2017 Frugal Living Challenge

sugar23 · 29 December 2016 at 5:24PM

Today we have been to the park and MacDonalds with family.
Also done a skip run .
Now all in pjs . With hot chocolate and duvets about to watch toy story.

Total spends today
MacDonalds £18 :O
Shop for milk . Bread etc £6

sammy_kaye18 · 29 December 2016 at 6:49PM

Hello all
Room for a newbie? Myself and my husband are keen to start looking at buying a house but at the minute my credit rating is ridiculous because of the debts I have so my main goal for this coming year is to get debt free.
I think.......think i have about £3K worth of debts and I have just cleared one with Morses Ckub the week before Christmas so that has saved me £40 a month.

I will sit and write my budget out tonight.
My hours were at 24 with overtime before Christmas but have been cut down to my contracted 6 now - I work in a well know catalogue shop beginning with Ar**s.
I am planning on seeing if there is any good yellow sticker reductions in my local Tesco on Saturday evening because our store is closed Sunday but I'm thinking 5pm is too late to go.
Did spend £3 in there today though on
2 tubes of smarties
2 chocolate reindeer
4 bags of chocolate snowmen/santas
2 boxes of festive friends
Total : £3.50

The little sweets will keep the kids happy with a few every now and then, the festive friends will do the same with a few with a glass of milk, and the smarties can be used for cake decorating. Chocolate reindeers I promised the kids at Xmas and forgot but I think ill get them to save them for a movie night.

Right off to make a budget, an income and a cupboard\freezer list

sammy_kaye18 · 29 December 2016 at 6:52PM

haybel19 wrote: »

rather my first time last year where I got carried away growing things and grew some things we never eat which was wasteful. It would also be nice to be able to give some jams and preserves as little gifts.

I made Jam last year after going blackberry picking with the kids and it turned out fab. We made it smooth and then saved the pips and pulp to use with icecream :-)

I did the same last year too. I grew loads of tomatoes which none of us eat :-/ but my peas and beans did well so I think I might focus on them more this year and salad. I have a plastic greenhouse which I just need to slug proof now and clear out ready :-)

haybel19 · 29 December 2016 at 7:02PM

I am trying so hard to be so good...I have sorted through my seeds working out which to grow that we would use and which we wont... its allowed me to start thinking about what seeds I still need and ive listed those on ebay which I wont use... Ive set some tomatoe seeds on the windowsill (no greenhouse - says set Jan-march I figure 2 days early wont hurt). Going to write a plan of each month what I need to set and do so I can grow as much as possible. Any surplus plants I don't have room for I will try and swap with someone else or sell cheap for seed money.

Have found a few things we no longer need after tidying a few drawers and these are now on ebay. I have plenty more drawers and cupboards to go!

I already keep a detailed budget for essentials but free money is a bit like water through the fingers so will be keeping a log of what it is spent on and considering each purchase- is this really necessary?

haybel19 · 29 December 2016 at 9:35PM

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

I made Jam last year after going blackberry picking with the kids and it turned out fab. We made it smooth and then saved the pips and pulp to use with icecream :-)

I did the same last year too. I grew loads of tomatoes which none of us eat :-/ but my peas and beans did well so I think I might focus on them more this year and salad. I have a plastic greenhouse which I just need to slug proof now and clear out ready :-)

I grew all sorts in tubs last year but definitely going to learn from what grew well, as well as what we used the most of... my runner beans did particularly well and I discovered they also freeze well.

I made some nice blueberry jam but sadly brought the blueberries! This year I want to make jam from what ive grown if I can or find somewhere locally I can pick some fruit...

Queenofcolouringandtea · 29 December 2016 at 10:55PM

My budget is massive.

my expenditure is a round 1000 pounds a month. 800 for rent, 116 for dog insurance, charity donations, and £50 a month for Christmas and birthdays.

Really what I need to do is spend as little as possible!

allie23 · 30 December 2016 at 1:56PM

I am really excited to see the Frugal Living Challenge back. This has been one of my favourite threads for a few years. Not posted much on the forum this year but I intend to get back into it in 2017 as it really helps me focus. Thank you Frugaldom for running the challenge again.

I am working towards saving for the dream; which for me is to live on the Isle of Skye. I have been holidaying there for 25 years and love it. To that end I want to be as frugal as possible so I can save as much of my wages towards that as I can.

FrugalinShropshire · 30 December 2016 at 5:37PM

Looking forward to joining you all here. i will do a freezer/pantry inventory once our weekend guests have gone, but I am sure we have plenty of food for the coming weeks. Need to look at our seeds too and plan the veggie garden.

Frugaldom · 30 December 2016 at 6:11PM

I have an annual budget that is kept on a spreadsheet and shows how much is allocated to what, so it automatically deducts my expenditure as I log it. This way, any surprise costs can be balanced by deducting from elsewhere and then working to balance the books as quickly as possible.

Having been doing this challenge for so long, some of you will know that I have had no debts for some years and saved to buy a house without a mortgage, so I have no rent or repayments to make. What we would normally have spent on mortgage payments or rent is saved for future investments, of which there have been several, especially over the last 2 years.

The following is my current list of totals from my 2016 budget:

Groceries - £850.00
Cleaning & Toiletries - £75.00
Electricity - £549.00
Coal & Logs - £300.00
Misc. - £90.50
Mobile - £20.00
Telephone & Internet - £545.00
TV Licence - £145.50
Footwear & Clothing - £50.00
Gifts - £380.00
Transport - £480.00
Postage & Deliveries - £50.00
Insurances - £295.00
Pets & Livestock - £120.00
Frugaleur Challenge - £50.00

TOTAL = £4,000

Council Tax - £1,000

There is nothing I can do about the price of Council Tax so it is over and above my living expenses

Groceries are based on an average of £1 per person per day for all meals and calculated for 2 people plus regular guests, as I am now a work exchange host, providing accommodation and meals for volunteers at our Frugaldom project.

The Frugaleur challenge is our annual frugal entrepreneur challenge, where we invest a little something into a project that can benefit us in the future. In 2016 I invested in willows and planted them all to grow my own weaving materials for using and selling. I think of them as my little money trees.

Telephone and Internet are becoming a horrendous price but as I need this for home-based work, keeping in contact with everyone, running the challenges and for my own entertainment and learning, I don't think it's too bad when split between two of us.

Transport will increase in 2017 but I do business mileage, which gets claimed back at the end of the tax year.

Insurances include house & contents via cashback site plus a monthly savings policy with life assurance included.

As you can see, many of the things on my list are not strictly essentials so I have plenty of space to juggle things around. This is NOT related to my income in any way, shape or form, it just keeps my expenditure down and allows me to work far fewer hours that when I had debts and rent / mortgage to pay.

I made a conscientious choice to follow this lifestyle and have never regretted it. I hope you can all grow to love this freedom to choose how you do or do not spend your money. :rotfl:

pixiehouse · 30 December 2016 at 6:13PM

I would love to join in. Being a foster carer its not easy. Fussy children, dont all like the same food. shopping is expensive. We have to put x amount of money away per week for clothing allowance for each child. But determined to find a way to cut back on food shopping at least!
I will keep watching and see if there is anything i can change. Used to have a veg garden but me with a bad back and hubby's bad neck its not possible anymore.
2017 here we come.. Credit cards are main thing to get rid of and all on % balance transfers so thats a start. Will go through bills again in the next week and freezer and cupboards check.

2017 Frugal Living Challenge

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