Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

whitewing

Talking of baby wet wipes, I do buy them if they're on offer as I love them. I also usedthem to wipe clean my plant leaves eg the yucca. Seems to work without killing them. (nb I don't use them on the plant after the baby or vice versa, lol)

enjoyfinancialchallenges

Re the baby wipes my daughter uses squares of fleece to wipe her boys bums with, they wash easily enough and dry in a trice. She also uses washable nappies so her washing machine is used to hard work and copes with everything just fine. I have seen her use the bought wipe boxes to store them in some sort of solution , am unsure what it is, if they get a bit sore.

LolaLemon

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Re the baby wipes my daughter uses squares of fleece to wipe her boys bums with, they wash easily enough and dry in a trice. She also uses washable nappies so her washing machine is used to hard work and copes with everything just fine. I have seen her use the bought wipe boxes to store them in some sort of solution , am unsure what it is, if they get a bit sore.

I sometimes (lazy person here) so if i remembered i would make upa chamomile tea solution to use on the wipes. i used to put it in a small bottle to take out with me (like a clear travel shampoo/gel type bottle) or leave in a tub in the house. 1 tea bag to a large tub/jug of boiled water, left to cool before being used/bottled.

lowspend2011

May I join for the 2011 challenge too please?

So far I have had 3 no spend days of my own money. I have spent vouchers from the kids for Christmas on bras and knickers on huge discount. I also bought a new top for work today at half price with a voucher given for being in an earthquake LOL who would of thought that would have paid off so well!

I will have to bow out for the first 2 weeks of April as we are going to Vietnam then, hence frantic frugal savings as we have none yet! Too busy trying to get the money together for ds to get to Uni in February. (But thankful we haven't had the fee rises you have had in NZ yet).

I have a question, my silver necklace is turning black and I don't/won't buy silver cleaner to clean it, does anyone know of another way to clean it? Thanks:)

tori.k

you can make your own silver dip with a TBS of salt & baking soda and foil.
line a dish with some kitchen foil ,dissolve the salt and soda in some boiling water pour over the foil add your necklace it may take a few mins depending on how tarnished it is.

mooomin

Morning all,

Well today isn't going to be a NSD. I'm off to the supermarket and to Costco to try and stock up on some essentials before VAT goes up. I thought I had a lot of food in but it turns out that my cupboards are just untidy :eek: I have completely run out of tinned tomatoes (!!) and don't have much in the way of lentils/beans either. I know that I will need to buy catfood and cat litter today as the only brands that my cats will eat/poop on are pricey. We've tried dropping a brand but it led to dirty protests :rotfl::rotfl: So, the humans will be eating Value tomatoes while the kitties poop on finest Catsan *rolls eyes*

I do have a list though and will be checking my cupboard inventory if I see a bargain. I know I'll get some decent mince in Costco so that should see me through a couple of months. I don't mind spending a lot today as I know I can recover it with careful budgeting in the next few months if I have a good stock of supplies in.

Better dash and get ready for work - as it's a bank holiday I can do a half day and get paid for a full one

lynzpower

Morning everyone:

Just to let you know I am still here. I will be joining in and I will be sticking to it this year! I am definitely "still here" in mind body and spirit lol.

I have managed to corner OH and today we will be finalising our figures ( they will not be pretty, lets put it that way!). I am up calculator in hand desperate to get going on this and sort it once and for all.

I feel very insecure not really knowing where I stand on things!

In any case this year I have spent 4.20 on groceries so far this year and 30 quid on my travelcard. Not too bad plus we have plenty to go at. I found some reduced veg and about to make a soup with it, I'm sure it will stretch to 10 or 12 portions, carrot and swede, green beans , potatoes, onion, leeks. If I feel generous I might put some broth mix in it!

Anyhow, I hope to post back later with the full figures, in a spreadsheet fully worked out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you and looking forward to getting to know everyone again and new faces, especially now I can be more open about my life

Love Lynz xx

lowspend2011

Thank you Tori.K I will give that a whirl right now.

Erme

flying_fresian wrote: »

I was so close to a NSD today.

We had Sunday lunch at Mr Fresian's gran's house, so no cooking costs for me and the heating was off as we were out of the house for most of the day

Mr Fresian's sister drove us down there (an hour each way) so I didn't have to put any diesel in the car

We went all the way there and back only to discover that we were nearly out of milk. Bah! £1.30 spent today then which isn't too bad at all really!

I personally would classify this as an MSD - minimum spend day but well done you FF...

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:

Sounds a bit funny ha ha ha




Now with regards Sabbatarianism and frugalism...Yeah I bodged it...went out at 12.30am for unnecessary stuff...:( and well...didn't get to bed till 1.30am and I so need my sleep...


There's a good book on frugalism and spirituality written in 1856 by Thomas Gouney (and someone else . can't see cos the clock is in the way) called 'riches increased by giving to the poor: or the surest and safeist way of thriving' - which I got given to me by a homeschooling Ma of 12 as a book on tithing but one thing it did strike me is that you can't tithe if you've got debt because like it makes out your wealthy or something when you're not..so my tithe (most of it bar a few quid) goes on my loan.

Also says about being frugal as a means to further the cause of Christ and give to the poor etc....but whom exactly? We could debate this till the cows come home and I don't think it's wise. I think once you're out of debt giving to charity and which one should be a matter of conscience. No one should dictate whom you give to and how much. Definitely no minister; priest; vicar; pastor and definitely no denomination.

So yeah....it was a good book....well worth a read if you can get your hands on it (don't know where H got it from?)....I think I had a reprint. Might be worth a google to see if you can get a free download or something?

Anyhow concentration going due to lack of sleep (so only top of Page 10...boy this thread has livened up :T) and it's almost 9 - no ironing done and daily agendas still to do :eek:

Blessings

E

miss_empty_piggy

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Re the baby wipes my daughter uses squares of fleece to wipe her boys bums with, they wash easily enough and dry in a trice. She also uses washable nappies so her washing machine is used to hard work and copes with everything just fine. I have seen her use the bought wipe boxes to store them in some sort of solution , am unsure what it is, if they get a bit sore.

I used washable nappies and they work just fine. With regard to cleaning bottoms, I used soft toilet paper to get the majority off, then I had a squirty bottle (like for ironing) filled with water, some baby bath and a squirt of baby shampoo. At first I would squirt the flannel and wet it to clean, but eventually just ended up squirting little 'uns bum. She would laugh like mad, she loved it. I had a big label on it saying "BUM WASH" so that it didn't get mixed up with anything else. Not very sophisticated I know, but it worked!!! It was also good for squirting on a clean flannel to clean "mucky chops". :rotfl: