Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

rubytuesday

Well two odds and sods kitchen drawers sorted. I now have one kitchen drawer and one greatly culled odds and sods drawer! I still have a couple of 'should I keep or should I throw items which I have no clue as to their purpose but inevitably if I throw them I will realize I needed them at some point......maybe!
Another NSD for me today. I should venture to the park but don't feel like it now. Having a roast later with one of the M and S 3 for 10 pound chickens.
I have gone over budget on the food shopping by quite a bit but I'm not too bothered as things have gone in the freezer and I have stocked up on a lot of stuff so really it is shopping for the coming weeks.

Glad Doggie is ok Minnie.

midwinter

summertea wrote: »

Just got back from Mr S and was impressed to find out i had managed to correctly work out the cheaper offer on deodorant even thought the two offers were for different volumes

Jess Sorry to hear about your job, wishing you success in getting another one

Midwinter I'm so impressed with your 5 NSD's i haven't pegged a single one for Jan yet
Itsallinthemind where did you pick up the 9 Nouvelle toilet rolls for £2.55? i could do with stocking up.

good frugalling to all

Well done, I'm sure they make the same item in different volumes, just to try to make us pay more for less! lol

I'm not sure the NSD's really help, except, of course, not going shopping, you're not tempted into buying other things that you might see there! :rotfl:

apple_mint

natnat13 wrote: »

What is a green bag?

Mine are the lakeland ones that itsallinthemind provided the link to. They do sound expensive and it did take me some time decide to get some, but they have been good and can be rewashed. The poundland shop ones are a bargain if they are the same.

romylou_2

I didn't manage to increase my NSD's today. I had to go and get some milk at £2.00 and paid for a power plate session at the gym at £2.20.

Its a low spend day at £4.40 and sig updated accordingly. Tomorrow I am going to the hairdresser and will also probably put some diesel in the car.:mad: I've managed to hold off but its running on fumes at the moment. Also £1.33 here for Diesel. OMG!!

I'm also cooking a chicken and will make a chicken casserole for tomorrow - yummy. The rest of the chicken will be used for pasta, sandwiches and rice dishes.:D

slowlyfading

minnie2 wrote: »

lump on dog has gone!! woo hoo!! on two counts!! firstly not tumour - i had wondered if he had clunked it on his bone while he was messing about!! secondly - ive cancelled vet appointment!!!! so no cost there!!

Yay! :j :j :j

midwinter

itsallinthemind wrote: »

Made a very frugal decision yesterday and passed the information on just now. I will not be accepting my ex back. Considering he refused to work, I have just saved myself an absolute fortune :rotfl:as the income is the same Obviously my decision was NOT based on my budget, but it helps

I know the feeling well..... my ex hadn't worked during 8 of the 18 years we were married... extremely stressful..... and finally, he became ex.

So always had to take care of the pennies.... but find even more so now the boys are strapping teenagers with hollow legs at all times of the day and night!!

midwinter

Resisted the need to go to Tesco's for the 2nd clothes airer ~the rain helped! lol

So a further day as a NSD.

And..... used the time instead, to make the 6 February birthday cards I need

redglass_2

23rdspiral wrote: »

humm, that sounds really sensible. have you put this in one of the spare rows in the 'regs' page?

Yes. Breaking it all down into finer detail wouldn't suit me - I wouldn't get much benefit because I don't have regular trips to McDs or regular nights out (talk about sad! :rotfl:) or anything that might need looking at more closely. In general i try to keep things very simple and don't even use the Whoopsies functions on the spreadsheet though i might get round to that in future.

I'm very chuffed because a friend has just consulted me for financial advice - I'm flattered that she thinks I'm coping well and values my opinion, and I'm glad to be able to help. One of the first things I did was send her a link to this site. Not to this forum, mind, I don't think she's ready for full-time frugality just yet!

minnie2

Disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well i did not get cash out, i did not stick to my list, and i did not add up as i was going round!!!!!!!!!! but i did SPEND A BLOODY FORTUNE!!!!!!! Argh!!!

Sainsburys - spent £6.92 saved 50p and spent a £2.50 nectar reward so end total £3.92

Asda - spent £43.94 saved £4.06 end total £39.88

Morrison - spent £39.61 saved £10.94 end total £28.77

total spend - £72.57

overall spent £86.27 this month so ive got £68.73 left till end of this month

i suppose its ok as i have been spending £395 a month and have slashed the budget £155

i did get a couple of things i was pleased with - cod reduced from £2.58 to 29p i got 2lots not that i eat it, but hubby does! plus a massive lump of gammon for £6 - other gammon was £4.55/ £5.19/ £5.49 a kg but the lump i got works out less than £1 a kg

but now what to do with it!!!! i dont eat the stuff so itll be meals for 1 for hubby!!!

dizzy_lizzie

gien wrote: »

Hello, can I join you on this thread please?
I think I'll go and catch up on the thread a bit more now.

Hello gien. You'll love it on here

itsallinthemind wrote: »

dizzy lizzy Ah I dunno, you could have a mini challenge to just spend £19 the last week. Although hard, I seem to thrive on getting my spends as low as possible as well as nutritious as possible I bet you have loads you can stretch next week

Hiya iaitm I will definately try the mini challenge. Will probably have to be a challenge were I don't go too far over the £19 odd though. Maybe a £10 limit. Hope you're feeling okay with the partner decision too :grouphug: (another one of those dodgy hugs here)

23rdspiral wrote: »

well as anticipated, yesterday was a spendy day going around fabric shops - but Everything i bought was reduced and quite a bit by 50% or more, so i spent 21.46 on fabric that if full price would have been 49.33! so i dont feel guilty at all (but maybe i should?)

Can I ask what you make with your fabric spiral. Sorry if you've already said, my memory is very......................oh sorry were was I, ah that's it, short term I did have a sewing machine many moons ago but it was stuck in my bedroom more than was used so I sold it I love anything to do with craft activities though.

minnie2 so pleased on the good news about your dog. I bet you're relieved!

Think I might have a little knit tonight whilst relaxing. Can't believe it's blimming Monday tomorrow already!
Luv Dizzy x
♥

Just added up my sig and I've gone over by £4.48 for the months total. Damage limitation now!!!!