FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE part 3, July - Dec 2010

cw18

I'm still towards the top end of the healthy weight range for my height - and that's despite having lost 2 stone since I started seeing him (almost half of which has gone since I last saw him on 22nd Aug)

NualaBuala

Wow Cheryl, that is impressive. :T And I know from your other posts you are being careful to eat properly too. Quite inspiring really, I need to lose weight but exercise is very limited these days cos of ME.

top_drawer_2

Hello,

Erme - lol I can't comment on your impulse buys. I've been looking at kindle's too recently and thinking it would be fab for Christmas.... I know all about struggling for volunteer work, Ive been trying to get experience for months but numerous charities have stated they simply dont have the funding at the moment or they already have too many volunteers so arent recruiting atm. I spend (and spend and spend) when I am unhappy as I kind of feel that I deserve to have something nice in my life iyswim.

Nuala - Thanks for the tips, any more on how to use the pearl barley as I have a load of that too and havent got to using it yet - barley and broccoli soup with ham.... does that go together? Radish stirfried sounds just the biz! Thanks for the idea re batch cooking, I might do the same for pre-cooking my diet meals as I just cant get into doing it when I get back from work and end up eating something rubbish.

I would hot water bottles as I was badly burned by one last year. I went to bed with it on a really cold and horrid night and must have been led on it, apparently your nerves become used to the heat when you are asleep and somehow you dont move when it gets too hot and burns you. It was in a very painful place too. I love my wheat bag now and you can make them youself too although I dont have a link for it.

Fishcake - your the second person to say that today, god help us what with the budget cuts too.

Slowly Fading - I dont know what to suggest but as someone who has had years of depression/anxiety related illness, definitely seek help earlier rather than later, whether that means speaking to your colleagues, your doctor, your partner and cancelling whatever is causing your plate to be too full at the moment. You are in your first year of teaching and having lived with someone as a housemate who was in the same position, it really is one of the most stressful years a person can have. It doesnt help in a lot of ways that the 3rd year of a degree is also very stressful too as everyone needs some down-time.

CW18 - Well done on the weight-loss and on the race times - I wish had the peserverance for that!

I met a friend last week for a brew and we were talking about another person who we both used to live with as a housemate and how this person was "into" men who were on the tubby side. For her it made her feel that she was dainty and "young" she liked to give everyone the impression that she needed to be looked after (they really couldnt have been more wrong!) maybe he's insecure. Either way best you find out now that he's in it for your contribution to his image.

Jen

lingojingo

cw18 wrote: »

I have an on-line account (and tarriff) which requires me to submit on-line readings for my gas and electricity every 3 months.

I actually do it every 4 weeks (next due tomorrow), and I find this has made them much more amenable when I want to discuss reducing my Direct Debit due to them having a very accurate picture of my useage trends.

I also 'have to' submit a reading every 3 months, but can do up to 6 in that period, so I submit mine every 2 weeks for 10 weeks after a bill, and then do the last one when they ask me, which is a few of days over the fortnight. As CW says, it makes the case for reducing/not increasing my direct debit much easier to prove

lingojingo

Cw - hope you're looking after your shin splints, don't be tempted to do too much too soon. I remember Kelly Holmes missing the olympics because of them, it took her a long time to get to the top, but she did it in the end!

Erme

NualaBuala wrote: »

Erme, your tea sounds yummy, I haven't had cauliflower cheese in ages. Have you thought about getting out the socks your started - be a nice thing to do on cold winter evenings and tutorial really does help, plus the folks on The Knitting Thread are very helpful.

Hugs,
N x

I have one afghan to finish off urgently (the mega one I started in january) and one on order for which I'm going to get paid for by a friend so I know socks are not a top priority sadly *sob*

But thanks and hugs Nuala

top_drawer wrote: »

Hello,

Erme - lol I can't comment on your impulse buys. I've been looking at kindle's too recently and thinking it would be fab for Christmas.... I know all about struggling for volunteer work, Ive been trying to get experience for months but numerous charities have stated they simply dont have the funding at the moment or they already have too many volunteers so arent recruiting atm. I spend (and spend and spend) when I am unhappy as I kind of feel that I deserve to have something nice in my life iyswim.

Jen

I don't worry about my vol work...I just figure when I'm better I'll get a part time cleaning job and stuff and go from there...it'll pay enough regardless for now..... I have my routine. I have a couple of cheap coffee bars I can go in the afternoon so apart from a bad afternoon when making bread with the stupid voices and then I got more symptoms in the evening I was really good yesterday..

I'm fine today - so far - one day at a time

The good thing about being frugal for me is generally you can afford the impulse buys of the illness without being massively more in debt :j which I find such a boon. I could only afford the kindle cos of cashback with the mobile and I got that because of the frugal challenge....with my first cash back (part) I got the fridge freezer which I needed cos I was too paranoid in the summer to use the laundrette so had to buy a washing machine etc. So I really am most grateful for the frugal board even though I'm far from the dizzy heights of FD...

Blessings

E

knithappens

ooh i have 2 NSD, which is good going for me as I think I have spent for wht seems liek forever, but most of that is xmas shoppign and i really dont have much left to get. I am thinkingof treatign myself to a slanket, but lookingofr a cheaper but just as good laternative.

also I am going to go to the xmas do this year, it is £25 but that icludes food and disco at the town hall, so should be a good night, i very rarely go out, and i doubt I will drink, so will drive there and back to save on taxis

JayneC

Hi how's everyone doing?

Erme you sound lots better, take care and SF do look after yourself as TD says get some help and if it's all too much can you take a step back. It's half term next week isn't it? will you get chance to have a bit of a rest?
Cheryl you're doing brill, be proud.
Fishcake - I totally agree with you and I think there are lots of poeple feeling the same. If you're interested it might be worth while seeing if there's a transition movement near you, preferably in your town, as they have lots of skills sharing events and planning for the very futuure you're thinking about. The Freeconomy website - Justfortheloveofit.org can put you in youch with localpeople who can share skills (and ideas) too.
Nuala thanks for commenting about DDs job, she seems to be enjoying it so I'm really pleased. She had to have a tooth out the other day and it was a bad experience - not seen her as she's been her boyf house - but she text to say the dentist had been really agressive and the drill bit had shot off in her mouth!!!

Anyways have to dash, got my drama workshop. Back to see you all soon xx

grandma247

JayneC wrote: »

but she text to say the dentist had been really agressive and the drill bit had shot off in her mouth!!!xx

I really would complain about this because he cannot behave like that. It is no wonder people hate dentists.
We travel to Chorley which is half an hour on the motorway because we are too scared to change as we like our dentist and never had a problem.

pink_numbers

Hi, I joined this challenge at the start of the year, wanting to lower my total outgoing from 24k to 6k. I fell off the wagon royally earlier this year, but NualaBuala has encouraged me to come back here.

I've gone totally over my original goal of 6K, but I am on target for about 9K outgoing this year, which is still a lot less than I used to spend. I've tightened down on everything, and made considerable savings all around. However, a few months back on the wagon, and I'm already feeling like "what's next?" I feel like I have done almost everything I can for now, and now I count the days between paydays.

Please don't get me wrong. I LOVE my new thrifty life. I love that I am not wasting my cash, getting the most out of my money, and enjoy doing all the thrifty things from baking to knitting. I think it's the fact that I've ran out of things to 'cut' and now, I just have to live out my cuts. Does that make sense?

How does everyone cope with feeling demotivated?