FRUGAL ROUND-UP OF 2021

 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022

It has been some time since I updated this blog but the past couple of years have simply flown by and merged into some sort of time-warped blur. Between the pandemic, the FrugaLdom project, ponies, poultry and now goats, my time has been spent trying to keep up with the daily chores, keeping a tight hold on the budget and pursuIng all the challenges that I set myself each and every year. 

I'm ending 2021 on a bit of a high! We pulled out all the stops and finally managed to get our hut built. Planning permission took 7 full months to be granted as the planning department staff members were all working from home, then our designated planning officer went off sick for quite some time. However, we got there in the end! In addition to this, and during all of this, we somehow ended up opening a campervan and motorhome stopover site, otherwise known as an 'Aire'. It's similar to those found in France and elsewhere, but without the services. Our 'Aire' is a bit like a frugal campsites for self-sufficient motorhomes and campervans - all we offer is parking space, nothing more. In exchange for parking we accept small donations that contribute towards the running of Frugaldom project. I love it! We get to meet interesting people who share our love for Frugaldom and the outdoors and some even help out on site during their stay.

2021 also brought another Avian Bird Flu pandemic so all our hens and ducks are having to stay undercover at home, away from Frugaldom, until such times as we can build them proper, covered enclosures there that are completely mink, fox, stoat and weasel proof. The duck pond now has fish swimming in it, the old duck enclosure has goats living in it and the yard, has been designated as parking for our visitors. We completed the pony shelters, hay storage and potting shed, and extended the little hay shelter to more than double its orginal size. Now we need to improve the goat housing, build the poultry & duck enclosures and get more trees and hedging planted, while making attempts at improving the food growing side of things. We need like-minded volunteers so if you fit that bill... 

2022 is going to be about minimalism and off-grid living, as much as possible. I want to grow more food, use less electricity and, as always, make everything as affordable as possible so that each penny can do the job of a pound. With inflation currently sitting at over 5%, things could get tougher but with some forward thinking, I'm sure we can all make some changes that will see us through the worst of any crises arising. Protecting income is paramount when the global economy is this shaky so investing in longterm 'survival' and self-sustainability seems the obvious choice to me. If I can help anyone else cope with their current situations by offering moral support and a place to escape now and again then I will.

We are all in this together and together we will succeed in whatever we set our minds to doing. Whether it is debt-busting, money saving, developing small business ideas or simply learning more about how to be happy leading a frugal lifestyle, everything is possible. Feel free to join us in the forums of the Moneysavingexpert website, taking part in our 2022 Frugal Living Challenge. You can also like / follow the daily updates from Frugaldom on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Any questions, just ask. Don't be shy.

Our savings have been seriously depleted but as long as we can clear at least minimum wage while living on £4,000 per year, there is still wriggle room to recoup - even when it's costing an extra few thousand pounds a year to feed all the animals. Who knows, we may even dedicate part of our project to becoming a designated sanctuary and Scottish wildlife reserve next year. Having the hut on site means having the ability to be on site longer, staying there whenever possible. I'm still writing for my living and have just signed another book deal as a ghostwriter so perhaps 2022 will see the realisation of yet another dream - being a writer who writes from a cabin in the country.

SEE BEYOND YOUR DREAMS - ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

All the very best to each and every one of you for the new year ahead - even to those who don't 'get' what we are about and who can't see the wood for the trees. Good health and happiness to all - stay safe and dont forget to wash your hands. 😊

www.frugaldom.com

How to Save to Buy a House

• #Frugal Living
• #Money Saving
• #Household Budgets
• #Money Challenges
• #Small Space Living
• #How to...

Home ownership for first time buyers can be a daunting prospect so this is a little bit about how frugal living can help you save to buy a house, or even save to rent to buy a house! The lifestyle affords the luxury of saving more of your cash for your dream home.

 

When I first began my quest to save for a house it was 'the done thing' – we were led to believe there were 3 options –

• get a mortgage
• get a council house
• find a live-in job

Initially, I opted for the live-in job. Looking back, it was possibly the best paid job I ever had – all bills, meals and car paid AND £40 a week into the bank. But at 18 you don't think about it until you need to move on and set up your own home.

And so the master plan began - only I got impatient and wanted an item that cost more than my savings, so I got a bank loan to pay for it! The loan was only £800 repayable over 12 months but getting it became a defining moment. It taught me, rightly or wrongly, that the easiest way to buy something major is to use someone else's money and pay it back over time, preferably with as little interest added on as possible. It all seemed so easy until interest rates rose to an incredible 15%, that's when things can go pear-shaped. It certainly taught many of us why we should pay more attention to financial and property-related news!

Since then, various Government initiatives have evolved and different home ownership possibilities introduced. There are affordable rent options, social housing, shared ownership and even social enterprises that incorporate housing.

Gentoo Group is one such social enterprise, based in North East of England, with "a vision to improve the Art of Living."

Their work is focused around three key areas to maximise impact: people, planet and property. They allow you to find a property you like, move in and pay rent, as a tenant, but your payments can also contribute towards buying the house – no need for a huge deposit or even a mortgage!

Social enterprises help further increase your chances of getting onto the property ladder and I suspect that this route may provide solutions to those who would, otherwise, have little possibility of ever owning their own home.

Long gone are the days of my three basic options and total exclusion from the property market if you find yourself with insufficient income to qualify for a mortgage. Now we also have:

• Help to Buy - Government backed scheme for first time buyers offering tax-free top-ups to mortgage deposit savings.
• Shared ownership - You can buy shares worth between 50% and 75% of the market value of the property and you pay rent on the remaining share.
• Rent to buy - 'Genie' properties are let at rates slightly above those of social tenancies, but they are still considerably below current market rents. Of course, due to their popularity they are allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement.
• Part exchange - A bit like trading in your old car for a bigger or better one, you could start small and then work up to your dream home.

  

Whichever route you choose, you need savings to cover your costs. Most property transactions involve some form of legal fees, possibly surveys, moving costs, initial décor, floor coverings and furnishings and then all the little things that can be overlooked, especially if you are starting from scratch. Granny's insistence on starting a 'bottom drawer' as early as possible is as relevant now as it has ever been.

Take care of the pennies, don't spend the pounds foolishly, take advantage of meaningful bargains and bank your savings safely so they can't be frittered away on 'stuff'. Try to ensure your money is attracting the best possible interest, even when rates seem ridiculously low, and be prepared to move quickly if your dream home presents itself.

