Frugality and Self Reliance. No one is Coming to Help You #selfreliance #frugality #inflation

Frugality in these current times can be very tricky. What can you to do get through the maze of self reliance & frugality.

Frugal Queen in France

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We are a British couple living in Brittany on a budget.
Frugal recipes, days out, home renovations and day to day making do in France.

We’ll give you hints, tips, advice and an insight into our life in France.

Equipment used
Camera : iPhone
Editing : iMovie on a Mac mini

Music:

YouTube Audio Library
Apple iMovie*

[regionalskygirl]

I work as a flight attendant and I have recently changed my mindset about work ... I now call it going on VACATION. I have a free hotel room every night and I travel to different cities. I travel with my own food and cook a fresh meal in my hotel room everyday. When I run out of fresh veggies I stop at a local market. This will only cost me a $2 or $3. If there is a city that I want to visit, I just add it to my schedule. I am able to get free coffee at hotels and use ice from the airplane to create an iced coffee whenever I want. (BIG money saver) . When I get a raise, I continue to live on the previous amount and then set aside the 'raise' money. I'm trying to do everything that I can to be frugal but not cheap.

[thefinefrugalline]

Buyer beware: Costco is commomly not cheaper than your local supermarket. People get fooled into it because Costco only sells in bulk and customers buy more. Know your local supermarket’s prices per lb, oz, pint, ltr etc before heading off to Costco! And remember to calculate in the cost of fuel to get to Costco plus the annual membership fee. All the above didn’t pan out for us, so we quit going to Costco and are now doing much better with our food budget by just staying in town, watching the sales and being mindful and frugal. Great video Jane, thank you :-))

[amyn]

We live in the US. Last week my husband saw an ad for a local produce store, for 8 pounds of strawberries for $10 and 6 pints of raspberries for $12. I got both, made strawberry jam and raspberry jelly. I think knowing how to preserve food will become a very important skill again.

[lorimarable]

My husband and I went on a "date" lunch...buy one get one free pizzas, used a $5 coupon they had sent me, and got back $6 on upside app..so 2 pizzas were under $6 and we both got water. My husband laughed at me when I took the seeds out of his lemon slices to start lemon seedlings.

[mushy]

Hi Jane and Mike from Australia😊. It is really, really tough here right now. The country is in a terrible mess. I've had such an awful few days, so down in the dumps with the state of things. We are frugal, have a good pantry but I guess I get overwhelmed like everyone else from time to time. What pulled me out of that state of mind is thinking of my grandmother's. They brought up large families in England during the war with rations. Incredible. When I thing about that, I feel fortunate.

[karencopley]

The buck stops with us. Lock down really changed us as a family in a good way. I find frugality a journey learning and experiencing new ways and I love it. I save more money even in these unpredictable times and I’m proud of our achievements as a family living on less throwing next to nothing away but living a beautiful contented life and not following the herd. Frugality doesn’t mean cheap mean and boring it’s completely the opposite… I’ve never been happier ❤️ thank you for inviting us into your home for a chat x

[angieprice]

Because I worked multiple part time jobs and knew I would be relatively poor in retirement, I worked on fixing things beforehand. Over a two year period I changed my single glazed windows to double glazed. I did the top floor one year and downstairs the next as I couldn’t afford to do it all in one. I also had insulation added to my attic. That felt good right away. The weirdest thing I did was to get dental work done. I had lots of old fillings and a small dental plan which let me do a little each year. I had a quarter of my mouth repaired with crowns in a process which took me four years. Now that I’m retired a dental crisis would be a challenge so I’m glad I did that. I guess we all know what we need most.

[amynau]

I love the end of this video when you talk about enriching your life without spending tons of money. This is such an important message.

[joycewilson]

Thank you and Mike for another wonderful video. Our prices here in Kentucky, USA have doubled and tripled also. I shop sales, discount grocery stores, Amish bulk food general stores. I purchase flour, 25lbs $ 10.99 or 50 lbs $16.99 or 100lbs $25.99 .sugar, oats, wheat, rice are close to the same except for sugar. We save up to buy300 lbs of each at least 4 times a year to keep well over a years supply of dry goods. We raise large gardens, have an orchard, berries, grapes, herbs, medicinals, we raise our dried beans, dry corn for grinding, popcorn, peanuts, pumpkins and we preserve it all by pickling, fermenting, pressure canning, water bathing. We also raise and breed meat birds and layers so we have meat eggs and we waterglass eggs for a year each year and we sell eggs and birds.we dont eat out and i cook and bake everything i possibly can including all yeast breads, dairy, quick breads from scratch. I also buy stock cubes for when i run out of my homecanned broths. I save all chicken carcasses put in my big roaster with onion peels ends of carrots celery. I can ready meals with meats soups, stews, chili. Its sort of how you batch cook but mine goes in the pantry for up to 2 years if i get enough done lol. I also make dry mixes like brownies, cookies, cakes, muffins, quick bread, biscuit and i vacuum seal in quart jars, the same with cream of soup i do a shelf stable powdered version and gravy mixes. I ferment our own ginger ale too. I was raised to be frugal most of everything i do now i learned from my parents and im so very thankful for what they taught me. It has helped us feed our 4 children now in their 30s and to have a very well stocked pantry. I dont know how people are affording to feed their families especially when they arent able to produce at least some. Thank you again for the videos. They are filled with very valuable information.

