2013 Frugal Living Challenge

Becky_2

cw18, hope it all goes well for you when you leave your work. It's not an easy decision to decide to leave your work but if your health is suffering the job isn't worth it.

Well done to miss empty piggy and gallygirl for the money you saved on car insurance and car repairs.

This month has been a struggle financially for me mainly because I took some time off work over Christmas and New Year and being a temp I don't get paid for being off. We have used our nectar points to pay for food to keep the overdraft as low as possible.

The one good thing has been positive is that we have decluttered the food in the freezer which is now half empty. All the food that OH has said that he wont eat is now gone. I went food shopping today and spent £12 only and then we will continue to eat our frozen leftover food.

I went to the hair dresser today and they had an offer so my next cut will be free.

Good luck to you all with your frugal living challenge.

donnajt

Hi all, lurker here, where will i find the £7 a week thread? I've searched but can't find it anywhere, thanks u x

islandgirl8

donnajt wrote: »

Hi all, lurker here, where will i find the £7 a week thread? I've searched but can't find it anywhere, thanks u x

This may be what you are looking for.https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4084527

[Deleted User]

Wow it is quiet on here. Hope everyone is well. I need to get into a frugal mindset again. Been going a bit mad recently!

LolaLemon

I printed a few of the recipes off from the £7 a week thread. They are very ispirational. I dont use the exact same ingredients, but what i have in the kitchen already.

The Boyfriend has sort of moved in! He had an argument with his family and sort of didnt go home, kept turning up at mine after work (he works with them, so sees them everyday). HE asked me this morning what i want from him for staying. looks like he's here for a while then haha
I have mentioned a few times about us talking about him moving in. we just didnt actually set a date or even aim towards it haha.
How do you work out how much to 'charge'. im a little perplexed by it all.
when he asked this morning i did say "lots n lots n lots".

cw18

When DS1 moved back in I told him I couldn't afford to be out of pocket because of it, but didnt want to make money out of him (he moved back because he'd run up some debts he couldn't pay when he lost his job, so was trying to sort out his finances - 11 months down the line he's still working on it, but letters from a couple of companies seem to have stopped arriving ).

As such he pays 25% of my council tax bill (I'd get that as single person discount if he weren't here), plus 25% of gas, electricity and water (on a meter). The utilities I based on what they'd come down by when his younger brother moved out leaving me on my own, and those figures appear to stack up (they'd dropped by 25%, so I calculated 1/3rd of what I was paying as he moved in which is 25% of my new payments). He was told he'd have to cover any increase in building/contents insurance, but as he's immediate family there wasn't any extra to pay there. I calculate his groceries on an average (2x4pt milk/week and 2 main meals/week at £3 a meal), and did a bit of a 'stick my finger in the air' to add a couple of quid a month for things like toilet rolls, washing up liquid and washing powder. He has his other meals at work or his girl-friends, and is responsible for all his own personal hygiene stuff.

If I'd lost other benefits (eg. it was a partner moved in which meant I lost WTC or even unemployemnt) then I'd expect them to cover most (or all) of that shortfall as well.

natnat13

Arh Lola thats nice, hope you're happy hun.

Yes I agree with Cheryl, you need to work out 1. what you'll lose and 2. what extra it will cost with him being there.

After 8 months of being single I can't imagine living with anyone again but I'm sure it will happen one day!

[Deleted User]

Restructuring at OHs work means 2 redundancies - open out to everyone just now for volunteers but need to wait and see what happens. Back to being frugal to maximise the savings. OH and I had a good chat the other night about making sure we get the savings in order just in case. My job is only temp until June 2nd too so I really need to work hard to get something set up for next year.

This weeks frugal plans:
1. Payday for me on Thursday. As soon as wages come in I will transfer £600 to the savings account.
2. Get back into planning my meals - been a bit lazy on this the past week or two. Need to get myself back onto the £7 menu plan board for inspiration.
3. Organise pack lunches and healthy snacks to take to work. - Done
4. Getting organised for Mothers Day. Have already bought some toiletries in the sales after Christmas - need to wrap these and then do HM cards. - Done
5. Submit application for another contract with the council again next session. - Done

It is still quite cold (freezing!) here in the evenings but I need to look at the central heating timer and try to get the heating off to start to work towards having it off during the summer months.

cw18

I'm out the door at work sooner that I expected

Was in for a PT session on Monday, and as I was leaving the manager called me over. There was a lady in asking about vacancies, and she's mad keen to start. I thought my notice period was a month (which was what I gave), but the manager says it's 2 weeks and that this is negotiable - so asked when I wanted to work til. Told him the only stumbling block to leaving sooner than I'd said was that I've still got a couple of PT sessions paid for, money on my cashless card for 4 swimming lessons, and that I'm not sure I can justify keeping my membership running. So we've agreed I finish this Friday, pay for the swimming lessons before I finish that day (so I get them at staff rates) and I can sneak in for my sessions even if I'm not paying membership..... means 3 more early get-ups for me, and then I'm freeeeeeeee :T

Went and checked out the local pool this morning (no longer run by council) as I really don't want to give up on my swimming. Swimming sessions are £3.50 there, or I can pre-pay 10 sessions (no expiry date) for £30. 1-2-1 swimming lessons are £8 if I pay for at least 6 up front (£10 on a PAYG system - prices include admission), which makes them less than half what I'd pay at the gym if I carried on with them there - and it's within walking distance of home. They allow the use of waterproof MP3s (gym also does, council pools don't), and will allow use of all my training aids at any session apart from my fins which are lane session only (not many of those at times that suit me). Gym allows all 'toys' at all times as everyone has to swim lengths in the main pool.

Went and checked closest council one this afternoon as that one also has a gym, but the gym is less than basic It's missing one of 2 the machines I use for leg strength sessions and 2 of the 6 I use for upper body. Plus there's no stretch or abdominal area, and also nowhere I can do lunges and jumps (leg strength sessions). The rules on 'toys' in the pool were the same as my local pool, but I was also informed that if there are lessons on they rope off the shallow end so you can't even do full lengths, and that council pools don't do 1-2-1 lessons at all. So I think I've ruled that one out, despite it being the cheapest option at £20/month for off-peak membership.

Choices are therefore looking like ditch gym completely and swim locally (twice a week without lessons would work out at £6/week or around £25/month over the year) or stay at the gym which gives me unlimited access to gym, swim and classes but costs £40/month.

There is another fairly local gym, which I believe the running club has a special deal with meaning you pay a year up front so it works out at £14.50/month. But they don't have a pool, so I'm then looking at £25/month on top of that which makes it only pennies less than where I am now........

I have an exercise bike at home, plus a cardio hoop, exercise bands, skipping rope, stability ball, wobble board and handweights plus barbell (and a few other bits and pieces). Coupled with walking and running I should be able to cope with cardio and abs at home for now, but I know that will change when we start creeping into next winter and the weather makes me not want to head out the door. This means I could give up the gym until October/November-ish, but I'd then almost certainly be tied into a 12 months contract and I'm hoping to spend 6-8 weeks from September of next year walking across Spain - so that would waste up to 2 months of the contract. The council one and the other local one would mean signing up for 12 months from now, so I could cancel before heading off to foreign parts if I joined in the next few months - but I'm still stuck with them for 12 months even if I find I really don't get any benefit from what they can offer (which I think will definitely be the case with the coucil one). The one I'm at now doesn't currently have a minimum period, so I could stay there for the next couple of months while I work out if I'm getting enough use out of it - and without being in a situation where I then don't do anything around the house as I'm out for huge chunks of every day or too tired when I get home - and then cancel it whenever I feel I'm not getting the use or it's taking up to much of my time to justify the cost.


Descisions, descisions - and less than 72 hours to make up my mind :eek:

[Deleted User]

Hey cw18, I have given up the gym totally and am just doing walking, yoga etc in the house. Although, I am struggling to motivate myself especially in the winter when I have to walk in the dark during the winter months.

However, on the frugal side not being a gym member does save me monthly membership costs and the petrol costs in getting to the building as it is around 7 miles away.