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA

To help me with my own savings plan, I charted a timeline. It began with house hunting, then progressed through house viewing, surveys, moving costs and then on to legal expenses. It wasn't until all of those costs, which were several thousand pounds, could be met that I started saving for the actual house! Each month the balance grew with tax-free ISA interest, I rounded it up to the nearest full pound. Pound-rounding became quite habit-forming, so it wasn't long before I was rounding up to the nearest £5, then the nearest £10, until it eventually got to the hundreds. It all took time. Social enterprise options could definitely provide many with far quicker results and it is something I fully intend to explore further. How about you?

Feel free to ask questions, comment, get involved in the frugal forums discussions or share these posts and good luck with your personal savings goals.

How to be a Frugal Living Expert, part 3

• #Frugal Living
• #Money Saving
• #Free Food
• #Household Budgets
• #Food on a Budget
• #Money Challenges
• #How to...

Quit spending on stuff you don't need! I cannot repeat this often enough! It is the number one cause of being skint, no matter how much or how little money you have coming into your household. Frugal living is about HOW you allocate your budget.

 

How poor is poor? I can't answer that question as it's all relevant to personal perception. I can't afford racehorses, yachts or a beach house in Monacco but it doesn't make me poor. Everyone wants a slice of your cake and the bigger your cake, the bigger the slice they want! But isn't it funny how rich people don't seem to cut all that many more slices from their huge, rich cakes? It still starts with the roof over their head, the food and drink on their table, their transport and then the usual stuff, like pets, fashion, hobbies and holidays. They DO NOT dash off and spend a heap more time at the Bingo, bookies or pub, not do they do a trolley dash three times a day around the supermarkets looking for yellow stickers and I doubt very much if they cut out tokens for the £9 holiday from several tabloid newspapers (rather than 1), up their brand of tobacco and graduate from Lambrini to Lambrusco and then perhaps onto a cheap Prosecco!

So, it's time to start thinking like a solvent person and quit whining about being poor. Enrich your life by learning how to think positively and see beyond the debt. Think like a wealthy and wise person, while taking care of your pennies.

Now to look at what's cheap today that used to be the preserve of the rich!

Most people who use the Internet now have access from home, work or via their mobiles - we know this because our libraries are being closed at an alarming rate through lack of use and I cannot remember the last time I saw a pay-per-hour Internet cafe since my own closed down in the 90's. It was the preserve of the rich to drive saloons with car phones and when I eventually introduced mobile phones into my business plan, it cost £149.99 for the cheapest pay-as-you-go hand set, which looked a bit like a brick in comparison to today's sleek little touch screen gadgets. Access to technology has turned the definition of poverty on its head.

And yet we have food banks, over 5% unemployment (which does NOT mean we have almost 95% in employment) and people saddled with unsustainable debt that includes mortgages on properties that have sunk into negative equity.
But interest rates have never been so low for so long, mortgages never been so affordable and many of the luxuries around us have fallen within the reach of even the most basic earners. I can sail to Ireland for a tenner and call it a day cruise, despite fuel prices being almost ten times what they were at the start of the 80's! What has gone wrong?

Internet costs money and we don't actually NEED it. Based on various criteria, it looks to cost around £10 per week, by the time you factor in contracts (if you have any), line rentals for land lines and the various call and Internet (usually broadband) packages.

To be honest, £10 per week is very reasonable to someone like me who was introduced to the Internet via charged national call rates. I remember the day they dropped Internet access charges to local rate and then a further drop to a penny a minute (on top of your monthly or annual fee, plus telephone line rental) and we celebrated no end - probably with Lambrusco, as Lambrini hadn't yet been invented. I think it came about to make cheap fizzy wine sound like the classier Martini - only not shaken or stirred!

When all-inclusive Internet packages arrived, we swore our undying love to our computers. But we mustn't overlook the fact that, despite these massive drops in price, Internet is still something that many cannot afford. So let's look at what £10 can buy you if you really are broke!

What food types are suitable for all diets, including sugar and grain intolerant ones, that are affordable to all budgets and can cover our basic nutritional requirements? My guess is that homemade soup is the most obvious choice, as it can be cooked almost anywhere, even over a campfire, and comprises water based stock, some veggies and, if you're felling flush, a handful of pulses and/or grains.

How many of you have been to a butcher, asked for dog bones and then used pony carrots and a handful of broth mix or rice to make a pot of soup?

What would you give up first? Your mobile phone, your Internet access or something else - anything else other than your connection to the outside world?

Join us in the www.frugalforums.co.uk to discuss it further

Money Challenges in January

• #Frugal Living
• #Money Saving
• #Household Budgets
• #Money Challenges

 

It's almost the end of the first month into our 2016 frugal living challenge - how are you doing?

 

 

My garden is a shambles with nothing more than the last remnants of the perennial herbs and none of them looking like the photo above - lush, green and colourful. No, instead they are looking sparse, woody, twiggy and in bad need of some care and attention. Elsewhere in the garden, some of the garlic cloves have sprouted and I found a few rogue potatoes when scrounging for some spinach the other day I was out there.

 

Every new year brings us new challenges but it still never ceases to amaze my how others perceive 'our lifestyle' as we pursue our frugal living goals. I don't even think of it as a peculiar life of deprivation or self-imposed poverty. We live in times of austerity that have been brought on by what would appear to be a complete and utter lack of ability for some people to add, subtract, multiply and divide! Simple arithmetic should surely provide just reason for living within one's own means after working so hard to achieve total freedom from debt. What I see, I own - it is mine. It doesn't belong to the bank, it doesn't belong to a credit company, hire purchase, lease or finance company, it is mine to do with exactly as I please - so I do! Shame on anyone who can't 'get' why they have overdrafts, credit card bills, bank loans, long-running contracts, mortgages and insufficient (if any) savings if it's down to their money-spending priorities being at odds with their household incomes. Putting you own wants before the security of home and family is, in my opinion, a very selfish thing to do.

 

Back to the finances - we had a debate in the frugal forums about whether or not there were any benefits to paying BT's annual linesaver this year, as prices had, once again, increased. In my situation, where every penny counts, I found that the 10% savings made by paying in full at the start of the year led me to having an extra £21.54 at the end of the year, along with the added £1.94 that represents the 1% cashback I'll accrue from paying by credit card and clearing the balance before any interest is added. For those of you who have been with Egg card since we began our cash-back savings, we still get up to 1% cash back each year from a fee-free card, we just no longer get paid interest on any credit balances - more's the pity.

 

So how is the annual challenge budget looking? From a starting point of £4,000, I have already spent £500, with £194 of this going to BT and my usual 50p per day into the savings pot. Telephone and Internet account for a huge proportion of the budget but let's not overlook the fact that these are luxuries that most of us prefer to have. It now costs around £10 per week for personal communications equipment of whatever description you use - landline, Internet, mobile phone - and that has to act as part of our social activities, as we are all so busy communicating that some of us have no time left to actually interact with real people outside of work or home.

