Frugal Living 2010 -The Cost of Living Challenge, INTRO

Kellylea

trex170104 wrote: »

What a good idea - very clever!
I'm the same as you absolutely mad over xmas but completely can't wait for 2010 my OH thinks I'm mad but he's getting on board the frugal train slowly - luckily I am the Finance Minister in our house so he only gets his own cash to play with - ha ha I sound like a dictator!!

Benn udating the blog more than on here [otherwise I'd be on here all day] but love finding out what everyone else is doing - it's very inspiring! xxx

Yes same here pocket money for OH. And thats if he behaves and does the washing up haha!

x x x

trex170104

Here is my revised budget, I will round it up to £8600 for the year. I hope to be able to reduce gas and electric and maybe christmas and bday costs. I will also try and save as much of my £100 cash a month as possible.

2010 Budget

Monthy Yearly
Gas £70 £840
Electricity £43 £516
Water £35 £420
Phone/TV/BB £40 £480
TV Licence £12 £144
Buildings £10 £120
Mobile £20 £240
Life Insurance £11.5 £138
Income ins £27.5 £330
Food £100 £1200
Playgroup £60 £600
Contacts £15 £180
Birthdays £15 £180
Christmas £15 £180
OH Cash £100 £1200
ME Cash £100 £1200
Tesco CC Plus £30 £360
DS Trust Fund £20 £240
Total £724 £8568

trex170104

Kellylea wrote: »

Yes same here pocket money for OH. And thats if he behaves and does the washing up haha!

x x x

I'm glad I'm not the old strict one then!!:rotfl:

trex170104

Also Kellylea I've been reading your blog, you sound so similar to me [only 7 years younger!!] - what's the clever gadget that turns all your plugs off - that sounds fab! x

cw18

Trex - I have a 'Standby Saver' (free in return for a voucher from a newspaper a while back I think - I've actually wangled two so far, though one is at DD's house) which looks very like a 6 socket extension lead.

This is in the living room. It has 4 sockets controlled by my TV, and two that I can have on when the TV is off. In the 'independants' I have my freeview box (can't record on the timer unless it's got power from the mains, and this one takes an age to boot up from 'cold') and my laptop power lead (those this one normally has the switch set to work according to the TV). Once I get all the appliances wired back up the non-switched sockets will have the TV (already in place), a DVD player and a VCR. I now use the standby button on the TV remote to turn everything on or off. (Just wish I'd had this years ago, as DH was a right royal pain for leaving the TV on standby (and everything else on) when he went out - and I often didn't notice for hours as I was at work or elsewhere in the house :mad:

I also have a similar '3 way' plug adapter in a socket in my 'craft room' (otherwise known as bedroom 3) that I got free from E0n via our local police (given away as a gift if you got them to security code your mobile phone and register the details of it to make it easier to prove ownership). Into this I have plugs for a portable TV and a Freeview box (and sometimes a DVD player). When I want to watch TV it's a case of turning on that, and the other appliances also power up. When I'm done, turn off the TV and the lot goes off. No more stand-by (or running just for clocks).

knithappens

skintjenny wrote: »

Hi All,
Would really like to join in this challenge, but as I have no idea how much I will be earning over the next year and where I will end up, I think for now I will have to sign up as a cheerleader! But good luck to all, and hopefully I can put all of your fantastic tips to use, saving lots of money!
Jenny x

I am the same, on mat leave at moment, reducin hours at work, tax creditschanging etc etc, but am still joining in, i have basically, worked out a rough budget with minimum spends covering all the essentials, that way I can adapt things as i go along, and things become more concrete.

skintjenny

knithappens wrote: »

I am the same, on mat leave at moment, reducin hours at work, tax creditschanging etc etc, but am still joining in, i have basically, worked out a rough budget with minimum spends covering all the essentials, that way I can adapt things as i go along, and things become more concrete.

