Looking Back

4 of the 5 rescued and rehomed ponies at Frugaldom

Hello to all who read these frugal blogs! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas season and that you enjoy Hogmanay and the new year festivities.

I've just been updating the old forums, the ones that go back to 2010, as Ive found it impossible to retrieve the most recent ones that fell out of our reach when the software and operating platform changed. Not to be completely outdone, I succeeded in retrieving these old ones and have now redirected the domain www.frugalforums.co.uk towards them for our 2019 frugal living and working challenges. (Everyone is welcome to join us, it's free!)

Anyway, while unlocking previously archived sections of the forums and updating them as I went along, I stopped at the letter 'B' - it's alphabetical - and began reading about all our ideas and plans for the future. It's where I found this and saw just how far we had come over the past 8 years and showed that my longterm aims hadn't realy changed, apart from the fact that finding several like-minded others has, so far, proven to be impossible.

 Oct 20, 2010 #7

In the wake of today's spending review, a thought struck me when listening to the heated debates about the housing crisis, social housing and council rents. Affordable housing is still absent, in my opinion, for all of those people who don't want or can't get mortgages. If housing associations and others are going to be encouraged to provide more affordable homes, why do we still see so many derelict or crumbling properties? I would love the opportunity to develop a derelict site into a profitable business with the potential to expand on that and bring others into the game plan. All around us are derelict houses - small collapsing cottages  left to rot because owners who have inherited them can't agree how to split any proceeds from sales, or else left to rot in an effort to avoid tax. Removing the roof to avoid the roof tax has long, since, been abolished (as far as I am aware) but we now face the "problem" of these properties costing their owners up to 40% in capital gains tax. I just don't get it! Surely, in this economic climate, 60% of any surplus property sale in the pockets of the owners must be worthwhile. It has to beat zero with a crumbling wreck as your personal responsibility.

One excellent frugal business proposition would be for workers' co-operatives to raise the capital to purchase these unwanted properties to turn them into viable microholdings for those who are prepared to invest in their own futures. The cost of a brick, afterall, is still the cost of a brick. It shouldn't be too adversely affected by where that brick gets laid. Waste land, scrap land, disused sites, abandoned sites... the list goes on and on, yet the right to participate in any such project is curtailed, once again, by finances and the need for ludicrous amounts of cash. A group of like-minded individuals working for the benefit of all could surely earn a living by dividing the spoils, assuming they were able to amass the funds needed to initiate such a project in the first place?

My search continues for that first, elusive piece of land that could start the ball rolling. I don't have 50,000+ in the bank to buy a tiny building plot, nor do I intend borrowing it, but I'd be prepared to invest in a project where nobody squabbled about percentages and hours of work they contributed to the end result. All things being equal, (which they aren't) 1000 man hours equates to almost 6,000 even on minimum wage.

Frugaldom, as a complete microholding package, is a viable business proposition. We aren't setting out to become millionaires, we're setting out as frugal entrepreneurs in the hope of realising dreams. For me, money in the banks just won't pay in the long run, not with inflation running at more than twice the BoE base rate.

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Life of Pie

The world, according to Frugaldom, is a complete package. We have all we need to create all that we want and if we break it, we have the wherewithal to fix it. Nothing is fake, everything is real - just take the time to look into this amazing frugal bubble that is our world. It's like the life of pie!

Life of Pie!

Humour me, if you will. I'm still the same person living the same frugal life surrounded by the same people, same space and same basic ingredients that make up Frugaldom and the world around me. Yes, some faces and places may have changed, some friends and family have passed along the way and new little humans have been born into our extended family, but nothing much has actually changed. We are still in this same bubble that holds all the secrets and solutions to all the mysteries. It still dumbfounds me that some people just can't see the bigger picture when it comes to looking after our spinning rock as it hurtles around that blazing ball that we call the sun.

Planet Earth (Free Blog Photos)

Don't get me wrong, I'm no scientist, I'm just someone who likes to think more and spend less when it comes to the topics of money and life. I can't stand money but it's a necessary evil in our society. Whether we see it as paper notes, metal, coins, pebbles or digital points, it is merely a number that can represent pretty much anything else, anywhere else. Our imaginations know no bounds and are restricted only by how much we can experience, not by how much money we have. It's like pie - some of us can bake our own from very little while others are happy to pay whatever it takes for others to do it for them.

Our world is a mish-mash of every possible ingredient available to mankind and it is all contained within this giant, multi-layered, bubble oven that's heated by the sun and insulated or protected by the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere, atmosphere and any other invisible-force spheres that engulf our ball of spinning rock. They contain everything, dictate our weather, our climate, our tides and the phases of our moon. As far as mankind is concerned, nothing more gets added and nothing gets lost - it is baking mankind in an ever evolving life 'pie'.

Life of Pie

We have what we have and it is up to us all to keep making pie and sharing it accordingly. Some people will be researching and developing the very basic ingredients, some will be tweaking the recipe, some harvesting and preparing the ingredients and some making the dough. Some will be helping bake this never-ending pie while many more will be contributing to all the various fillings needed to help our spherical bakehouse stay in production and meanwhile, we all need to contribute to maintaining the oven, as a complete break-down would be globally catastrophic.

