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

Skint_Lynne

Congratulations Rictus,

Better get saving, it is expensive having nieces and nephews. I have 1 nephew, but lots of my friends have wee ones and I like to treat them as well.

in_spired2

Lily_The_Legend wrote: »

Sorry for butting in, but think I've heard about this before. You keep the lid on the washing up liquid bottle closed and put a nail in it, then take it out, so there is a very small hole in it. Then less comes out when you pour it in to your sink. I think so anyway!

Yes, that was exactly it. I saw it on here - perhaps the sneaky penny saving thread? The ridiculously large amounts that used to come out with even the slightest squeeze, and then the nuisance of trying to get all the "left-over" bubbles to go down the sink afterwards..... used to irritate me a lot. You do have to squeeze harder with the nail hole, I think. And once or twice I forgot to NOT open the lid, and gave it a hard squeeze. More than enough bubbles then :rotfl:

XSpender

Morning Fellow Frugallers!

Here is a quick update from me for Jan and Feb.

1. Over budget on diesel, BT, food and alcohol, toiletries and household, gifts, entertainment, Sky and anything else. Some of these costs like gifts, entertainment and food and alcohol are due to DH 40th falling in Feb which are budgeted for but skew the budget on a monthly basis.

The purchase of a lap top and having a 350 mile trip to a funeral and 2 180 mile trips to DM during the snow were not budgeted for but I am confident I can claw this back over the year.

2. I have generated over £450 extra income so far which has gone towards the purchase of the stuff I need for the upcoming frugalmite.

3. I had overestimated some categories and have made savings in others such as choosing not to put the caravan in storage and cancelling the (not very good:o) window cleaner and getting a huge reduction in my fuel monthly dd. I have also introduced a fiver a week personal spending money category for me & DH so I can manage this area better. Some like toiletries I am way out on and have had to increase.l I forgot DH has to shave:o

Overall I am in a position reduce my annual budget by £1000 but have decided to rejig the categories and see how I get on as it is early days.

Some other small successes are using t0p cash back for the first time and watching DH make a bee line for the whoopsies in the cooler in Mr M every week :rotfl::rotfl:

I have started working out how much are lunches and evening meals are costing us as I still spend too much on food and what to make savings here. Although I am no where near the 50p a person a meal cost or even Frualdoms £1/day, I am working on a £2.50/day per person per day which will be a HUGE saving for me and will then aim for £2 and so on.

This month we are aiming to live out of the freezer so I can stock up with HM meals ready for when baby arrives as I have got out of the habit of this recently.

Good luck with your budgets in March everyone!:)

XS x

SuzyWuzy_2

Hi all,

Quick update from me...after 9 months on annual leave and maternity leave it's back to work for me next month which IS brilliant budget wise as it means more pay but I'll miss my daughter soooo much. I tried to get vouluntary redundancy but the powers that be said no...anyway found out 4 weeks ago that I'm pregnant again , :j didn't think it would happen in the 1st month of trying, so I only have to go back for 4 months then I start mat leave again..I wont go back after number 6 is born. Luckily OH has a excellant salary coming in. I don't know how I'm going to fit in my daily clicks and scratchcard when I go back...but Im sure I'll find a way!

Money wise I'm amazed how much I keep changing things and skimming more off my budget, little changes and all that. When I was working last year my shopping was £700 a month !! now its £70 a week for 7 of us with milk formula, packed lunchs and dinners included and we eat better than we ever have done. I'm getting better as each month passes on tweaking dishes that I cook to get them even cheaper. Go me! You really DO have to make an effort to put the breadmaker on (sometimes twice a day here!) to save money don't you but every little helps.

Hope everyone else is ok and doing well.


Suzanne

x

Ps I really can't wait for the garden to come on now ,I love this time of year with the hint of clear skies and whats to come, I really hope we have a great summer and we all do well with our veggies.

Erme

Just trying to catch up on posts. Hope everyone is well. Due to a whopping overspend of about £60 last week I have to STOP being a wee hypocrite and get my wee act together this week. I have to work out what my weakness is with this overspending. In theory I should have a weekly disposable budget of £35 a week (£15 food and misc. £20 cigs) but so often I go over that and not just the whoopsie fixation stuff (think last week and the sewing machine ).

