FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE part 3, July - Dec 2010

cw18

Another month gone, so another save of my spreadsheet done and analysed....



As it stands I've got £1529.12 of my budget to the end of September left, which is great news.
£550 of this is Contingency Fund money, so of specific budgets I really only have £979.12 left - but that still looks good.
However I still have my bldgs/contents insurance to pay (annual in Dec), so £270 of the 'spare' money has been put aside towards that - leaving me with a £709.12 underspend.

During September I've had to increase my mobile phone budget slightly (desperately needed a new handset, as I didn't own one small enough to fit into the pocket of my running trousers - and it dawned on me that since DS2 moved out at the start of the month I wouldn't be missed if I didn't return from a run.... or at least not until I didn't turn in for a shift at work or a neighbour heard the dog complaining about being neglected!)

I also had to increase my 'anything else' budget during the month - and may have to do so again before year end. This was/is due to needing new clothes because of my weight loss (now 1.5 stone down on where I was at the start of May). I still had all the size 10's I'd bought last time I lost weight in 2003, but as my work was office based then most of them are better suited to that than casual wear. Had to get some jeans at the weekend - and also picked myself up a classic 'little black number' plus a few other bits in the N3xt sale I now need new underwear (can't wear a dress or skirt until I get some, as I'm likely to lose a certain item of clothing while walking down the street!), so that's on my shopping list for tomorrow.

I'm also on the hunt for some freezer to micro/oven dishes for batch cooking shepherds pie/lasagne/enchilladas etc, but can't find what I want - so when I do I'm just going to have to grit my teeth and cough up the asking price I guess. After a chat with friends, when I said I was looking for glass/ceramic due to wanting to be able to use in the oven or micro depending on what hours I've done at work, it was suggested that silicon would be an equally good alternative - possibly even better as I wouldn't need as many due to the fact I could freeze in them, pop out and into a bag, then out of the bag straight back into a dish to defrost and cook. (Anyone know where I can get square/rectangular containers that are around a 500ml capacity? The oval ones I have a couple of are a 550ml capacity, and I don't want anything much smaller - the only suitable dishes I've seen so far are only 250ml )

I was also looking for a load of ramekin dishes so I could make individual crumbles/sponges for the freezers ready to be reheated in the micro - but I spotted some at a good price on eB@y, so the kids have clubbed together to get me those for Christmas

I'm still showing an overspend on toiletries/cleaning, but I honestly think the only thing I'll need before year end is toilet rolls (which I'll need this month, but - despite starting to have palpitations about how low my stocks are - I'm trying to hold out until mid-month so that I've achieved 150 days with no spends from this category ) I've also just realised I've not transferred some money from that budget to the stock-pile part due to opening some more washing powder, but as that's not money going from my purse to the shops I'll adjust it before reporting in at the end of October rather than changing it all again now - mainly laziness today as I need to track down what I paid for it, and I have a number of jobs to do before a long shift at work today (1-9:30pm as I'm doing holiday cover for the 'close and clean' hours - did it last night as well, which is why my brain's still a touch out of it this morning).

Groceries is still showing an overspend as well. On the plus side I actually managed to come in under budget (by all of 10p) for September, but I'm still £49.10 over-spent for the year to date..... going to be tough to claw this back by year end while I'm still getting the emails from App F00ds (have been hard to resist those this month, but the only order I would have definitely placed was sorted for me as - by the time I'd spent an hour looking at my cart and considering if I really, really would make use of the stuff - the main item I wanted had sold out by the time I got to check out).

Fingers crossed I can pull most of it back though, as I actually don't need any breakfast cereal/meat/fish/chicken/pies for the rest of this year (and part way into next), and have several weeks worth of bread in the freezers (plus flour etc to make enough for several more months). So I'm going to be trying had to keep spends here to just fresh stuff (eggs, milk, fruit and yogurts) and frozen veg - plus tea bags, as that's another item that's getting to a critically low stock level (last box open, and only enough left for a couple of weeks at best) - and will see how I get on. I just know some items will still scream to me from the Whoopsie sections though, so I'm making myself a list of those I can buy if the price is right (decent bangers and certain cuts of fish), those I need to ignore completely (puddings, cakes and biscuits), and those I can consider carefully but must only pick up if I know they'll get used promptly (sandwich fillers, snack meal bits such as quiche, and cheese)

JayneC

CW I saw ramekins in Poundland box of 4. Thought I might get some but haven't yet.

Hi everyone

Not been around cos my 'puter was poorly. Got a virus and cost £88 to repair (AARGH!)
All better now. Was a bit peeved as this is the 3rd time I've had to have in the shop and it's only about 6 months old. Don't know where the kids are going but obviously not good sites! I actually bought antivirus too (usually get a free one), but man in the shop said it's no better than the free one anyway!

Was DD3s 18th birthday last week so that cost a fair bit and then it was DS2s birthday too yesterday. Also had to pay deposit for DDs college trip so have parted with not far off £700 over past week! Have told them this will stop next year as I'm hoping to start working part time from April. Ex OH will also give me some back for DDs birthday and possiby help out with college trip too (I hope) DD is paying half herself, but still going to cost £500 for my half!! She's going to Hollywood so very costly but once in a lifetime opportunity and is raising half the money herself. I had budgetted for it too.

Have been checking out finances (again) and have discovered I can overpay my outstanding loan without penalty so hoping to pay that all off before April along with Credit Card debt so should manage ok with working part time. Trying to get used to spending as little as possible and grocery bill very low this month so overall spend not that bad even with the additional expenses. Not sure I'm going to be able to get my woodburner this year though, have to do some proper research on cost. Though would be fab as my garden has loads of trees that need a good chopping back. Ooh whilst I remember I saw an owl in my garden last weekend. I was rather excited - kids not that impressed tho...

I'm uploading some pics of the garden so will post some soon.

Anyway off for a nice bath. Parents here tomorrow for weekend so may not be back for a few days

Have a good weekend all.

JayneC

http://s1185.photobucket.com/home/jayne_coyne/recentuploads?view=slideshow

More piccies added x

NualaBuala

Great pics Jayne, it looks sort of magical, like The Secret Garden!

Cheryl, I love your idea for individual crumbles for the freezer. I might try that too. I don't often eat dessert but for the times I have a hankering it would be perfect.

Frugaldom

Danielley, I was congratulating you on your breakthrough with OH coming onboard with the frugal lifestyle, but good luck with the frugalmite part, too. :rotfl:

WELCOME TO THE FINAL QUARTER OF 2010!

Can you believe that's us into the final countdown before seeing out 2010 and launching headlong into 2011? :eek: Who stole 2010?

We've been constantly kept busy here in Frugaldom, what with all the hens, ducks, guinea fowl, quail and then the rabbit arrived, followed shortly by the kitten. Next, the finches have started to breed, so it's a full house.

I've kept up every day with my free scratchcards, I'm still saving £2 coins and all the spare change, always using cashback sites where possible and always using my cashback CC, paying the balance in full every month religiously. Now that we're into the final quarter and facing another, possibly long and harsh, winter then I'll be practically glued to the prepayment meter, monitoring every kilowatt we use. there's no way are we returning to the £50 per week carry on that we had during last year's -7C lengthy winter. George (my pot belly stove) has put paid to that. :T Still means we need to fork out on coal & logs but we needed them anyway. I've also managed to find a good source of pallets for now, so these are working out at around 50p each by the time we pay the petrol to fetch them home.

