Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

romylou_2

Aww I added my total to the preparation stage - sorry for the confusion. I'm a newbie here so please put me down for £20,000 if you haven't already.

Great thread

Georgiegirl2012

chika wrote: »

GeorgieGirl just been nosying at your budget and noticed you spend £1500 a year on phone and broadband, is this right?

i'm pretty sure that can't be right, but I was doing it at about 6.00am after being awake all night.

When me and my hubby first split up about 8 years ago, I was really good with my money, knew exactly where every penny went, and got money from him, child tax credits, and child benefit, but the last few years have gone a bit awry. Firstly the eldest went away to uni, so lost half the money, then the other child went to uni, so lost the rest of it. Now the eldest has come back home. He does contribute, but he doesn't have a proper job yet. Over the past 4 years my monthly income has decreased by about £400.

When my son came home he decided he wanted the complete Sky package and whilst he pays part of it, it goes out of my bank account. I am hoping to cover all the outgoings from my salary, so that the money my son pays me I can use to clear my debt to my "friend" sooner rather than later, despite him saying that he's in no hurry to have it back.

I think the real payment is about £80 a month because not only is it most of the Sky package, it's also the highest broadband thing, and the phone as well as multi room. However when I was checking the bank statement last night the one I looked at included 2 payments, and I was also a bit concerned to see that I don't appear to be paying line rental to BT which I thought I was. So I added the last BT amount that I could find as well. Which of course was before I was with Sky for my phonecalls.

I think the lack of sleep is catching up with me now, because I have the distinct impression that I'm rambling.:coffee:

freedom2011

Please can I join too? Will report back shortly with budget details, after I have waded through the paperwork. Really thrilled to have found this thread.

elly68

JustKeepSwimming wrote: »

We spend far to much on food - groceries & eating out, so these are my target areas. I'm going to try & be more organized & take drinks with us when we go out for the day. This is when I really miss having a car though, as having to carry food for 3 all day & on numerous trains/buses isn't that much fun - often dont take food if we need to take coats as my back complains :rotfl:.



Snap - apart from the selling on Ebay as I just can't get into it & I doubt anyone would want to buy any of my old clothes anyway .

thats one thing i'm good at ,i get round it by making the kids take a small rucksack each which i usually end up with once empty by then they fit into mine .maybe you could use gym bags as they are light,cheap and waterproof .

do you all stock up on basics when they are on special,i was going to try and just make do with £100 a week cash and see how far i can stretch it ,going to get kids just to take packed lunches as not convinced youngest is always getting dairy free food at school .dont know if it will save me money but i will work out a budget.

all our other stuff is dd ,so not much movement there apart from better tarriffs and cashback so here goes £5200 for grocery shop ,including packed lunch :T

Erme

kazire wrote: »

ok just just after shocking myself and nearly crying! i have worked out how much offically i am going to be paying to live basicly this year! prevously the ex did all of this! so my new life on my own will start with this challenge including everything rent and fuel is near the 15,000 mark 7,800 of that is rent!! I really want to save as much as possiable so that i can buy my own property someday! so heres to 2011 and any hints and tips are greatly received! and a big thanks to CW for the spreadsheet!!

If I were you I wouldn't include your rent or CT in your FL challenge...it'll just depress you...((((((((((((((((((((((((KAZIRE))))))))))))))))

xnatalie81x wrote: »

Found you

My budget for the year

Window Cleaner 90yr
I cannot do this myself

Dog
360 yr
Food, Insurance, Toys (he is a tiny jug and eats less than 100g dry food per day)

Car Tax
240yr

MOT/repairs/aa cover
500
My dad does all my car work but for tyres/bulbs/oil etc and AA cover (the TCB will be used for other budget - info at the end of this post)

Stationery/accessories
60 yr
For filing etc

Gas
600 yr
I think this is too much but i am not sure what it is as only moved here end june

Electric
700
Worst case

BT
39 mth
This is not too bad as i claim it back on business expenses at end of year as phone line exclusively for business

Mobile
580 yr
I phone contract - need internet on go and includes VAT increase!

Car Insurance
500
Already paid in lump sum but i transfer the money back to savings where it came from every month saving loads on interest to loan company

Washing/Cleaning/Toiletries
200 yr
Laundry - Cleaning products - Loo roll. Quite lucky in that i rarely buy shampoo and conditioner and body wash as so much gets left behind at the swimming pool and chucked that i may as well use it

Garden
300 yr
Am seriously upping my grow own this year - garden is huge and mum has got allotment. Already bought potatoes and all seeds - this is for compost/manure/pots etc

B'day
400
I have 4 kids and a large family!

Xmas
400
I have 4 kids and a large family!

