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

cha97michelle

Whilst not quite in the league of some of you, i am pleased with how well January went as we have done better than my records for last January, so a largish size step in the right direction. I think i can still go lower, so better to come.



Frugal Budget Items

• groceries (food only) £197.30 (was £307.30 last year)
• eating out/entertainment £1.20 (£93.40 last Jan)
• life insurance £10.99
• presents £0 (£67.84 last year)
• household (cleaning etc) £111.66 (includes £80 for a new digital camera which technically shouldn't be included as paid for from xmas money from dad)
• cattery £60
• cat food £98.22 ( should be 3 months worth of their Hills prescription diet bought online to use 10% off code)
• window cleaner £5
• electricity £39.50 (£41.50 last Jan)
• gas £64 (30 last Jan - underguestimate)
• toiletries £20.26 (although did cash in about £30 worth of Boots points too. Mostly kids nappies - expensive with 2 of them)
• clothes £14.99 for DS1 shoes, DH had £16
• tiscali (TV/phone and internet) £23.63
• account fee £17
• kids entertainment £1.99
• healthcare £23.40
• house buildings/contents ins £192.15

Which is a total of £897. 29


I don't think that is too bad. I haven't included the car stuff, mortgage and overpayments, payments sent to savings accounts or DH's mobile as it is for work. My mobile is also not really a factor as i am still using credit bought for my PAYG mobile in 2007 or 8, and then i have £10 which came free with my phone when DH bought it for me Christmas 08 (phone was less than £20 including the £10 credit. :rotfl:)

We'll see if i can better that in February with being on holiday for a week. :eek: At least some large purchases are out of the way.


Todays frugalling has been registering for some of the T3sco clubs thanks to whoever suggested that one as it hadn't crossed my mind. We had our 3rd meal from a 400g portion of mince, and their is still enough chilli left for a lunch of jacket spuds. I'm getting better. Quidco payment has been paid into my bank, which was cashback for buying car insurance in November. I managed to get both kids to eat porridge for breakfast, my sister brought some food here as she was visiting at lunchtime (her choice not mine - she brought 2 pizzas, and a punnet of strawberries and grapes. I added some wedges and a tin of beans and fed 3 adults and 3 kids with that with some fruit left for my two for tomorrow.)

I had to go food shopping so i got some yellow stickered crumpets and bread, and a swede, also restocked on lentils, soya mince and some value dried fruit for making more snacks. I also needed some flour and got a few snacky bits to have with me next week. I am assuming the kids will get very hungry during morning swimming sessions so a slight spend this week on bargain food might save a splurge at center parcs prices next week. Just need to make sure we also take an empty squash bottle so we can also take drinks.

We got some seed potatoes and some pepper seeds at the weekend. I will get them started off on a window sill when we get back from hols. Can't wait to get started. I can see me eating lots of lettuce to try and balance the books a bit.

I think that's it from me. Will be menu planning to try and use up what we have in before we go away. I think more SC use. I had planned to use up some soup cooked on Saturday today, so that is tomorrows lunch sorted, and i have some pastry to use up so i think a fish pie tomorrow night then i will see what meat we fancy over the rest of the week.

rictus123

Heres hoping tomorrows below 2 degrees again. Roll on payday Friday, cant believe iv got all of my last fortnightly pay minus just £30 sitting in my account! Im doing so well and im sticking to my budget! Soon be reaping the rewards, spending less than half my net earnings every month if i stick at it! Thanks so much everyone

loopychriss

Ches wrote: »

Sorry if this is obvious but have you tried the lid of the SC you are giving away to see if it fits.

No, it won't be any use as mine is a round one and the one to give away is oval. The saucepan lid worked fine.... but I am going to try out the spare one to see if it works OK.... on a day when we're not dependent on anything getting cooked for dinner in case it is mega slow...

top_drawer_2

Hello!

Well today wasnt anywhere near as expensive as I expected as I didnt go and get my Lu$h stuff. I did however get dried guinea pig food (£4.24) and two calendars (£2 for both). They were on sale in [EMAIL="P@H"]P@H[/EMAIL], I just couldn't resist them. One is Gp's and the other is Japenese Akita's which I am going to pass onto my Mum as they have a cross Japanese Akita. I resisted them when they were £9 but for £1 each....

Are there any recipes for stretching out mince? I have two lots of 500g and would love to stretch them even further;)

I also sorted out my freezer tonight, with a view to using the stuff up, as my space is going to be drastically reduced shortly. Any suggestions on how to use this stuff would be greatly appreciated as they seem so random ....

I hope this is the right place to post.

This is the list -

* 3 tortilla wraps
* 2 bags of peas
* 1/2 bag of carrots
* 2 breaded fish
* 500g mince x 2
* 1/2 bag of chinese veg
* Hadock Loin
* 50 mini sausage rolls
* Mini Sweetcorns
* 1 and 1/2 bags of roast potatoes
* Makerel fillets
* Gammon Joint with honey
* Veg pakora's
* 1 bag of chopped spinach
* 1 + 1/2 bag of floret mix
* 1 bag of diced sweede
* 4 lamb chops
* 2 sausages
* 4 pieces of bacon

TD

DdraigGoch

I'm just about to start my pantry challenge - I've decided to do a separate challenge each month [January's was "getting up" - with weather like this I need a reminder!]

My delivery from Appr0ved F00ds arrived and now I'm ok for snacks for quite a while.... oops. I think I've got a year's worth of Ryv1ta too!

Still cold and the snow's hanging on in mid Wales.

hugs/congrats to everyone who needs/wants them - sorry but I just can't keep up.

all the best to everyone.

mooomin

Good morning Frugalistas!

It's snowing again Only a small amount, but enough to make me hark back to a couple of weeks ago with a sinking feeling :rotfl:

I came in under budget for January (By pennies, but it still counts!) and hope to do the same this month as it's nice and short!

I did grocery shopping yesterday, first "big" shop since payday a week ago and spent....£11.75 (£2.40 of which came from my toiletries budget!) This included the following excellent whoopsies:

Cheese 85p/£1.72
Honey roast ham 15p/£1.89
Turkey 15p/£1.89
Cod x 2 99p each/£1.89 each
Bread 5p/£1.14

I'm really starting to get the hang of when to shop for whoopsies - after work on a Monday and a Friday seem to work out well for me. I think that most normal people don't want to go to the supermarket on a Monday night and might have some kind of social life on a Friday! So, it's turkey sandwiches for us today and ham tomorrow, nicer quality than I would normally buy too :j The cheese is lovely stuff from the deli as well, so I'm very pleased with that.

The non-frugal news is that I am decorating my spare room. My plan was to make this as cost-neutral as I could, and I have managed to save the following since the start of the year:

Overtime = £141
Council Tax non-payment = £122
Expenses = £18.80
Ebay/Amazon/Quidco = £154.05

This makes a total of £435.85, so if I can do the decorating for less than this I will be pleased. I need to repaper, recarpet and get some furniture, but I'm planning on getting the wardrobe and chest of drawers from Gumtree if possible and getting a divan bed with storage for myself and Mr Fresian, then putting our bed in the spare room.

Although this is a lot of expense, it will be offset that Mr Fresian's sister will be giving us £300 per month rent while she lives here, which will entirely go towards my debts.

Eek, I've rambled on......sorry!

FrankieM

Morning,
I'm off to Uni this morning. I may end up buying a coffee cause I get so cold and tired while I'm there but I'm taking my lunch.

I need to ring a local mobile hairdresser for prices this afternoon and the scrappy to come and get a car. I think I might have some post to get stamps for. I'll have to have a proper check when I get home.

I'm doing fish and couscous for tea and soaking some 'soup mix' for tomorrow night.

It's a quietish day here.

Hope you all have a good day.

knithappens

why is it when you need a bill you cant find it?? Trying to find my water bill to see if i pay over 10 or 12 months, as my council tax is over 10, so what i have budgeted to pay in march and April I am going to pay off debt and i want to do the same with the water which would be an extra 200 quid, usually i fritter it away on junk.

I finally did a weekly meal plan using stuff we already have in, my on is a very picky eater so i got him involved and most of the suggestions are his so i know he will eat it so no waste.
MONDAY:Roast Chicken ( done in slow cooker) with mash, white cabbage and carrots. Fruit salad with yogurt - it was yummy

TUESDAY: Pasta with bacon and chicken ( left over from monday) with homemade garlic bread. Desert, fruit, yogurt

WEDNESDAY: Toad in the hole with mash and sweetcorn. desert carrot cake

THURSDAY: Free night - egg or beans on toast/omlette or left overs. desert carrot cake

FRIDAY: homemade chicken nuggests with wedges broccoli. desert slowcooker rice pudding

SATURDAY : chicken fried rice Desert flapjack and custard

SUNDAY: slowcooker beef, yorkshire pudding, mash and vegetables
Desert: streamed chocolate pudding
looking at it though there is an awful lot of meat, but this is when we tend to eat it in the evening. we do have one meat free day but i want ot gradually up this to 3 per week, as we eat lots of veggies but not sure about how I can incorporate them to make a main meal.,

Must get my thinking cap on.

I also made my own colslaw the other day OMG i have been paying a rediculous amount of money for something that is so cheap and easy to make and tastes so much nicer. It wont be bought again.

Hoping to get lots done today as bubba is at the childminders 8-3 today, we are settling her in as I will be back at work 3 days a week from the 12th - it is the longest i have been wthout her so I am trying to distract myself by sorting out bills, some baking and ceaning the house, and to stay away from the shops except to go to the post office to post some ebay items

Kiwisaver_2

KazLA wrote: »

Also how do I account for savings, e.g. putting £24 away for holiday and £8 for Christmas. The £24 is specifically to pay for a holiday that will be due in the Summer, so is kind of already spent, but the £8 for Christmas won't be used until nearer the time, but is not exactly available money..

Hope someone can help untie the knots!

I used one of the spare lines of Chery's spreadsheet in Regular monthly payments and called it Savings, because I have a specific target I must meet, so I treat it as a payment (albeit to myself) - hope that helps.


chinagirl I have the same dilemma re the freezer, I only have a stupid two drawer size and it's always jam packed. I keep umming and ahhing whether to get a 'proper' one and keep it in the garage. Maybe one day I will?

I made a lovely frugal mac n cheese for dinner, with added leftover boiled bacon from the weekend. Had a weeny spend this evening needed eggs and ended up with olive oil and catfood which were on special offers. Will get some more of the olive oil later in the week.

I also priced up the costs of Washing soda etc for cheapest options on DIY washing powder or gloop. I found a source for some Borax, but not sure yet whether going DIY will save me very much unless I can really cut back on costs of the ingredients. I usually get the cheapest eco/earth friendly powder in bulk when it's on special and it present it's looking like it will be a similar price per kg to make my own.

Erme

Mooloo wrote: »

For some reason I never was able to open the spreadsheet. Have a new laptop with Windows 7. Still learning what I can and cannot do on it!. I know that I have overspent as I have not followed my groceries properly, and have had to use much more fuel with collecting Twin1 everyweek. But to be fair she has been supplimenting the budget, for the last 3 weeks.
But as I dont have much option as my income is pretty fixed at the moment, I will have to just make savings in other areas later in the year.
I am hoping that once I have bought DGD her toothepaste (she squeezed the last lot into the bath!), all I will need to buy will be milk, fruit and veg.
Havent managed to read all of this thread but did anyone mention that in Mr T, they have a purple lidded milk, 4 pinter was 65p!!! I bought 4, and still had change from the Healthy start voucher to go towards the banana's that DGD loves so much!. Have just defrosted the last one, so will have to get more today. Pity as I didnt need to go out other then for milk. When its just me I have UHT milk, or even powdered at a push, but I cannot really give that to a two year old.

I havent joined the other threads for Frugal Feb stuff. No toiletries etc and no new clothes for 2010. But I am already aiming to use up what I have got inthe cupboards etc. But this means I have to make do with some face creams that are not as good as the ones I have been using this last few months.! Dig in the draw time.!
Re clothes, I mostly only buy secondhand from Charity shops, and so thats more of a hit and miss afair. However this year, I am hoping to sew more of the things I want. Try to use up the fabrics that I have around the cottage first. However a lot of them are curtain fabrics. So thats out!!! I am not reduced to going around in frocks from the curtains store yet! (OK, maybe next year!!!????:eek::D).

I will probably have to get some shoes though. But I have been looking for some plain black shoes that I can wear as my main shoes, with a small heel. However I havent seen any I like in over 8 months now. Not at the low budget end of the costs anyway.!
Meanwhile I have to wear my brown ones. They dont always go with things!.
Not such a good look. I may be a granny but I dont want to look like one! :rotfl:
Sorry if I have gone on too long!.
If DGD goes to sleep around lunchtime today, I am hoping to make my newest grandson some bibs. Bandana style that are on the scene, think they are so cute. So got to try them.

Keep an eye on Land's End sale or the charity shops. Find land's end sale is really good. Really nice shoes often with a good discount . Hope that helps...

E