2026 Frugal Living Challenge

kayannie

Here in north west Wales, fruit trees of any description are scarce, but walking to the doctors this morning I passed a house with a huge apple tree in the garden. The lawn surrounding the tree was covered in huge windfall apples. I was so tempted to knock on the door & ask if I could have some if they weren't wanted, but I wasn't brave enough! Before moving here, we lived in a fruit growing area surrounded by fruit trees & I really miss them. We've planted fruit trees in our garden but it'll be a while before they're productive.

KA

moginstein

It's awkward isn't it, they might have been completely happy and welcomed the help, or thought you were weird for asking. I'd say you were just being environmentally friendly (and an apple crumble was a welcome reward)

You have reminded me that a nearby house I go past on my walk often puts apples out in a wheelbarrow with a note saying help yourself, so I should make sure I have a bag in my pocket (it's tricky carrying 4 in your hands sometimes!)

2Scratters

@kayannie please go back and knock on the door and ask. I have a neighbour who has an apple and pear tree initially planted for her children. They are both over 60 now and the fruit just gets wasted.😥 I this year sadly have not picked any of the free blackberry or elderflower that grow over the back of our fence. Even only picked a small amount of blackcurrants off my bush. The fall of the pears and apples are happily picked up by our 2 dogs. My freezer is quite full with last years fruit. I just need to get a wobble on now that I have a newly fitted kitchen.

2 Scratters xx

kayannie

I do know of one house where the gentleman usually puts a box of apples on his wall with a notice telling people to help themselves. I took him a jar of apple chutney I made as a thank you - he was most surprised!

KA

Prudent

@kayannie it is lovely to give something back too. We haven't had many apples this year, but that is probably because OH gave the poor tree an over severe pruning. In a way it has been useful because I love apple crumble. I have managed to lose some weight and crumbles would definitely undo that.

I have been spending more than usual on food this month as I need to spend £200 a month for three months to get the £100 grocery voucher from Santander. I usually spend £140 to £160 a month. It isn't a huge difference so I have been focusing on stocking up on long life items and cleaning products rather than buying any 'treaty' items. I had a rare Olio haul which included 8 salmon fillets, chicken, quite a few vegetarian products and lots of fruit. I don't often get anything because the local collector lists about 10.30pm which is too late for me to go out in the car. If there is anything left in the morning he leaves it outside. I happened to be driving past one morning due to a diversion and there was about 12 boxes stacked with food.

annieb64

A house up the road from us had tomatoes and chillies outside this morning so I took a couple of chillies.I put courgettes outside our houses earlier in the summer but only a few went so I started taking them down to the Age Concern centre.

fionaandphil

What a fantastic olio collection Prudent, I bet you were delighted.

We've been sharing the bumper crop of blackberries with the neighbours. Even with using and freezing we have too many. I did think about jam but we still have loads of blackcurrant left from last year as we don't use a lot. They are finally coming to an end with the cold wet weather which has arrived

Frugaldom

Well done to all who gives away or even swap extra produce. We often try to have stuff at the gate but as we aren't on a through road to anywhere, we have to rely on advertising on nearest local village pages, sometimes to no avail.

Now being of bus pass holder age, I've been seeing a lot of crazy (to me) stuff showing up on my social media feeds. Collagen products, mushroom gummies, special diets that shift belly fat... All interesting but all expensive! Seems to me that the old addage of 'we are what we eat' still stands as best option for keeping healthy so how best to address the aging process? Some things I have read are downright scary but some are more puzzling. Homemade soup, for instance... If we are boiling down bones to make stock, isn't that the basic source of collagen? If oestrogen diminishing and soya protein has extra oestrogen, should we be eating more soya products? Just curious as I've no intentions on buying expensive supplements, especially as the likes of Olio often has a high percentage of vegetarian or vegan produce. Or is it just me wondering about all of this? Ham & lentil soup being used up and chicken carcass on the boil for stock as I type this... 😆 Your thoughts, please.

maryb

Used my £5 off a £30 spend at Lidl today. I was going to stock up on basics but I saw they had small cast iron casseroles for a very good price. I've been looking for one because even the smallest le Creuset that I have (bought before they became ludicrously expensive) is a bit too big to fill. I like to use a Wonderbag for slow cooking and that is most effective when the pot has as little headspace as possible. So porridge overnight, rice etc. I do beef casseroles in the stovetop pressure cooker for tenderness with just 20 minutes cooking then develop the flavour by popping it into the Wonderbag.

However as this pot is smaller I need to make a smaller Wonderbag. I filled the last one with bean bag pellets but I might ask around and see if anyone has some of that wool insulation that sometimes comes with deliveries of pet food etc. Much less messy to fill!!

fionaandphil

I hadn't thought about collagen and soup making. I was out with some girlfriends over summer and they were discussing collagen supplements, the idea of which fills me with horror. I may mention soup as an alternative when I am out again with them. We regularly have soup during the winter so I will now think of it as a beauty product as well 😄

Thanks for the reminder @maryb I have often thought about the wonderbags but may actually get round to doing something about it this year. We have a Lidl voucher as well and were hoping to buy a new chainsaw but they have no batteries in stock at any of the branches we have visited.