Thats a good idea, I suppose atleast then I would have a budget to stick to... and any overs could then hit the isa... hmm I may have to go back and look at other people's budgets- its just me and the greyhound so we shouldn't cost that much!:o I will do this... once I have been brave enough to do all my finances!

My major weakness is impulse buys- especially magazines (vogue addict) and fabrics and wool...... mmm wool!:rolleyes:

speakng of knitting, ive just spent the last hour on Ravelry deciding what to make best- it is just the best site for all things knitting,

I also second the earlier recommendation for Abakahn Fabrics- the website is OK but the stores are AMAZING!!!!!:smileyhea Fabric is sold by the weight... and its so so so so cheap... honestly, if you are ever near an Abakahn Store and you sew.... GO THERE!! :j **I know encouraging to shop is not very good, but some of the fabric I have got from the Manchester store is cheaper than bedding I buy from charity shops to chop up...** The Wales store is my mecca!:rotfl:

skintjenny

cw18 wrote: »

Trex - I have a 'Standby Saver' (free in return for a voucher from a newspaper a while back I think - I've actually wangled two so far, though one is at DD's house) which looks very like a 6 socket extension lead.

This is in the living room. It has 4 sockets controlled by my TV, and two that I can have on when the TV is off. In the 'independants' I have my freeview box (can't record on the timer unless it's got power from the mains, and this one takes an age to boot up from 'cold') and my laptop power lead (those this one normally has the switch set to work according to the TV). Once I get all the appliances wired back up the non-switched sockets will have the TV (already in place), a DVD player and a VCR. I now use the standby button on the TV remote to turn everything on or off. (Just wish I'd had this years ago, as DH was a right royal pain for leaving the TV on standby (and everything else on) when he went out - and I often didn't notice for hours as I was at work or elsewhere in the house :mad:

I also have a similar '3 way' plug adapter in a socket in my 'craft room' (otherwise known as bedroom 3) that I got free from E0n via our local police (given away as a gift if you got them to security code your mobile phone and register the details of it to make it easier to prove ownership). Into this I have plugs for a portable TV and a Freeview box (and sometimes a DVD player). When I want to watch TV it's a case of turning on that, and the other appliances also power up. When I'm done, turn off the TV and the lot goes off. No more stand-by (or running just for clocks).

Sorry if this is a stupid question... but what do these things do? are they controlled by the TV? so if TV is on standby they will cut the power? That sounds great if so, but then do you have to switch it back on at the plug?

cw18

When I turn off the TV (or in the case of the downstairs one, press the standy button on the remote) they turn off the power to all the appliances in the 'socket' (other than the two I can over-ride if I've flicked the switch on those).

When I turn on the TV again (or in the case of the downstairs one, press the standy button on the remote - no need to cross the living room at all with this one) the appliances all power back up.

It's as if you've actually switched all the appliances off at the mains, but you only have to press one button to do it. And it's a one button action to turn them all back on at the mains too. Means people (myself included) really can't be too lazy to bother switching off things that won't be used for a few hours (or days, or even weeks in the case of the ones in my craft room)


ETA: This is the one I have downstairs, and this is the one I have upstairs (officially a desktop PC version, but they also do a TV version with a sensor which works from a remote control like the one I have downstairs). I got both mine for free (bar the cost of a newspaper for the downstairs one), so keep an eye peeled for promotions would be my advice

knithappens

skintjenny wrote: »

I also second the earlier recommendation for Abakahn Fabrics- the website is OK but the stores are AMAZING!!!!!:smileyhea Fabric is sold by the weight... and its so so so so cheap... honestly, if you are ever near an Abakahn Store and you sew.... GO THERE!! :j **I know encouraging to shop is not very good, but some of the fabric I have got from the Manchester store is cheaper than bedding I buy from charity shops to chop up...** The Wales store is my mecca!:rotfl:

I second that ( i live in manchester too) we passed thewales store while there in October, the kids would not let me go in, i think if I did i would have had no room or the luae home lol