Site Improvements

Welcome to July! Summer is here and we have already had some scorching weather followed by some, which always leave us with puddles. So... The next phase of Frugaldom improvements is about to begin to help improve our driveway. We have campers booked in this weekend and through until the morning of the 7th (Tuesday) then our scheduled delivery should arrive after that.

20 tonnes of whinstone chips at a cost of £662 have been ordered to improve the access route into Frugaldom. The lorry will be tipping these along the driveway, rendering it impassable until we spread out the stone using rakes, shovels and wheelbarrows. With only 2 of us here and all the animals to attend to first, it could take some time. Access will be restricted until all the potholes have been filled and the track resurfaced to help improve drainage. 

We thank you for your patience during the work, which we hope to completed within a couple of days. I just hope the weather is kind to us as we are both getting a little old for this type of manual labour! If anyone can get here to help, we would really appreciate it. 

Edited in - the delivery of stone never arrived - apparently there is a backlog of deliveries waiting to go out from Thomsons but they failed to let us know this! Now, it is a waiting game of whenever suits them, which means we now need to have several small deliveries rather than one large lorry load. This is now the 13th July and no stone has been delivered nor date given. 

Motoring Moneysaving Tips Pre-MOT

The cost of keeping a safe, reliable car on the road can amount to a fair chunk of any frugal living budget, especially if that car is needed on a regular basis.

 

Making a few preliminary checks and doing the simpler things yourself before your MOT is due can save you a small fortune on potential garage bills. Here are a few moneysaving suggestions.

 

Information and graphics by www.motorparks.co.uk also available here

Visit the frugal blog for more moneysaving hints, tips and suggestions.

Make Do and Mend in May

Make Do and Mend in May

Having attended the Home Renovation Show in Glasgow’s SSEC at the weekend, I returned to Frugaldom filled with ideas and impatient to get back to doing something constructive inside the house. The kitchen cannot be done until the bathroom (shower room) is in reasonable shape but impatience has got the better of me… I’m going to make do and mend what I can in the bathroom so I can plough on with the kitchen!

I have set myself a budget of just £30 to give the bathroom a quick makeover, making do with whatever I can find lying about the house and mending anything that can be salvaged as useable. Making the wall panelling by recycling old wooden window blinds was a plan I had been toying with for several weeks, so… read more here

Day 21 of Extremely Frugal February - Rustic and Shabby Chic!

Day 21 of 28 - Adding Some Rustic Tuna Tin Charm

Jade or Money Plant cutting in homemade tin can planter

It's not quite Feng Shui but the Jade plant, also known as 'money plant', is said to represent good fortune or prosperity, according to some Chinese traditions. It certainly has the ability to grow and flourish by way of multiplying into numerous cuttings and these, in turn, are gifted to others in the hope that they may prosper in their pursuit for frugal living.

The 'waste not, want not' ethos governs most things in a frugal lifestyle, just as decluttering means getting rid of all the things you no longer need, not just 'stuff'. Whether you sell it, give it away, delete it or recycle it, it's your choice, so long as it isn't binned unless absolutely necessary. This goes for all things - even plants!

This is my Jade plant, otherwise known as my lucky 'money plant'. Daughter found it in the bin while cleaning out the house she was about to move into around 5 or 6 years ago. The plant had obviously been knocked over and chewed by previous owner's dog, as the plastic pot is covered in bite marks around the edge - the soil had completely dried out, but the plant was still alive. This is the kind of gift I love my children bring me!

Homemade planter

I found an old mixing bowl and sat the rescued plant in it, gave it a drink and sprinkled some aquarium gravel around the bottom of it. It has been with me ever since and even survived being knocked off a shelf last year. The little pieces that got broken off got rescued and stuck in a pot of compost, then promptly abandoned over-winter in the plastic greenhouse.

Today, I repotted the first one and brought it indoors - it has a fine set of healthy roots and now has a lovely new pot holder! This little planter took all of about 20 minutes to make.

