Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

LollopyBear

NSD for me today :j

I've also made some headway in 'the dumping ground' (aka the spare room). I've now rechristened it 'the study' to give that room a sense of everyday purpose. Was able to throw away 2 binbags full of rubbish, a big bag of paper recycling and 2 bags for the charity shop. There is still a long way to go, but I feel better now I'm able to see the floor and I've got a space to do my marking in.

This may not seem particularly relevant to being frugal, but it is another step along my path of letting go of attachment to 'stuff'. The less stuff I want in my house, the less stuff I will buy. That's the plan anyway .

itsallinthemind

NualaBuala wrote: »

Do you know Amaravati, it's near Hemel Hempstead ... that's where I was and it was beautiful. I hope to go back some time health and finances permitting. In fact one reason for me trying to be frugal throughout the year is so I can afford to do things like that once in a while.

I've not no. I tend to keep everything within my own 4 walls, maybe one day I may explore things further when the children are not so time consuming!

Erme wrote: »

What's 'thervedas' out of curiosity....

Theravada Buddhism. It is like Buddhism Lite :rotfl:

Therevada Buddhists are Atheists, do not believe in a Diety, but believe in a certain way of life and moral code and of course living a basic life. There are those that are dedicated or those that take the essence of it into their life. It may mean taking all the teachings on board or just snippets. There is no worshiping of anything.

Hence my Buddha quote and Lily(different colours symbolise different things) on my profile, there not because I am showing for others, but because often I catch my own posts and it reminds me on the grabbit board to seriously work out if I NEED whatever it is etc. Works the same as posting debt free dates for example, in my signature.

Here is a quote, so you get the idea, I practice the extra lite version though “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” - Buddha




Now my update

Tesco
Order summary
Total Savings:£26.79
Your Guide price (314 items) £195.45
Delivery charge:£4.00
Subtotal:£199.45

However, anyone who caught my hello may remember my groceries budget it is odd. £25 per week for 44 weeks of the year and £100 for 8 weeks of the year when I have relatives stay etc. This is my major stock up(Do not drive, life in tiny village). These items are all for 4 of those 8 weeks. Only £5.68 is actually what will be used this week(few fresh bits as the cupboards are fine here). The rest is all household things like 104 washes of laundry liquid and other things to beat any possible VAT issues. It will all be going in the garage currently. So, for the 4 weeks with relatives, it leaves me with £50 per week to buy fresh meat, vegetables, dairy. So actually, despite being shocking, I am under budget by 55p :rotfl:

I still feel sick though, took me two hours to do it. Loads of value bits to try that I have found taste just like the normal version, to me tinned sweetcorn is, well tinned sweetcorn.

Just had to then do a nearly £50 order for my male mate, lost his wallet, needed food, cigarettes and coffee delivered tonight. Actually rephrase, he needed cigarettes, coffee and food delivered. Probably not seeing for a while, so will have to absorb that somehow for a bit. So I am having an expensive day on paper!

I'll just hang on to the fact that I have only spent £5.68 this week TECHNICALLY, so that I do not spend the rest of the day wanting to vomit :D Hopefully that will make you all feel better if you treated yourself to a whoopsie :rotfl:

chika

Unfortunatly my little run of NSD's is over. Had to buy a subscription to a fantastic website that helps me with my lesson planning for £24 and will need to pop to the supermarket later to get some food. I'm on a low carb diet which seems to be costing a fair bit. Going to investigate some cheaper cuts of meat later too, any reccomendations?

I also need to top up the electricty meter (this thing is the biggest pain ever. I try and be really careful with my usage, I only use one storage heater in the living room, the immersion heater is timed to come on during off peak hours and if it's really cold, I pop my electric blanket on for 1/2 hour before I get into bed. However I constantly seem to be putting money into it. Note to self, never ever move into a flat with no central heating ever again!

I've spent the morning cleaning up a candle that I managed to knock over after it had been burning for several hours. This evening is going to be spent doing some last minute lesson planning and getting my life in order for the start of the new term.

itsallinthemind

chika wrote: »

Going to investigate some cheaper cuts of meat later too, any reccomendations?

I've spent the morning cleaning up a candle that I managed to knock over after it had been burning for several hours.

