2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

rictus123

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

Rictus, wow. I need to save 20 grand for a deposit, I am not even vaguely sure how I am going to do it!

Are you just hoping for the best or do you have a plan?

(hope that doesn't sound rude)

xx

I have a plan. I am registered self employed now for my out of "9-5" earnings. I will be taking on work a couple of evenings a week and working weekends. I am only 20 and have done it the past 3 years, i love it, love the long hours and hard graft then getting to relax a bit over winter months knowing i have made plenty in the summer.

Plan is my 9-5 will pay all my expenses(think the year will be less than £8,000 for everything), all the debt (£13,500) and save £800 a month from this - this is NOT my house deposit, it is an emergency fund. So £9,600 saved here.

My "homers" and overtime that i do outside of my 9-5 job(im a tradesman so will be doing same job just for different clients at night and weekends) will all be saved. So really i need to find extra work to provide £15,000 of net income.

Could look at it the other way and say i will save everything once expenses come off 9-5 wages and use homers for paying off the debt but works out the same either way and my 9-5 wage is more secure.


Works out at £1125 a month off debt and £2050 a month saved. So need to bring in £3175 a month just for debt and savings, plus £670 for expenses, a total of £3,845 a month take home to reach my goals.


Total expenses = £8,000
Total debt paid = £13,500
Total saved into emergency fund = £9,600
Total saved into House deposit fund = £15,000

Total = £46,100 target NET income for 2012.

rictus123

If i fall a bit short then so be it, however falling short im sure i can still hit £20k Min savings in total + £13.5k off debt. A big task for a 20 year old but soo determined to do it.

vintage43

Can you add me please, I need to get a handle on living within my means, want to pay off all credit by next xmas and just use cash for buying things!

dizzy_lizzie

1463emma wrote: »

Any ideas on how to keep food costs down will be greatly received!, also bought some thick door curtains from charity to try and keep the heat in a bit. Anyway, I seem to have waffled quite a bit, hope nobody minds.. How is everyone elses budget plans coming? xx

Hi Emma. Here's an excellent site that was set up by weesl a member of mse.
Caters for a selection of dietary requirements on a budget link

LolaLemon wrote: »

so I got my Christmas present last night, and thankfully, it is not an iPad! Woohoo!
I wasn't supposed to open it, but did.
It's a galaxy Samsung tab, 16gb and I've been playing it all night n day! I LOVE it! .

Ooh Lola you naughty girl Enjoy.
x

LB29

Is anyone else planning on growing there own veg? I'm not very good at gardening but was thinking of having a go. Do you actually save any money or just end up with nicer food?

I will be sorting out weekly meal plans tonight.

grandma247

well I thought I would have a look in on you all when I spotted the thread on new posts. I have finally caught up. I have not fallen off the wagon this year but have not posted much on the frugal thread although I did read from time to time.
It has been an eventful year. Ddil finally got a diagnosis after 8 years of being treated for all kinds of things that were only symptoms rather than what was really wrong. Unfortunately her problem is degenerative so she will slowly (with care) lose the ability to walk unaided and lifting etc is already out of the picture. She is glad to know what is wrong though, at least she can plan for the future better.

I also got two new granddaughters which brings the count to 11 grandchildren.

I had my car written off three months ago. I have just finished physio for whiplash and am waiting to see the insurance doctor so my claim can go ahead. Normally I would not have bothered with an injury claim but the driver that smashed into me keeps changing his story so I hope this will teach him not to be so stupid and pay attention when he is driving.

I am not going to join the challenge this year but I will keep checking in and try to help where I can. There have been some lovely stories on here and I know there is a lot of support.

We are slowly doing work in the house so it will be ready to sell because we want to move out of the area. It is kind of scary really because this is only the second mortgage we have had and the first ended in disaster
because of the recession in the early 90's. We have paid off just over two thirds of this mortgage thanks to this thread and hope to almost finish it this year so we will either be able to buy outright or just have a very small mortgage.

icontinuetodream

LB29 wrote: »

Is anyone else planning on growing there own veg? I'm not very good at gardening but was thinking of having a go. Do you actually save any money or just end up with nicer food?

I will be sorting out weekly meal plans tonight.

I will be growing my own (well,some of it anyway!!) It does work out cheaper, as long as you grow the things you will eat (may sound strange, but i have grown vast amounts of stuff in the past and wasted a lot of it!!:rotfl:) and use your own compost if you intend to grow a lot.....

If you want to start think about what you like and keep it simple....tomatoes, for example, are always quite expensive - average of £1 for a dozen in the summer - a couple of plants in a growbag over one season and you will spend about £3 and get at least 5 times that amount..... you could also buy a small 'growing' pot of basil, split between the tomato grow bags and that will keep going all summer...I bought three growing pots of mint about four years ago, bunged them in my garden and they are still going strong!!

I eat a lot of veg as I am a vegan, so for me it makes sense to grow quite a bit of my own stuff....I have a greenhouse and used to have a couple of massive veggie beds....have since re-done garden so will grow things in greenhouse and pots this year so won't be quite as prolific, but it still saves me a fortune!!:D

Oh, and taste.....you will never find it better than home grown....picked and to the table within minutes....can't beat it:T

Buffythedebtslayer

I am going to grow potatoes.

Have no idea how but I am sure it will become clear!

xx

[Deleted User]

[Quote: Hi Emma. Here's an excellent site that was set up by weesl a member of mse.
Caters for a selection of dietary requirements on a budget link]


Wow that is a great website. Thanks for reccommending it dizzy lizzie.

Buffythedebtslayer

rictus123 wrote: »

I have a plan. I am registered self employed now for my out of "9-5" earnings. I will be taking on work a couple of evenings a week and working weekends. I am only 20 and have done it the past 3 years, i love it, love the long hours and hard graft then getting to relax a bit over winter months knowing i have made plenty in the summer.

Plan is my 9-5 will pay all my expenses(think the year will be less than £8,000 for everything), all the debt (£13,500) and save £800 a month from this - this is NOT my house deposit, it is an emergency fund. So £9,600 saved here.

My "homers" and overtime that i do outside of my 9-5 job(im a tradesman so will be doing same job just for different clients at night and weekends) will all be saved. So really i need to find extra work to provide £15,000 of net income.

Could look at it the other way and say i will save everything once expenses come off 9-5 wages and use homers for paying off the debt but works out the same either way and my 9-5 wage is more secure.


Works out at £1125 a month off debt and £2050 a month saved. So need to bring in £3175 a month just for debt and savings, plus £670 for expenses, a total of £3,845 a month take home to reach my goals.


Total expenses = £8,000
Total debt paid = £13,500
Total saved into emergency fund = £9,600
Total saved into House deposit fund = £15,000

Total = £46,100 target NET income for 2012.

And you are 20.

WOW.

WOW.

I don't really know what else to say! :beer: