2019 Frugal Snob Review and Intentions.

Our main resolution as a family this year is to build on the groundwork that we achieved last year. We could have done better, but we did make some lifelong embedded changes, and most of all, our awareness and attitude changed.

It's all about doing small things until they become natural behaviour, and then expanding on that. It's also about not setting unrealistic expectations.

It's very tempting to hit January with intentions and motivations; no more plastic, no more meat, no more animal products, no more alcohol. For some folks that will work, but for most folks, I give it less than six weeks.

We made the resolution last year to cut down on our waste, our plastic, our spending, and to eat far more vegetarian dishes, and the meat we consumed to be sustainable, of good welfare, and where possible, not pumped full of preservatives.

We've done well, but we haven't been perfect. We've forgotten our cotton bags on supermarket trips, we've succumbed to a bacon sandwich, and the occasional McDonald's. Our Christmas waste situation was a disgrace---A DISGRACE, but we're learning.

Things we HAVE ACHIEVED.

We succeeded in cutting our alcohol consumption by around 70% and now drink well under the recommended healthy alcohol unit consumption a week. (Christmas was a bit of a slip, but then, hey, it's Christmas.'

We succeeded in cutting our meat consumption by around 60-65% and we have been eating more locally sourced, butcher, free range and sustainable meat.

We started well on the budget, but we have some hefty ingrained spending habits that we still need to address in 2019. City living and city parenting comes with a hefty price tag and simple pleasures are harder to come by. That's possibly an excuse but when you're children's extra curricular clubs come in at around £2.5k a term because it's all outsourced, and you live in a pokey little house, there are lifestyle challenges that come with it. We did okay, but we need to do better.

We have been doing huge strides towards becoming more environmentally aware, we've cut our plastics by around 50% and we recycle at least 90% of our plastics. However, there's a lot  more we can do.


2019 INTENTIONS

ENVIRONMENTAL

> To swap clingfilm for wax wraps
> To buy all our veg loose in paper bags
> To stop buying single use water bottles. 
> To remember our cotton shopping bags

FOOD
> To increase our vegetarian intake to 80% 
> To only buy butcher's meat from known sources
> To dehydrate, store and can more food for economy and health
> To reduce household sugar intake

BUDGET
> For weekly shop to be between £50-80 rather than £150
> To reduce coffee shop trips to 2x a week (currently 4 or 5) 
> To shop to the weekly menu plan and use shopping lists. 

OTHER
> To spring clean and Marie Kondo the house room by room to create a calmer, more creative space. 
> To engage the family in more creative and cheaper enrichment activities. 
> To build the Frugal Snob community and blog to help others reach their environmental, health, and budgetary goals.