Why Frugal Living Works For Me

A constant state of dissatisfaction is, I think, a pretty accurate description of today's quintessential sedentary 9-5 urban modern life. In Ireland, where we have freedom, opportunities and safe living, people are still not truly happy.  And you might be surprised to discover the kind of people who are happiest. In my experience, it is not wealth, social status, beauty or anything tangible that increases a person's happiness.

But we are all different and have to do the best with what we've got, so everybody's path to happiness will be different. For me, free time is my ultimate goal. That is time to do anything I want, whether that be to do nothing at all. I am lucky to work in a job that allows me to apply for unpaid leave so keeping my living costs down means I can afford to work less. I have been working a four day week for six months now. My expenses are still the same from when I was working five days (slightly greater in fact as I now have a child), and I am still saving money. My job is not a high paid job. I pay rent of €350 a month. I pay for part time child care. I have a car (which I bought for cash with savings).

I began to look at purchases in terms of time. I see a beautiful pair of boots in a shop window and I want them. I look at the price - €80 - or one day's work. So it's the boots or a day off work. The day off wins and I walk on.

I just don't buy things anymore. By things I mean non-perishable items (not food/medicine/cosmetics/cleaning products/fuel - of course you can make frugal choices with these life necessities too). It took me a while to get to this point. I built up my possessions for the first few years that I started working - long lasting pieces like a guitar, cooking appliances, reference books, a range of jewellery, good clothes and shoes. But once you get to a certain level of personal and household items, you just don't really have to buy much anymore. What I need was a reason. Becoming a mother was the driving force, but I had been thinking about paring down my lifestyle for a while. My time is everything to me now. When you wear the same clothes for years, they eventually come back into fashion!

Frugal Yet Thoughtful Christmas Gifts

Christmas is about the joyous act of giving and receiving and if you are like me, every year you pour over a list of names trying to dream up the perfect present for everyone. I'm not always frugal; I do like to treat some people but there has to be a balance to make this possible. Here are some gift ideas that won't cost a lot but are a bit better than a Christmas decoration made from an empty toilet roll.

1. Family Movie Night Gift Pack

This one is great for taking care of extended family members with children who you would like to/feel you have to give a present to but don't know them well enough to give individual gifts. It also costs very little.

Put together a pack with a few fail proof DVDs (I recommend Studio Ghibli's beautiful cartoon movies for families with children) or a voucher for the local video store or, in the modern way, a flash drive with some movie files on it. Include a packet of popcorn and other treats.

2. Books

Unless you are buying a well thumbed school book, the quality of second hand books can be fantastic. If you have children of your own, a fun way to encourage reading, as well as creating some suspense, is to follow an advent style way of giving a different book for the twenty five days of December leading up to Christmas day.

3. Pre-made cookie/cake dry mixes in a jar

You've probably seen many beautiful photos of this idea online. The basic premise is to layer the dry ingredients of a chosen recipe in a jar and attach a label with baking instructions and a list of the remaining wet ingredients, usually eggs and butter.

4. Vegetable seeds

Growing your own food is addictive. There is nothing more satisfying than planting a tiny seed and a few months later pulling a swollen delicious root for the table. Seeds are really cheap and there is a massive, exciting range of vegetables, some of which you might not have heard of, that will grow in the Irish climate. I love Seedaholic for a mesmerising catalogue of flower, ornamental, herb and vegetable seeds at great prices, fast delivery and superb information sheets.

The main idea behind all of these ideas is that by providing a few key items, you are gifting an experience and therein lies the thoughtfulness.

Say No to Convenience Products

In matters of food and home, convenience can be expensive and quite often, unhealthy. A person working long hours can’t be expected to do everything from scratch all the time but here are some easy tips that I hope identify the main convenience culprits.

1. Avoid single serve portions. They are evil. Even if you are only feeding one, you are much better off investing in a good freezer and buying food in bulk, where cheaper. It is a simple habit to get into, and once you get into that mindset, it is hard to go back to paying premium prices for nicely packaged portions for one. Chopped plastic wrapped vegetables are the worst. The mark up for the convenience of having them peeled and chopped is astronomical. On a recent trip to Tesco, the normal celery head was 89c, where a bag of celery stalks, chopped from the base was €1.65. The actual size of the edible portion was about the same.

2. If the reason for buying smaller portions is to control weight, don’t be fooled by marketing ploys. Stay clear of low fat “weight watchers” products that claim to be healthier but are really just a smaller portion of the same food you could buy from any brand. Instead of buying your diet sliced pan, which is just reduced in size so the portion calorie count is smaller, learn how to make a decent brown bread and enjoy a full portion knowing that it is better for you. Better still; rise above the notion that low fat, processed products are a good way to control your weight. The healthiest, fittest people I know are those who eat well, enjoy their meat, carbohydrates, full fat dairy products, a daily treat and so on, but do not eat processed junk which often falsely parades itself as healthy. Belvita breakfast biscuits? Special K? No thanks; I’d rather have a boiled egg and brown bread. You can poach an egg in the microwave in less than a minute so limited time is no excuse.

