Frugal Shop

Frugal Shop

In an effort to revive yet another dormant project from past frugal challenges, I rediscovered the old Frugal Shop and it came as a bit of a surprise that I still had the site. I think several of us set these up when the powers that be decided to give all new start or small businesses without web sites the opportunity to claim a free one through their ‘Get British Business Online’ challenge.

As you’ll see by the top left counter, today marks 457 days since I launched the Clan McGonk enterprise – making hairy wee Scottish McGonks that have, since, been winging their way around the globe.

So now I need to shake up this site and make it earn me a little bit of income to help financially support Frugaldom. Bargain spots will be posted on www.frugalshop.co.uk as I spot them and I won’t be posting anything that I wouldn’t buy myself, so don’t go thinking this is a sell-out.

Visit the Frugal Shop now and you can subscribe to the updates so you never miss any of our offers.

Happy Haggis Day

In Honour of Robert Burns

Haggis McGonk

No self-respecting Scot can overlook the importance of Burns night on 25th January to commemorate and celebrate the life and works of Robert Burns, by way of the annual Burns supper of haggis, neeps and tatties. There may even be a drap o' whisky goin' doon the hatch!

There are literally millions of pages on the web dedicated to Robert Burns and his poetry, so I won't go into any of it here. Suffice to say, this is one Scottish bard who will never be forgotten. But I would like to remind you all that a haggis isn't just for Burns night and that a frugal house may serve a frugal meal any day of the year!

Frugalhagg is a fantastic alternative! You just mince and mix together all your meaty scraps and leftovers with diced onion, oatmeal and suet, season it with salt and plenty of pepper, wrap it in a floured cloth and boil it in a pan of water until it's done. It's a bit like a clootie dumpling but with a meaty, spicy taste rather than a fruity, sweet taste. I'd suggest making it about a third of the size of the normal clootie dumpling.

I'll make some frugalhagg the first chance I get and do a step-by-step photo blog. Until then, you'll need to make do with a photo of the exceptionally cute Haggis McGonk included in this post.

NYK, Frugaldom

How to Make a Frugal McGonk in 10 Easy Steps

How to Make a Frugaldom McGonk

Some people accuse us Scots of being mean, but we prefer to think of ourselves as frugal. We try to lead a 'waste not, want not' lifestyle, here at Thrift Cottage, so every little bit of anything counts in the quest for frugal fun.

If you have anything left over that can be made into something else, then it can be rather fun getting crafty and making the most of what you've got.

I hope you find these easy to follow instructions fun and helpful. With the festive season almost upon us, why not add a bit of frugal fun to your decor or make a few little gifts for friends and family.

How to make your very own McGonk using nothing more than bits, bobs, scraps and offcuts.

MATERIALS

- Read more here

Bringing the Frugal Budget up to Date!

My Year so Far!



McGonks

End of the tax year has been and gone, my annual tax return is staring at me in pity and the annual statement of interest from the ISA is barely worth the paper, ink and postage it cost to get it here. In all honesty, the new financial year is already a disaster.

 

The business bank account, which is run in true frugal fashion without an overdraft facility, states credit interest = 0.00% while the possibility of running into an unauthorised overdraft would incur a 23% pa interest charge. It is all wrong! I don't blame anyone for charging through the teeth for unauthorised borrowing - it's a bit like stealing, isn't it? But not being able to earn interest on savings while the financial institutions are using our money is a disgrace!

 

The interest rates may have held for a ridiculously long time at their ridiculously low 0.5% historic low, but borrowing is NOT cheap! In fact, it has become so bad that many more, sadly, are turning to 'pay day' loans attracting phenomenal interest rates, rather than simply calling a halt to their own spending and reassessing their own spending patterns.

 

It's beyond me why anyone would want to have those sort of debts hanging over their heads rather than do without luxuries. I scratch my head so often that folks must think I have lice!

 

At the beginning of 2013, I listed all my personal challenges on here, but feel compelled to remind myself so I can take stock of the situation and see if I am making any real progress. Here goes!

 

1. Live on £4,000 for the year (2013 will be year 7 for this)
2. Grocery Challenge - included within the above total - increased to £1.25/person/day
3. Frugaleur Challenge - Establish a new micro-business
4. Get fitter, not fatter - always trying!
5. Hand make gifts for friends and family
6. Save all loose change
7. Eco-renovate the house without incurring any debt - this is a 5-year challenge, started in 2011
8. EEK - Everything Else Kitty - all other spending must be cost or cash neutral
9. Do without a car - cycle, walk or lift share for the full year
10. Tick off a few more items from the 'to do before 50' list.

