Progress

As this experiment draws to a close; I said six months and six months it was, a week ago; I thought that I would bring you all up to speed on our progress. In my six months of blogging I have covered frugal shopping, frugal cooking, frugal gardening, frugal craft and kids activities, how to have a frugal Christmas, frugal cleaning and other various tips for living a frugal lifestyle. Everything that I have blogged about I have tried, though not all has continued. I must be honest!

I still haven’t sewed those dresses for Little Lady. I know that sewing clothes for her myself instead of buying them will save me money, especially with a versatile pattern that I can use again and again. And yet, the fabric is still sitting in my cupboard, along with my sewing machine. Perhaps large sewing projects are just not for me. On the plus side, I haven’t gone and bought any more summer dresses for Little Lady. But, I must not waste the money I spent on fabric and patterns, I WILL sew those dresses! Maybe next summer..

I stopped baking bread. I know it saves me money, and I still recommend it! But, after falling pregnant with baby number two and suffering once again from appalling morning sickness, the smell of bread baking became a major turn off. I still can’t stomach it. So, we are back to buying bread in bulk when it’s on special and freezing it. I guess it’s a good thing I never bought that bread maker. Mum and Dad can have theirs back since it is now gathering dust on my kitchen bench.

It took me three months to get my veggie garden underway. The plot was dug and fertilized thanks to my lovely Hubby, but then morning sickness started, Christmas got in the way and then we were off on holidays. But, finally I got those veggies planted and mulched, and they are growing away beautifully! I’ve also started my compost heap and I now keep a compost bin on my bench. It’s a good feeling knowing that I’m now reducing even more waste. Despite my slackness with getting it all started, I am starting to reap the rewards! Last week I baked spinach and ricotta pastry parcels made with my own spinach and rocket. My tomatoes are starting to ripen, and after a good feed, my radishes and carrots are growing again. I think a combination of frost and then a heat spell may have been too much for my beans, which are looking very sad, but I did manage to get a load of them off the vines before the weather got to them. I’ve also got some potatoes which have started sprouting, that I plan to plant.

I still make my own laundry liquid, but I must admit to going back to regular washing powder for Little Lady’s cloth nappies. My home made liquid did the job, but it wasn’t completely getting rid of the smell or the stains. But, that is the only washing job where I use supermarket powder. And as for LL’s excema, it still hasn’t come back thanks to me discovering a more natural detergent.  All other washing is done with my own liquid.

I’ve said before, that I am only human. I am not perfect, and despite all my good intentions, there are times when we fall off the wagon.

However, there are a number of things that have now become a daily and weekly part of our routine. I bake from scratch (and I really enjoy it!), buy fresh produce as cheaply as possible, make my own snacks (those yummy muesli bars!), use cloth nappies and cloth wipes, clean with vinegar and bi-carb, buy in bulk and freeze and actively seek out frugal recipes for meals and treats. Looking for frugal recipes has almost become an obsession! I’ve also become quite the avid gardener. Little Lady and I really enjoy getting outside and digging, weeding, planting, transplanting, mulching and making plans. That part of our frugal lifestyle is giving me a lot of joy. We will also be adding to our frugal garden very soon, by purchasing some chickens.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you exactly how much money we have saved, because most of it has been spent on the never ending list of expenses. But I can tell you that, thanks to our frugal lifestyle, over the last six months, we were able to; pay off the credit card; buy three new bookshelves and a bedroom suite for Little Lady (since the baby is moving into her old bedroom); have a lovely weekend away, just hubby and I, at a hotel in the city for our 5^th anniversary; buy a dryer; and I was able to spend some money just for myself, and visit a girlfriend in Newcastle for a weekend. We were also able to re-finance and pay off the car! There are still weeks when the bills mount up and money is tight, but thanks to our new lifestyle, we are now managing to pay everything without resorting to the credit card.

The verdict; this frugal lifestyle works for us! These relatively simple changes have made a huge difference to our financial, as well as our physical and emotional, wellbeing.  I no longer feel that we are wasting Hubby’s hard earned money, and thanks to our new lifestyle, we have been able to do a number of things that, six months ago, we didn’t think we could afford.

This will be the last entry for this blog. Thank you for reading, I hope I’ve been of some help to you all.