Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

cw18

Mooloo wrote: »

Edit. I have not been able to save the spreadsheet Cheryl as I dont have a proper Microsoft Office, only Microsoft Works Task thingy. So I will have to do it all the hard way!

You can download OpenOffice for FREE from here, and that will run the 97-2003 version of the spreadsheet. I believe quite a few people on here run it that way, and I set a friends laptop up with the software from there and my spreadsheet yesterday, so have seen it working (Some first foray into the world of spreadsheets for him )

redglass_2

LollopyBear wrote: »

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 .

That's how I think of it too: a house with space, plus money in the bank, instead of piles of junk. Hard to achieve but good to aspire to...

lynzpower

PHEW MAMMOTH SESSION!!
Wowee, head is totally spinning, my eyes opened - feel like smashing my head against a brick wall here as I've been so daft with money when I have sat down and thought it through! ( :wall:)

This is for me, OH and our dog. I'm not working at the mo, and back at uni doing a masters. I tried to get a part time job but my hand is still not right, and in any case I think the competition for jobs is quite hard. So anyway I'm not working at the mo and OH is still on a temp contract. We are living on a mixture of his wages and dwindling savings.
I aim to draw out 5k this year to contribute from savings and hopefully we can keep afloat. Im paying for uni out of savings as well, which is really one of the things that it was saved for.

Our budget therefore for the year is £10,000. ( 2 adults + one dog, living in a 2 bed flat)
We have included the "fixed stuff" like council tax, as its better to include everything ( which we have done in the past at peril!)

That is broken up as follows:

Council Tax 1044
Water 228 ( paid till march)
Gas 600 ( this is on prepay with BG I know we can go cheaper and this is based on worst case scenario)
Electric 330 ( 30pcm)
Virgin 420 ( just signed this, 35pcm with a discount at the start which will contribute to an underspend)
TV license 145 ( paid up till October in any case)
Mobiles 780 per year ( WHAT!? Could not believe, so we are dealing with this as a priority)
Travel ins when we go away £10 pa
Oysterfare 474pa ( both of us, without a student disc dont know if I can get that yet)
Dog food 268.00 pa
Vet bill £300pa ( hopefully not more but she is getting on a bit
trade union 136 ( going to try to reduce this)
pol party £12
Clothing 300pa ( between us)
Gifts ( eg birthdays) 200.00pa
Xmas 550 including presents, food, and car hire and petrol to visit relatives
Toils/ cleaning 150
Groceries 2250
Haircuts 140
Dry cleaning 75
Alcohol at home 312
OH contact lenses 180 ( does not wear all the time)
Anything else 940.00

This totals to 10,000.

Including in anything else is medication ( we are not needing any right now and in good health) eating out - which we have done far too much of and need to stop . Doesn't include leisure- going out at night, car hire days out, trips to see friends or other miscellaneous luxuries. that will come out of "any other".

The areas ripe for cutting back are: groceries, toils & cleaning, clothing, Xmas and gifts and of course mobiles! Gas will be chopped right back I think we will come way under anyway, as this is an estimate on what is costs now. I will change supplier and change from pre-pay. Elec & gas will be swapped once that is done.

How do people budget for things that they have already spent. Eg I bought the TV license in full in October. Obv it wont run out till October, then I dont have to pay all in one go obv, I could pay monthly? So do we save Oct/Nov/Dec - ie £36.25 or the full 145? It will come down if I do that. Likewise,I have paid water till end of March.

We have Xmas money gifted to us and a bit we have saved in the past for a summer holiday this year. Spends for this will have to come from what is sold on ebay basically. However, this is not included as this is separate money.

Anyway, I am looking forward to having lots of NSDs as keeping tally is likely to be time consuming!

Kerfuffle

SandraScarlett wrote: »

What a wonderful thread, and what super ideas! My DH and I are pensioners, and good at stretching the pennies, but you're never too old to learn. May I give you my recipe for a really cheap, warming and filling soup?

If it's really cold, a few home-made dumplings will keep the extra chills at bay!

xx

Hi SandraScarlett, thanks for the recipe. The thing I never thought of adding though was the dumplings. Now I'm hankering after dumplings and all the soup has gone

Maybe next time
Hello xxNataliexx

Thanks for the homemade chips tip. Do you think it would work if I froze them after the short boil so that I could then cook them in the oven straight from frozen.?

Thanks everyone.

Toodles

freedom2011

Any ideas for how I can use up some dried asparagus soup mix. It's a caterer size box which I refuse to waste. I tried my family on the soup & they didn't really like it but am wondering if I can come up with some alternative recipe ideas.

HelenPie

Boo! Just check my receipt and I've been charged full price on some yogurts that were marked down.... Will cost me more than the would-be-saving to go back and query it though. Grrr! x

Oh, and a quick tally tells me that all my lovely food cooked today cost me £14.09 :j

apple_mint

freedom2011 wrote: »

Any ideas for how I can use up some dried asparagus soup mix. It's a caterer size box which I refuse to waste. I tried my family on the soup & they didn't really like it but am wondering if I can come up with some alternative recipe ideas.

Would it be possible to use it like Marigold Boullion as a stock / flavouring to other recipes? I don't buy dried soup mixes so I'm not sure as to the consistency, but I presume it is similar to powdered boullion? Could it be used to cook rice in (for a home made savoury rice mix)?

Kerfuffle

Dawning wrote: »

Three consecutive NSD's.:j
I need to go and get some groceries tomorrow, I have found £33 in Mr T vouchers that normally I'd just bin :eek:.

Hi Dawning,

Forgive me if I'm wrong as I don't live in the UK anymore, but from what I have gathered doesn't Tesc* replace any unused (lost) vouchers. Couldn't you ring them and say you 'lost' your previous vouchers and would they be able to replace them. They may only do it for so far back, but something would be better than nothing.

Toodles

itsallinthemind

Erme wrote: »

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

No I smoke, my eldest is registered disabled and is pretty much 24/7 so I need a vice. Same amount as my groceries budget. My view is judge me for smoking when you do my job with no support I have no other vices bar cheddar, so why not(children not smoked around)?

He NEEDED the cigarettes and coffee, food was an afterthought! He will pay me back, no issues there, just not meeting up with him for a bit as since my relationship breakdown it has emerged he has liked me for ten or so years as more than a mate, after I jokingly reminded him we had a pact(joke) to marry in a few years if still single. Not about to rush into anything a lose a friend Anyway, he has competition :rotfl:

I love a whoopsie, small co-op here is my heaven! I'm sure nobody would dare judge you or me for smoking(or my gazillion other flaws) on this thread, after all if they were perfect they would be at their beach side pad currently sipping a cocktail, not online viewing the frugal challenge :D

romylou_2

Hi guys

everyone seems to be doing really well. Unfortunately today has NOT been a NSD forme today. I had to spend £44.67 for dog food. I haven't been shopping for me and the hubby yet, but the dog is sorted!!:rotfl: