Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

mooomin

Evening folks,

I'm just about to get into bed with my (nonsensical) library book and a hot water bottle but thought I would do a February update so far.

After no small amount of wrestling with my frugal conscience, I haven't included Mr Fresian's sister's rent money as income this month (but did take the cost of the cinema pass off the spreadsheet for January!) I'm currently in negative spending for February in the Other Spends category as I have had a reasonable amount of additional income this month so far already

I've only spent £25 on groceries this week, which I'm really please with, especially as over £6 of this was on quality bin bags. Trust me, when you're changing the cat litter - quality counts!!

Dinner tonight was bolognaise from my last round of batch cooking. Tomorrow's lunch is a Weight Watchers quiche I got whoopsied a wee while ago. It's defrosted now and in the fridge for morning. I'll take that to work with lots of fruit and some popcorn for when I fancy a savory snack. I got the email about my next Graze box and it looks yummy too so I'm very pleased with that!

Night all *snooze*

Erme

SandraScarlett wrote: »

This is what Mrs Hobbycraft said:

i got well over £40 worth and it came to £3.50
- stickers
- stampers
- knitting patterns
- wrapping paper
- elastic cord (10 meters)
- 100 sheets of paper/card -£1

they have got the sale online but was much cheaper in the shop

xx

Yeah I got knitting patterns on friday for like 29p/49p instead of £2.49+ and also ribbon really cheap too :J....

Well...wouldhave made kirk if I didn't feel so weak (despite eating okay? Go figure? I had a mixture of cous cous; mackerel (FF) and chopped up veggies in the FP with balsamic and like lemon juice in a pitta for lunch then a pancake for pm snack and finally tinned pots (half a tin) and veggie meat loaf for tea)...so like crashed @ about 6.30 and am now up hitting the coffee LOL....sleep pattern is seriously crazy right now

I made kirk this am but had wind so didn't really enjoy it.....I was in agony most of the service..

Is it midnight yet? I found out I'd done about 6" of sock in total yesterday so that's just 1.5" to go (I have long feet) then onto something else....

Sorry no progress on the website but finally :T my first NSD of february. It's amazing once you get into it how NSD's just snowball. .

Anyhow another :coffee: beckoneth. I don't know why I'm so tired...I mean like I napped for 2 hours yesterday :eek:

E
PS. Found the clearance section on ebay just now

enjoyfinancialchallenges

Oh dear itsallinthemind life sounds horrific for you at the moment, hang on in and it can only get better from now. BIG HUGS to you, hope it sorts itself out really soon. XXX

Another NSD again, I think in future I shall just count spend days because they are greater in number than the NSDs. I went into Mr S ********* friday evening to buy some bananas and had no problem with buying them and walking out, its as if spending money is a no no now. Will have to buy a few bits next week but am hating the thought of it, I'm trying to think of all ways to get round that evil word, spending .XXX

never_too_old

Morning
just wanted to say hi to fizz and jade86123

i liked the comparison to AA, " Hi my name is Lisa and i overspend"
it made me lol.

SandraScarlett

l.m.hart wrote: »

Morning
just wanted to say hi to fizz and jade86123

i liked the comparison to AA, " Hi my name is Lisa and i overspend"
it made me lol.

That's why I said it! I was hysterically laughing, as I just kept imagining all of us at a meeting and standing up one by one, hesitantly, with the rest of the circle urging us on, and then confessing "My name is Sandra, and I can't stop spending" and then the rest of the group cheering! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

xx

seriouslyfrugal

Hi Everyone


Welcome to Fizz & jade:hello:

I had a no spend weekend which is good :j but today will be a spend day for me


Dizzy : thanks for the link to zen habits


have a good day everyone

diddly74

My Name is Donna, and I can’t stop spending money.

I think we should also have a Frugalista's "prayer" like AA and the other 12 step programmes do! Something like:
by Joseph Wardy
Saving money...
And build financial security.
Saving time...
And be efficiency conscious.
Saving words...
And practice kindness.
Saving the soul,
And focus spiritually.
Calling the poets amongst us – anyone got any ideas for an original “prayer”???

LolaLemon

i clicked loads to quoat and they arnt here

thank you everyone for your lovely comments on the birthday plans, i think im more excited about it than him!
I've been intending to do 1 or 2 egg cosies a day when at uni, as i spend nearly an hour on the train each way - u would think i had the plague, no one sits beside me when i pull out my crochet :rotfl:, so i try and get their early to get a nice seat thats facing the way i like and get myself comfy. but since being back, ive not done much as ive not had time to study at home so ive been doing it on the train... messing my plans it is lol
back in my day we just had some cheesy music, a lot of sugary, additive, chemical full food n coca-cola with musical bumps n pass the parcel, but its too much 'my child should have a present for playing' attitude now, masquarading as 'kids who dont win get low self esteme issues later in life' (utter rubbish, just setting the kids unrealistic expectations of life - not everyone is going to get picked to play, not everyone is going toget the job... sorry i could rant about this all day!)
my pass the parcel last year was if it stops at u you are out, not this new thing of big prize wrapped up with x layers and each layer has a small prize too... they tend not to go down too well, so im not even bothering this year, as 1- i cba with the 'looks' from the parents for having to make them be responsible parents and explain to thier kids that they will not get everything they want in life and 2- its a waste of money, both on the crappy prize that goes straight in the bin and the wrapping paper....:rotfl:i sound like a right moaner :rotfl:

im sorry to hear of all the job losses. this country is going to be a disaster pretty soon (thanks Mr Millionaire (dictator) Cameron and his Millionaire LaughableLapdog (ifitwasntsoserious) Clegg! :mad:)


:spring: your getting :rotfl: at, winter is not finished with us just yet :snow_laug

we have SNOW! and loads of it... nothing was here at 2am when i got home from work, woke this morning at 7.45 and their was a thick blanket outside, albeit a mushy one, but its landing.. hope its not going to stay, as i havnt went for the milk this week yet


someone was asking about keeping root veg, i remember seeing on an old 'Jamie' cooking prog that he done, and he lined a wooden box/crate with newspaper, layer of sand, some veg like turnips, carrots etc, layer of sand, layer of veg,until box is full, finish with sand layer and then newspaper again....

both me and son are ill today, so we're having a sick day, once im finished on here we're going to sleep, we're both in bed just now, watching scooby-doo (agian!! drives me insaine lol).

oh.. i should have said at the start...

Hello...
I'm Lola...
....
....
...
and i cant control my money....
...
i spend without accepting the consequences....
...
...
...
and i need help....
...
...
but thanks to these guys (general sweep of the room)... im getting their... thanks

(nervous:) and sits back down)

mama67

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Hi everyone, hearing some of you talking about car booting has really excited me, I can't wait to get back onto the field again. Some of you may remember I make and sell scones, biscuits, shortbread and variations of. This year because I made so much jam in the Autumn which I rarely eat by the way, I'm going to try and sell them and make some lemon curd as well. I wish there was something I could make now to help myself when its 'full on car boot time' I bought a spare freezer last year very cheaply to keep solely for car boot products but its still a bit early to start cooking. My biscuits keep for ages but I tend to give small boxes away to friends, family and anybody else who knows me if I make them early!, which may be friendly but not very frugal as all the ingredients have to be bought first. I've even thought of doing those boiled egg things people buy in pubs....another senior moment here, please help me somebody. Trouble is I will have to find a large enough jar to put them in. Just remembered they are picked eggs, I'll phone my local pub and see what they do with their empty jars before I consider buying some. It might bring in a bit extra money for me and its something I could start now as they need to stay in the pickle for a few weeks before being eaten. Money is going to be tight for me this year if I want to continue living at this present standard.

I've noticed most people buy Whoopsies, unfortunately I cant get to the shops when they are there but do occasionally find some and buy only if I need them 'Now'. Generally though I find I spend more because the invitation to buy is very strong, which isn't very frugal at all for me.
Welcome to all newcomers better to go frugal whilst the pressure is not there than wait until it is. You will find loads of friendly people offering tips on this thread.
Hugs to all who need them or deserve them or just want one plenty around to share with everyone.

By the way grandma the idea of posting my message and then editing it was a fab idea for me it saves me loosing the massage, am using it now, thanks a lot.

I sold some of my jams and chutneys the last 2 years at car boot sales, were very well received, had one lady came back 3 weeks running to see if I still had some more.

The other one I was getting asked for was marmalade.

Lesley_Gaye

Hi Folks

in view of the tongue in cheek AA type thing for spending, thought you might be interested in this

I have been reading a Paul McKenna book, I Can Make You Happy. I have tried his slimming one, and his techniques really do work if you put them into practice and not just think, yeah, yeah, I knew that, or that sounds silly, I'm not doing it

There is quite a lot in this book, not as snappy as the slimming one, although there a few snappy techniques and I'm looking forward to listening to the cd etc

The point of the post is that I think if part of spending more than you would like is linked to your emotions, using this book could well break that cycle, and who knows where that may lead.

I have found, whilst reading it, that some of the things that I think are making me less happy than I would like to be, are things I can change by changing my attitude towards them.

Maybe worth a look?