2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

chika

For all the loo roll hoarders. This was posted on the grabbit board http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0048DRZVC/ref=nosim/?!!!!!hotukdeals-21

45 rolls of Andrex white for £10 with free delivery. Apparently it works out at the same price per roll as the value stuff so treat yourselfs! I've bought a pack as I'm down to just three rolls! The delivery date is a while away so will go to home bargains later and check out this famous Nicky brand.

LolaLemon

Sorry I have been MIA lately, lack of money, car, heating and some smallish relationship troubles have kept me away, not just from here, but life in general. I am sleeping, a lot! Going to bed early, taking son to nursery and then coming home and sleeping - all day! Had blood tests done and everything came back looking good/better than good so he thinks it may be stress related.
My car broke down completely.... possibly because I don't have the money to keep enough fuel in it, and I'm dragging the rubbish through the engine :-(
Not having the car is not an option either - it costs £1.90 to get into town and same again to get back. Sons nursery is 1 stop away from town and a good 10 min walk up a steep almost verticle hill, that has a hand rail to help u up!
Heating is still not fixed :-( the temp hasn't really risen past 2° here, we share 3 hot water bottles as well as the feather quilt with a blanket on top plus sons single quilt on top. All's good in bed, but getting out of it is a different story lol

I really think men get pmt. It was soo bad last week that we nearly finished... it doesn't help that someone he met in Cuba had a pic of them being very cosy as her profile pic, yet he hasn't mentioned her at all, even when i asked ( I let it go) but his sister deleted me from fb, so she could upload their holiday pics, and text him to say that the other girl hasn't stopped asking him to get in touch - she emails him pics of them and asks him to reply, so far he hasn't (yep I was on his emails n texts... he knows I sometimes look through them, not so much his emails tho... I know I shouldn't but he was acting 'different when he came back - I'm not proud that I do it either :-( ) . I don't know if I'm just being completely paranoid or not, but I'm usually spot on with my instincts, which makes me look for 'the evedence ' as people think ur crazy if u go with ur gut.
This is why I'm better off staying single - less hassle n my head doesn't hurt lol

I also bought the red lentils at £1.99.... now, what do I do with them?

Winchelsea- I am so sorry for your loss, you are in my thoughts and prayers, I'm glad that you have loving friends and family who will be able to help you through this.

Sandra, what a horrible person to ruin your day out! I'm all for peaceful protests, but some people are only their to cause trouble!

stitching_witch

I finalised January's figures during my lunch break and although they weren't as good as I'd have liked, they weren't terrible either.

I overspent by £34.08 in total for the month, and £21 of that was a birthday present and card for DH3. The other massive overspend was diesel - a whopping £67 compared to my budget of £30. I hadn't realised we use quite so much as DH used to put some in the tank too .

The one good thing was that my grocery budget was set at £75 and I only spent £62.58 as we were very well stocked before the start of the year.

Time for more number-crunching I think.....

enjoyfinancialchallenges

LolaLemon wrote: »

Sorry I have been MIA lately, lack of money, car, heating and some smallish relationship troubles have kept me away, not just from here, but life in general. I am sleeping, a lot! Going to bed early, taking son to nursery and then coming home and sleeping - all day! Had blood tests done and everything came back looking good/better than good so he thinks it may be stress related.
My car broke down completely.... possibly because I don't have the money to keep enough fuel in it, and I'm dragging the rubbish through the engine :-(
Not having the car is not an option either - it costs £1.90 to get into town and same again to get back. Sons nursery is 1 stop away from town and a good 10 min walk up a steep almost verticle hill, that has a hand rail to help u up!
Heating is still not fixed :-( the temp hasn't really risen past 2° here, we share 3 hot water bottles as well as the feather quilt with a blanket on top plus sons single quilt on top. All's good in bed, but getting out of it is a different story lol

I really think men get pmt. It was soo bad last week that we nearly finished... it doesn't help that someone he met in Cuba had a pic of them being very cosy as her profile pic, yet he hasn't mentioned her at all, even when i asked ( I let it go) but his sister deleted me from fb, so she could upload their holiday pics, and text him to say that the other girl hasn't stopped asking him to get in touch - she emails him pics of them and asks him to reply, so far he hasn't (yep I was on his emails n texts... he knows I sometimes look through them, not so much his emails tho... I know I shouldn't but he was acting 'different when he came back - I'm not proud that I do it either :-( ) . I don't know if I'm just being completely paranoid or not, but I'm usually spot on with my instincts, which makes me look for 'the evedence ' as people think ur crazy if u go with ur gut.
This is why I'm better off staying single - less hassle n my head doesn't hurt lol

I also bought the red lentils at £1.99.... now, what do I do with them?

Winchelsea- I am so sorry for your loss, you are in my thoughts and prayers, I'm glad that you have loving friends and family who will be able to help you through this.

Sandra, what a horrible person to ruin your day out! I'm all for peaceful protests, but some people are only their to cause trouble!

Oh dear LL sounds like life is a bu***r at the moment, really sorry about your relationship men just dont seem to get it do they?
I dont think anyone will blame you for looking for clues etc, the sort of thing anyone would do in your situation actually. I think you must trust your gut feelings it seems like any of the many times I didnt do that I learnt in the end I was right. You know that you will always be supported on this forum no matter what. Keep you chin up mate.
XXX

SAVVYJADE

Haven't done very well this month, but dating that the moth didn't start of in a very good place money wise so I wasnt expecting myself to get very far! I'm suprised how well I have done in certain areas though and I'm looking forward to tackling February with a bit more preparation!

Well don't to everyone who succeeded!

meg72

chika wrote: »

For all the loo roll hoarders. This was posted on the grabbit board http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0048DRZVC/ref=nosim/?!!!!!hotukdeals-21

45 rolls of Andrex white for £10 with free delivery. Apparently it works out at the same price per roll as the value stuff so treat yourselfs! I've bought a pack as I'm down to just three rolls! The delivery date is a while away so will go to home bargains later and check out this famous Nicky brand.

Followed the link but price showing as £22.45 amI doing something wrong.

I was quite impressed with Nicky loo rolls.

amber03

Thought i was having a bad time lately but LolaLemon you really have had it rough, why do these things ie, car breaking down and heating breaking down in winter, hope things soon pick up for you. As for the male species, totally agree with EFC go with you gut feeling. Big Hugs xx.

needtostart

oh my word - as a newbie I just spent ages reading through! you guys are amazing, wish I had the guts to try it.

Think i need to start small first with actually doing a budget!

LolaLemon

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Oh dear LL sounds like life is a bu***r at the moment, really sorry about your relationship men just dont seem to get it do they?
I dont think anyone will blame you for looking for clues etc, the sort of thing anyone would do in your situation actually. I think you must trust your gut feelings it seems like any of the many times I didnt do that I learnt in the end I was right. You know that you will always be supported on this forum no matter what. Keep you chin up mate.
XXX

amber03 wrote: »

Thought i was having a bad time lately but LolaLemon you really have had it rough, why do these things ie, car breaking down and heating breaking down in winter, hope things soon pick up for you. As for the male species, totally agree with EFC go with you gut feeling. Big Hugs xx.

Thank you, I'm just really hating it all atm, more so because my son likes him n asks him to come do things with us.
I'm completely 'in a mood' just now, as he offered to take son so I could go to my Gaelic class, said he would pick him up at 5 from swimming, I fone at 4 just b4 we go in n he says he has to take his niece n nephew down to his flat, as apparently that 'just have to see it, right now' (his direct words) . He has bn their 7 months now, never once has he invited them down, not have they ever asked b4. He turns up at 5.55. My son is starving and absolutely shattered. I tell him to make sure he us fed within half an hour and he is in bed for 7. I just foned and they are at his sisters house.. son still isn't fed and will now b up all night! Rage is not even close to how I feel just now!

needtostart wrote: »

oh my word - as a newbie I just spent ages reading through! you guys are amazing, wish I had the guts to try it.

Think i need to start small first with actually doing a budget!

I started last year, but didn't do a budget, just joined in and got inspiration, and stayed out of more debt.... this year I have a budget of sorts, next year I will have a budget that I will be sticking with. Good luck

rising_from_the_ashes

LolaLemon wrote: »

Lol u will be absolutely shocked at this house. I currently have 2 rolls, yes just TWO rolls of toilet paper. And the lack of toilet paper is driving me insane lol I'm up at night worrying abt my lack of supplies. Its not like me, I normally have a few bags of them, but I just haven't bn keeping up with supplies at all. I'm OK for cereals, flours and tins of toms but everything else is being depleted.

Ohhhhhh Lola ..... I'm feeling a bit overcome at the thought _pale_

Sorry to hear about your various "troubles" - hope everything gets sorted soon.

meg72 wrote: »

I was quite impressed with Nicky loo rolls.

Me too! I much prefer them to other much more expensive branded ones. Really nice & quilted if anyone wants to try them - you can usually get at Home Bar*gains and Farm*foods and are £2.99 for 18.:)

Need to start welcome!:)

Well, totally exhausted so just a quick visit - new computer system at work & it's all screenwork (we're paperless:eek:) which is proving very hard on the eyes and will prob mean I'll have to limit my evening time on the lappy .

Good news is I've managed 18 NSDs this month - which I'm pretty sure is my best yet:).

Right .... roll on Feb - I'm ready!!!