Hello again, I am back to let you know what I have been up to lately to try and save some pennies - after all, in the UK we say "look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves". Well I have been at my new job (after being made redundant) for 4 months now and I have had my days reduced to 3 days a week from 5. I am not a happy bunny but as the job is pants, its forcing me to look for something else, which is good. But jobs are difficult to come by, so extra determination will be required.
I've been using my breadmaker every day and brown bagging lunches for darling husband (DH) and me. When I go out, my choice of refreshment is a bottle of water and quosh for db. We have stopped going out for the occasional beer and meal (saving us £25pw) and using our garden more to eat our meal in, as the summer is so good this year in the UK. Instead of going out with all my mates as a group twice a month, I only go once with one of them. Saves me shedloads. My friends are coming round for home made pizza next week, and someone is bring the starter, another the pudding. Seems it's more fun this way! That's what everyone tells me!
I recently broke a bench in the garden, so I flipped it over and saw it only needed a support piece of wood, easy peasy! I am going to have a go at getting that mended. I have the three screws, the shape of the wood and will try and cut this myself. I am busy painting the benches for my garden, as dh and myself like to sit and watch the wildlife. Have now lagged all my heating pipes indoors, new heating jacket on the hot water cylinder to keep hot water hot, installed the heat reflector plates behind the radiators so heat is pushed back into the room, and also installed the chimney balloon so none of the heat is lost up our chimney, as it is not in use anymore.
I have two bags of old clothes waiting to go the the thrift store, but I will look through them again and see if I can reutilize them. I am thinking of rug making and possible card making. The yogurt making is going well, and cooking from scratch? I have been doing this all my life. I recently met a girl in the UK who spent nearly £1600 having her hair, nails, and beauty treatment per year. So far this year, I have spent £12 on one haircut and I do my own trims. I guess you could say that I have a low maintenance hair style!
We're coming to the end of our frozen apples, blackberries, loganberries etc. The apples came from our neighbours trees which I picked as they didn't want them, and the berries grew wild, so foraging is free. I have now found walnut and cherry trees for foraging, and cherries will be ready soon. Yippee! The sloes are looking to be a bumper crop this year so a large store of sloe gin will be waiting to be enjoyed, another foraging delight.
Well time for me to close now. I could go on and on, but I will leave it till my next post. Take care, good bye and smile, cos the world smiles back at a smiler. M
By meshelle from Haverhill, Suffolk
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Such an interesting story, and so nicely told. You are an inspiration Meshelle, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading your "Frugal Life". You make it sound so much fun that it'll inspire others to play "copy-cat".
We too have weekly "Family Game Night" now instead of looking outside the home for entertainment. Friends often join us and we have a lot more fun with these games like Pictionary or Monopoly, or Scrabble than anyone would have thought. Everyone chips in a little and we have chips and dips, and fruits with dips, and once we took a break and had "Ice-Cream Sundaes" (make your own).
I'll be eagerly waiting for your next installment. Thank you for sharing with us. Thumbs Up!
Pookarina
I loved reading this adventurous story! Thank you so much for posting this!
If you have a spare room you could rent it to tourists from the US who would love to see England. Don't feed them just give them a place to sleep cheaper than a hotel. Those old clothes can be made into quilts.
I'm afraid I don't recognize some of your words... What is "quosh for db"? what are "sloes"? Is a "watebutt" the same thing we would call a rain barrel in Canada?
im english!yes,a waterbutt is a rain barrell sloes are a kind of berry/plum people pick to soak in gin for sloe gin.i think quosh is a type of drink,a cordial you mix with water,i presume db will be darling boy,if dh is darling husband-hope this helps!
Loved the descriptions of your frugal ways (although I'm not familiar with all of them, it was fun trying to figure them out!), and really love your "can-do" attitude. Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks for your latest installment, it sounded as though all things are going fairly well with you and DH. Keep up the great work in living frugally and continue your writing, you have a gift!
We are all the same, only different. Thanks for sharing your talent.
This was a very enjoyable read. GG Vi
Try buying your books from halfbay.com they are cheaper there. They are an off spring of Ebay.
Hello again, :) That was a nice lil' story you told us! Seems like you have everything going good for you. Which is great. I would say throw away everything you don't use within six months. Just donate stuff. Ive donated so much stuff and there's a lot of ways to make life a lil' easier and cheaper. Don't go out as much, eat from your garden. Which you seem to be doin' which is great.
With books, it's always good to pass your books around to each other so everyone can read it and it saves money so everyone doesn't have to go buy the same book. Also, ever thought of having dinner nights with your friends like a pot luck? Everyone brings one thing and it's cheaper and saves money as well. With everyone getting work hours cut down and everyone losing their jobs u gotta do what y gotta do right. I have tons of advice when it comes to things to do to save money and have fun too.
One thing they say don't try to save money on is your hair. lol. Don't do your own trims or cuts is what my friends and family say. Cause if you mess up, it will cost to fix it, and then you may not even like it. I do my own bang trims as well. I'm used to it and good at it, but be careful when trying to say money on hair cuts. That's where I think we should put our money into. A good hair cut.
Take care and awesome post.
Always,
Nicki
Hello everyone and WOW thanks for your lovely comments, suggestions and hints. I will keep posting and give you more thoughts and ideas.
lyndasings - sorry about some of the terminology, we speak English but a different language eh? ok 'squosh' a flavouring for water with little or no sugar. refreshing and above all, dirt cheap. A 'waterbutt' is the same as your rain barrel, so you have guessed correctly and 'sloes' are from the plum family and grow wild. So free, all you have to do is find and pick them! You then soak them for approximately 7 months in cheap ole gin and hey presto! Sloe Gin very very nice. Good job dh doesnt like gin! Hope this helps.
dcsprsmm - thanks for the tip on halfbay.com, never heard of this and am going to be looking into this right away.. ta again.
Everyone has been an inspiration for me and I will definitely add to my installments. Hope everyone is keeping well, enjoying the summer and don't forget to start getting ready for winter. Sorry, but it will soon be here! M
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