[frankprit]

a lot of people in the US say they expect to work their whole life.
the only problem with this is:
1.finding employment, because employer don't want to hire "old people."
2. between automation and AI, a lot of people won't even be able to find a job at all.
3. because of your age, you may not be able to physically work as hard as you did when you were young, this will also limit your job choices.

[mariasinclair]

Thank you Food in Australia 🇦🇺 is so expensive it makes you upset for those who are not practising frugality and nutritional eating dear Jane and Mike. I see it around me. I'm on a fixed low income for many years and this year I'm so proud I'm on track 👣 saving wise. Sadly I'm 61yrs All I can say I wasn't prepared. I have nice government housing near the city and Botanic Gardens and parks here in Adelaide, at a low cost. I'm thankful for a roof and food to eat. I don't love sardines but eat them anyway because they're healthy. I eat porridge for breakfast. It's cheap and healthy too. It's so crucial to eat nutritious foods and can be done low cost. I also believe in giving too. Blessings from Adelaide

[yellownightjar]

It’s good to study & learn Tinctures as very useful for illness & well being

[debramckimmy]

My son and his family live in a Amish house here in the USA. They enjoy it. So proud of all my sons.

[CaroJones-mikt]

Thank goodness someone has mentioned " making memories" i am 74 and we had a simple childhood and and had to entertain ourselves. Great memories, made our own. 1 trip to the cinema during the summer holidays, very inexpensive holiday to a place where my father could fish! Many contempories had no annual holiday, just days out.

[joycewilson]

Hi Jane and Mike great video . I agree totally with you. I am blessed to have plenty of land and home. We are also debt and mortgage free. We are in a very rural area in Kentucky USA, are very frugal heat and cook with wood . We raise and breed chickens for layer replacements and meat, ducks, turkeys and geese. Due to health reasons we had to sell our cattle, hogs, goats. We did butcher several beef and hogs and preserved them many various ways. We have orchards, berries, grapes, nut trees and very large gardens, herb gardens and medicinal gardens. We preserve everything by canning, waterbath, pressure, dehydrating, freezing fermenting, smoking, curing etc. we have always tried to keep a 1-2 years supply of food, including wheat, rye, oats, and other dry and baking goods. I make all of our soaps, shampoos bath and body supplies and our cleaning and laundry supplies. We don’t use our clothes dryer I hang outside on a line and during the winter I hang in my off grid laundry station with a woodstove. I cook and bake everything from scratch including mayonnaise cheeses, butter, sour cream, ice cream, all breads, bagels, English muffins etc. also most of our condiments we also hunt and fish. By living this way it saves thousands of dollars and we eat very well. If we didn’t we wouldn’t have very much including heat. If people can grow just a few items in containers, flowerbed, as landscaping they would be surprised at the savings it provides and much healthier, and nutritious fresh food.

[juliemoore]

My husband and I volunteer at church, and for various ministries and it is very rewarding and gives our lives purpose and meaning 😊.

[pigletsbank]

We made memories by cooking a dilicious meal at home with fresh produce from the farmers market. Walk the beach nearby with a flask cooled or hot drinks, watching a movie at home with cripsy or homemade cookies.

[workinprogresssince]

You're right about food frugality being a superpower. I discovered that blanching fresh veg from the shops and storing in the freezer when there was a glut of yellow sticker items, has been a game changer for me. I started getting into foraging and bottling fruit as well a couple of years back and I try to grow what I can, even though I don't have a garden and it really does help.

[carolined]

When my dentist suddenly died I had to search for a new dentist. It took me two years to find one . I have to travel an hour and a half but lucky I found one.

[allisonspeer]

Here in Rural Indiana USA. Have lived out in the country all of our married life. You are correct about gas being one of our largest expenses especially when we were working. I basically have to drive 25 miles to get to a major grocery store/Walmart or your job. So 2 vehicles, one for you and one for spouse. Usually one of the vehicles will be a pick up truck if your doing any type of farming/animals, etc. One of the only positives here about post Covid is how we finally have gotten high speed internet out here in the country which affords the opportunity to work at home. You are so correct about checking regulations for building, etc. The other issue for retirees especially is property taxes, going up and up. Our up over $1200.00 a year over the past 2 years. Ouch. So the more you improve your property the more you pay when they reassess every few years. Another thing is maintenance costs, the bigger your property the more maintenance you have to do or pay someone to do if you aren't able to do it yourself as you age. But I wouldn't live anywhere else. Living out in the country I've always stockpiled items, we've been stuck for up to a week at a time during snow storms and have had week long power outages due to storms, etc. Basically we look at our lives and options and try to have a back up and a back up to our back ups. Love your channel and practical advise and I love seeing and reading comments from others in different countries as well.