2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

SandraScarlett

Welcome Gigglybug!! Yours was the 1000th post on this thread - and it's still only 6th Jan!! Thank you all for some much appreciated support of late - DD has been discharged and I pray we've turned a corner.

DSIL is not working tomorrow, so ..................... I have the whole weekend free! :j He's taking me to and from the station tomorrow, and my friend and I are having a Jolly in London, treating ourselves to a 2 for 1 in whichever restaurant takes our fancy in the Strrand/Covent Garden, a luxurious wee in the Savoy and then my beloved Dreamboats again. :T

Hope everyone has a super and super-frugal weekend.

xx

moneybear123

scrappie wrote: »

Thanks cw18 - all advice is much appreciated!

I have to ask. How are you not going to buy toiletries for a whole year? I'm very curious because this area can be very expensive. I will take all the helpful tips you got. Thank you

LolaLemon

moneybear123 wrote: »

I have to ask. How are you not going to buy toiletries for a whole year? I'm very curious because this area can be very expensive. I will take all the helpful tips you got. Thank you

Don't buy any.
I bet u have enough stashed around the house that u could use before buying any more.
Every time something runs out, put £1 in a jar to go towards buying it.

Whilst u are using ur stash of 'old ' stuff, go through the health and beauty isles, looking for great deals, like 'branded' toothpaste down to 50p, u can either stock up at this reduced rate, if u have the storage, or look at it as a saving of 50p from the £1 u put in to replace the last tube that ran down.

U can also make a lot of these things from stuff u already have in the kitchen

Squinky_McFeet

I did it! I made it to the end of the thread and it took hours!

Thanks so much for all the tips and hints and links I have so much more info to help me. Lots of saved links to look at properly later.

I worked out my Annual budget for the year is a whopping £17831 which includes debt payments, but excludes Gas, Electric, Petrol, Groceries/Food and presents, clothes ect. I have set a budget of £4000 for everything thats not included in the big number above! Which considering my Gas/Electric came to around £1700 last year is not an easy task lol

Off to bad start so far, had to take some time off work sick this week and yet to have a nsd
I have written a huge list of all the food I have in fridge/freezer/cupboard so I can see what I need to use and plan meals. I'll shop tomorrow for food and then aim for a no spend week! Doable??

Hoping to keep up with this thread it does take such a long time to get up to speed!

Chickenopolis

miss_empty_piggy wrote: »

Would really appreciate some advice about my chickens. I bought them as chicks about 2 years ago. They grew into 4 lovely birds and were great at laying. About 3 months ago, poor Eggwina was found at the bottom of their 2 storey mansion, stiff as a board and with her tongue hanging out. No-one came forward as the culprit as we think she was pushed as she was the favourite.The other 3 have remained tight lipped ever since. However, since then I have not had one egg. I know this may sound harsh, but if they're not going to lay eggs then I begrudge paying out the money for feed etc. OH has offered to "neck" them, but not sure exactly how I would feel about this. I am now wondering whether it was just poor Eggwina who was laying and she died from sheer exhaustion. I would take them to a good home, but don't know if anyone would want them if they're not laying. Or, as times are hard, should we just eat them. Any good advice would be welcome. Thanks guys.

I agree with frugaldom - why don't you advertise in your local free paper to see if anyone would like to give them a good home or on some of the poultry forums ( Down the Lane etc) ? My old hen is 6 and she lays from Spring to about September . I accept this and looked in to productivity/longevity before we got them, and we got them as pets and for us the eggs are a bonus - I appreciate that other people keep them for different reasons

SandraScarlett

Squinky_McFeet wrote: »

I did it! I made it to the end of the thread and it took hours!

Thanks so much for all the tips and hints and links I have so much more info to help me. Lots of saved links to look at properly later.

I worked out my Annual budget for the year is a whopping £17831 which includes debt payments, but excludes Gas, Electric, Petrol, Groceries/Food and presents, clothes ect. I have set a budget of £4000 for everything thats not included in the big number above! Which considering my Gas/Electric came to around £1700 last year is not an easy task lol

Off to bad start so far, had to take some time off work sick this week and yet to have a nsd
I have written a huge list of all the food I have in fridge/freezer/cupboard so I can see what I need to use and plan meals. I'll shop tomorrow for food and then aim for a no spend week! Doable??

Hoping to keep up with this thread it does take such a long time to get up to speed!

Welcome :beer: and glad you've managed to plough your way through. It is doable to have a NSW, but if you have to replenish, say, your milk supply, don't look on it as a failure on your part. It was the stupid milk's fault for running out!

And if you achieve 5 x NSDs, well that's just a shorter week, isn't it! Good Luck!

xx

rising_from_the_ashes

SandraScarlett wrote: »

DD has been discharged and I pray we've turned a corner.

DSIL is not working tomorrow, so ..................... I have the whole weekend free! :j He's taking me to and from the station tomorrow, and my friend and I are having a Jolly in London, treating ourselves to a 2 for 1 in whichever restaurant takes our fancy in the Strrand/Covent Garden, a luxurious wee in the Savoy and then my beloved Dreamboats again. :T

Sandra - that's wonderful news .... it's been such a tough few months for your family, really hoping for a better 2012 for all.

Enjoy your trip today.:)

paidinchickens wrote: »

Chest freezer was delivered damaged :mad: a great big dent in the top and it has gone through to the metal so would rust very quickly. The customer service has been terrible and I think the manager must be dog tired as she was supposed to ring as soon as she was out of her meeting and it is now nearly 9 and still no call. So far it must be an 11 hour meeting I am annoyed as I have a freezer I can't use and no indication of when they can get me another. We have been messed about over the delivery date from the beginning and the girl on the phone is the most unhelpful person I have ever spoken to.

:mad: Grrrrrrrr (((hugs))) Tumpty - there is nothing worse than poor CS IMHO. Once it's sorted & the new one arrives, def write a letter to their head office.

debbiedeejay wrote: »

I had the problem that under the sink I had to "tap" off the outlet/inlet that the dishwasher hose was attached to - I thought I bought the right screw top but need to return it - so I had to do an emergency DIY job by using the thrumb part of a rubber glove I bust the other day over the pipe I need to seal - and it works:T

But I promise to buy the proper "thingy" when I go to town..

:rotfl:You've reminded me that I had to do something similar when I replaced my WM in late 2010 ...... and I'd totally forgotten that I need to get a proper "bit" to seal off the DW pipe - have looked in the cupboard and, yup, it's still there, taped up with some a plastic bag and duck tape .....;)

skint_chick

Budget done £6800 for everything except the mortgage for me OH and a 18month old rabbit! Have got some things selling on ebay at the moment and they're up to £50 so very pleased. I made about £3000 extra last year from mystery shopping, crafting and selling things on ebay. Aiming for £1500 this year as I have less time, I'm volunteering for 2 museums which I'm really looking forward to.

I've only spent £2 so far this month on dishwasher tablets in the pound shop because I'm using up all the food left over from last year. I managed to lose quite a bit of weight last year so aiming for slightly more this year - 6 stone in total :eek: I've included £400 in the budget for socialising because I'm planning to be more cultural this year with art galleries and exhibitions and my family are coming to visit next week and I'm also taking a language class.

wornoutmumoftwo

Signature all updated, had to redo the spreadsheet as I managed to mess up the formulas. I've been very good this week (yes, I know it's only the first week ) doing lots of baking from scratch, remembering to defrost meat instead of having takeaways's because I can't be bothered to cook etc etc.

Decided I'm taking the boys to disneyland this year, we're going with friends so they'll be ten of us, so fingers crossed we'll get a discount. I saved the money up last year in the bank of scotland children's account, so have the money for the holiday once that's up in feb.

Now I'm off to dig out the breadmaker and give that another go (the bread I like is 1.35 a loaf!), so need to sort that out a we get through a loaf a day.

rubytuesday

Hope today is a better day Slowly.

Sandra wonderful news about your daughter I hope her health continues to improve - have a wonderful fun day - well I know you will.

I will be having a spend on the dinner for tomorrow but other than that will be staying away from the shops.