Best to work through this numerically, but I can already see where I am failing and where my priorities for the second half of the year must lie.

1. £4,000.00 - I began the year with a household account balance of £4,000 and have tried my best to spend accordingly. After deducting approximately 25% of this for Council Tax, £145.50 for the TV licence (a luxury) and £165 for home insurance, I was left with £2,728.46 to 'live' for the full year. That's an average of £52 per week for the household. Winter was long and harsh, we were snowed in for about a week, lost power on numerous occasions and spent a small fortune on electricity trying to heat the place. Now, as of 14th June, I have £1,192.53 remaining to last until 31st December 2013. With 200 days remaining, if I am to succeed in this year's challenge, I have only £41.73 per week, on average, to spend!
2. GROCERY CHALLENGE - Since we're one less in our shared household this year, I thought I would be rash and increase the budget from £1 per person per day to £1.25, giving me a grand total of £912.50 to last the year. This includes toiletries, cleaning products and laundry products, so it's still quite a tight budget, but I know that it's part of my job to make it work - and work it must! I have £458.20 remaining and have just spent £32 via a Groupon offer - 135 luxury 3-ply toilet rolls with free delivery. Sorted in that department for the next year, at least, and I'm sure I can stretch the balance over the next 6 months by supplementing it with garden produce, even if we do need to eat copious amounts of salad leaves, rhubarb and blackcurrants, not to mention all the eggs produced by the hens ducks and quail. The homemade laundry 'detergent' is a must, as is bulk buying, batch cooking, preserving and taking advantage of bargains anywhere available.
3. FRUGALEUR CHALLENGE - This is really difficult because I had planned on making some spare cash from a craft-related project but then ended up selling the items to raise funds for a local charity. On the plus side, the new 'McGonks' (www.mcgonks.com) project paid for itself quickly, based on the fact that everything being used was either given to me or bought cheaply as offcuts or surplus. A serious effort will now be made to try and make it financially sustainable while also helping fundraise for charity. Besides that, it ties in well with items 4, 5 and 10 of my personal challenges list. (£675 cash for charity raised to date.)
4. GET FITTER, NOT FATTER - We don't need expensive gym memberships here in the frugal living sector. We live in a fairly rural location within easy reach of lochs and seashore. We can walk, cycle and swim without it costing us a penny and any cut back on food consumption can only mean further savings on the grocery budget. A frugal diet is fairly healthy anyway, as it means cooking everything from scratch and growing whatever fresh produce you can either in pots or in the garden. Making the McGonks has helped this challenge as we now have a photographic diary of where they go, a fundraising challenge and even a frugal trip to the top of Ben Nevis, which was fabulous! Tied in nicely with item 10 on my list!
5. HANDMAKE GIFTS - I'm notoriously bad at this as I am not very artistic and don't really have any real talent for crafting. I can do the basics of knitting, sewing, embroidery, crocheting and other stuff like that but actually getting my head down and concentrating on it for any length of time seems beyond me - I talk too much! If there's no company, I get easily distracted and lose focus on what's supposed to be getting done. Must try harder - I wonder if the nieces and grandchildren would like McGonks for Christmas? I doubt it very much! :)
6. SAVE ALL LOOSE CHANGE - Still saving it religiously, dropping it into the appropriate jars for coppers or silver but spending so little cash means there's seldom much left over by way of change. Still, it mounts up into pounds eventually, then can be spent on something more substantial.
7. ECO-RENOVATION - That's now two full years since we came here and we have managed to save quicker than we spend while doing little bits about the property. The new roof is on the back of the house, we now have proper windows in kitchen and bathroom, we have running water, electricity, a multi-fuel stove, the main hallway refloored, new cupboards in the temporary kitchen and the outbuilding has been rebuilt. The house still looks like a bombsite to the uninitiated, what with no plaster on walls, no ceiling in living-room and the old fireplace currently ripped out to leave a hole in the wall, but progress is slowly being made without too much waste. Indeed, the old fireplace has already been turned into another spiral herb bed in the garden.
8. EVERYTHING ELSE KITTY (EEK) - This has taken a bit of a battering, as I'm aiming for a cash neutral year. Things that get paid from this include keeping the poultry, reclaiming and rebuilding the garden, National Insurance contributions and all manner of things not included in a basic household budget. The weekend holiday trip to Fort William, for example, had to come from this, as had several items of necessary clothing for the walk up Ben Nevis. It's the 'everything else' things that mount up and can kill a budget stone dead before we've even had time to notice. When you look at it from the point of view of having £8.75 per person per week to spend on groceries, toiletries and cleaning products, you can see the massively negative impact the likes of a takeaway meal might make, or the fact that the poultry may stop laying for a month but they still need feeding and bedding. Unexpected events crop up, charities need supporting, a pet needs a vet, a car needs repairs... the list is endless. Thankfully, we no longer have a car to drain funds but the extras still mount up, especially when things in the household need replacing. Year to date I have spent £445.29 but have only accrued £340.08 in extra income, generated from cash-back sites, sales of surplus eggs and, lest we forget, the whopping great £108 compensation from the power company after the 4-day power cut during the snow storms. The amount of interest generated from my meagre ISA savings is negligible, amounting to a ridiculous £1.50 per £1,000 per month! It's an absolute joke! As for the Premium Bonds, (I kept a few) they have won me nothing for the past 2 years! My free Lotto tickets, on the other hand, have given me three wins! Such a pity that the £5 or so had to be split twenty ways in the syndicate! Bottom line is that my 'EEK' is currently running in deficit at a rate of £105.21 This needs to be remedied soon, as the next load of poultry feed is due this month! Oh, and I also bought a tent! (Don't even ask!)
9. DO WITHOUT A CAR - So far, so good! Working from home helps, as there's no commute anywhere, but as the sunny weather approaches, the urge to wander is creeping back in again. The shortest route to the local village store is just over 7 miles round trip, so cycling is much faster than walking and I'm limited by what I can carry on a bike, so spending is capped. However, getting further afield is going to be a challenge. I have several places I'd like to visit but each involves at least a 20 to 30 mile trip, so this challenge is being tied in with numbers 3 and 4 of my challenge list. I should get fitter cycling and I can thoroughly research my Frugaleur project by bike. One day, I may even invest in a newer bike.
10. THE BUCKET LIST - Well, it's kind of a bucket list, it's my list of things to do before I'm 50, developed from my list of things to do before 40, which eventually became my list of thing to do before 45. One of those things was to go up Ben Nevis, so that was happily achieved on 25th May, at the same time as promoting the McGonks and fundraising for the local lifeboat. Also, I'd never been hostelling before, so that was another new experience. I found it a little expensive compared to camping, so bought a friend's tent when she was decluttering. I am sure 'tales of the tent' will be forthcoming in the not so distant future.

That's it, my 1 to 10 of challenges and the current state of the budget. I'd like to become more pro-active in the moneymaking side of things but creating the microholding and developing the McGonks project now is my job, so where do I draw the line? I have no more binding contracts - last one was paid up to March - so now it's time to take the bull by the horns and go it alone, so to speak, in the self-sustainable living stakes. How difficult can it be? :)

Please feel free to ask any questions and join me in the forum at http://frugaldom.myfreeforum.org if you'd like to discuss any of the items mentioned in this blog.

A Haggis isn't just for Burns Night

HAPPY HAGGIS McGONK

In celebration of Burns Night on 25th January, I prepared a few Haggis MGonks as part of my Frugaldom's 'frugal entrepreneur' project. I have highlighted the fnal lines of this rather famous poem by Robert Burns, where he clearly states that the way to a girl's heart is through a haggis and what better way to put a smile on a loved one's face than to present them with the cutest, most frugal, handmade Haggis they'll probably ever see?

Haggis is a traditionally frugal dish, one that uses up plenty of what others may overlook and all bulked out with oats to form a tasty meal. There's nowt beats it, especially with a heap o' mashed neaps and tatties - seasonal produce that should have come from the garden. Sadly, this year, we have no turnips and don't even have a haggis for Burns night, as I've had no way of getting to a shop that sells them. Even an Aldi haggis would do - must put out the call now to see if anyone can beag me a couple before they all fly off the shelves!

 

Address to a Haggis

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye worthy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit' hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect scunner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis

(Limited edition Haggis McGonk is available to buy for £5 plus P&P. If there are any still for sale, they should be listed in the Frugal Shop or in the McGonks auction at http://frugaldom.ebid.net/ )

Reminiscing in Frugaldom - Part II

Rolling back the frugal years... to the FT.com

 

As suggested in Part I, the real 'troubles' at NYK towers didn't really begin until after Y2K had arrived. 1999 was similar to 2012, in as much as there were doomsday soothsayers whining and groaning about the end of the world being nigh. Apparently, they thought all computer technology would halt on the last stroke of midnight, as we went through Hogmanay 1999 and into the 21st Century. Satellites would crash from the sky, communications and utilities systems would crash and all sorts of apocalyptic nasties would occur.

 

My 11 year-old son had met with a nasty playground accident late in 1999 that led to him needing home care for several months. This had meant handing over the NYK reins to a third party, providing them with transport, laptop and access to all the relevant information.

 

Someone was recommended to me, I did what research I could, I checked out their credentials, I took them on freelance, then discovered the truth! The first I knew was when said individual met with some sort of accident in which the provided laptop was wrecked, losing all the files. This was followed shortly afterwards by a series of even more extraordinary events, ranging from the emergence of bogus advertising clients to written threats and the implementation of a funded campaign to put us out of business. (Campbell, if you are reading this, thank you! You opened my eyes to the truth once and for all - trust nobody!) But lest anyone gets confused, the newspaper company responsible for the put-us-out-of-business campaign was NOT the Financial Times, but I'm getting to that.

 

We pulled the entire publishing project after distributing several thousand free copies over Christmas 1999, then switched everything online, kicking up a gear on the money challenges, Cyberdosh in particular. It really made my day when I read the following quote in the FT.com that same month:

"... readers interested in value-enhancing ideas should log on at ideas@cyberdosh.com..."  this written by none other than the chairman of W. H. Smith, himself! I was inundated with enquiries and offers!

 

Y2K saw the dawning of a new era. I travelled south with a friend and met with some business people who, in true Dragons' Den style, assured me that Cyberdosh was worthy of major investment - I was stunned by the names of the proposed investors! Figures were mentioned, directorships discussed and certain conditions laid down that would need to be met. For the uninitiated, these business angels may look good on TV when they invest small fortunes in new businesses, but we see only the edited highlights. We never hear of the legalities or formalities that can tear families apart, wreck marriages and create merry hell in so many ways that it's best I don't even begin to explain here.

 

2001 - Did I make the right decision?

 

2003 - Relocated - Divorce finalised

 

2007 - Debts almost cleared and most of my 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 challenges are still online for anyone to read.

 

2011 - Threw every penny I had into a joint-savings pot to buy a fixy-up that I named 'Thrift Cottage'. This became my 10th address in ten years, having moved around Britain from Lanarkshire to Aberdeenshire to Suffolk to Wigtownshire. You can do the arithmetic for yourself.

 

At the top of the Merrick for my 48th birthday



So, here I am, a debt free divorcee, fast approaching 50, still housesharing, but now as part-owner of a 200-year-old, partially-renovated, terraced cottage on a quiet street that has nothing more than a post box and a 'no coins accepted' phone box. The household of three dropped to two earlier this year, I have a tiny (self-employed) income and a massive chip on my shoulder that's made up of many smaller chips. A few weeks ago, the car got scrapped and it isn't being replaced.

 

2013 brings a whole new set of challenges, none less than attempting to manage without a car when there's no bus service and the nearest shop is over 3 miles from here. To replace the car, we have secondhand bikes. Work is slow, income is falling, prices of most things are rising, rural living doesn't lend itself to finding bargains, home repairs need doing, the house needs heating and we still need to live.

 

I will try my best to document the progress as honestly as possible throughout the coming year and if anyone wants to share the challenge of frugal living and/or working, please join me in the daily forums at frugaldom.myfreeforum.org

 

As you'll have guessed, come hell or high water, I fought to keep NYK Media - and won! But in so doing, lost home, husband and the small fortune I'd have made if only I'd been able to meet those blasted terms and conditions.

 

29th December 2012 - I'm still asking myself the same question! Did I make the right decision?

 

Who knows! Only time will tell.

 

For the coming year, I have set my household challenge budget, once again, at £4,000 for the full year - breakdown of costs listed in the forums - but this time, I'm including council tax. This accounts for almost 25% of the entire budget. Energy costs account for even more and groceries for almost as much, so it's an extremely tight budget. We all need a challenge in life and proving that money isn't the be all and end all of everything is mine. I hate the stuff, but we can't live without it!

 

Coupled with the frugal living challenge, I have my frugal working challenge, knowing as the Frugaleur Challenge. This entails earning extra income from home by way of a brand new business idea. For 2013, my new business revolves around McGonks - handmade Scottish gonks. But their tale will be told elsewhere.

 

2013 is my WTF year - WORSE THAN FRUGAL!

The Frugal Festivities



FRUGAL CHRISTMAS

It's been a quiet couple of days here and most unlike Christmas, owing to the sunshine after all the rain we've had recently!

This has been the first ever Christmas that I haven't spent with family, so it was rather strange. Not having a car means no longer being able to just jump into it and drive to visit anyone and none of my family lives within walking or cycling distance. So, for a number of reasons, I haven't, yet, seen any of the members of my immediate family.

Christmas Eve brought Santa, unseen, at some point to leave a heap of goodies! I'm now the proud owner of some 'bling' (mud guards, a back rack, panniers, LED lights, metal cleaner and a bicycle pump) to jazz up the £40 mountain bike I'd bought. This is also classed as a frugal investment, as it means I'll can carry all my workstuff safely on the bike down to the village and have space to bring back essentials, like milk. Still no basket for the front, though, so a fast, frugal solution has now been found.

Christmas Day dawned bright and sunny! How odd, but how convenient!

My cycling companion is the long-suffering, second occupant of 'Chez Frugaldom', my house-sharing partner who was talked into foregoing a shared car in favour of having a bike. A secondhand one was duly arranged for delivery a few weeks ago - before he could change his mind! He wasn't going away for the holidays, so the sunny Christmas Day saw us out cycling as soon as all the festive phone calls had been made. Indeed, by the time we returned home, it was sunset, so dinner wasn't served until after 6pm!

The frugal festive feast comprised homemade soup, followed by roast chicken dinner served with all the usual Christmas trimmings, barring the brussels sprouts - I didn't grow any this year - and bread sauce, which I hate. A friend makes braised red cabbage, which we share, so we had that along with the stuffing, pigs in blankets, cranberry sauce, honey roast potatoes and carrots (no parsnips here this year) followed by homemade clootie dumpling. We were soon stuffed! Mind you, between then and bedtime, I still managed to squeeze in some biscuits and cheese, then crisps and dips!

I think I may have gained a stone in weight just over the past couple of days!

As I said previously, I still have no basket for the front of my bike but what I did get for Christmas, was a posh new handbag from my mum. I'm sure she felt sorry for me when she saw I was still using the same one that I'd rescued from the charity shop a couple of years ago, but I like it, it's real leather and has sufficient space for everything I need, including my camera. Guess what I did with the old one after receiving the lovely new one? That's right, I strapped it onto the front of my bike! Now I can safely carry my camera, emergency supplies, polythene cloak, mini carton of juice and even a banana for snacking on, right there in my hand/bike bag. I'll fashion a better connection for it soon, but it serves the purpose for now.

Christmas night was a recycling night, winding all the paper and cardboard packaging into kindling sticks for the fire whilst sitting in front of said fire, watching TV. I salavaged any bubble wrap or polythene bags for using elsewhere and plan on using the basket (savoury hamper made up by daughter) to store sewing bits and bobs once it's emptied.

Boxing Day dawned fresh and bright, so we were, once again, able to get out and enjoy the surrounding countryside, this time with a stop off for a coffee and catch up with 'neighbours', if you can call them neighbours when they're over 6 miles from here.

It was quite a bitter breeze or, in Burns spaik, 'bleak December's winds' were 'baith snell an' keen!' Looking across towards the Galloway Hills, we could see traces of snow lying, surrounded by fast falling clouds that were heading our direction!

The homeward trip was a little slower, owing to my lack of fitness resulting in total lack of speed when cycling up even the tiniest slops, so we arrived home about ten minutes before the rain, which I feel was most fortunate! My daughter and son think I'm a little crazy for reverting to a bike but getting fit for summer should be fun, as my eldest grand daughter is more my 'mini-me' than her mum's - she loves ponies, got a bike for Christmas and, at the age of 8, already has her very own little sewing machine, crafting boxes and a love of recycling! (Very proud granny!)

Boxing Day dinner was a near repeat of Christmas dinner to use up all the leftovers and tonight, it's chicken (again) to use up the last of that! I'm rather glad that I've invested in a little piece of beef for New Year!
I hope everyone has had a lovely, festive, frugal few days and that the coming weekend will see you prepared to welcome in a brand new year. Many of the 2013 challenges have been posted to site already and, as you know, my personal Frugaleur Challenge for 2013 is to create a little cottage-industry style business from handcrafting and selling McGonks. I now have a whole unit stuffed full of fabric offcuts, wool, stuffing materials, threads, buttons, needles, crochet hooks and countless other bits and pieces that will be recycled into frugal Scottish gonks and am now applying to have my economical arty-crafty project considered for inclusion in 'The Big Burns Supper' next month, as part of their art/craft vending machine project. It's all very exciting, but I'll keep you all posted on progress.

Today - I've been catching up with work and washing, the dehumidifier from H's studio has been wheeled indoors to help dry wet laundry and I'm now having all the bits and pieces fitted to my bike, ready to tackle a fully-laden post office run. Fortunately, if it's raining, Royal Mail has a superb website that allows me to pay for and print all the labelling needed for sending out work stuff and we have a post box in the lane, so bad weather needn't hamper proceedings. If it doesn't fit in the box (McGonks don't fit through the slot), I hand mail straight to the postman when he comes to empty it. It's great!

Off to check the stock now, as the remainder of the Christmas chicken is being turned into the next batch of soup.

Keep on frugaling! It's frugal fun for everyone and it's the fun part that makes it all worthwhile.
Until next time,
Frugaldom

How to make... Recycled Paper Money Banks

Fun With Papier Mache

Selection of Sealed Money Pots made as part of our first bank-making challenge

Hobbies and games can cost a fortune, so save your cash and all the paper, including gift wrappings, that you can. Now get a free hobby that the whole family can enjoy and take part in our 2013 sealed pot challenge in the Frugaldom Forums

As a longtime frugaler, I have also been a great fan of recycling and that doesn't always just mean separating green, clear and brown glass or putting your old papers in the appropriate bins. It can mean making one thing out of another, turning waste into something fun and/or practical.

As you'll see from the above, several of the frugal living challengers started by making sealed pots and banks from paper. These were made in 2007 as part of a previous challenge, but some are still going and look as good as new! The challenge is still running and will continue into 2013.

To help get you started, here's what you'll need to make your first sealed money pot or animal bank:

EASY PAPER MACHE ANIMAL BANK RECIPE - NOT TOXIC

1 inflated balloon
Egg carton or similar for snouts/noses/feet
Scrap paper for ears, tails etc
Paint for decorating - emulsion, poster paints etc or else use coloured paper on final layer of papier mache.
1 cup flour
3 cups water
Newspapers/magazines/wrapping paper/old bank statements or bills (once you pay them) torn into strips.

Blow up your balloon
Cut the appropriate noses/feet, if needed, and attach them gently (with tape/paste/glue) to form the basic animal shape
Mix 1 cup water with one cup plain flour into a thick paste
Boil the other 2 cups of water in a pan, then stir in the above
Simmer for a few minutes, keep stirring (like making sauce)
Cool the paste before dipping the paper and sticking it to the balloon
Allow your creation to dry before painting it
Pierce top to burst the balloon and cut the slot for feeding in the money

Depending on the temperature and humidity of your house, these can take at least a few days to dry properly. Some people store them in airing cupboards, some sit them on shelves or racks over radiators, others simply leave them sitting some place dry for longer. It's best not to sit them in the kitchen or bathroom, where steam can build up and slow the drying process. You don't want the flour paste turning sour because it's taking so long to 'set'.

Once completely dry - it 'sounds' dry when tapped - you can paint it in whatever design you like.

You might also like to take a look at McGonks - our 2013 recycling enterprise using offcuts of fabric for arts and crafting.

Happy bank-making,
Frugaldom.

I Got Love-Bombed!

Festive Love Bombs and All That Stuff...

 

There's no other way of saying it, I got love-bombed last week! I'm still in shock, over-awed by what happened when someone detonated the love bomb. I was completely taken by surprise, totally unprepared and at the mercy of the postman and all he could carry to my mailbox!

 

During November, I set up the 2013 Frugaleur Challenge, launching it to coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week. It allows us to establish the ground rules and get a head's start before 1st January 2013.

 

This year's challenge, as I explained in a previous post, has been grossly increased to a whopping great £50 start-up budget and a 13 month period to plan, start-up, develop and grow a micro-business from home.

 

We of the frugal living brigade need to earn our income somewhere and there just never seems to be enough of it to go around, hence the continual series of mini-challenges going on throughout the year. Priorities are things like paying off any debts, overpaying motgages, saving loose change in sealed pots, shopping via cashback sites and pursuing all manner of activities in order to succeed at decluttering, making do, reducing, reusing and recycling.  For some, it is still a case of trying to keep up with the rent and monthly bills! Becoming, and staying debt free is the ultimate goal. Anything more than that is an absolute bonus.

 

So, for 2013, McGonks are my thing! I now have a website, Facebook page, blog, an adoption centre for rehoming my furry little friends and, this weekend, the launch of Kindle subscriptions to their stories, available via Amazon both here in UK and in USA.

 

Back to the love bomb - I have been talking McGonks non-stop for nearly a month now, while I scour Frugaldom and send out search parties to family and friends, looking for all sorts of bits and pieces suitable for my latest project. There had to be some spending, it was unavoidable - especially when I make treasure trove finds on places like eBid!

 

Well! While I have been busy beavering away at putting together a unique secret santa gift and creating my McGonk empire, I have been inundated with gifts of all shapes and sizes, replenishing my diminished crafting stocks and ensuring that the McGonk project gets off the ground.  Fellow frugal and crafting bloggers, I salute you! In the true spirit of the love-bomb, I shall, of course, 'pay it forward' at every opportunity and in any way possible.