Sadly, there are those who will always want a larger slice of the pie than others and there are also those who aren't prepared to share their slice with anyone else under any circumstances - they'd rather pig out, get fat and dictate the pecking order. But one would do well to remember that when times get tough, those who spit feathers, bully the flock and crow loudest are likely to be next in the pie, even if it's just to bring peace to the neighbours.

Feed the world... every single person is contributing to the global pie in their own way - even if it doesn't turn out the way we like it.

There is only one way out of this kitchen and it isn't by any earthly door that anyone's ever found. We're in it together and we're in it for life... only you can decide how you choose to contribute. What holds it all together and keeps things going is the balance of nature and our combined, conscious efforts to maintain the equilibrium. I believe this is the very basic principle of life itself and that everything we amount to is what gets returned. Trying to lead a balanced life and helping those who can't should be first and foremost, in my mind. Money won't buy food, water, shelter or even fresh air if this bubble bursts, so why accumulate useless 'stuff' that has no meaning in the meaning of life unless you already have everything you need for a balanced and happy life? By all means, protect your investments, but spare a thought for those who have nothing.

We need to find alternatives to save our bubble from bursting!

www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk / Frugaldom

The Frugal Festivities



FRUGAL CHRISTMAS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Winter



As Temperatures Plummet...

As the icy grip of winter tightens, so, too, do the purse strings, in a bid to stem the flow of cash needed to heat out homes. How are you managing to stay warm and how is that affecting your budget? For me, it's (ice) crystal clear that we need to take stock of everything from home insulation to pipe-lagging, draught-proofing and just basically keeping warm. All of this needs doing 'within budget', so this could explain why folks like me show renewed enthusiasm in crafting and an increasing interest in producing a vast array of culinary delights. At best, it helps absorb extra spending by way of the DIY gift production, at worst, we'll not starve or freeze, because we can eat or wear our own creations. It's a fabulous time of year!

 

For our feathered friends and fruit-bearing trees, it's a bit of a sad time, I would think. What with the frosted ground, bare, dormant trees and frozen ponds, there's not much cheer to be seen, and even fewer eggs being laid (if any). For the ducks, it's time for extra layers of straw, warm mash suppers and extra players in the ice-breaking games. (I wonder if ducks would like winter woolies and fur-lined wellies, or is that just quackers?)

Indoors, staying warm is just as difficult if you're mid-renovation, but the sub-zero temperatures are stark reminders to last winter, when we had no proper kitchen roof, therefore no proper kitchen. Now I have more than half a kitchen and work well underway towards completing the bathroom and the hall, with it's salvaged stone-flagged floor. I love my 'new' hall floor and know for sure that few will have similar, unless they also recovered their 1805 original, dug it up, cleaned it up and then re-used it.

 

Earlier this week, we had two wooden steps replaced - it was a necessary job, owing to the discovery of a bit of wood rot at floor level that had obviously been temporarily mended at some stage over the years. 

To our amusement, our lower step had been partially constructed from what resembled part of a wooden, Aberdeen fish crate! You can just make out the word 'Aberdeen' stamped to the right of the old box handle, but I can't quite decipher the company name, as this was all that remained of said box. Later, of course, this got used to kindle the fire.

 

Onwards and upwards, the weather is staying a little kinder to us, despite the -8 Deg C on the thermometer this morning. There's been no more rain! Indeed, we have even had a little more sunshine, further prompting me to investigate alternative transportation and pick up a few extra tips along the way. First tip was call the garage and ask for the car battery to be removed before they scrap the car! I'd never have thought of this, but am now convinced by fellow-frugaler's suggestion to utilise this in my quest for quail-house lighting. The car battery should easily power an LED light. But back to the car costs...

 

Cheap cars aren't always as economical as we might think. £1,000 to buy, then there's insurance, road tax, MOT, servicing, general wear and tear, savings needed set aside for a replacement and, lest we forget, the astronomical cost of the fuel to power the blasted thing in the first pace. It all mounts up and, in this case, it amounted to a massive 65p per mile driven. In steps frugal-friend, once again trying to convince us of the merits of cycling. So d'you know what? We've agreed to have bikes! The carbon footprint of Frugaldom has been slashed. All I need to do now is try to cut down on the number of electric heaters I have plugged in, in an effort to reduce the costs of trying to heat the house.

 

And now for some fluffy stuff, because I love being part of this little global family of frugalers, bloggers and forum posters. Some kind person has given me these colourful goodies to help me on my way to starting the previously mentioned 2013 Frugaleur Challenge, which will see Clan McGonk come alive for the new year. It's all very exciting and I can't wait to get started, especially as the pink wool almost matches the original pink gonk. I can just picture it now... Granny McGonk with her pretty shawl, keeping her extended brood in order over the coming year. I'm itching to get started on this project and wouldn't surprise myself in the least if I cast on a few huge loopy stitches this evening, while sat in front of the fire.

I wonder how long it will be before someone pops up and suggests a rocking chair! (It's not like I have my eye on one of those for when the eco-renovation is completed.) :)

 

Stay safe, stay warm and stay dry, everyone, and let's keep up the good work of making life fun and affordable for all. Best wishes to all, from a happy Frugaldom.