FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE 2010, part 1. (Living on £4,000 a year)

Happymrsh

You are all so lucky to live close, its such a pain for me to get to any, even our closest lidl and Aldi, which i use alot, are 20 miles away!! I can't just pop out to get anything, especially not all the bargains at closing times!!!!

[Deleted User]

Happymrsh wrote: »

Well I had to spend today because I got my Tax Credits, which while we are being frugal and trying to get out of debt and into credit, is being used to pay what we can. I managed to pay £238 off various catalogues and so that has brought that total down slightly which i feel good about.

No other spends here although i may pop to our fairly local Mr S later when DH is home as we need some bread and there maybe some meat for the freezer reduced.

Have made a nice minced beef wellington for dinner when DH gets home which i am really looking forward too.

Just wondering how close you all live to a Big Supermarket?

Our closest is now a Mr S which has only been open a month or 2 and that is 5 miles away and not very big. Other than that we have to go at least 20 miles for a Mr T, Mr A or any big shops like M&S etc.

Hope you've all had a good, Frugal, day

If you have to spend to get to a decent supermarket, it might be worth getting your groceries delivered - perhaps you could do a large shop on-line once a month and just get the items in-between such as milk and fruit/veg from your more local shops? You wouldn't get whoopsies but you'd be sure of checking all the offers and not having a shock at the checkout.

mooomin

Evening all!

£2.60 spent on milk and bread from the corner shop.

Running away now - need to sort Farmville , make dinner then go out to the Sound of Musiiiiiiiiiiic!!

lynzpower

Hope you have a fun time Fresian!

Just thought Id share a frugal tip for anyone not cutting thier own hair

http://www.wahanda.com/mobdeal/

Are doing daily deals and they have london hair cuts under 20.00 on there ( anyway) but they might have cheaper ones as the days go on.

I am trying ( without luck) at the moment to get my free haircut from last year out of Hair-group, however, if this doesnt work I have 2x hair cut vouchers from Sens spa in park lane hilton that I paid 10er for off last minute before Xmas. I also paid 10er and got a voucher for hot stones treatment- that will be great!

If these hair group ones come off, Ill have 4 haircuts for 22.25 (spent last year) so shouldnt need to go back to my fave salon ( I do love it there) where I usually spend 46.50 ( stylist got promoted so its going up too) so hopefully can keep cash mine longer with this! . Will be the only year Ive ever had haircuts at the supposed recommended "every 12 weeks" time the hairdressers reckon.

Whomever it was who said they have a tenners discretional spend per week. I really love this idea.

When I get to the end of Jan I'll look at what Ive spent- and off the back of that - wprk out a frugal budget for the year. I think Ill write in a discretionary 10.00a week on treats for me.

Dinner is a frugal affair, OH making a HM pizza using rubber chicken, shallots, chilli and sweetcorn.

Did have to buy diet coke and crisps :rolleyes: when out as I didn't have breakfast and was ravenous by 11.00- and bought an awful cheese & onion toasted sandwich for 1.90. Must be more organised later in the week. :wall:

But still my spend is NOTHING compared to last year when I was spending upwards of 10er a day on snacks/drinks/lunch. estimated lunch spend last year is a whopping 2160

No point living in regret though- Im doing better now and thats the main thing!

Bails- absolutely so greeneyed about your travels- hope its everything you want it to be and more! Drooling thinking about the budget food you will eat on your travels!

Love and strength to all that need them today xx

slowlyfading

Evening everyone!

Well, today has gone a whole lot better. First of all, I passed my Literacy skills test! :j :j :j which I'm glad about. I also picked up the car and it only cost £44.65 so nothing horrendous. I've also done most of my essay that's due for monday. So, feeling much better then yesterday.

Obviously today hasn't been a NSD, and I can't decide whether to go to A$da to do some shopping for the weekend now, so I don't have to go on Saturday and maybe have a NSD then? Hmm.

This evening also has to include me writing a cover letter for an application for a job I've seen - not finding this very easy so far!

Natalie - I hope you get something sorted soon.

