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Frugal Living Basics and Jerusalem Artichokes

Jerusalem Artichokes and Garlic to be planted

Happy New Year!

It’s wintry here in Scotland. Of course it is. It’s January after all. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have garden plans. Above are Jerusalem Artichokes (like wee nutty potatoes, but plant once and have them forever) and some garlic bulbs that sprouted in the fridge. This is a good time for planting both. We just have to brave the cold and dig them in now! See our gardening/foraging/free food section here and Jerusalem Artichokes here from Thompson and Morgan.

But on to the Frugal Basics, great for a new year and a new start. One of the quickest ways to start reducing your spending is to rein in the food bill. See our food shopping tips here and all our frugal recipes here.

frugal recipes

Also see:
Frugal Living Around the House
Cheap Holidays and Days Out
Healthy Eating on a Budget
The 25p Meal
Sourdough Bread for Pennies

Some cheap places to shop online:

Low Price Foods
Approved Food
Everything5Pounds (clothes etc.)

Featured Recipes:

Wishing you all a happy and fruitful 2022!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

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Festive Frugality and Winter Warmers

A fierce start to December!

Before we get to the festive frugality, we have to mention the 120 mile an hour winds we’ve had here, the extended power cuts and heavy snow. A huge tree came down over our polytunnel but happily no damage occurred. We were very glad of our well stocked pantry, gas hob, hot water bottles and log fire!

Festive Advice and Tips

See our Frugal Christmas page, the most important piece of advice being, we believe:

Remember what really matters in your life. Look after yourself.

festive frugality

You’ll also find gift ideas, decoration advice and Christmas recipes. See the page here

Festive Frugality: Gifts

Everything5Pounds have a great range of clothes and homewares. All for £5, sometimes less. Designer items end up in the mix too.
The Works are fantastic for selling sets of books for the price you would normally pay for one, so great if you have lots of kids to buy for (or adults!).

Warming Winter Recipes

tattie soup

Keep those pantries stocked!

With clearance sellers like Low Price Foods  and Approved Food

Popular Pages and Posts

The 25p Meal
Make Money, earn a few pounds

Festive holidaying anyone?

House sitting and/or pet sitting can be cheap ways to holiday. TrustedHousesitters have owners registered in over 130 countries, from townhouses in London to renovated farmhouses in Tuscany. For all our advice on holidays, days out, railcards, motorway secrets and more go here!

Keep cosy and well fed and rested dear ones…

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

Aberdeen’s 1597 witchcraft panic (mermaid) and 18th century kidnappings (fireflies) combine with love and hope in THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR & FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE.

Christmas features in both books!

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Newsletter: it’s all about the tatties today!

tatties

First up, soup of tatties. It’s simple and Scottish, it’s delicious and it’s a new recipe on site. Also told, is the frugal story of the plate of food above. See it here.

Composting Fun and Tatties

Admittedly this is only partly about tatties. We have a new article here on making compost to reduce waste and save money. There’s also a section on growing no-dig potatoes.

Great recipes for October

Blended Soups
Roast Pumpkin and Garlic Pasta
Chick Pea Curry
Mushroom Gravy
Banana Raisin Flapjacks

Popular Pages and Posts
Healthy Eating and Exercising on a Budget
Books on Frugal Living
Frugal Christmas

As the world opens up again
House sitting and/or pet sitting can be cheap ways to holiday. TrustedHousesitters have owners registered in over 130 countries, from townhouses in London to renovated farmhouses in Tuscany. For all our advice on holidays, days out, railcards, motorway secrets and more go here!

In case you missed it last time:
Use code FREE10 for £10 off at Flava Buy Now Pay Later Supermarket. Not a discount store but they do always have some offers for pennies and there’s no credit checks or interest.

Stay warm and well fed as the season gets colder…

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

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Autumnal Cooking and Garden Capers

autumnal cooking
leek and potato soup

That Autumnal Feeling…

There’s a definite quality to the sunshine and breeze now. It’s autumn here in Scotland. The leaves are just starting to turn and it’s weather for soup and time to start thinking about log fires.

Autumnal Cooking

Leek and Potato Soup, pictured above. Included are two recipes, one very basic and mashed and the other a little fancier with peas.
Roast Pumpkin and Garlic Pasta, works well with butternut squash too.
Roast Potatoes with lots of variations detailed.
Chick Pea Curry
Apple Pie and Fruit Crumble

Garden Capers

We’re busy in the garden building new compost bins with reclaimed pallets. You can read about some of our other upcycled pallet projects here. We’ve also been sowing coriander, radishes and winter lettuce.

Useful YouTube Channels

Bonny Prepping Quine: building an old style kitchen pantry for food security.
Huw Richard’s frugal and free gardening advice.

In case you missed it last time

Olio is an app that you can download to your phone to share food in your local area. People share things that they can’t use up in time, while farmers and gardeners sometimes offer produce that they have too much of. We’ve added this information to our free food section but you can just search for the app.

Cheap Food and Clothing

Clearance food outlets Low Price Foods and Approved Foods are well worth a regular check as they get new products in often.

Everything5Pounds: the £2.50 sale is still ongoing. This is the longest we’ve ever seen it last!

