Frugal living and working through July 2017

Frugal Living has plenty of perks!

Summer work, rest and play a Frugaldom

Our visiting students all had archery lessons

 Throughout the past year we have hosted numerous students and volunteers at Frugaldom, each here to experience frugal living, life in the country and, in most cases, practice their conversational English, albeit with a certain Scottishness. It has been great seeing the progress made during their stays here, even if the good old Scottish summer weather was as unpredictable and unreliable as ever. We still managed to fit in fun between bouts of work.

The cuckoo corral orchard

 After receiving an unscheduled pruning session by the visiting escapee sheep that were with us for several weeks, the newest fruit trees in the cuckoo corral decided to start growing again. The dog roses also took a severe pruning when the ponies managed to push down one of the fence rails and stretch their necks through far enough to reach them! No rose hips this summer!

Caroline (France), Olivia (USA) and Anne (Germany)

Our 3 students shared a caravan while here and seemed to gel well, despite the fact that the French lass spoke no German, the German lass no French and the American lass no German or French... we all managed perfecly well with Scottish English. 👌😊

We finally managed to hire in a mini digger and driver

The digger and driver were here for just a few days, as the cost was slightly prohibitive at almost £250 per day! However, in that time, the 2 main drainage ditches leading away from the central project got cleared, a big straining post dug back into the ground and the 2 ponds dug - one for ponies accessing the running water and the second, larger one, for planting around to form a new wildlife habitat. At the point the ponds were dug, we had a drought, so the entire area was almost dry and scraped down to the clay base, where old stone, possibly from previous drainage, was found.

Strawberries growing in the recycled milk caron 'Mishy Pods'

 A few new strawberry plants plus many runners from existing ones were potted up into the milk cartons, so plans are now afoot to build new strawberry beds.

Nick (Bulgaria) is our regular hoof trimmer

 The ponies have been having their hooves trimmed every 5 or 6 weeks, when Nick stops for an overnight. Learning about keeping and working ponies barefoot has been a real revelation for many of our students and visitors - it's quite shocking how many people think that the poor animals need to have metal nailed to their feet before they can do anything! Here a Frugaldm, we strongly support the theory that 'you are what you eat, right down to your feet' and that can be said for equine species, too. The Frugaldom ponies will never have shoes on their feet as long as they are with us - nor will they ever have bits (more metal) in their mouths. We have metal-free mud monsters, who live out all year round without rugs, stables, fancy feeds or 'posh' saddlery. Hay and herbs serve them well and everything else is from whatever they browse around the edges of the project - mostly marsh and moor grasses.

Blistering sunshine for bringing in the hay

Having ponies that don't get let loose on lush, green, monoculture grass means we need a plentiful supply of meadow hay and that isn't always easy to find. We want freedom from chemicals and a good mix of grasses and herbs, so it serves us well that we have friendly neighbours who believe likewise. But boy! Is it hard work bringing in several hundred small bales of hay against the clock within what little sunshine we get here! In this game you really do have to make hay while the sun shines, but I think the girls enjoyed their tractor driving lessons and their ice lolly breaks.

All our students learned to drive the tractor with baler

 The last bales were stacked in the barn at around 10pm, after another brief stop for chips! It was like carb and fat-fest for energy replenishing!

After a long day bringing in hay - about 600 bales

After our brief call to action for doing the hay it was back to the Frugaldom work. One of our regular volunteers who builds the benches from the surplus fencing wood single-handedly built us a new foot bridge so we could get across the newly cleared drainage ditch! She's a whizz with offcuts, that's for sure!

Celebrating near completion of footbridge over the newly cleared drainage ditch

Wheelbarrows and stone are the most common features at Frugaldom nowadays. Drainage is a top priority but we don't have the necessary funds to bring in contractors so it's all down to hand digging, laying in pipes where necessary and backfilling with an assortment of stone. From all this work comes the benefit of better toned muscles and a deeper appreciation for the morning swim in the pool at the caravan site - that definitely starts your summer days off in fine style.

Barrowing stone for the drainage is an endless task at Frugaldom

 After trying to fit as much work as possible into the dry weather slot, it took only 3 days for the new ponds to fill up completely and from that day to now, we haven't had a solid week of dry weather! It's been wellies every single day.

Olivia, Caroline and Anne by the newly dug pond

 Both ponds almost filled to capacity. They are interlinked so the small one runs into the larger one and then it can overflow into the drainage ditch that carries it off though the field via Anna's ditch.

The new ponds at Frugaldom - wildlife and drainage areas

The hens at Frugaldom are well settled into their new 'chicken shack'. We lost a few to a mink attack and then gained a few more, when we had 4 given to us and 8 chicks hatched in the incubator at home. At the moment we have 7 of the hens and a cockerel at Frugaldom and the rest at Thrift Cottage.

We have a hen laying pink eggs!

 The 2017 hatch of chicks were all pure bred Araucanas and 2 of the donated ones are x Araucana, so we do get blue eggs. However, we don't know what types the brown hens are, so when one started laying pink eggs, it was a complete surprise.

The ponies began their training to work barefoot, bareback and bitless

 Thanks to 'Auntie Anita', we now have a lovely bitless bridle for the ponies. Until this was given to us we were simply using rope lead reins and headcollars but this is so much 'posher' looking. This is Willow, our medicine hat 'spirit' pony, modelling it.

