Frugal Living 2010 -The Cost of Living Challenge, INTRO

XSpender

Just popped over from the other thread to subscribe and say hello:hello:

I am so excited about starting this challenge and have been number crunching my budget for weeks. My budget will be peculiar to me I suppose as it isn't 'all in' but excludes things that I see as essential if you see what I mean. This is my first attempt so I have also included a margin of error, I don't want to be put off completing the challenge by making it so hard I fall at the first hurdle. If I achieve my £8000 target I will also achieve my savings target which is one of my reasons for doing it.

The challenge for me is that I am having a baby in May and will go on mat pay and have all the additional baby costs to cover.

Looking forward to getting to know you all

XS x

bails

WOW, welcome everyone, it's so great to have you on board! As Nyk said, she has been doing this a very long time indeed; I have been a member since she brought it to the MSE boards back in 2007. In that time, we have made great friendships, 'virtual' and real life (two of our members now live next door to each other in Frugaldom ), learnt SO much about frugal living and have witnessed the transformation of many people's lives as they achieve their dreams, whatever they may be. It has been an incredible journey so far, and will no doubt be just as amazing in 2010!

For anyone who's unsure about joining us, a little reassurance. As the founding and an original member, let me use Nyk and I as examples. Nyk chooses to minimise her living costs as much as possible so she can work less and enjoy all the frugal pleasures in life that being self-sufficientish can bring. I, on the other hand, have a career I love and that is very important to my quality of life, which also happens to be reasonably well paid. In some ways we are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet we both aspire to the same thing - to make our money stretch as far as possible to give us the best quality of life possible and make our dreams a reality. For me, that dream has been overcoming a longterm illness which kept me away from my beloved job, being able to save for the trip of a lifetime (see my sig) and have enough money to volunteer in a developing country. Now all those dreams have been realised, I have longer-term ones up my sleeve, involving cottages and cob houses and chickens

So whatever your situation, please feel welcome to join us and let our community help you achieve those dreams! x

bunny_too

Bails what a beautiful post, thanks for inspiring me to dream. xx:A

katholicos

This page is only three pages in but i already feel inspired both by your personal stories and also to join. My personal/financial situation has recently changed dramatically for the worse but i am hoping to embrace the challenge of living on a very much reduced income. I was feeling quite despondent about my situation (the feelings made worse by my health problems, no doubt) but after reading through this thread thus far, I am beginning to think that living on a small income quite possibly isn't such a gloomy prospect as i have been dreading.

So, I'm in this thing with you all if it means being committed to reducing expenditure and enriching ones life in other ways. I used to be terribly in debt with credit cards but thankfully that is now paid off but i still have a whopping overdraft to chip away at and I shall certainly be viewing this thread on a regular basis to glean hints and tips about how other people are reducing their debts and still enjoying life frugally.

Keep the inspiration coming!

janiebaby29

Janiebaby joining please :j

Frugaldom

Good morning

Bails, thanks for the lovely post, it's still difficult to believe that you're taking time out every day you can to post here from Nepal! Warning to all - frugality is addictive!

Welcome to our latest 'frecruits' (frugal recruits), I think I have all the names listed on page one and you'll learn the language as we proceed with the challenge. Basically, if it falls withing the 'frugal' heading then it begins with 'Fr', so if I'm going frugal shopping, I'm 'fropping' and when our dear frugalfriends have their babies, they have frugalmites or frugalettes. You'll catch on soon. :rotfl:I live in the Kingdom of Frug, forever known as 'Frugaldom', if anyone wants to live here, there's an empty house along the 'froad'. :rotfl:And before anyone asks the question or allows the thought to cross their mind, YES, we are all a little bit mad here but it is fondly known as being frugally eccentric. :cool:

It's going to be a little difficult with 2 threads overlapping on this so if you could post in the original thread and try to keep this one for the new frecruits then it'll be easier to catch up when 1st January arrives. Thank you.

pink_numbers

SuzyWuzy wrote: »

NYK- Can you count me in too

We're a household of 2 adults, 2 teen boys , 1 x 12 boy , 1 x 10 year old boy and a 3 month old girl (and a fish....not sure of gender ! )

I want and aim to live as cheaply as possible and cut back on my food shopping even more (was £600pm now £75 per week and struggling! ) I aim to grow some veg this year and see how I go on.

You DO know that you have done an AMAZING job to cut down your food bill to so low don't you??? Not only have you halved, yes halved your food bill, but £75 for seven people is fantastic!

knithappens

Count me in knithappens

xnatalie81x

SuzyWuzy wrote: »

NYK- Can you count me in too please..Suzywuzy7

Not going to have a budget as such as too many changes going to happen and I don't know what yet. I'm currently on mat leave and not sure if I am going to go back in April next year when my leave runs out (and my money too!)

We're a household of 2 adults, 2 teen boys , 1 x 12 boy , 1 x 10 year old boy and a 3 month old girl (and a fish....not sure of gender ! )

I want and aim to live as cheaply as possible and cut back on my food shopping even more (was £600pm now £75 per week and struggling! ) I aim to grow some veg this year and see how I go on.


Suzanne

WOW - This time last year I was on maternity leave (son was born Nov 07) and i was in the same predicament - stay or leave. Was signed off with PND till April when i decided to just LEAVE - best decision ever made!!!! I went from being a trainee probation officer to SAHM - i then took on some swimming teaching hours and with the help of this very thread (2009) i have an allotment, 3 hens and now my own swim school from Jan (using some of the money i have managed to save!) - my debts are going down slowly and i am HAPPY!

With regards to the budget i have an A4 piece of paper i fold in half. I write the months down the left hand column and the headings of all income along the top (swim teach wages/tax credit/housing benefit etc) - i estimate each of those for every month and total up the at the bottom. Add all together and that is the yearly amount! I have had to change that piece of paper about 8 times! BUT i enjoy it lol and the amounts have pretty much hovered around the same. Open it up and on the left hand side is my savings log and on the right is my total income - essentials i don't include and what is left - the back page is all my 'additional income' and the month i received it (like TCB/ebay etc)

I then have 2 a4 sheets with months along the top and each spend category down the left hand side - i write each penny i spend into the category every morning if online banking or straight away if cash!

works for me - may work for you

Works for me - may work for you

[Deleted User]

Good morning all, I read this thread with interest and look forward to seeing all the different tips and hints that will no doubt emerge.I have been frugal for most of my life,its almost second nature. My nickname to my DD's is 'Frau Frugal' in fact. :rotfl:
I like to enjoy life as much as I can, but see no need to waste money when I could use it for other things. Tomorrow for example my sis-in-law and I are going in to London, she is joining me with my Uni pals on a 'blue-badge' walk around Hackney.I priced up the rail fares from where I live, and with my disabled discount rail card we can get returns to Old Street (where the walk starts from)for £11.25 each including the tube.
But if we buy just the rail tickets and not the tube as well we can get it for £7.25 then when we get to Victoria we can use our pensioners bus passes for free on any bus, that way we are saving £4.00 each which will go towards our lunch afterwards.So we still get our day out, but get some of our lunch bought out of our ticket money.:rotfl:
There are lots of ways to have a good time without spending a lot of cash.I often look online to see what deals are available in my area (Kent) and often there are lots of freebies, and outings that I take my grandchildren to that won't break the bank.
The Odeon cinema chain do a Cheapie Tuesday ticket where its onlt £4.50 all day.I took one of my DGDs last Tuesday and as I have a Cinema Exhibitors ticket I only have to pay for one ticket anyway so we had a nice night out for under a fiver.:j
Being frugal doesn't mean you can't have fun as well. I enjoy baking and I make lots of craft stuff,cards ect I knit, and in my area if you are over 60 as I am, you can swim for free in the local council baths Most local authorities have a similar scheme for those of a more err.. mature age.
There is so much to do locally often its only a case of asking at the library or going online to your loacl area and seeing what's around.
I doubt there is a town in the land that doesn't have a charity shop, and often a good browse will find all sorts of treasures.
I managed to cut my weekly shopping bill from £50.00 per week to £30.00 without too much effort from last September simply by only buying what I wanted urgently, and not just wandering around the supermarket casually shopping.Always make a list before you go out,I also always only take cash with me that way I'm not tempted to overspend if I only have just enough to buy what I want .
List all your ingredients in your cupboards as well as your freezer, often you will find the makings of a meal in the cupboards to save you buying stuff in. I freeze as much stuff as I can I make my own HM soups (far cheaper and tastier than a tin)plus if you make a big pot you can freeze some for later in the week.For Dinners I usually have either a soup starter and a dinner or a dinner and a pud but never all three.Soup will fill you up a bit, so you don't need as much dinner.Also veggies when in season are a good filler-up.
Lentils and oats help to streeetch meals further as well. This is a brilliant site for frugality and so many folk are here to help if you get stuck.
I will work out what I budget I will allow for myself this coming year and see if I can stick to it.there is only me to keep as I am widowed and live alone but I think its important to eat properly and heathily and I never skip a meal.Breakfast in the wintertime is usually porridge, as its cheap,(45p.a kilo from tescos)quick and healthy and keeps you warm and full until lunchtime. I usually have a snack then a sandwich or something on toast perhaps and a cuppa mid afternoon with a biscuit. Dinner is usually around 6.00 and its invariably a hot meal of meat and several vegetables. I have another hot drink about 10.00 and that does me for the day.
I look forward to seeing what everyone else does in the coming weeks.After Christmas is a good time to find bargains left over from Xmas in the supermarkets I always buy the fancy stuffing mixes around early janusry as they seem to sell them off for silly money then and stuffing will last unopened for months.