How long should my Eglu Cube run be to fit 4 bantams?

[Eggasperated]

Thanks DM, I'll stop worrying then .

[The Dogmother]

Just get it checked each time it is swept. So long as you're burning seasoned wood, it ought to be OK, do avoid coal or nuggets if you have a liner though as they can erode it..

[Olly]

I burn a mix of wood on mine, it needs some soft wood such as pallet wood, joinery etc to get it hot enough to burn the larger logs. I believe green wood is the most likely to fur up the chimney, seasoned dry wood should be ok. I only light mine at weekends and occasional evenings during the week when I am not out, so I didn't get it swept this summer but will book it in for this year - if I burned it every day for long periods, I'd get it swept once a year. I share your anxiety about chimney fires, but if your chimney is lined and you get it swept regularly it's very unlikely.

[Space Chick]

I burn coal and wood, and have my chimney swept once a year, mine also does a check. He's great and fills me with confidence

[Charlottechicken]

Anyone else been to the Boots 70% off sale?

 

In the interests of frugality , I went in to have a mooch, and came away with a few things. I was looking for small gifts that looked like they were worth a fiver or so, and not easily identifiable as from Boots. Managed to spend £32.55, and the haul included two pairs of gloves, a lovely gardeners mug, 3 Champneys box sets, Joules mens toiletries, Laura Ashley bath salts and 3 cute purses. Average price paid was £2.50.

 

So pleased I didn't get carried away and go earlier to join the melee. Looking at the state of the shop (and assistants!) when I arrived it looks like it was rough. Reports elsewhere on the internet indicate it was the usual blocking aisles, sweeping whole shelfloads of stuff in one go and fights breaking out Although when I did arrive, there were enough folk hanging around with six or seven of those really large carrier bags full of stuff. Apparently, there's a lot listed on eBay already!

 

Really glad with my haul. Bought enough but not too much and all of it is earmarked for gifts throughout the year.

 

Will post a picture later

[Christian]

My neighbour had 3 trees cut down and they wanted to charge him to take the wood away. He did a chainsaw 'course', chopped the wood and stacked it and then told me it's mine in 12 months! only 2 cubic metres of wood in a wheelbarrow, down the lane - that'll be fun!

[Charlottechicken]

Ooh Christian, I hope your suspension is up to it!

 

Boots haul pic

 

 

I'm so pleased with the lot, lovely things at a good price and all earmarked so no wastage or overspending!

 

Also found a source of reasonably priced birthday cards this weekend, the local charity shops! Most of them sell all sorts of cards for 95p to a pound. They are now my first port of call for pretty cards!

[The Dogmother]

Good work Claire!

 

I have been bringing back firewood from work; mainly carpentry off-cuts, ready cut to size, and seasoned of course. Sadly, my patio has been annexed as an overflow woodpile I don't mind much as it's all in the name of frugality It's tricky though - one of the men at work will load it up for me, but it's a different matter when I get home - it often has to stay in the car until I can park near enough to the house so that I can unload and barrow it round.

[Saronne]

This weekend, I have wombled 4 more pallets and have been given lots of big logs from a tree that was felled at my son's girlfriend's grandparent's house. I am ecstatic - and easily pleased It's just a bit too wet to get out there and process the wood.

[The Dogmother]

Great news Saronne!

 

My garden is too squishy too. Don't forget to pile those logs separately and ink the date on one of them so you can keep track of when they will be seasoned.

[Purplemaniacs]

How long does it take to season wood?

 

A few trees have been cut down at school and the wood left for people to take. We have lots of wood at the moment and no vehicle to transport the wood either at the moment but I have taken a few of the bigger bits that I thought would add some interest to the WIR when I give it a good sort out in a couple of weeks.

 

Chrissie

[The Dogmother]

About 18 months Chrissie. Denser wood like Eucalyptus takes longer though.

[BlueSilver]

I'm new here, but this is something near and dear to my heart. I've made a fair bit of progress over the past few years, and we now live in a rural location which allows me to do a bit more; the balance for me is finding what I can do as I have several auto-immune conditions which can make movement and energy levels rather sporadic, so I always have convenience at the forefront of my mind. Gone are the days I can build a DIY anything in a few hours! I grow my own veggies and have a lot of fruit and nuts growing - fruit trees in pots, a berry patch with raspberries, currants, honeyberries, tayberries, ligonberries, strawberries, and a mulberry tree (we like fruit in my house!). I've a freezer and tend to buy locally, taking trips to the farms round our area to fill the freezer with meat for the year. I've a small smoker to make our own bacon with, and soon will have eggs with chickens.

 

This year I want to grow a few more medicinal herbs - mostly in pots and raised beds. I want some violets to harvest so I am putting some attention into where I can grow some. There's always nettle for the taking, and raspberry and blackberry tips will be harvest-able soon. I'm also going to put in an edible hedge as the back of my garden is open to the forest and I'm getting tired of the local hunt's dogs tearing through my garden! Already got some of the wild plums started growing, and I've trimmed an overgrown butterfly bush well back as it was taking over a bit.

 

I've managed to pressure my local council into installing more efficient heaters in our properties, and we will also get solar panels to help with electricity costs in the spring. It would be a dream of mine to install a solid fuel cooker in my property but even though I've sourced a efficient stove from Germany, the flue will take me a good year to save up for at least so no rush there I think! Perchance to dream.

 

Things to do for this year, but I look back at where I've come and I'm doing well.

[Olly]

Wow, I'm impressed with all of that - I didn't know you could harvest blackberry tips? I'm intrigued about the violets, too - I have masses of them, but the only thing I know to do with them is crystallised violets for cakes! What do you do with yours, out of interest?

[BlueSilver]

The very tops of the blackberry buds (and raspberries too) are a good source of vitamins and also traditionally helped with digestive issues - it's astringent, and can be made into a strong tea to help heal mouth ulcers or bleeding gums. Violet syrup has a traditional use to soothe the nerves and calm anxiety, and historically was also used to lower blood pressure and strengthen the heart. Due to rules and legislation ('elf an' safety!) I wouldn't dare to call any of the above a treatment or a "cure" but it's worth doing a bit of research into old uses and current remedies; I've studied at the knee of a few herbalists back in the day, so I've managed to glean a bit.

[Lavenders_Blue]

How have I only just discovered the Frugal Living thread?

 

Well I'd like to join in please. I've started this year by switching gas and electricity provider. I use the MoneySavingExpert Cheap Energy Club which is completely free to use and makes switching totally simple. You get £30 cash back for switching after 3 months too, which is not bad!

 

I'm also planning to do more shopping at Aldi. It's a little more effort for me to go there, as I will have to schedule a shop for a day when I'm at work rather than just being able to pop down the road to the local Co-op, but their fruit and veg and store cupboard staples are so much cheaper that it's a no brainer.

 

I'm looking forward to picking up lots of other tips on here too

[The Dogmother]

The Aldi parmesan cheese is excellent L_B

[Purplemaniacs]

We shop at Aldi now. DS and his girlfriend were the first ones to try it and said how much they saved I find the choice a bit limiting but the prices are very good, we must save £20.00 a week compared to the other supermarkets. I also find the staff and customers much politer than other supermarkets.

 

Chrissie

[The Dogmother]

I buy some basics there, but get my meat, poultry and fish locally.

[JellyBean2605]

Me and my mum shopped at Sainsburys weekly but switched to alternating between them and Aldi, I stock up with basics at Aldi such as loo roll but still have to make the odd trip to sainsburys as Aldi sadly do not sell IAMs. My best saving has been in washing tablets, when I inherited the OH the MIL insisted he can only have a certain type of washing tablet and is allergic to all other brands on earth! I got sick of paying over £7 a tub or waiting for it to be on offer so noted the active ingredients and compared it to Aldi's own brand (significantly cheaper), they were the same! So I bunged a load in an old tub of the expensive ones and watched the OH carefully - no scratching, no complaining. The next time I bought some he spotted them and like a good boy said " I can''t use those, I'm allergic" to which I said " we've been using them for over 6 weeks and you've been fine", he just shrugged! Take that MIL!

[Charlottechicken]

We also buy a lot from Aldi now I buy mainly milk, orange juice, salad veg, sliced packed cheese, tinned sardines (sardines on toast is a really cheap filling meal!) most of our cereal (except their shreddies, which I think are awful) and bread. Their fig biscuits are a great price and so are the Viennese Whirls, but I try not to make those weekly items Their grilled veg pizzas are great for a light meal if you don't have time to make your own. I have bought their 2 litre bottles of lemonade over Christmas, just 42p and quite lemony.

 

I try to buy most meat locally, we have a sausage factory just down the road, and we share shopping with my mum, so she buys a lot of meat from the markets, and a local butcher. The local Co-op always has lots of bargains, we had a huge chunk of salmon after Christmas, reduced from £20 to a fiver, now residing in the freezer, and I bought Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey from there before Christmas for just £17. I buy Cotswold bacon from the local Heron foods, and Ovaltine and tinned tuna in springwater is cheapest in the local Poundstretcher, along with Angel Delight at 29p a packet (an occasional treat for OH ) also those sachets of egg fried rice are cheapest there if you like it.

 

I get loo roll (and kitchen roll) from Farmfoods down the road, 18 rolls of Nicky loo roll for £4, very thick stuff! We also buy chinese takeaway from Farmfoods, very authentic and just £1.39 for the beef curry, our once a month treat. They also do nice prawn crackers, two large bags for a pound. If you drink fizzy pop, they have offers on the small bottles, usually 29p for 500ml, which are good, and saves in the long run if you don't drink much, no wastage .

 

I pick up other bits from Te$co near work, I like their butter, and own brand shreddies, and tinned soup. We use their brown sauce and ketchup, and flour. If they send me coupons then I try and use them up, and we occasionally have a big home delivery, between the two households.

 

Ooh, forgot to add, check Hotukdeals if you are after something specific, either grocery or household

[chickencam]

My husband is obsessed with. Hot Deals, every time I want to buy something he will say 'have you checked for a voucher code or offer'

 

I am a savvy shopper, there are certain things that I will only buy when they are on offer. I buy lots of fruit and veg from Lidl and dried fruit and nuts which are excellent quality, although the best dried fruit that. Have had recently came from Poundland on the recommendation of ED. They do a lovely mix of raisins and cranberries and also one with lovely fresh tasting almonds in it too.

 

Morrisons sells good bread and often has very cheap offers on their baked in store range, they also have two of their baked by us range of sliced bread for £1 most of the time. 6 whole meal baked in store rolls were only 50p last week, not sure what they are today, they change their offers on a Monday.

[The Dogmother]

I had a bit of a bargain-acious morning on Saturday at the local farmers' market; a stall sells tat and some nice stuff too, so I always have a quick look... picked up two lovely cashmere cardigans, £15 for the two.

[Guest]

Another vote for NIkki loo roll, I buy mine at Home Bargains who are also cheapest for mealworms

 

I popped into Farmfoods (closest shop to car park an I was short of time) for some bread baps and was impressed that they allowed to mix and match the offers so any bread products in the 2 for £1 offer could be selected. Lovely huge soft baps, 8 baps for £1 superb

[chickencam]

We buy our mealworms from Wilkinsons, usually about £2.49 for 100g, how the garden centres getaway with their prices I will never know.