REMINDER: Today we are making raw apple cider vinegar. It's been quite some time since we picked our apples and the harvest, although not yet including much from the new orchard, was plentiful. Many apples were given to friends and relatives, many more were stewed for sauce, crumbles and pies and yet more were turned into jelly with a combination of foraged berries and blackcurrants. The remaining apples are stored in black bags outside, chilled by the good old Scottish, winter weather. 

Have you ever wondered what it must be like to be so single-minded and focussed on your goals that you actually achieve them all, one by one, consistently? Or do you go about things in a half-baked manner wondering where all your time has gone, forgetting half of what you should have done?

Frugal living in the countryside means no mains sewers, sometimes no mains water and certainly no ‘nipping to the shop’ to buy an individual item if you run out of it, so it is always handy to know how to make your own products, such as laundry cleaner.

This is a blog about my first ever adventure into the world of home brewing and craft beers. I'm not a beer drinker, as a rule, but this is different - it is customised to practically guarantee that I'd like it. I was not disappointed! Indeed, this would make a fantastic, extra special Father's Day gift for giving on 19th June 2016.

Homemade Spicy Courgette Soup - With many household budgets being stretched to the limit, food is something that we cannot afford to waste, nor should we tolerate it! This is one in a series of recipes provide by our soup dragon here in Frugaldom - it can cost less than 5p per serving to make and can easily be frozen in recycled margarine tubs for later use.

Now You Know how to make bread without any bread flour! I got through January spending less than £30 on groceries for the household but ran out of bread and bread flour. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, so let's get inventive.

The world, according to Frugaldom, is a complete package. We have all we need to create all that we want and if we break it, we have the wherewithal to fix it. Nothing is fake, everything is real - just take the time to look into this amazing frugal bubble that is our world. It's like the life of pie!

We have welcomed many new members to the Frugal Forums where the day-to-day trials and tribulations of we challengers are published. We set our sites on living more frugal, self-sustainable and healthy lifestyles while pursuing, achieving and maintaining debt freedom. We have analysed our spending, studied our budgets and set out our goals, now let the frugal games begin!

The Frugaldom annual grocery challenge is based on a maximum of £1 per person per day for all meals, so 2016 presents us with £366 per adult, as it's a leap year.

It's the final countdown! Winter solstice has arrived, we're about to see out the shortest day of the year and Christmas is almost here! Today I made snow sprinkled marzipan berries, a clove pomander and a cinnamon & berry horseshoe garland.