Hi and welcome to my usual frugal Friday round up. I hope you have had a good week! I don’t feel as if I have done much at all this week, but I have actually been quite busy with one thing and another.
Flexible working
The joy of working for myself is that it doesn’t matter if I don’t work 9-5. Sometimes I am up and working at 6 am until 10 am and that’s it for the day. Other days I don’t start until 11 am but I’m still going at 9 pm.
This is turning out to be quite handy at the moment as I feel so TIRED! I think it is the fibromyalgia, as I am generally very achy and sleeping badly.
It seems to come and go. But it does mean if I need to sleep in or have an afternoon nap I can. I couldn’t have done that when I was working for the council! I would leave work exhausted to find the traffic was horrific and it took me an hour (or more) to drive what should have been a 15 minute journey.
Now there is no commute. I save money on petrol, wear and tear to the car and don’t have to buy any smart work clothes.
On the other hand, I use more electricity and gas at home, but I try to stay in one room and have the wood burner on rather than heating the whole house when it’s chilly.
Whether I save money overall or not, I am not sure, but I am including this in my frugal Friday round up anyway. Self-employment adds massively to the quality of my life.
Continuing the cleaning and decluttering
I haven’t done as much of the general declutter as I would have liked so far, which was one of my goals for 2020. Mainly due to the aforementioned lack of energy. However, because we get black mould around our windows, I have started to give them all a scrub.
Mould affects my chest really badly. I always know if we have some lurking, as I get a cough that just won’t go. It’s not horrific mould; just some black areas around the seals on our old double glazing.
I would love to replace all the windows, but that’s not going to happen any time soon. So, in the meantime, I went at some of them with an old toothbrush and bicarbonate of soda. I rubbed the really stubborn bits in the corners with a bit of bleach.
Whilst I was at it, I decluttered the baskets that sit on the top of the wardrobe and cleared some stuff to the charity shop.
I love a deep clean and declutter – so therapeutic! Hopefully, some more of this will appear in the next frugal Friday round up, as I am on a roll!
Charity shop bargains
This week I popped into a charity shop I don’t go into much. It’s quite near where we live, but is generally a bit expensive. However, I was lucky this time. You may have seen my best buys on Instagram, if you follow me. If you don’t, come on over!
I found a new sewing box, which I was really happy about. This has been on my wish list for a while. It was only £4. They are surprisingly expensive new.
I also found a lovely soft, red cardigan that was new with tags for £3.50. Red is a colour I really like and people always tell me it suits me, so I am trying to pick up a few more items of red clothing.
It always intrigues me that someone would buy an item like that – an every day basic type of thing – then not wear it. Still, their loss is my gain.
DIY hair
I have mentioned before that I always dye my own hair. Usually, I only touch up the roots so that it doesn’t get too dry. However, this time I decided to change to Herbatint*
It certainly smelled better than the usual bog standard hair dye. As I am generally trying to cut down on the chemicals we encounter here it seemed sensible to go for a less harsh type of dye.
I would use straightforward henna like I did when I was younger if I could. However, I have far too much grey hair these days!
I also cut my own fringe and trimmed up the layers. Every now and again I do a bit of DIY hair cutting. Not too often though as I am not that skilled! It all saves time and money though.
Meal planning
Regular readers will know that I do a meal plan every week as it saves so much time and money. I have tried various different ways of eating, either to lose weight (as I did successfully with Slimming World) or for health reasons.
Now I am looking at trying a keto diet for several reasons. To try to quit eating sugar, to lose a few pounds and because I think it may be generally beneficial for my health.
It is said to be a good way to reduce inflammation, become mentally sharper, improve IBS symptoms and to increase energy levels. I am hoping it may help me as these are all issues associated with fibromyalgia.
Generally, we have been decreasing how much meat we eat. That is going to be tricky on this diet, but at this point I am willing to give anything a go.
So another task this week has been researching foods and planning what we will be eating. I think it is likely to be more expensive than usual, so it is important to plan it out. Tomorrow’s meal plan will reveal all!
There’s more information on the pros and cons of keto eating here. It’s quite controversial! I’m not sure if I would be strict with it forever, but it depends how it makes me feel when I try it I guess.
I would be very interested to hear if any of my readers has tried the keto diet, and how you found it. Please leave a comment!
So that’s my frugal Friday round up. How has your week been and have you had any frugal wins?
As usual, I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.
This post contains affiliate links, marked with*. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission.
Julia says
There is no way I can do a full keto diet as a non-meat eater. The rice, pasta or bread (even though I only eat brown versions) is what stops me from being hungry and snacking on the even worse stuff!
Instead I’m trying to limit carbs to about 75g a day, and I’ve given up sugar this month – which for me was only the occasional chocolate or biscuit anyway.
Sad to say 2 weeks in I’ve not lost any weight – but I find it incredibly difficult to do so at the best of times – hence my goal was only to lose 2lbs this month! Might manage 1lb if I’m lucky!
I really don’t eat much though – only around 1600-1700 calories a day.
