Frugal Living 2011 - the preparation stage

cw18

Looks like I'm in for an "interesting" chat with my mobile phone provider....

I took out a pricey contract in Feb 2008 - one that included internet use so that I could catch up on the bus to/from work and concentrate on the house and a poorly hubby when I was at home. Due to the loss of him and my job, when my contract cam up for renewal in Aug 2009 I phoned to ask them to switch my number onto PAYG..... and said that if they couldn't I'd be leaving and going back to my old network.

So they offered me a good contract deal, which meant I kept the handset I had but only paid £5/month for a package that would normally be £20. So this meant £60/year (on an 18 month contract) instead of around £40 I'd estimated for PAYG - so I took them up on their offer as it means no risk of running out of credit when out in the sticks.

Logged into my account tonight to check something, and it's telling me it's time to think about renewing my contract (not actually due until 10th Feb) - and they're offering me the choice of upgrading my handset and retaining my current price (though I assume by this they mean the full £20/month) or keeping my handset and getting a 20% reduction on the cost of the package (which makes it £16/month).

So I'm going to have to call and tell them to switch my number to PAYG, as there's no way I'm going to pay that much a month - I'd budgetted for my current £5 plus the extra pennies due to increase in VAT.......

But I've been back through my last 12 bills (all I can access on-line), and it appears I've used just 399 of my 1200 free texts (33.25%) and under 189 of my 1200 minutes allowance for voice calls (15.75%). As such I'm going to try and blag a continuation of my current contact at my current rate, as I was offered it due to being a very low user

Blairweech

Good morning everyone, hope you all had a very merry Christmas

I know I fell of the wagon last year (and the year before that. And that :mad:) but I would like to try again, especially as I am a student now so am suffering enforced poverty

So far my budget of £4000 year or £333.33 a month is

Savings: £33.33 a month
Food: £80 a month
Birthdays/Xmas: £40 a month
Car: £70 a month
Mobile: £20 a month
Heating/Electric: £30 a month*
Entertainment: £40 a month
Clothes/Shoes: £16.67 a month (£200 a year)

*I have not had any heating and electric bills for my uni digs yet - rumour has it its £30 a term, but I have greatly overestimated just in case

I am hoping to get my mobile costs down - on PAYG atm, and if I top up £10 a month, I get triple credit which is way too much for my needs. So then, the next month I don't use all my credit, don't top up and don't get any free credit - then I have to top up £20 the next month.

The car includes all insurance, tax, mot, service, parts and fuel - hence it is so high

Birthdays/Xmas is quite high as I am wanting to get OH quite an expensive present for Xmas next year.

Entertainment includes all meals/drinks out plus any other activities

Clothing - am tempted to put an embargo on buying new things, then could make the costs neutral through Ebay selling

I currently have £100 worth of book vouchers which I will be able to use for my uni textbooks

Will have to tinker with this budget, as it does not include laundrette costs (£20 a month - could come out of grocery costs?), any train tickets home (£35 a time), haircuts or anything miscellaneous. Does anyone know if I get free dentistry/specs now I am a student again?

JustKeepSwimming_2

Blairweech wrote: »

Does anyone know if I get free dentistry/specs now I am a student again?

I think you'll need to apply on low income grounds, rather than getting them automatically becasue you are a student. More info here http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Free-or-Reduced-Cost-Prescriptions.htm .

I'd like to join in this year too - I did fall off the Live on £4K yearly challenge a few times :wall: & this year will have lots of ups & downs that will probably make planning a budget (never mind sticking to it) jolly hard. I'm planning on moving house to a new area (so I'll exclude all of that from my budget) & I'm hoping to be lucky enough to find a job, which I'm hanging fire on as I'm hoping the move happens in the next few months.

I'll juggle with the figures over the next few days, but will concentrate on grocery/going out/"stuff" areas as these may be all I can control for a while. I don't drive, so no expense there & I walk everywhere or use my buss pass so travel expenses are minimal thankfully.