Leeks and courgettes were plentiful

The small vegetable plot behind the barn produced plenty of leeks and courgettes but this area will now be turned over to garlic and herbs, as there just wasn't really enough sunshine reached this area to make it worthwhile expanding it.

While here, the students learned a bit about wild flowers and herbs, so we have been drinking plenty of rhubarb fizz and our first ever batch of pineapple plant cordial!

At the caravans, we decided to use the 3-bedroom one for our Frugaldom work exchange students and rent out the 2-bedroom one for visitors looking for an affordable way to take a countryside break. This brought about the official launch of Frugal Breaks on Facebook and our new online booking platform. It's been an exciting year, so far!

Our fundraising is being done via www.gofundme.com/Frugaldom where you can get dedication discs for our posts and trees, sponsorships and holiday home accommodation to come and visit us in 2018. We've also had several wildcampers at Frugaldom but without any services on site, you need to cart your own water. I'm now investigating portaloos, composting toilets and filter systems for river water.

This about sums up July, other than one surprise that came along the way... a telephone call that resulted in us buying another house, this one only 7 miles from Frugaldom!

As always, I love to hear from anyone with any questions or comments and please let me know of any typing errors, as I'm attempting to blog on tablet or Kindle in an effort to use mobile internet at the caravan. all going well, we should soon have mobile internet at Frugaldom, but it's all dependent on availability of signal and Pay As You Go sim cards. Vodafone is looking like the most promising for there but Three is definitely the best for caravan park.

Back soon with the August whistlestop tour! 

Inside a Tiny House

Inside a Tiny House

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a tiny house looks like?

Wonder no more!

NYK has managed to meet up with Mark and Jen from TinyHouseUK and fully investigate what tiny houses are really like…

I love them!

Read all about it and see the photos 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

Eco-Renovations and Gruesome Discoveries

Frugal Progress, but Eeeeeeugh!

 

It's getting colder by the day and we really need to get the potbelly stove fitted in as soon as possible! To this end, Thrift Cottage is in chaos! I called said chmney man last night and he was available for a visit this morning! Eek! We hadn't even cleared out the room, let alone removed the boards from the old fireplace. The moment of reckoning had arrived - had the chimney been blocked or capped?
 

The prospect of having 'Wilbur' installed in the sittingroom/office/dining room is an extremely exciting one. Wilbur is my pot belly (pig) stove. We installed one at our previous house. (It was named 'George', by a frugal friend who had been reading Peppa Pig stories to her little nephew. George is, I think, Peppa's baby brother?) Anyhow, I loved the tiny stove so much that I wanted to bring it with me when we moved house so, when the new tenant offered to buy 'George', I replaced it with an identical model for here, while they were still available for under £100! (Wilbur, as many may remember, was the little pig in Charlotte's Web.) These are fabulous stoves for the price, although you do need to chop logs smaller to fit through the tiny door. They're multi-fuel, they burn hot, have a cleaning hatch and are blessed with a stove top plate that can be used for cooking or boiling the kettle; handy during power cuts!
 

The following is NOT for the squeamish, so if the word 'gruesome' didn't alert you to the contents of this post, let this be your final warning to look away now, or else think of science in school.

 

Chimney man was hard at work for well over an hour but I was delighted to hear that the old chimney has not been blocked up or capped - which explains the dampness. It was, however, blocked solid with years' worth of damp soot, birds' nests and, you've got it, the remains of some previously feathered tenants! Quite disgusting seeing the eggs and body parts tumbling from the 200 year-old chimney, but fascinating, all the same. Some looked positively preserved!

 

You know me, I felt compelled to take a photograph for posterity and have decided to sare it with you all right here, now! It's like the frugal version of a visit to the natural science museum! The worst of the mess is over for now, with bag upon bag of soot, rubble and the last remnants of the creatures that once inhabited our other chimney. At least we had a lovely, crisp day during which doors could be left open and heaters switched off to help save electricity. IT was a case of seeing your breath in almost every room in the house today, that's how chilly it's getting.

Amidst this, the postman delivered me a lovely stash of oddments, buttons, ribbons and other beads, my frugal food order from ROSSPA got delivered, friends arrived with 25kg of spuds that I'd ordered and another pal arrived for a quick trip down to the village this afternoon. A busy day, by anyone's standards.

Trip to post office got the November work stuff out of the way but I do wish I had taken my camera to capture the glorious pink sunset.  The view over Luce Bay was stunning! Never mind, here's one I took previously - it's the one I'm using to colour match the decor for the new kitchen, once we reach that stage.

 

Finally, I'd like to wish everyone a HAPPY ST. ANDREW'S NIGHT and thank you all, once again, for being such fabulous, frugal friends and taking the time to read my frugal witterings.

 

NYK Media, Frugaldom

It's Almost a Frugal Kitchen

Units of Measure

 

Well, that was an experience and a half!

 

After measuring absolutely every available millimetre to ensure the view from the new kitchen sink would be through the middle of the window, things seemed to be going well - adequate space either side, nice view of the garden...

 

Disconnecting the old sink had been relatively straightforward, barring the drips and accidental spills, and removing the worktop out onto the patio was painless. Building the unit - not that I did that myself - was simple enough, then all we'd to do was slot in the sink, connect the taps and attach the waste pipe. And that, my frugal friends, is where the fun really begins! Aside from that, spacial perception just isn't my 'thing'.

