Summing Up the Rest of That £1 Challenge ... What WAS the Final Total Then and Now?

Of course over the 28 days of the Eating for £1 a Day Challenge back in 2018, I did go shopping again after the first 'big shop' of the month, in fact I shopped three more times.   So yesterday I just couldn't help myself ... I went back and read through the rest of the Challenge posts, noting down as I did so what else I bought and how much they cost me in November 2018.

I think it made a difference doing the Challenge halfway between October and November, and when I compared the prices that are in the shops now with then, a couple of things were cheaper now than they were back then, but then I realised all of the cheaper things were in fact the salady type things which of course are in season here in the UK at the moment.  Everything non-seasonal was more expensive.

By the end of the Challenge I had spent £27.24 of my £28 and had 76p in cash left over.  

If I was to buy the same foods from the same shops this week, I would need to spend an additional £5.48.

A couple of people wanted me to have a go at doing the Challenge again, and it really is tempting. 

 So what I did was to have a closer look at the final post when I summed up what I had left over and my thoughts after the month of eating for £1 a day.  There were foods I hadn't touched ... the beetroot for example, and foods that I had barely used such as the rice, the celery and the mayonnaise, so obviously I could do without those.  

So if I were to do it again for just £1 a day I think I would have to menu plan extremely carefully and make full use of everything that I bought to even stand a chance of being able to keep to the budget.

But I think if I were to do it again I wouldn't try to replicate what I did back then, or even try and copy from the Ration Challenge week that I did recently, which was definintely a very cheap way of eating.  I would want it to be different ... I just don't know how to do it differently, so I will have to have a think about it.

Sue xx

Back in the Challenging Days

 

I fell down a rabbit hole of my own making yesterday.

I clicked over onto my Challenging Myself blog and went right back to the very first challenge that I set myself on there way back in October of 2018, and before I knew it by clicking newer post, newer post over and over again I was halfway through a month of reading all about eating for twenty eight days on £28.

And then of course the thought struck me, would this even be possible now with the rising prices that we have all been noticing and living through over these past months.

 I had bought these items from Tesco as I was planning the Challenge out because they were on special offer.

Seemingly everything in these four photos cost me a grand total of £17.68 back in 2018 when I did the Challenge.  Leaving the rest of the money to be used each week to buy a top up of any fresh things that I would need over the course of the month.

I then spent another twenty minutes play-shopping in the same places ... this time just pretending and online as I don't have the same shops here ... to see what it would cost if I were to do it again.  Some of the exact products weren't available but I got as close as I possibly could and the 2022 grand total would be £20.08.

It was an interesting little experiment to check the comparisons, but now it's left me wondering what I did for the second half of the Challenge ... and how I spent the rest of the money.  

So you know where I'll be if you want me for anything.   🐇😄

Sue xx

Tasty Food, Little Houses and Buying Off the Makers

 

Buying off the makers and supporting small businesses is very important to me.  As someone who has sold at Farmers Markets and craft stalls I know how much work goes into the things that you produce to sell whether it be food items or other useable items, and to be able to sell directly to people who will appreciate your work is just about the best thing there is.

On Sunday we went to the Glasson Dock Artisan Market, we've called there quite a few times as Glasson Dock is a favourite place for us to visit to walk the dogs and have a Sunday morning coffee and sausage bun at the lovely little café there.  We were quite put out that when we were on the narrowboat we were not allowed to cruise up to the Glasson Dock arm of the canal, so we were determined to visit soon after.

This time I might have been a bit free with my money, but I had needed only a bit of shopping this week so I had available cash to treat myself even if it was the end of the month and our accounts department had forgotten to pay us ... Alan are you listening!!

I bought all of the above.  The thing inside the paper plates was a ready to cook Cheesy Garlic Bread, she was serving them hot at the fair but I had just eaten my sausage bun so I asked if she could make it up and I would cook it at home ... she did, and it was lovely for lunch later on.

I treated myself to four pies, it was the same guy I had been chatting to at the Morecambe Vegan Food Festival last month and his pies were gorgeous,  all handmade and ready to be warmed up when you need them.  So I have popped two into the freezer, one is for lunch today and one for my tea tomorrow.

I just could not resist this.

There was a whole stall of little houses made from recycled bits and bobs by a lovely lady.  How to choose just one was the hardest thing of all, but for some reason this one won out.

And my new pride and joy.

Again I was chatting away to the girl who made it and all the other baskets, trays, willow bunting etc etc on the stall trying desperately to make my mind up what to buy.   My heart was divided between two baskets but this one I could immediately think of a use for so it came home with me.

The little house fitted in so well on my little mantle shelf and looks at home already.

This photo reminds me that I need to re-pot that poor little plant, it's far too big for it's little glass jar now.  It was an Aldi purchase at just £1.99 and I've had it for a couple of years now.  Which goes to show you don't really need to splash a lot of cash to get something lovely that lasts for ages.

Sue xx

Plastic Free July

 

It's been Plastic Free July for a whole month and I've not managed to mention it once ... yup, I admit it I am a bad blogger  😄

Most of you know me well enough by now to know that I recycle, I reuse, I most definintely re-purpose and I basically do the very best I can.  Hardly any of the plastic that I do get is single use plastic and the few things that I do get are recycled wherever possible to the correct place.

Something that I switched to at the start of last year when it became increasingly difficult to get washing powder tablets in cardboard boxes, was the smol range of products. 

 I started with a free trial of the washing capsules, which come through your letterbox in a sturdy cardboard box.  The trial proved to me that they did everything that I needed them to do and I signed up for a regular subscription after a week of using them.

The box is so childproof that it drove me to distraction, but if you have children this is a good thing.

There are instructions on how to open it and information on everything else that you need to know.

But I cheat, and for ease of use as soon as mine arrive I tip them into my little enamel pan ...

... and store them next to the little enamel bucket that holds the pegs.

A few months after starting with the washing capsules and when I had used up my supply of fabric conditioner I added bottles of the smol fabric conditioner to my order and trialled that.  It's very good and does exactly what it's supposed to but without leaving you scented like a pine forest or a rose garden.

You can choose how many laundry capsules you want to receive and also how often you want to receive them, ditto with the fabric conditioner and any of the other cleaning supplies that you might want to try.  There are also dishwasher tablets and surface sprays, (neither of which I use) so you could get all your cleaning supplies from one place and through the post

But the most important thing for me is that it gets the washing clean, smelling fresh and not synthetic and everything arrives just when I need it and if my needs change I can update how often I want to receive something.

If you would like a free trial like I did, just click HERE to go to the smol website and choose the item you would like to sample, and for just £1 towards the postage you will have enough of the product you choose to get a good idea of if it's right for you.

This is not in any way a sponsored post, just something that I use regularly and highly recommend.

Sue xx

A Thank You from The Ration Challenge Team

 

I got an email from Matt at the Ration Challenge team on Monday and it seemed only fair to share it with you.  Between us we managed to raise the astonishing figure of £2,251, this includes the donations of some lovely people who had been unable to donate during the week but kept good on their promise to donate when they could.  Thank you all so much.

To quote directly from the email -

It’s been just over a month since we, along with many of you, finished the challenge, and thinking back, we continue to be humbled and inspired by everything you have achieved.

Over the past few months, you have shown the power of compassion and kindness, and together, you have raised more than £400,000 which will provide emergency food, healthcare and life-saving support to people who need it most. THANK YOU.

We are truly humbled by this community - by your passion and your dedication and by all the ways you supported one another. We have been inspired by your stories - the reasons you took the challenge and the learnings you are taking away from it. And we are grateful for your incredible fundraising efforts and achievements. We hope this video reminds you of the amazing experience we shared together.

https://youtu.be/1I1Zw1G1vS8

And here is the video for you to watch too, as you were the lovely lot that supported me so well during my Ration Challenge Week.  

We did it together.

Thank you.

Sue xx

A Previous Life ... Lavender, Lovely Hubby and Worm Tea

Especially for the person who asked when it was that I started blogging, it was back in 2008 with my shop blog 'Lavender's Blue ...' which was also the name of my tiny shop in Ulverston, Cumbria.  

It was meant to mostly be about my little cat Archie as Shop Cat but he had other ideas, and it ended up being about the lavender and gifts that I sold, day to day shop life and the customers that came in.

I loved arranging my pretty wares, nothing stayed in the same place for long and the window changed at least once a week.  Well it was so tiny it was easy to do. 💜

The shop smelled deliciously fragrant, mostly as you would expect from Lavender but there were occasional forays into other essential oils and soaps.

We occasionally sold at Shows, this was  the North Lonsdale Show just outside Ulverston.

But my heart was really in the shop, upstairs nicknamed 'Grannie's Attic' (because, yes ... I was already a granny back then) the lavender mixed nicely with new collectibles and pretty vintage bits and pieces, and my customers loved to climb the tiny staircase and rummage through baskets of lace and a rail of clothes.

And when we made the split second decision to start  our new life in the country ... after a chat one day in the shop when Alan had brought me a cup of coffee from the coffee shop opposite and sat on the stairs drinking his while I drank mine ... and it was time to close the shop and move onto pastures new it all morphed very nicely into doing the monthly Farmers Markets in our new village setting.

If any of you think the fireplace looks a bit familiar, it might be as it has starred in quite a few of the older Midsomer Murder episodes as our village was frequently used as a location.  Each time we see a repeat showing the hall and the fireplace I shout out 'there's MY fireplace'. 😄

The lavender goodies were popular and after a few months were joined by farm fresh eggs, and deliveries by Lovely Hubby of bags of manure, compost and worm tea.

Here's the man himself when he was caught for posterity after doing a delivery of a trailer load of compost, and calling in at the Village Hall for a bacon butty on his way back.  

He also joined the rota for making the bacon butties that were sold along with the teas and coffees for the early Sunday morning shoppers.

My stall at Tetsworth Farmers Market.

It was always nice to get out of the working clothes and wellies and be in a nice clean hall with cups of coffee and friendly customers, and we both enjoyed the break from the farm.

Maud, Betty and Martha in The Orchard

So there you go, a real blast from the past and a trip down memory lane.  

So to answer the question ... I have been blogging since 2008 in many formats and with quite a few different blogs and as there are lots of you don't know me from the earlier blogs if you have any questions please ask away in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.  

And those of you who have been reading from the very beginning ... WOW hasn't the time just flown by!!

Sue xx 

Weeds, Bread ... and Answers on a Postcard

 

I've been a blogger for so long that I'm used to having either my camera or phone to hand to snap various things that I suddenly have an idea that I might use for a blog post.

But sometimes the photos then live on the computer for quite a while,  so when I look through the files for each month I wonder 'What on earth was I going to write about this?'

Oranges and Lemons anyone?

An obvious lunchtime sandwich containing perhaps salad and something!!

My favourite weed, now sporting lovely little delicate flowers.

I know what this is ... it was going to be a decluttering Before and After, but nothing left the house (or even the jug) so I guess it was just a This is How it Is.  Not a very good spot the difference eh  😂

And the grand finale ... a loaf of bread!!

Nope, I have absolutely no idea what I was going to write about this ... answers on a postcard please. 😃

Gosh I write such eloquent and interesting blog posts ...  occasionally!

Sue xx