Not really. I noticed in supermarkets the pork belly cut into pork strips is frankly evil looking. My butchers sells belly and then cut into strips. The chunks he leaves not cut into strips are not actually that fatty when I trim. Makes a good Sweet and Sour or Souvlaki Gyro for the children as a treat. Dirt cheap even in my expensive village butcher.

They also give the me chicken carcass free. I asked recently if they had any lurking as I wanted to make stock(dislike chicken stock cubes) but we do not get through much meat here. He gave me three and I got 6 curries off the bones Said I can always have how ever many I want as they pay in weight for waste removal

As for the candle, I feel your pain, I did it a few weeks ago. So annoyed with myself. I got the last bits up by putting greaseproof paper down and running a warm iron over it, took a few goes.

seriouslyfrugal

Hi

Happy new year :j

sorry haven't been around for a few days went down with the bug everyone seams to have anyhow managed - somehow to finalise my budget fot 2011 - this will be £4.000 ( unless I get a job then will re-adjust as required )


good luck to everyone for 2011

kittiej

wow kittiej.
i've got alot of respect for you being able to do 4k a year.
I would love to know how people do it.

OCD - my idea of 'living on £4k' is that this covers gas, electric, diesel and food shopping, the things I can control my spending on. It doesn't cover the things I have to pay like mortgage, water, council tax etc.

HTH

I haven't had to spend any money so far this year, that will soon change I expect *rolls eyes*

NualaBuala

I've been reading for ages and am starting to think I'll NEVER catch up! I must be subscribed to too many threads!:D Oh well, as long as I am busy here, I'm not spending money!

Great to see you back Lynz!:j

That book sounds interesting Erme. My humble opinion is that there are many ways to give, it doesn't have to be money. It can be time or just a little kindness or sharing unnecessary possessions. I don't think it makes sense if someone is already in financial hardship/debt to get into further difficulty by giving money. I'm still catching up but I see you asked about Theravada - it's the oldest and some would say simplest form of Buddhism. Many would say it's not a religion because there are no deities to be worshipped or anything supernatural (that came later when Buddhism met and merged with existing religions as it spread). I see it just as a way of trying to live a good life. In my case the emphasis is on TRYING!

xnatalie81x wrote: »

I make my own chips in the oven - cut potatoes into chips (slie large potato in half longways an then cut that in half on its side so you have a large fat crisp and then slice into chips) - then i boil then for about 5-10mins till soft, drain and place a few spoons oil on a baking tray (i have to make loads remember lol) and then brush some oil on top - bake in oven They are delish - if you want them fluffy then when drained put them back into pan and put lid on and shake gently a few times so they 'rough up' - then bake

Thanks for that Natalie - I will definitely be giving those a go. Haha, thanks to you I am drooling again!

Brrr, don't know about everyone else but it has got colder here - must make a cuppa to warm myself up. Right, I am off to do something useful and then I will get back and finish reading this thread!

kittiej

Brrr, don't know about everyone else but it has got colder here

Nuala it was snowing here earlier (South Wales). I'm fed up with the stuff.

Erme

rainbowcattail wrote: »

Hi all

I would like to join please although I will probably be more of a lurker than a poster and try and use this thread to keep me on track. I will work out our budget over the next week hopefully. Unfortunately this year we have to replace the bath room (the shower is about to blow up I fear and we have now put it off for 7 years it is becoming one of those things that cannot go on much longer) and we have to rewire the house as it is getting unsafe. The bath room we are intending to buy in the sales as we managed to save £5k last year, I am really hoping this will cover most of it. The rewiring Im not sure how to fund yet, savings from this year and overdraft hopefully. We dont have any loans (bar the mortgage) and I am trying to avoid taking any out. On the plus side we are also intending to grow our own veg this year and we are on the waiting list for an allotment. Well I am, Mr cat_tail thinks I am mad.

Mr cat_tail is currently on board with the new frugal outlook especially as it looks like I may be made redundant this year. Apart from working out spendings and changing suppliers if necessary Im not sure where to start. A monthly meal planner? How do you work out gas and elec if you pay quarterly (sorry Im not good or logical with this sort of thing) I will read all the links in the first post.

EFC - I hope your cat is feeling better, something similar happened to our cat a few years ago and luckily the insurance covered all of it as it was expensive.

thanks for the inspiration all

xx

I can't remember the site...but just thinking strangely (it's been a strange day...I forgot my PIN at the supermarket not once but twice :eek:) you maybe entitled to grants for this sort of thing...not least if the improvement is more eco friendly or something...do a search for grants on the top right of this board and see what comes up? May help...