 

Having a kitchen that appears to have been built more for housing livestock than for cooking family meals means that the floor is concrete and slightly sloping. When these houses were originally built in c1805, there were no water mains - there were wells in a couple of the gardens. Laying in water pipes would have meant digging through the stone or concrete floors and then feeding that water from the point of entry to the newly introduced taps and indoor toilets via exposed pipes, because they couldn't sink them into solid stone walls. So, you get the basic idea - solid walls, slightly sloping floors to compensate for no drainage systems and pipes that run along the edges of kitchens and bathrooms.

 

Having opted for DIY flat pack kitchen units, we had overlooked one important point - adjustable legs! These units have solid panels from top to bottom, probably designed for building onto perfectly level, modern floors surrounded by even walls that hide pipework behind them.

 

Solution? A sharp saw remedied the pipes problem, we just cut holes in the wood and sat the units over the pipework.

 

Fitting the pipework so there's water runs through the taps and waste runs out to the drains, this was trickier. In fact, at one point I ended up trapped inside the sink unit! Having climbed in to reach the pipes behind it, I'd forgotten that the hinges for the doors had already been fitted (but not the doors). How might this trap an individual beneath a sink, you might ask? Well, those pesky hinge attachments love nothing more than to grab your hair in the passing and hang on in there, knowing fine well there's insufficient space for the unsuspecting frugaler to turn and stretch to free one's self! It was very lucky that I wasn't home alone and that help was at hand... once they'd overcome a bout of hee hawing and laughing!

 

All five units have now been constructed and it's amazing how good they look, despite not being fitted and not being safe to sit an egg on and leave it unattended. I am, however, finding it a little difficult to site stuff exactly where I want it, owing to something else I didn't full think through... electrical socket placement!

 

I opted to have several extra sockets included during the wiring, but I never did specify exactly where. Now I see why I should have paid much more attention to such a seemingly trivial detail! We live and we learn. Hopefully, the frugaldom exploits will serve to remind others of the importance of getting even the simplest sounding jobs right from the start. It really does matter exactly where you place things like sockets, light switches, cooker cables and pipes. It also helps if you know where the wooden straps behind the new plasterboard are, for the purposes of hanging stuff securely in future. I haven't even risked hanging the clock back up on the wall, yet!

 

Now, on a completely different topic, I need to prepare for the 2013 Frugaleur Challenge and get ready to try to earn some extra income. If you haven't already heard or read about it, the challenge details can be found at www.frugaleur.com It's another money challenge, based on the premise that we can start a frugal buiness with no more than £50. It's the continuing attempts at becoming a frugal entrepreneur!

 

Frugaldom

www.frugaldom.com

Kitchen Mayhem

How to Create a Frugal Kitchen

 

It wasn't a pretty site, that's for sure! But this was the kitchen in Thrift Cottage when work began last year.

 

It's been 17 months since we moved into the house - 17 long months with a mixture of a delapidated kitchen, a building site when the roof, floors and walls were being replaced, a chaotic dusty mess while the plasterboard was joint-filled and then sanded down, and then the fun and excitement at the arrival of some units!

 

All semblance of frugal cooking had fallen by the wayside and the initial 2012 budget of £1,000 for all food and groceries was recently blown. I'd to juggle the funds - again - and allocate another £100, deducting it from the fuel/utilities or some other such extravagance. Despite having one less mouth to feed and having notched up the budget by another £100, it's still fading fast! But do I care? Not a jot! We have running water, electricity and a dry roof over our heads. We also have porridge, soup and pudding... what more could a body ask?

 

The sheepswool insulation in the kitchen ceiling and walls is working well; no more sub-zero temperatures in the kitchen when it's freezing outside. Indeed, I splashed out almost £20 on a 425w mini oil-filled radiator and that is the extent of the heating in the 'new' kitchen! I bought one for there and one for upstairs, figuring out that even if the pair of these and the existing 800w heater ended up on full pelt during winter at any point, 22p per hour of luxurious extra heat wouldn't break the bank.

 

On the subject of electricity, we've all been informed of the next price increase being forced upon us by the energy companies. I'm already paying what I consider to be over the odds on accounts of there being a pre-payment meter here, but it's down to principles!

1. I refuse to pay out £60 for an engineer to remove and replace said meter when we didn't request it in the first place.
2. I refuse to pay £150 deposit for installation of a new meter on the grounds that I've been a customer for many, many years and don't owe them a penny.
3. I dislike bills, so can't really grumble about being charged a few pennies extra for the priviledge of not receiving one!
4. When the new Smart Meters get introduced, as per Government legislation, they'll need to remove this old meter anyway, so I'm not paying through the nose twice!

Oops! But I digress... get back into the kitchen!

 

Fitted kitchens look fab! I have looked through so many brochures and websites, drooling at the graphic images of contoured units, colour co-ordinated 'white' goods, a rainbow of amazing tones and shades of wood, laminate and high gloss worktops... you get the picture! And all for "only" x thousands of pounds, payable with 0% interest over x number of months or years... Hmm! I think not. Only one thing sprang to mind! FLATPACKS!

 

Online to the wonderful world of Argos and I find some cabinets complete with doors, handles, hinges, shelves and worktops... so I ordered three to begin with: 1 x 500mm, 2 x 1000mm. It also meant I didn't need to pay delivery for the mini-radiators, which I ordered at the same time.

 

Two packages duly arrived - the two radiators, I assumed. But I opened these up and the two turned out to be FOUR! Could I get through on the phoneline or find an easy way of emailing for help? No! Best wait and query it with the driver when he returns to deliver the kitchen cabinets. In the mean time, I ordered the sink unit, a smaller side unit and a stainless steel sink, complete with taps and fittings. Invoice stated delivery would be the following.

 

Kitchen cabinets duly arrive... 6 boxes all at once! Curiouser and curouser! I picked the delivery driver's brains but signed for the goods anyway - he couldn't take returns and his answer to any duplication was keep an eye on my bank account just in case I was double-charged!

 

The kitchen cabinets are fab! But they had sent double!

 

I checked PayPal, which I'd used to pay, but nothing untoward there. I tried to call the helpline again - it told me that "owing to unforeseen circumstances, my call could not be taken" and then disconnected me! In despair, I signed into my Twitter account and was pleased to find the company on there! I'll tell you, it is utterly AMAZING how quickly they call you if you dare to suggest any wrong doings on a public forum!

 

This saga is still on-going and, worse still, they charged me a second time for the unordered goods!

 

But I digress again.... get back into the kitchen!

 

The sink unit arrived after the first 3 units had been constructed. By this time, Argos had been and collected the extra radiators and units, but there's no signs of any refund on my card, yet! (I still cannot work out how they accessed my credit card when I paid via PayPal!)

 

Anyhow, back in the kitchem where I rightfully belong at the moment! My old cooker will suffice (for now) and I'm still loath to part with the salvaged units, so they are still here. Once again, they have been moved into the kitchen and partially hidden by their flowery curtains.

 

Today, we are going to attempt to fit the new sink without flooding the house and, all going well, I may have a basic kitchen for this weekend.

 

Plastering of walls and ceilings has been by-passed by way of taping, filling and sanding the plasterboard joints.

 

Decorating, for now, has been by-passed by way of the leftover white and magnolia emulsion paint we had from freshening up the last house before leaving it.

 

Flooring has yet to be considered, although there are a couple of carpet off-cuts in place, so we aren't walking on the bare wood.

 

Shelving or wall units can wait for now, as I still have my assorted trolleys and stands.

 

In total, I think I have spent around 10% of the cheapest quote received from kitchen companies.

 

There is much still to do so, for now, Im going to help chop off the makeshift wooden legs that are holding up the old kitchen sink. I'm sure there'll be a tale to tell about the fitting of the new one but, hopefully, it won't be a watery one! (I'll use the old wooden legs/props as fire kindling.)

 

Frugaldom!

 

The Alpha and Omega of Consumerism

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, but I NEED a Kitchen!

 

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we just have to buy something new. If nobody ever did, the world would be a very, very sad place, indeed. For a start, there would be no jobs for anyone because we were all making do, mending and producing/growing our own. I applaude those who have the wherewithal to oil the wheels of industry on a daily basis, but they are the opposite extreme from us frugalers. One might go as far as suggest that we can't live without one another - it's like the alpha and omega of consumerism. We help reduce their carbon footprints and lower the national averages across many spectrums, and I certainly don't mean intelligence! The spending habits of some simply beggar belief!

 

For many, buying new isn't an option. This may not necessarily be down to a lack of finances, it is possible that it's entirely down to a lifestyle choice. Given the freedom of choice and limitless cash reserves, I'd have a completely eco-friendly, warm, self-sustainable home with the capability to generate its own renewable energy , a permacultured garden that produced sufficient food to sustain the household and a readily available source of good firewood, coppiced annually from my own woodland. This, however, is not the real world of frugal living, or at least not as far as Frugaldom is concerned. Indeed, few I know can afford such luxuries.

 

Back in the real word, differentiating between needs and wants has never been so focused!

• I need a basic kitchen for food storage, meal preparation and cleaning up (dishes, laundry etc).
• I want a spacious, well-laid out, solid wood, cosy, all singing, all dancing, farmhouse style kitchen complete with solid-fuel range, separate utility room and laundry etc, etc, etc... you get the dream scenario picture.
 

Kitchen Creation Goes Into Full Swing!

 

It's been 17 months since we moved into Thrift Cottage and our second Christmas here is looming on the horizon. This Christmas, however, we'll be watertight and have properly fitting windows, and hopefully a kitchen...

 

The relevant room is about 8' x 15' and now contains the two salvaged kitchen units ( single and a double, both without doors), a piece of salvaged worktop and the basic essential white goods and appliances.

 

No amount of asking has resulted in being offered any old kitchen units, although a frugaler friend offered a selection of wooden doors. (Thanks, JB.) There were hopes for saving the old kitchen sink here, but close inspection dictates otherwise - it's badly rusted on the underside, the clips have corroded, the wrong mixer tap has been fitted and it doesn't have correctly fitting waste pipes, so it all needs replacing. With this in mind, when you see a bargain, you need to act fast. He who hesistates is lost in the bargain buying stakes, that's for sure!

 

Having spotted my prey - a herd of unsuspecting flatpack kitchen cabinets, complete with doors, handles and worktops - I pounced. Success! There's even a new kitchen sink among my recent catches and the first of the cabinets have arrived - from Argos!

 

Flatpacks are now being put together and, instead of costing an estimated £4,000 to have a new kitchen delivered and fitted, I should be able to complete this entire project for about one fifth of that amount and be happy with the end result. A kitchen is a basic necessity and it's one that is needed on a daily basis, practically every day of our lives. I feel it was the frugal thing to do in purchasing some fresh, clean new units.

 

The salvaged units without doors have the curtains from previous kitchen hanging across them and I do have the missing knob off the cooker - it was simply removed to remind me of which ring doesn't work. I spied my 'ideal' cooker, in lieu of the solid-fuel range that I'd have loved, but, at around £899, it's price tag is less than tempting. Besides, I've still the flooring, window dressings, tiling and painting to do! For now, we have the last of the magnolia trade paint on the walls and 3 boxes of rehomed tiles waiting to go along the back wall to provide a splashback.

 

Believe it or not, the above is all very exciting in the world of frugaldom. There's a deep sense of satisfaction comes from each challenge successfully met, regardless of how small that challenge might be to others.

 

To find out more about any of the associated frugal living or working challenges being planned for 2013, join us online at http://frugaldom.myfreeforum.org where you can take part in the conversations, share your own hints and tips or just enjoy being with like-minded individuals who think striving for debt and mortgage free living while reducing, reusing and recycling are the right things to do. It isn't self-imposed poverty, it's a means to an end and a lifestyle most of us grow to love, regardless of bank balances.

Preparing to Take on the Cost of 2012

Getting the Budget Right from the Start

Autumn is certainly upon us, here in southwest Scotland. The first frost arrived here two nights ago with the plummeting temperatures, but clear skies also mean sunshine, so that's an added bonus. If only it could reach the washing line by the back door for long enough to dry the laundry!

As we tumble through the final quarter of 2011, my mind has been wandering mora and more to the 2012 frugal living and moneysaving challenges that lie ahead of us. With so many price increases, the budget is being stretched beyond all recognition.

In 2007, running a household on £4,000 really was a dawdle, thinking back on it. Over the following five years, I pulled the purse strings tighter and tighter, cramming more and more ito that same budget, squirreling away every available penny that could be saved. It paid handsomely. By 2008, I was debt free and piling all those extra pennies, that soon became pounds, into savings pots for all manner of items and events.

Daughter's 21st birthday brought a joint-celebration by way of her engagement. We catered for over 100 friends and relatives, bringing two families into one and spreading the costs to make it a party night to remember. There was also a housemove for us, after the sudden death of our thirty-something year old landlord.

The following year, there was the big wedding. Again, everyone pulled together and bride and groom had a wonderful day spent with all their friends and family, before a good old shindig in the evening.

The year after that was son's 21st, but he opted for money towards his car, which was probably for the best, as he really needs that for travelling to and from work. (Country living has its drawbacks, especially when it comes to employment and proximity to towns, with regards to fuel costs.)

That brought us up to 2010, when we really thought we were getting on top of things with the savings. By then, there was a grandchild scheduled for arrival. She duly arrived on Hogmanay, in good time to herald in the New Year.

So far in 2011 - what can I say?

We had a few problems over Christmas and New Year involving neighbours,  landlords and their out of control dogs. Anyone who has been following Frugaldom will know the stories, anyone else will need to trace back the blogs to find out more. In summary, H lost his income, the car packed in completely, meaning it had to be scrapped, and we were served an eviction notice that involved all sorts of to-ing and fro-ing between lawyers. The positive outcome of all that was that we had the freedom to say 's*d the lot of you', cash in the savings and buy this house.

We moved in here at the start of June 2011. As you'll have seen by previous posts, the house was more of a wet shell, but it was affordable, it has a spectacular garden space and there's huge potential for development both outside and in, so we fell for the dream and leapt at the opportunity without as much as a sideways glance.

In the beginning, we had no plumbing - all the pipes had burst over the two winters the place had lain empty. But we have a stream running through the bottom of our garden, so we had the pleasure of making frequent trips to and from that stream collecting buckets of water to enable us to 'flush' the toilet. It was fun while the sun was shining, when it rained we needed the buckets to catch the water that was running through the back roof.

It's now November and we have been in here for 5 months. We now have safe electricity, all the plumbing we require and a serviceable backboiler behind the open fire that heats the water and three radiators. We also have a window in our bathroom, a front door and a solid roof over the kitchen. Life is grand: We simply need a ceiling and a back door to complete the elementary repair works. Tomorrow sees the start of the next phase - pulling down the old kitchen ceiling.

With savings depleted, the £4,000 per year challenge will need to continue but I am making one small concession - an extra £1,000 in 2012 so I can incorporate the Council Tax. If anyone else would like to join me in the next year, challenging your household to some frugal living and moneysaving, you'll find all the details in the frugal living forums via http://www.frugaldom.com/

There are challenges for almost everything moneysaving you can conceive, from saving loose change to homemade ifts and growing your own vegetables. We have challenges about how to earn more money as well as how to cut costs on most things we need in life. It promises to be a very interesting year ahead and I would love it if a few more would join our merry band of frugal heroes. Make the most of your money, get rid of your debts and start saving for the future you really want. Don't put off starting or risk missing an opportunity, be prepared to take life as you find it and make it into something good. Life is too short for stalling the start of your dreams.

