2026 Frugal Living Challenge

mama67

dug up the last of my potatoes grown from peelings yesterday. Got 3864g over the summer. Not loads but nice for a treat every now and then.
still picking tomatoes getting approx 6 every day. These are outdoors not in a greenhouse.

Arrietty

Good morning all,

After discovering my average weekly shopping bill was £60, I decided that in September I would be mainly eating from the freezer and store cupboards in order to reduce that average. I last did a shop on 28th August and have to say the fridge is looking very empty now, just condiments, milk, butter, cheese and some potatoes but I can definitely make to Friday!

I had 3 evening meals in row of spaghetti with tomatoes and philadelphia cheese (use by date 08/09) dont want to eat this again for a while now … so this morning I took a homemade veggie shepherds pie out of the freezer for dinner tonight. When I made it I labeled it "the most delicious veggie shepherds pie" so I have high hopes 😄

I was very lucky with the Premium bonds and won £200 this month. I was elated and planned to add it so my ERF… and then my waterproof yard boots split along the sole - £49.99 for a replacement pair, I then remembered that my waterproof trousers had split last year - £22.99 for a replacement pair and on Friday I managed to pick up a massive screw in one of my tyres which then needed replacing - £71.40.

Total cost £144.38 so just over £55 left of my win … but I need to send a donation to a funeral so that will cover that. Yes, I didn't get to 'save' any of my PB win, but I also didn't have to use any of my regular money to pay for all those expenses so I guess that's still a win!

And the most exciting part of that news is that after a 3 month drought, we now have rain!

Nelliegrace

I am having to use the tumble drier for the bedding because I cannot manage to peg it out. Needs must.

Win, win! I’ve lost the weight, he’s gained the good L size polo shirts! The old ones have been cut up for cleaning cloths.

Arrietty

Good morning from the sunny south-east.

It may be darker much earlier now but we still have temperatures in the low twenties interspersed with rain which is perfect grass growing weather although I have just had to buy some more hay which was £32…

Having spent the last week eating from the freezer and therefore not going shopping…. I did go shopping this morning as I had no fresh fruit, veg or milk left. Used a couple of vouchers for 50p off and also got £2 off some chicken. Bought the reduced bread and brioche and put them in the freezer and also topped up with washing up liquid and wool-washing liquid as both were on offer and they will last me months. Total spend was £85.76 😶

Two weeks ago my total spend for the year averaged out at £60.17 per week and today it has reduced slightly to £59.23 per week so a tiny step in the right direction.

fionaandphil

Good morning from the wet north west 😄

I did a quick Sains shop this morning hoping to pick up some of their sausages which are on offer but all sold out by 9am. Did get some chocolate to put away for Christmas and that is stashed in each of their boxes so no one is tempted.

Eating from the freezer for tea and baked potatoes for lunch to warm us up.

Have a good day all

maryb

Sainsbugs have a good deal on medium whole chickens this week (Nectar price £4. instead of £5.50) I’m sure I remember they had the same deal this time last year. Think I’m going to start tracking offer cycles on things I buy regularly. Meanwhile there are two chickens tucked in my freezer.

The whole thing about having to have a Nectar card or a Clubcard really annoys me but I get my revenge by using it to maximise the benefit I get while minimising any other spending in the shop. If it’s an Aldi price match ( which effectively means it’s a Lidl price match as well) I’ll buy it there and build up points towards a £2.50 voucher, otherwise I’ll go to Lidl for everything else

PipneyJane

< warning: rambling post ahead >

I had a bit of a lightbulb moment recently, about why we are frugal and why we budget. It’s about building up resources so that when bad/expensive things happen, the costs can be absorbed.

The trigger was one of those Ruth Goodman/Rob Rinder documentaries on Channel 5, this one about life in Tudor England. Ruth described a family, living in one room, not far from the Tower of London. They were so poor, the room they rented didn’t have a fireplace, which meant no cooking. Hot meals had to be purchased elsewhere resulting In them spending a lot more on food. Cue my lightbulb!

Basically, it’s an extension of Terry Pratchett’s Vimes’ Boot Theory. When you’re broke and have no resources/savings to fall back on, you will accept something that looks cheaper up-front but costs you a lot more in the long run, because you have no choice. Whether it’s living somewhere with no cooking facilities and having to eat out all the time, or not having a working washing machine because it’ll cost too much to replace, and then having to use the horrendously expensive machines at the laundrette…. When you’re broke, your choices are limited to the money you have in your pocket.

Mobile phone contracts where you’re purchasing the phone, at a premium, as part of the monthly fee and have that monthly drain on your income for 2-3 years, whereas if you could afford to buy the phone up-front, you’d pay a lot less. Ditto car leases. They are a painful way to learn that debt is selling your future income to have something you need right now.

I’m still trying to work out why all of this was suddenly a lightbulb. These days, I earn a decent wage, but if I didn’t quarantine some of it away for x, and y, and z, I know it wouldn’t take much to put me back on that treadmill where, if something went wrong, I’d have no choice but to accept the more-expensive-in-the-long-run option. I’ve known Vimes’ Boot Theory for years - and actually lived it as a broke secretary in the 1990’s buying £30 court shoes from C&A that only lasted me 2 months at best, when I couldn’t afford to spend £60 on a pair from M&S, which would last me nearly a year.

• Pip (hope the above makes sense.)

ETA: I am also very well aware that, if I wasn’t frugal, we’d have drowned when I was off sick with Lymphoma for 9 months in 2024 and my DH was made redundant not long after my diagnosis. I am one of the lucky ones - I got 2 months sick leave at full pay before being stuck on statutory sick leave. As it was, I spent a lot of my savings covering my share of the bills. It will take me at least another year to get things back to where they were.

Frugaldom

Good evening, frugal friends. I wish some of you lived closer to help use the apples we have here this year. After last year's non-existent crop, this year is quite bountiful. I'll make a few gallons of apple cider vinegar from the peels and cores but will need to pack many away in paper and cardboard boxes to use through winter. A few tubs of stewed apples will find their way into the freezer and the windfalls will likely be fed to ponies and goats. The deer, badgers and pine martens help themselves.

I managed to escape for a frugal break - 3 nights glamping at a friend's pod site with 2 other friends I hadn't seen in several years. It was a very affordable few days as we never stopped talking long enough to go out and spend money. I spent less than £100 including filling the car with petrol and buying enough groceries that most came back with me. There may have been some snacks snacks included. 😁

Freezer inventory got done so there's plenty of food to be used up before I can get to the bottom and evict any lurking polar bears.

Log delivery cost £100 this time so here's hoping we have a fairly mild winter.

amber03

It’s the other way around here for apples Frugeldom. Last year they were everywhere and lasted for weeks, so far this year crops have been poor. Usually when I go walking my DS’s dog I come bag with bag fulls of them. So disappointed.

fionaandphil

We are the same with apples this year @amber03 very poor crop this year, we will be lucky to get 2 trays, last year we had about 20! Great for you @Frugaldom I'm sure you will be able to make good use of them for humans or animals.

We have had lots of blackberries here so freezing as much as possible. Freezers are full and we are as prepared as we can be for winter with logs chopped, coal topped up and chimney swept.

Lovely to hear you have had a break with friends too. It's really nice to be able to do something completely different.