Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 2

SandraScarlett

Welcome aboard! We have Captain Cheryl, who helps us through the choppy waters, and loads of really knowledgeable people, who have umpteen hints and tips that really work.:beer:

I've saved about £20 a week in the last 6 months by:

Turning off every unnecessary light and appliance
Only having one "Skinny Cap Costa" a week, maximum
Stopped eating "anders" at home ...... eg - a cup of coffee and a biscuit

So I've saved ££££££s and lost pounds!

Good luck!

xx

redglass_2

Welcome, Frugaliciousness! I wouldn't be too intimidated by our legendary feats - not all of us manage to scale such dizzy heights and believe me, I know whereof I speak.

flying_fresian wrote: »

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

Well, that's something to look forward to, then.
Re the butterbeans, I have a dried bean mountain, courtesy of Approved Foods. I buy those massive bags and once you open the 'sack' you have to find storage for the contents, so I tend to soak quite a lot at one time. Recently I've had: butterbean and chorizo stew, butterbean hummus and butterbeans with mustard sauce and parsley. Methinks it might be time for a change, somehow....:p The next expedition could be the scaling of Borlotti Bean Mountain. There's also Rice Mountain and Oat Mountain and Couscous Mountain (I seem to recall that Frugaldom was eating her way through a Couscous Mountain a while back). I laugh at myself and my Massive Hoards but OTOH I do notice that when I've cleared the last stocks of something, and go to replace it, I'm always shocked by how much it now costs. So the bulk buying must be saving me a fair bit, which is encouraging. I'm amazed when I think how I used to eat. I don't have a family and can suit myself, so it'd be, 'Think I'll just pop down to the supermarket, oh, yes, smoked salmon, yum, and a fancy loaf, and best butter, and wine, and fresh coffee, and a bag of salad, what about a tarte tatin, they're nice, and, and, and...' I'd been brought up frugal but was temporarily seduced by the spending patterns of the 80s. Just as well I went back to my 'roots' as I couldn't afford to live like that now...

alec_eiffel

If you have the space to freeze things you can part cook beans etc and freeze them ready to use. I soak beans overnight 500g at a time, boil them for 10 minutes then stick them in the freezer. Then you just break off as many as you want to use and they're ready to be shoved in whatever you want. It saves getting bean fatigue!

We save loads of money that way but I have to confess I still buy organic butter, fresh coffee and bagged salad!

rising_from_the_ashes

cw18 wrote: »

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).

That's why I'm really keen to fix it now before all the fixed prices go up:(

The Ovo one is fixed for a year - the saving came out at about £110/annum on what I pay now so should be more once the SP increase hits (maths has never been my strong point)

cw18 wrote: »

I'm with SP, and mine is just guaranteed to be ??% (think it's 5%) below the standard price.

Yup, mine's guaranteed to be below the standard price but only 3% so I'd still be looking at a huge increase if I stayed with them.

If I pay £70 / month now then that's going to look more like £90 / month (???) in a couple of months time:eek:. My hot water system's carp and wastes a lot of energy (continually heats the water - lots of the houses in my street have an immersion and just use that in the summer but I unfortunately don't) but can't afford to change it just now - thinking of downsizing the house anyway so doesn't really make sense to put a lot of money into it just now which I'm unlikely to get back.


Really struggling with the "to move" problem - love my house and where I live but it takes ALL my money. Not looking like things are going to improve in the next couple of years - pay freeze at work, no jobs to move to and everything going up and up.

The logical side sees moving is the answer - the heart is a different matter......:(

frugaliciousness

Our homes pull at our heartstrings huh? A lot of us are in the same sort of situation. Our rent is reasonable for the house and area we're in but running costs and living costs are the real bind/worry.

I have not bought anything today. I've ran out of milk but going to use some UHT tomorrow instead of Coop visit. Instead of worrying about only having £14 till Monday I'm challenging myself to not spend that £14 - that puts the control back in my court.

cw18

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Really struggling with the "to move" problem - love my house and where I live but it takes ALL my money. Not looking like things are going to improve in the next couple of years [strike]- pay freeze at work, no jobs to move to[/strike] and everything going up and up.

The logical side sees moving is the answer - the heart is a different matter......:(

I'm in exactly the same boat, which is one reason I'm decorating and dealing with all the over-due maintainance jobs while I'm doing my latest declutter.....

If I decide to stay put and struggle on, then the place will be nice for me. But if I decide to move/downsize, then it should be in a better shape for attracting potential buyers.

cw18

frugaliciousness wrote: »

Instead of worrying about only having £14 till Monday I'm challenging myself to not spend that £14 - that puts the control back in my court.

Great idea - I love your way of thinking on this one :j

paidinchickens

Can't understand why it has been a lovely sunny day and I feel a little down in the dumps:(

On a cheery note

I bought a large bag of jackettateable spuds and a double headed fuchsia at the veg auction total £2.23

Cancelled the TV licence and they are refunding us £50:T

Sold some bits on Ebay but really need to make an effort to clear more stuff.

I have been slowly reading through the tightwad G and had to ponder on a point raised that it is cheaper to fill a tub full of only cheese from the salad bar at a supermarket than it is to buy a block of cheese........May send DH to Mr Ms and casually ring him and ask him to check:rotfl:

I need to clean the house, do the garden, ebay some stuff, visit or at least ring my mother, sort stuff for DH going away...............grrrrrrr

so going to bed early instead:o

Blairweech

Hi everyone,

Not posted for ages and have not had chance to update my spreadsheet yet but thought I would share a linky with you

From 'Real Simple' magazine: New Uses for Old Things - they have loads of categories, I particularly like Double Duty Decorating and The Great Outdoors

http://www.realsimple.com/new-uses-for-old-things/index.html

youngmummy

havent posted for ages. and keep loosing track :mad::mad::mad:

im going to have to start again :mad: so angry with myself, im going to write out a new budget now as alot of our expenses have changed and will update you asap if thats ok sorry everyone hope everyone is well speek soon x

weekly budget
Income £288

Outgoings
electric £20
gas £10
water £10
garage rent £6 (get rid)
tv licence £4
sky TV £10 (get rid)
bt £10
mobiles £13
food £60
loan £21 (pay off asap)
littlewoods £5 (includes life insurance)
jacamo £2
house insurance £5
pet insurance £9
clothes £5
bike insurance mot and tax £10
petrol £30
Total £230.00

YEARLY INCOME £14,976
electric £1040
gas £520
water £520
garage rent £312 (get rid)
tv licence £160
sky TV £520 (get rid)
bt £520
mobiles £676
food £3120
loan £1092 (pay off asap)
littlewoods £100 (pay off asap) not including life insurance
life insurance £520
jacamo £100
house insurance £150
pet insurance £242.76
clothes £260
bike insurance mot and tax £520
petrol £1560
YEARLY TOTAL£11,932.76p

this budget is for 2 adults 1 child 1 dog (labrador) 2 gerbels