There ain't no such thing as a free lunch...?

Food waste is a massive issue here in the UK.

According to the LoveFoodHateWaste website, we waste 4.5 million tonnes of edible food waste, per household, per year!
To put it simply, this is safe, fresh food that's still good to eat and we are chucking it out.
Crazy if you ask me!

For years now, I have had some understanding on the impact food waste is having on the environment and as a result I have been keen to not waste food or at the very least very very little of it.
Not only is it good for the planet to not waste food but also good for the budget!

Last year, I signed up to the app Olio.
Olio is an app that connects with neighbours and local businesses so that surplus food can be shared out rather than wasted for FREE!
I have benefited from this many times and have always been really pleased.
Just yesterday, someone in my village posted several items from our local Co-op.
I requested the wraps, croissants, bread and the most deliciously Sourdough bread!
Little Girl and I ate the wraps and shared a chocolate croissant for our lunch. A free lunch!
The bread has gone into the freezer and I'll just take slices out as and when I need them.
So much better than the food rotting in landfill.

In my area, there is always food being offered via Olio several times a week. I will request items if I know that I will eat them but if I think it's unlikely that I will use an item then I won't make contact as it's not good if it's just going to sit in my freezer or even worst go to waste!

I know in cities particularly London, lots of food is offered such as sandwiches, wraps and pastries from bakeries and shops - the list is endless.

I think this is a fantastic initiative and certainly helps the food budget.

If you've not heard of Olio, why not check it out?

Speak soon, take care,

Amanda

Water saving experiment...

I am careful with my water usage.
I view water as a valuable and precious natural resource.
It's certainly not wasted on me how very lucky I am to just turn a tap and have fresh, clean and safe drinking water.

I am on a water meter and already do things like turn the tap off when brushing my teeth, only putting the washing machine on when I have a full load and the like.

Just recently, I have noticed that my water bills are creeping up a little bit.
I always submit my meter readings every fortnight on my water provider's website and then pay the bill on the receipt of the meter reading.
It was definitely creeping up though I don't think we were using any more water than usual.

I have a daily shower but I am always in and out in just a few minutes. I have a hot bubble bath every so often as a relaxation thing usually with some candles and sometimes a cheeky glass of wine!
I have to admit though Handsome Boy does like to chill out in the deepest bath that he can get in, though this isn't as often as it used to be.
Little Girl has a bath most nights but with only being a baby, her baths are only a few inches deep.

I am deemed as a 'low user' by my water company but I wanted to lower my bills so I decided to take on a little experiment to see if it made a difference.

I decided to save all my used water from my daily showers and the kids' baths. I would use this water to flush the toilet to lower my usage and hopefully in turn my bills.
I think this is referred to as 'grey water' and it means that I would be making the same water work for me twice!
I have to admit, I have always found it crazy that clean fresh water is used for flushing the loo!
I think about all the energy and processes to clean our water and make it safe to drink only for a large quantity of that water to literally go down the toilet!

A few years ago, I was visiting a new local college and I remember being particularly impressed how the building had been designed to collect rain water from the roof to flush the toilets. The water would travel from the roof of the building and into the toilet cisterns (I’m not sure exactly how it worked but I would love to find out!)
It would be great to see this incorporated into all new build properties, it would certainly ease the demand for water.

So back to my experiment.... just over a week now I have been putting the plug in the bath tub for all showers and then scooping the water into buckets ready to use for flushing.
I've been doing the same with the kids' bath water too.
It's been easier than I thought it would be and takes literally two minutes to scoop the water out with a little jug into buckets and bowls.
Our personal best this week is going over 48 hours without traditionally flushing the toilet as our buckets have done the job perfectly well.
I've been squirting some disinfectant into the buckets to tip into the toilet and I've honestly so far not had any issues with anything such as smells, soap scum - nothing at all!
I really can't see any negatives only positives especially for our precious planet and the constant demands we make of her.

The big result was today. So today revealed if my experiment has paid off or not.
I checked the water meter and I have only used 1m of water! That is a good result! It's definitely made a difference so I will continue with this.

I also have a water butt in my garden connected to my drainpipe. I use rainwater collected in that to water my plants so I save water there too.

If anyone has other water saving tips to share that I've missed, hit me with them.

Take care,

Amanda

Why I live a frugal lifestyle...My first ever post on here

Hello,

First of all thank you for reading. I don't expect my ramblings are going to be the most interesting reading out there but I'm going to enjoy doing it.

