2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

LolaLemon

Dizzy, what pattern are u going with? The American one or Lucy's? I haven't started as I'm doing a dinosaur for a friend, but have no desire to complete it grr....

I spent all day in bed, don't know what's wrong with me, I'm sleeping for Britain just now! Think a wee trip to the doctors is in order... if I can wake up early enough to fonefor an appointment!

natnat13

I am a coffeeholic to or was, 2nd day of not drinking it! It does slightly concern me that my body was that dependant on a chemical, so I will keep going and see how I feel, all good today so far.

The diet I am doing is low carbs, I am basically excluding all wheat, dairy (except low fat probiotic yog), alcohol and coffee. So eating loads of fruit and veg, lean meat, brown rice and other whole grains, seeds, nuts, its a detox really, only day 2 I will let you know how I go! I am also working out with a trainer 3 times a week which sounds very extravagant but it's in a small group and costs the same as going to 3 keep fit classes a week anyway and I really need to sort my health out. Still walking to school as well, it was cold today!!!

enjoyfinancialchallenges

I did cold turkey by cutting out all caffeine once and my head felt dreadful I think slowly cutting down might work better.

determined_new_ms

determined_new_ms wrote: »

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a lovely (and frugal) Christmas! So I have had the house to myself this morning as everyone is still asleep and have been reading through this thread - its mammoth and I will probably have trouble keeping up with it! Been giving some thought to my budget - when I last posted I was trying to get a job in my home town and stop driving 40miles a day. Happily I have secured a position where I live and start on 23rd Jan hurrah! So that will reduce my outgoings but sadly I still need my car!

Things I intend to do to keep costs down:

not waste food! will check through my fridge/cupboard every other day & adjust meal plan accordingly
use coupons & meal plan, bulk buy when items are on offer/reduced
check my tyre pressure every other week & ensure car has NOTHING in it other than things needed for the journey
Plan out my days at work so I can walk to work a couple of times a week
keep a spending diary - this is so hard for me! Always start off with good intentions at the beginning of the month and at some point early on forget about it!
Give up smoking! I did this for 6 1/2 months this year - determined to do it for good this year
3 months a year have a "spending diet" where I spend almost nothing for a month other than essential expenses
shop around for big spends
save throughout the year for birthdays/xmas/car repairs/emergencies - I did this this year and it has been a god send. I have not spent any of my Dec salary on Christmas, my dd's 18th birthday, & my car cost me £650 in repairs a couple of weeks ago which I paid for with my car & emergency savings and paid £94 out of my monthly pay
try to keep energy costs down
cancel my vodafone contract & get 02 sim, for £10pm get 100 mins & unlimited texts
just generally cut back
do grocery challenge
cut back on alcohol & coffee
take library book to work for lunch breaks/walk to library & read papers for free or online

ok so I have spent this morning doing my projected budget & I have set up my spreadsheet. Here is
my outgoings/share of joint expenses

Bills/rent/food £6648
Mobile £120
Ins £300
Petrol £1200
Clothes £300
Exercise clothes £100 (trainers/sports bras)
holidays £1000 (essential for my oh! Easier to give him this than not, he doesn't ask for a lot and puts up with much!) £600
haircuts £90 [COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]£30[/COLOR]
Birthdays £360
Christmas £240
Car maint £600
shoe repairs £60
emergencies £120
Entertainment £1200 (hoping to reduce this! But it allows for £100 a month)
spending/pocket money £600

ok I work all that out to be just shy of £13000 so have added another £500 for unexpected emergencies but hoping to not need it! So my budget for spends is £13500

So that's it! Looking forward to all your frugal tips and the challenge of being in this together :T

hello fellow frugaliers first day of being between jobs and it has been a decadent day of doing nothing! Keep thinking I'll get a bit bored and get on a do some stuff soon, but apparently not! :rotfl:

spent some time considering health budget - I had not even considered this and it was going to come out of my "other" pot & how I will work having 2 separate "pots" (one for household expenses that oh & I pay into but I pay slightly more as I earn more and I have a dependant child. I don't pay much more but think this is reasonable)

with these musings in mind I set about putting together a spreadsheet to track FL projects/reconcile - my previous one didn't cover everything and lots of items were group together.

I have made a budget for dentist & prescriptions. I've also put in for a couple of household expenses I hadn't accounted for - repairing items, decorating, household items & furniture. Because of these additions I'm putting my frugal living challenge total up to £13850 - but of course am hoping to make some savings out of this!

so that's one way at least to stay out of the shops! :rotfl:

rubytuesday

Finally caught up with all the posts I had missed.

Loving the poems Sandra and well done on such a thoughtful gift Purple!

Welcome to all the folks who have recently joined us.

I have spent £1.90 today on a well deserved nata and cup of tea after my acupuncture this morning.

It was my last session as my Doctor has refused to re-refer me so I sat there with tears streaming down my face!

Not such a good idea really when I emerged red faced and puffy as I had gone to bed with slightly wet hair the night before and ended up looking completely deranged.

I really need to get tidying as someone is coming to service the gas boiler tomorrow and the house is currently at 'no guests allowed' level!

I think I will try and get to the doctor tomorrow morning as I still have this sore throat and headache and general blah - took to my bed when I got home but at the same time it's not really that bad.

Wondering if I can russle up something for dinner without leaving the house - should be able to manage a bean stew I think.

dizzy_lizzie

LolaLemon wrote: »

Dizzy, what pattern are u going with? The American one or Lucy's? I haven't started as I'm doing a dinosaur for a friend, but have no desire to complete it grr....
I spent all day in bed, don't know what's wrong with me, I'm sleeping for Britain just now! Think a wee trip to the doctors is in order... if I can wake up early enough to fonefor an appointment!

Ooh Ruby you get yourself off to the docs. Sounds exactly like what I had...go on now what you waiting for...Hope it soon clears up.
Hope you feel better soon Lola.
Haven't followed a pattern as such. Tweaked a flower pattern somewhere off utube I think just so I could remember it. Hang on I'll get camera out

I've just draped it around one of my favourite Summer jackets. I don't think I'll wear it but I enjoyed making it and I'll definately make one with smaller spring type flowers.
x

paidinchickens

Aril wrote: »

Hello fellow frugallers:j
Hugs to those who need them- sorry have been MIA. Life is just too jolly over here at GBT:D

I have discovered a new website which has slashed the cost of Psychocat's flea treatment from the previous place I used- it's free p&p and my order arrived the next day. I am NOT linked to the company or site in any way
http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/Default.aspx

Good luck everyone- even the smallest step is fabulous and gets you nearer to where you want to be!
Arilx

Hi Aril I wondered where you had been We still have flea issues here. Blinkin frontline does not work. Tried to get on your link but it won't work so will try later, thankyou x

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

LB29.....





Youngest has passed his gcse in maths and history, so dont have to do it in the summer... As he passed these exams he wanted ot have an indian takeaway, and some parts for a mini that he is 'tinkering' i mean doing up... so it didnt take much to twist my arm in to having the takeaway:D, but at least we can have the rest of it for tonight.

Well done to your youngest and glad your treating him to a takeaway in our house takeaways are now for special treats only aswell but the boys appreciate it far more.

SandraScarlett wrote: »

Lost the plot? No sweetie, I think he's just found a new, helpful and witty way to seduce you! Go on chickens, go and get your feathers ruffled!!;)

xx

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I will consider it if he does the fridge as well


I have not left the house all day and spent all my time talking to the cats tidying up NSD though :j

PIC xx

ETA I hope you feel better soon ruby and Dizzy I am envious as I havn't got a craft bone in my body.

Igamogam

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

Ooh Ruby you get yourself off to the docs. Sounds exactly like what I had...go on now what you waiting for...Hope it soon clears up.
Hope you feel better soon Lola.
Haven't followed a pattern as such. Tweaked a flower pattern somewhere off utube I think just so I could remember it. Hang on I'll get camera out

I've just draped it around one of my favourite Summer jackets. I don't think I'll wear it but I enjoyed making it and I'll definately make one with smaller spring type flowers.
x

Oooh thats really pretty - crochet?? Its not something I would wear either but its lovely nonetheless! I cant crochet - knit yes

dizzy_lizzie

Igamogam wrote: »

Oooh thats really pretty - crochet?? Its not something I would wear either but its lovely nonetheless! I cant crochet - knit yes

Hi Igamogam. Thank you. Yes it's crochet. You could do something similar with knitted flowers. At the moment they seem to be very popular.
x

rising_from_the_ashes

LB29 wrote: »

This weekend I overspent on everything, have been feeling really tired and miserable. Then last night I bought a takeaway pizza and sat around feeling sorry for myself.

LB we all have days like that ...... hope you're feeling better now (((hugs)))

I used to be quite bad for it and have found that if I keep a pizza in the freezer (so I know it's there if there is such a day IYSWIM), I actually very rarely use it - must be kind of a security blanket type of thing.

Last time I had a night like that, I got 2 on a BOGOF offer before September (had surgery then so I know it was before this), ate one that night and .... the other's still in the freezer. Everytime I'm tempted to use it - I tell myself the day hasn't been that bad and another worse one will come along when it's really needed!:o

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Rising you mentioning Dentists and Options certainly made me think at present I don't put anything away, I do however have a sort of health insurance, I say sort of because I pay monthly and get financial help with certain things health wise. The cost is going up so I shall have to reconsider my options, the help I get isn't the full payment just a bit towards the total cost and the amount is set for the month, I don't really want to cancel it because without it I certainly would not have been able to have my dental implant and the bridges I had a couple of years back. Also being a senior citizen if I reduce my premiums I would not get such a good deal from them BUT.....at the moment I'm paying £37.95 a month!! and the amount I pay towards the total cost obviously comes from somewhere. I have a saving account that I use to pay off all the bits I don't cater for so I expect it comes from there.

That's quite a lot to be paying out each month - what happens if you don't use the "allowance" that month - does it roll over to the next?

I guess the only way to judge if it's worth it is to add up what you would've spent last year (without the benefits it provides) and compare that to the annual premium.

I have incl denistry / optitions / haircuts etc etc in my SOA but as I don't have a "pot" to put the money into each month it's not there when needed & ends up coming from the emergency fund.

I really should try to add extra to this to cover these things - something to look at over the weekend!:)

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

Dizzie, that's lovely I've never managed to "master" crochet (am OK at knitting) but may just try to give it another bash this year.