How is everyone doing with their budgets? If you're following the original £4k challenge then you should have approximately £1000 remaining to see you through the final quarter. I have just over £1,400 left but this is owing to the fact that I haven't been doing much by way of Christmas shopping. I've got DGD's, which is the main thing, but everything else still needs to be bought. Plus the TV licence will be due renewed soon. All in all, the year is going well, financially, so no complaints other than the usual ones regarding routine price increases. If what's being suggested is true, then most meat and dairy products will go up in price, so maybe best stock the freezer with turkey and fill your larders with UHT longlife dairy as soon as possible. :rotfl: With the price of wheat and wheat based products increasing, the hens will be getting sent out to find alternative work whilst they moult, as there are no eggs being laid at the moment!

Hope everyone is well - appropriate best wishes, commisserations, congratulations where die and don't forget to PM me if there's anything I should know. I'm getting another grandchild for Christmas this year, so we'll not be venturing far.

Winchelsea

LOVELY pictures Jayne!! What a wonderful place to be! Also enjoyed the Off-Grid pics - makes me want to be there too! Thanks so much for sharing.

Frugaldom

JayneC, I just had my logburner installed last month or so and it is brilliant! Also pretty straightforward, once I'd checked out all the latest legislation re chimney linings and flue lengths & widths etc. Mine was going in where an old Rayburn had originally been installed, so no planning permission etc needed, just some extra tiling to bring the hearth out a bit to meet current regulations. It was all fitted in a day, then wall patched back up and skimmed. I was able to buy everything I needed (except the builder, obviously) from eBay, which meant I got cashback via TCB and cashback logged via my CC. Mine is just a tiny 6kw multifuel stove - no back boiler for hot water - but it's easily heating the whole house within half an hour of being lit. Changes in legislation since old stove was in here meant relining chimney etc, so that part was the most expensive for us, at approximately £200 for the kit needed plus another £150+ to enable the correct length of flue above stove and correct angle of bends in flue etc. I think the whole lot set us back around £500 plus the fitting. (But we spent more than that on electricity last winter.)The expense and bit of mess was well worth it, as I should save a fortune on electricity from now on. Mind you, we're chopping firewood and logs every day, trying to stock up for winter whilst keeping up with demand at same time is hard work, especially on miserable days. The logs need to be seasoned, so your trees in the garden being cut this year would need to dry out for using next winter. We're burning pallets at the moment. Hope this all helps.

Cheryl, I meant to say congratulations on all that weight loss and running. I did the C25K last year for a bit until ankles & knees gave up. Is that you down to a size 10? You lucky thing! Don't think I even kept any of my 8s or 10s but I was a skinny 8, so don't want to go back down that low. Getting to around size 10/12 would be nice, though. Have I missed anything exciting? Everything OK with you and OH? Must take the time to catch up on here properly - the daily email doesn't always include all the posts for some reason.

cw18

Frugaldom wrote: »

Cheryl, I meant to say congratulations on all that weight loss and running. I did the C25K last year for a bit until ankles & knees gave up. Is that you down to a size 10? You lucky thing! Don't think I even kept any of my 8s or 10s but I was a skinny 8, so don't want to go back down that low. Getting to around size 10/12 would be nice, though. Have I missed anything exciting? Everything OK with you and OH? Must take the time to catch up on here properly - the daily email doesn't always include all the posts for some reason.

Yep, I'm back down to a size 10 Was only ever previously that size (briefly) in 2003, when everyone I knew said I looked positively ill/anorexic. The funny thing is I'm a stone heavier now than I was then and everyone's saying how well I look, so I think it's the change from treadmill to outdoor running that's done it - more muscle build up/toning.

