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

mama67

knithappens wrote: »

watching breakfast news this morning and there was one family who put out 1 bag of rubbish a year, they recycle just about everything, they must be very old style as she said they bake all there own biscuits etc now as the packets from biscuits cannot be recycled so go to landfill.

I thik we will head this way with the biscuits etc s I dont buy pre packed cakes anymore they are all baked, and once the packets of biscuits are gone the cupboards these will be replaced with homemade too.

They have their own website www.myzerowaste.com which is great for hints etc on how to reduce waste.

I have been an online friend with Rae for over a year now, lovely family.

As a family we also only put out a total of approx 12kg of landfill rubbish during 2009.

cw18

mama67 wrote: »

They have their own website www.myzerowaste.com which is great for hints etc on how to reduce waste.

I'm going to bookmark that site so I can dip in and out for a good read through - so thanks for the link

Really interested about the 'recycling' of crisp packets, so I'll have to remember to check back for more info on that tomorrow if I read it right - though I'm not sure I'll convince DS that he has to sift those out of the waste along with the tins, plastic bottles, glass jars, cardboard, paper etc

I put out a LOT less general rubbish than I used to a couple of years back - and even then I put out less 'per head' than any of our neighbours (bar possibly the vicar and his wife) seem to.

My wheelie bin rarely goes out 2 weeks in a row, and it's more like every 4 weeks in the cooler months and 2 or 3 weeks during the warmer months (when certain rubbish may otherwise start to smell) - but even then it's hardly ever more than a third to half full.

Our recycling wheelie bin (tins, plastic bottles and glass jars only) is collected fortnightly - but mine goes out (half full if we've used a lot) every 3rd or 4th collection.

Papers are collected in starch sacks - and now it's only me and DS that goes out every 3 or 4 months instead of fortnightly (and, again, it's then only half full on average). I keep meaning to contact the distributors of our local free paper to stop them dropping one off here - that (and the flyers that come with it) make up about 98% of what goes into the sack and I rarely read more than the front cover, so I reckon I can easily get it down to once a year without that

The only cardboard we have collected is 'plain brown', which is put in the compostable (green) wheelie - twigs, grass clippings, weeds, plant bits and the plain brown cardboard only (no fruit and veg, egg shells, tea bags etc!). As I have to take the rest of our cardboard to a collection point at the local tip, I rarely put any in the green bin - though mowing my lawns through the summer fills it completely, so I wouldn't have space at that time of year anyway

rozeepozee

Feeling slightly reluctant to post as I fell off the frugal wagon today

Spent the morning sipping lattes in the coffee house with my OH. A rare moment of coupledom as our son was at nursery. Free newspapers but indulged in a bought magazine (so Angelina and Brad really are no more?!?!?!). Bought coffees were previously a regular if not daily event and it felt so decadent and lovely, so I have that to be thankful for, I suppose.

The went for lunch with the girls and the kids at our local pub. I shared a pizza with my son rather than buy him a kid's meal - does this count as frugal??? Anyway, £15+ was spent on coffees and pub food which, budget wise, in my new frugal incarnate, is half a week's worth of shopping :eek:

On the plus side, I still made a large packed snack for us for after the swim at the gym (frugal activity as it's all paid for in our subs, but child is always starving when we get out of the pool). DS clearly hasn't got with the program though - as I made up the sandwiches, washed the fruit and made hot chocolate in a flask, he enquires "mum, why are you making a packed lunch when we're going to the pub?" (the things 3 year olds say!!!)

Determined tomorrow will be a NSD as penance! If I'm gonna squeeze in under or on budget, I need to spend less than £25 in the next 3 days!

I have an almost empty tank of petrol and my mum and friends coming over on Sunday - think I'm gonna try and bake a cake for them out of things from the store cupboard.... Baking, I'm not sure is my forte...

Ches

I would also like to add my thanks to NYK for starting this thread as I have found it inspirational. Being an OAP already a lot of the frugal ways such as digging gardens for veg and poultry keeping are outside my capabilities although I do enjoy reading about the lifestyles of the people on here. This thread has really opened my eyes to the bad habits I had gotten into and its been very interesting to revisit frugal habits I used to practice when the children were little and money was very tight. Thanks to this thread I have been able to transfer £700 from my current account to my savings account this month. Thats truly amazing. So although I don't live the self sufficent life that this thread originally intended it is a real pleasure to be able to report alls' well here, thank you very much.

knithappens

mama67 wrote: »

They have their own website www.myzerowaste.com which is great for hints etc on how to reduce waste.

I have been an online friend with Rae for over a year now, lovely family.

As a family we also only put out a total of approx 12kg of landfill rubbish during 2009.

will take a look thanks - they seemed lovely on tv, and came across really well too.

NualaBuala

ceridwen wrote: »

In that case I dub you "MSE Miracle Worker of 2010". I know exactly where you are coming from in thinking like this (once one has been unemployed than you never forget it in my experience...). All these years later - I'm terrified of ever landing up back on the Dole again - and thats with my memories of it dating from the pre-Massive Cuts in Dole Era that took place years ago now..