 

The other big burden on budgets is energy costs - these account for about 25% of my annual budget, or 20% if I include council tax. Has anyone else noticed how similar in amounts council tax and energy use have become, or is that just in my old stone cottage with it's single glazing and no loft to insulate? It's like the price of petrol - it used to always run about parallel with that of cigarettes with much of those costs being tax of one form or another - anyone know if it is still possible to buy a pack of cigarettes for the price of a gallon of petrol?

 

Many thanks to all my regular frugal friends for continuing to pursue a life of frugality and for setting a good example to those around them - living in frugal debt freedom IS the new rich - like it, live it, love it! For those who disagree, you can lump it!

 

Feel free to join any of our many money challenges free in the www.frugalforums.co.uk New for 2016, we have the THISTLE POT CHALLENGE,  a brand new challenge to save those pennies into pounds and come to our Frugaldom meet-up in May 2017. It's going to be our first ever frugalfest!

Stay financially strong throughout 2016

• #Money Saving
• #Household Budgets

So, did you enter January full of good intentions to eat less, exercise more and cut back on non-essentials? If the answer’s ‘Yes’ and you’ve been holding out for the month to end, hang on in there!

Just because the month is over, your salary’s been paid and you’ve recovered from Christmas’ financial hangover, it doesn’t mean you should revert to your old ways. Making a few simple cutbacks can keep your finances fighting fit throughout the year.

Still not motivated? What about that holiday in the sun you fancy, or that new car you’d love to drive about in? Asking yourself what you can afford to live without and sticking to a budget comes with financial rewards.

Our ten top budget tips will help you strengthen your finances. Take a look at the Money Masterclass and fun interactive quiz to see how a few daily cost-cutting measures will fatten your piggy bank: Fix Your Finances - What are your money-saving tips?

Our Facebook competition is designed to find Britain’s savviest saver - FreedomFinance on Facebook - so share your ideas to encourage others to stick to a healthy budget.

 

As your piggy bank gets fatter the financial outlook for 2016 gets brighter!

2016 Frugal Living Challenge

• #Frugal Living
• #Money Saving
• #The Frugaldom Project
• #Money Challenges
• #Frugal Entrepreneurs

2016 Frugal Living Challenge

Happy New Year to all fans, friends and followers of Frugaldom, the Frugal Living Challenge and the Frugaldom Project! Here we are, once again, embarking on a fresh journey of discovery, forever in search of self-sustainability. Join us on our adventurous quest for financial freedom.

The new challenges have all been set and members are already furiously calculating their spending, savings and investments over in the Frugal Forums. For those of you who haven't already joined, it's a simple, free registration process and your membership is usually activated instantly. All that we ask is that you remain active within the forums at least one per quarter, otherwise you risk being deactivated as a forum member.

Unlike other forums, the Frugaldom free forum is NOT public and you won't find all its contents via search engines or published elsewhere. Membership is totally free unless you opt to become Official Friends of Frugaldom Project, which currently costs £5 per month, and enables you full access to all our projects, both online and on the ground! For current members, you may already be aware of our planned 'Frugalfest' in 2017 and our newly started Frugal Breaks opportunities.

Frugal Festivals are something I have been dreaming of for many years, bringing together all the skills, challenges, arts and crafts associated with self-sustainability and frugal living, so 2016 is going to be an exceedingly busy year of preparations and planning while I continue writing about everything that happens along the way. This will all be published in the Frugal Forums with highlights featuring in the Frugal Blog.

In the forums, we have already set up and opened the annual Frugal Living Challenge along with each of the following monthly micro-challenges that help us along our way:

• January General Preparations
• February Frugal Fitness
• March Moneyspinners
• April AIMS (Alternative Investments & Money Saving)
• May Make, Do and Mend
• June Jollies and Jaunts
• July Justified Spending
• August Austerity
• Septimus Frugalus
• Octavius Frugalus
• November Novel Spending
• December Disasters Averted

Along with all of these money challenges, we provide our members with free space to set up their own personal challenge diaries where they share hints, tips and progress notes with their fellow frugalers. We run forums within the frugal forums for all of the following:

• Arts, Crafts and Hobbies
• Blogs, Blogging and Creative Writing
• Budgets and Budgeting
• Business and Frugaleurs (frugal entrepreneurs)
• Daily Chat (we also have our own private chat room at www.nykchat.com for members)
• Discounts, Freebies, Swaps, Offers and Cyberdosh (virtual cash)
• DIY and Home Decor
• Fitness and Health
• Frugal Gourmet - our food forum
• Gardening and Food Growing
• Money Saving Experts
• Pets, Poultry and Livestock
• Woman Zone

Now You Know what keeps us busy all the time and why we are always looking for a little bit extra help or support. Our lifestyle choices aren't about money, they are about how we prioritise our spending and to what ends. For some, it's about creating an experience that like-minded others can afford to share.

We barter, we skill swap, we trade and we share.

The Process of Frugalisation - part 2

Part of Frugalblog.co.uk

• #Frugal Living
• #Money Saving
• #Foraging
• #Household Budgets
• #Food on a Budget
• #Money Challenges

How to become frugal and follow an extremely frugal lifestyle is something I am often asked - how it all started, why I do it and what keeps me pursuing such a lifestyle when I no longer seem to need to do so? Keep pecking away at those debts or adding to the savings, as the freedom to be frugal is well worth it. (Part 1 can be found here.)

Sorry this second part was delayed but I don't exactly work regular hours in a regular place of employment. I'm home based, self employed and slowly developing my frugal kingdom, so it's starting to take me out and about a bit more while preparing for a slight change of direction. Or perhaps it is better said that I'm preparing to add another business venture to my existing writing and publishing work, as I have no intentions of giving that up any time soon.

First of all, I began this lifestyle because I had to - in the grand scale of things, my entire life changed almost overnight and … Read more here

The Process of Frugalisation - part 1

By NYK Media for Frugaldom

Frugalisation is the process of becoming truly frugal on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. It is about learning a new art form, possibly even a new way of life, and taking that forward so you can become a habitual frugal living aficionado. 

This is no frills, text only reading for the seriously wannabe frugal living expert.

It is is a fairly lengthy process, so requires several posts and an in-depth look at how the process of frugalisation can impact on so many lives. For some, it doesn't always paint a pretty picture so they give up too soon. Life isn't a bed of roses nor does money grown on trees - or does it?

For the benefit of doubt, being frugal does not necessarily mean you are poor, deprived, underprivileged or subjecting yourself to some form of self-imposed poverty, it simply means that you have chosen not to be wasteful. For many, frugality usually occurs for long enough to help get them back on track, correcting failing finances, but for some it is a life-altering experience from which there is no return. We love it here in Frugaldom - it provides us with the freedom to be frugal and to enjoy work and home life exactly as we choose!