Here's how...

Tuna cans

Tonight's dinner, as you may already have guessed, included tuna - it was tuna pasta to be exact, cheap and cheerful. Empty tin cans have so many uses, from cookie cutters to pastry cutters, storage tins, ash trays, (yes, there are still smokers out there and I have to insist they step outside if they want to smoke while visiting Frugaldom), individual pie dishes and, of course, mini plant pot holders.

Materials needed for making a mini-planter

These are the materials I used to make my mini-planter. You don't need a hot glue gun, but I find mine handy for so many things and I did make it part of a money-saving challenge a few years back to cover the cost of this crafting investment.

• Empty tuna tin
• Twigs
• Scrap card or stiff paper long enough to wrap around the can
• Piece of string, rope, ribbon, cord or twine

I use the scrap of tin foil to prevent hot glue dripping onto the table, so ignore that. My card is a scrap of wallpaper, which I used to wrap around the tin, then I glued the twigs onto this. 

Before starting, trim all the twigs to roughly the same lengths and then begin gluing them around the edge of the tin. Next, tie the whole lot together, as this holds everything firmly in place until the glue is set. You could remove the string afterwards, but I chose to leave it in place.

Rustic look with natural twigs

The next bit isn't essential, but I thought it gave a better finish than just the base of the tin can. The only problem now is that my freebie microfibre cloth has a hole the size of a tuna tin cut out the corner of it! I thought this would be more absorbent for any drips that might result from careless watering of the plant.

Felt or fabric base

As well as being absorbent, the fabric base will help make this non-slip and prevent the tin from marking any wooden surfaces. 

That's it - your twiggy tuna can planter is complete and ready for its little pot plant and the plant can be anything you choose, even herbs for using in your kitchen. This one was made very quickly using a handful of twigs from my fireside basket - we keep all the twigs that blow down in the garden - but I will do a few more for my other cuttings and for sowing some early seeds indoors. You can use any size of tin available, so you are limited only by your own imagination.

Billy can savings pot

Tin can-dle light

I have to admit to having a bin bag filled with empty tin cans because they are so handy for so many things. These are a couple of the other items I have made in the past but there are still plenty more tin can creations to come later this year. I'll blog them as I do them to save confusion. 

On the left is my 'blinged up' Billy can' and on the right, the first nail-punched Christmas lantern.

NYK, Frugaldom

Day 17 of Extremely Frugal February - Arty Vegetables

Day 17 - Phone Bills, Furniture Fun and Curious Cabbage.

Fabulous purple patterns, designed by nature.

There's one thing that none of us here can get away from and that is the fact that Internet access needs to be paid for, unless we are fortunate enough to live practically next door to a library and can keep our online activities to a minimum. We need unlimited access as this household derives much of its income from Internet-based sources, but I seldom use the telephone. Today was monthly bill day - 66p for 2 phone calls, both to the feed merchant! Who knows how many hours the computers are online, so it is just as well we now have unlimited, fixed fee access rather than having to pay by the minute! I pay line rental as a lump sum for 12 months, so the monthly part stays under £20.

Monday is meter-reading day for electricity and this week we have leapt up to 80 kWh units just by having a tiny, 400w oil-filled radiator set on low upstairs. The stove is eating logs at a rate of around £2 per day and the fire, when lit, gets through 10kg of coal to heat the radiators and a tank of water, so it's getting back to the whole conundrum of what is most affordable when you need to heat a house that has no wall cavities or lift to insulate. At this time of year it can easily cost £45 per week just to keep from freezing! Can you imagine what it might cost to warm the house to the Government's suggested 18C? I can't even contemplate it!

Sorting out the book collection

Today was shelf-moving day, as we started moving the huge book collection into the 'new' living room. It will take some time to move all the books but the shelves are now in place and they don't look too bad, all things considered. I've used the third set of free curtains to cover some and had to move the frugal mini-bar to the other side of the room, but it looks OK to me.

