Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

rubytuesday

:hello:Hello Sarah.

Sandra your 'Williams' really made me laugh!
I have just rung Eon who I have just changed to, as they gave me a direct debit amount and then this morning I had a letter from them with an increased amount even though I don't start with them til Thursday! I think it was even more than I'm currently paying!
I'm aiming for a NSD today. I'm carrying on with my attack on the drawers (not knickers!) and will go for a walk to the park later.
I've put the heating on for half an hour to take of the chill and have made a hot water bottle. I'm really feeling cold right now!
I've lost a couple of Ibs too this week so I'm really pleased!

NualaBuala

Hi Sascha,
Welcome to MSE - I hope you will stick around to share and learn frugal tips.

I'm afraid it's against MSE rules to post to promote your blog - could you remove the details from your post or it will most likely be deleted as spam.

natnat13

Hi Sarah :wave:
I find bugeting payday to pay day is easier for me, hubby gets paid on 21st of every month and all our DDs go out on the 1st (he used to get paid on the last day of every month with old company and I never changed the DDs) It does mean for 21 - 30/1st of each month I feel rich (ish)!! Then most of it disappears!

I am loving the "Williams" sandrascarlett :rotfl:

CRANKY40

rubytuesday wrote: »

I have just rung Eon who I have just changed to, as they gave me a direct debit amount and then this morning I had a letter from them with an increased amount even though I don't start with them til Thursday! I think it was even more than I'm currently paying!

I had to ring Eon last October too, when they tried to put my direct debit up. I had received a refund of £260 two months before that so couldn't really see why they wanted me to pay more. I gently reminded them that they are my energy suppliers and not a savings scheme, and we agreed to leave the direct debit as it was

silvasava

Hi All - a bit of a 'spavy' (oh how I love that expression!) A*g*s have got the Cookworks 3.5litre slow cooker for £9.99. Very good for all the long slow cooking of cheaper cuts of meat if anyone is thinking of getting one

saschaw

NualaBuala wrote: »

Hi Sascha,
Welcome to MSE - I hope you will stick around to share and learn frugal tips.

I'm afraid it's against MSE rules to post to promote your blog - could you remove the details from your post or it will most likely be deleted as spam.

Oh sorry NualaBuala - I wasn't supposed to be promoting the blog - just was too many words to put on here! Will remove details from previous post and try to type more details in the body of this post instead. Just was good fun proving we could feed ourselves for only 20 quid if we planned!
Thanks for your advice and look forward to more tips on here in future. X

NualaBuala

saschaw wrote: »

Oh sorry NualaBuala - I wasn't supposed to be promoting the blog - just was too many words to put on here! Will remove details from previous post and try to type more details in the body of this post instead. Just was good fun proving we could feed ourselves for only 20 quid if we planned!
Thanks for your advice and look forward to more tips on here in future. X

No problem Sascha, it sounds like we could learn lots from you and I was afraid if you came back to find your post deleted it might put you off posting more! Well done on spending so little! :T

sarah0404

NualaBuala wrote: »

The way I budget is I estimate my total income for a year and use the average amount per month. I also work out all my bills/expenses on a monthly basis too - e.g. even though some are weekly like food or yearly like TV licence, I still go with monthly amounts as that's how much I need to set aside. Sorry - am sure that all sounds very complicated! I think the best approach is just to do whatever makes sense for you!

No, that makes perfect sense!

I SHOULD have had the money there to pay for the road tax and car repairs. We did have a budget, just hadn't been sticking to it since we moved house last summer. (Also became debt free last summer! But I still owe some money to my mum, so I'm not totally debt free yet) I just paid for 6 months road tax, and when it is due again in July I should have enough to pay for a year, so it doesn't land in January again.

I'm hoping I have all the major things covered in my new budget so I will actually have some money to spend on fun things or things for the house - without getting into debt for a change.

NualaBuala

sarah0404 wrote: »

No, that makes perfect sense!

I SHOULD have had the money there to pay for the road tax and car repairs. We did have a budget, just hadn't been sticking to it since we moved house last summer. (Also became debt free last summer! But I still owe some money to my mum, so I'm not totally debt free yet) I just paid for 6 months road tax, and when it is due again in July I should have enough to pay for a year, so it doesn't land in January again.

I'm hoping I have all the major things covered in my new budget so I will actually have some money to spend on fun things or things for the house - without getting into debt for a change.

Yay for getting your debts paid off! :T I think the best thing about the frugal challenge is that it means you can save money to deal with big expenses like car repairs, holidays, Christmas etc or pay off debts. And I really think it gets easier as you go on, it can be addictive trying to get everything for less and seeing how much you can save! Good luck Sarah! (P.S. I can totally identify with wanting nice things for the house, in my case it's a slight Ikea addiction but I am cured now I think mainly cos I bought everything already lol).

NualaBuala

saschaw wrote: »

Oh sorry NualaBuala - I wasn't supposed to be promoting the blog - just was too many words to put on here! Will remove details from previous post and try to type more details in the body of this post instead. Just was good fun proving we could feed ourselves for only 20 quid if we planned!
Thanks for your advice and look forward to more tips on here in future. X

I just remembered - if you go into your profile, there's a bit where you can put a link to your homepage, you could link to your blog there.