The Joys of Cycling

Frugal living and green living aren’t always easy to combine so switching to bikes after giving up the car seemed like a good idea in 2011. Here we are, in 2014, and my £40 second hand bike has reached the point of uneconomical repair. No shame on it, after carting a variety of heavy ‘stuff’ like logs, groceries, paint and me about the place for the past few years. In the past year, I think it has done about 1,000 miles carrying extra weight.
This is what happened next – we really do live in times of plenty where everyone can pretty much have everything the need and even we of the frugal ilk can have much of what we want! Read more by clicking here…

Welcome to Frugal Living and my Annual Money Challenges

For the Benefit of Newcomers to my Concept of Frugaldom

Frugal living may not be for everyone and it does take quite a bit of explaining to some who can neither see the need, nor have ever experienced the need for trying it. But it is a lifestyle choice that's made by many, nonetheless.

Having already posted about my annual household budget - the £4,000 - I would now like to go over the cost implications of everything else that needs paying. Like I already said, frugal living gave us the ability to save for and buy a very cheap fixy-up over the space of a very short period of time but I did throw in my lot with A. N. Other to buy a 3-bedroom house with a big garden rather than a small flat with no garden. But no matter which way you look at it, £4,000 just won't last a year if you need to count in rent or mortgage and any outside the household expenses, which is why none of these things are included in my £4,000.00 However, this does include the costs of working from home, some of which are tax deductible at the end of each financial year. For everything else, I have a separate kitty, known as...

My Everything Else Kitty - E.E.K.

My Everything Else Kitty

There's no escaping the fact that life costs cash and we need to be really flexible in order to fit everything into the box that is our lifestyle. As you can see by the antics of the frugal puss, even she is a contortionist when it comes to making sure she gets in on the action - if, at first, you don't think you can fit something into your affordability box,  keep trying from different angles until you've found a way succeeding.

Everything else outside of the standard necessities are, for me, paid from my 'EEK'. This is the cash kitty that gets topped up by a tiny drip of interest from savings, gift certificates, points, cash back, winnings, sales of surplus eggs, de-cluttered goods and any cash gifts that happen to come my way at birthdays or Christmas time. Let's face it, keeping hens, ducks, quail, a cat and, now, two giant loppy-lug rabbits isn't through real necessity, its more for the fun than the frugality.

It's great having fresh eggs for cooking and baking but we can't possibly eat them all, so I trade many of them for other things and need to raise any extra cash to cover the costs of feeding the feathered and furry friends, keeping them all bedded down at night and keeping them healthy. I also have my wormery, the pet worms that help recycle household waste into liquid fertiliser that cucumbers seem to thrive on, judging by the enormous crop we had last year.

But how does my 'EEK' work in real terms?

Last year ended with an overall balance of £39.70, so that has been carried over and popped into the 'EEK' savings. On top of that, I have a voucher balance of £30.54 in my Amazon account and have just requested payment of another £8 worth of Amazon vouchers via Topcashback*, which gives me cash back on anything I buy using links from their website. There's also £7 of credit lying in my Approved Food* account, which will more than cover the postage of my next order when I need heavy, long shelf-life goods - they normally do regular offers on bread flour, which is how I can bake a loaf for around 25p.

Cashback Credit Cards

The use of credit cards may be seen by some as incurring debt but I have one golden rule - if I can't afford to pay something in full at the time then I don't put it on the credit card. Online shopping and being self-employed means that I have some added protection by using a credit, as opposed to a debit, card, so absolutely everything goes onto it that possibly can - even my 12 months' BT line rental. Why? Because as long as I pay in full within the interest free timeframe, I get an automatic 1% cash back that costs me nothing and gets paid in a lump sum around the end of each financial year.

Spending £4,000 on the household budget almost exclusively paying by card means brings almost £40 of free cash into the 'EEK' by April of each year, plus whatever else I have paid for by this method. While renovating, almost all of the building materials have been paid this way and in addition to that the livestock feeding, garden-related purchases and any extras that can be added get paid this way. Last year's free money courtesy of the credit card company amounted to £68.94 and that's not to be sneezed at when you see cheap flights, train fairs, ferry fairs or short breaks advertised for less!

All these little bits and pieces add up over the year and, with luck and careful spending, can cover everything else I need to buy. Sales of surplus eggs would normally cover the cost of feed and bedding or else what I exchange for the eggs helps reduce the grocery budget. It is a simple case of not buying anything unless we can realistically afford it and if we can't afford it (or don't see the need to buy it) we can attempt to make it.

Being self employed means keeping up with National Insurance payments, so I have just paid out £70.20, which covers 6 months. This is not part of my household running costs, so does not impact on the £4,000. It is a miniscule sum but it is contributing to my old age pension, so I have no qualms about paying it, even on a voluntary basis when profits aren't sufficient to warrant any further deductions. My monthly savings bond is paid from what I no longer spend on cigarettes and anything else is absolutely mine to do with as I please, even if it's just a few pennies left in my (homemade) purse.

Use it up, Don't Bin it, Burn it or Bury it.

My attempt at zero waste failed dismally owing to the amount of plastic packaging that's used by many companies. Plain brown cardboard is great as it gets rolled up and used in the fire, but plastics are a total pain and need to be binned if it isn't of the type that I can reused - meat packaging, for example! 

We have an open fire and a stove, so anything that is safe to burn gets recycled into fuel and used to heat the house, boil the kettle and even cook food. Recently, I was learning a bit more about recycling wood shavings into eco-fuel and I'm now wondering if it would work using the shavings from the rabbit cages and hen houses, but I'm not too sure how easy it would be to dry the blocks once they are made, or how smelly they might be to make while soaking them for a month at a time - time will tell!

I have a Paper Brick Maker* and it's great for experimenting by adding in things like dried leaves, twigs and shredded paper but, again, the blocks take a long time to dry. I guess I should really try much harder at making a stock pile of these during summer sunshine to help combat rising costs of winter coal. I shall pledge now to make an attempt on the eco-fuel from shavings using this method.

Photos by B.B. Photography



This was our local village main street when the storm surge hit at high tide on Friday (photos taken by a pal's brother), so let's hope things don't get any worse over the coming days. Now I need to wind this up and be prepared for the next storm that seems to be heading our way - we are almost at the top of the hill, so no sea surge reaches us, just the likelihood of power outages and the steam in the garden bursting its banks if the storm force winds drive in torrential rain at the same time as high tide.

The West coast has been taking a real battering recently and the next potential hit isn't looking any less ferocious, so the flasks, candles, torches and hot water bottles are all at the ready plus a stack of wood piled by the stove and an open invitation extended to anyone who may be adversely affected to head up the hill to Frugaldom.

Stay safe, folks, and never forget that no matter how little money you have, your chances of subduing Mother Nature when she is throwing a strop are the exact same as any millionaire - appreciate what you have while you have it and make the most of the important things in life that money cannot buy.

NYK, Frugaldom

PS: We're playing at 'planks'
Several of us take part in whatever free fitness fun we can find, so visit us in the Frugal Forums if you would like to take part. Right now, we're doing the '30 Day Plank Challenge' to prove to ourselves that we do have core muscles and to start toning them up in time for spring.

*I can earn a few extra points or pounds when friends join and use sites via my referral links

#Win with NYK - What Type of Savvy Shopper are You?

What Type of Savvy Shopper are you and what are 'Freedom Rewards'?

I’m a Bargain Hunter Gatherer and proud of it!

Frugaldom is giving you the chance to learn about Freedom Rewards while taking a short quiz to determine what type of savvy shopper you are, plus the chance to win £60 of Amazon vouchers, courtesy of our sponsors at Barclaycard. 

A new consumer study carried out by Barclaycard - which processes nearly half of all card transactions in the UK – together with consumer experts at Brunel University, shows that the recent economic climate has made a lasting impact on how we approach shopping and saving money. Bagging a bargain goes far beyond just saving cash, people now place far greater value on the emotional investment of smart spending, giving rise to our four new modern shopping 'tribes'.

•  The Bargain Hunter Gatherer
•  The High Street Pounder
•  The Screen Saver 
•  The Profit Prophet

I took the quiz and am pleasantly surprised at how accurate the results are! Now it’s your turn to see what you think and share your views. An extra £60 to spend is a much appreciated opportunity and, thanks to our sponsors, we have just that!

 

Take part in the quiz here

Edited in: Results of the free draw can be found here

(Original image URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mukumbura/4052671706/)

Frugal Gardening and Glamorous Gold

Absolutely Fabulous!

Middle of the year after completing the tax return is always a good time for assessing your income and expenditure. You know if you have enough in the kitty to afford the summer holiday or even get things done about the house and garden. It's an absolutely fabulous time to seek out bargains and even look in awe at the ultimate in glamour garden wear...

 

GOLD HUNTER WELLINGTON BOOTS!

 

I kid you not! Here they are in all their golden glory - sadly being discontinued by our Capital city's wellie makers, which seems such a shame seeing as I have only just discovered them. Right now, you can buy a pair of these genuine Hunters for less than £35!