I'm hoping to maintain my weight for the rest of this year, but will probably aim to lose a further half stone from the end of January - only problem being every half stone so far has dropped me the best part of a dress size (was a 14/16 before I lost the 1.5 stone), so I can see I'm going to have to allow for some serious clothes shopping when I set my 2011 budgets

Still having problems with my left leg - gave out on me (during a club run) almost a month ago, but the GP has ruled out everything apart from muscle issues so I'm back to trying to get going on it again. I had done a 7 mile route comfortably, but barely managed 1.78 miles on Wednesday Off to the gym in a bit to see how I cope on the treadmill as I have my first race (a 5 mile one) two weeks tomorrow - so I need to decide whether to pull out and ease off the training or keep going until I have to make a last minute decision. (I'm also still breaking in the new road running shoes I bought last w/end, and treadmill work is highly recommended for that so it kills two birds with one stone )

I'm also signed up for a 10km run (in aid of Children In Need) on 14th November which is the start of a week off work, and am debating another 5 mile one the following Sunday (in aid of Help Our Heroes). Then I'm already signed up for a 10km in January (in aid of Chernoyl Children - and on my birthday so I'm off work for a long weekend) and a half-marathon next June (this one being in the area I used to live in, and I used to hate it as it was nigh impossible to get anywhere by car/bus/bike on the afternoon of the run ) I've booked the week after the half-marathon off work - intended to take a week off around that time of year anyway, so when I saw the date of the run it made sense to combine them

As for OH - not seen him since 22nd Aug (and not spoken to him since 11th Sept)

The following w/end was his younger sons wedding, then he was busy with hockey and such the following 2 w/ends - and then went away on 13th Sept for a tournament/holiday (abroad, hence no phone/email contact). He's due back this afternoon/evening, but the earliest I might see him is Thursday night (that only 'cos I'm off work on Friday). I'm then busy next w/end with a papercrafting event that's raising funds for Breast Cancer Research (an annual 24 hour event), and as the hockey season has started up again while he's been away he's likely to busy pretty much every w/end until the end of March - so I'm not sure what's going to happen now. Also don't know yet whether he's allergic to my dog or not - apparently is to some, with some being much worse than others and mine 'sheds' a lot - and now I don't have a dog-sitter he'll have to come this way instead of me going to his.

Add to that he prefers a lady to 'have a bit of meat on her' and I think my weight loss is going to be an issue. He knows I'm doing it for health reasons (my back problem and the slightly high cholesterol count I was shown to have last year), but I could tell he thought I'd lost to much last time I saw him - and I've lost another 9lb since then. But I'm only just within the 'acceptable' weight range for my height, and not much into the healthy BMI figures, so I don't intend to regain weight just to please him or anyone else

Erme

Morning all....sorry not been around...chest just about better...just have severe acute anxiety and depression - we think caused by the hormones so often 'not in the mood' to check the board and then I have like loads of catching up to do...anyone relate to a feeling of impending doom? That's what I have most of the time right now...

But yesterday I managed to get the legs to work for a wee while to take me to the veg garden and I dug up my potatoes and a little garlic (that I then lost ) and had a good time and the other day my citronella came from viovet (finally) so when I get paid I can get a wee spray bottle (actually might already have one now I think of it) and spray it all over the place to get rid of these insects ....

I did my figures in part the other night just going through bank statements and I reckon I'm about 4500 right now which is far from fab cos that means I only have 500 for the rest of the year...:eek:
I think alot of my money goes on cigs though and like after that maybe electric? I don't know...I'm working on the elec ...that's easily achievable...

One month when very unwell was a whopper £600 month :eek: not including extra white goods I've gotten like washing machine etc. So not good...I aim for £400 each month...When I get below £400 I will let you guys know...the proper aim is about £330 I think.....

Anyhow...st. andrews was very good...shame about the chest infection..

At least I have the storage heaters working now so I will do a check on the electric bill next month (I will give them a reading and ask how much I've spent) and see if that's effective in terms of getting my heating bill down ....Some days I just have like one storage heater on and I'm nice and toastie...in fact other places seem positively cold...Thermometer usually about 22.9c...suits me just fine and it's only on 3

E

knithappens

Cheryl i find Yoga great when running, as it gives my muscles a much needed deep stretch i find when i dont do it , i get more niggles etc, maybe give it a go , i use Barbar currys home DVD's they are great.