2026 Frugal Living Challenge

RateTartExtraordinaire

Hi all,

Not posted for a while. Just been trying to catch up on the posts and rants :D. I try to avoid palm oil, too.

Frugal things done in March:

Earned extra money: cat-sitting £10 a visit (new kitten) 3/4 times a week. I'm currently on week 3. I pop in on my lunch break.

On 6 March I fixed my Gas and Electric with new supplier via MSE Cheap Energy Club. Then I went round mums and fixed hers, too!

CS purchases 2 brand new jumpers and wide legged trousers.

Went into London to meet friend on super off peak ticket, saving a couple of quid and walked instead of taking bus or tube. Went to free museum Grants Zoological Museum - weird place - and did a walk around Bloomsbury and let my friend practice her guided-talk on me.

Reduced business account cost by opting for a free version of bank account with current provider this year that is HMRC ready.

Made birthday meals at home instead of going out.

Bought some stamps before the price goes up in April.

Clai res Acc esso ries Closing down sale - purchased some hair accessories reduced to 90p from over £3.

Complained to Sports Direct about delay in delivery of my new trainers and got a £15 evoucher to spend. Not spent yet : )

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81942307#Comment_81942307

Agreed. I avoid palm oil wherever possible, but sometimes that is impossible. The damn stuff is even in stock cubes!

• Pip (Move over @Frugaldom There’s a lot of us want to share your soapbox.)

gran3

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81941545#Comment_81941545

Haven do very cheap short breaks

Prudent

@RateTartExtraordinaire well done on fixing your gas and electric deal when you did. I looked at the offers then too, but decided to stick with my current deal as the newer option was £6 more a year. I wish I had gone for it. I am on a fixed rate until the start of December, so I hope things improve by then. I need to buy petrol tomorrow; I am expecting a big jump from the last time. Thankfully I usually spend less than £30 a month. I think I will be using the bus more for a while as I have a bus pass.

I hit a very unfortunate milestone in frugalling today. OH and I popped into a charity furniture shop today and were excited to find a brand new Zimmer frame for £5. 🤣 OH needs both hips replaced and we had decided to get one in case he needs it before or after the op as there is a long waiting list.

We also had a lovely frugal outing to a cafe which were offering a free visit to unpaid carers. I stopped off at Tesco as I had a £3 off £20 spend and was rather proud when the bill at the check was £20.06. I had been adding it up in my head on the way round as a wee challenge, but didn't have much faith in my mental maths.. I have been reducing my stocks for a while but today I did buy laundry liquid inspite of having three bottles. I read that Unilever aren't hiring for three months as they expect difficulties with supplies. I do wonder if that also means they are expecting to rise prices. I don't buy many branded products but I suspect any rises will be across the board.

RateTartExtraordinaire

@Prudent I don't normally catch The Martin Lewis Money Show live, but I'm glad I did that week. I had a quick discussion with my partner and then hit the switch button. The quote I got was just under the £70 saving threshold for the year, so I didn't get notified by the Cheap Energy Club automated messaging service. I won't leave now as I have a £100 exit fee, but I'm hoping it was the right decision. Only time will tell…

Mind you. I've just totted up how many different energy providers I have been a customer with - ten in the last 15 years. I have no loyalty :) …but I wouldn't go back to n_powa or so_en_er_gy. I took them both to the ombudsman and won compensation.

Mamma2004

Easter Veg 🐣

How do you store it?

fionaandphil

Swede - I've cooked mashed and frozen

Potatoes - in a brown paper sack in the garage as it's still cold outside. Won't last as long as Christmas veg so planning on processing as wedges, roast spuds etc

Parsnips - will process as roast parsnips

Carrots - I've hung in net in garage and will use up, may freeze for soup

Garlic will keep in the fridge but may stick some in jar of oil

Shallots and onions - will keep for a while in garage and if they start going over will chop and freeze

May also make some soup if I have freezer space and enough veg. We will be cooking and using a load over Easter weekend too!

mama67

I will store my root veg in a cardboard box in the shed with a towel over the top to help keep dark.
potatoes will be put into a paper sack in the kitchen which is cool.
shallots are also kept in a paper bag in the kitchen but well away from the potatoes.

annieb64

The veg were 8p in our Aldi yesterday and I only paid 4p for a bag of carrots.That was all I could carry as I'd gone down on the bus and needed other shopping including a leg of lamb which was on offer at £ 16.

WickedLady4

At my local Lidl yesterday the carrots were 4p and you were restricted to 3 bags per person. I spent 28p on 2 bags of potatoes and 3 bags of carrots.