 

Don't get me wrong, I didn't invest in a pair, but I do see good footwear as a long term investment. I simply couldn't warrant such a rash spend while spending on other things. (Aren't gardens addictive once you start seeing what you can BUY for them? My addiction is quickly being curtailed and moulded into one of copycatting, using whatever I can lay my hands on to make similar stuff' without having to buy it. But I digress, yet again. So, if anyone wants to get me a glitzy pair of gold Hunter welly boots them for my next birthday, feel free to try and locate a size 6. I shall treasure them with 'gilty' pleasure.

 

There are other stunning colours available at around the £35 mark but before launching into full blown 'must have' mode, there is a way of bringing that price down even further... here's how:

 

 

By registering through a site like *Topcashback you can visit your chosen online stores via their links and qualify for discounts. Better still, these discounts are paid to you I cash or, as per my preferred method, you can receive a further 5% on top of your cash back by taking it as an *Amazon voucher.

 

 



 

 This evening, I was placing an order through Gardening Direct, as they have a half price sale on and always have some fantastic monthly offers. My basket was bursting, as we frugalers tend to play IE Windows shopping quite often - filling our baskets with all the things we want to buy and then emptying them again - or is that just me? I did leave a couple of items in there but that's another blog post. Anyhow, I spotted the glamorous golden wellies and would have added a pair to my basket had there been any of the correct size. (Probably just as well that there weren't!) At £34.99 they were just too tempting. Here goes for the discounts...

Deducting the future £3.50 cash back brings them down to £31.49, less another 17p for switching cash back to an Amazon voucher, we're now down to £31.32 for a pair of top brand name wellies that can retail at closer to THREE TIMES that price in certain stores. But wait... there's more! If I paid using a 1% cash back credit card, which is seeing only the original £34.99 price tag, that's another 17p off the overall cost, bringing us down to £31.15 - not bad for a pair of Wellington boots that are classy enough for festivals, glitzy enough for fancy dress, comfy enough to walk miles in and durable enough to give you years of pleasure while working in your microholding. And what's even more fabulous about these boots? They are totally waterproof in winter!

You know what? I have almost talked myself into finding me a pair of those super-duper, cheeky, chic, classy, glamorous, glitzy, totally over the top Hunter wellies. I wonder how easy it is to pedal a bike while wearing them?

NB: Many sites charge a delivery fee, don't forget to account for this when working out the best available prices.

* Denotes affiliate or refer-a-friend links

Frugaldom

Edited in - I eventually did find (and am now the proud owner of) a pair of gold metallic Hunter (Huntress) Wellies! :D

Vernal Equinox Updates

When Day Equals Night

Well folks, that's us passed the worst of the winter months where daylight hours were outnumbered by those of darkness. With any luck, the weather will decide to shift in a more sunny direction and allow us to make a proper start on gardening. To date, it has either been too wet or too cold to do anything, not to mentin the place being frozen solid or, in many places, covered in snow. For many, there is the luxury of heated greenhouses but that's not so for the frugal living among us - we have trouble enough heating our homes without trying to heat glass (or plastic) houses.

 

The Frugaldom greenhouse has stood the test of winter this far but to be fair, we get very little snow in comparison to elsewhere and the garden here is far more shetered than previous ones. Nonetheless, the lack of sunshine means there's not a lot happening out there at the moment. I had sown some spring onions and salad leaves into tubs - the spring onions are coming along slowly but the salad leaves are no further along than they were a month ago! The wormery, on the other hand, seems to have thrived in there for shelter. Each time I check, the worms seem to be more and more active. Let's hope the £2 coin savings pot proves to have been invested wisely.

 

The frugal fitness is something I'm still not entirely coninced about, despite having been wthout a car snce the end of November. The trip to the shop is now far less daunting, even on a grey day, and I must be getting fitter, as I can now manage to go for a 10-mile cycle over and above the 7 to 10 miles (depending on route taken) round trip to the village store.

 

Prices are getting to be horrendous. This morning, I cycled down to the store and bought spreading cheese (£1.19), a small block of cheddar (250g), a small pack of oatcakes, 4 bananas and a very extravagant loaf of bread, as a special treat for sandwiches. That little lot set me back almost £8!

 

As followers of a frugal living lifestyle, free from the constraints of the nine to five, the biggest pleasure we have is our ability to get out and about whenever the weather permits. I love exploring, seeking out unusual locations or ones that are a little off the beaten track, while building up a collection of associated photographs and articles relating to these places. Perhaps, one day in the future, you will visit and experience Frugaldon for yourself, and you'll already know which of these places you would like to visit for free.

This area of Scotland in littered with cairns, old forts, ruins, caves, church and chapel remains and, of course, we also have hilltops with trig points for 'bagging' - another free hobby. Yesterday, we visited the old site of Chapel Finian, where we ate a frugal packed lunch before stashing the bikes and then setting off to hike up a nearby hill in search of some cairns, ruined homesteads and ancient hut circles. The above photo shows the ruined chapel by the roadside. The trig point number to the left shows the first one we have found at ground level rather than summit - I'm guessing that's why this one has a 'G' number instead of an 'S' number.

 

We didn't have much of a climb before reaching what looked like a ruined homestead with walled fields. I haven't been able to find out any information about this particular location and we didn't have time to exploe it more fully, but its in the diary for future visits (with picnics) and further investigation.

 

A bit more climbing up a very wet and muddy trail that zigzagged up the hill through dead bracken, gorse and brambles soon led us to the biggest cairn we have visited in this area to date. It has to be over 3m high, but felt even bigger than that when I stood next to it and looked out across the bay - what a viewpoint! This particular cairn even had an extra wide base that could have been built for sitting on while keeping watch. (Over or for what, is a mystery.)

 

At this point, we'd to turn and head for home without exploring any further as a shower of sleet began to fall and we could see the cattle on the move. My fear of the bovine beasts means I give them as wide a berth as possible and avoid them completely whenever I can.

 

Back home and the frugaling continues - no further renovation work has been done to the house but I now have the dining bench set moved into the sittingroom where the pot belly stove is almost constantly on the go. The wee stove just ticks over, not quite blazing enough to boil the kettle, but warm enough that the cat is happy to sprawl in front of it for most of the day when the weather is bad. The dried pine cones are fast disappearing, so we really need a few completely dry days to get out and collect some more of those - they burn well.

 

Since giving up the car, our household carbon emissions must surely have dropped and the savings have certainly grown a little quicker. There's very little to spend on nowadays, what with no car running costs or petrol to pay. I may, however, need to invest in some new brake pads for the bike. Switching the worn back brakes for the not-so-worn front brakes will suffice until such times as I have gained sufficient Amazon gift vouchers from my Topcashback account. Since joining a few years ago, I have earned £728.35 cashback! That's a huge amount of free money for a frugaler! The other added bonus for this month is the cashback accrued from the credit card. Where some people hate credit cards, I love mine! It gets used for anything and everthing, paid off in full each month and it also pays 1% cashback on all transactions - fee free! I should manage to recoup about £50+ from that, as things like building materials and poultry feeding got paid with it, as do any online transactions.

 

Now I need to take stock of how the winter has gone and prepare for spring organising and summer fun, including getting some serious crafting done. The McGonks project needs to be cranked up a notch, there's some fndraising to be done for the Ben Nevis hostelling holiday and I'm wanting to make a nice, multi-cloured wooly blanket for over the back of the sofa bed so that there's a cosy, multi-purpose bedsit available for guests brave enough to sample real frugal living.

Could This Lead to a Frugal Cashback Crisis?

This morning, I spotted this piece of interesting (and rather worrying) news, posted by thisismoney on Twitter: "Barclays has stuck a deal to obtain more than one million credit card accounts belonging to internet bank Egg, it announced today..." read full story here->  http://ow.ly/1byOOO

My instant reaction to this news is one of horror! But then again, Barclays has also just announced one of their longest term 0% offers for new cardholders.

As all good frugalers know, Egg has been our friend for a long, long time. Many of us cherish our Egg plastic. We have celebrated many anniversary transfers at 0% and switched funds throughout the accounts, using 'Egg Money' to hatch all sorts of schemes, gaining high interest rates from savings accounts. Meanwhile, we'd be repaying minimum monthly amounts at 0% for the specified period, then repaying the lump sum on termination - no fees incurred, no interest paid. I guess we are the types of customers that financial lenders DON'T like!

As stated on their site, the "1% cash back Egg Money is a credit card that gives you 1% cash back on all your spending (maximum £200 cash back per year; if less than £5 no cash back is payable)." What this means for many of us is that everything goes on plastic, every bill gets cleared each month, no fees, no interest charged and, for the priviledge of using their card, we get paid.

Many of us have, over the years, been collecting that 1% cashback on all our purchases, cashing in each March or April. Personally, I never spend enough to get anywhere near the £200, but that extra £50 or so always pays for something in the Frugaldom household budget, even if it is only the annual household contents insurance policy.

We eventually had to give up on balance transfers with the introduction of 'transfer fees'. We dealt with them admirably, at first, when banks like ICICI were able to offer rates as high as 6.5% and still provide us with instant access, whilst Egg offered a 0% transfer fee and 0% interest rate - it was an absolute no brainer to overlook that kind of offer. Even with the introduction of the 2% or sometimes 3% transfer fees, it was still possible to glean a few extra pounds interest from their money - similar to the way the banks 'invest' to earn from our money!

