Living on nothing fo a year.

Aril

Please keep us up to date regularly with how you get on Fishcake. It sounds fascinating. Best of luck!
Aril

Fishcake_Random

Sorry i did meen including bills lol. I`m intending to not spend anything for as long as i can. My friend has offered to trade loo roll and eggs from her chickens in exchange for me looking after them when she is on holiday (chickens not loo roll lol) and some homemade biccys and cakes when i make them.
I normally live on around £40 a week at the moment with out any problems but i`m not doing this to annoy people and make out i`m great and your bad. Its an experiment, i want to think outside the box and be a bit more creative ect.

thank you for all your good wish`s
fishcake

black-saturn

I started this thread a couple of weeks ago which was inspired by the article the OP is talking about: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=312057 . The woman in the article had a husband and 2 or 3 children and the rules were (as far as I could remember) the only things she was allowed to buy new were medicines, spectacles and underwear. The rest she had to either buy from charity shops, car boot sales or ebay or make herself or from freecycle. She also had to be really frugal with the ulitity bills and make all food from scratch.

I've been living almost like this for about 5 years. I buy most of our clothes second hand and sell anything we don't need anymore on ebay. But I do allow myself a treat now and again. I don't make my own toiletries like she did but I do try to shop wisely with them. I'm not one for having loads of hair products and make up. In my bathroom you will find 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 bar of soap, 1 tube of toothpaste etc etc. I also make most of my food from scratch but I do like a treat or a night off now and again.

mcbiddy

ermm... i would start here ;-) or was that kind of understood?

black-saturn

mcbiddy wrote:

ermm... i would start here ;-) or was that kind of understood?

Sorry don't get what you mean

Blairweech

Thankyou so much for that alec eiffel - that was very interesting! Looked round the rest of the site as well - it looks good. I think I will read the book now

goonlord

I think I heard this lady interviewed on the radio and she was planning on doing lots of 'trading' - e.g. giving a friend's child music lessons in return for something she needed (can't remember what).

I think it is totally admirable that you are trying to do this and I wish more people would turn their backs on mass consumerism (and I also wish I was one of them!! - although I'm trying to be good but I keep buckling under the lure of shops!!! Actually, that would be my top tip: STAY AWAY FROM SHOPS! I find if I go near them, I nearly always find something I 'need' to buy which I would have managed perfectly well without if I hadn't gone to the blinking shops in the first place!!)

culpepper

Here is the link to the second lady in alec's link (the 6 months without spending a dollar woman)
http://www.lintrezza.com/
Its a long read but interesting. I think it might have been harder in the UK though as they seemed to have loads of different fruit plants growing.

Toxic_Lemon

I'd like to do my own modern version of this. I have no desire to start swapping loo rolls and chickens, but admire anyone that does.

I spend far too much money and I've decided to make a New Year's resolution to be thrifty. I'm ashamed to say my food bill is more than £2500 a year! :eek: (And I live alone!!!)

I'm still going to buy good quality food (organic) but will have a budget. I don't buy processed food and am pretty handy around the kitchen but there are lots of ways I can economise still - I'll just have to think about how. I think menu planning is key rather than impulse meals. Sorry, but I can't shop in Lidl, etc. I just can't. But I do enjoy Burrough market. So I'll cut Waitrose trips down.

I already buy nearly new clothes 2nd hand. But I buy alot of expensive beauty/bath items and have enough to start a shop. I will go through and start selling on Ebay or use myself and will ban myself from buying anymore until used. I love a bargain and if I see one, I buy it for use later. A false economy, sometimes, I know.

I buy books/DVDs and then don't read/watch them.

The big one is giving up smoking which I successfully did last year and then stupidly restarted this year.

I can't economise on petrol as I don't buy mine (company car).

Small things I've picked up like making my own dog biscuits (found a Nigella recipe the other day). Reselling 'bargain's for profit on Ebay.

I don't have central heating. But will wear more layers if I feel cold instead of the stand alone radiators or bottled gas fires I sometimes use. Probably don't need to economise much here.

And I'm not getting rid of my cleaner! I work too hard to give her up!

Hmmmm......will keep thinking.....

Fishcake_Random

I cant believe how this post has grown. you guys are so supportive thank you.
i`m still collecting things and setting up trades. i`ve started stocking up on free tissues and servettes in case of loo roll shortages and started making some reuseable panty pads for the obvious.i`ve been given an old singer sewing machine from a lady a work the ones you run by hand which is amazing.and i`ve got some wool i`ve been given so i can get knitting some bit
s at the moment i`m working on a blanket for the front room.
thank you everyone for your good wishs.

fishcake
x x x