I do spend far more than I should on food & going out with my kids!

Erme

cw18 wrote: »

Looks like I'm in for an "interesting" chat with my mobile phone provider....

I took out a pricey contract in Feb 2008 - one that included internet use so that I could catch up on the bus to/from work and concentrate on the house and a poorly hubby when I was at home. Due to the loss of him and my job, when my contract cam up for renewal in Aug 2009 I phoned to ask them to switch my number onto PAYG..... and said that if they couldn't I'd be leaving and going back to my old network.

So they offered me a good contract deal, which meant I kept the handset I had but only paid £5/month for a package that would normally be £20. So this meant £60/year (on an 18 month contract) instead of around £40 I'd estimated for PAYG - so I took them up on their offer as it means no risk of running out of credit when out in the sticks.

Logged into my account tonight to check something, and it's telling me it's time to think about renewing my contract (not actually due until 10th Feb) - and they're offering me the choice of upgrading my handset and retaining my current price (though I assume by this they mean the full £20/month) or keeping my handset and getting a 20% reduction on the cost of the package (which makes it £16/month).

So I'm going to have to call and tell them to switch my number to PAYG, as there's no way I'm going to pay that much a month - I'd budgetted for my current £5 plus the extra pennies due to increase in VAT.......

But I've been back through my last 12 bills (all I can access on-line), and it appears I've used just 399 of my 1200 free texts (33.25%) and under 189 of my 1200 minutes allowance for voice calls (15.75%). As such I'm going to try and blag a continuation of my current contact at my current rate, as I was offered it due to being a very low user

CW don't do that until you've tried E2save for cashback and see if they can give you a better deal. You may get a fossilized phone but if you can afford a bit more upfront initially the cashback comes in handy. I think mine is currently like £3 a month for unltd texts and 300 mins post cashback with e2save. And my cashback came in 2 weeks this time :t

anyhow had a fab meal at Salvation Army yesterday and got given some soap

So here are my pics - http://img263.imageshack.us/g/photo0000e.jpg/.

Today I'm trying homemade deodorant for the first time.I'm trying to make it into a solid bar too cos I appear to have lost/not gotten cotton wool buds.Don't think I'll go as far as homemade toothpaste - like Mr A cheap stuff too much (tis only 17p a tube )


The sally anne was very frugal cos it was free and you can see what great food we had ...Ours is just for singletons on their own at xmas. Might be worth a lookie for other singletons? I'm not an xmas fan but I woudn't miss it

E

NualaBuala

I think it's great how the SA organise a lovely dinner every year - sounds like you had a great day Erme. If you haven't already got a homemade deodorant recipe let me know as I found one online a while ago that I've been meaning to try. If I remember rightly it was basically bicarb, coconut oil and some people add a drop or two of essential oil and aloe vera gel.

Nice to see you again Blairweech - in fact it's lovely to see so many old faces popping back! Welcome to everyone old and new alike.

tutti_2

Would love to try this challenge if I can sit down and work out a yearly spend :eek:

But did notice the post about toothpaste and thought it worth mentioning that years ago in an extremely "green" phase before I had kids I used to make my own toothpaste from an aromatherapy recipe with bicarb, salt and a couple of drops of peppermint oil, The biggest bonus was the fact that the dentist said that my teeth didn't need de-scaling and polishing so whilst the saving on toothpaste was minimal it did lead to a bigger saving at the dentist and a sparkling smile .

Good luck to all of you with your challenge!

CRANKY40

Hello, I'd like to join too if that's OK.

I was widowed in 2009, and carried on working until the middle of this year. I'm now on a career break to give me a chance to spend more time looking after my small son (aged 6) and our decrepit house (not so bad now, but that's because we had a lot of building work done this year). My income is mainly a widows pension from my late husbands employer and Widowed Parents Allowance.