Some people have austerity thrust upon them by circumstances beyond their control (illness, sudden loss of income etc.) and some find that a bit of thriftiness helps them to make ends meet in the household budget. For others, the act of frugal living provides an escape from a seemingly endless downward spiral into unsustainable debt.

Most people who cut back a bit on spending, bin less or look for bargains will class themselves as being frugal, with some seeing it as a temporary measure until the financial problems have been resolved, but that isn't really what I would call true frugality. The process of frugalisation is a lengthy one and it eventually becomes an entire lifestyle from which few true frugalers leave - regardless of how wealthy they may become over time.

Should you find yourself in the unenviable position of being skint, having been struck down by poverty, homelessness, debilitating illness or even just spending more than you are earning, then urgent action is needed and that's where the first major choices need to be made: are you prepared to make personal sacrifices and have you got what it takes to make changes in the lives of those around you for whom you are responsible?

We all need to start somewhere and I well remember coming through the process of frugalisation myself. I'm glad I did it and have no intentions of returning to where I once was.

In the beginning, we all think we know what's best for us and how we spend our own money. We inadvertently fail to see the bigger picture where our actions and reactions impart on our fellow human beings - friends, family and hose around us. Our spending habits during our active lifetime are what make our futures secure or otherwise. Yes, luck can play its part - some win fortunes or land lucky deals but only the wise and the frugal hold onto their wealth and accumulate further financial security. As we all know, a fool and his money are soon parted.

A prime example of when (or why) to start the frugalisation process is as you first realise that bills are mounting and income is stretched to the limit just covering all the out-goings. By the end of the month there may be no money left and then something like Christmas comes along, or a birth, death or marriage that can bring about unexpected costs. Into overdraft, catch up next month! Only problem is that the next month of catch-up never comes and the chore of earning sufficient income to maintain current standards begins to take its toll - anxiety, stress and more worry. As is so often the case, the result can be a further increase in spending in a bid to feel better and more in control, or else the inevitable drop in income when it all goes pear-shaped and we can't bring ourselves to face another day of the same grind. This is normal for many. Battle on, perhaps develop other interests in a vain attempt to avert attention from a personal crisis, but it seldom resolves the problem of going broke or becoming ill in the process.

Frugal living - I need to make it sound like fun without the need for money. I wish I could, but during the initial stages of the process, it can become very difficult, upsetting and annoying. Everyone else seems to think they know better and suggests a million different ways of saving money. Yes, we get it, buying cheap brands costs less and growing your own fruit, vegetables and herbs saves buying them but get a grip, people, we all can't just traipse out into a fertile garden, scatter some seeds and suddenly grow our own food without incurring costs. It takes time and preparation - buying compost, pots and gardening implements is NOT frugal while you are fighting debts. Nor is getting a couple of hens for 'free eggs' or rushing out to buy all the kitchen accoutrements essential for making your own pies, jams, pickles and preserves. This is a step-by-step, penny-by-penny process that takes time, patience and basic arithmetic. A budget isn't what you think you may need it is exactly what you have to work with in the first place and every spend has to work into that figure.

Learning the difference between needs and wants is paramount to success - NO LUXURIES ALLOWED - these are a waste of money while it's in short supply. Once you are fully solvent you can reappraise your budget and your priorities list. We all need to eat and drink but we don't need fast food, takeaways, prime beef, exotic fruit and vegetables, alcohol or tobacco products. We don't need crisps, chocolate, sweets, cakes or biscuits. We don't need sugar-frosted breakfast cereals when porridge oats are 75p per kilo and our clothes don't need designer labels. We all like to give gifts but we don't need to spend money on them - you can spend time and effort, see how much others appreciate that! If they don't, then it's their problem, not yours.

We can do this, it's easy... for as long as we stay away from the shops and cut ourselves off from civilisation! But that surely cannot be good, can it? No more nights out, no more entertaining, no more fripperies?

Save the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

Waste not, want not.

A stitch in time saves nine.

There are any number of thrifty and money saving anecdotes and all are true, but there is always a 'but'.

Somewhere down the line, as you subject yourself to the trauma of constantly saying no to yourself and anyone who even suggests unnecessary spending, you will find yourself in the position of having to justify your non-spending. It happens often - even your closest friends and family can make the allegations of your being mean and tight-fisted. They don't understand your predicament, they may not want to understand it and some are offended by it - on the whole, they are mystified as to how you can say no and spend so little appear happy with your lifestyle. Some may even be jealous of your contented outlook, ability to control your own spending, pay off debts and increase your own financial security! Whatever way you discover this, be warned - you will find yourself doubting your own ways and means at some stage and you will ask yourself why you can’t just make this one exception to the rule and treat yourself to a, b or c. Stay strong, this is where you have the backup of fellow frugalers in the likes of the Frugal Forums or chat room – help or support is never far away in the land of Frugaldom.

This fabulously frugal new lifestyle, especially when your income is self-generated through hard work and commitment, isn't for everyone. There will be times when you will look at the way you are living through the eyes of others and waiver on the brink of temptation to abort your mission and go on a spending spree. 'Why not?' you will ask yourself - you worked for it and everyone else seems to manage to have fun, so why shouldn't you? Why shouldn't you treat yourself to something 'nice' or why shouldn't you go and do whatever others have tempted you into doing? Do not be swayed! Do not be led into temptation to break your non-spending rule before it has even become an established pattern in your newly chosen lifestyle. Yes, you do have the choice - it is yours to make, but the process of frugalisation has been broken at the point that you break that promise to yourself to stand firm against previous financial transgressions and put right mistakes from the past - even if you haven't accepted responsibility or apportioned blame elsewhere.

Accepting that mistakes were made in the first place is definitely a sure fire sign that the frugalisation process is well underway. After such a trauma - come on, it's a bit of a shock actually looking at the bigger picture and realising what a fool you may have been with your money - the choice to proceed to habitualisation is yours and yours alone, otherwise you're just playing at being frugal until you get back on your feet and back onto the familiar old path of spending as you earn.

In part 2, we'll look at how frugal you think you already are - then show you how non-frugal that really is. In the meantime, please feel free to join us in the Frugal Forums where we enjoy one another's online company during our mundane, day-to-day routines of not over-spending or wasting time, effort and money.

Scottish Multimedia | The Process of Frugalisation - part 1

Moneysaving Mayhem

May has been a busy money-saving month of mayhem, so far, but we have managed to complete the barn painting and have another corral, or small paddock, fenced, planted the last of this year's trees, sown seeds and I set up a makeshift wild bird feeding station outside the caravan, where the resident woodpecker is now visiting several times each day. That's my frugal entertainment. Life on site in a mobile home is great!

