Frugal Living 2010 -The Cost of Living Challenge, INTRO

BigMummaF

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

I think it may be Teflon liners i am thinking of ?

Just recieved a 5 kilo can of shredded celeriac from approved f00ds theres only so much coleslaw we can eat so may try some of that then as well as the other i was planning to do a siilair mix like the dried veg you can buy in the shop as it is ideal for casseroles when fresh veg unavailable

I found a "cooking liner" in one of the £land type shops; 33x40cm & looks like a cross twix greaseproof & brown wrapping paper only slightly thicker & incredibly shiny. I only bought the one but methinks I shall invest in a few more & cut them to shape/size, as this has been such a positive experiment. The box says it is suitable for oven SIZE=1]made fruit plait & the spillage just wiped off with a damp cloth[/SIZE] :j] grilling, baking[[SIZE=1]lining cake tins[/SIZE microwave SIZE=1]shows it on the turntable[/SIZE healthy grilling SIZE=1]aka georgie boy machine[/SIZE & roasting. There's also a photo of an egg frying as it's supposed to be suitable for "fat free cooking"...any good to you peeps with wonderful contraptions that I dream of owning once my brood have gone?
Storage is an absolute nightmare for us & my store cupboard has spilled into four of those plastic boxes that folk use for...storage ...& so takes up a fair bit of the kitchen floor. They're precariously stacked & have to be moved to get into the drawers behind & you have to be careful getting the crockery out of the cupboard t'other side or you end up playing a rather heavy game of stack'ems

pink_numbers wrote: »

we just made a batch of cold processed neem soap for the first time (first time for adding neem, fourth batch of soap ever made), fingers crossed that this works, as OH finds neem soap the best for his poorly skin.

I stumbled on a repeat of that person who supposedly does things on a budget but has all manner of artisans to help The soap shown on there looked really easy but then the 'expert' does have a specific drying area attached to their shop for the purpose. Anyhooz, what I'm really after is a) laundry gloop--can it be effectively made from soap for sensitive skin & b) how different is it to make soap for sensitive skin?
At the moment we are chugging along with an 'own label' toilet soap but of course it does tend to be more expensive than the ordinary stuff on the shelves & can only tolerate a fair[l]y expensive branded laundry detergent. Thankfully I've now got into the habit of using a lot less & in 65% of loads, none at all :j after seeing Liz Earle say she doesn't use anything as her son[?] suffers from eczema too. When I thought about it, our clothes are generally not dirty--more in need of a rinse through as me muvva would say

homegrown_life

Hi all,

don't think I've introduced myself on this thread yet, I've been reading through the £4K recently and been finding it so inspirational. I still need to finalise my figures for next year, but am planning on doing that later today.

I've been doing NSD's which I'd like to continue and thinking about trying to have a cash neutral gift year. I've been doing bingoport for amazon vouchers and will be exploring other avenues too.

Really looking forward to it all starting. I'll try and post figures later

pink_numbers

BigMummaF wrote: »

I stumbled on a repeat of that person who supposedly does things on a budget but has all manner of artisans to help The soap shown on there looked really easy but then the 'expert' does have a specific drying area attached to their shop for the purpose. Anyhooz, what I'm really after is a) laundry gloop--can it be effectively made from soap for sensitive skin & b) how different is it to make soap for sensitive skin?
At the moment we are chugging along with an 'own label' toilet soap but of course it does tend to be more expensive than the ordinary stuff on the shelves & can only tolerate a fair[l]y expensive branded laundry detergent. Thankfully I've now got into the habit of using a lot less & in 65% of loads, none at all :j after seeing Liz Earle say she doesn't use anything as her son[?] suffers from eczema too. When I thought about it, our clothes are generally not dirty--more in need of a rinse through as me muvva would say

I can only tell you what works, because if there's anything I've learnt over the last year of battling sensitivity, it's that everyone reacts differently.

For me, it's mainly artificial fragrances that I am sensitive to, so I have to actually avoid pretty much all laundry detergents. That's why I make my own from grated soap, borax and washing soda.

However, we are starting to suspect that the borax and/or washing soda is aggravating OH's eczema. So we are going to make salt soap (cold process soap, but with lots of salt) this week and start using that to see if it helps him. We accidently found out last time I made a batch of it that it makes your laundry super soft.

again, that's what works for us.

In answer to your question, a) I guess you can, but some might have problem with other ingredients in the laundry goop, such as borax. b)I think making soap from scratch (cold process) is generally regarded as better for the skin, because you make them out of basic ingredients, and more importantly, you know what goes into it.

Have you tried using soapnuts for your laundry?

skintjenny

Im sure I read soap nuts were really good for people with sensitive skin- and isnt there a link to a free/cheapy sample somewhere?

Dorastar

Right have had a serious look at our budget - 2 growing kids, a big birthday and new job early next year and a job-seeking dh entitled to nothing from anyone. Can't get anywhere near the 4k and even 8k seems a struggle tbh so I reckon if I set it at 10k I can probably make it iyswim - Don't feel like setting myself up to fail before I even start.