3. Instead of buying packets of biscuits, bake your own. It is too easy to open a packet of supermarket biscuits and scoff five without even thinking. If you put in the time and effort to bake your own, not only are you getting physical exercise from the actual task of cooking and cleaning, but also you will appreciate them more and will be less quick to eat them so fast. Plus they defrost in no time so you can control your portions by freezing the batch and taking one out daily. It is more rewarding.

4. If you do not have a problem with eating sweet treats, just make a slab of chocolate biscuit cake every week and keep it in the fridge. I make a 6inch x 6inch x 1 inch portion once a week using a 125g bar of Lidl Madagascar chocolate [€1.25], 4 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp golden syrup, handful mixed dried fruit and 75g rich tea biscuits [you can buy a 300g pack for about 35c in Lidl]. It costs less that €2 to make and keeps two of us in chocolate for a week or more. If we were buying a chocolate bar a day for each of us in the local newsagent, we would be spending €2 every day - €14 a week!

5. Make a “rag bag”. Well make two – one for clean and one for dirty. Cut up any old clothes that have gone beyond wearable, store in a cotton bag and when used, put into a material net bag. The whole bag can be thrown into the washing machine with your usual load. You can stop buying paper towels and the by using the bag system, you’ll have a neat and tidy system.

For an ultra neat system, use plastic containers to contain the bags:

Uplifting homemade rags made from clothes!:

And don't get me started on take away teas and coffees..... If you have to have it on the go, buy a flask.

Money Saving Tips Part 3

Even though the weather is still quite warm for the end of September, it's time to start thinking about the winter, which means fuel costs. So this weeks money saving thoughts are centered around energy.


1. Invest in heavy duty curtains, especially in the living areas of the house, and close them in all rooms at night. You could leave them closed all day in rooms that you are not using. It's all extra insulation.


2. Put draught stoppers along the base of doors. Even a rolled up towel or blanket would do.


3. Before you put on a load of washing, stop and think about what temperature you are setting the machine to. You might be in the habit of putting everything on the one setting, but do the clothes you are washing need 60 degrees of heat? Try separating your loads so you can wash some clothes on cold. It will make a big difference to your electricity bill.


4. Even if the weather isn't good enough to dry your laundry to a usable level, try to dry loads of clothes to some extent. Never put clothes straight from the washing machine to the tumble dryer. Try to let the wind do some work for you.


5. Keep your watering can outside the back door so you can pour any waste water from cooking [e.g. potatoes/veg/pasta/rice] straight in. It saves in water use, has all the tap water additives boiled out of it and contains some run off nutrients that will benefit your plants.


6. Double up on oven use so if you are doing a roast, maybe think about doing your baking on the same day so you are not preheating the oven twice.

So rethink your energy costs and soon you'll be flying high like mr monkey

Money Saving Tips Part 2

Leading on from Part 1 here, these are some more of my money saving tips.

1. Join the library

Not rocket science but if you are a book lover like me, buying books can be addictive and costly. You'd be surprised what your local library is stocking and it's a chance to take a risk on books without reaping the expenses and building up clutter. My philosophy now is to rent or borrow fiction books and if I am going to invest in a book, it's usually for reference. Some reference books are invaluable to have in the home, especially if they teach you a skill or how to avoid paying someone else for a job you can easily learn to do.

If you are going to buy a book, think SECOND HAND before you wander into Waterstones or Easons. Such is the quality of some second hand books, that I would not be embarrassed to give them as gifts. Online, I find play.com to be the best source of second hand material and I have never been disappointed with the physical state of the books. And it's free shipping!

2. Barter

Look at those around you, family, colleagues and neighbours and identify what skills you can trade. The easiest way to approach this is the to be the first to offer a favour to someone and most times, they will remember it and repay you in some way. I started bringing excess freshly caught fish to work to offer to colleagues and I have since received fresh rabbit, pheasant and baked goods in return. Which brings me on to my next tip....

3. Take up fishing

You do not need a licence to sea fish in Ireland, and during the summer any fool with a cheap rod can catch a bounty from the shoals of mackerel that migrate towards land. It's a delicious, healthy, oily fish that almost wants to be caught and it's not unusual to through out a line with six hooks and to fill the whole line in a matter of seconds. Once you catch your first mackerel, you'd be hard pushed to pay the price they are charging for measly fillets in supermarkets.

4. Keep shopping bags in the boot of your car

Small savings to be had but at 22c each, not to mention the waste, it's a good practice to keep a stock of shopping bags in your vehicle. They don't weigh anything so no harm carrying them around. On that note, if you have a roof rack on your vehicle that never gets used, take it down. It is wasting fuel.

5. Buy your hobby magazines in second hand shops

If you are not fussy about keeping up to date, there is no reason to spend the usual €5-€6 that hobby magazines cost. If you like arts and crafts or cooking, you'll hardly notice if the magazine is recent or from three months ago.


I'm sure I'll be back in a few weeks with some more tips I've thought off.

My Experiment: Earning Money Online

So as I am on a budgeting buzz these days I am looking for all sorts of ingenious ways to make money, find freebies, get samples. It's alot of work for so very little but in the last few weeks I have:

Received free samples of Wheatgrass supplements and Vichy face cream [so exciting getting them through the post!]. I am also waiting on free tea.