I'm going to begin this latest post with a quote from John Irving that definitely reflects the mood of the day. The photo is one I took of the nearby loch when it was perfectly calm and reflective. I think some of my long-standing friends and family are wondering if I have taken up permanent residence in the mobile home, now known as my micro-ranch. Yes, it's a far cry from a sandstone cottage, but it most definitely has everything I need and greatly increases the time I can spend working on the Frugaldom Project whenever the weather permits. The field is a mere half mile from here. What isn't there to like? I have luxuries here that aren't available at the house, such as Sky TV, an indoor heated swimming pool, golf, fishing, site shop, various free to attend social activities and all are included within the annual site rental fees that equate to about £40 per week, including WiFi, water and TV. (Swimming, fishing and golf are included in that price.)

The site is not a year-round residential site, but I can spend 11 months of the year here, leaving February as the month for catching up elsewhere, visiting friends and family or getting jobs done elsewhere. With the spare room and living room bed settee here, I can have friends and family to stay anytime, providing a frugal holiday option for many and also less travelling for those coming to help out at Frugaldom. The site has facilities for campervans, tourers and tents as well as renting out chalets, but I think the majority of the caravans may be privately owned holiday homes. To be absolutely honest, I haven't a clue why we didn't look at this option instead of renting an assortment of houses over a 10-year period while saving to buy! It could have saved thousands of pounds! I think I've spent more money moving house over the past 15 years than it costs to buy a decent ex-rental or secondhand mobile home on this site! I'm not being paid to say this, but if I could find frugalers to buy the two plots and 'vans next to me, we could have a great little frugal community going here - I could even provide allotment-style gardens at Frugaldom for food growing.

Right now, I have a hand wash drying outdoors, pegged to the airer, and a tray of raspberry muffins baking in the oven, alongside quiche. It's taking time to accustom myself to a full size gas oven after using the microwave and mini oven for so long, but I've managed not to burn anything beyond use. There's also the fact that the cooker doubles as heating in the open plan layout of the caravan. I'm a few items short in the kitchen department, but am managing fine without having to buy anything else. My total spends have amounted to £4 for a plastic wash basin and a cheap frying pan. My latest frugal visitor was able to provide me with …

Continued here

Frugal Living from Scratch

Part 1 of 2: Getting right back to basics - this blog is about frugal living in a way that affords you a simple life of freedom from debts and the luxury to choose how and when you earn and spend your own money. You aren't completely free until every penny is your own. A complete, photo free 'rantathon' to get the penny rolling.

Let's get one thing straight - you don't own your own home if you have a mortgage, just as you don't own your own car if it was 'bought' on finance. It simply means you have borrowed these goods and made a personal pledge to pay over the odds for them while you use them and continue to pay over the odds for them even if you don't. It is a contractual obligation which is meant to keep you making payments that, in turn, bind you to earning whatever amount of money is needed to service the debts and live your life - whatever that may be. Likewise with everything you have in your possession - it isn't your own until you have zero debt and are no longer making payments of any description. It always baffles me how some folks can't see a mortgage as debt.

The battle cry I hear most often is that I (me, myself, I) cannot be frugal if I can afford to make major purchases for cash. Well, folks, it is by being frugal that we can afford such things in life and they are not so major when you look at the whole picture. I would go as far as declare myself a frugal living expert, having trained in the art for decades, learning by experience and honing my skills. Over and over again, I have show what does and does not work for me. Getting a 9 to 5 dead-end job and living in fear of interest rate or rent increases just doesn't cut it for me and I fail to understand why anyone in their right mind would want to torture themselves enduring that for fifty years of their life only to retire with nothing. Kudos to those of you who enjoy or endure that lifestyle, it's just not for me. I'm neither lucky nor privileged, I simply made a choice in my own life and stuck with it.

Absolute essentials, in my opinion, are shelter, suitable clothing and good basic nutrition that contributes towards your overall wellbeing. If you can get to a point that you can meet these needs with enough of your income left over to service all your debts, you have succeeded in the first step. The next step is to cut out absolutely everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that you really don't need and start saving to invest in your own future. Some really tough choices need to be made - if you can't afford a car but really need one for work, can you relocate then  walk or cycle? Failing that, can you change jobs to one within walking or cycling distance? I don't really understand sentimentality towards bricks and mortar, it's a stupid concept to me. Yes, by all means love your home, but if it's just a millstone around your neck filled with memories, pack up those memories and take them with you to some place you can afford to relax indefinitely without checking your bank balance every other week.

Why worry about what others think of you? Something like that is learned behaviour and is a rather evil trait to instil in any child, in my opinion. It's also one that is really difficult to free yourself from, but it is worth it in the end. Learning one's own worth based on non-monetary values is far more revealing than finances and fripperies.

Very little money is needed to live my chosen lifestyle. For me, understanding how anyone ends up in debt when earning what I'd consider a small fortune is intriguing, despite having seen the facts and figures for myself. There really is nobody to blame but the individuals who got there in the first place and more shame them if they choose to ignore it or, worse still, pass on that burden to others.

This blog isn't about becoming a superstar, a guru or a celebrity, it's about sharing my own journey to freedom. Knowing where you want to be is the difficult part but once you have established that, everything becomes so much clearer and easier. It's all down to budgeting - knowing exactly what you need every penny to do and making it happen, come what may.

Home is where the heart is and the heart shouldn't give a stuff what friends, relatives or neighbours think. It may be a glorified shed, a caravan, a bed-sit, a tumbledown cottage, a boat or even an underground bunker conversion! For some obscure reason, people attribute worth and status to bricks and mortar, but that's not for the frugalers starting from scratch. Financial riches may come later, but in the beginning, you need to liquidate everything and clear your minds, your schedules and your debts so you can begin again, frugal living from scratch.

There are always excuses for why this 'can't' be done - but I'm telling you it can, even if it means finding someone with a spare room to rent while you work several crappy jobs and save your way out of the red and into the black. Room renting isn't ideal for families, I can appreciate that, but it isn't impossible if it gives you a base from which to establish your plan. Being free to control the vision of your own destiny is paramount to success but I would always recommend seeing much further beyond that, to the next challenge. Frugal living is a skill that absolutely anyone can afford to master - it cannot be bought, it has to be lived!

How long have you gone without buying a non-essential in an effort to pay every extra penny into the debt pot or savings plan?

NYK in Frugaldom

Frugal Living from Scratch

Money Saving Experts

Are you a money saving expert or are you a frugal living expert? There is a world of differences between the two and both can be crushed by debt. Real frugal living frees you from debt before you start saving any money.

