Frugal Living 2011 - the preparation stage

londonirish_3

I dont have a car, I dont want to afford one either, I am happy to walk, however I have been known to hop into one too many a taxi in the past, though since starting here, my taxi trips have been nil! I would love to give up the idiot lantern, and I think when I live alone it will go, there are far more things to occupy my time. I dont think I could cope without music though, I love classical and the 60 70 80s songs.

cw18

I don't "do" classical, but seem to have my iP0d on pretty much all the time I'm not clocked in at work - and that's loaded with everything from the 60s to the 90s (and a few more recent tracks)

londonirish_3

when I say classical I sort of mean, Ludovico Einauldi and aled jones , I cant stand the pavaroti and stuff like that, I love la scala and kolanchy brothers (aoplogies for my truly pants spellings there) I think I go through phases, yesterday it was eminem non stop, today its been non stop chrimbo songs lol

wornoutmumoftwo

I've joined this thread for the last two (or is it three?) years and only ever make it to about Jan or feb, so this time I will last longer. I'm sitting here freezing because I need central heating and a loft conversion, so the more I can save the better.

Erme

londonirish wrote: »

this year I have spent £20 plus on washing detergent. Last night I bought a pack of soapnuts, which will last 75 washes, so with the stuff I have stored in cupboard ( cos I dont really like the smell of it ) I will have enough to wash clothes all year. that is providing I do not have an adverse reaction to soapnuts. total cost £3.75 inc packaging and posting.

If you have sensitive skin soapnuts are really a must. I was converted to them before frugal living and then had a whoopsie for a few months and bought the cheap liquid = BIG mistake...for a single person you should be paying no more than £5 max for a year's worth of soapnuts (and that's a generous estimate)....so thanks for the prompting on that one guys. If you lose the bag (or they don't come with one) you just shove a few in a spare sock (or make something similar)...sorted I am a great fan of soapnuts...the novelty of anything else is a terrible crime for me and they're great for travelling (note to any backpackers) and totally compostable etc.:D

NualaBuala wrote: »

Welcome to all the new folks joining. It's great to see so many people joining in! :j

Good to hear from you Erme and sorry you haven't been well. That's a good tip about having a bit put aside for emergencies. I just had to fork out €50 for a plumber and I am sooo glad I had it saved. IMHO these things like washing machines breaking or repairs needing doing are going to happen at some stage - it's just a matter of when ... so if you can afford to put a wee bit by, best be prepared so you don't have to go into debt to deal with them. I've got to ask .... why were you sending Sarah Palin a calendar? I don't think I'd be spending my money on American politicians (nor on any of the Irish ones for that matter!).

It's sunny here today and I think it will melt some of the snow. I think people are fed up with it now so that's good I suppose.

Hope everyone is warm and well - take care folks.

Hugs,

Nuala

Why was I sending Sarah Palin a calendar? Cos I like her and she gets such a hard time in the press and it felt a bit eccentric. Calendar cost more than the postage.. but hey ho.....even £3 for the postage was too much but by that point I'd had enough of haggling


Yeah am thinking of changing the washing machine I got when paranoid earlier this year cos it won't last long and these things cost a fortune to get repaired...however when looking into energy saving (read in the Scotsman the other day about a 10 percent hike in prices with my energy company but I'm on a social tariff blagged last winter and have been using mostly fan heaters for the last year...Just converted to the storage heaters so that's approximately a 50% saving on pre hike prices...can anyone do the maths on what the saving should be with the hike please? Don't know how much the bedroom heater costs to run but with that on and the two storage heaters I'm cosy even with subzero temperatures so why worry? I gotta keep warm and I know the temp in the lounge following purchasing a digital thermometer last year cheap before FL. It's a good investment if you want to get your heating down)...

Anyhow...got to go ...having written for england and the empire am now late with MR (morning routine) and am going down methinks with yet ANOTHER cold

Blessings

Welcome to the Newbies

E

Erme

NualaBuala wrote: »

That's interesting about the reaction to giving up the TV licence ... I think it would be the first (or one of the first) of my current luxuries I'd let go of. The luxury I would fight hardest to keep would be the internet. If nothing else it's nice to be able to pop on here any time I like to stay motiivated!

PS. Last two things to go on my list of - if the chips are down = internet followed by landline. Landline is my care and help when unwell. Though internet is so much cheaper than when I first got it (about 14 years ago)...they'd be no point in going payg...and according to my spreadsheet it's nowhere near my biggest outgoing . Prior to all this = mobile, cancer sticks (they'd be the first though it'd half kill me mentally) etc. I don't have the TV. Got rid of it 18 months ago and hardly miss it. The sooner you dewhatsit the aerial the better CW..I will be sending you virtual cake to celebrate. If you download programs AFTER they've aired you don't have to pay. Simple. ...researched all this thoroughly when I got rid of my TV...now don't have the room for it (got a cheap 80's stereo that's massive from charity shop instead).....it's not about the tv but about your routine (or so I find...apologies if no one wants to hear this)...and your downtime and what you do. Where I live net is cheaper than tv anyways...

E

BinkyTheHorse

cw18 wrote: »

Welcome aboard Binky

Nice to see there are a few of us on here without a TV Licence The reaction I've had from family, colleagues and 'real life' friends when I've mentioned dropping mine has been amazing..... very few of them see it as a luxury, and almost all of them (including those without children at home) reckon it's an absolute essential and one of the very last things they'd give up

Thank you for the welcome

We got rid of the TV almost four years ago - best thing we did! The kids will either read now, or can be found experimenting with made up recipes in the kitchen or taking over the sitting room with paints, paper and glue. There is always a project on the go, be that knitting, sewing, a huge dinosaur being made out of cardboard or the invention of a board game - it's really exciting, they just never seem to run out of ideas and are never bored like they used to be when there was nothing to watch on TV.

Erme wrote: »

Why was I sending Sarah Palin a calendar? Cos I like her and she gets such a hard time in the press and it felt a bit eccentric.

It is wonderfully eccentric and such a lovely thing to do! :T

NualaBuala

Great to hear so many people don't have TVs. I really considered it a few months ago but I'm just not ready to make the leap ... yet!

Erme, re Sarah Palin and the calander - that is very sweet of you and I hope she appreciates it. I have a suggestion about the washing machine - well this is what I'm doing anyway, I have a feeling mine isn't going to last - how about keeping yours for now but every week/month try to set aside a portion of the cost of a new one so you have the peace of mind that the money is there to replace if when needed? Perhaps you could set up a special savings pot for it (i.e. an old jar). Take good care of that cold hon x.

Tomorrow our government announce our Budget so I will be able to calculate how much my income will be reduced ... then try to work out a way to make next year's spending match that. I am quite anxious about it to be honest but there's nothing I can do about it today so am focussed on other things.

Hope you are all well and staying warm. Have a good day folks!

alec_eiffel

Hi,

This might seem 1. like a lot and 2. a bit higgeldy piggeldy but that's how my brain works! We only moved to this house at Easter so not sure how a full year of being here works, but that's why I'm here and we're also dealing with a pay cut *eeep*

Stuff that won't change

£7470 mortgage
£1550 council tax
£509.16 water (yes, I know! No, we can't get a meter)
£3000 savings
£600 pension

Stuff that can change

£530 health insurance/critical illness cover (we'll be able to shop about for this in May, it was a thing tied into the house buying process and it's quite expensive as DH has a chronic illness)
£200 work expenses (clothes, tea&coffee, secret santa etc)
£420 gas (we've had our boiler fixed recently so this might reduce)
£252 electricity
£660 landline, internet, sky, tv licence
£260 perennial fund (prepay prescription, vet, house & car insurance)
£1980 groceries and household
£240 pet food
£360 Christmas and birthday gifts
£180 mobile phones
£1200 petrol
£480 spending money , magazine subscription etc

So, I don't really know what any of this means but there it is! I'm happy to come in on, or under budget for these categories. There's no provision there for clothes because we usually use birthday money for that and I'm having a no new clothes year next year. We just want to keep an eye on the budget as we have lots of work to do on the house and need to start saving for a new car and I don't want any of the hard earned cash to slip away.

xnatalie81x

BinkyTheHorse wrote: »

Can I please join in with the 2011 challenge? I have been lurking on the thread over this last year and feel really inspired by all of you

My budget for the year will be £7850 for the seven of us - 5 children, 2 adults and a dog.

Broken down, it looks like this:

Groceries, toiletries, cleaning and laundry £2600 - that is amazing! Any tips on how to get budget this low for 5 kids and 2 adults would be much appreciated

Gas & electricity £1188 - this looks like a lot, I know! Over the summer I was paying £50 but as I didn't get any credit built up, EON have whacked up my monthly payments to £99 a month! Hopefully it will go back down to £50ish in the spring as we don't really heat the house for more than three or four weeks over winter and so we build up a credit over the colder months. They did the same last year so hopefully will do it again!!I dont think this looks high at all. My own is around 900-1000 year and that is for me and 3 children

Mobiles, internet and landline £680

Clothing and footwear £150 - is this for all 7! That is amazing too. I spend that on each child just for school uniform and school shoes - would appreciate any tips on lowering our own budget (i think mine is on page 3 or 4..... here somewhere lol)

My transport costs £1300 - this is for any work needed, insurance and MOT etc on a mini-bus. I've also included diesel at £25 a week in this figure.

House Insurance £130

Gifts, emergency fund, extra for J and stuff for the allotment £1209 - 'J' is our profoundly disabled son and I'm including his extra costs such as his needing more clothes than the other children and having to buy new bedding for him more often etc. This is also the 'rainy day fund' - unexpected vets bill, replacing washing machine etc. - that is really reasonable, £100 month

Doggy costs - vets & food £200 - what dog do you have?? Does that include insurance?? I have a jug (tiny jack russell/pug) and he is gonna cost me about 360 year! For insurance, food and saving to cover excess if needed.

Kids activities £223 - is that for school trips and things?

Breakdown cover £170 - i cancelled my AA last year and am taking it out again in jan as i can go through top cash back and get it cheaper - i imagine yours is for 2 ppl tho...


I haven't included any costs that I cannot control such as rent, council tax and water, neither have I included DH transport costs to and from work as these come out of his wages, the remainder of which go straight into the savings account. We don't watch live TV so don't need to include money in the budget for a licence.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone here

I also got rid of our tv licence this year. The kids have a wonderful imagination lol. Although we do have a lovely collection of dvds which they watch, and sometimes i put kids tv on replay thingie on ccomputer