Frugal living

Another tip for EllanVannin : make compost and then you can save on the growbags.

Chewbacca

I think HOTMT sees himself as something of a comedian. But the Universal Credit quip was anything but amusing, especialy for those trying to live on it.

Anybody finding my reference to Universal Credit as an attempt at humour must have a special mind-set, though as you have previously suggested that I bite my 5 year old granddaughter to teach her a lesson, pardon me if I don't take your contributions to heart.

glammanana You may indeed know people who are managing fantastically well on Universal Credit.
Tell that to those on that particular Benefit who rely on Food Banks, and if the UC was so beneficial to all, then why have this cruel Government drastically reduced their plans to put another 3 million on it immediately?
The word smug comes to mind.

boheminan A very sad, thought provoking and indeed accurate portrayal of life suffered by many of those entrapped in the Benefits system.

Sorry not really relevant but you have bought back happy memories of The Paupers Cookbook a kitchen bible of the '70's. Certainly if you batch cook using fresh ingredients and visit the supermarket/market at the right time to buy you should be able to save on food. If I remember right we used to pile on the woolies to save putting the heating on all the time but I guess this depends on your age and health. Good luck.

Hush I think you need to weigh up very carefully if it is right for you to drop down to part-time work if it means living frugally.

I notice you mentioned that your full time council job was stressful, but surely not having enough money would be even more stressful? It's fine if you have a reasonable amount of savings, and a generous pension eventually, but if not then surely you have no option than to continue with full time work, and to save as well?

Scrimping and saving and watching every penny spent must be such a miserable way to live.

Maybe try a different line of work than the stressful council job?

holdingontometeeth Having been there, I totally agree...

Perhaps we all have different understandings of the word frugal.

We went through a number of years when we were really hard up and the savings learned then are still ingrained and fortunately DC caught it too. If in doubt I ask myself if I would put the money down the drain by the kerb. No I wouldn't.

I think small savings add up even though they don't seem much at the time. Batch cooking is definitely worth doing and saves time as well. Adding pulses to casseroles and lots of veg stretches the meat and is also healthier. I don't like the feeling of the heating blasting out so wear a thick cardigan all day and take it off when doing housework so I don't get too warm. Only put the hot water on when needed, not all the time. If going out all day turn the heating down. Ours works remotely so if we remember we can turn it up before coming home. DS takes his own coffee and food to work so he can save money and know what he is eating so if you are still working do the same. It would bother me to pay for these every day.

If you have always had that job at the council you may find other jobs as stressful, many are.

Fortunately we don't need to be frugal now but we are used to it and it enables us to treat ourselves when we want to.

Good luck, you may well enjoy it.

My slow cooker is brilliant for batch coking cheaper cuts of meat, soups, then freezing and very economical to run. Electric blanket for nighttime. Growing as much as possible in garden and allotment I share. Pound shops for cleaning stuff, toiletries, loo roll etc. It’s so easy to continue ones food shop at the same Supermarket out of habit, Lidl and Aldi are good. Yearly comparison on utility payments, bank and swopping if necessary. Essential purchases, look at sales and sites like Groupon.

There are lots of useful threads about frugal living on Mumsnet, so might be worth looking there.