This is a quick blog post in my own defence, after my being subjected, once again, to what one may refer to as criticism against my frugal lifestyle. I just want to make one thing clear - make no mistakes, I actually love being frugal! Get it into your head that some of us don't need to be part of the general 9 to 5, or a salaried slave to the system that we call 'normal' society. Some of us actually enjoy our freedom and we will happily go without what others consider to be absolute essentials in order to afford simple living. I have no fear of losing my income or my home, I earn my own pittance and have the skills to create a home from wherever I may be at the time. Again, don't get me wrong, what I do pays very little, as I'm mostly writing and publishing free content, attempting to grow some food from the kitchen garden or assisting those whose budgets (or wisdom)  [prevent them from seeking professionals. I don't mind non-cash payments by way of some pickle, veggies, a bag of apples or a cake. I just need to earn sufficient to pay the essential bills and this is made possible by squeezing them as low as possible and seeing beyond the goal of 'living within my means'.

Some people assume that it is a basic human right to be able to afford certain things that I would consider absolute luxuries, but let's get this straight - paying for all these things as cheaply as possible in order to save cash in a tin, jar or bank while having any form of debt or money worries, in my opinion, is just plain dumb! Absolute debt freedom allows you the luxury to continue following a very frugal lifestyle while saving and investing in your own futures. I know there are other ways of doing things but this is mine and it works for me.

Frugal living allows those of us on low incomes to speculate a little in the hope that we will accumulate sufficient to afford to continue our stress free lifestyle, right through to retirement and beyond. That is not to say that we will ever reach a point when we can easily live off the interest from our savings but at no point will we get into the unsustainable situation whereby we have more going out than coming in - that is the gist of this story. It's about living within lowly means in a way that demonstrates how it is affordable to all and making the most of every penny to grow it into a pound.

Money saving - it is such an ambiguous phrase. Is it money-saving or is it simply saving money? Are you saving by shaving a percentage off the overall cost of what you buy or are you living well within your means in order to save what's leftover by way of cash and other investments. For the past ten years, I have been living a fairly frugal life, primarily to clear debts like credit cards and a couple of contracts I had locked myself into and then to free myself from the rent trap, as I prefer the security of owning over the pressure of earning hundreds of pounds extra each and every month in order to sustain rent payments. Personally, I feel I could make a home anywhere, as it's about how you feel and not the material 'stuff' that's built up around you. Personally, I don't care if what's around me is built from stone, brick, wood or mud. I don't care if the roof is slate, tile, shingle, tin or felt. Affording to feel comfortable, relaxed and secure within that space is what matters, free from the worry of how to pay for it.

So, when someone grumbles to me that their savings are dwindling, their out-goings are far greater than their income, their home isn't worth selling because they won't get back what they paid for it and they are worried about how they will afford to keep the roof over their head in the future, don't expect me to wave a magic wand and say, "There, there, everything will work out somehow." My answer is blunt and to the point - quit spending, quit throwing good money after bad and downsize instead of playing silly games of 'what will friends and neighbours think?'

Yes, I did say it as I saw it and do you know what their utterly disgusted response was, fellow frugal lifestyle fans?

"I could never live like you!"

www.frugalforums.co.uk

Money Saving Experts

Frugal Living Blog

Frugal living blog about how to do some money saving and cost cutting in an effort to live a good life, free from debt, without having to live in self-imposed poverty. You won't find us running for awards or seeking fame, fortune or even national recognition because we live the life we write - it is as simple as that.

Money Saving

The Frugal Blog is linked to and supported by the frugal forums, frugal shop, NYK's chat room and the land of Frugaldom, which came about as a direct result of having stuck with my frugal living, moneysaving challenge unfalteringly until the point of attaining debt freedom, and then for the next 7 years thereafter. This is now year 8 of my debt free challenge and almost all of it has been documented online as a frugal blog with forum posts.

Frugal Living Challenge

This is an adaptation of the original 'Living on £4,000 for a Year' challenge, which has been running online since 2007. Some of the NYK challenges date back to the late 1990's, so I do have a considerable amount of experience in balancing my own books, while living within my own means, always done on a budget that some consider to be impossible. Utter nonsense! It is entirely possible and is an achievement of which I am particularly proud. I can say with confidence that frugal living, free from debt, on a small income is 100% possible. You do, however, need to exercise will power and keep yourself focussed on your plans in order to achieve these otherwise impossible goals.

We have seen many changes over the years, so each stage in the development of our frugal living and working plans takes us a step closer to the good life and beyond. Your budget is personal to you, it should fit with your personal financial situation and it should be something you are happy to achieve. If you can achieve a point at which you spend less than you have coming in, then you are halfway there. Getting to the point that you are spending less than you are earning while also absolutely free from debt is the ultimate goal. You just need to believe it is possible and stick to your plan, no matter what.

You can join our quest for financial freedom by visiting us in our members only frugal living forums.

My frugal living challenge is not about self-deprivation or self-imposed poverty just for the sake of it, it is about providing genuine support for those who are prepared to try making a real difference to their own lives while sorting out their difficult financial situations. Once the debts are gone and you are in full command of your own spending (or not spending, as the case may be), the world is your oyster. Whether you choose to invest, explore, plant a forest, see the world or lead a comfortable life knowing you are financially secure is entirely up to you.

Many former and current challengers have achieved debt freedom and now follow frugal lifestyles in order to stay free from debt while pursuing better lives without the entrapment of credit. Others are tackling debts, including mortgages, while following a frugal lifestyle in an attempt to reach their debt-free or mortgage-free day. Whichever stage you are at, feel free to join us and share your journey.

2015 saw the return of the live NYK Chat room, complete with scheduled chats for the purposes of additional support, plus live question time. The new platform has been tested over the past few months and it is hoped that the increased potential for even more real time interactivity can help many more people who want to embark on their own money saving journeys to financial freedom.

This challenge is about establishing your true cost of living, sticking to your budget, clearing debts (if you have any) and making savings wherever and however you can to enable you to live the life you really want.

Frugal living isn't for everyone, but everyone is welcome to join us. Methods employed by frugalers include batch cooking, stockpiling useful bargains, preserving, foraging, mending, shopping in charity shops, reducing, reusing, recycling, Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS), vegetable and fruit growing, allotments, keeping hens, using cash-back sites and doing whatever it takes to become self sufficient in managing the cost of living without incurring debt.

For some it is about clearing debt, for others it's about increasing savings, buying property, becoming stay at home parents or paying off the mortgage early. Some choose the lifestyle on ethical grounds, others seek early retirement or self-sustainability. Above all, this is meant to be a fun and supportive way to manage a minimal budget so you have control of your own money.

