Frugal Living.

Hello Dear Friends and Followers.

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about what would we give up to save money. One person said “They could not possibly give up the window cleaner”. Really?

These days people think they need so much in their lives to make it better and to be honest that is no not the case. I think I would of probably thought that way many moons ago, but since living on the boat, I have realised just how little I need to be happy.

On the same program they spoke to a lady who lives a frugal lifestyle, and yet has an amazing life and this got me thinking about my lifestyle and what we do not bother with and how we save money. I do not have any debts, I like to make sure everything is paid for and if I cannot afford something then I do not buy it or have it.

It only really takes a few days to break old habits and form good new habits. Some of mine may well ring a bell with you and I am sure you could share your ideas with me if you wish.

I am not really a ready meal person, I prefer to cook from scratch. We both like home cooked food and neither us are fancy eaters, so I can cook good tasty meals on the cheap.

I like to repair things, that includes clothing, shoes, gadgets etc. I will only replace if there is absolutely no hope of the old things being repaired. Even then I will check out the charity shops first to see if an item of clothing can be purchased at a fraction of the cost of a high street store. Electrical items are more tricky, but I like to shop around. At the moment we are having to spend out on a new generator, but that is needed and we have the funds for it put by. I am pretty handy with a saw , hammer and nails, so will happily knock things up on my own. We do most of the work on our boat. I am a dab hand at changing oil, painting and general work, which we all need to know about, when living on a boat. It is not like we cannot afford for others to do it, but why bother when we can do it ourselves.

I like to use every last drop, of anything I use and hubby is the same. I always leave sauce bottles standing upside down to get every drop out and this also applies to, laundry liquid bottles, shampoo bottles and jars of sauces etc. I will wash sauce jars out and empty the contents into my cooking. IWe have paid for it and so will use it all. Bars of soap is another thing I will use to the end. if there is a small amount left, I will dampened the thin slice squash it together with a new bar. I know I sound ever so slightly mad, but why change a habit of a lifetime.

We love watching films, but rarely buy DVD’s at the full price. We will look around the charity shops or if near a car boot we will see what they have to offer. I always think why pay the full price for DVD’s. We are fortunate to have a good DVD collection now. We love to pootle around charity shops, markets etc, but only buy if we feel we really need something. The last market we did was Birmingham and hubby bought a shopping trolley for £5.

I am not really a gadget person and therefore I do not have a smart phone. I have an old Sony Ericsson phone, which does me just fine. I cannot see the point in spending mega money on a phone and then the set-up costs and monthly rentals. I just want a phone for emergencies. On saying that hubby did buy a smart phone, but it was the cheapest Carphone Warehouse does and the lowest tariff. This was in case we needed to look up something in an emergency and could not get online.

We changed our food shopping habits a while ago and saved ourselves £20 a month. We used to have a Tesco delivery once a fortnight, but now hubby who has his bus pass goes to Aldi and Lidl on the bus and really enjoys himself. On saying that I did have to get a Tesco delivery to here at Stockton, but only because we are in the middle of nowhere.

We do not have a car, which left us in 2005 and we have never missed it. If we want to go anywhere we either walk or catch public transport. A car for us would be a luxury, that we would have to either store when we are cruising or move around with us, which is not for us.

Living on the boat, I have a philosophy that if it is not used or worn within Six months, then it has to either find a new home or be thrown away. We do not have the space for unwanted items.

How frugal are you?