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

gilligansyle

Afternoon all
yesterday was quite a frugal day, soup and bread for lunch and freezer chilli for tea. I am still feeling pleased that I am remembering to keep track of things.

On the eggs issue I pay 86p for 6 from the farm shop, seem happy enough.I have spoken to people and they say that for small farmers its difficult to be classed as free range, but will bow to the better knowledge of others.

Although there are 2 of us, because of my son's shift patterns, it is really like shopping for one, and I find it easier to shop in local butchers, greengrocers etc. as I can just buy small amounts of quality, rather than refrigerated for ages veg in supermarkets, and it cuts down on food miles. Went shopping with Mum last night and was horrified with what she spent. I know she got more than normal because she had a lift, but even so, she is 74 and on a fixed income, she could easily cut down.
Have decided to try to get some washing dried outside, may just leave it to blow for a while and then bring it in to finish it off.

gilligansyle

NualaBuala wrote: »

T I

• [FONT=&quot]No more shower gel - have plenty cos of BOGOFs and a little goes a long way on a scrubby thing
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more shampoo (have loads but using bicarb and vinegar so probably won't need to buy ever:D)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more toilet roll till June -I take it you have a stockpile
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more washing up liquid (when gone, will make my own from soapnuts) - what are soapnuts? is there a recipe for washing up liquid
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more washing powder (have loads of soapnuts left - should do me till the end of the year)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more fabric conditioner (have some but don't like it, using white vinegar now)
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more cleaning spray (have about 3 but prefer water/vinegar/bicarb now)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more dishwasher tablets (had 72 in December) for the year[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more soap (have loads)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more tissues (using hankies for sniffles and have enough tissues for anything infectious that needs to be used once and binned) Hankies are much softer on the nose and greener (as in environmentally friendly :rotfl:)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more face cleanser (using oils)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more books till I've read all I have - this will be difficult -every year I say this, have 100's of books, I start re-reading my favourites, but some I just can't get into. There's always the library
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more kitchen roll - have a few but using reusable cloths and washing them for most things. never quite understood kitchen roll, and as for that advert where they wring it out :eek:
  [/FONT]

You must have been posting at the same time as me, have put some comments in red. I was horrified when I realised how much shower gel/ soap/cleanser/body butter I have, even before Christmas presents.

Can I ask about the shampoo? When we were young, my mum always rinsed our hair with either vinegar solution or lemon juice, but can you use this to keep your hair clean? Mine needs washing every day, this is probably caused by the shampoo.

cw18

chika wrote: »

I must confess to having one really terrible non frugal habit that even my housemates who live on takeaways think is extravagant - I buy bottled water. I'm not that princessy I just hate the taste of the water from the taps here in Manchester.

I'm glad it's not just me (and in fact my entire household over the years!).

I can drink the M'cr water in cordial without a problem, but no chance of it straight as it comes.....

I tend to buy a bottle of flavoured water and several bottles of (value) plain - then I dilute the flavoured one 50/50 or even 25/75 with some of the stronger flavours. Makes for a more refreshing drink without pushing the cost through the roof, and I find most of the flavoured ones too strong anyway !?!?!?

top_drawer_2

Thank you!! That's amazing!!!!!!! I do have some coconut oil stuff somewhere but I found it too greasy to use for during the day, what do you use in the day? Your shampoo how do you make and use this - just as a final rinse, how does it foam?

Thank you! I think this could save me a small futune!

Jen

gilligansyle

cw18 wrote: »

I'm glad it's not just me (and in fact my entire household over the years!).

I can drink the M'cr water in cordial without a problem, but no chance of it straight as it comes.....

I tend to buy a bottle of flavoured water and several bottles of (value) plain - then I dilute the flavoured one 50/50 or even 25/75 with some of the stronger flavours. Makes for a more refreshing drink without pushing the cost through the roof, and I find most of the flavoured ones too strong anyway !?!?!?

Yesterday Mr A had their own bottles on offer 4 x 2 litre bottles for 50p, so 12.5p a bottle, cheaper than their value stuff. Don't know if the offer's still on though.

ifonlyitwaseasier

Twinkles08 wrote: »

Lilacpixie,I can relate to your frustration as although my hubby appears to be more 'on board' than he has prev been and is trying,from my spreadsheet I can see that it is him that is generally frittering the money away on bits and pieces.That and his !!!!!!! playstation mags!
I'm really bummed as today we went over our total budget for Jan.This is purely down to us spending money on things that we cld do without.Although dd and hubby had a haircut this month,and I brought baby clothes from ebay that were needed.Grr im cross 'cos we spent double what was allowed.I suppose the good news is that everything else was on or under budget so overall it's not too horrendous.Just a bit shocked is all.

Hugs to all that need them x

so it's not just my hubby then!!!!!!!!!

NualaBuala wrote: »

Tell me about it, this thread is like a runaway train hurtling along at full throttle!

Turns out the discussion was back on the Intro thread - the PDF is courtesy of Grandma247, I hope she doesn't mind me posting the link. Ceridwen, a mine of info, has also made some stuff, one of her helpful posts is here.


Chika, not sure if you've tried this but leaving water to stand is supposed to help. Just stick it in a jug in the fridge (or left out), apparently the chlorine is released as gas. Wonder if you could get a brita jug or similar on freecycle? I gave mine away as my water isn't bad and I was moving house.


I thought I'd share some of the things I started doing last year and am continuing this year. I'm challenging myself not to buy more stuff till I really need it - hoping stuff will last till the end of the year.

