2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

Savvy_sewing

Ches wrote: »

Although I don't post very often I do read the thread everyday and have kept up with the frugal challenge. February was funnily enough an expensive month for us as although the month was short my expenditure on clothes and household stuff was higher than average. I am still on course for the year though as long as I reign in the spending from now on. I haven't bought anything unnecessary its just it all came in the first quarter of the year rather than spread over the 12 months. Should all sort itself out by the end of the year as long as I keep my eye on the ball.

This gives me hope for my year end. I too have had an expensive month, but there the similarity stops.:o Some of my expenses were not necessary, just a mum being too soft with her children.!! I will have to be a bit tougher if I want to reign in my spending. (My children are aged between 25 and 19! so not really children.). My money is for my granddaughter and me. We are the only two living at home now. Theoretically anyway.:rotfl:

More4Less

Mooloo wrote: »

This gives me hope for my year end. I too have had an expensive month, but there the similarity stops.:o Some of my expenses were not necessary, just a mum being too soft with her children.!! I will have to be a bit tougher if I want to reign in my spending. (My children are aged between 25 and 19! so not really children.). My money is for my granddaughter and me. We are the only two living at home now. Theoretically anyway.:rotfl:

It's just so easy to spend! Temptation lurks around every corner. There are deals, discounts, special offers, 'must haves' everywhere. If I can resist the pull of the high street and internet, then I get carried away in charity shops. Sometimes I wish I could go to bed for a couple of weeks and not move!

This Forum and all the support and postings are so much help:T

rising_from_the_ashes

For those with cats who like Whiskas ....

1/2 price box of 12 (now £1.84) at Mr T until Monday.....

Igamogam

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

For those with cats who like Whiskas ....

1/2 price box of 12 (now £1.84) at Mr T until Monday.....

And its flying off the shelves...............must be true 8 out of 10 cats and all that! Which includes ours Went shopping late last night and got 2 large BBQ hot chickens for £1. Girl at counter was happy to see them go as she said they would be binned at 10pm - criminal. I will strip off the meat and freeze for sandwiches over the next couple of weeks. And of course the carcasses will be used to make chicken stock:)

minnie2

rubytuesday wrote: »

You did better than me - two tomatoes and maybe three or four strawberries.

i have no idea what i am doing though! and no idea where to start this year! Maybe i will just try potatos again.

flying_fresian wrote: »

I hope you smacked them about the face :eek: :eek: :eek:

i would have loved to but i fear i would have got the sack! another person i know has already started shopping for presents.personally i hate shopping but she must love it!

twiglet98 wrote: »

I'm not sure you can get insurance on boilers over 12 years old. If anyone knows a firm who insures older OIL fired boilers I'd love to know! Is yours oil or gas fired or solid fuel?

i shamefully have no idea! i only know where the boiler is because the guy told me when he showed us round the house.i have always had storage heaters.

SandraScarlett

I'm sorry to hear so many of you are having a rough time with your expenses.:( Trying to cut down on your spending, is like going on a diet. You cut down on certain foods, cut out some, have a miserable time, but think that once you get on the scales, it will be worth it.

So, on you get, after the first week, and hurrah! You've lost 3 pounds! :T Then you get on the scales after the second week and you've lost .......... b*gger all! So then you ditch the diet.

It's so similar to cutting out certain spends completely, cutting down on others, the first month things seem great, then the second month things are a shock. But, unlike the diet, don't give up!!! Those of you who haven't been frugal before, are doing so well, and now it seems, with so many benefits being cut, and prices increasing, you have to tighten your belts to strangulation point. :eek:

It's rotten when you've done everything you can to cut costs, to then find it's still not enough, and we all kid ourselves that a little bit extra here and there won't make any difference to our spending, and we've all said "I deserve it", which, of course, we do.

