Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

seriouslyfrugal

Hi

I have just caught up evenutally :j

today I have decided is another NSD for me - I thought I was going out but i'm not now !


I have to finish my assignment for my tutor (open Uni) which is due in on friday but now I just have to do the corrections and refrence page - which isn't so bad


I should mention I am doing a higher education certificate in social science)

hope everyone is ok and having a great frugal day :j

salski

I have no choice on NSD - or so it feels like to me! You guys are fab in doing so - but like today - been to hospital, had to pay for parking, breakfast and a bottle of water!
Currently cooking a stew for tonights tea with store cupboard ingredients.
I am going to have to dip back into savings by the end of the month - I knew we were being over generous putting £500 away this month! Grrrr
Was FIL's b'day yesterday so rummaged around and found a present meant for him 2 years ago and gave him that He was chuffed and we didnt spend any pennies! Hurrah!
Hope everyone keeps up the good work!
Sal x

wornoutmumoftwo

Totaled my spends to date = 198.85 which includes a dyson hoover which we got in the sale at Argos as my other one went bust on the 31st dec.

Got my crackers/curling ribbons and cards from tesco on the cheap, the rest is food. Might run a sub budget for idle-litus (i,e when I spend £6 on frozen pizza instead of making one like I did last night, bone idelness really).

mooomin

Todays frugality:

Working away from home so paid for train snacks with Boots points.

Returned two coats to Monsoon so that's a hundred pound refund

Made dinner yesterday so had some at work this morning which saves me buying anything.

If I can keep within my mandated dinner budget then today will be my first NSD as work will reimburse me.

Currently using free WiFi in the station instead of expensive mobile broadband.

Not too bad all in all!

mummyroysof3

seriouslyfrugal wrote: »

Hi

I have just caught up evenutally :j

today I have decided is another NSD for me - I thought I was going out but i'm not now !


I have to finish my assignment for my tutor (open Uni) which is due in on friday but now I just have to do the corrections and refrence page - which isn't so bad


I should mention I am doing a higher education certificate in social science)

hope everyone is ok and having a great frugal day :j

which module are you doing? im starting DD101 social sciences at the end of this month

Blairweech

Re tomatoes: I think it is as a bit too early to start seeds off now, as if you do not have a greenhouse to put them in and the weather is bad during spring so you cannot put them out, they will get really leggy

Erme - Yes, taking stuff from supermarket bins is illegal (at least in England, not sure about Scotland) and many supermarkets put bleach across the stuff to stop people pinching it :mad: They used to send their waste for swill but that is not allowed anymore

Kiwi – Read your post and though ‘Courgettes in January?!!’ but then I remembered you are on the other side of the world J I love courgettes with pasta nom nom

So far I have spent the day taking down the Christmas decorations...the house looks very barren now. Does not help that it is raining. The rest of the day will be spent writing alternately about soil and leadership so, a NSD planned :money:

wornoutmumoftwo

Quick question: What do we do with money we earn. In my case a £20 voucher from Argos? Does it just offset against my spends?

I'm a OU student too, Discovering psychology. It's my third course and I'm doing the childhood degree as I'd like to work with children who have autism (my son has aspergers).

2wildthing2

Another NSD here today, so that make's 2 so far this year. With regards to Mobile phones & broadband I phoned up 3 today to cancel my £15 month contract (500 mins or txt, no internet though) and the nice man said that they did not want to lose me as a customer and that they have a special offer on today (500 mins, 500 txt, 2GB internet) all for the amazing sum of £5/ month for the next 12 months - I ripped his hand off and said yes. Thought I would push my luck and tried to cancel my Mobile broadband ( 5GB for £15/month ) and the nice man upgraded it to 15GB/ month for £15. So all in all a good day, I saved £120/year and get alot more mins, txt and broadband.

Should I push my luck and try to cancel SKy to see what they offer (currently paying £720/per year)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

alec_eiffel

wornoutmumoftwo wrote: »

Quick question: What do we do with money we earn. In my case a £20 voucher from Argos? Does it just offset against my spends?

I'm a OU student too, Discovering psychology. It's my third course and I'm doing the childhood degree as I'd like to work with children who have autism (my son has aspergers).

I'd say it's up to you and what your goals are, I can see the benefit of seeing it as an extra bonus or just knocking it off the challenge total.

Whenever I save cash on a purchase (special offer at the supermarket, voucher or whatever) I add the extra to my savings - so if I bought something for £1 off I'd stick the £1 into savings rather than seeing it as a bonus. It's bonus saving for me. But if it's Christmas or birthday money then I would keep that separate to the challenge as that's money just for me, if that makes sense.

enjoyfinancialchallenges

wornoutmumoftwo wrote: »

I'm on the tesco top up £10 and get £30 and generally just top up when I need it. They remind you when the month is up but I don't top up until I need it, sometimes every two months, HOWEVER, the free credit expires after the month.

I use the free credit to make mobile calls and keep my virgin bill down but you can't use it for 0870 etc's (I use say noto0870 for them).

Thanks for the advice, now I have even more to consider. Oh dear life can be confusing, so much to think about.

I thought I was going to have my first NSD today but guess what my credit card balance was paid off by D/D as it is every month. Exciting though, and yes I know I should get out more as my DD is always reminding me but for me a paid bill is so great and such a sense of achievment.:j