Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

LollopyBear

Happy New Year to all.

I'd like to join in with this challenge please. I first started doing these challenges in 2008 (made it as far as May), then tried again in 2009 (made it as far as March) and did not sign-up in 2010. 2010 was a bit of a non-year for me as I was so focused on work and girl guides. I let a lot of things slip, resulting in not enough time spent with my husband and no holiday. Due to a promotion at work I broke even on spending by the end of the year, an achievement for me as I normally go into my over-draft about a week before pay-day, however this year I want to do better and save up for a holiday as well as work on the house.

Looking at my aborted spreadsheets from 2008 and 2009 I think that a realistic monthly budget for me is £500. This doesn't include mortgage/bills/standing orders etc. This should leave me with around £300 a month to put in savings!

I'm hoping to keep up with this challenge this year. I've missed this site!

silvasava

Whoops = originally posted this on the 'preparation' site
Happy New Year everyone - I'm lurking again! Feeling quite self righteous at the moment as I've just completed my New Year spreadsheet & according to sums we could save about 5K a year! (where is it going???? need to investigate further!) I have managed to get my house insurance cheaper & with a cashback. I also had a chat with Virgin & managed to upgrade our package for less than we are paying already (how does that work then?) so a good start. I've also got to clear out my wardrobe - does anyone have any tips for selling clothes? I must admit I'm not a fan of ebay but if thats the best way to go. I've some lovely suits and separates that I needed for work and its a shame to leave them in the wardrobe getting dated. I'm also going to start clearing the loft as everything that's 'useful' is stored there so maybe Preloved or Freecycle!
Thank you all for the encouragement and ideas

CRANKY40

Happy New Year

I'd like to join please. I've done a total budget, as my income should not vary for 2011. My budget is £12291.86, which for the sake of being picky I will round up to £12300. I know some prices will inevitably rise such as Sky, Council Tax etc, but I am hoping to absorb those costs by not using my entire grocery budget every week.

TV Licence £145.50
Phone £240.00
Mobile £264.00
Life Ins £222.36
Car Ins £480.00
House Ins £350.00
Pet Ins £120.00
Gas & Elec £1200.00
Council Tax £900
Water Rates £450.00
Broadband £168.00
Sky £288.00
Contact Lenses £150.00
Boat £300.00
Petrol £600.00
Talk talk £60.00 (phone calls abroad to my sister, cheaper than BT)
Car Misc £300.00
Birthdays £350.00
Christmas £350.00
Groceries £2600.00
RAC 90.00
Cash Spends £2080.00
Milk 500.00
Weightwatchers online £84.00

My goals this year are to lose weight and thus fit into clothes I already have rather than buy any new ones, to declutter and sell some of the clutter on Ebay, to use up all the toiletries stockpile before buying more, and to use up the freezer contents ditto.

Kerfuffle

redglass wrote: »

*snip

Feeling smug because I have a super-frugal bean soup on the simmer downstairs.

I'd really appreciate it if you could share your recipe

Lunch today for us is super-frugal Winter Veg soup which is left-overs from yesterday, which were left-over from the day before, which was made with left-overs from the turkey carcase. :T

and later I'm going to make Parsnip soup which will hopefully provide lunches for Monday and Tuesday :T:T ( no left-overs in this one :rotfl:).

Toodles

kazire

so HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!
i dont know at the moment how much my bills will be my ex is leaving the rented home on the 8th so that 1st month will be when i know how much for things i have never paied for anything by DD but looking atthe bills it seems that it is cheaper and quite convieniant to pay by DD is this right?? sp apart from buyin some things i need to replace because hes taking them i really want to keep my spending to a minimum and hoping that everyone can help with this!

looking forward to the year ahead!

JustKeepSwimming_2

Here goes - I've spent ages fannying about with my budget using M*soft Money (which can get quite addictive), but I'll spare you all the detailed budget & just give an outline. I'm not including - mortgage, council tax, water, or TV licence. I am including -

house insurance - 180 (but will investigate when it is due next month)
gas/electricity - 720 (my provider usually comes out the best but I'll check this every few months)
'phone/internet - 240
mobile - 100
holiday - 600 (not including food)
transport - 200 (no car to run thankfully)
gifts - 150
charity - 600

These are the areas I really need to cut down on -

childcare - 330 (this is to cover me when I have errands/meetings that I don't want to/can't take kids to)
groceries - 1300 (includes cleaning stuff & toiletries)
eating out - 400
days out with kids - 350

This leaves 2330 for everything else which sounds like lots but I'm sure it'll vanish quite quickly!

So my grand total is 7500 for 1 adult, 2 children & 1 cat. Bring it on....

I'm also sadly excited by this challenge & pleased to report my 1st NSD! :T

cw18

kazire wrote: »

i have never paied for anything by DD but looking atthe bills it seems that it is cheaper and quite convieniant to pay by DD is this right??

I find it more convenient to pay by D/Debit, as it means I can't forget to pay. But you do need to make sure the money for them will always be in your account in time, as the fees for a failed D/Debit can be very high.

I get a discount on my water and phone bills for paying that way, and am on a cheaper tariff for my gas & electricity for using this method (not available unless you do).

redglass_2

Cranky40, I'm intrigued: why does milk get its own entry in your budget?

JustKeepSwimming_2

elly68 wrote: »

hi jo lol ,thanks for this thread my main problem is grocery shop ,i'm aware that as a family we spend way too much and waste too much food ,also money lying about house so going to do sealed pot challenges .
so my aim this year is to reduce grocery and electriity gas and fuel will work out budget be back tomorrow off to find a thread for weightloss

We spend far to much on food - groceries & eating out, so these are my target areas. I'm going to try & be more organized & take drinks with us when we go out for the day. This is when I really miss having a car though, as having to carry food for 3 all day & on numerous trains/buses isn't that much fun - often dont take food if we need to take coats as my back complains :rotfl:.

CRANKY40 wrote: »

My goals this year are to lose weight and thus fit into clothes I already have rather than buy any new ones, to declutter and sell some of the clutter on Ebay, to use up all the toiletries stockpile before buying more, and to use up the freezer contents ditto.

Snap - apart from the selling on Ebay as I just can't get into it & I doubt anyone would want to buy any of my old clothes anyway .

Blairweech

Well, I have started my new year by acquiring more stuff - only coathangers from Freecycle though, as I have taken all mine to uni and now have none left here. Of course, when I come back from uni in the summer I will have an abundance but oh well, at least I did not pay for them!

I also didn't even manage one day of New Years Resolution no.1: Stick to a routine for bedtime (11pm) and waking up (8am). I woke up at 11 :rotfl:...must have got confused I think! Try again tomorrow