It's no good getting too depressed over what has passed. Let's tackle March as a fresh month, congratulate ourselves on the savings we have made, and move forward, waving our Frugal Flags.

xx

Thrifty_Sister

Igamogam wrote: »

Got E0n to refund me £84.01 as we are in credit and reduced the monthly DD by £20 and we are now generating our own with solar panels I fully expect to be calling them again in a few months to reduce the DD

Not so much luck on the T*sco price check - 2 receipts and got a reply within 24 hrs both claiming cheaper shop in T*sco - over half receipt marked N/A - now I know why when I have shopped in Asd* in past they never seem to have what I want Anyway will keep trying.......maybe a wombled one will do it;)

Hang on in there and keep trying - when I first starting wombling at T's my receipts all produced similar results. Nearly (but not quite:D) gave up on 'em when all of a sudden I got one for £7 +!! Since then I have had some more with good results although this one was my PB:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

minnie2

Kylieminoag wrote: »

Now thats just not funny! I've a good mind to report you to the boss.... ;)I havent finished eating this years turkey yet.....:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

In our house no one can mention christmas till atleast the 1st of December!! takes a lot to get me in the mood for christmas these days!! i was not impressed to hear how many days till christmas we had left especially as i am still paying for the last!


Right so I had an awful ordeal with car insurance last night which i really didnt need after the week i have had at work!! Im working all weekend too so could have done with a night off. Anyway i received an email saying thank you for renewing with us and that they were assuming everything was correct in the renewal pack i received.Firstly i never received a renewal pack and secondly when i went onto their website i got a quote that was £100 cheaper!!!!!!! So i dont have a landline and the freephone number is not free on a mobile so i put £10 credit in phone to ring them so i had £12 of credit. It took me an hour and 40mins to sort out. I was on hold for hour and 15mins id to swap phone as i was running out of credit and eventually even during our conversation i was put on hold again!! They were doing a sneaky of answering the phone then cutting me off id be on hold for 20mins then everytime someone would got to answer and then cut me off!! To top it off i moaned to the guy i spoke to and he said hed ring me back! that was gone 7pm last night and i am still waiting!!!! nightmare - and apparently i received the renewal pack to an online account i dodnt even know i had!! anyway after 1hr 40mins i applied online for the cheaper 1 with the same company.and that one was the cheapest quote i found.how can they be so different! so instead of paying £492 i paid £397. put i am down about £15 on phone credit!

Also had a little thing with scottish power, i rang to say that i was leaving while i was on the phone she went on a comparrison site and said that according to her results that i would only be saving £12 a year and was it really worth hte swap - but when i compared the result was actually £92 but she then told me i had done it wrong and that she done it according to actually figures (which i had done). then she wanted me to hang on even longer because she couldnt even find the plan i was moving to - so i had to quite firmly say i need to go i just rang to let you know bye bye!!! even if it was going to be £12 thats still £12. phew!!! hoping i dont have to change again for a while!! and now npower are telling me i cant have the plan i applied for another thing to sort!!

Thrifty_Sister

Mooloo wrote: »

I hadnt really knows about the changes in the tax credits. So I just had a quick look. However my situation is about to change dramatically anyway. on the 13th March I hopefully get Guardianship of my Granddaughter, (who is currently placed with me under a fostering arrangement.). This means that I will no longer be classed as working, and that i will however be able to claim child tax credits and Child benefit.
I am not sure how I will stand as of yet. But it will be a change. I shall put the new details into the other website and see what I am supposed to be getting.
On the link just supplied above, I would be getting around £5,200 a year. So with my ESA £4,900 we will have £10,100 to live on. Which is roughly half of what we have had coming in over the last 12 months.
All I can do is think- Panic.
Got to be done though. So I will have to find massive massive savings and I thought we were living fairly frugally anyway.
Such is life.
Maybe my maths is wrong? Lets hope so. But if its not then at least I will probably get more housing or council tax benefits which may help ease the burden a little bit.
I am off to see the other website while dinner cooks.

It is so maddening that the genuine ones like yourself are going to struggle even more to keep their heads above water. Todays paper features a family who receive over £30000 in benefits and they want a bigger house. These people have 9 children - makes you think why did they have them if they can't afford to look after them properly.

Rant over - sorry guys but it makes me mad:mad:

Thrifty_Sister

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

For those with cats who like Whiskas ....

1/2 price box of 12 (now £1.84) at Mr T until Monday.....

I have myself taken advantage of this offer as my puss cats are rather partial to this food and saved a few quid in my being frugal regime. It would be rude not to!