• It's about NEEDS and not WANTS
• Living on a budget = living within our means
• Frugal = thrifty, living without waste

Fifty Shades of Money Saving

1. Recognise the differences between needs from wants
2. Spend within your means
3. Set a proper budget
4. Quit expensive habits
5. Houseshare or get a lodger
6. Shop via cashback sites
7. Always price compare
8. Buy reduced items in stores only if you need them
9. Stockpile & bulk buy long shelf life groceries that you will use
10. Batch cook
11. Make the most of charity shops
12. Join Freecycle or other similar waste awareness and recycling groups
13. LETS trading - become active members of trading & exchange groups
14. Barter
15. Grow herbs, fruit & vegetables
16. Preserving - jams, jellies, cordials, pickles, relishes & wine
17. Bake your own bread using cheap flour
18. Learn easy bake biscuit, cake and pastry recipes
19. Make your own greetings cards
20. Give homemade gifts
21. Share orders with friends, colleagues and family for better discounts & reduced delivery costs
22. Landshare, garden share or apply for an allotment if you have no growing space
23. Make the most of all freebies
24. Develop your own home-based business
25. Sell your surplus through the likes of eBid and eBay trading
26. Do a kitchen cupboard inventory of foodstuffs
27. Use lists for grocery shopping
28. Know exactly what is in your freezer
29. Use up everything in your fridge
30. Learn how to make soups, stews and casseroles
31. Make the most of your slow cooker, if you have one
32. Learn how to knit, crochet and/or sew
33. Make do and mend rather than buy new
34. Engage in clothes swaps and accessorise your outfits rather than have to buy new
35. Learn to make your own laundry cleaner
36. Make your own household cleaning agents:  invest in soda crystals or sodium bicarbonate,
37. Get inventive in the kitchen with herbs and spices to use up all leftovers
38. Use the free gym whenever you like - just open your door and step outside
39. Use housework as an exercise routine
40. Dry flowers so they last forever
41. Collect seeds for sowing
42. Go foraging for free wild foods
43. Trim your own hair or ask a friend to do it for you
44. Turn down the thermostat if you have central heating - wear an extra layer of clothing instead
45. Early to bed, early to rise - based on daylight, it can save on lighting
46. Collect fallen sticks, twigs, dry leaves and fir cones for kindling if you have an open fire or stove
47. Save all suitable containers for freezing or preserving food
48. Eat a sensible diet: over-eating is one of the costliest mistakes you can make, along with wasting food
49. Food is NOT bad just because it has passed its 'Best Before' date. Undamaged tins and properly stored dried goods can last for years beyond that
50. Stay focussed and stay strong - debts have to be paid before saving for rainy days and luxuries

By basing your frugal lifestyle around a combination of the above suggestions, you will soon begin to recognise many more ways of saving money but the easiest way to get started is simply to quit spending it until you have assessed your real cost of living. Monitoring and revising a budget is part of any frugal living plan.

IMPORTANT

Please respect others' lifestyles and beliefs. We are not here to judge, we are here to support. Feel free to join us by following the frugal blog, registering for our free forums or joining us in the chat room sometime soon. We aren't here to score points or win prizes, we are here to show how simple life can be and then the fun can begin.

Frugal Living Blog

Oats with Everything

Analysing the annual £4,000 challenge budget resulted in an attempt to cut meal costs to £5 per person per week during 2015. As we continue our quest for financial freedom and a healthy, happy lifestyle with time to enjoy interests outside of the work place, don't forget to spend time doing what you most enjoy. "Mould your career around your lifestyle and not your lifestyle around your career." What a great quote!

The final 8 apples collected from last year's windfalls. I had no space in the freezer for any more stewed fruit, so these had been wrapped in newspaper and stored in a cardboard box. As you can see, they had begun to wrinkle, so I rehydrated them a little before cooking them. Frugal rehydration simply means I soaked them in a basin of tap water for a few hours.

After a good swim, the apples were fine for peeling and stewing down with some sugar and sultanas. Then it was time for the crumble to get added: oats, flour, sugar and margarine. Yes, we do have a sweet tooth here and it doesn't help with the fight against the flab during winter. (Or summer, for that matter!) Continue reading…

Frugal Living Challenge, Month 12, Year 7

We have reached month 12 of our 2014 frugal living challenge and are now preparing to embark on our next big swash-buckling, belt-tightening, money saving adventure. Have you got what it takes to challenge your budget in 2015?

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There will be some major changes in 2015, none more so than those surrounding our new outdoor project. But that doesn't mean forgetting about the scrimping and saving, no way! On the contrary, it means even more rigorous overhauls of the new budget so it can incorporate even more into the development plans we have for Frugaldom.

Several of you have already taken the opportunity to visit the site and take part in the preliminary stages, so I am really looking forward to welcoming many more of you in the future. Meanwhile, however, life goes on, incomes need to be earned and many more bridges need to be crossed.

Fundraising

There will be plenty of this going on during 2015 and that means spreading the word, generating sales of handmade goods and homegrown produce, featuring sponsored links and reviews and making the most of every opportunity presented. We pay to protect the site from pop-ups and random third party advertisers, but we still need to make it pay for itself.

Tree Planting

We have already planted over 500 tiny trees at the Frugaldom project and we hope to take this number to over 1,000 before spring, all based on a cash neutral budget.

Frugal Arts, Crafting and Small Business

In order to pursue our goals, we will be introducing several new sponsorship opportunities for the purposes of fundraising and income generation to help take the project towards self-sustainability as quickly as possible.

Community - Virtual and Actual

Group activities and challenges will be organised throughout 2015 and, as always, all contributions towards costs and overheads are gratefully received. In return, we hope to be able to provide all our members and supporters with a fun and frugal retreat that can be visited at any time, either online or in person.

Merchandise & Souvenirs

We will be offering a selection of Frugaldom merchandise and souvenirs throughout 2015. These will be made available for sale through the Frugal Shop at www.frugalshop.co.uk where we will be providing 'buy now' and auction style listings.

www.frugalforums.co.uk

Join the Money Saving Challenges

In order to access any of the challenges (or chat room), you need a username and password. Registration is completely free and we do not store your details, nor do we pass on your details to any third parties. Dormant accounts are deleted, so please maintain some form or interactivity once you join. The Frugaldom web site, blogs, forums and chat room are all hosted within the Scottishmultimedia.co.uk website, which is owned, controlled and financed by NYK Media, who reserves the right to delete any content or username that does not conform to guidelines. It is a basic measure to help minimise risk to members from spammers and scammers.

Looking forward to the December ADVENTure Challenge, my needles are ready clicking, my milk cartons ready for cutting, my garlic ready for planting and my Christmas preparations almost complete. The 2014 budget is stretching nicely, the £1 per day savings have been maintained and I completed my 50,000 words in the November 'NaNoWriMo' writing challenge so all that remain now is to make it through the final 31 days and be prepared to face another year head on, with the ourse strings tied tighter than ever.

NYK in Frugaldom

Join the Spending Revolution

Vendetta Against Debt! It's that time of year again, the time when we are planning ahead for 2015, renewing our vigour for the on-going battle against debt, building up our forces to thwart needless spending and fight for the right to protect our own financial security. This is a war against waste - financial and otherwise. Join us in our quest for financial freedom.

Frugaldom is no fairytale fantasy of mythical castles, dragons and miracles. You play your own part in this quest for freedom.

This is an adaptation of the original 'Living on £4,000 for a Year' challenge, which has been running online since 2007. Some of the NYK challenges date back to the late 90's, so I do have a considerable amount of experience in balancing my own books, while living within my own means, always done on a budget that some consider to be impossible. Utter nonsense! It is entirely possible and is an achievement of which I am particularly proud. I can say with confidence that living free from debt while on a small income is 100% possible. You do, however, need to exercise will power and keep yourself focussed on your plans in order to achieve these otherwise impossible goals.

We have seen many changes over the years, so each stage in the development of our frugal living and working plans takes us a step closer to the good life and beyond. Your budget is personal to you, it should fit with your personal financial situation and it should be something you are happy to achieve. If you can achieve a point at which you spend less than you have coming in, then you are halfway there. Getting to the point that you are spending less than you are earning while also absolutely free from debt is the ultimate goal. You just need to believe it is possible and stick to your plan no matter what.

This challenge is not about self-deprivation or self-imposed poverty just for the sake of it, it is about providing genuine support for those who are prepared to take on the challenge of making a real difference to their own lives while sorting out their own difficult financial situations. Once the debts are gone and you are in full command of your own spending (or not spending, as the case may be), the world is your oyster. Whether you choose to invest, explore, plant a forest, see the world or lead a comfortable life knowing you are financially secure is entirely up to you.

Many former and current challengers have achieved debt freedom and now follow frugal lifestyles in order to stay free from debt while pursuing better lives without the entrapment of credit. Others are tackling debts, including mortgages, while following a frugal lifestyle in an attempt to reach their debt-free or mortgage-free day. Whichever stage you are at, feel free to join us for 2015 and share your journey.
You can join us free by registering a username at www.frugalforums.co.uk

2015 sees the return of the live NYK Chat room, complete with scheduled chats for the purposes of additional support, plus live question time. The new platform has been trialled over the past couple of months within the members' section of our host site at Scottishmultimedia.co.uk and it is hoped that the increased potential for even more real time interactivity can help many more people who want to embark on their own money journeys to financial freedom.

This challenge is about establishing your true cost of living, sticking to your budget, clearing debts (if you have any) and making savings wherever and however you can to enable you to live the life you really want.

Frugal living isn't for everyone, but everyone is welcome to join us. Methods employed by frugalers include batch cooking, stockpiling, preserving, foraging, mending, shopping in charity shops, reducing, reusing, recycling, Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS), Vegetable and fruit growing, allotments, keeping hens, using cash-back sites and doing whatever it takes to become self sufficient in managing the cost of living without incurring debt.

For some it is about clearing debt, for others it's about increasing savings, buying property, becoming stay at home parents or paying off the mortgage early. Some choose the lifestyle on ethical grounds, others seek early retirement or self-sustainability. Above all, this is meant to be a fun and supportive way to manage a minimal budget so you have control of your own money.

It's about NEEDS and not WANTS.
Living on a budget = living within our means.

Frugal = thrifty, living without waste

Ideas to help you achieve and/or maintain debt free living:

Recognise the differences between needs from wants
Spend within your means
Set a proper budget
Quit expensive habits
Houseshare or get a lodger
Shop via cashback sites and always price compare
Buy reduced items in stores only if you need them
Stockpile & bulk buy
Batch cooking
Make the most of charity shops
Join Freecycle or other similar waste awareness and recycling associations
LETS trading - become active members of trading & exchange groups
Bartering
Grow your own herbs, fruit & vegetable
Preserving & wine-making
Bread-making & home baking
Card & gift making
Order splitting for better discounts & shared postal costs
Landsharing, allotments & frugal garden systems
Making the most of freebies
Develop your on home-based business
eBid and eBay trading
Monitoring and revising a budget is part of any frugal living plan. Gifts & cards could all to be homemade, livestock needs to pay its own keep, anything else needs to be cash neutral and pets are like people in a household - they need to be budgeted for in a 'what if' manner.

If you would like to be in contact with like-minded others while stretching your money further than you ever thought possible, join us online and be prepared to take the frugal ride of your life.

IMPORTANT

Please respect others' lifestyles and beliefs. We are not here to judge, we are here to support.

Thank you.

Join the Spending Revolution

Frugal Car Maintenance

For those who have cars: Each car model has a suggested maintenance regime that is laid out in the owner’s manual. You can save yourself thousands of pounds by taking the time to read the manual and to follow the schedules specified. This can directly impact on the longevity of your vehicle, its performance and the costs per mile driven.

Picking up on big problems early is what regular preventative maintenance is all about. Prevention is better than cure might be a maxim that your doctor will tell you, but your mechanic should also be saying the same thing when it comes to your car. Of course, some checks need a specialist to do, but you can also remain frugal by undertaking some car maintenance yourself.

Check The Fluids

Many car fluids can be checked by an owner with little garage experience. Ensuring fluids are topped up is one of the most effective ways to maintain a car’s ability to drive well. It is quite easy to do, although you will need to consult your manual in most cases. Make sure that your car has the right levels of oil, transmission fluid, wiper fluid, power steering fluid, anti-freeze and brake fluid. If you are not sure about how to do this, then online tutorials about how to use a dipstick to check oil, for example, can be a big help and may well save you thousands of pounds in unnecessary inspection bills. If you wait until the relevant dashboard light comes on, it is often too late to sort the issue out cheaply.

Tyre Maintenance

Keeping your tyres well-maintained is another important way of saving money in the long run. According to specialists, premium tyre manufacturers use tread wear indicators on their products, which makes it easy to judge when a tyre is reaching the end of its life. Alternatively, you can use a dedicated tread gauge to detect a worn section of tyre. Whatever you do, make sure, make sure to check your tyres and ensure they are road worthy.

Tyre inspections or new tyres are no longer things to fret over, as online reserve and fit systems are available throughout Britain...

Visit Frugal Blog to read more

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…

Simple Savings in September – Garden Foraging

Foraging is frugal fun whether done in your own back garden or along the roadsides and through the local woodlands. Today’s post is about garden foraging at Thrift Cottage and picking the last of the home grown produce as part of our Simple Savings in September challenge.

You don’t need a garden to grow or harvest your own food. Check out the photo blog and… read more here