Red cabbage experiment

Dinner was the 'slow mince' after a very late porridge breakfast and an even later lunch of homemade bread, leftover pasta and hot dogs! Cheap and cheerful! The last one of the tiny red cabbages has now been cut and ready to cook tomorrow, but I'm thinking that I'd quite like to pickle it. I wonder if the remaining part will grow me any new cabbage? I'll let you know!

NYK, Frugaldom

Day 16 of Extremely Frugal February - Nile Mince

Day 16 of 28 - Mince and Tatties!

Everyone I know loves mince and potatoes, but it's probably because it's so cheap and easy to make. Here in Frugaldom, and countless other frugal homes, we make 'Nile' mince - so called because it stretches so far!

This week's Nile mince is now in the slow cooker and will be low-slow-cooking overnight. I have used 400g (£3) of lean steak mince, which was browned while I was chopping 2 x 10p large onions. I added about 30p worth of frozen peas and sweetcorn plus half a dozen potatoes and some carrots. At most, these, along with the salt, pepper and herbs would account for another 50p, so the entire crock pot has approximately £4 worth of food in it.

This week I am cheating a bit, as I had bought a 2kg tin of carrots while they were on offer, so I split them into four lots, one for the pot and three for the freezer - they'll be ideal for making carrot and lentil soup.

Nothing should go to waste, not even the tin. These make fantastic planters, plant pot holders, candle lamps, waste paper bins... recycling them is limited only by your own imagination.

This is yet another 'recycling' experiment - even the potato peelings have been kept this time around because I'm going to attempt to grow these into more potatoes! Strange as it may seem, it is possible and I have managed successfully in the past. I have left them draining and will select the biggest pieces tomorrow. These will then be left sitting on a cardboard egg carton before popping them into a tub of compost by the back door. If they fail to grow - nothing lost.

Today's spends amounted to £2.07 for a 2 litre carton of semi-skimmed and a carton of UHT skimmed milk, kindly collected for me by a friend who was visiting this afternoon.

In the 'new' living room, I have begun moving in the book shelves and today I completed the second foot stool/mini ottoman. I ran out of braid, so the latest one has a single stripe, but I doubt this will matter much as the pair may not even be kept in the same room.

And finally for this evening, a lovely addition to the Frugaldom book shelves by way of this set of crafting folders - grand daughter will love reading these when she comes to visit. Yes, I am still decluttering, but it seems everyone else is, too, so I'm paying things forward wherever and whenever I can.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Day 6 of Extremely Frugal February - Sofa Warming Party

Day 6 of 28 - Stovies and Sofa Shenanigans

It's now beginning to look like we have a living room! Better still, we have the neighbours coming around in 10 minutes for a celebration 'room-warming' party. The carpet is laid, curtain rail and curtains hung, sofa cleaned and in place, a chair by the fireside, homemade footstool/mini ottoman by the window, fire lit and drinks at the ready. I have a makeshift lamp table comprising the two storage boxes, one atop the other, covered in a curtain, but its enough for the lamp.

Porridge breakfast, neighbours here for homemade soup at lunchtime while helping fit carpets and man-handle the big sofa and then we had the leftover potatoes, some mince and a tin of beans all warmed together in a big pot over the stove.

An all round good day, minimum spend and a lovely new room to enjoy... amidst the chaos that is still the rest of the house. :)

Sorry this is short but it's time to entertain guests here in Frugaldom. :)

NYK, Frugaldom

Day 4 of Extremely Frugal February - Homemade Soup & a Teapot Warmer

Just Another Frugal Day in Penny Paradise

Apologies for a belated post but the day escaped from my grasp while I went off in search of some more furniture and attempted to catch up with all the frugal news.

