Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

Georgiegirl2012

Well i was very wicked yesterday and invested in some craft stuff so that I can make stuff for gifts and selling (hopefully). I did howeverr save £171. I also spent today because I went to change a coat, and bought lots of stuff with the credit note, but did have to spend approx £9 on the balance - did get about 20 items, including a new coat.

I'm hoping to have NSDs every day between now and next weekend. I'll try persuade my son to buy the milk, considering he drinks at least half of it.

Unlessof course I go to SW tomorrow, and pay for the cookery book I ordered (£3.95)

mooomin

Erme wrote: »

Also Nuala with regards me being a wannabe sabbatarian...one will never be a 'perfect' sabbatarian in this life. My theology dictates that because even if I don't break the Sabbath physically or outwardly then I break it in my heart and my thoughts. There are varying degrees I guess of everything...I guess you'd also term me wannabe fundamentalist though I find it wise not to mention it too much on here...

For me if I were to keep the sabbath semi decent I'd not go online and not shop for anything - even in SOS...(so like today I've run out of something I think I need so it'll just have to wait till tomorrow and I'll go without and make do for example. It's not a life or death matter right now)....

My mum's friend is what I think you mean by a Sabbatarian (she's Church of Scotland but observes the Sabbath more strictly than my parents )

She refuses to watch any sporting event on a Sunday and videos them all. She'll nap in her chair in the afternoon and then come midnight on Sunday she will turn on the telly and watch the full days snooker/golf coverage She's in her 80s so it's funny to see her yawning on Monday afternoons saying "Ooh I didn't get to bed till 6am, I was watching the golf!"

lily288

Hi everyone, Happy new year
I'd like to joim I did have my budget for over 6000 but I have changed it too 4800 as I took council tax off and another bill which I cant change.
So ill round up to 5000 for the year which i'm pleased about lets hope I can stick to it:p
I had a spend day today as I bought some shopping but it was out of money from 2010:D so still on 5000

alec_eiffel

Hi everyone,

We're a bit spendy at the minute, but this is the time of year we have some extra cash sloshing about so we're buying some things that have been on the wishlist for ages, boring stuff like blinds and things like that. They need to be bought and and least when we have them we won't be thinking about having to buy them anymore. But everyone was so generous at Christmas I really can't think of much I want now which is a great place to be when saving is the aim.

Hoping after tomorrow to join everyone in the NSD frenzy!

lingojingo

CRANKY40 wrote: »

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.

Same here.

I tried Nykmedia's original 4k challenge, which didn't include those costs over which we had no control (e.g. mortgage/rent, council tax, water rates etc.) and I learned so much and cut back unnecessary expense quite a bit, but nowboth my children are at university so my income has changed dramatically (no child benefit or family tax credit, yet all the major bills are just the same).

So this year I'm doing an all-in budget, to reflect my actual circumstances.

lingojingo

Lily_The_Legend wrote: »

Perhaps we should have LSDs... low spend days! :rotfl:

It'd be a bit odd if someone posted saying they'd had a LSD though! :eek::rotfl:

Brilliant idea!
NSD's are often quite hard to do, but I am now looking forward to a lot of LSD :rotfl:

twiglet98

lingojingo wrote: »

Same here.

I tried Nykmedia's original 4k challenge, which didn't include those costs over which we had no control (e.g. mortgage/rent, council tax, water rates etc.) and I learned so much and cut back unnecessary expense quite a bit, but nowboth my children are at university so my income has changed dramatically (no child benefit or family tax credit, yet all the major bills are just the same).

So this year I'm doing an all-in budget, to reflect my actual circumstances.

My youngest left school after A levels last summer and she cannot possibly pay me enough rent to cover the loss of tax credits and child benefit. I have doubled my working hours to make ends meet.

Is your all-in budget for the year?? Or month?

ETS sorry mis-read your budget as £1100 and thought, wow!

xnatalie81x

Evening all

Today's round-up my 3yr old went to stay at nannies for the night (their dads mum) as he didn't go with them to family on boxing day. So, myself and the 2 eldest had omlette (mushrooms from freezer that were a woopsie, and cheese) with home made chips. Plus, while i was peeling tatties i also made a huge load of mashed potato (which will do 3 dinners for me and all 3 kiddies that eat) and froze that - i still have a 5kg bag of potatoes that are beginning to sprout so i shall have a batch potato prepping day soon - making into chips to freeze etc etc

We have had no heating on for around 3 days now as it doesn't seem so cold at the moment..... I did put my monthly money onto the electric today and thanks to xmas £50 only lasted us 3 weeks!!! I blame cooking xmas dinner and the kids being off school so we have spent much much more time at home! Usually i will be out of the house most of the day!

Baby will be 6 weeks tomorrow - how time flies xmas is officially over here as all decs and tree were taken down this afternoon. I also did my Sunday cleaning and the house is all sparkly and lovely.

Ok, off to bed for me as i have 3 sleeping angels here, and one at nannies house (o and a peaceful dog on the bed with me too lol)

Night all

fingersxed

hi All

Gosh it's taken all night to catch up with u all!! I'm pleased to report another miracle 2 NSD on the trot!!! and yes did ave quick wander round shops but didn'y buy! howeva goin Ikea 2mo so that will not be a nsd!!

NualaBuala

Erme, ta very much for sharing the instructions for HM yoghurt, am hoping to get a slow cooker from freecycle so will give it a go. And thanks for sharing your explanation of Sabbatarianism - I had looked it up after you mentioned it but wasn't sure if the Wiki article was about the same religion as you meant. I don't know if we have it in Ireland, it was new to me anyway. But I think it's a nice idea to keep one day of the week sacred ... and I know what you mean about the distinction between breaking it in your heart/thoughts vs outwardly. Buddhism teaches that intention matters more than just outward action or blindly following rules.

Hehe, sorry for going off on a tangent - I'm not sure how spirituality relates to being frugal but I'm pretty sure there is a link if we thought about it.

flying_fresian wrote: »

I think that the reason it worked for me is because it's so lovely and non-threatening. If I have a "splurge" month and waste my spending money on shoes and bags then I can still PAD £1 a day and nobody on the thread judges me. Some people are paid more so can afford to pay £50+ per day, but there are plenty of people PADding £1 or less.

If I paid £300 into a savings account at the start of the month for debts I would feel deprived and end up dipping into the money, but paying small amounts daily means that I can decide what's affordable each day and made me much less likely to dip into the account.

I'm still PADding but this time to savings :A

Oh maybe I should join up properly then - although I am trying to spend less time online as it is ... I will come over and lurk for a while if you don't mind! You must be so proud of what you have achieved and it's making me want to do the same. I like the idea of doing something small every day to keep motivated - but am not sure how much money I have to do it, every cent is accounted for I think. But I will see where I can cut back. One possible area is food I guess although prices are going up all the time.

Natalie mmmmmm, you have given me a major hankering for mushroom omelette and HM chips! The omelette is no problem but I don't own a chip pan, maybe I can try HM oven chips. I am probably going to dream about them, I'll be drooling all night!

Sounds like everyone is off to a good start - and even if you have had spends, hey at least you know what you've spent and you can work them into the budget! :A