Also I know there's care and repair in most place but don't know who fits the criteria (trying to be diplomatic here LOL)

itsallinthemind wrote: »

I've not no. I tend to keep everything within my own 4 walls, maybe one day I may explore things further when the children are not so time consuming!

Theravada Buddhism. It is like Buddhism Lite :rotfl:

Therevada Buddhists are Atheists, do not believe in a Diety, but believe in a certain way of life and moral code and of course living a basic life. There are those that are dedicated or those that take the essence of it into their life. It may mean taking all the teachings on board or just snippets. There is no worshiping of anything.

Hence my Buddha quote and Lily(different colours symbolise different things) on my profile, there not because I am showing for others, but because often I catch my own posts and it reminds me on the grabbit board to seriously work out if I NEED whatever it is etc. Works the same as posting debt free dates for example, in my signature.

Here is a quote, so you get the idea, I practice the extra lite version though “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” - Buddha




Now my update

Tesco
Order summary
Total Savings:£26.79
Your Guide price (314 items) £195.45
Delivery charge:£4.00
Subtotal:£199.45

However, anyone who caught my hello may remember my groceries budget it is odd. £25 per week for 44 weeks of the year and £100 for 8 weeks of the year when I have relatives stay etc. This is my major stock up(Do not drive, life in tiny village). These items are all for 4 of those 8 weeks. Only £5.68 is actually what will be used this week(few fresh bits as the cupboards are fine here). The rest is all household things like 104 washes of laundry liquid and other things to beat any possible VAT issues. It will all be going in the garage currently. So, for the 4 weeks with relatives, it leaves me with £50 per week to buy fresh meat, vegetables, dairy. So actually, despite being shocking, I am under budget by 55p :rotfl:

I still feel sick though, took me two hours to do it. Loads of value bits to try that I have found taste just like the normal version, to me tinned sweetcorn is, well tinned sweetcorn.

Just had to then do a nearly £50 order for my male mate, lost his wallet, needed food, cigarettes and coffee delivered tonight. Actually rephrase, he needed cigarettes, coffee and food delivered. Probably not seeing for a while, so will have to absorb that somehow for a bit. So I am having an expensive day on paper!

I'll just hang on to the fact that I have only spent £5.68 this week TECHNICALLY, so that I do not spend the rest of the day wanting to vomit :D Hopefully that will make you all feel better if you treated yourself to a whoopsie :rotfl:

You know what - whether you agree or not you probably made him feel a whole lot better going for the cigs..so long as he pays you back...:)

That's my secret big whoopsie guy - I'm a heavy smoker but a cheap smoker so I spend about £20 a week on cigs which gets me I'm so addicted (no advice wanted here note) cos like that's the same as my food budget :eek: - if not more some weeks...exactly....see what a hypocrite Erme is - not only is she a phoney Sabbatarian but now she is phoney on the frugal living....

However ...this is a road, a journey we're on and I'm only beating myself up here so you don't....so please don't judge me - just encourage.

I have the last line of my sig btw for the same reason as you do inthemind - to remind me not to shop...pray it does some good ...here's hoping. I have wonderful intentions right now but I know the illness could whip them all away in a flash...:(

E

HelenPie

Well, I was feeling very inspired after reading a few posts this morning so I've set up my groceries spreadsheet (thanks Cheryl ) and had a day of batch cooking:

Cranberry Sauce (cranberries reduced from £3 to 39p and had some oranges lurking in the fridge)
Butternut Squash Muffins (great for breakfast)
Lemon Curd (to have with the muffins)
Lasagne
Macaroni Cheese
Bolognaise Sauce
Plus fried off some chopped onions that were lurking about

I now have a very well stocked freezer :j Unfortunately, it is very small and I can't fit much more in! I think all of that has cost about £15 though, max (will probably work it all out later - I get some strange sense of satisfaction out of tasks like that

My BF rarely is home to eat, so I should have more than enough food for 2 weeks there - far better than the £50-£60+ I usually get through by not being prepared and buying 3 meals a day on-the-run, so to speak.

The downside of all of this is that I was supposed to catch up on housework today.... Oh well

Thanks for the motivation guys

H xx