2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

Ches

Well I made my new 'housekeeping' spreadsheet and its :eek:. I have had to do a lot of tweeking to balance the books each month. For instance to be able to pay for the GC birthday presents during the first half of the year I cannot buy any clothes/shoes at all until September which puts paid to my plans to buy new sandals for the summer.

The annual budget is now looking like this:-

Hair/gifts/clothes/shoes/garden/hobbies etc £900
Food £2600
Household d/d's which cover everything else except the car (OH pays for that) come from my pensions which are paid straight into the bank every month and not touched except for transfering the balance to an on-line saving account each month. I am allowing £4k which is a little more than this year as some may go up during the next 12 months. I wasn't going to allow any extra but I was a bit worried about trying too hard so I have cut myself a bit of slack. BTW this doesn't cover holidays which are paid for from my savings and which I add to every month.

Total is therefore set at £7500

Erme

Kerfuffle wrote: »

Hi Cherryjack,

Sorry, I don't live in the UK so the brand of coffee I currently buy won't mean anything to you. When I was in the UK my preference was M&S decaf which sometimes came up on special offer and if I remember correctly they do a 'gold blend' variety.

Thanks for the good wishes re getting a job

Depends what you want...the Lidls/Aldi are quite cheap and good. I swear by Lidl's decaf gold....as good as the posher brands :j. For me in the morning I just want caffeine so drink the stuff that tastes like it's come from cats.

flying_fresian wrote: »

It started because I had a receipt for a shop that Mama Fresian had done which got me £3.50 in Asda Price Guarantee and a £5 off £40 spend. I bought an Asda giftcard via work (I get a 5% discount) and used the surplus in this months groceries budget to cover it. I then decided to buy things that we would need throughout the year at a good price in Asda while using my vouchers. I got £57 of shopping for a cost to me of £44 :money:

The cupboard now has pasta, tinned tomatoes, tinned fruit/veg, conditioner (I only ever run out of the stuff days before I get paid!) and kitchen roll. I'm going to add a couple of bits to it every time I get paid and am hoping that I will be able to stock the cupboard well enough that I will be able to spend less than £75 one month on feeding both of us + the two cats on our stocks/freezer alone. It sounds like a lot, but we spend £200 per month at the moment, and that's the lowest I ever seem to go!

I don't have the space for that. Though I do stock up on dried stuff (rice; lentils; flour; cous cous) cos I get those from the cash and carry (asian) and it's cheaper to buy in bulk.

Where exactly do you sell your cards FF - am thinking of doing ebay for my cards sometime in the new year. Just simple christian ones...the usual... I have toppers I've made . How much do you sell them for? Thinking about 2 for £5 or one for £3.50 including p+P....is this too much?

septemberblues wrote: »

Good morning everybody. I'm having trouble downloading the excell budget sheet, I already have a budget sheet from MSE which is where you can work out how much you have coming in and going out, but I was interested in one that I can record daily/weekly how much I am spending and what I am spending my money on.

Any tips please?

My spreadsheet is not the SoW and works well for me ...it has date/week/In/out/details/actual spend/ total/running total/MSE (frugal living) aim

Then I have loads for other things...like one for the change jar...one for debt balance etc. etc....in a folder in documents....

Because I get paid fortnightly and things come out monthly am constantly having to adjust it but still..

E

debbiedeejay

Hello all,Please may I join in?:wave:

My income too this next year will be reduced and so I need to tighten the family finances.

I have recently joined the GC challenge & don't throw food away challenges and am a long standing member of the crazy clothes challenge all of which I love par-taking in and they all have really helped me (thankyou all)but I need to a big girl, pull up my socks and bite the bullet and ask if I can join you all too?

Am off to do a bit of catch up reading methinks & learn how to use a spreadsheet efficiently(am totally useless at them) - but I knew if I didn't put my name down now I would never give it a go -

Looking forward to a frugal 2012.

Carolyn12

Can I join in too please?

Where do I start?
After 5 years of studying, I am now struggling to get a job, I have a part time seasonal (soul destroying) job that makes ends meet at the minute, that will unfortunately end in roughly 3 weeks.
I have a couple of things on the horizon, but nothing I can depend on, or full time.

So, I have a massive student loan debt, but it is just sitting collecting interest as I probably won't reach the threshold to start paying it back anytime soon. Furthermore, an OD of a few hundred that I need rid of by June.

So, frugal is absolutely the way to go.
To start with I have cut back on everything non-essential.
I've had my hair done in a reasonably low-maintaince do (hair cut and dye, Christmas gift from OH). So that shouldn't need done for months.
I've got a minimum pay-as -you-go sim for my phone (£10.10 a month).
I walk everywhere I can. Car is only used on essential journeys.
Swapped to supermarket brands/value brands.
Minimum food wastage.
Trying to control the heating and electricity. (Has to be on a small amount each day though).


There's so many more, I just can't think of them at the minute.
I've no set target, but need to get rid of this OD.
I've also got a number of MrT vouchers/MrS & MrB points/paypal survey money squirrelled away. £9 here, £9 there. So that'll help with the small essentials for a tiny bit.

My biggest vice is chocolate last week I felt the need to go to the £ shop for some each day. No more!!

slowlyfading

It's nice to see so many people posting and wanting to join in 2012, which is just around the corner! I think I'll be running the thread in 2012, so will try and post often. It is nice to hear how other people are coping and what methods everyone has for a frugal lifestyle, so if you are joining the thread, please don't be shy - post at least each day with your frugral adventures

LolaLemon

Has taken me all night to read up to here! 8pages!!
It's soo exciting seeing all the familiar faces joining back up, and all the new tips to be got from the newbies - I can't wait!

