was looking at the strawberry beds and all the runners I missed so these are all going to end up in another raised bed. The rhubarb is up quite a bit and my honey berry bushes have buds opening on them. 😊

Frugaldom

Good morning to all, I hope everyone is doing ok and that life is playing fair. We have a bit sunshine after another rainy night so everything possible is recharging on the solar panels - I have 2 x 200w panels sitting connected to leisure batteries at the hut, where I spend most of my time.

Olio rescues this week included chicken drumsticks and eggs, so some protein instead of the usual baked goods. 😆

We made a 'new' wild bird feeding station yesterday so I'm looking forward to seeing what visits. It's just a plank attached to the fence with some bin rescues and a gifted secondhand squirrel feeding box but I'm confident it will all provide hours of free entertainment once the wildlife finds it.

It has been filled with different wild bird foods and the birds are already investigating it. I'll post video clips to YouTube once there's something worth filming. It's little things like this that reflect how much fun you can have with other people's castoffs. I'm guessing the frisbee was lost by a dog as it has tooth marks.