Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 2

silvasava

Oooh - DH has been clearing the rubble away from the 'hole' in the wall, a neighbour needed some so he wheeled it up for them & they gave him a lovely BIG jar of home made spiced pickled onions. I havn't had any like them since my dear old GD died - must go & find some nice cheese..............;)

rising_from_the_ashes

Erme wrote: »

Am envious...when I marry I want a man like yours....do you know where they sell them and if they're in the frugal living budget

tumptyteapot wrote: »

Aha, that's what I have been doing wrong - finding them in the woopsie section! I need to find one that is not damaged, shop soiled or near his use by date :-)

silvasava wrote: »

Tumpty & Rising - You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the Prince!

:rotfl:Yup, maybe I need to start shopping somewhere like M&S! (or lurking anyway).

erme - keep up the good start with the cigs! You've done the "hard" bit....


Well, a bit p'd off if I might say so:(

Been thinking of moving gas/elec provider (with lovely SP who have announced huge price rises) - DF got a fixed price recently so thought I'd give them a try .....

Annual saving of £110:j but (and it's a big one) - went onto SP website to see what my cancellation charge would be and it's a whopping [FONT=&quot]£30.64 for electricity and £20.42 for gas[/FONT][FONT=&quot],[/FONT][FONT=&quot].

[/FONT]So, I now have the choice of sticking with SP and paying the huge increases of wiping out 1/2 of my annual saving by switching (although realise that the saving will be more once the increase takes effect).

Trouble is, I'm in debit (switched in Nov 09 so always behind at this time of the year but break even by the end of the summer) so would need to find about £150 to get out of it plus the charge:(



Sorry for the rant - if anyone's still with me and thinking of switching, try Ovo http://www.ovoenergy.com/

mooomin

Can you get cashback from Quidco etc for switching? That might wipe out some of the surplus. I got £150 cashback for switching from SP last year - paid in two installments and I'm currently waiting for the second one to pay out.

cw18

You also need to bare in mind that once one company hikes their prices the others all tend to follow on fairly smartly. So if you're on a fixed price now I'd be tempted to stay unless you can do the switch very rapidly (and it's onto another fixed price).

If you're on a capped price, then you still need watch the sort of deal you're moving to to make sure it's at least the equivalent (in terms of how much they can raise the price on you) otherwise you could lose out anyway.

I'm with SP, and mine is just guaranteed to be ??% (think it's 5%) below the standard price. I'd also have to pay cancellation charges (only a couple of months into an 18 month contract I think), but would be reluctanct to move as I've actually had good results from their customer services in the 9 years I've been with them since buying this house (the builders put all houses on this estate into their hands, and I've never felt the need to change when doing comparisons) but major hassles with other companies in previous properties.

redglass_2

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Well, a bit p'd off if I might say so:(
Been thinking of moving gas/elec provider (with lovely SP who have announced huge price rises) - DF got a fixed price recently so thought I'd give them a try .....

Annual saving of £110:j but (and it's a big one) - went onto SP website to see what my cancellation charge would be and it's a whopping [FONT=&quot]£30.64 for electricity and £20.42 for gas[/FONT][FONT=&quot],[/FONT][FONT=&quot].

[/FONT]So, I now have the choice of sticking with SP and paying the huge increases of wiping out 1/2 of my annual saving by switching (although realise that the saving will be more once the increase takes effect).

Trouble is, I'm in debit (switched in Nov 09 so always behind at this time of the year but break even by the end of the summer) so would need to find about £150 to get out of it plus the charge:(

Sorry for the rant - if anyone's still with me and thinking of switching, try Ovo http://www.ovoenergy.com/

Same here, Risingfromtheashes. Not only do you get charged for 'getting away' (though you can't charge them for upping the cost) but SP sent me an email telling me I was going to get £100 for being a loyal customer...but only if I hung on until August, which is when the prices will soar! Very sneaky. I clawed back about £30 by going via a switch site and switching dual fuel but I'm still fuming at the way they get you over a barrel. I use the woodstove whenever I can, but it can't heat all of the house. I have to use radiators in the back of the building because if I don't, it develops a mould problem.

I also notice I'm about £200 in credit to SP. They had better bl**dy cough it up, is all I can say. :mad:

Am having a very frugal time eating lots of pulses: butterbeans, anyone?

rubytuesday

Oooh I forgot the runner beans!

mooomin

redglass wrote: »

I also notice I'm about £200 in credit to SP. They had better bl**dy cough it up, is all I can say. :mad:

When I left them I got the cheque through pretty quickly, so in that regard they're pretty good.

alec_eiffel

redglass wrote: »

S...Am having a very frugal time eating lots of pulses: butterbeans, anyone?

I love butterbeans! Leek and butterbean crumble is one of our favourite meals - or if we pick up a reduced garlic baguette we top the stew with that instead. YUMMY!

frugaliciousness

hello, is it possible to join this challenge half way through the year?

:think: I'm going to work out what all our outgoings are just now anyway and see where we are.

I hope I can join you, money is exceptionally tight. We have £14 left to live on until next Monday. I am down but we're trying our best to see this as a challenge and a kick up behind to get our finances sorted.

We have no debt so we're lucky there but increasing costs means I have to take the lead and manage our money much better.

I've edited my post to show my workings out.

My budget includes everything. Every bill and direct debit, insurance, food and petrol costs. I hope it's ok to do this half way through the year.

Rent: £450
Council Tax: £146
Car insurance: £31
Gas and Electric: £80 (I perceive this will increase)
BT (phoneline and broadband) £35
House insurance: £17
Life insurance x 2: £10
TV License: £13
AA breakdown: £11
My mobile: £21
DH's mobile £30
Water: £35
Petrol: £180
Food: £270

= £1329 = £7974 for 6 months.

I realise that that is a much higher amount than many of you here, I mean a lot of you are trying to do the year on something like that but we are a small family of four, I am just new to this and I have included everything other than clothes which is more of a luxury these days, also toiletries are included in the food price. I have allowed £65 each week for shopping but do not intend spending that if I can get away with it. That is where my savings will be

cw18

frugaliciousness wrote: »

hello, is it possible to join this challenge half way through the year?

More than possible - welcome aboard :beer: