Great Rural MoneySaving Hunt

Frugaldom

Just been looking over what's had the best savings effect and it is, without a doubt, free kindling by way of cones and dried wood from fallen branches. I'll be starting collecting again very soon, not enough daylight hours to fit it in yet.

Other big savings have been made by:

Bulk buying offers whenever available
Buying from Appr0ved F00d website
Homebaking
Soupmaking
Batch cooking
LETS trading
Growing veggies
Keeping hens & ducks for eggs

For anyone wondering about the logburner project, it will bring huge savings in electricity as far as heating is concerned, but the option to install the back boiler for hot water has been shelved. The savings would only be worth it if we were assured tenancy for at least 10 years. We'll stick with the shower and immersion heater set to come on during cheap rate hours.

Frugaldom

Savings to be made on coal - just spoke to one of the agricultural merchants here and their coal is £5 per 25kg bag, beating the cheapest the coalman can deliver by £1.50 per 1cwt approx. It isn't worth it for me as I'm not on their delivery route and cost of collecting would outstrip any potential savings but check out your nearest agricultural supplies yard to see if they are stocking fuel. It might be worth your while collecting it by the bag if it's somewhere you're passing anyway.

mardatha

Tell me Nyk, is approved foods worth it for a family of only two ? We wouldnt get through stuff as fast as a big family and the "use before" dates might go over... this is why I haven't used them yet.
Also where does everybody find bargains with seeds and young plants ? If it ever stops snowing and I get out in the garden LOL!

Frugaldom

Hi Mardatha, the thing about Appr0ved F00d is their products don't have 'use before' dates, they just have the 'best before', which really only relates to the speed at which items sell and, allegedly, their nutritional value begins to decline. The latter is debateable, as the nutritional value of some of the products isn't a top priority in the first place, as it's normally what I call either base products (dried goods, sauces, tins) or junk food (crisps, sweets, biscuits). The food manufacturers wouldn't flourish if retailers didn't have a sell by or best before date to clear their shelves by and replace the stock. It's just a small cog in the huge wheels of consumer commerce. Most of the food would probably be sent to landfill once cleared from the supermarket shelves for replacement, so the fact that these types of cash & carry warehouses are springing up is testimony to the fact that we have far too much food going to waste in this country whilst other nations starve. Conveniently, places like App Foods (not sure why it's so heavily promoted on MSE when there are several others like it) are blossoming an appropriate length of time before the Government bans 'sell by' dates completely - something that's currently still being debated.

Sorry, that's turned into a huge waffle (pardon the pun) but avoiding waste food is something I feel very, very strongly about and it is a ludicrous amount that takes up precious space in the landfills when it's perfectly OK for eating. I guess the short answer to your question is yes, it is worth it, even for a single occupancy household. It's doubly worth it for me as it saves tripping into town as often when we aren't on any delivery routes for any supermarkets. Just keep watching the sites and only buy what you know you will use or share. I share mine with fellow LETS members, so we all benefit.

Seeds & plant bargains - ask among friends, family, neighbours, acquaintances, work colleagues etc and you'll be surprised what's available, especially if you are only looking for a few seeds or seedlings as opposed to full packs or trays. I've bought an assortment of seeds in the past from eBid and eBay and any surplus seedlings get sold, swapped, LETS traded or Freecycled/Freegled. There are also free seeds in some of the magazines, I have a friend who sends me some from there, too. Seed potatoes, I just get reduced tatties from grocery shelf and leave them to sprout. I know we're told not to do this but I don't really buy into the belief that I'll contaminate my land from a product bought from a food outlet that's meant for eating. The dried peas & beans etc from broth mix sprout, the seeds from inside tomatoes and peppers can be dried then germinated and as long as you don't have what's called F1 type seeds, any resulting crops can produce you seeds for future use. Hope this helps, sorry it's so long.

mardatha

Just had an argument with the OH who screams and faints if food is NEAR the sell-by date LOL! I have heard that somebody in the next village sells compost and seedlings at reasonable prices, and deliver to the door. Will check that out, it would be handy.

Frugaldom

Oh, Mardatha, I feel your pain. Me being the only person who cooks in our household, nobody else reads the labels, far less cares what they say as long as it tastes OK as dinner when served with meat and veg. My ultra-sexist remark of the day - men should be seen and not heard in the kitchen, unless they're brilliant chefs. Even at that, with some of the profanities uttered on TV cooking programmes nowadays, even the top chefs would be better seen and not heard. :rotfl:

I'm trying for zero waste on food so in this house it's eat it or starve whilst the hens get fat.

Edited in - on second thoughts, I prefer not to even see males of any description whilst working in my kitchen. :rotfl:

mardatha

Can I ask those using Calor to cook with, how long it lasts ? We're using the 19kg propane cylinders.

choille

No idea - a big un lasts us at least 8 weeks but I do keep a kettle on the woodburner & sometimes soup, stews etc.
By a big un 30ish kg I think.
Depends on how you cook etc - if you bake, do loads of oven using. How you utilise your oven - fill it etc. Not straight forward to compare I suppose...........

mardatha

ok, ty ! anybody else please so I can compare ?

Davesnave

We use the 19 kg size, but only have a hob to run on it. When we moved in on August 1st, there was a cylinder already hooked-up. It is still running on that, but since mid November we've been using the Aga.

I paid £35 for a spare 19kg cylinder of gas, delivered, before finding out that I could pick one up in the village for £28.