May autumn bring you lots of beautiful sunny days and delicious autumnal cooking!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

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Food Sharing, Cheap Seeds and Websites

Food sharing…

Olio is a food sharing app that you can download to your phone to give or receive food in your local area. It does have a desktop version too. People share things that they can’t use up in time, while farmers and gardeners sometimes offer produce that they have too much of. We’ve added this information to our free food section but you can just search for the app!

Cheap Seeds

Thompson and Morgan have an amazing seed deal on: 10 packs for £10. Go here for the seed selection which contains over 300 types of fruit and vegetables, many usually costing £3.99 each. Offer ends midnight 25th of August 2021 or as long as stock lasts.

Use code TM_TAW61W at checkout to make sure you get the offer price for the seeds.

Making Money From a Website

We’ve updated this information on our make money page. Base it on something you’re passionate about and we’re sure you’ll fly!

In case you missed it last time

House and/or pet sitting can be a great way to get cheap holidays. Trusted Housesitters are active in over 130 countries and you can register as a sitter here, or look for a sitter of course! See all our other frugal holiday and days out tips here.

All Our Frugal Recipes

For all our soups, sides, mains and puds go here.

Cheap Food and Clothing

Clearance food outlets Low Price Foods and Approved Foods are well worth a regular check as they get new products in often.

Everything5Pounds: the £2.50 sale is still ongoing.

Happy food sharing, and seed gathering!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

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Frugal Newsletter: housesitting, plants and jam!

frugal newsletter

Sitting pets and/or homes can be a great way to get cheap holidays. Trusted Housesitters are active in over 130 countries and you can register as a sitter here, or look for a sitter of course! See all our other frugal holiday and days out tips here.

Plant and Bulb Sale
Thompson and Morgan have a sale on here with up to 75% off plants and bulbs, only till the 18th of August. Use code TM_TAW60W at checkout.

Cashback on Shopping:
Swagbucks offer just that, it’s free to register and start earning.

New Recipe on site:
Blackcurrant and Lavender Jam
See all our other frugal recipes here.

Cheap Food
Clearance food outlets Low Price Foods and Approved Foods are well worth a regular check as they get new products in often.

Cheap Clothes
Everything5Pounds: the £2.50 sale is still ongoing.

We hope you’re all enjoying some good summery weather and not too much rain like us!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

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Newsletter: food forests and frugal gardening

frugal gardening

There’s a new article up on site about growing a food forest, turning lawns to food, though this concept can be as small as a windowsill of herbs and sprouts. See the article and read about our frugal gardening ways here.

Super Cheap Food
We also posted about some really cheap seeds and store cupboard grains we found in Asda here (still there last weekend).

Clearance food outlets Low Price Foods and Approved Foods are well worth a regular check as they get new products in often.

Cheap Clothes
Everything5Pounds: exactly what it says, though there are still some items in their £2.50 sale.

Featured Seasonal Recipes:
Bramble Chocolate Chip Cakes
Radish Top Soup
Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage
Apple Pie

May the August sun shine brightly down upon you and your frugal gardening!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!



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Clearance Food and Frugal Sourdough

Clearance Food

It’s all a bit short and sweet from us today, just like the choccies pictured above! They’re from new clearance food outlet Low Price Foods, and though the front page is focused on snack items we found really cheap pasta, tins and dried fruit there too. Definitely worth a regular check as they get new things in often.

Sourdough and Gardening: We have a new post on making Sourdough for Pennies here. It also details some of our recent gardening exploits and which seeds are still good to plant in July.

Cheap Clothes: Everything5Pounds are selling three pairs of shorts for £5 at the moment!

Frugal Recipes:
All our recipes gathered together for you here: soups, mains, sides, cakes, puds, Christmas and weightloss!

May your sourdough ever rise high and your clearance food prices constantly be low…

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

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Hot sunshine and cheap clothes…

Cheap clothes! The £2.50 sale from Everything5Pounds

It’s hot. It’s sunny. Can it be Scotland? Amazingly enough: YES!

Top summer recipes:
Radish Top Soup: a great way to use the commonly thrown away part of these super easy and quick to grow vegetables.
Minted Noodle Soup is another simple and seasonal dish.
Great cold in a picnic, see our basic pasties recipe.
A perennial favourite side at all times of year are the Beer Battered Onion Rings.
Rhubarb and gooseberries are go in the garden. Try them in a Crumble.

Cheap clothes and shoes: Everything5Pounds have their £2.50 sale on: go grab a bargain here!

Featured posts:
The 25p Meal – what it says on the tin.
Frugal Days Out and Holidays

For food and household bargains and bulk cupboard stocking, see Approved Food. 

Wishing you many relaxing long summer days…

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

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Spring has Sprung: wild garlic!

wild garlic

Spring has finally arrived, and we couldn’t be happier. The wild garlic is through in the woods, the crocus and snowdrop flowers are beautiful… though we still need the log-burner on of an evening here in Scotland.

Recipes using wild garlic:
pesto and creamy carrot soup We’ve also been adding it to sauces and stews.

Cheap clothes and shoes to brighten up your wardrobe: Everything5Pounds and Schuh Imperfects We do miss the charity shops at the moment.

For foody bargains and filling up your cupboards see Approved Food. We’ve been using them for years and have saved hundreds.

Featured post: The 25p Meal

Keep cosy! Eat soup! And enjoy the Spring!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE, inspired by the kidnapped children of Aberdeen, is out April 1st. Kindle pre-order: http://mybook.to/firechoc