But then there was a mass hysteria about charges and misselling of income protection payment schemes. The nation rebelled, celebrating the great Martin Lewis, hailing him the people's champion to all who were in debt. To all and sunder, he became known as the 'Money Saving Expert'. Case after case was heard, the financial institutions were being forced to repay customers thousands of pounds of money they had been, dare I say it, 'duped' into paying.  

Then the banks began collapsing! We saw bail out after bail out - many money-savers became alarmed when, in 2008, Icesave went topsy turvy. This was a huge shock to many systems, none less than the UK local councils that had 'invested' IK Government money! Many had chosen Icesave over ICICI for their 'stoozing' funds. The UK banks began to wobble - you all know that story...

Around March 2009, Bank of England base rates sank to an all time low of 0.5% , obliterating any opportuity for 'stoozing', as it had become known throughout forum networks. Interest rates have never recovered. Two years on, Bank of England base rates are still 0.5% 

Incredibly, credit card interest rates sem to have soared, with many exceeding 19% - they are clawing back what they think is rightfully theirs, coming at borrowesr with all guns blazing. But with no debts, they can't earn from our 'type'! Therefore, it should surely come to pass that they will prevent us from earning from them!

Talk revolved around the introduction of monthly fees for cashback credit card holders - they may have implemented it for new applicants, for all I know, but they haven't introduced it to those of us who have 'played the game' for several years. But we're still expecting something to happen.

As frugal lifers, we were left with very little choice. For cashback credit cards, there are still several options but they are limited. These, in my opinion, have Will Barclays buy over our accounts? Will they restructure the cashback clause? Will they abolish it all together?

Personally, I suspect that the opportunity to earn  between 10p and £3.84 per week from spending on an Egg credit card will be lost. Who, then, will we turn to for our free cash? Well, there's always the likes of Topcashback! For now, I'm gleaning my 1% from Egg and my percentage from these third party mediators. Their ability to spread out a thin layer of the advertising & marketing revenues from large companies appeals to me. It works for me, for now... make the most of it while you can. I suspect that the end of the cashback era could be nigh. (But I hope I'm wrong.)

MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES!

At the rate the bargains are disappearing, we may all end up preferring to use a BREAD Card while researching other possibilities for making a an extra penny in the pound for our frugal budgets.

Don't forget you can join us in the forums to discuss any aspect of frugal living and working.

Brilliant Weekend of Sociable Social Media Moneysaving!

Don't you just love all this 'social media' whizzkid stuff? It's so moneysaving that it's completely FREE! It even sends your responses to your mobile if you want them there, free of charge. AMAZING! Orange, I believe, were the quickest off the draw in firing up that department.

I love it that the founders of Twitter appear not to know what their long-term goals are for the site, nor do they engage in its use all that often. In reports, they seem to admit that it's some sort of global entity (barring places like China, I guess) that has taken on a life all of its own - I even read the term 'eco system' somewhere, but I'm not sure that's very apt. I love that the site has exploded over the past 4 years and I love that we, the common people, can keep ahead of what the mass media subjects us to via our TV screens, radios and newspapers. Now, however, we are able to peel it all back and look behind the sensationalism of the tabloids. I would venture as far as suggesting that such platforms could, quite easily, bring about the downfall of newsprint.

Now for the most intriguing part, the part that has me completely stumped. It's also a problem I can closely associate with... how does it pay?

Imagine hosting an extended party for millions of people and having to contain the event within one location. Imagine the costs involved in preparing such an area, furnishing it with everything needed to host the event and then finding out all your guests wanted to bring all their friends with them and stay permanently. Worse still, many of those attending want text message reminders of everything. It all adds up to a phenomenal amount of money to cover costs. HOW DOES IT PAY?

Looking at it logically, the mobile network tie-in has to be one source of revenue, because so many members can now text news and photos direct to the networking sites. The likes of Orange must be creaming a fortune from the huge increase in their network traffic through their deal with Twitter alone.

But I digress... the economics of online social networking isn't what I meant to get into right now. What I would like to show you is how simple and effective the likes of Facebok and Twitter can be for moneysavers and, dare I say it, followers of Frugaldom. So come on people, let's see you all making the most of a fantastic opportunity here. There's absolutely nothing in it for me by way of any affiliation, but please join Twitter and then follow Frugaldom. Here is one reason why...

I needed to spend money! There were two items I needed that I could neither source for free nor borrow. 

I'm not talking fortunes, here, I just needed a book (work related) and a humble kitchen kettle (home related). In true frugal living and working fashion, I began my research for the best deals.

Amazon is normally a pretty safe bet for best prices on many things, especially when you're sitting in a prime position holding vouchers, mosty earned from points gathering and cashback sites. I found the £14.99 paperback book marked down to £8.49 and eligible for free delivery. But let's not order just yet - let's TWEET! (Post a short message onto Twitter.)