I've been thinking about writing this blog for a while now and during the Covid-19 UK lockdown seemed to be the right time hence being at home a lot more and having more time on our hands.

Allow me to introduce myself  I'm Amanda and live in Cheshire in the UK.
I am a single Mum to the most handsome young man that I have ever seen and a beautiful little girl who is a little character.
My children are my focus and I enjoy being a Mum despite all the exhaustion and challenging days.

I became frugal nearly 10 years ago now because basically I had to.
Here is my story...

Back in late 2010 - early 2011 I separated with my then husband. My husband moved out of our family home leaving myself and our then 3 year old little boy.
Although the separation was very amicable, my new found situation left me with a mortgage to pay on my own as well as household bills, food, nursery fees and running my car all on my part time wage.

After doing some nerve-wracking number crunching, I had worked out that I could just about do it but it would be tight, very tight with no wriggle room.

That night stroking my son's beautiful blonde hair whilst he rested his head on my lap and fell soundly asleep, I resolved with a steely determination that i would succeed at this new challenge.
I would do whatever it took to keep the roof over his head and provide for him. I had to.
I received child maintenance payments from my ex-husband, in fact he has always been generous with these with always paying 'over' what the Child Maintenance Service deem he should be paying but I still felt that the ownership to provide for us both fell on my shoulders.

The next day, my frugal lifestyle began. I got better and better at it as time went on.
During the evenings when my son was tucked up in bed, I would make myself a cup of tea and curl up on the sofa with my laptop educating myself and learning more tips and tricks on living a thrifty lifestyle.
I learnt how to sell on eBay - something that I had never done up until that point.
I listed all my son's outgrown clothes, baby clothes, pram and other baby equipment. I was amazed at how it all sold.
I learnt how to do a fridge/freezer/cupboards stocktake to create a weekly meal plan and then a shopping list for just the things I need.
I made and took my own lunch to work as well as teabags and snacks.
Instead of driving to Next, Mothercare etc when my son needed new clothes, I was now picking good quality clothes up from charity shops and eBay which I would then sell on once he had grown out of them. I still sell on both children's outgrown clothes to this day.
I stopped clothes shopping as a hobby or when I was bored and only bought clothing for myself if I needed an item or I really really fell in love with something which was rare!

I was so pleased when I saw that adapting to these changes and more meant that I was managing financially absolutely fine. I continued to work part time and didn't need to increase my hours which I was thrilled about.
Over the years, I got better at living a frugal lifestyle and even managed to pay off some niggling smallish debts, become debt free and build up some savings.

Over the next few years, I sold the house and moved into a house owned by a housing association.
I felt that the home we were in wasn't suitable for my son growing up or safe for his increasing care needs and we needed a one level home.
I also left work as his care needs increased as he got older which meant I was very needed at home with him.
This presented a new challenge, as now I didn't have an income coming in, I would get some benefits instead and would need to put my frugality skills to the test.
I did some more number crunching, it would be even more tighter but I was confident we could do it with a few more tweaks and I was right.

I learnt some more thrifty skills. I discovered things like Freecycle and have had many good items from this wonderful community as well as donated to it too.
I discovered Olio the food waste app which I have used a few times.
I ditched our weekly and expensive take-aways and started cooking healthy fake-aways instead. Not only did this save me loads of money but I lost over half a stone alone with this change!
I batch cooked healthy and nutritious meals, soups, casseroles, desserts mainly using my bargain nearly new slow cooker that I had bought from a local eBay seller. I never waste food! If I over gauge food when cooking then it gets put into a container and either goes in the fridge to eat the next day or into the freezer. I also make my own ready meals and freeze for busy and hectic days.
I started going to the local beauty and hairdressing college for my haircuts and colour - £20 for half a head of highlights and a cut compared to my usual £95 was great value!

When going on a day out with the kids, for example the beach, I always take a big cool box packed with ice packs filled with rolls, sandwiches, drinks, fruit ….and even a flask of tea for myself (I love tea!) The only thing we buy out is the occasional ice-cream if any of us fancies one.

Living this way doesn't mean that we are deprived. Quite the opposite in fact.
I am much happier living a simpler lifestyle and I feel contented that I am doing good for our precious planet with not wasting food, buying the new latest gadgets, new clothes, shoes  - Fast fashion!
I really do agree that our Grandparents lived the right way - our generation and ones after us could learn a lot from our Nanny and Grandad.

This blog will be ramblings and a sort of diary about my frugal, simple and happy life with my precious children.
I hope you enjoy it.

Take care x