Last year I didn't do an amount, but tried to live with what I had, and most months, we (my son & I ) just survived and no more.
This year I intend to pay off my credit card and get a bit more savings going. I currently pay £1 a day into my credit union and also £1 a day into my Christmas savings also in the credit union.

A quick set amounts list for me is:
Mortgage £425/month
Gas/electricity £60/month
Tv/broadband/landline £34/month
Council tax £100/month
Nursery fees £95/week
Petrol £20/week
Food £20-30/week.

No wonder I'm just surviving !

The boyfriend is looking to buy a place to do up (he wants a place big enough for the 3 of us, but my place is ok for the now!) He's hoping to purchase when he gets back from Cuba in Jan. We have already talked of him moving in, he would rather we moved to his village, he thinks my area is rough! If he moves in, it will make the money situ a bit easier.

He took me up to Glasgow for my birthday, and told me I had a 'blank cheque' to use (well whatever was left in his bank account from the weeks wages, was over £300!) We went to a few pubs, got train up n back, went to European markets at st Enochs centre n I got a frog hat for my son! He did want to get me a new pair of knee high, full fur/woolly inside, leather boots that I seen a good while back, but the shop had a sale on n none left in my size. He said he felt like a failure for not getting me anything for my birthday, but he still doesn't believe me that I prefere spending time together than a present.
I think he is getting me an iPad for Christmas, I'm a bit disappointed if he is, but also extremely excited as I'm a closet (too saint to afford) techno geek!
I got him 6 guitar tab books, some new, others from eBay, kings of Leon albums, the 1st 3. And a few dvds, price wise, all under £100 compared to his £400odd, but mines is more personal.(I have told him repeatedly that I don't like ipads, I do, but hate that Apple owns soo many people, same as Tesco, but at least with them u get clubcard points Haha.
I would be more happy with a subscription to my new fav magazine.

FrankieM

Morning,
I'm doing a Uni assignment today which could be frugal ( I won't be leaving the house) or could not ( I may need junk food and alcohol!)
I've bought all my Christmas presents. Unfortunately I had to buy them out of this month's personal money so I'm a bit skint now, but it's made me realise that from January I need to put money away.
I read on a money blog from the USA about splitting your money in to percentages.
So 50% needs; 30% wants and 20% saving. I'm going to give that a go with my personal money. Now just to work out what are needs and what are wants!

Have a good day all...

seriouslyfrugal

slowlyfading wrote: »

It's nice to see so many people posting and wanting to join in 2012, which is just around the corner! I think I'll be running the thread in 2012, so will try and post often. It is nice to hear how other people are coping and what methods everyone has for a frugal lifestyle, so if you are joining the thread, please don't be shy - post at least each day with your frugral adventures

Hello to everyone new so nice to hear from you all - not much going on today so hopefully a nsd ( no spend day)

have a good day everyone

Cherryjack

Morning Everyone Just a little list with my plans for 2012

Minimise food wastage..

Walk to school when the weather is better-ive never done this before lol.. wish me luck!

Stock up on cuboard offers using coupons when possible

Re-Gift if i get something i dont need/want

Ebay! Made just over £300.00 this month on some clothes.. have a few boxes of summer clothes ready to sell early spring:j:D

Comps.. keep entering them

Coffee shops..Mc Donalds.. coffee ..coffee...coffee.. must remember much cheaper at home!!

On long journeys to see family 3-4 hours away (take a really nice pack lunch and avoid the services prices) dust off the flasks!

Plan special meals out for birthdays with vouchers.. maybe use clubcard aswell to keep costs down.

I get a whole heap of beauty products at christmas.. so why i need to keep purchasing i dont know! Must stop... i have 3 massive storage boxes to work thru already.. plus probably extra to come next week.

Ask myself ..do i need this?? can i make do?? fix clothes.. stay away from whim buys.

Only buy clothes for son and baby (due soon) that they need.. no more bags and bags to recycle.. plan.. they dont need wardrobes full.. few jean.. tracksuits.. t-shirts.. jumpers etc.. (buy nice ones) and not loads and loads of average ones..

Look for 10p bargains i can freeze and stock up

D.I.Y home pedicures.. wont be spending £30.00 getting them done anymore

Remember to keep present costs down.. i recently bought my friend a very posh afternoon tea.. and there seemed to be no appreciation. Then she had a very expensive wedding list! i dont like lists, so i bought her a beautiful photo album and plaque. No appreciation because it wasnt a flat screen from her list.. (note to self-no amount of money will make some people happy)

Check bank balance often.. would love another year of no bank charges.:money:

Constant invites out for lunch.. invite friend/friends over more.:j

Stop offering to first to buy things.. has got to the point where friends are expecting it.

Remember money does not equal love.. stop putting pressure on myself to please people.:o

Thats all i can think of for now.. there will be lots more but the things above need working on!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

oh yeah... when going shopping with friends i dont have to buy something just so im holding a bag lol need to stop!

stitching_witch

FrankieM wrote: »

I read on a money blog from the USA about splitting your money in to percentages.
So 50% needs; 30% wants and 20% saving.

In my case that's 140% of my income on needs, -40% on wants and forget about the savings! :rotfl:

I think 2012 will be a difficult year........

stitchy x