Spending was at an all-time low after the normal porridge breakfast, a pasta lunch and then just soup and pudding for dinner tonight. At most, I reckon the food total amounted to under £1 including cooking it and I didn't light the fire, just kept the log burner going all day. I'll call it £4 in total so it covers the tea and coffee.

Today's Homemade Soup

I have made about 3.5 litres of the stuff and I'm calling it spicy ham and lentil with pasta bits. I started off with about 4 litres of stock made from stock cubes I'd bought on offer at only 10p per pack! They were past BBE date but that matters not a jot to me, it's cheap stock at twice the price. Added to that was about 300g of red lentils (30p-ish?) and 2 sachets of something called Spicy Tomato and Basil Orzo. When made up as per directions on the pack, it tastes a bit like mini pasta with a spicy sauce... I didn't make it up as directed, I poured the dried contents of both packs in with the lentils and stock and let it slow cook for a couple of hours. The Orzo cost, I think, 5 packs for £1 from Approved Food at some point and this box was found lurking at the back of my cupboard. (Orzo is tiny pasta shaped like grains of rice.) The soup tastes lovely, it's spicy hot and it's very filling. However, if you are anything like me, you'll have a stock of 10 packs for £1 strawberry whip, so soup and pudding is always an option.

We caved and had supper tonight - Herby naan bread lightly toasted with a sprinkle of cheese - which would be sheer, unadulterated luxury if I had paid full price for the Naans and cheese - but, of course, I didn't. It was, however, still a good 50p for the two of us and it wasn't strictly necessary. Now I need to eat double portions of veggies for the next few days to make up for today's wacky meals.

Hints and tips for use during power cuts

Does anyone know what this is?

Look closely and have a guess, if you haven't already read about it elsewhere on my blog, forums or other web pages.

Yes, you are correct! That is a light shining through the holes and it throws some pretty patterns on dark walls during power cuts.

Here comes the next clue...

This contraption is made from two of the parts that make up my three-tier steamer and I burn tea light candles inside it so I have some place to warm plates or keep the tea pot warm while the kettle is on the stove. I simply invert the top tier to give it a flat surface for the teapot or can leave it the correct way round for sitting plates over to keep them and their contents warm rather than switch on the mini oven. (Last time I included this in a post was when demonstrating how uneconomical it was to attempt to warm a room using candles in the wake of the resurgence of the 'candle heater' post on Facebook.)

And now the main reason for my belated post this evening - I have found myself an absolutely fabulous bargain sofa for the living room and have arranged for some help to collect it. (Neighbours are helping tomorrow night.) My only niggling worry is that there's yet another storm howling around us at the moment, bringing more torrential rain and hail, but the sofa will have to be moved over 20 miles in an open top trailer... I suspect we may need to reschedule if this awful weather continues unabated. I have until Saturday to collect my fantastic sofa that I've only seen in photos - it looks stunning to me! The current owner is giving this away and I feel so lucky at finding such a treasure in the free ads that it is ridiculously exciting! :)

Right now, I am like a kid awaiting Santa, desperate to see my new piece of furniture! It will provide a place to sit other than the futon bed settee that has served as a couch for the past 11 years and travelled around 5 houses with me. (That deserves a bit of rest and recuperation.) The 'new' sofa also has storage underneath it - oh the joys! Even more storage for my crafting goodies, magazines, books and whatever; I really cannot wait to see this! If it needs a cover throwing over it, I'll use one of my big knitted blankets.

Tomorrow also sees the expected delivery of my bargain carpet. If 'Lady Luck' smiles on me, there may be a 'proper' living room beginning to take shape in time for my next blog update.

Frugal Footstools and Crafty Storage Space

Upcycling, Recycling and Making Creative Storage Furniture

Get the kettle on, pour a cuppa and get comfy. I'll apologise now for doing two posts today (second one to follow) but this is, after all, extremely frugal February and blogging is free.

