2013 Frugal Living Challenge

LolaLemon

Cheryl, some gyms let you take a break, so to speak, so if you go for the yearly one, ask if you can have the 2 months added on for when you get back from spain - sort of a paymnet holiday type thing...


Thanks for the advice on him moving in, think we will sit down and talk about it at the weekend

Savvy_sewing

Spring just dropped off my car when I was in town today.So it's just gone in to the garage now. Another expense I hadn't budgeted for. Argh

MadamMim2013

Been reading posts for the last few weeks as things on the home front are far from great..
It's wonderful to see such enthusiasum and support within the group, it has given me the courage to decide to get tough with my DH and really lay down the fact we don't have cash to throw away & he needs to tow the line or make other arrangements!
Ooh there.. I said it.. now just to see it through.. wish me luck and thanks everyone! x

Savvy_sewing

Mrsgibbs1503 wrote: »

Been reading posts for the last few weeks as things on the home front are far from great..
It's wonderful to see such enthusiasum and support within the group, it has given me the courage to decide to get tough with my DH and really lay down the fact we don't have cash to throw away & he needs to tow the line or make other arrangements!
Ooh there.. I said it.. now just to see it through.. wish me luck and thanks everyone! x

Good Luck!

natnat13

Good luck Mrs Gibbs, maybe put it down on paper if you haven't already.

cw18

End of February, and my accounts aren't looking as good in some areas as I'd like - especially my 'anything else' :eek:



Total budget for the year has been reduced by £1,500 - the most I feel I stand any chance of squeezing it by without giving up on a couple of things I want to carry on with (gym access and swimming lessons - though I plan to move lessons away from the gym to the local pool as soon as I finish the ones I've already paid for, which saves some £££s on them).

The categories with the name in bold red are ones I've changed the budget for since the end of last month.

Council Tax has been increased as I'm expecting my bill to go up, but as of yet this is only based on what I've seen in local press.

Petrol I've dropped as it looks like my mileage is going to be well under my original guesstimate.

Personal Trainer's dropped right down as I've 2 more sessions already paid for then I'm giving that up - going to be a shock after 18 months+ of having someone there to push me (and I can see results so don't regret the spend).

Swimming lessons due to swapping venue after the 4 I've already paid for (at staff rates) at the gym. If things start to get tight these will go, but for now I'm still improving so would like to carry on (assuming the instructor at the local pool is as good as the one at the gym)

Gym is a new one as I lose my free membership after tomorrow. This is another I'll lose if things are tight, but for now I plan to stick with my current place. Despite it being the dearest option, I think it's the one I'm most likely to actually use enough to justify the spend. To swim locally would be £25/month if I go twice a week (and £37.50 if I go 3 times), but the session times don't work well for me (there aren't many days I can use the pool before 10am, and the lane sessions are generally 6pm or later by when I know I won't feel like going). The gym & swim in the next town/village is £20/month off peak, but again swim session times are baaaad (with all lane sessions after my 5pm cut-off) and the gym is grotty. If I go 'anytime' to get the lane sessions the membership cost goes up to £26/month, but again I know I won't bother going for sessions that all start after 8pm! I much prefer to exercise early in the morning, and then have the rest of the day to do everything. If it gets to after lunch I generally hit the "can't be bothered" brick wall.

My anything else I've bumped up, but I've still managed a major overspend the last two months - especially this month :eek: Some of it has been on bits I needed for the kitchen (still some more small bits I could really use, and a built-in fridge/freezer trying to convince me to replace it) and a lot of it has been on fitness stuff (kit for home, new shoes for the gym, and some more swimming stuff), but I'm going to have to look through the list of books/magazine I've also given into and force myself to stop looking at these in shops. I'm also going to have to think very carefully about some DVDs I had planned to order next month

It also includes £39 for a half-day of Gorge Walking for 2 courtesy of Group0n..... should be £50 each according to the company website. This I don't feel guilty about spending as we don't often go out and do anything - especially something that costs money - apart from food festivals. It's something I wouldn't normally even consider doing and something I don't think OH had every considered, so it definitely comes under the category of "you only live once"

Savvy_sewing

I think that I am going to have to go back to the basics all over again, and re think my budget. I used £57 worth of fuel in 7 days.
I have had to pay £102 for the car to be fixed.
BT took out the cost of the childrens phone bill twice, so I had to ask for it back, as it was £87.21. They apologised, but they say it will take 4-5-days to get the money back in my account.
So very frustrating.
DS is also home now, so the food bill is going to be a lot harder to keep control of. (Although he has gone out and spent bonkers amounts of money of making a Baileys cheesecake today, and then he had to go off to work at the pub, as they were short staffed. So he hasnt even gotten to eat it!).
The good thing is that at least I will not have to find the extra 14% of my rent now he is home. (Although I think the food is probably costing me more then that would have done!).
We will also have to pay the extra 25% on the council tax too. Oh the more I think about it the more worried I am that things are going to be rather tough.
I hope that I get the chance to sell some of my sewing soon!.

Becky_2

It's been quiet on here for a few days now. How are you all doing?

February was a very frugal month for us and March wont be much better. I spent less than £5 today for our food next week since we will continue to eat what we have in the freezer.

In January I bought a pack of 20 different birthday cards for £3.50 and this is saving me a bit of money. I normally spend between £1 - £2 per card. Having a selection of cards at home means I can send more cards 2nd class post as well.

I have also advertised a few things to sell, hopefully they will be gone soon.

Frugaldom

*Robin* and silverfox13865 now added to list of frugal challengers.

Frugaldom life continues, managing Ok without the car, that's been 3 months now and have managed to increase cycling to just over 20 miles, although I still can't manage to cycle up a hill. Still, we wont starve and it's now time to start looking seriusly at the garden.

Hope everyone's OK, apologies for not taking the time to follow all the posts but you all seem to manage just fine without me.

LolaLemon

been putting the SoW a miss lately, will spend lunch tomorrow updating he bits i have missed and update here later.