Frugal Living 2011 - the preparation stage

cw18

londonirish wrote: »

I buy loads for the children I look after, am always seeing things I know they will love, but 2011 I will cut back drastically, I know it would go down as an expense, but its all shopping , something which is very dangerous for me.

For every £100 you spend on the children that's deductable, this is effectively (assuming you earn enough to pay tax on any of it) £80 from your pocket and £20 from the pocket of IR.

So cutting back on what you spend on them would make you better off - and even more so if you don't earn enough to pay tax, as that means every £100 not spent on them is £100 in your pocket

redglass_2

HelenPie wrote: »

I've just done about 30 minutes of insurance comparisons and already found about £400 of potential savings :j The downside is that my existing policies only begin to expire in the Summer

Not sure but I think you can swap over in mid-policy. Worth checking. Also worth asking the new provider how much it is if you pay up front - paying monthly often costs more though they keep this very quiet.

A couple of years ago I bought a secondhand car from a dealer. As a result, car tax, MOT and insurance always come together and I can never do the MOT online because of some technicality about the insurance being about to expire and the new one not having appeared on their radar yet. So it's worth setting up new car insurance well away from the date of the MOT. (The voice of bitter experience speaking here!)

Am thinking about rejoining the challenge. I've flirted with it for years - dropped out 2 years ago because I had a lifestyle change that made it much harder to keep proper tabs on spending. Now I'm back in something more like my usual mode: scrimp, scrimp! So even if I don't join I'll still be lurking.

Jacey53

Could I please join in?

I have not included any housing or utilities in my calculation, nor the amount I pay toward debts. I have reduced my internet and phone costs right down and have a PAYG mobile which I hardly ever use.

So here goes

Car-related expenses: this year £1932 next £1332 balance of £600 into new car fund (by reducing unnecessary journeys and being more organised)
Household and sundries: this year £3072 next £2712 balance of £360 toward paying off CC
The household budget includes groceries, toiletries, cat food, cleaning stuff, dentist, hairdresser, medicines, clothes, entertainment, presents and emergencies

So aiming for a total spend on all these categories of £4044.

Looking forward to pick up some helpful tips

Jacey:)

cw18

Jacey53 wrote: »

Could I please join in?

Welcome aboard

slowlyfading

I've been looking at figures today again - rent doesn't count in this, and I'm not including council tax and water either, as they are fixed and out of our control. I don't include car related expenses as both me and OH need cars to get to work so without them we wouldn't have an income.

I'm already looking forward to a new start, and the chance, hopefully, to save more towards our wedding

Jacey - welcome to the thread!

the_cat

I would really love to tag along on this challenge for moral support, although my budget cannot truly be considered frugal

Having tried a couple of times to set low amounts for essentials and do the challenge that way, I have found that even though I largely stick to this budget, it has not curbed my spending on the big ticket items. I therefore end up not saving as much as I would like to.

I am therefore going to set a maximum overall spend limit (£20K:eek::eek::eek:) which includes an amount for possible 'big spends' so that I hit my savings target. I might possibly have to spend on either a new(er) car for DH, a new bathroom installed and tiled or a holiday(DH might insist and as he works hard I feel it's only fair to accomodate it if he feels strongly, as he can afford it ). We will not be able to do all 3 on the money I have set aside and might in fact choose to do none but knowing that there is a limit but not a complete ban will definately help. In the past I have prioritised these sort of items over long term savings and want to switch to more savings this year

I am lucky in that I can afford to do this I know (unless of course OH gets made redundant or something)and hope that I am still welcome to join in the chat/motivation...... can't help but feel embarrased though at the potential spend:o

Hoping my decadant ways are not going to offend!

lynzpower

Am going to start hoarding art materials , I dont encourage the children to watch tv so we do loads of sticking baking messy play and park walks Its really hard when i get the catalogues not to buy

Hi, Im sure you probably already but old magazine/ yog pots/ packaging/ toilet roll innards/ scraps of old clothes etc can all be usedfor this sort of thing, instead of "bought" craft supplies

londonirish_3

lynzpower wrote: »

Hi, Im sure you probably already but old magazine/ yog pots/ packaging/ toilet roll innards/ scraps of old clothes etc can all be usedfor this sort of thing, instead of "bought" craft supplies

:eek::eek::eek: you said toilet roll innards :eek::eek::eek:

you know i love to make christmas crackers using these, and other bits, my ofsted inspector really came down on me about this, saying it was a hygeine issue. ridiculous isnt it :rotfl:

londonirish_3

I collect loads of bits from around the house, however those childminding catalogues are seriously like heaven to a childminder lol. I have decided that when they arrive they are going STRAIGHT to recycling, without being opened... ohh its going to be hard lol

cw18

the_cat wrote: »

I am lucky in that I can afford to do this I know (unless of course OH gets made redundant or something)and hope that I am still welcome to join in the chat/motivation...... can't help but feel embarrased though at the potential spend:o

Of course you're welcome

As I said (or tried to) in my initial post, our budgets are totally personal - the only thing we should all be ensuring is that outgoings are no more than incomings. So for those on large(r) incomes a large(r) budget is totally acceptable


I'd have been in the same boat as you 5 years ago - though I'm actually horrified to realise how much I squandered without need over at least 14 years of (very) good joint income and (relatively) low mortgage payments.... especially when I realise how much more comfortable I'd have been over the last 4.5 years if I hadn't done so