I hereby award you the "Loaves and Fishes Award" of 2010 (as in the "feeding of the 5,000"). Kneel Lady Boala - whilst I get my virtual sword out to tap each shoulder with:)

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Careful brandishing that sword about (although if you could use it to swipe a few inches off my hair it would save me hairdressing money):D When I read the word "fish" all I could think was that I really fancied fish and chips but am glad to report that I resisted and had pasta and pesto instead! I've been on the dole before and it sucked. I don't mind being broke now - I'm in college as a mature student and it won't be forever. Or so I keep telling myself

pagangirl wrote: »

Hope NualaBuala and Candygirl are both feeling much better.

Thank you pet - have been snoozing, sipping water and dosing myself and it seems to be helping.

cw18

rozeepozee wrote: »

Determined tomorrow will be a NSD as penance! If I'm gonna squeeze in under or on budget, I need to spend less than £25 in the next 3 days!

I find it impossible to look on my budget as a set amount each month - as "one off" payments would mean it varies so much from one month to the next.

1/12th of my annual budget would be £666.67 a month (with a penny less for 4 months of the year), but so far this month my spends stand at £749.69 meaning an overspend of a touch over £83 if I look at it on a monthly basis :eek:

However, this includes 2 one-off payments which total £189.50 (road tax @ £120 and car breakdown cover @ £69.50), whereas 1/12th of the budget for these is just £16. But I know that, as the year progresses, the 'overspend' on these categories will reduce - and by the end of December they'll balance out perfectly

On the other side of the coin, I have a number of one-off payments that won't be made until later in the year. These are Bldgs/Contents Insurance (Dec), Car Insurance (July/Aug), MOT(July) and Car Service (July) - 1/12th of the annual budgets for these comes in at £67, so that money should really be "in the bank" at the end of January. But, for now, this £67 can be offset against my overspend-to-date on the 2 categories mentioned above (so, instead of being in deficit by £173, I've got a deficit on "all annual bills" of 'just' £106) as I wouldn't put it into a savings account until needed while my current account was 'in the red'.

I've also spent £129.70 at the vets, against a (revised) annual budget of £180. Subject to no problems with the dalmatian, this category won't see any further spending until Sept/Oct time so the overspend will reduce month-by-month until then (and hopefully balance at year end)



This is why I've set my spreadsheet to 'flag up' the categories currently in an over-spend situation. I can then look at each one and decide how serious it is.

In the case of my Road Tax and Car Breakdown, I know there'll be no further spend this year - so, as my spend-to-date isn't more than my annual budget, I know I can ignore the 'flag'.

But in the case of the vets bills it was a major issue even before my £55 spend on Monday, as my original budget was only £108 and booster alone for the dalmatian will be a minimum of £30. So this is a category where I've had to adjust the annual budget, bringing my 'contingency fund' into play.

Happymrsh

Evening all,

I haven't been on for a few days, little lady has been poorly and not at pre school so haven't had much time.

Have been reading through all the posts, nykmedia - just to echo what everyone else has said, you are an inspiration and any help you need please just give a shout.

So, I am feeling pretty unfrugal at the moment. I have spent nothing since Friday which is pretty good for me, but i feel like not spending is just not enough. I don't feel i'm doing enough at home to be frugal. I waste alot and i don't seem to have the motivation to make things so i'm not wasting . I need some motivation!!!!! I need to start making more cakes or sweet things as we all have a sweet tooth and DH and I are always looking for things to eat in the evening, any ideas????

I have been using my laundry gloop all week, it is great, i do at least 2 loads of washing a day here and washing is good, smells good etc. I do find the washing is a little static though, anyone else found this???

Tomorrow I must go out and get some bread, going to sainsburys so may stock up on their half price shampoos and see if they have any other good offers on.

Have also been spending my time trying to finish a Genealogy job that i took on. I work when i can and when i find the time, from home, researching peoples family trees for them in detail. I started as a hobby and i enjoyed it soooooo much that i thought i would try and turn it into a business. This is only my second paid job (not paid fully until its complete though).

Must also find time in the next few days to sit down with DS1 and start his project on the ancient greeks. He is 8 so not the easiest of topics, but he wants to make some kind of model so we shall see.

Anyway, listen to me rabbiting on, sorry to bore you all

cw18

Happymrsh wrote: »

Must also find time in the next few days to sit down with DS1 and start his project on the ancient greeks. He is 8 so not the easiest of topics, but he wants to make some kind of model so we shall see.

Only thing that springs to mind here is the Trojan Horse

top_drawer_2

Hello everyone!!

Happy Birthday Natalie - I hope it was a good one!

Nyk - You really should be knighted, in fact I think you should go to the BBC and propose a frugal living programme based in part on this thread. It would be one of the best things on the TV at the moment, last years offerings in light of the recession on such subjects tended to be poor. I definitely did use the Handy Links section (for quite a lot of yesterday in fact, free entertainment!) as I had my day off so went through and read up on loads of things Im interested in.

Today I've had a (kind of) NSD again today (and I havent planned to buy anything extravagant either!). Its only kind of as I need to pay £35 off my credit card ;(( but I have managed to raise a few pence on ebay (it really is pence too) but I guess it all helps and the items would only be collecting dust in my already over cluttered room ....

I made the Carrot and Sweetcorn Crumble this evening - I got the crumble part wrong as I don't think I used enough butter but it was lovely with bisto gravy and there is loads left for tommorrow. The cost was so low too as I have used some frozen carrots I have had for yonks, a can of sweetcorn antique I should think by now and the rest of the stuff I have in anyway!

Jen