Another question, do any of you share this with your other halves? Mine is completely useless when it comes to money and doesn't even have his own cash card now so he can't mess things up, not sure he could handle the stress if I told him the total budget!

Money_Fritter

Hello all thought I would introduce myself. I am money fritter. I have lots of debt as you can see by my signature. I got into debt after splitting up with my wife two and a half years ago. She was very controlling and would never let me have any money, even for a magazine. Anyway once we split up I had to buy quite a lot for the house, as we split everything, so that cost quite abit, and I must confess I was stupid and started spending money like it was going out of fashion. Then I had my lightbulb moment and have been trying to debt bust ever since, with some success and some failure. This forum has been great and I have found out lots of ways to make money and save money. I have also found lots of challenges like this one. I have me own diary and try to post as often as possible, everybody is so helpful. Right I thought a new year a new challenge so I am going to try this 4k per year challenge, hope I can do it.

Right so just sorting out my budget for the 4k per year challenge. Mine comes to £4002 per year.

Right so here is my plan:-



Income p/m 1850.96 (p/y 22211.52)

Mortgage p/m 581.67 (p/y 6980.04)
Elec and Gas p/m 56 (p/y 672)
Council Tax p/m76 (p/y 912)
TV Licence p/m 12.18 (p/y 146.16)
Water p/m 30.55 (p/y 366.6)
Building and Contents Insurance p/m 27.54 (p/y 330.48)
Mortgage Protection p/m 50.19 (p/y 602.28)
Virgin Credit Card p/m 25 (p/y 300)
Barclay Card p/m 15 (p/y 180)
HSBC Card p/m 100 (p/y 1200)
Car Loan p/m 146.85 (p/y 1762.2)
Bank Overdraft p/m 30 (p/y 360)
Car Tax p/m 3 (p/y 36)
Car Insurance p/m 30 (p/y 360)
Service p/m 20 (p/y 240)
Diesel (for work) p/m 104 (p/y 1248)

---

Disposable Income p/m 542.98 (p/y 6515.76)

---

Telephone p/m 10.5 (p/y 126)
Mobile Phone and Internet p/m 35 (p/y 420)
Groceries and Household Goods p/m 80 (p/y 960)
Diesel (outside work) p/m 56 (p/y 672)
Breakdown Cover p/m 8 (p/y 96)
Badminton p/m 35 (p/y 420)
Christmas p/m 27 (p/y 324)
Extra (Misc Spends) p/m 82 (p/y 984)

---

Left Over p/m 209.48 (p/y 2513.76)

So the left over money of £209.48 per month has to go on debts, saving, or decorating.

I am going to budget £50 per month of this money for decorating and £39.48 per month for the emergency fund/savings etc. The remaining £120 per month is going to go on debts. We will see how this pans and change accordingly.

Money Fritter

homegrown_life

Budget - £5300

Groceries - £1560
Toiletries & Cleaning - £120
Electric - £300
Gas - £420
Internet - £96
Mobiles - £30
Telephone - £150
TV - £150
Clothes - £260
Petrol - £760
Car Tax - £195
Breakdown - £120
MOT - £50
Car Maintenance - £250
Car Insurance - £440
House Insurance - £114
Life Insurance - £202
Extras - £60

Total - £5297


This doesn't include quite a lot though. Rent, CTax, Water, debts. Also my OH's mobile and his Gym that he's starting next year. Also not included is some child expenses like money for pocket money and days out and expenses for my daughters clubs.

I do need the car for my work, so could be classed as essential, but for the main earner we don't need it. It's mainly for social use.

The main thing I hope to get from this year is that I will learn to budget properly and we'll be able to deal with emergencies well, as well as paying down debts. I know that budgeting is my downfall, so I know I need to crack it. Our debts aren't huge and it's tempting to throw everything at them, but something always crops up and then I feel rotten for not being on top of it all and having something put by.

I think the groceries might be hard to do, we're a family of 4, but we'll give it a try. We don't spend lots at the moment anyway, normally less than £50 a week and that's including toiletries and cleaning. Hoping to try to stockpile and just be more organized.

A while ago I tried to write down all the cleaning stuff we'd need to get in a year and it's amazing how it all adds up. It's making me realise I need to get a handle on recycling more to cut down on bin bags, to get some cloths on hand to cut down on kitchen paper and things like that. I think I should probably also look out for cheap vinergar and bicarb too.

Gifts will aim to be cash neutral. Wish me luck!

pink_numbers

Dorastar wrote: »

Another question, do any of you share this with your other halves? Mine is completely useless when it comes to money and doesn't even have his own cash card now so he can't mess things up, not sure he could handle the stress if I told him the total budget!

I don't think I could do this without my OH's support (he's better at this money saving thing than I am)! He is sticking to his own tight budget for next year, it's just that our sums are different, because he obviously has more costs due to his work.

Do you give your OH an "allowance" now?

XSpender

Good Morning :santa2:

I have decided to post my budget before it changes yet again:o. I had decided on £8,500 yesterday and even stuck it in my signature but have changed it to £10,500 this morning to include all the flexible bills and costs I feel I can influence in 2010.

