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

Fishcake_Random

I've decided to jump on the blogging band wagon, so heres mine
http://thefrugalhandmadehome.blogspot.com
Please be gentle its my first attempt.

x x x x

hermum

rictus123 wrote: »

Well iv just paid my digs for Febuary even - £100 and phone bill - £35 even though i dont normally pay them until middle of the month i thought i might aswel(i know its alot for phone bill, deal is up end of June and il get it in my own name now im 18. Well 19 end of June and il get it down to at least £20 a month) Total spends for the month is now at £261.55 and shouldnt need to spend more than £150 for 2 debt payments and valentines card/flowers and deisel so should be under £400 spends this month! £100 less than the average is meant to be so that should make up for what i need to spend on mot next month hopefully! Total spends this year now at £705.84, aslong as its under £1,000 at the end of this month(it soo will be ) then im well on my way and a sixth of the way completed! Also gave gf £40 cash to put in my savings tin at hers, dont know whats in there but it must be at least £70 just in notes! Im going to forget about the amount and chuck in all my change and the odd notes every now and then. When its filled(might take another 6 months even) i think there will be a fair bit in there, which will go towards clearing remaining debt, which will probs be gone by then anyway so could go straight to savings:T:T:TSorry for the rant i just love this frugal living :j:j

You are doing so well especially for someone so young.:A Couldn't you use the notes you're saving to pay your debts off sooner rather than saving them? Less interest, sooner paid off.
Keep up the good work.

hermum

Fishcake_Random wrote: »

I've decided to jump on the blogging band wagon, so heres mine
http://thefrugalhandmadehome.blogspot.com
Please be gentle its my first attempt.

x x x x

Excellent, well done, Everyone on here so impresses & inspires me,
The card could be one for Rictus

danielley

Hi all

Just caught up with thread finally! I know its a bit late but I just wanted to echo the sentiments of all others earlier NYK, I am very grateful for you running this thread and I have learnt so much from you and everyone on here.

I am full of a cold at the moment, which is rubbish as I am super motivated and have so many jobs I want to do, but don’t have the energy to do them. I am going to force myself to make dinner (Chilli), some bread and my first attempt at twinks hobnobs between sneezes.

My January budget was slightly over target, but I did have some large purchases like a new carpet that won’t be coming every month hopefully. I think I should be able to rein it in over the quarter.

Had a very unfrugal takeaway last night, my OH isn't on board with the Frugal living, I can’t force him I suppose! Anyway, really enjoyed it and really did see it as a treat not a regular meal, so I have learnt.

Nipped to A1di yesterday and picked up some of the strawberry and tomato hanging baskets, plus 2 small shrubs. Will focus on those when the cold is gone.

Anyway, will update signature with Jan figures soon.

x

lynzpower

poorbutrich wrote: »

Lynzpower! Great to see you on this thread - you are one of my MSE heroines!

I'm glad I'm not the only person on the frugal living challenge going to Glasto! Although on reflection, what could be more frugal than living in a tent in a field in Somerset!

I came home last night after a shift at my second job to find a massive patch of the garden dug up ready for the potatoes to be planted next month - very, very proud of OH for sorting this and looking forward to being Tom and Barbara Good once again :rotfl:

Very excited also by NYK's rag rug. PLease post some pictures when it's finished!

Oh dear can I really be an MSE heroine :wave: After last years spendathon :eek: I hope not :rotfl: :eek:

Love to see other glasto - goers ;D :wave:

Dont know how frugal its going to be tbh, this is one time of year when I just let go of everything ( purse strings, morals, dress sense, personal hygiene Last time I did spend rather a lot :eek: If I have bought the deyhdrator by then I might knock up something with it, but honestly one of the best bits about Glasto is the very high quality of food.