Petrol
2400
This is really high i know but i live in north london and my kids go to school in Herts still. I am not changing their school. I also go to the gym near their school and gyms local to me have no decent creche facilities

Kids Activities
360
School Trips - Parties etc etc for 4 kids

Kids clothes/shoes/accesories
1000
School uniform, School Shoes, Clothes, Shoes, Socks, Knickers etc for 4 kids - think ebay/charity shops/grabbit board etc etc (4 pairs school shoes, 4 pairs trainers and 4 pairs good shoes could set me back 300 if i'm not careful!)

My clothes shoes and accessories
600
Gym trainers every 3-6mths, gym clothes and an entire new wardrobe as i have gone from size 20 to size 14/16 recently

Food and Milk (my eldest son has milk at school highly subsidised at like 15.00 per term)
3000
All food, drinks etc for 1 adult and 3 children ish

Nappies and Wipes
600
4year old wears to bed, as does 3 yr old and a new baby

Gym
300
Monthly direct debit

Hair cuts
340
3 kids and me (around 60 every 2 months)

TOTAL 14000 FOR THE YEAR


The biggest difference this year is that i do not have an OTHER budget, as previous! This is really scary for me as i have usually
allowed 100-200 for other but end up buying things for the sake of it SOOOOOOOOOOOOO this year i have to 'earn' my other budget,
any money used will come from -additional work (i do invigilating in summer and cover other swimming teachers who are off and do crash
courses etc) - TCB - Using tesco vouchers to buy nappies for example and then converting the same amount into cash for the other
budget - Ebay (selling old maternity clothes etc that i have etc) Also if i save on the electric one month i can put that cash into the next
months other budget and with food, i plan to save by growing own and in the summer/autumn and winter next year reduce food budget
and put that saving into the next months other budget. Am hoping it will reign in my spending if i work for it

Yesterday and today i:

- sorted AA £79.00 for year (and 42 cashback via TCB for 'other budget')
- purchased a steam cleaner on ebay (my dad used his to clean cooker at my mums. Amazing. Will save mega bucks on cleaning stuff, steam and malt vinegar here i come! - and so much better for my lil family's lungs and skin)
- cleaned my mums kitchen (think 'how clean is ur house programme, deadly serious! - took about 4 hrs with baby stopping breaks to feed but result is amazing) for a late xmas pressie and thanks for all her help - cheaper than flowers - used her water and vinegar
- spent most of day at mums and had lunch/dinner there = saved on food. She didn't mind as i cleaned her kitchen

Looking forward to the rest of the month - i also planted some cucumber seeds which say January on the packet. We shall see how they go

More photos to cheer up the thread pls xxxx lol

I think I have a recipe for baby wipes if you're interested? Looks quite cheap - would you like me to PM it to you...

As for me (woe is me I'm doing all this is Sabbath and for the newbies I'm a wannabe sabbatarian)...I double checked the OD this am after vacuum had come out and it's about -90 so with the loan that'll be about -250 of which the 40 I put on it (should I say donated? Hope I'm being clear here) should bring it down to like -210 soonish and then once cashback clears it'll be down another 100 so that's -110 which is still too high but this in a week gives me hope

I'm having (finally for a Sabbath - every Sabbath is supposed to be like this for me) a NSD and I'm thinking of trying to a maxi combo of NSD's and MSD (less than £1 - for sos choc basically or something similar - minimum spend days) cos the whole NSD thing was a tad of a disaster for me last year...:( . Also thinking about joining the DFW club cos like I so want to get loan paid off by end of year (only 3K to go LOL) but it's going to be a like major effort as well as trying to get a rainy day fund together ...maybe Skye will have to wait? So will the decorating...but then what's more important...and if I think I might need a new washing machine then best increase that RDF to £300 pronto (currently it's about zero)...exactly...what have I set myself in financial challenge :eek:...judging by last year I may have bitten off more than I can chew LOL

E

Marru

Erme wrote: »

Just warming the slow cooker for my yoghurt (not had it in days :eek: and it's cheap)

Can you please let me know how you do it. Amounts and times etc? Thank you so much!!!

ceridwen

sparkle76 wrote: »

I would like to make th e'laundry gloop' I have heard people talking about - any recipes please? I currently use washing powder mixed 50/50 with soda crystals which saves alot, but this year would like to use the soap nuts we have (bought ages ago and only used a bit), plus the laundry gloop if I can.

LAUNDRY GLOOP
1 bar of soap (a "Value/Basics" cheapie one will do)
1 cup of washing soda
4 litres water

- Grate soap
- Boil up the 4 litres of water in a LARGE saucepan (I use a jam preserving pan personally)
- Stir in the grated soap
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the washing soda
- Leave it to cool. During the cooling process it will turn to the consistency of thick-ish blancmange
- Put in suitable large container/s.

TO USE: A mean ladleful per washing machine load put into the washing machine drum directly.