A bit about me: I am married to my lovely DH and, after a successful first attempt at IVF, are expecting a frugal mite in May.:D We are coming up to the end of our first year on IVA which was as a result of too much debt and a massive restructure in DH wages which meant we lost over £500/month.:eek: At least he still has a job. I have also successfully retained my job this year after my department went through a restructure. We also have 2 terriers.

I will go on Maternity leave in April and hope to go back to work on reduced hours in Jan so have estimated our income on what benefits I expect to receive.

Our budget is not as tight as I would eventually like to get to but I still have my stabilisers on when it comes to budgeting and hope to come under/have some flexibility in several categories by the end of the year. Bambino will be bf (fingers crossed) and will be in reusables but I have guessed other baby related costs as I haven't a clue. Some of my bills may look a bit odd but I am either working from home ( electric and gas/broadband/BT) or travelling about in a co car (no car maintenance costs/higher mobile bills/food costs).

So here goes:

Excluded

Mortgage
House/Car/Life Insurance
Council Tax
Water
TV Licence
Breakdown Cover for DH
IVA/HP/Secured Loan
DH Prescriptions and Dentist

Included

DH car maintenance and tax £200
Diesel (2 cars, including personal use of co car) £900
BT Line and some calls £200
Electric and Gas £1500
Food and Drink £2600
Toiletries £40
Household £64
Dog Food £420
Clothing £200 (essential work clothes/repairs/maternity)
Gifts £400 (includes 2 x 40ths and 1 x 18th)
Haircuts £90
Entertainment/Eating Out £600
Baby needs/activities £300
Sky/Broadband £865
Mobiles £530
Caravan Storage £200 (includes 5 months of 2011)
Window Cleaner £36
DH Prescriptions and Dentist £90
Dog Health £135 (one on meds for life)
Anything Else/Contingency £1130

TOTAL £10,500


Have a great Chistmas everyone and I look forward to getting to know you all in 2010 :xmassign:

XSpender x

knithappens

pink_numbers wrote: »

I can only tell you what works, because if there's anything I've learnt over the last year of battling sensitivity, it's that everyone reacts differently.

For me, it's mainly artificial fragrances that I am sensitive to, so I have to actually avoid pretty much all laundry detergents. That's why I make my own from grated soap, borax and washing soda.

However, we are starting to suspect that the borax and/or washing soda is aggravating OH's eczema. So we are going to make salt soap (cold process soap, but with lots of salt) this week and start using that to see if it helps him. We accidently found out last time I made a batch of it that it makes your laundry super soft.

again, that's what works for us.

In answer to your question, a) I guess you can, but some might have problem with other ingredients in the laundry goop, such as borax. b)I think making soap from scratch (cold process) is generally regarded as better for the skin, because you make them out of basic ingredients, and more importantly, you know what goes into it.

Have you tried using soapnuts for your laundry?

This was posted on my birth board or laundry gloop, i use simple soap as 2 o mine have sesitive skin, so going to make it using this



"hi posted this some time ago but was messaged the other day asking to post on this board,having been trying to save cash for some time i noticed loads of recipes for making ya own washing goo.now the ENTIRE family thought i was nuts for doing this,but low and behold it works a treat even on my reuasable nappies,itll mean washing ya nappies is barley 1p per load,i have been doing this for a year now and we worked it out the other night we have saved over 100 quid this yeah ,i roughly do two washes a day so thats over 800 easy in a year ,i followed the recipe here and it works a treat ,we stort the large amount in a bucket in the garage and decant into the normal bottle ,now to help with conversions ,and how much per load ,if you use a consentrate bottel then one load is about 6 of the small capfulls ,a laod of nappies i use two small caps,now OCCASIONALLY you may get the odd bad stain that dont come out first time but i just bung it in again and due to it being so cheap it doesnt matter when you take into account how much you save ,
basic recipe
go to wilkinsons ,tried everywhere else and cant get the stuff
you need a bar of soap that is talowaite based,,,will be first ingredieant on the list , and washing soda ,also you wuill need about a 10 gallon bucket with lid ,,,or something like a old plastic bin will do with a lid,
heat a big pan with hot water on the stove and shave the bar of soap into it stiring till it melts ,,,,you then have mega soapy water ,fill the bucket about half way with warm tap water and add the soap hot water to it stir well then add one cup of washing soda stir very well,leave overnight with lid on ,in the morning give mega stir and you have ya slime,it will be the colour of what ever the soap you used was ,we have made it with coal tar soap b4 and recently with sheald,,,which i love and smells great ,,,you cant get borax in england i tried adding the vanish oxy tpe stuff into one batch and ruined it ,so to be honist just the soap and washing soda is all you need ,you will get at leats 4 huge buckets from one bag of soda and you would need a bar of soap for each
soap about 40 p soda 70p per bag not spending loads on washing stuff all year ,,,,priceless lol
anyway full details here

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/15/how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent-and-save-big-money/
"


Dri pak does Borax substitute. you can get it (borax substitute) in bulk on ebay direct from Dri pak (they have an ebay shop)