Yes, its mine and OHs 5th anniversary :beer: We met in the jazzworld field on the Friday night, about half eight. He was covered in mud and looked like a swampthing, I was somewhat tiddly on lemon cider

If you really want to stick with the frugal prog, make sure you are in the green fields. Last time I saw the ( rather handsome!) son from "its not easy being green" talking about permaculture

candygirl

Had a fab time at Chicago yesterday, but Marti didn't measure up to my mates expectations, and I certainly didn't feel it in my fingers , toes or anywhere else for that matter;):rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Dancing was fab tho:rotfl:.Managed to get a very mse meal sorted with wine too for less than a tenner each, so all in all not as extortionate as i'd feared:T:T
Have been out for lunch wiv Mum and our mate today, and they paid, so i've managed to have a fabby NSD:j:j
Wont need much for tea, so a chill out in front of the tv is in order:D:D

pagangirl

Happy Sunday everybody

another NSD, been misty n murky so not been out, decided to declutter instead. 4 videos for charity shop - have been storing unwatched dvds & vids under stereo so ragged all out (most got from car boot sales etc.) - oops - must be at least 50 :eek: (and I have been known to buy the same one twice) :rotfl:

Have now decided once these are watched and recycled, will borrow from library instead.

Also sorted large box paperwork and have loads for recycling/shredding - my problem with paperwork is if not important just gets put in heap - heap goes into large box - 6 months later it's a nightmare to sort out - gave myself a stern talking to and must start to deal with paperwork as it comes in.

Really envy those of you getting started with gardening - I used to love my yard with all pots round it, but new flat is on 2nd floor - not even a balcony or windowbox, so no fun.:(

Dunno about planting things out - weather just said more snow n ice by middle of week will all your new tender young plants be ok?

Chicken & Mushroom Pie for tea , with crumble & custard for pud - trying to use up what I already have, instead of hoarding it and then buying more. Squirrel mentality !

Hugs to anyone for feeling poorly (sorry can't remember names)

lyndasharp

hermum wrote: »

Can't you get pet scripts on medicanimal if not them I know that there is an online service for scripts, as I used it a few years ago.

That sounds useful, I'll have to look into that!

Just splashed out on a cat activity centre to try and get the weight down on our little moggy It'll be worth it in the long run if she gets a bit slimmer!

cw18

Your vet has to give you a prescription if you ask - for which they are entitled to charge (didn't used to be allowed to, but rules changed in last year or two).

You can then use this to buy the medications from anywhere that's licensed to sell them..... but whether it's worth doing or not depends on the cost of the prescription. Some medications can be put on a 'repeat' prescription (vet writes on it 'can be repeated number times'), at which point it's more likely to be worthwhile doing this way - but some can't be, so the savings on the meds is unlikely to cover the cost of the prescription.

If a repeat says '30 tablets, can be repeated 4 times', then this means 5 lots of 30 tablets - and the two places I was looking at allow you to buy all 150 at one time (hence saving on postage). One place insisted you mail the presciption to them (so I'd have done it by recorded mail, giving more cost to be covered by the saving), whilst the other preferred you to scan and upload to your account.

The other thing to watch out for is if there's more than one type of medication on a single script...... If this is the the case you have to buy them all from the same place. But if you want to get them from different places you have to pay a prescription charge for each (so probably not worth splitting between suppliers)

KazLA

Not had time to catch up with the thread today, but going to post a bit of a waffle in case anyone can help me see through the fog!

Mmmm... What to do...

I've managed to save £86 to put towards mortgage overpayments since the start of the MFIT-take 2 challenge and if my husband was able to match this, that would be the £50 a month that I want to achieve.

Unfortuately, he's not in a position to do this at the moment, have had to re-tile bathroom due to leaks and he also owes me money that I lent him to get his car fixed and from when we replaced our dead laptop at the end of the year...

I'm not inclined to pay my money into the joint mortgage without his, but what to do?

Thinking I might just save it towards wardrobes that we have had our eye on for the last 18 months (£1800 :eek:) and hope he can pay his share at some point... That blows out the mortgage challenge though... Humph...

Do really *want* the wardrobes, we've looked around for cheaper and can't find anything else that fits as well, or is half as good, having currently got second hand, repainted wardrobes, I really don't want to go for a half measure and pay £600ish for tall, wall length wardrobes that will help, but not completely do the job and still end up wanting the originals.

The thing that is swaying me to get them is that we will need a chest of drawers and wardrobe for our spare room (baby due in June) and if we replace ours, can use our old ones, rather than spending out for them...

Really like the idea of overpayments on the mortgage, but is it better to use the spare cash to save up for something we want to buy?

Ok, I'm finished waffling now!