2013 Frugal Living Challenge

xnatalie81x

Spends update: as I do my budget 4 monthly ill do totals based on that
Car 0/600 (this is a direct transfer of 150 mth into my special account for saving it)
Kids 0/120
Toiletries 6.91/40
Petrol 100/400
Food 150.81/880
Other 8/64

Went to visit sis last minute yesterday in stoke newington and looked to see if train would be cheaper but for 2 adults £11.00!!! It's only 15 miles round trip and I stopped to get gas on the way (the one gas station is on the way to ikea/her house lol) so total journey more like £4.50 even including wear on car. Gas is currently 78.9 a litre here and petrol 1.20!!! Ouchies.

Have lots work to do today and tomorrow ready for back to work next Tuesday! Kids back to school Monday so time to pay for school dinners at £30 week.

I did a second AF order yesterday as I wanted to try the cappuccino before ordering and it is lovely and works out at 1.06 a mug for first 1kg and the second batch of 30kg is 1.1p a cup as delivery worked out more. Don't need milk or sugar. Also got 8 of the 860gtins condenses soup at 65p a tin including delivery for making pasta bakes (soup, splash milk, pasta, any veg/meat, cheese)

Plenty more I orders in first batch (naan, brea mixes, bread flours, pasta bakes etc) and lots in second order and should now last to mid feb with just a few extras. I'm thinking to end half term with why we have plus £20 for fresh and school dinners all on target

mummy2threeboys

Morning all! Just signed up for debt free in 2013, meaning i have to put £460 towards debt, and will have a surplus £1360 left for the whole yer providing that child tax doesnt alter drasticly or im stuffed! so £116 a month £29 a week for entertaining, going out, childrens clothes/shoes x3 treats/small household repairs/emergencys (blown lightbulbs for example or ink for th eprinter) etc perfectly enough. So i think a spending diary is better for us.
Will have to probobly be even tighter this month as i have £270 left on our holiday to pay. I transfered £2500 to my 0% cc for 17 months and have saved £423 doing that alone, love to see how much i save if i can pay it off in 12 months.

Re chickens i have the coop ready just need a friend to build the outer "shell" as it where (the larger net/wire). Plus need to get the chickens too lol

have a good day all x

miss_empty_piggy

Good morning all, had a great day yesterday with DOH, I've got a huge pine storage unit for the garage free, however, we need to build it so had to clear some stuff out of the garage so we could actually get to it. DOH is a SE painter/decorator and so needs to be organised. Felt really good putting some stuff away for car boots as I'm looking forward to the summer months. I also started to clear the vegetable patch which I want to extend but currently there is a huge climbing frame etc on it. It's seen better days but not sure whether to chuck an ad in the paper to see if anyone wants it. It's a big wooden one and with a bit of attention has still got lots of years in it. Popped to Mr T to get some batteries for my weighing scales (so I can join the weigh in tomorrow) and snaffled 8 loaves of bread for 8p, 14 pints of milk for 7p; 7 lemons for 1p; 4 packs of shortcrust pastry for 40p; 1kg of potatoes for 1p. Was so pleased.

Now I'm going to sort car tax out but still feeling optimistic and loving the frugalling. Hope everyone has a great day.

JayneC

Morning all, welcome Merle I have chicks too (only 2 as I have a tiny yard) and they are indeed a joy and not much trouble either - certainly less so that the cat and dog!!;) They've not laid any eggs for a while but hopefully will start again in Spring, you can def taste the difference from shop bought, even Free Range.

I got up stupidly early this morning as couldn't sleep and spent a good hour or so decluttering under my bed, I lead such an exciting life:D
I have joined the hoarding thread and was inspired to admit that my huge stash of fabric is probably not going to be transformed into fantastic crafted items, so I've now got a box full of fabric to either e-bay or carboot.

I have a bid on one of my ebay items and AVON delivery just arrived today, so will get that all packaged up and delivered. Won't earn much this time as a small order over the Christmas hols, still it all helps.

Have a good day, happy frugalling XX

ostrichnomore_2

Doing well at staying under budget so far.

Had a good dig through freezer/cupboards last night and I have enough main stuff for 20 dinners, so won't need to do much other shopping this month now, just a bit of milk and fresh veg, maybe some more rice and pasta. Got cooked bolognese mince x 2, chicken thighs x 3, pork steaks x 6, cooked chicken x 1, cooked lamb x 2, tuna x2, cheese x 2 and eggs x 2. Now to think of interesting things to do with it all...be nice to have a clear out and have freezer space for new bargain buys and batch cooks of something different. Also combined all the little odds and sods of frozen veggies into one bag of mixed veg - they'll finally get used up that way.

Also I've got 3 packs of unopened cheese from Xmas, I'm going to cut it into portions, wrap and freeze, so easy to grab one to go with work lunches.

Today, well, I totally forgot to bring lunch to work with me (bad!) but did park 10 minutes walk away for free instead of paying £4 a day for the car park (good!). Let's see if I can manage both tomorrow, lol.

freedom2011

:hello:HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

I have finally done my budget and I am going for £9000, this will involve plenty of challenge I think!

On the introducing side I am mother to 3 plus OH and lovely dog. I became debt free in 2011 due to this site:T. My main challenge is to find a way of developing savings to be able to put down a deposit for a home of our very own. I am hugely interested in how to simplify my life and be less wasteful.

Looking forward to getting my teeth into this.:beer:

Island_mum

Good morning and happy new year everyone! :wave:

I am hoping for some advice on train tickets:
We fly in to Gatwick in May and need to get down to Brighton and back for the weekend - is it possible to buy them cheaper in advance and can you use a cashback site etc?

The answers may be obvious but we don't have trains here and it's been a while since i was at uni

Savvy_sewing

Island_mum wrote: »

Good morning and happy new year everyone! :wave:

I am hoping for some advice on train tickets:
We fly in to Gatwick in May and need to get down to Brighton and back for the weekend - is it possible to buy them cheaper in advance and can you use a cashback site etc?

The answers may be obvious but we don't have trains here and it's been a while since i was at uni

You may want to post this as a new thread, as it may help you faster then a posting in the middle of this challenge??

Kerry_Woman

Have done a budget of £10,000 for the year. Finally sorted out notebook for spends for each category and each month. Have included a section for the food spend, as my Mum pays for this as she lives with me - I am keeping this separate from the challenge, but am keeping a close eye on what is spent. Am still awaiting to hear about the Council Tax and the home contents(which is due in February).

xnatalie81x

£10,000 was what I started on 4 years ago when it was me, oh an 3 kids! No oh and extra kiddie now and average £6792 a year now I've been reducing