My New Frugal Life

wildesavings · 29 September 2017 at 10:09PM

Hello!

I've been a sahm for years (love that autocorrect wanted to call me a sham! Lol so true!)

I love it and we're throwing lots at our mortgage still and oh isn't on mega bucks.

Just shop smart, keep on top of bills cost and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how much working cost you

xxxx

Dot_Cotton_2 · 30 September 2017 at 7:16AM

I agree wildesavings. I spend way less now than I did when I was working. I've also become way more savvy with my money.
I'm the opposite to you newfrugallife, I need to stay out of the shops, an Aldi visit once a week, zooming past the special offers section for house/toys etc does me :rotfl:

Newfrugallife · 30 September 2017 at 11:06AM

So many reassuring replies thank you

Our biggest costs while I’m working are childcare and travel to London so already cuts a big chunk. Then the usual work expenses lunches, team building, clothes etc etc.... and we also used to run a second car which we sold now, so a saving there and some cash for emergencies.

After all bills and food, we should have about £200 left at the end of the month. It doesn’t sound too bad but this has to stretch for any birthday/Christmas/kids/emergency fund and hopeful mortgage overpayment. So when you look at it like that it’s not a lot! Luckily I have been squirrelling money away while still earning so have a beginnings of an emergency/ Christmas & birthdays fund already

Mrs_Money_Penny · 2 October 2017 at 9:10AM

Good luck with your journey have subscribed. I am also facing a large wage cut at the end of the month. So I have been using up odds and ends to make meals. I want to lower my food spend this isn't always easy with a 21 year old son!

michelle09 · 2 October 2017 at 6:55PM

Good luck newfrugallife! £200 may not seem like a lot but over the months it definitely adds up, particularly if the mortgage reduces over time.

Newfrugallife · 9 October 2017 at 2:06PM

Just paid my last bill of before and after school care! Woo hoo next week my new frugal life really begins

Initially I will record every bit of our spending just to see exactly where we are, also as i have been saving pretty much most of my wages for the past few months in preparation we now have 1,000 in emergency fund and 1,700 in Christmas/ Birthday/ Entertainment/ clothes/ everything else fund. But I still havent decided how much/ if anything we will spend of entertaiment each month as I need to make sure we are sustainable and are able to replenish the funds in the future etc...

The plan from next month for the projected £200 surplus is to allocate £50 to Emergency fund, £50 to Christmas/ Birthday/ Everything else fund, then £50 to mortgage overpayment which leaves £50 for possible entertainment. And in terms of entertainment Im thinking family cinema trip/ meal out etc... I just dont know if its very realistic???

Another option is not to add to the emergency fund every month and only keep it topped up to 1k (ie if we take out 200 for new washing machine, for example, we then put that back over few months, and so forth). OR not to over pay the mortgage yet... But i feel all these 4 categories are important so a bit torn at the moment and need to see how we go.

In terms of the entertainment for the upcoming half term , I will be taking the kids to tate modern, so hopefully a cheap day out, will take sandwiches etc... Meeting friends which is free, going for walks/ bike rides etc depending on the weather

wishingthemortgaheaway · 9 October 2017 at 3:32PM

I think you are right to look at your spending and see what happens when you are being frugal, but still living life.
You've got a REALLY good cushion of nearly £3000.
Record everything between now and Christmas and adjust accordingly.

Mrs_Money_Penny · 9 October 2017 at 4:18PM

Good luck look forward to joining you on your journey.

Newfrugallife · 14 October 2017 at 7:29PM

Next week woohoo! It still doesn’t seem quite real that I’m leaving my job, I’ve worked full time since leaving school (bar maternity leave) so it will be a big adjustment!
Eventually I am hoping to take a local part time job which works around the kids (aren’t we all!) but hoping to focus on home and various other things for a few months at least. A big reason for leaving my job is my mental health so I will try and get to the bottom of that. I have known for awhile that a visit to doctors is in order but seriously haven’t had time!

So, next step is to write my to do list, which I will do shortly. This will keep me on a straight and narrow

Be back soon

Newfrugallife · 15 October 2017 at 10:51AM

Action list:

First I need to deep clean and reorganise the house, I do clean and tidy but have been cutting corners and I know there’s stuff that needs doing which I’ve been putting off. This might take me a awhile as I also want to sort through every draw and cupboard. Once this done i will come up with a weekly cleaning routine to keep on top of it all.

Deep clean master bedroom, sort through cupboards, I need to organise my clothes/ wardrobe and decide what I will wear everyday at home (just have office stuff!), bedside draws
Deep clean kid 1 room, sort through clothes, stuff
Deep clean kid 2 room, sort through clothes, toys
Deep clean bathroom
Deep clean kitchen, sort through cupboards, take food inventory, clean fridge
Deep clean hallway and staircase, sort through shoe cupboard, sort under the stairs cupboard
Deep clean living room, sort through draws
Deep clean dining room, sort through cupboards
Deep clean games room, sort through draws
Tidy garden
Sort shed
Sort garage

This is a huge list to tackle and I will do it over the upcoming months, will cross out as I go along.

I have a smaller to do list for the half term:

Research colleges for kid 1
Read the motivational books I bought but haven’t had time to start on
Trip to Tate modern
Kid 2 friend coming for a sleepover
Visit friend and new baby

My New Frugal Life

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