Joined Swagbucks to earn online money which can be converted into vouchers for many websites, including Amazon. £5GBP on Amazon costs 849 swagbucks and I've made 300 in the last three days by just messing around on the site, doing one survey and watching some videos. You gain points from using their search engine, playing games and other little tasks. If I can make the £5 by the weekend, I'll be very pleased. 

Joined an Irish online survey company called Irish Opinions who send you surveys to complete, based on your profile. I've made €3 by doing three surveys [and missed out on two more because I couldn't access the site at work]. When you reach €10, you can convert into a voucher for Tesco or Boots.

It might be a short lived buzz but it's proving quite addictive so far!

Homemade Wooden Floor Cleaner

I tried out this simple potion and it worked wonders for my wooden floor [albeit cheap laminate].

    

Mix:

500g washing soda

100g baking soda

Small squirt washing up liquid

200ml vinegar

7 litres of very hot water.

Don't get worried when it starts to fizz - it won't explode! You could add some scented essence to give it a nice smell.

Before

After

Money Saving Tips Part 1

With bambino on the way in four weeks, I have gone into budgeting overdrive. I've always been good with my money but by writing down all expenditures for the last few days, it's incredible how easily even a money conscious person can make un-necessary purchases.

Here are my top tips for saving money:

1. Use your freezer to the max and invest in a chest freezer if possible

We have saved a fortune the last few months by being ultra organised with meals and always thinking "what's in the freezer?" before making any purchases. If you have a contact, buy a whole butchered animal. We have bought a whole lamb for the last three years running. I reckon what we paid for the full animal would only cover the price of the chops if we were still buying lamb in the shop.

Freeze left over wine in ice cube trays to use for cooking.

When you buy herbs/ginger/garlic and other cooking accompaniments that you probably will not use in full, freeze a percentage immediately. You'll always end up throwing out a half mouldy lump of ginger root otherwise!

When you have the spare time, make up batches of bread dough and freeze uncooked. Imagine taking out the dough the night before and next day you're only 30 minutes away from freshly baked bread. In fact, make extra of everything and freeze the excess. Pretty soon you'll have a huge choice of food to chose from.

2. Grow your own salad vegetables

Even if you are not into gardening, it is worth everybody's time to grow lettuce, tomatoes and herbs. These are some of the most expensive vegetables to buy. I put alot of time and labour into growing vegetables like potatoes, carrots and onions but apart from the satisfaction, freshness, superior taste and lack of chemicals (okay they are all really good reasons!), I don't save much money by doing so. However, by having a crop of salad leaves in the garden, I have saved at least €3 per week [€156 per year!] by not buying bags of mixed leaves in the supermarket (which deteriorate in quality rapidly once the bag is opened). I recommend everyone to grow spinach. The baby leaves are tender petals of gorgeousness and the older leaves add to almost any savoury dish you can think of. Plus you can cut and cut and cut those leaves and the plant will keep on giving.

If you want to branch out, peas and beans are also a lovely easy crop. Mangetout just gives gives gives and is easy to freeze [steam for a few mins, plunge in icy water to cool, freeze on a tray and bag when hard]. Plus those little salad bags of podded peas are quite expensive in shops.

3. Consider re-usables instead of disposables

Not only are you saving money but the landfill will thank you for it.

My guilty pleasure is kitchen roll [paper towels] but I'll have to discipline myself into sticking to cloths.

The cloth nappy library of Ireland allows you to rent high quality cloth nappies to try out before you buy. Huge savings can be made on these nappies which will last a child from birth to toddler. Most people will be saving money after six months. Also, if you are using re-usables, it is not as painful to pay the extra for eco friendly disposables when needed.

Consider a silicon menstrual cup instead of buying sanitary products every month. At €30, the Moon Cup would start saving you money after a few months.

4. Consider installing a wood burning stove to replace your open fire

I always loved our open fire and was hesitant when the landlord wanted to install a stove but once we figured out the knack of using it, I realised it was one of the best improvements made to the house.

It's more heat and fuel efficient. By using mainly wood, they produce less ash than the open fire and is much easier to clean out as everything falls into a removable tray. We use a little bit of coal to establish the fire and top up only with wood, which we bought in bulk for very cheap. Last winter, we used a fraction of the amount of coal used in previous years. There is plenty of fallen wood to be found in any forest. I also saved in firelighters by melting the ends of candles and soaking cotton pads in the melted wax. A great way to make use of those candle ends that amass around the house.

5. Always carry a bottle of water/juice from home

Buying fluids when out and about is a major money drainer. Its a simple habit to get into.

Last but not least...

6. Write down all expenditures

This makes you aware of where your money is going and soon you'll find yourself getting a kick out of making it through the day with spending as little as possible. Making shopping lists used to give me pleasure but it also turns spending into a hobby. I still make sure I buy everything I need, and treat myself but Im not going to find myself €5 less at the end of the week because I somehow bought a bottle of water on three separate occassions, water I might not even have drank in full.


Read Part 2 of my best money saving tips HERE