2012 Frugal Living Challenge (Part 1)

rictus123

Making the most of this night off...will be my last complete day of doing nothing pysical until at least the 29th of January....As i am working every day upto and including Saturday the 21st and the 22nd i am not planning on working(could change...) but we are planning on having a complete NSD doing a run in morning followed by sit ups and press ups then relax over lunchtime and a long walk in afternoon....2012 is seeing lots of changes already...all have been for the better so far. My next payment should be on the 15th and be a direct debt loan payment....so should be looking at the next 10 days no spend

debbiedeejay

Had to make major decision today regarding my washing machine that popped a few weeks back.:(
I did post a wanted on Fr*egle ages ago but unfortunately nobody had one to give away at this point in time - never mind, I do love using that site and have given and recieved some great things so next option was trying to fix it - managed to pursuade a family member to have a look inside and was told I have blown the power board plus the pressure switch - cost of replacement would have been at least £65 for parts not inc delivery on internet(went to repair shop in high street and was quoted £100 just for power board!) and then I was told it might not fix the fault as there probably was a water leak somewhere within the machine anyway.

So it meant a trip into town to seek out a second hand one, which I have, it's a Hotp**nt in good condition,PAT tested and bought from a local charity that helps local disabled people get into work so I felt happy with that too :)and the cost was £95. (of which I had £100 of Christmas money, so now have £5 left to buy new tea towels - I used to have a dishwasher but that gave up 4 years ago and I never replaced it - water & elec went down when it stopped working too!)

Well fingers crossed it works ok when I get it installed tomorrow - but I did try all frugal ways to sort it, and hopefuly it is now:o

Next thing is the TV to sort - that blew up too a few weeks back, but we are managing without at moment.
TTFN

arrowlili

debbiedeejay wrote: »

Had to make major decision today regarding my washing machine that popped a few weeks back.:(
I did post a wanted on Fr*egle ages ago but unfortunately nobody had one to give away at this point in time - never mind, I do love using that site and have given and recieved some great things so next option was trying to fix it - managed to pursuade a family member to have a look inside and was told I have blown the power board plus the pressure switch - cost of replacement would have been at least £65 for parts not inc delivery on internet(went to repair shop in high street and was quoted £100 just for power board!) and then I was told it might not fix the fault as there probably was a water leak somewhere within the machine anyway.

So it meant a trip into town to seek out a second hand one, which I have, it's a Hotp**nt in good condition,PAT tested and bought from a local charity that helps local disabled people get into work so I felt happy with that too :)and the cost was £95. (of which I had £100 of Christmas money, so now have £5 left to buy new tea towels - I used to have a dishwasher but that gave up 4 years ago and I never replaced it - water & elec went down when it stopped working too!)

Well fingers crossed it works ok when I get it installed tomorrow - but I did try all frugal ways to sort it, and hopefuly it is now:o

Next thing is the TV to sort - that blew up too a few weeks back, but we are managing without at moment.
TTFN

:eek:looks like your having a bit of an electrical nightmare at the mo!
why is it that everything seems to go at the same time???:mad:
hope you get it all sorted ok!

LolaLemon

arrowlili wrote: »

never tried lettuce soup and errr... don't think i'll be trying it anytime soon
i have used lettuce in stirfrys many times and it works a treat, especially the crunchier ones like cos, st romaine and iceburg

The Chinese next to Mr F (might change that to Mr Lemon soon lol) uses lettuce in their chow miens, and a few other dishes they do... I always find that strange, as lettuce should be cold n crunch lol

Didn't make it to Tescos, Woohoo! Figured I have enough milk to last til tomorrow, so will head out then, when son is with his dad, and less likely to ask for stuff I need to say no too.

dizzybee

Just caught up with the thread,just checked my food budget envelope and i have £35 left so have only spent £15 this week and the cupboards are still full,so will put the £15 back tomorrow when get paid,don't need any shopping at the moment,i have just finished a batch of baking biscuits,hob nobs,and am making a sausage casserole in the slow cooker for tomorrow.have been listing stuff on e bay has need to clear the clutter,

brizzledfw

Having a think about the budget:

Excluding fixed costs such as mortgage, council tax etc I think in 2012 we will try and live on 12k for

- food,
-household stuff eg. toiletries
- any household improvements
- entertainment, going out
-holidays
-clothes
- gifts, Christmas, birthdays etc
- kids activities eg. Swimming lessons etc
- hair cuts..


Lot ain't it but seem to get through the cash at the moment so need it to be realistic for the 4 of us. I will keep a separate spreaddie for this so I can track what we spend in this- separately to the main budget which tracks everything including our what I have called our fixed costs eg. mortgage and CT

Cheers
Brizzle

JayneC

Ok have detailed my budget and plan as follows;

TV Licence - £150
Life Insurance – £117.60
House Insurance (building only) - £120
Power (gas, elec, wood/coal) –£1000
Phone/broadband - £400
Dog Ins - £96
Groceries (including pet food, toiletries and cleaning products) £2520

Son’s expenses (clothes, school trips, leisure, pocket money)- £620

TOTAL £5023.60

Anything else must be paid for by additional income
Other categories;
Gifts and Xmas
Personal Leisure
Family Leisure
Holiday
Clothing
Garden (food growing)
Chickens
Contact lenses (may cancel and just use specs)
Misc
Contingency

Ideas for extra income;
AVON
Mystery Shops
Ebay/Amazon/Free Ads/Car Boots
Loose change
Collect £2 coins
Surveys
Country Market selling crafts/produce

Other stuff;
Grow as much fruit and veg as possible
Eggs from chicks
Use vouchers
Collect waste wood for firewood
Grow firewood (Hazel for coppicing)

In the household fulltime is me, DD2, DS2, DGS, 1 doggie, 1 cat, 2 chicks. Then DD3 is away at uni. DD2 and DGS are included in basic budget (groceries/bills) but I'm not responsible for any other expenses DD2 will pay for those.

Had a NSD and have delivered most of my AVON, done a little bit of decluttering, so fairly productive day. Hoping to go to my Landshare Garden tomorrow and get prepared for some planting, will also have to buy more logs so spendy day...

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi everyone .... just wanted to say I'm not getting a chance to post much - I do read when I'm on my lunch hour but due to our security restrictions I can't login & post then:mad: and by the time I get home, I've forgotten what I was going to say!:o

brizzledfw

Know how you feel RFTA...trying to be MSE is a full time business..which work gets in the way of!!

Good ideas there Jayne. My 4 Bantams ain't ever gonna keep us in eggs but free firewood and other ideas have made me think. We have had lots of free wood this year, mainly softwood so doesn't last but burns fine in the stove. However was going to order some logs..maybe i should wait? Think I will add in some further bits like these into my budget outline...

Also forgot allotment rent..£64 this year unless the rebate on taking over an overgrown plot remains..eek but all worth it. Just think of those newly dug potatoes in the late spring! :-)

paidinchickens

Aril wrote: »

Hello fellow frugallers:j
For those who intending to grow veg this year £land have got their onion and shallot sets in.
Arilx

We went and got ours yesterday :j

PIC x