Cost - about 35p approx. Lasts absolutely ages...

NualaBuala

Georgiegirl2012 wrote: »

i'm pretty sure that can't be right, but I was doing it at about 6.00am after being awake all night.

When me and my hubby first split up about 8 years ago, I was really good with my money, knew exactly where every penny went, and got money from him, child tax credits, and child benefit, but the last few years have gone a bit awry. Firstly the eldest went away to uni, so lost half the money, then the other child went to uni, so lost the rest of it. Now the eldest has come back home. He does contribute, but he doesn't have a proper job yet. Over the past 4 years my monthly income has decreased by about £400.

When my son came home he decided he wanted the complete Sky package and whilst he pays part of it, it goes out of my bank account. I am hoping to cover all the outgoings from my salary, so that the money my son pays me I can use to clear my debt to my "friend" sooner rather than later, despite him saying that he's in no hurry to have it back.

I think the real payment is about £80 a month because not only is it most of the Sky package, it's also the highest broadband thing, and the phone as well as multi room. However when I was checking the bank statement last night the one I looked at included 2 payments, and I was also a bit concerned to see that I don't appear to be paying line rental to BT which I thought I was. So I added the last BT amount that I could find as well. Which of course was before I was with Sky for my phonecalls.

I think the lack of sleep is catching up with me now, because I have the distinct impression that I'm rambling.:coffee:

Not rambling at all! I totally know how you feel about wanting to pay your friend back asap - I hate having things hang over me even if the other person doesn't mind. I ended up getting rid of Sky altogether and can honestly say I haven't missed it. I was only on the very basic package but it meant I was able to use that towards my loan. And I dropped to the slowest most basic internet package I could find - that's been fine too. But then I only have myself to consider - no children to berate me for cutting back! Hope you catch up on your sleep!

Erme wrote: »

If I were you I wouldn't include your rent or CT in your FL challenge...it'll just depress you...((((((((((((((((((((((((KAZIRE))))))))))))))))






I think I have a recipe for baby wipes if you're interested? Looks quite cheap - would you like me to PM it to you...

As for me (woe is me I'm doing all this is Sabbath and for the newbies I'm a wannabe sabbatarian)...I double checked the OD this am after vacuum had come out and it's about -90 so with the loan that'll be about -250 of which the 40 I put on it (should I say donated? Hope I'm being clear here) should bring it down to like -210 soonish and then once cashback clears it'll be down another 100 so that's -110 which is still too high but this in a week gives me hope

I'm having (finally for a Sabbath - every Sabbath is supposed to be like this for me) a NSD and I'm thinking of trying to a maxi combo of NSD's and MSD (less than £1 - for sos choc basically or something similar - minimum spend days) cos the whole NSD thing was a tad of a disaster for me last year...:( . Also thinking about joining the DFW club cos like I so want to get loan paid off by end of year (only 3K to go LOL) but it's going to be a like major effort as well as trying to get a rainy day fund together ...maybe Skye will have to wait? So will the decorating...but then what's more important...and if I think I might need a new washing machine then best increase that RDF to £300 pronto (currently it's about zero)...exactly...what have I set myself in financial challenge :eek:...judging by last year I may have bitten off more than I can chew LOL

E

Erme, you are doing great lass - and don't worry about the NSDs. I love your invention of MSDs! :T If it were me, I'd put off the decorating unless it was really really bad and making me miserable. Would you be interested in the Payment a Day challenge? I think that's the name of it - it's on the Debt Free Wannabe section. I don't know how your debt is set up but the idea is to challenge yourself to pay something daily off your debt even if it's just a few pence found on the ground. Some people save it in a jar until they have a decent amount they can lodge to the account and others do it through their online banking. But if it would put you under too much pressure with an already tight budget then obviously it's not a great idea.

BTW - I've known you about a year and I didn't know you were a "wannabe sabbatarian" .. had never heard of that and had to look it up. Am an agnostic atheistic Buddhist (cor what a mouthful!) myself but always interested in other folks' beliefs.:)


Another NSD for me today - easy cos I didn't go anywhere. Nice to be able to say I've spent nothing this year!

CRANKY40

Erme wrote: »

If I were you I wouldn't include your rent or CT in your FL challenge...it'll just depress you...

I've included it in mine because it still has to be paid from the fixed amount of money available to me, and if it's more than the amount that I've budgeted for, something else will have to be decreased.

ceridwen

Ugh! As in a "not much of a spend Day" - only my morning newspaper. But - a bit of a waste day. Have just taken a cautious bite of some carrot muffins - made with DRIED carrot. About to throw the rest of them in the bin...

Errr....I've made the exact same recipe before with fresh carrot and it was nice. Its the first - and last - time I will be using DRIED carrot though....yuk.....well there WAS only one way to find out if I could ever like dried carrot...:(