• [FONT=&quot]No more shower gel - have plenty cos of BOGOFs and a little goes a long way on a scrubby thing[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more shampoo (have loads but using bicarb and vinegar so probably won't need to buy ever)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more toilet roll till June[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more washing up liquid (when gone, will make my own from soapnuts) [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more washing powder (have loads of soapnuts left - should do me till the end of the year)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more fabric conditioner (have some but don't like it, using white vinegar now)[/FONT]
  
• [FONT=&quot]No more cleaning spray (have about 3 but prefer water/vinegar/bicarb now)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more dishwasher tablets (had 72 in December) for the year[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more soap (have loads)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more tissues (using hankies for sniffles and have enough tissues for anything infectious that needs to be used once and binned) Hankies are much softer on the nose and greener (as in environmentally friendly :rotfl:)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more face cleanser (using oils)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]No more books till I've read all I have - this will be difficult[/FONT]
  
• [FONT=&quot]No more kitchen roll - have a few but using reusable cloths and washing them for most things.[/FONT]
  

whats the shampoo thing? i have enough stockpiled for the next 2-3 years (don't ask all i'll say is reductions and scared of it being discontinued and then it being kept!)

not been very frugal the last few days but have my receipts and will add everything on,

made a lovely beef stew last night, lidls stewing steak chunks were perfect! just chopped carrots, swede, celery and onion up, fried off the beef and put in a pan with the onions, deglazed frying pan (used hot water) tipped over beef and onions added carrots and swede and then added enough stock and seasonings to taste, left for 3 hours and then turned off til about 40 mins b4 dinner, then turned back on a med heat and added dumplings to it, was LUSH!!! :j

ioiwe

Lily_The_Legend

Hi everyone,

Sorry haven't had a chance to read all the latest posts – there are so many each day now!

Well, it's pay day tomorrow thank goodness! :T

I've managed to stick to the budget this month just about! Need to be a bit more organised next month I think as kept on robbing Peter to pay Paul if you see what I mean i.e. less on petrol = more spending money for me!

Managed to save £500 this month. :beer: That went towards paying off the impending honeymoon in April. I now need to save for the spending money, so that my savings I have in ISAs can carry on getting interest.

I've brought in my lunch every day since the start of January, so that has saved me a lot of money. I could probably do with having more NSDs, but a lot of lunchtimes I go to the pub with friends and buy a small non-alcoholic drink, as it's nice to catch up with them.

We haven't had any takeaways this month, and to be honest I haven't missed them.

I've started applying for more freebies this month (only ones that I'd actually use so in theory save me a little bit of money) and yesterday got 10 Clipper tea bags and 6 Tetley peppermint teabags!

I haven't bought any magazines this month, which is very good for me! As I work for a publishing company, I've been reading the mags we produce here!

I've also taken a few books home from here as we get them sent in, and people are allowed to take them home.

Someone offered me a hair dye today too that they'd been sent in, so that will save me a few pounds!

The clothes I bought this month were all bought from money I got given at Christmas.

As well as saving money I've also lost 5 pounds in weight this month, so am pleased with that!

Have a frugal day everyone!

xxx

rozeepozee

I subscribed to the Which? magazine offer, £1 for a month's trial and it's been quite useful.

This month they review supermarkets. Waitrose comes first, M&S second and then Aldi and Lidl joint third. Cost was the main factor for these two doing so well. Netto came last, however. So it looks like one to avoid. I went to Netto today as I was passing one and I'm inclined to agree with this assessment - poor range and expensive (e.g. exactly the same grapes that I got from Aldi in the week were £1 compared to 69p!)

chika

cw18 wrote: »

I'm glad it's not just me (and in fact my entire household over the years!).

I can drink the M'cr water in cordial without a problem, but no chance of it straight as it comes.....

I tend to buy a bottle of flavoured water and several bottles of (value) plain - then I dilute the flavoured one 50/50 or even 25/75 with some of the stronger flavours. Makes for a more refreshing drink without pushing the cost through the roof, and I find most of the flavoured ones too strong anyway !?!?!?

Thanks for that - It's amazing I never thought of diluting the flavoured water - *runs off to the supermarket to buy some. I'm glad its not just me who thinks the water is dodgy here.

Today is definatly not a NSD in my house. Despite wearing a hat, two jumpers and leggings under my jeans I'm still freezing so me and housemate are going on a electric heater hunt. I refused to buy one for ages because of the cost but worked out that it will only be about 24p an hour to run one. I can't wait to be warm! I can't decide if to get a fan heater or a convector one - I have a very large room with two draughty sash windows and high ceilings - any ideas?

Lily_The_Legend

rozeepozee wrote: »

I subscribed to the Which? magazine offer, £1 for a month's trial and it's been quite useful.

This month they review supermarkets. Waitrose comes first, M&S second and then Aldi and Lidl joint third. Cost was the main factor for these two doing so well. Netto came last, however. So it looks like one to avoid. I went to Netto today as I was passing one and I'm inclined to agree with this assessment - poor range and expensive (e.g. exactly the same grapes that I got from Aldi in the week were £1 compared to 69p!)

On the subject of supermarkets, I was in Asda at the weekend and they had a three for £9 deal on. I'm a veggie, so wasn't sure how good a deal it was, but bought it for my hubby and he seemed to think it was cheaper than Morrisons, which is where we usually go. I got him a pack of 4 pork things (chops? loins? not sure what they'd be called!), 4 peppered steaks and 3 chicken breasts. All looked fairly good quality.

You could also got mince in the deal and a big pack of king prawns.

Also, tried the Asda own baked beans - according to the paper at the weekend they are the second best according to Which! I thought they were very nice, much nicer than the supposed first place Branston!

Hope that is of help to someone.