Either way, it’s difficult when the rest of the family wants proper food. There’s no way I’m cooking for them, then making myself something different. If I lived alone I’d probably ave a sandwich for lunch and a bowl of soup for dinner and would be perfectly happy! 😀
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
They say you can do it as a vegetarian but I cant see how. It would be monotonous to say the least!
Lee Ronald says
Hello Jane
I’ve never commented before but I always look forward to your blog, we have so many things in common, you feel like an old friend!
I found keto quite hard (less than 50g carbs per day) but low carb (130g or less) very doable. It’s simply the way I eat now. I started it due to blood sugar wobbles and as my father is diabetic felt compelled to do something about it. I lost 23lbs in six months and felt very very well. The key to it is including enough fat (nuts, avocado, oily fish, coconut oil) so you don’t feel hungry, it isn’t just about reducing carbs. I don’t eat meat but do eat fish and I don’t have any issues. The diabetic.co.uk site has a fab low carb forum called ‘What have you eaten today?’. I’m quite addicted to it!
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Thanks! I can see myself going low carb eventually. I already know about it when I eat too many carbs. Interesting info about that forum. I will take a look!
Julia says
Thank Lee, that is quite encouraging, especially the bit about fat keeping hunger at bay instead!
anne says
Hi, just wanted to comment about your hair experience and frugal living. Don’t know if you are aware but the Institute do really good and very inexpensive hair/beauty treatments, including reflexology etc. If you are prepared for it to take a bit longer you will be really pleased with the results, even if you just have a bit of a pamper- very important with Firbromyalgia!! Plus you will be supporting local young people in gaining their qualifications.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Hi Anne. Yes! I have had many a haircut at the Institute. It does take longer but is incredibly cheap. I was looking at getting my eyebrows waxed there just the other day
Jo says
Here is a keto blog – I read her frugal blog and she started a keto blog too. It seems to have really helped her a lot.
https://simplyaketolifestyle.blogspot.com/
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Thanks! I will have a read
Charlie says
New windows and sliding doors are on my schedule for this spring. I have gotten an estimate on the cost of the windows, and I plan to get assistance with the installation from a couple friends at church. I have previously installed windows and doors in another house, but the windows are bulky and unwieldy to position and get secured in place by one person. I figure going the DIY route will knock about $20,000 off the total cost of the project. The installer companies have a very high markup on windows and doors, often the labor is 2-3 times the cost of the window or door.
Going keto can be good, but those who are not meat eaters should look at the hypoglycemic level of their foods. Avoid the white flour, sugar and processed foods, increase the greens, fruits and whole grains, it can make a big difference.
The hair color is definitely a thing to be concerned with, there are a lot of toxic chemicals in the box and salon color. My wife is going silver which is fine with me, but not her. We have been using the henna, but with more silver it is now a two step process, applying the straight henna first, then the darker henna color after the red adheres and covers the silver. Here is the process.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aW6UQADwPw0
Drawback is that the henna will darken, but not lighten hair color. She likes the brown, so it works for her. It is messy, so we use a coloring cape and a drop cloth on the floor to prevent/staining. Given her length, we need to use two packages for the overall color, but with plain henna, less is needed as it is a root touch up. By just doing the roots, it is a process that is faster, being the roots show more with the dark color against the silver, we try not to go more than a month. I will be glad when she decides to embrace the silver strands. We save a lot of money with the DIY route, I trim her long hair every other month as well. So we do save hundreds a year and it is far more convenient with no salon horror stories.
Spring is time to start seedlings for the garden and decluttering to get rid of the junk that accumulated.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Wow! Impressed you do your wife’s hair! We found in a previous property that getting a builder to buy and install them was so much cheaper than using a dedicated double glazing company but if you can DIY even better
Charlie says
The significant difference in me being there installing the windows and doors is that I know there are no shortcuts and that the installation was done correctly. The first house I replaced windows in, the openings were not square, there was no sealing tape, drip edge or insulation around the windows. Because of that, there was damage to the wood which I had to replace before putting the new windows in. Afterwards my daughter commented how quiet her room was compared to before I replaced the windows in her room that had been installed by the builder.
I replaced a window with the help of my nephew in my mother’s townhouse. Again I found it was never installed correctly, there was damage to the wood from leaking water. I taped, sealed And insulated the new window properly And my mother was amazed how she no longer heard the road noise. Contractors often hire unskilled college students for cheap labor and direct them to take actions to cut corners and save costs to the detriment of the homeowner.
As for doing my wife’s hair color, it started out by her asking for “help” to color her hair with the henna. She said it was easier if I just did the whole thing so she wouldn’t miss spots. Her hair reaches past her elbows, so there is more to color, so pinning it up, sectioning it and applying the henna to each layer ensures I am getting her roots covered. She gets compliments on her color and asked if I take appointments. I assured her that I would not. I trim her ends every couple months as well. It saves us hundreds a year and she knows that when she asks for an inch off the bottom, she is not going to lose eight inches like the scissor happy stylists at the salon would. So between the coloring and cutting, I would estimate that we are saving hundreds more especially with the “long hair extra” they would charge given her length.