We are making some progress with the eco-renovations, albeit very slowly. The 'new' living room has now been painted using up what we had available to us: needless to say, it's magnolia walls, white ceiling and white woodwork. I have a few bits and pieces that can be reused, like a curtain rail, curtains, book shelves and a chair rescued before it found its way to the tip, plus I have the £4 mirror I bought from a charity shop last year and a little coffee table that got diverted here rather than being binned.

Ideally, I want a warm comfy room with plenty of storage space so I can sit by the fireside with my feet up, relaxing and reading, knitting, crocheting or rug making. A storage foot stool was definitely on the list of wants, even if it wasn't an absolute necessity.

I now have a storage footstool and I love it!

A few years ago, I invested in several large plastic storage containers. These have been used for dry goods in the kitchen pantry, breakables during house moves and paperwork that now no longer needs to be kept, so I am clearing them out. This afternoon, I managed to empty the first of three. Most of the contents were recycled into fuel for the fire, but I did find a few handy bits and pieces for future use.

The cat found a use for almost everything!

First box emptied and a rummage through my fabric and crafting stash soon netted me enough to complete the project that I have had in mind for some time.

About to tackle the lid

Hot glue guns are fabulous - I've had mine for several years now and still manage to either burn my fingers or stick stuff to my nails but I wouldn't be without it. So, hot glue gun at the ready, along with an old pillow, part of old fleece blanket and some velour/velvety fabric I inherited from my late aunt, who had obviously been curtain making at some point.

The box lid will become the top of my storage foot stool

First, I glues the pillow at each corner and attached it to the lid of my plastic storage container. The overall dimensions of the container are approximately 70cm x 40cm x 40cm, so these are by no means small. The padded lid was then covered in the fleece and glued around the inside rim to hold it all in place.

The only bit of sewing was for the main cover

Next, I measured and cut my brown fabric to fit all the way around the container and then machine stitched it together for quickness. I could easily have hand sewn it but the novelty of having access to my inherited sewing machine hasn't worn off me yet. :)

Adding a decorative finishing touch

After covering the container in the velour, I secured it underneath and inside using glue. Among my stash, I found some braid and stuck that across the top of the lid. I'd have liked it to have gone all the way around the lid, but didn't have enough of it. (Aunt must have made lampshades, as there is a box filled with off cuts of this sort of stuff - it was like a real treasure trove to me when cousin gave me it!)

My crafty storage footstool

The entire project took me less than 3 hours to complete, even allowing time to rummage for fabric, sew the cover and let the glue set before packing all my current crafting projects inside for easy access while sitting with my feet up in front of the fire. There is enough fabric left to make a second one almost identical to this one, barring having to use slightly different braid.

Extremely frugal February is already throwing up some fun activities to help protect the finances.

Shaggy Rag Rug Adventures

Frugal Rag Rugs

Several years ago, I began making myself a little rag rug using a piece of hessian cut from a peanut sack and some spare fabric from curtains and pillow slips.

 

I had great plans of completing before moving onto something more adventurous.

 

I photographed it.

 

I blogged about it.

 

I never finished it because I gave it to a neighbour who needed something to cushion a rock beneath her garden pond so it didn't rip the liner.

That was in February 2010 and this is now almost February 2014. Making my rug has been on my 'things to do' list for quite some time, so I decided, in October 2013, that this would be the year of the frugal rug and perhaps I could even encourage a few others to join in the fun; I bought 5 metres of brand new hessian/jute from a seller on eBay. (It cost less than £10 including delivery.)

 

28th January 2014

This week, despite having so many other things to do and yet still managing to avoid doing them, I cut a 2 metre length of the hessian and decided it was now or never! I started my rug on Tuesday 28th January 2014. As you can see, I have no fancy tools. I have half a wooden clothes peg sharpened to a point and used as a prodding tool.

 

This is going to be a mammoth task but it is one that I am going to derive much pleasure from over the coming months, or perhaps even years!