I have just worked out my budget and it comes to roughly £12300 for the year, which is good as my income is £13020. My sons clothes and uniform are paid for by his own personal pension from his dad (paid until he finishes education) and I am having a "no new clothes year" as suggested on another thread. I have a fixed price energy deal until March 2012, so hopefully the £100 a month I pay for gas and electric will stay the same. I don't pay a mortgage as I own my house, but I do pay full council tax.

I've had too much on this year to really search for good car and home insurance deals, but I should have time this year. I can cook and bake, so I'm wanting to make more from scratch too. We also have two cats . One bought to keep my son company (and to whisper his secrets to) after his dad died, and then we got another one to keep the first one company. I know!!! I would also like to lose weight in 2011. I need to. I've put on 3 stone comfort eating since dh died. I'd rather do this by eating properly though than by joining a diet club or buying pre packed diet food.

I have set up my accounts book with a page (or few) for each category of expenditure, and also worked out the expected total spend. I would love to come in under budget.

Nice to meet you all, and thank you to Nuala who pointed me in this direction.

cw18

Welcome aboard Cranky

(I seem to remember reading about the loss of your DH, and have to say I totally understand the 'cat to whisper secrets to' as I turned a blind eye to my son - who was a lot older - taking our dog into his bedroom when my DH was diagnosed with cancer)

I spent 12 months with the same types of income as you're now on - company scheme widows pension to me, dependants pension from the same source to DS (which continues until he finishes Uni, but he's taken it with him to give my parents towards his upkeep now he lives with them for Uni - but as it was officially payable to him it didn't count as my income when it came to means tested benefits), WPA, CB and CTC (I assume you're also claiming the latter two?)

Query on the council tax - you say you're paying the full amount? I assume this is after the 25% single person reduction?

NualaBuala

Lovely to see you here Cranky - I seem to be advertising the Frugal Challenge a lot on other threads! It really has helped me though so I hope it can help others.

tutti wrote: »

Would love to try this challenge if I can sit down and work out a yearly spend :eek:

But did notice the post about toothpaste and thought it worth mentioning that years ago in an extremely "green" phase before I had kids I used to make my own toothpaste from an aromatherapy recipe with bicarb, salt and a couple of drops of peppermint oil, The biggest bonus was the fact that the dentist said that my teeth didn't need de-scaling and polishing so whilst the saving on toothpaste was minimal it did lead to a bigger saving at the dentist and a sparkling smile .

Good luck to all of you with your challenge!

Hi Tutti :wave: I think I might give the toothpaste a go. That sounds similar to what they made on the programme Victorian Pharmacy. Do you leave it as a powder or make an actual paste out of it? I'm always trying to be greener as well as more frugal. I have lots of toothpaste samples I got from the dentist but I might keep those for going away when the homemades stuff would be a faff. Good luck working out your budget but don't worry if you you can't be too exact. I suggest leaving a lot of wiggle-room if it's your first go and if you find some way of recording your spending you will soon see where the money is going. And that's the first step to making savings.

CRANKY40

cw18 wrote: »

Welcome aboard Cranky

(I seem to remember reading about the loss of your DH, and have to say I totally understand the 'cat to whisper secrets to' as I turned a blind eye to my son - who was a lot older - taking our dog into his bedroom when my DH was diagnosed with cancer)

I spent 12 months with the same types of income as you're now on - company scheme widows pension to me, dependants pension from the same source to DS (which continues until he finishes Uni, but he's taken it with him to give my parents towards his upkeep now he lives with them for Uni - but as it was officially payable to him it didn't count as my income when it came to means tested benefits), WPA, CB and CTC (I assume you're also claiming the latter two?)

Query on the council tax - you say you're paying the full amount? I assume this is after the 25% single person reduction?

Sorry, yes, I just meant I wasn't eligible for council tax benefit. You sent me a message on the Grocery Challenge thread (which I gave up) when 'im indoors didn't come home. I do get child benefit, and I get child tax credits too.
Thanks for the welcome