2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

Frugaldom

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thanks for the PMs, list is now up to date as far as I'm aware.
Have a frugal 2012, everyone.

System

My monthly spreadsheet. This is the money that comes out of my account each month. I pay the bills concerning the house out of my bank account each month and this is what it amounts to.

Council Tax 85.00
Gas/Elec 104.00
Water 28.26
TV Lic 12.37
Phone/Internet 36.00
Hse Ins 20.00 (This is saved monthly)
My Mobile 20.00
Food £400

This amounts to £705.63 a month.

Hubby has his own bills that come out of his account monthly but they are mainly due to the expense of his wheels and his loan. I dont have any control over his accounts so i am concentrating on mine. He has expenses due to work (which are covered by his expenses).

The only thing i have control over and worry about is the gas/electric. I dont want the direct debit increased and i dont want to owe a fortune either. I am working on that.

Phone/Internet. The internet is a standard price (tried getting a better deal but found this was the best price for our usage.) The phone is hardly ever plugged in and never used but hubby uses it for a fax machine to do with work. We all have mobiles with inclusive minutes and rarely have to phone premium numbers anyway. Neither of us go over our limit.

Food i am working on. Ideally hubby would like me to lower it as theres only 3 of us but he is the biggest moaner when i do.

Birthdays/Christmas and most of our other 'disposable' expenses i pay for out of my earnings online.

midwinter

Happy New Year to everyone

Came in under budget for last year, so have honed this years budget even further.

Also setting myself a sub challenge of using £50 of T and M vouchers, and just £30 more, for all food this month ..... hmmm, can I do it?! Not sure, but going to try!

Lets get the 2012 ball rolling!

Cherryjack

Judi wrote: »

My monthly spreadsheet. This is the money that comes out of my account each month. I pay the bills concerning the house out of my bank account each month and this is what it amounts to.

Council Tax 85.00
Gas/Elec 104.00
Water 28.26
TV Lic 12.37
Phone/Internet 36.00
Hse Ins 20.00 (This is saved monthly)
My Mobile 20.00
Food £400

This amounts to £705.63 a month.

Hubby has his own bills that come out of his account monthly but they are mainly due to the expense of his wheels and his loan. I dont have any control over his accounts so i am concentrating on mine. He has expenses due to work (which are covered by his expenses).

The only thing i have control over and worry about is the gas/electric. I dont want the direct debit increased and i dont want to owe a fortune either. I am working on that.

Phone/Internet. The internet is a standard price (tried getting a better deal but found this was the best price for our usage.) The phone is hardly ever plugged in and never used but hubby uses it for a fax machine to do with work. We all have mobiles with inclusive minutes and rarely have to phone premium numbers anyway. Neither of us go over our limit.

Food i am working on. Ideally hubby would like me to lower it as theres only 3 of us but he is the biggest moaner when i do.

Birthdays/Christmas and most of our other 'disposable' expenses i pay for out of my earnings online.

Think you could make a massive savings on the food hun.. we have 3 in our household and without even trying its around £200.00 Per month.. so you could be saving £2400.00 a year :j:j

More4Less

natnat13 wrote: »

New year, new more organised me!!!
I have 2 female friends with 30th birthdays next month. One I would only get a small gift for usually but the other is a good friend so would usually spend £20 ish. I will be looking out for bargains in sales etc but want to do something a bit special, any frugal ideas anyone?

Have you got many photos of you and your friend - could you make up a montage set off by a special frame? Could look quite special and very personal!

System

Cherryjack wrote: »

Think you could make a massive savings on the food hun.. we have 3 in our household and without even trying its around £200.00 Per month.. so you could be saving £2400.00 a year :j:j

Yes thats something i can definately work on.

More4Less

silvasava wrote: »

Hi All - I joined last year & found this thread so supportive and informative. DH & I retired about 4 years ago so our incomes have plummeted and the b*** B*** Bankers have plundered the small pension pots we had saved so I'm joining again this year. We do have the luxury of having paid off the mortgage & dont have any CC debts or loans - but like so many people on this thread the cost of living is rising faster than our incomes and we're all struggling in some way. I'm trying not to feel down about it so I'm going for a cuppa (only a cupful in the kettle - good start!)

So - suit up, helmet on and face the battle for another year!

r

Hi Silvasava - we are struggling to adjust to living on basic state pensions, used all our savings to clear debts and mortgage. So debit free, but very low income. Still want as much joie de vive as possible, so struggling to keep day to day living expenses as low as possible. Bit of a pension rise due in April so that's something to look forward to!

mommyof4

hi everyone. Happy New Year. Wet and miserable in this neck of the woods.
Trying like crazy to find ways to cut expenses, car mot and tax due this month. Know for sure we need a new exhaust and don't have any spare cash.
Oh well its gonna be a challenging month for sure.
Loving the inspiration I am getting from these boards. keep up the good work guys

savingforarainyday

Needed a better plan than last year (no plan) So I have started to think about what I can do that will help us in our quest for 2012


A small start but will work towards achieving the list below





Clean and prepare all veg from allotment into freezer packs
Sort through Freezer and write list ready for meal plan for month
Walk into town and back on the days I can’t borrow ds’s bus ticket or use car
Repair and mend whenever possible
Do more gluten free baking for ds, this will help food budget
Buy whatever clothes I can either in charity shops or if not possible reduced price in sales.
Keeping monitoring power consumption
Aim to save an emergency fund
Keep on top of things work and home if I am disorganised it has cost me money on both fronts


Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012

Mrs_Good_Life

Please can I be added to the list Frugaldom.