 

To begin with, I folded the jute in half then folded it again so I

29th January 2014

could easily mark the centre point. In that centre, I drew my magic circle that will lead me to my final destination - the completion of the rug. I have all sorts of stories and pictures in my head that I won't woven into this piece, but I think starting with a yellow circle is a good way to go - it represents the sun. I love geometric shapes and mosaics, I love patchwork and random colours, I love life unfolding to tell its own story, rather than trying to lay out a basic format from start to finish. My grand daughter may want to help, friends or other family members may want to add a few rags of their own, so each little part will have its own story to tell.

 

30th January 2014

Next, I added four more circles, each with a smaller circle within it, to represent earth surrounded by whatever you want to imagine - sky, water, wind, atmosphere - this will be a rug that will have the ability to make people imagine all sorts of possibilities. Four more circles of mixed greens and reds represent anything you want them to - life and love, perhaps.

 

Yesterday, someone sent me a pretty picture of a unicorn, so I have now drawn rearing unicorns on either side of my centre piece.

 

30th January 2014

The unicorns will take a bit of prodding to get them looking anywhere near how I would like them to look, but I'm in no hurry and am enjoying working on this project. They make me think of folklore and fantasy, conjuring up images of flowers, rainbows and mysticism, so who knows where that could lead. Perhaps I need some trees and birds, too.

 

The first unicorn, 30th January 2014

The unicorn is coming along slowly, I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt. I have almost finished the navy material I'm using to edge it, so I'll move to green for the bottom half.

I'll add more photographs as the rug progresses but I can tell you now, I have no pre-conceived ideas about how this will eventually look - it really is a crafting adventure into the unknown. It's a work in progress and the final design will be reflect life as it happens, chats with friends and memories recalled during the making of this rug. One day, it might take pride of place in the living room and stay with me to become a family heirloom but, equally, it could simply become a homemade gift for someone else.

 

NYK in Frugaldom

How to Make a Christmas Candle Lantern from a Tin Can

DIY Frugal Festive Lanterns

A Simple step-by-step guide to making rubbish decorations.

Tin can lantern

It's time to deck the halls and get creative with some kitchen rubbish! In this case, it's empty tin cans. The following items are what you will need to create your very own, individually designed, unique candle lantern. Adult supervision needed for any younger members of the family trying this.

 

Essential tools for the job

As you can see, you need a hammer, a nail, a pair of work gloves to protect your fingers from freezer burns (or being hit too hard with the hammer) and a mat, towel or cloth of some sort to help prevent the tin can from sliding when you strike it. But look closer at the tin can - it isn't actually empty.

 

Cans of water in the freezer

These are four cans I had for recycling this week - two beans, one spaghetti, one cat food. I peeled off the paper labels, washed the tins, filled them with water to about a centimetre below the top of the can and then popped them into the freezer overnight.

 

Making the dot to dot design

Next, you can either draw a simple design onto the can or else cut one out (use the reverse side of the labels) and tape it to the can, then following the lines to create your chosen design. Gently tap the hammer through the can and into the ice, which prevents the can from buckling or bending, making holes along the edge of your design. You can be as creative and intricate as you like, drawing patterns, objects or even stencilling, using different sizes of nails for better effect.

 

The lantern in my photos was done freehand, so it's far from perfect, but still looks effective with a lit candle inside it.  I use small tealight candles, but you need to be careful when lighting them on the bottom of the tins, best using a taper rather than risking burning yourself.

 

Added benefits: 

 

Cheap and easy to make

Creates a cosy little light that throws out designs on your walls

Emits some heat to help cheer you through the cold winter months.

 

Pop over into the crafting thread on the Frugal Forums or visit NYK's brand new Frugaldom page on Facebook page to share photos of your creations.

 

Have fun getting creative with your rubbish and always remember to keep sharp or hot objects out of reach of children.

 

Place the lanterns on heat-resistant surfaces, out of reach of children and where they cannot be knocked over by boisterous or inquisitive pets.

 

NYK, Frugaldom