2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

twiglet98

gigglybug wrote: »

I looked on the NHS Jobs website, you can then select your local hospital to see whats available.

Good luck!!!

Many thanks, this looks interesting and I will certainly find out what is available locally!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

stitching_witch wrote: »

Oh anything really; patchwork fabric, corsetry fabric, satins, silks, vintage fabric, beautiful old blankets to re-cover my sofas, yards and yards of white cotton to make Victorian underwear....

I've got loads of projects running round my head but need to start earning money from all the piles and piles of fabric already in the sewing room.

Just a thought for you, but what about replica victorian corsets/underwear etc? and even costumes?

Is there a fancy dress Hire Shop that maybe you could approach, to see if you could make them some stuff?

Or is there an old house/hotel that does themed nights/weekends that you could poss make costumes for. I know there was a hotel somewhere that organised medievil sp? nights

The thing is with fancy dress costumes they are so basic these days, and carp material etc,, wear them once and they are knackered....

so I am sure the above places i mentioned would be interested in proper quality stuff, that would last

[Deleted User]

Hi folks. Will need to put petrol in the car today. My first fill up since the new year. Have managed to organised a frugal night out next Tue to see a film for free so I am looking fwd to that.

Greying_Pilgrim

Hi Everyone!

Not much to report. However, I finally happened upon some 'whoopsied'double cream at a local tiny Mr T's - 5 cartons, 300ml for 11 pence each. So I had a go at making butter - for the first time.

From my 55p investment, I got 500ml of buttermilk, and 800g of butter. By my reckoning, even using 'value' butter prices, that comes to about £4 worth (buttermilk is about £1 per litre at the local farmers market). Plus I've learnt a new skill. Ok, so the food processor did most of the hard work, but I managed to 'wash' the butter out ok and have a useable product.

I am amazed how cold it is this morning. The weather forecast gave -1 overnight, but the car was showing -4 this morning. We don't have our heating on at the moment (use our log burner) and so I'm grateful none of the pipes have suffered.

Keep warm everyone.

Greying

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi all .... loads of catching up to do (all my "regular" threads are mental this month & really struggling to keep up with them all!) over the weekend!

Hope all well ....

I've been tweaking my budgets again (I just can't help it!).

Some budgets are known for the year (car, pet, income protection, bike & boiler insurance all just renewed, tv licence, car tax & breakdown cover etc) but others I'm struggling with eg the utilities etc.

I'm torn between setting them as frugally as possible / allowing enough for cost of living increases etc - I want them "tightish" so I've an incentive not to overspend but if prices go up loads and I do overspend on them, I know I'll get really depressed and feel like a failure and it'll all go to pot!

Not helped at all that we've another pay freeze at work this year ....

Any suggestions!

Frugaldom

soap powder/laundry detergent/soapnuts

See HANDY LINKS in post 1 for link to free sample of soapnuts and link to rcipe for homemade laundry gloop.

Sorry to drone on about it, but if everyone could make use of the links and PM me any others you think should be there, we've been using the list for years, in the hope it would help avoid the same questions being asked and inadvertently being lost in a very fast moving thread. If in doubt, check post 1. Thanks.

I used to buy a year's supply at a time but haven't bought any laundry products in years after starting making the 'gloop'. Saves a fortune.

Blairweech

Hello everyone,

I appear to have been haemorrhaging money this week...after buying my new car :J (that isnt included in the challenge), then the extra insurance etc, my cat has needed to go to the vet. He had 95% of his teeth removed last summer and has recently gone sharply downhill healthwise (he is 19). Knew he is getting near his time but just wanted to see the vet to make sure there are no additional supplements etc we could give him to make him a bit more comfortable...he had two injections and I bought some super duper food but he doesn't want it . Not in any pain though, so he is happily curled up underneath our radiator on the landing.

We have had a really hard frost overnight, so all those confused daffodils blooming in our garden will now be dead! Am meant to be going out for OHs birthday tonight but it will be cold and I have no money...think I will offer to drive

cw18

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

...... but others I'm struggling with eg the utilities etc.

I'm torn between setting them as frugally as possible / allowing enough for cost of living increases etc - I want them "tightish" so I've an incentive not to overspend but if prices go up loads and I do overspend on them, I know I'll get really depressed and feel like a failure and it'll all go to pot!

The D/Debit for my gas & electric is currently set at £57/month, but I'm slightly in credit which is also being eaten into.

So I've set my budget at £720 for the year, which is £60/month. This covers my current D/Debit, but allows a small amount for an increase if prices go up and/or my credit balance finally gets exhausted.

This way I need to monitor I don't start 'squandering' my gas/electric, but also have a bit of 'wriggle room' before I need to tweak budgets. Seemed to work for me in previous years

rising_from_the_ashes

cw18 wrote: »

The D/Debit for my gas & electric is currently set at £57/month, but I'm slightly in credit which is also being eaten into.

So I've set my budget at £720 for the year, which is £60/month. This covers my current D/Debit, but allows a small amount for an increase if prices go up and/or my credit balance finally gets exhausted.

This way I need to monitor I don't start 'squandering' my gas/electric, but also have a bit of 'wriggle room' before I need to tweak budgets. Seemed to work for me in previous years

Thanks Cheryl - I'd done something similar originally for my gas/elec:

Direct debit is £64 / month (£768 annual)
Allowed £800 for the year which is £66.66 / month

But I don't have any credit (changed suppliers recently) and should just break even over the year with the £768 figure. It's likely this may be underestimated this year due to being housebound for over 2 months following surgery - and the resulting extra consumption used then.

It's the same with most of the other utilities - I've allowed an extra £20 ish but not sure this is really enough.

I've a couple of big (for me) planned spends this year - a garden shed (approx £150) which will enable me to grow more veg etc as I'll have somewhere to store the planters in the winter and a butterfly table (approx £150-£200) so I can use my sewing machine again. These would be coming ou the "anything else" which currently sits at £600:eek: so think I need to add a bit more to this as well to cover these! (Although planning to save as much as poss towards these through £2 coin jar & cashback!)

More tweaking needed!:)

rictus123

Hey guys, third spending day of 2012. Spent £60 on petrol. So total spends for the year so far are at £151.01. With £111.01 of that being on petrol!! Hopefully it will last until at least next month. May look into getting a small van again for work, would probably save on fuel the cost of the van over the year...my car is not mse at all!!

Hopefully i stay well under my £500 a month iv allowed myself...as i have to pay £700 odd holiday cost and £900 gearbox repairs this month aswel!!