2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

System

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 found providing you grow your produce from seeds then yes it is a lot cheaper to grow your own produce.

Saying that, although i do really well at growing lettuce/cucumber/tomatoes and soft fruit, the vegetables i grew were a complete and utter waste of time and money.

LB29

Thanks everyone.

I have been planning tonight and decided that although I have a big garden I will start small. I am going to grow the expensive types of veg that we eat like leeks, corn on the cob and tomatoes.

We have a local farm shop that sells sacks of potatoes and carrots cheaply so will leave these.

Ches

Budget done, spreadsheet ready, I know its silly but I can't wait to start.

ferox666

rictus123 wrote: »

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.

Rictus, I don't mean to be rude, but do you actually have any savings at present? I recall for 2-3 years now seeing your posts ('I'm only 18 and plan to save X' etc etc) and the plans seem to change every few months but now after all these years I noticed you said you have debt :huh: but still with massive-saving plans "soon".

Well done for trying to save but as you may have found out "plans" don't always work out and unexpected costs have a habit of popping up...

anyway as I said I'm genuinely curious, no offence intended..

Buffythedebtslayer

I think this post

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 this post

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

I am going to grow potatoes.

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

xx

illustrates perfectly why I have problems with money:rotfl::rotfl:

xx

slowlyfading

ferox666 wrote: »

Rictus, I don't mean to be rude, but do you actually have any savings at present? I recall for 2-3 years now seeing your posts ('I'm only 18 and plan to save X' etc etc) and the plans seem to change every few months but now after all these years I noticed you said you have debt :huh: but still with massive-saving plans "soon".

Well done for trying to save but as you may have found out "plans" don't always work out and unexpected costs have a habit of popping up...

anyway as I said I'm genuinely curious, no offence intended..

I'm the same...

More4Less

dizzy lizzie - that link on how to feed a family of four for £100 a month is totally fab! I did not think it was possible to feed two for £200 - now I am all fired up and ready to give it a try!

slowlyfading

More4Less - if you pop over to the Old Style board on here, there are loads of tips on how to get your grocery costs down

quintwins

well i've spent some of next years budget early (can't really be avoided if you wanna take advantage of offfers)

so £10 from our clothes budget= £10/£300
and £12.50 from our gifts budget=£12.50/£600
total so far= £22.50/£14,500
these were both grabbits that i just couldn't resist

1463emma

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

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
Thank you so much DL this site is amazing!!