Amazon runs an affiliate scheme whereby members can earn commissions on sales, so I 'Tweeted' out a message asking for someone to post an affiliate link to my chosen book. It wasn't long before I had a response. Not only did I buy my bargain and save myself over £5 on the book's cover price, I was also able to help a fellow Amazon affiliate member earn a few pence extra in commission.


Next up was the kettle - I wanted a large capacity, low energy model so I could save on electricity. What with the power prices going up and the number of times this household boils the kettle for a cuppa, I reckoned there must be savings to be made there, even allowing for the fact that any extra boiled water gets decanted to a thermos flask. So I posted on Twitter and Facebook. Here's how that went:

Me:  Does anyone know for a fact if these eco-friendly, superfast kettles really boil water faster, cost less to run and save on CO2 emissions? Brain can't compute that less power can boil water faster. Surely it must just be more power, less time but same cost per unit overall?

Response:  Power is a rate of transmission of energy. You can only make comparisons if the power rating is used in conjunction with the time taken to boil the same amount of water. It will only use less total energy if a) the heating element is more efficient at converting electricity into heat or b) the loss of energy to the surrounding is less during the heating process, perhaps through insulating or vacuum-lined kettle walls and base. Of course, you may well find that a superfast kettle will work faster, and perhaps even work more efficiently, possibly saving you money on electricity, but will it last as long as a conventional kettle and need to be replaced after a shorter lifetime. We had a "fast boil" kettle replaced under warranty in less than a year.

Me:  Thanks, Dave. Just contemplating buying a new kettle and looking at cost-effectiveness (as you'd fully expect).

I can't help but be tempted to make do with the old one and invest in a new, much larger, traditional one that can be sat on top of the stove. No electricity needed to boil that, as long as the stove is lit, and enough in there for rinsing up the dishes. It could save on electricity in two ways - less need for the immersion heater and no need to boil the other kettle. However, the large, traditional urn-type stove top kettles are several times the price of cheap electricals... but nothing can ever go wrong with them unless they rust.

£50 Vs £20 ... decisions, decisions... I'll bet you already know which way this is going to go!

Response: I'm guessing stove top kettles need a thick metallic base to conduct the heat up to the water, that, and economies of scale relative to plastic leccy ones, is probably what makes them so expensive. Nice though! See ebay item 190487521687 or 200563748687

Me: I already have a little Le Creuset whistling kettle, that's what I'm using now on the stove. I also use the camping kettle and the stainless steel tea pot works well once the tea's brewed. But I need greater volume of hot water for dishes. THANK YOU! ...That's a great find on eBay with the 3.5L model. Better still... I have my January 'eBay plus' voucher still to use!

YEAH! Pat on the back for Dave - just bought me one of his finds! £16.09 after redeeming the voucher. ! also got 37 eBay plus points, cashback for going via TCB and cashback for funding PayPal with a cashback credit card. Job done!  The kettle I'd looked at in a hardware store was priced at £44.99, so that's a saving of at least £28.90 without factoring in the extra cashback.

Response: Short answer to the original question is no! (thanks J and J)

So there we have it - the simple act of buying a book or a kettle and it's already proving to be very beneficial when doing so with the help of social media platforms. It's easy to understand how helpful sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace etc can all be but it still doesn't explain how these websites make their money. That's still a mystery to me. But I don't simply want to make money out of social media or online networking, I want to SAVE money. A penny saved is a penny earned, so this weekend's socialising has earned me £35.40 for the hour or so it took me to check the posts, respond, order and, finally, put this blog together.

Follow Frugaldom on Twitter and stay ahead of the game - tweet your bargain finds so you're sharing the news with friends and followers - instantly.

Join us in the fun, frugal forum at http://www.frugaldom.co.uk/
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More to Reconsider - More Budget Rejigging

Every Penny Really Does Count

Having just checked my Topcashback account, I see that it's offering a bonus for accepting Amazon vouchers instead of cash. Now I know that Frugaldom isn't meant to be about spending, but this could be an ideal way of racking up a few more pennies into the gifts category, freeing any cash already alloted to that elsewhere... It seems a pretty easy way to me to increase part of the gift budget savings by 2.5% rather than the 0% available from the current account.


Yes... I have talked myself into this one and just need to decide when to claim. There's £9.91 there at the moment, but it's £10.16 if I claim it as a gift certificate now.


Just in case you've missed this, if can sign up to Topcashback then you can get cashback from all your shopping when using their relevant links. Even those eBay purchases can earn you a few pennies back, as long as you remember to log into your account before shopping, bidding or buying. Since joining this site, I have accrued a total of £527.62 and have already claimed £476.87 And lest we forget, I normally pay everything I buy using a cashback credit card paying 1% with no fees - it all mounts up and every penny counts.

OK, I decided that a moneybird in the hand is worth two in the bush and claimed the £10.16 Amazon voucher. I'll let you all know how long it takes to arrive. I will need to rejig the Frugaldom challenge budget again to reflect this change in plans for the 2011 gifts category.

Never forget to ask...

• Is there cashback available?
• Is this available cheaper anywhere else?
• Is there a bonus available for accepting vouchers rather than cash?
• Is this the very best deal I can get? 

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This Time Last Year...

Reconsidering all my options.

Reed Bunting



This time last year, it was snowing. Temperatures were sub zero and all around us was white. The lane was frozen solid, almost impassable because of it's icy state, glittering invitingly to anyone who dared even attempt to skim its glassy surface in anything more than a pair of wellies. Walking, although a very frugal pastime, was quite treacherous, but not so much that it deterred us from partaking of frugal photography.

Within the scope of affordable inventions, I reckon digital cameras surpass most new visual technology. They have opened up the doors to a whole new world for amateur photographers, especially those who had previously found the costs of film, development, delayed results and, ultimately, wastage, prohibitive. No more shall we feel the financial pain of throwing away the bad photos, for the 21st Century brought technological magic to the fingertips of ever prudent, camera-wielding wizard - affordable fun! Indeed, we purchased an exceptionally fine model using eBid Buddy Points - no cash involved.

Many a stunning view was captured from around the place we call Frugaldom with many of these images saved and printed for calenders, postcards and greetings cards; some even became keyrings, coasters and fridge magnets.

This time last year, I had already seen my daughter celebrate her engagement (July 2009) and then her wedding (September 2009). These things are major family events that NEED to be budgeted for well in advance. Thankfully, frugal living, for me, had begun in 2001 and has continued, unabeited, since. It is neither inhibitive nor does it prevent me from living life the way I want it. In fact, it is very liberating. Self-catering a birthday party for 120 people on a budget of around £100 for food was entertaining, to say the least - but everybody loved it and nobody cared - they ate, they drank and they made merry. By pulling together, the families managed to throw a most memorable wedding party the following September and then, come mid 2010, my son didn't go without for his 21st. Frugal living is the only way to live if you intend becoming a frugal entrepreneur. It's about grasping opportunities and running the risk of succeeding in making something out of almost nothing.

Throughout 2010, frugality was the watchword. The resulting spreadsheets have slowly, year by year, been developed to reflect everything I could possibly need or spend. At the same time, they have managed to remain incredibly simple and show me where changes need to be made at any given time. The ISA may not have been filled and I may not own my own home, but that's not the point. As a frugal entrepreneur, I feel it is better to live and save within my means, able to take advantage of whatever small opportunity comes along.

I originally started this challenge to clear outstanding debts and then accrue some savings in the hope of buying a house without a mortgage - but now I'm not so sure. If I buy a house, it represents nothing more that a roof over my head until it becomes inheritance for my kids, but why should they wait? Why shouldn't they learn my frugal ways and benefit from them now?

This time last year I promised myself we would save every £2 coin and every piece of spare change into the homemade papier mache banks we'd all made. By Christmas, the household had an extra £150+ to play with and my son still hasn't even emptied his bank, yet.

This time last year was a full year ago and it's hard to believe how quickly that time has passed. But pass it has. This New Year, I was blessed with a brand new baby grand daughter, my second in the family, so why should I squirrel away every penny to pay for a house that will, ultimately, be sold? I haven't fully given up on buying a house without a mortgage. To be 100% honest, I know, exactly, what house I want to buy. But money in the bank isn't everything. So I have another plan...

Back on the frugal grocery challenge, tonight's dinner was courtesy of the freezer - leftover roast beef with gravy, puff pastry and assorted root veg - homegrown potatoes, turnips and parsnips -  that were lurking in the bottom of the freezer. Frugaler and frugaler... another day goes by without needing to buy.  I did spend some money, though: £23 on coal, £15 on electricity and £15 to my friendly society bond with life assurance. I also squirreled £66.94 into the savings account to round up to the next even hundred, but that was only because it was such an untidy figure at the start of the day. The friendly society bond isn't a brilliant investment but it does allow you to put up to £25 per month into tax free savings and offers a guaranteed life assurance from day one. At worst, it'll cover a cheap funeral, at best I'll get some money back in a few years time. I opened the policy online via Topcashback, so I made the most of that and the extra £15 of M&S vouchers I received. They're offering £50 cashback at the moment for a Scottish Friendly Bond, but it takes a long time to track and pay out - most insurance related products seem to take at least three months. I'll let you know when this year's home contents policy pays the cashback - it should be due soon. 

Please always double check for the best available deals at the time. Savings bonds can go down as well as up, so not always the best option for anyone just wanting to save for a rainy day. Personally, I dislike life insurance because of the risk of losing it all by out-living the policy! At least the life assurance with the friendly society bond offers me something back after the alloted timescale or a small death benefit to save the family from any sudden expenses like a funeral. It isn't morbid - it makes good frugal sense.

Tomorrow, I think, might be Premium Bonds checking day!

Leftovers, homemade pink champagne and the 2011 budget

Christmas Cheer from Festive Frugaldom!

Much milder here at around -1C so, despite still being frozen solid, it's feeling a little warmer. Weatherman said rain but it doesn't feel humid, still very dry with not much to show for the bit thaw we had yesterday.

Christmas day went well - turkey with all the trimmings including homemade braised red cabbage and a spot of rowan jelly. The potatoes were boiled, veggies steamed and soup made on the stovetop but I finished everything off by roasting it in the main oven, along with the stuffing, pigs in blankets and the slow-cooked turkey. By way of celebration, we drank homemade rhubarb 'pink champagne' with the meal and I was very impressed by the fruity fizz this year! The bottle would certainly have gone with a pop had I not used the 1L glass screw top bottles and, with no proper champagne glasses, the fizz in the wine glasses was quite substantial.

Diehard frugalers, you know what today is... it's leftovers day!

Yes, that's right, it's time to get creative and repack your freezers to ensure everything's rotating, being used up and being replenished by the latest batch of whatever goodies have been leftover from the festive food extravaganza. I have plenty of turkey, a pot of turkey soup that had been made with stock from the giblets and I now have the turkey carcass to turn into the next batch of turkey stock, but the freezer space is still very much at a premium. We're going to be eating soup and pudding lunches for a while longer to use up the rest of the trifle and dumpling. The dumpling has already been sliced and frozen and the trifle wasn't done with fresh cream, so it will last another day if needs must. (I sincerely doubt it, as I'd eat trifle morning, noon and night.)

Fidgetbuzz... your homemade raspberry ruffles and fudge/coconut ice are absolutely delicious! Remind me to give you back the jar, just in case you want to do something similar next year. The jar should be empty by around 2pm today.

Stockmaking has begun - what's left of the turkey has been carved into mealsized portions, bagged up and put into the freezer. As is customary, I've kept out enough for tonight's curry (or stir fry) but the rest should be enough to make up another meal plus a couple of pies. I don't have the space in the freezer to fit in pies just yet, so the meat is going in 'as is' for now. The soup has been decanted into 500ml containers, enough for a lunchtime snack, and everything else - bones and all - is seasoned and ready for stock making. I'll boil down the stock, once it's made, then freeze it for future use. Having received a set of 'Kleeneze' pastry presses for Christmas, I suspect some my leftover turkey might find its way into future pasty-making. A full review of this product will be posted as soon as available. For now, it looks like a bag of trappers' tools modelled in white plastic... scary looking things!

I've got my 2011 challenge budget spreadsheet all set up and ready to go for next week. This spreadsheet is a very simple format that helps me see exactly how much of my annual budget is left at any given time. Each of the columns is preset in January to reflect the challenge targets, so it automatically shows me a running total. Once again, the Frugaldom household is going to attempt to stick at £4,000 after payment of rent, council tax and water. The budget does NOT include the cost of work related items, these have already been deducted. Feel free to play around with the spreadsheet if you think it can be of any help to you. You might also like to take a look at Spending Diary and iMeasure - the former for recording day to day spends and the latter (created by Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute, part of the UK Energy Research Centre) to help analyse your week to week electricity and gas use. It also shows how your household ranks in the energy rating stakes. We're currently maintaining a 'C' rating but the system does not take logburning into account.

With only a few days lefts of the current challenge, I should come in just under budget; I won't know, for sure, until the 31st December. Looking good, though, looking good! There wasn't any credit used to fund Christmas (or anything else during 2010, for that matter) and the savings have survived intact. I do use my cashback credit card wherever and whenever possible, it always gets paid back in full each month. I should have accrued around £50 by the end of this tax year.

I love cashback! I treat the interest payments on savings a bit like cashback because let's face it, the interest payments are a far cry from representing a serious income. I now look on the ISA as being there to prevent any bandit stealing my money and, in return for providing me with this free service, it rewards me with enough cash every month to cover the cost of feeding the poultry. It's pretty great, when you think about it - free cash on a regular basis, even if it is only chicken feed.

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas day and has now had a bit of a boost towards the new year. The final countdown has begun, so make sure all your sums are done and dusted, build up to a huge celebration next weekend and make your New Year's resolution one that can last a lifetime - embrace frugality and all that it has to offer, shift those debts and live a good life.