 

Now I would like to mention a Christmas Crafting Competition, again being hosted by our friends over at Moneysupermarket.com. This should appeal to even the youngest crafters, as it's a Christmas card making contest. I think the McGonks might be able to pull a few bits and pieces together in order for Thrift Cottage to submit an entry, don't you? Details can be found here.

 

It's been another busy day here, what with all the McGonk challenge preparations, but I'm glad to say that they now have their own 'Clan McGonk' blog. (Feel free to follow, subscribe, read and share.) This is where all their news and great adventures will be recorded in 2013, as I don't want to swamp the frugal living blog with cute, furry, frugal gonks.

 

Finally, today is the last day of the stirring of the pink champagne-style fizz! It smells delicious and is just starting to bubble and ferment. It's ready for filtering and bottling, so that is tomorrow's job. I'll drain off the liquid through the jelly bag and then pour it through a paper coffee filter, just to ensure all the 'bits' are out of it. The colour is very rich, much more like a sparkling red wine than a pink champagne. At 15p per bottle, it's frugal fruity fizz no matter what colour it becomes. I may even transfer the strained fruit to the big pan and boil what's left of it into a jar of festive, gourmet jelly! After that, there probably won't be much fruit left for the compost or the worms.

 

Frugaldom

www.frugaldom.com

 

Frugal Fun with Crafting and Fast Food!

WHERE IS ALL THE TIME GOING?

 

garlandcannon (on hiatus) / Foter / CC BY

It's been a crazy month so far and we've only got to the 4th. I'm going round in so many circles that I'm getting dizzy from chasing my own tail - or tale, as the case may be. In fact, you could say that 'The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get!"

What with the car catastrophe, the launch of the Frugaleur Challenge, the arrival of a new month and the Moneyspermarket.com Secret Santa competition, the days are just flying past, like a rollercoaster ride that won't stop until 2013 arrives. Even at that, it's youngest member of the extended Frugaldom family's second birthday on Hogmanay (31st of December), so the celebrations will easily take us clear into the new year.

Festive shopping is always a bit different for frugal ruralites like us. For starters, we have no shops nearby, so it's always wise to plan ahead. This year, my plans have gone askew, as we now have no car to take us into town. It's very much a case of even more creative thinking and thanks, once again, to the glorious world of online shopping.

I've been trying to think what Frugal Queen would really like as her Secret Santa gift and am hoping that we have been so well matched in the competition that my thoughts may be similar to her's. This has given me free rein to shop like I'm in frugal cyber paradise, like the proverbial king (pardon the pun if you know me) selecting a gift fit for a frugal queen! As for the wrapping and packaging, well, that's another thing completely because I think I surpussed myself with the ingenuity of this! :)

Aside from this, I've been working hard at preparing the McGonks for their 2013 adventures, even managing to get as far as setting up the Frugaldom shop online at http://frugaldom.ebid.net  where the various little characters will be offered for sale. I completed 5 furry frugal pets and listed 4 of them yesterday, as a trial to opening the shop. I was delighted (and shocked) to discover three of the four had sold within 24 hours! Lucky for me, friends and fellow bloggers have pulled together and supplied me with a selection of bits and pieces to be recycled into more McGonks. I am honoured to associate with such a lovely bunch of people!

This morning, amongst the buttons, bows, ribbons and offcuts that have arrived trough my mailbox, I have set aside a lovely piece of  checked fabric that will be perfect for making miniature "Tam O'Shanters". (Scottish hats.) For those of you without the benefit of colour screen, the fabric is a combination of jade, wine, navy and yellow - I love it! Among the other goodies, a length of white trim from which I can salvage pompoms for adding to the hats.

Crafting is such fun, even when trying to develop it into work! I have been so busy 'playing' at working, that time slipped completely from my hands until well into the afternoon.

Food! Why do we always have to stop to eat? I sometimes feel like it's one mealtime after another with nothing in between! Speedy, hot food is a blessing in this house. Today we had wholemeal pitta sliced through and served with melted cheese and a spoonful of delicious chilli jam. Warming, filling, frugal and tasty! If you don't have pitta breads, use the outside slices from your loaves, tortilla wraps or ordinary bread rolls. The only reason we had pitta breads is because they are on offer at the moment, 3 packs for £1, and the spare packs got popped into the freezer. Frugal is as frugal does, we didn't even switch on the oven or grill, the filled pittas got wrapped in a bit of kitchen paper and popped into the microwave for a quick blast!

But back to the recycling and what's been dubbed my 'reco-arts' project. One tiny problem I thought I may have with recycling an assortment of 'stuff' into frugal pets (my clan of McGonks) is what I would do when mistakes get made. The solution to this, I am hoping to find out very soon, as just such a mistake got made.

Being a bit out of practice with the glue gun, as you already are aware, I inadvertently managed to glue my thumb nail to a pompom that I had just finished sticking onto a McGonk as a nose! (I can see the eyes rolling and hear the sniggering already!) Anyhow, it made a little bit of a mess trying to peel off the glue, resulting in the pompom growing, somewhat, as the wool was being teazed. Cue a hair-cut for the pompom to try and remove it and replace it... but that didn't go well, either!

I now have a pink McGonk with a shaved pompom for a nose!

'Wee Hughie' seems to have taken rather a shine to the missfit, leading me to believe that perhaps I should let her accompany him to his new home, a bit like a buy one, get another one free. I mean, LOOK AT THEM! I spotted the pair out in the garden just before dusk, snuggled up to one another by the heather that grows between the blueberry patch and the pond. And look closer... wee Hughie seems to have presented her with a beautiful bunch of flowers!

If anyone can think of a name for this little mop-capped misfit, please get in touch soon so I can get her 'birth certificate' completed, enabling her to accompany Hughie on his big adventure. I can't split them up, they're now inseparable!

Until next time,
Frugaldom.

Ruaidhri (Rory) McGonk! He's a bit like a Frugal Furby!

Having Furry Fun in Frugaldom

Ruaidhri (Rory) McGonk

Welcome to December! A little bit of the festive spirit has struck Thrift Cottage this week after making a positive start on the next frugal challenge, the 2013 Frugaleur Challenge. As you may have read previously, my plan is to design and make a family of recycled furry friends. Clan McGonk is my new frugal project.

A busy day was had by all, here in Frugaldom, as today saw the official opening of my daughter's new business! With no car and town 20 miles away, my friend 'Woo' collected me and we made a bit of a day of it, visiting both the charity shops, the supermarkets and the local shoe store, which had a sale on certain items.

We had a fabulous time, stocking up on things like UHT milk, pasta, porridge oats and rice - 40p per kilo (long grain) from Aldi, so my 5kg tub has been filled! In the shoe shop, I found a couple of pairs of shooting gloves at £2.99 per pair. (They're like fingerless gloves but have a flap attached that turns them into big mittens to keep your trigger finger warm.) Nobody here shoots, but we do get cold hands! Next up were the hats! Oh my! What fantastic furry hats they had, complete with ear flaps and all greatly reduced to such a tempting price that I had to have one! I opted for the full (mock) fur and 'Woo' went the whole hog and got the one with fluffy ears attached! Honestly, a couple of middle-aged ruralites set loose in a small market town can still get up to mischief and have plenty of fun! Poor daughter didn't know what to do or where to look when we popped back in to show off our new furry headgear! Having left home around 10am, we didn't get back until after 2pm and, even at that time, the roads were still frozen!

THANK YOU! (You know who you are.)

Postman had been by the time I got home and I had a super surprise awaiting me - a lovely selection of crafting items. I'm still over-awed by the generosity of others and cannot thank them enough, but rest assured I'll be spreading the love whenever I can, perpetuating the chain of giving and receiving. It's the aftershock of a love-bomb explosion, methinks! But this one kicked me into action!

Ruaidhri McGonk has arrived! I made him this evening from an off-cut of red fur fabric, stuffed with shredded remnants and his 'Tam 'o Shanter' hat is made from a scrap of tartan material received in today's box of goodies, along with the pom poms! (I love those!) Eyes, I bought as part of my initial investment for the challenge, feet are made from cardboard and we all had gooey, fluffy fun practicing with the glue gun, which has been stashed away in its box for the past 4 years! I'll need a bit more practice to get back up to speed with that, or else someone to pick googly eyes off my fingernails! :)

Ruaidhri ('Rory' in English) is the Gaelic word for 'Red King', which I feel is a very apt name for my first sample gonk. He's about 10cm tall and will be the first in a long line of Scottish frugal gonks, possibly with a few more little characters along the way. These McGonks aren't toys, oh no, these are very special little characters, each with their own story to tell. They even have their own Facebook page!

Stage one of this challenge
Has truly begun,
We're out for adventure,
We want to have fun!

Do you 'like' the Clan McGonk page? It can be found at www.facebook.com/ClanMcgonk

Clan McGonk is my entry into the 2013 Frugaleur Challenge, where we attept to create a small business from a minimum capital outlay, the object of the game being that we earn our initial investment back as soon as possible and, hopefully, turn a profit by the end of the annual challenge.

Have furry fun, frugaling!

Frugaldom.