2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

natnat13

Hi all, hope everyone's had a lovely christmas.
We have had a fairly frugal chirstmas, the DS's have still had loads and it has made no difference it's 2nd hand. Didn't buy much food, no biscuits, chocs etc and have ended up with 2 tubs celebrations, 2 boxes of biscuits and a massive box of milk tray! Have opened the milk tray but am going to stash the rest and make it stretch out for the coming months.
I have done a budget for next year, can't be bothered to write it all out on here but I reckon we could save £400/500 a month just by:
Meal planning
Bulk buying
Whoopsies
Re-gifting
Trying to cut energy costs
Not buying clothes all year (kids had loads for xmas and we don't need anything)
Walking more
Ebaying / car booting
And writing down everything we spend.

2012 is going to be a good year, I can feel it!!

natnat13

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Something else to consider is making your own fire logs.

You can get a "contraption" (from Ama*zon, E*bay etc) something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paper-Briquette-Maker-Perfect-Waste/dp/B003WF4JHU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1324925251&sr=8-3 and make your own "logs" from newspaper etc.

(If you don't use newspapers yourself, try at work - many Metros / daily papers end up in the recycling bin).

You do need to soak the paper first and then let them dry (which is a bit messy & it can be a pain to dry them in the winter - although they will dry on the hearth) so my advice would be to build up a stock of paper from now until summer and then spend a day (or a couple of 1/2 days) making a load of them when they can dry outside in the sun.

Not for everyone, but if you can source your paper for free, then it's only your time that's needed (and I'm sure we'll all guilty of having the odd day of doing nothing!). The cost of the briquette maker will soon be saved by helping reduce the amount of coal/logs needed.

HTH:)

I was just thinking about those yesterday rising whilst lighting the fire. Can u use other paper in it, like A4 etc? We don't have newspapers.

Thriftkitten

Hi, can someone tell me if I need to purchase the full program of office excel to be able to use the spreadsheet for cheryl???, I have tried downloading it which works, but I cannot imput any info on it as says only for read me purpose!!
Sorry to sound thick but it's frustrating me now as I want to get going on this.
I was a part of the frugal living challenge 2010 I think and used the spreadsheet a few years ago which worked great but I'm guessing the free trial ran out as its not letting me do anything but read it, thanks ahead of time
Thriftkitten.

skintas_2

@allie 23 what is top up tv? you can watch lots of tv on the internet?

http://www.tvcatchup.com/channels.html

rising_from_the_ashes

Thriftkitten wrote: »

Hi, can someone tell me if I need to purchase the full program of office excel to be able to use the spreadsheet for cheryl???, I have tried downloading it which works, but I cannot imput any info on it as says only for read me purpose!!
Sorry to sound thick but it's frustrating me now as I want to get going on this.
I was a part of the frugal living challenge 2010 I think and used the spreadsheet a few years ago which worked great but I'm guessing the free trial ran out as its not letting me do anything but read it, thanks ahead of time
Thriftkitten.

What software do you run?

Is this what you're getting? https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1I951_iaqs0NDI3OTAxMmMtNzNjNi00OWQxLWFiMWYtNTlmZTc0MjAyNDQw&hl=en
or will it still not let you save/make changes after hitting the "download" button at the top right hand side?

cw18

Thriftkitten - there should be a downloadable version that runs in Open Office - and that's a free to download and use package. It's actually what I'm using now, as my official Excel is on my old (and way tooooooo slow) laptop.

rising_from_the_ashes

natnat13 wrote: »

I was just thinking about those yesterday rising whilst lighting the fire. Can u use other paper in it, like A4 etc? We don't have newspapers.

Ohh Nat, I've not tried.

In theory it should still work but would depend on the type of A4 paper as some of it has a waxy stuff on which may stop the water absorbing properly.

No chance of any at work / from neighbours / local estate agents etc?

We get a weekly property paper here that all the solicitors etc have in stands outside their offices - they're usually happy for you to take them when the next weeks' comes out (providing you collect regularly as they don't have room to store them) - our new one gets delivered on a Weds pm so they often let you take the previous weeks' then if you pop in and ask;)

buffster_2

I'd like to join too please!

I have a high cost for travel to work, there's some work I need done round the house, I need to save for a new car and I want to start over paying my mortgage.

So this thread is just the help I need.

[Deleted User]

skintas wrote: »

@allie 23 what is top up tv? you can watch lots of tv on the internet?

http://www.tvcatchup.com/channels.html

Thanks Skintas. It is only for one channel - ESPN - so that he can watch football/sports.

SandraScarlett

Good luck to all Frugalistas, old and new.:) It's worth a bit of time, to visit the Updated Printable Money Saving Vouchers board, and get printing. I've saved a considerable amount, and I only have a look on there a couple of times a week. Some people are experts in wombling discarded receipts, as a result of which, thanks to various offers, their shopping bill plummets from, say, £40 to a fiver!! :T

I don't go in for that, it's a bit complicated for me, and works best, apparently, if you visit lots of different supermarkets, but it shows what can be done. But remember, even if you only save 50p a day, that's getting on for £200 in a year, which is useful at Christmas, or holiday time. :j

So good luck to everyone, especially Newbies. You'll find you'll get loads of helpful advice from the very talented people on here, and they are friendly and encouraging.

A Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Frugal New Year to you all.

xx