So in a bit off to the bank to get £35 cash out. Tis the only way! If I can do this this week maybe I can do it next...and the next...

Also I now have 3 sewing machines for sale but still need to sell the old blackberry and like have to start making hair barettes to sell. Made one last week for a friend for her birthday and she loved it! Took about 20 mins. But I like doing my afghan for my £5 sofa so have to really a lot 1 evening a week for 'work' shall we say (just 2 hours max).

After a 'crazy' few weeks now back to normal and it's so nice. I thrive on routine so feels fab. I have my crisis plan to write for my W.R.A.P (wellness recovery action plan by Mary Ellen Copeland - tis really good) this pm and like my letter to apply to do Kleeneze from home for the council. (I have to apply to the council to run a business from home. Could be worse) which I couldn't even contemplate thinking of before FL so thanks guys. My aim is that by this time next year (or the end of the 2nd quarter) I aim to be debt free and like have 2 part time jobs (one kleeneze) to pay for everything with a min/max (not sure) income of £6K a year (which covers rent and CT) and living frugally but contentedly. Anything above that is a bonus so long as I'm debt free. This is after barely working and being on benefits for about 15 years. Just proves it's possible guys

BTW anyone else get their seeds from T&M? I got mine yesterday. Some seem really good but we're not doing flowers in our allotment this year so might give the flowers to the minister (bar the edible ones). Just brassicas and pots to turn the soil over. But the guy who has our allotment has been sick so I haven't been able to go up there yet . Desperately want to know it's EXACT location and get a key for the the shed then I'm sorted for the summer .

Anyhow on Page 191 of this thread's catchup so will try and read the rest later...

Just wanted to let you all know my news....and thanks so much for the nice comments about my 'disability'...

Blessings

E

rozeepozee

Hello everyone. Hope you all are well. I just had a very frugal weekend at my lovely MIL's. Lounged on the sofa and was nurtured. Potentially, as I have less an less energy with this pregnancy, there are fewer and fewer spending opportunities

The internet can be a killer though - I've just had to tell myself to "STEP AWAY FROM THE NEW CHANGING BAG". £50 reduced from £106. Sounds like a bargain, but then I reminded myself that I already have a changing bag. Okay, so doesn't match my twin pram but it was a pain anyway as very heavy and bulky and I gave away two changing bags on Freecycle last year and ended up using a normal rucksack and being much more discriminating when packing to leave the house with my son when he was little. Changing bag addiction? Think I need rehabilitation from this thread

Don't have the energy to go to pregnancy yoga so think I will pot up my lettuce and coriander seedlings, sow some more and go for a "free" swim at the gym this afternoon. Won't be a NSD as I need milk and fruit for DS's lunchbox but it'll be close as Aldi calls....

R x

patentgirl

Morning Frugallers
Congrats Rictus
Suzywuzy congrats on pregnancy news not so good going back to work at least not for too long you must be amazingly organised my eldest DD is going back at end of month part time not looking forward to it either.
Rozeepose well done on not giving in to changing bag

Had a good frugal wekend went to stay with relatives for a family do so apart from some flowers for out host relativley spend free weekend and very enjoyable.
Update on February good news for me managed to get within the £1000 didnt have poll tax or water rates but paid £15O towads DDs driving lessons so that balanced itself out, everything else on target no overspends thanks everyone for all this inspiration so pleased with myself we are saving so much more

NualaBuala

Morning frugal friends :wave:

Suzanne congratulations! :j I'm convinced there's summat in the water around here, or maybe frugal living is just good for fertility! Rozee, glad you got minded well at the weekend, hope you're feeling better and bump not so sore. And congrats to Rictus - I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice here on being a frugal (but not stingy) Uncle! I have a wee cousin who loves getting pressies but doesn't mind if they're a doggie hair slide that cost €1 or a dolls house that cost €100. And what she seems to love most is just being played with which is free and I'm good at that since my inner child is highly developed! :rotfl:

in_spired2 wrote: »

Yes, that was exactly it. I saw it on here - perhaps the sneaky penny saving thread? The ridiculously large amounts that used to come out with even the slightest squeeze, and then the nuisance of trying to get all the "left-over" bubbles to go down the sink afterwards..... used to irritate me a lot. You do have to squeeze harder with the nail hole, I think. And once or twice I forgot to NOT open the lid, and gave it a hard squeeze. More than enough bubbles then :rotfl:

Thank you! I'm glad you mentioned it as I love money saving tricks. I'm a big fan of the Sneaky thread, full of great ideas like this one. All my toilet rolls get squashed now. :rotfl:

Erme, I think you're fantastic for how you're tackling frugal living and your illness. I have depression and your attitude really inspires me. Don't be hard on yourself for the overspend - you're doing great and making real progress. Good idea taking your weekly spending money out of the bank - take care and good luck!

My frugal stuff today:

• Day 2 of my yummy veg and lentil curry
• Make 2 loaves of soda bread later and freeze 1.
• Lunch from store cupboard
• Do a shopping list and meal plan
• Minimal energy use while I do college work and will keep heating off
• Nice day so will try to do a little in the garden, even half an hour

Have a great day everyone!

Frugaldom

Erme wrote: »

...living frugally but contentedly. Anything above that is a bonus so long as I'm debt free.

Well said, Erme, this sums up frugal living so well - being contented! :T

Loads of positivity on here today, hope some rubs off on those who need a boost.

Jeff, why not join us and see if you could be happy being frugal. If it's riches you're after, that's OK, frugal living just makes it happen faster for you.

Rictus (any anyone else), don't forget to go via cashback for insurance quotes, you can get up to £70 back.

Received my T&M seeds yesterday, I'm including the flower ones in a Mother's Day gift pack, as the hens and ducks would just demolish them here. The sun is shining today again - LOVED your heated propogator, Annie - I'm thinking of starting mine off inside one of my egg incubators, but not until I try using it to make my next batch of yoghurt! :rotfl:First lot wasn't set enough to make the cheese, probably just as well, as it's almost all eaten already.

Catz, Thanks for reminder about soaking the broth mix - I need to make soup tomorrow and would have forgotten to prepare the mix. Mine's the App F00d packs, too.

Spent yesterday gutting out hen runs and moving birds around the place in preparation for this year's breeding. 2 quail runs now ready for slight modifications before I move the boys out of the shed - don't want to risk any of them flying away!. The freeranging 'Bailey' has now cottoned on to the fact that the postman always brings a handful of crumbs for Inky & co, so I just HAD to take a photo! This morning, Bailey was waiting for the postman to arrive, too! :rotfl: He really does think he's a chicken!



All new chicks doing fine, eggs in incubator keeping warm and tomato seedlings on kitchen windowsill are now sprouting their second leaves. :j The salad leaves in the greenhouse are growing slowly and the hens and ducks are laying quite well, considering we're just approaching the 12 hours of daylight stage. Grocery budget is diminishing. Sorry, I've forgotten who mentioned this, but Frugaldom's budget up until last year was £1 per person, per day. For this year, it's been reduced to £900 overall for the 3 of us and I think it's possible, especially with all my LETS trading, home grown veg, eggs, home baking & preserving. Come on spring time, I'm desparate to get started.

Pippilongstocking

Sorry not posting much but reading at night when the update email comes

Our lives are a bit up and down at the mo - on the one hand found a lovely new house in the sticks where I can live my own version of hte goodlife! We got the keys yesterday - but we have a 5 month overlap with both houses (new house availability, committments to lodgers etc at existing house) so juggling and working out how to find the extra money through extra work etc (hence the 10.99 a day challenge on my sig - until July I need to find £10.99 a day to make the new house 'neutral' til I move in) All scary but overall very good.

We've had a bit of sad news with OH's family - so that's an unplanned trip away and we're all a bit shocked.

I hope you're all good - loving how positive folk sound - will keep up - am managing to stick to 'one' of my frugal budgets. And trying to neutralise the new expense.

Frugaldom I will be asking for more chicken advice soon as I'm going to increase my chookies when I move in July.

Waves and hugs to all.