Have a good evening everyone

lynzpower

Well done on passing your test SF! Thats great! :T :T

If you need any help with your form, holler up, Application forms are my speciality

Frugaldom

Happymrsh wrote: »

Just wondering how close you all live to a Big Supermarket?

Our closest is now a Mr S which has only been open a month or 2 and that is 5 miles away and not very big. Other than that we have to go at least 20 miles for a Mr T, Mr A or any big shops like M&S etc.

Our nearest shop is 5 miles away, where we have C0-0p, small Sainsbugs, small Ald! ans a tiny C0stcutter. We've a Te$co Metro about 30 miles away but nearest A$da is 40+ miles.

Happymrsh wrote: »

You are all so lucky to live close, its such a pain for me to get to any, even our closest lidl and Aldi, which i use alot, are 20 miles away!! I can't just pop out to get anything, especially not all the bargains at closing times!!!!

Just do what I do - shop less, stockpile when you can and double up any work trips or family visits with a major shopping trip.

budgeteer wrote: »

If you have to spend to get to a decent supermarket, it might be worth getting your groceries delivered - perhaps you could do a large shop on-line once a month and just get the items in-between such as milk and fruit/veg from your more local shops? You wouldn't get whoopsies but you'd be sure of checking all the offers and not having a shock at the checkout.

Most of us rural frugalites don't have the option to order online, as we aren't within a supermarket delivery zone. The only place that will deliver here, so far, is Appr0ved F00d. Costs me less in P&P than it does to travel to the nearest big store in the hope of finding bargains. Being nearly 5 miles from the nearest bus stop doesn't encourage the use of public transport, either, however, being over a mile off a main road means loads of foraging and food for free during the late summer/autumn months. :T

E.On rep - what are the options for folks like us on a prepayment white meter using Scottish Power's 'Comfort Plus' 3 tiered tariff? None of the comparison sites seem to offer this option.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

pagangirl wrote: »

Also thanks to Malc from Eon - will let you know what readings are, just need to check my spreadsheet.

No problem pagangirl. Glad to help. :j

Just give me a shout if you need any help with the meter readings and your annual usage. Either on the forum or through the email address on the left. Very happy to help. :beer:

Malc

lynzpower

Fishcake_Random wrote: »

Happy - I have an Aldi on my doorstep and a flashy new mega tesco about 2 minutes walk away. I'm pretty spoilt.
x x x x

Spoilt rotten here in London- closest shopping centre has Iceland ( good for 3l cokes, and milk of course) Tesco ( I avoid on principle, cant even bring myself to use the vouchers they send me, packed place, crazy expensive, horrible staff) a 99p stores. Theres also a small market For "expensive but Nice" close to borough market I go occasionally and buy meat but recently its been too packed to bear) Couple of large Mr S nearby including one in clapham where i go to the gym. Massive M&S near work where I get meat from. Over on another road more of a 15 min walk from here, theres a market does v cheap F&V, and cheap clothes ( v hit & miss tho) Mr M, superdrug boots, lceland,plus scores of independents and a few charity shops (poor stock though)

We are really spoilt for shopping here -living where we do. Although people often say London is expensive there is a lot of poverty too, and in those areas good bargains can be found.

Are there any other Londoners on this thread? if so :wave:

Happymrsh

budgeteer wrote: »

If you have to spend to get to a decent supermarket, it might be worth getting your groceries delivered - perhaps you could do a large shop on-line once a month and just get the items in-between such as milk and fruit/veg from your more local shops? You wouldn't get whoopsies but you'd be sure of checking all the offers and not having a shock at the checkout.

Thanks for that

Trouble with this is that I love going to Aldi or Lidl for my fruit and veg and a few other bits as they are just so much cheaper than Mr T etc, and my children go though fruit like its going out of fashion, i pretty much get double the amount for my money:j. Me and my Mum go together and we take it in turns to drive so thats good.

I mainly miss getting the end of day bargains etc because we are to far tto just pop there, although I am going to the small Mr S tonight as we need some bread and fingers crossed they'll be some decent meat for a good price for my freezer