2026 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81996101#Comment_81996101

Good luck, you can do this and make it fun at the same time. I always found playing 'rounders' helped immensely - round up to the nearest £1, then £5, then £10 etc... with the savings and round down to the nearest whole £1, then £5, then £10 etc when getting rid of any debts. Caution needed, though, as it becomes a little addictive. 😆

Frugaldom

@fionaandphil Definitely not a saddo, it's the best thing ever to get a good breeze and some sunshine into your laundry IMO.

@lurkeralongtime Thank you for posting your frugalities and contributing to the group. Anything that's of a use it up nature that turns out edible is a win. 🙂

@PipneyJane Hope your cellulitis responds to treatment and sets you on the mend soon.

Just one small observation from me as I've been feeling particularly decadent. Fresh orange juice has been off the shopping list for a long time here - thank goodness cars run on petrol or diesel and not fruit juice!! Anyhow, I got 2 x 1litre cartons of Tropicana 100% pure orange juice with bits free via Olio and was stunned at the price labels... £3.75 per litre! I've made them last as long as possible but oh boy, did I relish them! It's been the highlight of the week. Little things like that are what make you appreciate frugal living as it jerks you into current price reality. I'd no idea fresh orange had got so expensive as I stopped buying it when it reached 99p so I now know I need a fresh fruit juice savings pot. It'll be about £5 per litre by the time I get my old age pension. 😆

Arrietty

Hello all,

all good with me thank you - I have been rather busy with work and also had some home mini-dramas that have taken up not only a lot of my head space and time but a fair amount of my annual leave what with needing to be in for whole mornings or afternoons for workmen 🙄

I have not been particularly frugal of late what with my Grandson's birthday this weekend and also the annoying human requirement of needing to eat on a daily basis! I have been studiously ignoring the warning beep / light on my car as I fear it will cost me money one way or another but today I need to contact the garage.

I've been pondering my plans to reduce work to a 4 day week and although I'm still saving towards that goal… I'm currently trialling compressed hours whereby I do an extra half hour each day Monday to Thursday and then get to leave at 12:30 on a Friday. So far I've found the extra half hour useful but it remains to be seen whether leaving 2 and a half hours early on Friday has the desired effect of feeling like my weekend is longer and not being so drained.

Nelliegrace

@lurkeralongtime Carolyn put a chocolate blancmange recipe on her blog today, https://the1940sexperiment.com/ which I am now craving! Mum used to make a delicious chocolate (cocoa) tapioca pudding topped with meringue. Cocoa reminds me of being very young when children were not allowed tea (or coffee). There was no tea ration for under 16s.

It is very satisfying making tasty homemade yoghurt. The house is not very warm so I used to make it in a food vacuum flask using long life milk.

Yoghurt strained through sterilised muslin makes cream cheese, the whey is good for making scones. Now you have reminded me of it, I shall try with some of our strained homemade kefir. I checked saved e-mails recently and found that our kefir culture has been going steadily since October 2018.

Cottage cheese is made by heating the whole yoghurt gently until it separates, and then straining off the whey.

suzeesu2000

@PipneyJane Iceland do a 10 for £10 special regularly. There is always fruit juice among the list. But yes, it is frightening.

@Nelliegrace I saw that too, I have the same glass mould as the blancmange was made in.

Prudent

@Nelliegrace I had completely forgotten that I could make cream cheese in that way. My mum bred dairy goats and there was always yoghurt and various cheeses on the go.

@Arrietty don't give up on the plan to work four days. Early retirement, even if on a phased path, is a wonderful thing. I was 60 in April, but retired ten years ago for health reasons. Some former work colleagues took me out for afternoon tea to celebrate my birthday. One asked if I regretted losing my salary and living on a small pension. I could honestly answer that it had been one of the best decisions that I have ever made.

Becoming 60 also potentially opens access to a small private pension. I have swithered about whether to take it, but at the moment I am managing. Keeping it in reserve seems a good hedge against any nasty future inflation shocks or perhaps for something like help with the garden or housework when I am older. I am hoping being 60 might open some discounts. I don't eat out often, but recently had a meal out with my craft group. Some of them ordered the 'pensioner' main courses and I was surprised to discover that they were the same size as the normal courses and £4 cheaper. I am going to download the Iceland app as they give 10% off to the over 60s on a Tuesday.

PipneyJane

@Arrietty I worked 4.5 day weeks for 9 years and loved it. We did 9 hours Monday to Thursday, and 4.5 hours on Friday. Friday afternoons were “my time”, when I’d garden or sew or raid the charity shops or meet up with friends and play golf (badly).

Last year I persuaded my current employer to rearrange my schedule so that I could go back to a 4.5 day week. It’s great.

• Pip

sheilavw

I am 64 and work in a busy secondary school. This is my 3rd year on 4 days. I didn't lose as much as I thought when you factor in less pension, NI, tax

Nelliegrace

@Frugaldom I can buy 5 oranges for about £1 most weeks. Asda have an offer 10 medium oranges for £2 this week. We have half an orange each, cut into wedges, with breakfast every day, real, fresh food with minimal packaging, for less than the price of orange juice from pulp. Half of a small banana, 88p for 7 in his basic muesli, and half an apple, free from our trees from September to April, 59p for 6 this week at Aldi. Like a child DH will eat fruit if it is cut up and put in front of him, eat a bit of salad with a sandwich, and a medley of colourful vegetables with dinner.

Someone pointed out recently that if you are not allowed grapefruit with certain meds, you cannot have the bitter oranges in Seville orange marmalade either. I make marmalade. I have been enjoying marmalade for the 20+ years I have been on these meds. Bother! Now I will spread it thinner, just one slice, and worry a bit every time I eat it. The lemon, sweet orange and blood orange marmalades are safe.

Prudent

@Nelliegrace you made me laugh! My OH will peel and eat a banana, but everything else I have to cut up and put in front of him. We have had a bumper amount of fruit in the Lidl veg boxes recently so I have been making fresh fruit salads and putting them on the table at the end of every meal. It is working a treat. It is the same with salad. He will not add salad items to sandwiches etc, but if I put a bowl on the table he will have a serving. Tonight's dinner is tuna and broccoli pasta and I will put a salad on the table, followed by a fruit salad. In so many ways I have another ten year old…

I have noticed Lidl responding to the negative backlash about the stingy revamp of their loyalty scheme. Last week I got a voucher for a bakery item and picked up a seeded sourdough loaf. I have just got a voucher for a bag of nuts. Has anyone else got random vouchers on their app?