NYK Media
www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk

My 50 Day Challenge Has Begun...

Making the Fixy-Up Habitable.



Starting the microholding can't really be done until we've moved into the new house. Moving into the new house can't really be done until it's safe to inhabit and has power and a water supply. Heating can wait, as we're getting closer to summer with every day that passes. So here is my first blog post of progress from Day 1 of 50.

DAY 2

It's been a dry day, so we headed off to the house this morning, complete with flask, to meet up with son and his pal, who were making a start on clearing away some of the rubbish and taking it to the nearest tip.

Not wanting to travel over there with an empty car, we decided to load up with the first of the planters and my two juniper bushes that sit by the front door.

I was trying to be so organised... except that, in my haste, I lifted one planter the wrong way and the bottom fell out of it! My poor little juniper bush shot out the bottom, complete with its tangle of roots and soil, and went rolling along the drive! Soon fixed it all back together, not quite as good as new, but it's intact.

As soon as we arrived at the house, we got the planters sat either side of the front door, so it has the beginnings of a 'lived in' appearance. I got a bit of the front path weeded whenever I could escape out the front. It was such a beautiful day and, without all the clouds and rain, we have a sea view from the front door, which I hadn't even realised until seeing it today!

Inside, the cottage absolutely stinks of mouldy dampness, so the first thing we started to do was lift damp carpets and get then hauled off to the tip. In between times, I got chatting to the next door neighbour, who was (how lucky was this?) having her chimneys swept! Yeah!

We got the sweep to go up on the roof to check our chimneys and give the main one a good clean out - he said it looks fine to light, just as soon as the water is on to fill the tank/back boiler. Heating and hot water will be from the open fire and back boiler, which will soon be reconnected to three radiators. We're hoping to have this fixed up and back to working order as soon as possible.

Son's pal brought his dog with him, so it had a great time in the garden, running around with dozens of footballs and floats. I suspect someone in the previous owner's family was a fisherman! I have saved a lifebuoy to hang somewhere (I want to paint it to say SS Frugaldom) and son has saved a pair of oars for who knows what? We binned all the lobster creels, but I've saved all the fish crates and dozens of panels of glass - these will be my makeshift seed beds and coldframes for immediate use.

Eventually, I got the electricity meter reset and then had to go back into the village to put credit on the key. That's when I met the electrician & plumber, so an inpromptu invite was extended to visit the new house to do a quick assessment of the electrics and plumbing. (Smart thinking, methinks. )

The power is now on - we have electricity, albeit dodgy electricity, so it got switched off at the mains before we left. We need a new fuse board and a lot of the wiring updated. With luck, it won't extend as far as a complete rewire.

Friends arrived for a quick visit, so we had a chat with them and showed them around the place. I think they were suitably impressed by the amount of work that needs doing within the space of 50 days! I actually think they'll be praying for us, but we appreciate any help, whatsoever.

Next up was the water, as I was dreading the supply being turned on it case the place instantly flooded. Hmm... when plumber went to turn on the water main, he discovered it hadn't been turned off, so he opened the valve on the stopcock indoors and...

Water started running... from several burst pipes! It was quickly turned back off again, but several bursts have been found. It appears the system was not drained down, it simply emptied itself into the house, probably last winter. Again - we were prepared for the worst, so we did expect there to be burst pipes.

Then another friend arrived, so we had the tour and then sat on the upturned planters out in the back yard, having a natter and a good old laugh. One day soon, I'll be able to refer to this as, 'entertaining guests on the patio'.

Anyhow, we did manage to strip off more layers of wallpaper and lift the THREE carpets from one room! I also spent quite a bit of time running around with a mop and bucket, mopping up water after watching it spurting from various points throughout the house! H started scraping the polystyrene tiles from the ceilings to reveal woodchip!

I've managed to salvage loads of 'useful' things for the garden, like wire, buckets, wood and even an old hen feeder. The budget is everything, afterall, and a penny saved is a penny earned. We can't afford to waste anything - not even the old, heavy duty, plastic boards that we found. These will make a fantastic garden bench! Talk about Steptoe's yard... all that's missing is the horse!

You'll see the funny side of this once I tell you the rest...

I also got to meet the other next door neighbour, who came out to chat when we were carting all the rubbish down the side of the house. I recognised her and she recognised me! So H and I went in to see her spectacular, terraced garden. It is fantastic!

Amidst all that was going on today, we could hear the cock-a-doodle-doo of another neighbour's cockerel, so we've let the neighbours know about ours. Not a problem, as there have been goats, pigs, sheep and all sorts of stuff in the back garden of our new house, apparently.

Later, when pal and I were out at the front door chatting, someone else I knew walked past, so we had a brief catch up. It really did feel like being home - familiar faces everywhere.

I reckon there must be around 30 houses in the village and they mostly look immaculately extended with large, landscaped gardens. I had just mentioned this, when the plumber informed me that it's known as "millionaire's row" and that we have no fewer than two different captains living there! I'm sorry, but I really did almost choke and laugh at this... Frugaldom in millionaire's row!

Oh my! I really must learn to be on my very best behaviour and get them all on board the good ship Frugaldom! I hope they can all appreciate the funny side of a fulltime frugaler coming to live in their midst. I've now acquired a couple of extra window boxes, courtesy of my current neighbour, and will get these planted up tomorrow with my Aldi begonias and marigolds, so the place can begin to look a little presentable.

Notice to all callers: Please use the front door and bring your own teacup. Don't use the back gate, as it's about to fall off its hinges, and please ignore the scuff marks on the doors, that's where we have to kick them to get them open. I feel like 'Ma Clampett' from the Beverley Hill Billies! But I promise not to serve up roadkill for Sunday lunch.

Today's top find, buried in overgrowth and boards that have now gone to the tip (barring the salvaged plastic for making a garden bench) was this rhubarb patch!

I have something edible in my garden!

See you in Frugaldom.

Still Playing a Waiting Game

I Hate These Waiting Games!

Somewhere in between realisation dawning that you have a house move ahead of you, the excitement of house hunting, property viewing, finding your ideal 'forever' home, making an offer, having a verbal acceptance and then awaiting the final 'Qualified Acceptance', there seems to be an awful lot of waiting about, mostly while being unable to actually 'do' anything.

This is the stage we are at now - awaiting final 'Qualified Acceptance' to make everything legal. Then we'll be waiting to wave bye-bye to our hard earned, battled-to-protect, savings. It feels good knowing that the cash will be swapped for something tangible, like a house, but the waiting is definitely the sting in the tail.

The process here in Scotland is slightly different to that elsewhere. We have to have indisputable evidence that all the finances are in place, ready to pay up, before being able to make a legal offer on any property. It doesn't matter if you're applying for a mortgage or buying outright, the process involves time and patience with most of the time spent in 'pre-buying' mode.

As soon as the deal is done, however, it's wham, bam, thank you mam, here's your hat, what's your hurry, you're the proud owner of a house, now clear off and go live in it. This is probably why so few property programmes ever feature Scotland as their chosen location. There's none of this making an offer then the house being taken off the market while waiting for all the paperwork, funding confirmations, technicalities and legalities. Oh no, the fun starts here right from day one, because only a lawyer can make a 'real' offer and only once a house is legally 'sold' can it be safely taken off the market. It's flat out right to the finish and the winner isn't always the best horse on the day.

The above is a very sketchy and non-professional description of how the property market works in Scottish law. Don't take my word for it, research it thoroughly before even considering buying in Scotland. By all means, have the estate agent note your interest in your chosen property, but swat up on the legalities well before proceeding any further than drooling over your copy of 'MacProperty Porn'.

I may have time, but patience is sometimes in rather short supply here! I guess we should be grateful for the fact that, as soon as we have the appropriate signatures on the appropriately dotted lines, we are pretty much sure that we have a house, without fear of being 'gazzumped', if that's the correct spelling, but it's still a waiting game - no getting away from that.

The Scottish buying process may seem quick to some - house sales can complete in under a month here - but being 'in limbo' between one's lease expiring on a rented property and getting one's hands on the keys of a newly purchased abode requires some fine tuning.

I'm not very finely tuned - so we are running out of time. With only four more days remaining of our official rental agreement, the possibility of having bought our 'forever' home in time to make the move has all but evaporated. Mind you, this situation is probably more to do with the fact that, only 8 weeks ago, we had absolutely no intentions of moving house, far less pouring all our savings into buying one.

We've sought an extension to the lease - left in the hands of the estate agent - we've done everything possible to make the property purchase straightforward, all our paperwork has been completed,  surveys inspected, local searches done, funds in place ready for the transfer... and still we await those final, crucial signatures that will enable us to own a house. Trouble is, the house we would love to own isn't quite err... habitable, shall we say? If I'm 100% honest, we have only seen inside it on one, brief occasion on a rainy, dull, March day. Some may find this shocking, others might understand the concept of, 'just knowing'.

So, what's a girl to do when the landlord wants them out ASAP, there are hens, ducks, all their housing, a greenhouse, a patio and a garden shed to be moved and a whole house to be packed up and transported 15 miles along the road, most of that being single track?

Yes, I thought so too... it's just another day in Frugaldom. The bread is baking, the washing is on the line and I'm making a trifle!

The garden here is quickly being completely 'un-gardened' and there's absolutely no point in worrying about it. The rent's paid for another month and the 2 months notice period will soon have disappeared into the annals of time. What are they going to do? Take me out in the lane and shoot me? I think not.

Fate lends a helping hand at every turn. To write down everything that has happened here since start of 2011 would be more like writing a novel, so I won't. Suffice to say, it isn't the actual buying of a house or moving house that's the cause of undue stress, it's all the other crap that life throws at you in between times. Logistics aside, no amount of money can pave the way for a smooth journey through life, so why worry?

Frugal living does not limit the number of occurances of events beyond our control. It might help prevent some of those that might, otherwise, have been beyond our financial control, but it does't fend off fate.

Money cannot make the world go round, nor can it stop it turning. We simply need to make the most of what we have without impacting, too much, on others.

Life is life, in all its forms, and I guess we should count our blessings and make ourselves more aware of our immediate surroundings, be it friends, family or location. Only then can we prepare ourselves to grasp any opportunity and appreciate everythig that each of our individual lives has to offer.

Frustration aside, life is simply a waiting game that we all need to play. But life is also about being on the lookout for opportunities. By some strange twist of fate, events have a way of shaping our futures, leading us blindly along unfamiliar routes, but it is only by experiencing such, that are we truly able to see the otherwise hidden opportunities that lie all around us, sitting quietly, playing the same waiting game we do.

They are waiting for us to make our next move!

The Decadence of a Frugaldom Mother's Day

DON'T FORGET MOTHERS' DAY
SUNDAY 3rd APRIL 2011

Today began early - the sun was shining before 7am, the hens and ducks wanted their freedom and I wanted my coffee.

The computer gets switched on as soon as I get up each morning, that way it's booted up and ready to go when I come back indoors from seeing to the feathered friends in the garden (and collect any early eggs).While waiting for the kettle to boil, I check online for work updates from clients and make a start on sifting through the invariable pile of 'spam' in search of anything else work-related. I don't usually get very far in the process before the kettle boils, so that's what takes me up to breakfast time.

This morning was glorious, so breakfast was taken on the back door step, shared with the chickens and ducks, I might add! But it gave me time to get into my woman zone and reflect on the contents of most of the 'newsy' type emails that lay in this morning's in-box. They were mostly reminding me of Mothers' Day, in some way, shape or form. I even posted a 'motherly' response on someone's blog update, reiterating what a paranoid lot we can be when it comes to our offspring. I omitted to add the fact that I was just as paranoid about watching my other 'baby', a horse, go out on the tracks back in the good old days when horses, ponies and racing were my chosen NOT SO FRUGAL frugal hobbies.

So, what do women, mothers in this particular case, really want? I've never been one for cosmetics, perfumes, cut flowers or grand gestures. Most would call me 'down to earth', if a little eccentric (replace with whichever word you prefer), in my outlook and lifestyle, so helpfulness, usefulness and functionality are more appreciated here than fripperies. But then I began the morning's work, updating a few bits and pieces on the web pages that will, one day, prove my worth as a frugal entrepreneur. I was looking at CUT FLOWERS and thinking they looked gorgeous! EEK! Is this a true reflection of how age is catching up with me? It suddenly trips me up, leaving me sprawled in a heap of, dare I say it, 'normality'? I just don't 'do' pink! Or, at least, I didn't! But I have to admit that I do collect 'Posy Points' and I do make the most of free delivery and free chocolates! This is a brilliant site!

Back on the trail of what women want - I'm practical, as well as frugal, but extravagances and treats are appreciated. Contemplating what I do from day to day, I came up with the following list::

1. Look after the poultry
2. Bake - bread, cakes and biscuits
3. Grocery shopping & cook meals
4. Dust & vacuum
5. Do laundry
6. Compute, write, blog, log data, research & earn a meagre income from it
7. Work in the garden
8. See friends, neighbours and family regularly 
9. Find the best ways to spend less money
10. DIY - let's face it, we all need to be able to DIY if we want the frugal house of our dreams, don't we?

I have a good life, I enjoy it, I don't hanker after riches, foreign travel, fine jewellery or designer clothing. I happen to like my green wellies (not Hunter brand) and my waxed jacket (not a Barbour). I like my checked scarf (not Burberry) and I like my secondhand bargains and charity shop treasures. So, when my family asks, 'what would you like for Mother's Day', I have a list of extravagances that could be suitably fitting for my chosen lifestyle...

1. Some hatching eggs from purebreed poultry or, better still, half a dozen point-of-lay hens.
2. A 'homemade' cookie stamp so nobody forgets that they're all home made.
3. Bargain groceries with a delivery service or else a huge voucher for our local Sainsbury's.
4. A 3-minute cupcake maker, so there are cakes to have with the coffee during the break between vacuuming and dusting.
5. The box set of Absolutely Fabulous - so I can watch an episode when waiting for the washing machine to complete the cycle
6. Some more people taking part in our frugal challenges - I can't believe the country is in austerity mode and yet so few homemakers want to share their frugal lifestyle tips - and several new sign-ups for Affiliate Window, so I can earn that last £7 needed to allow me to actually claim a payment.
7. Compost (lots of it), vegetable seeds, fruit bushes or fruit trees to help quickly increase the food growing capacity of the new garden, once we move house next month, plus peanuts for feeding the wild birds.
8. A good, solid garden bench for seating visitors when they visit for a cuppa and a catch-up. It's far nicer being able to sit outside in the garden during good weather.
9. I wish my entire family, all friends, acquaintances, colleagues and, even, passing strangers would consider using a site like Topcashback, so they, too, can claim back a small fortue on almost all of their online shopping. The cyberdosh soon mounts up over the year and then it's up to you what you buy with the resulting cash or Amazon vouchers.
10. A subscription to the Renovate Alerts, so we can watch for a really cheap fixy-up that could become someone's dream home.

I think the above items tie in nicely with my chosen lifestyle of frugality and the quest to create our very own, mortgage free microholding. I can't think of anything else I'd like, unless I renage on my anti-pink and anti-cut flowers deal to opt for the bouquet plus extra chocolates, hand delivered by all the family who would bring dinner with them and then clear up afterwards. Then again, it just can't happen that way, not with five generations in this family!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that family spirit and camaraderie can be lost in commercialism and consumerism. Gifts are all well and good, but it's remembering who and where your family are that counts most.

Let them all know that they mean something to you. Don't leave it until some made up 'celebratory' day in the consumerist-society-driven calendar.

What would YOU really like for Mothers' Day?