2013 Frugal Living Challenge

tessie_bear

thanks to everyone for their suggestions re the bread maker..ill have a look on fr$$cycl$ and see whats what....i have spent the day cleaning and thinking about being frugal...i have loads of ideas whizzing in my head and think i will write them down and try a few at a time...too many and i think i might give up

further to natlaies idea for intros...im tessa 35 mf ex teacher i have a dh and 2 kids one who is asd and can be hard work...i have followed this challenge for a few years and am really interested on living a simple life....we paid off our mortgage about 5 years and have never looked back.Im a catholic and a member of the labour party

happy new year
tessa

vintagebrighton

Afternoon all

Have spent the last couple of days having a financial sort out... not pretty! Our financial month goes from the 20th to the 19th as OH gets paid on the 20th. My income is all weekly... he pays the big bills and I pay the little (but many more) bills. We split the shopping and have a bit left for travel etc.

I've worked out that due to leaving things what with Christmas etc I have to pay out £724.12 before the 20th but only have £660 coming in

So, the aim is to get through to the 20th with ALL of these bits paid and then continue to work at being frugal to a proper budget (yet to be worked out) It's gonna be hard but with selling bits and pieces I'm positive I can do it. (I can, I can, I can) .......

miss_empty_piggy

Thankfully I got the tyres sorted out. One local place quoted £130 for mine alone. We then went somewhere else and got all 3 for £144 so all legal and safe again.

In my frugal quest today I have used up the last of the curry with some frozen pastry to make curried pasties, mince pie size for DOH to "pop" in in his packed lunch when we return to work. I have also made 6 portions of pizza dough (1 in the fridge for tomorrow, 5 in the freezer for when back at work). Also needed hair dye for me and DD, 2 for £5 in b**ts so got 4 for £10 and DOH's favourite body wash at half price with b**ts points.

Also DDs school tops have all faded a little so bought a dye instead of buying new ones at £10 each. Cost £6.50. It's a start.

xnatalie81x

Nice to meet you tessie bear I am Natalie. I am in my 30s and a single mum to 4 children 8,6,5,2. I run my own business (swim school) and work fr someone else (bog national
Swim school co) and our living conditions are quite unique but means our rent is v cheap. 2012 £350 mth but more like £450 mth for 2013 and includes all gas, electric, rent and council tax.

Kids go to school about 20-30 min drive away which is why my petrol costs are so high and makes car a necessity (work and school)

Anything you wanna know - ask

Looking forward to another year of frugalness with a bit more support here )

slowlyfading

Just popping in to wish everyone a happy new year, and here's to 2013 being great!

quintwins

xnatalie81x wrote: »

Quintwins someone gave me a lovely non tomato recipe for gnocchi (I have a fb frugal group) she fried bacon in a spoon of butter, added flour till bubbling and then milk slowly to get a sauce then stirre in a handful of cheddar cheese

I'd be interested in a link to that group.

I'm sian,26 married with 3 kids, 6 yr old twins and a 3 year old all boys, twins get free school dinner but both has suspected autism one being tested after xmas as a result there really fussy about school dinners and it's not uncommon for them to eat again when they get home, also as a result of this i have high fuel costs from all different therapys i drive them to, i'm in theory a sahm and i often wonder how parents of kids that require extra attention like mine cope with appointments and things, i do work 1 hr a week and 1 hr every other weekend but it's very good pay. I have been married now for 6 years to a lovely hardworking man he works in the family business with his parents and brother, he also does some web design and system programming in the evening to help top up the savings fund, he'll turn his hand to anything.

I also have strange living arrangements, i live in a converted farm building it's very small like grany flat size we went it hubbys uncle and it only costs us £150 a month, this is temo tho as it's in his garden he lived here when he was building, it's very comftable tho now im in i prob would stay for years if i could, so easy to heat and all our bills have dropped since moving here.

MY overall plan is to buy a plot of land and build my own house.....without borrowing a single penny, big goal for a family of 5 living off £25k a year all in but since moving here 7 months ago we've saves £11k so i'm hoping we can do it.

frugalwise today i got a bag of free clothes off a local facebook page, and i did very well with whoospies, and i told hubby off for suggesting going out for lunch, and finally i filled up my soap dispenser wuth some basic baby bath which must be about 2 years old i only paid 9p for it :T

xnatalie81x

The fb group is called frugal family life so you just put that in the search box and you should be able to get in x

Officially 2013 we went to bed early (9.30) so I saw the new year for the first time at 5am when the 5yr old woke up cup of tea once the 2 yr old finishes his morning boo boo

xnatalie81x

Quaint wins - how do you get free school meals for the boys? I pay £6 a day for my 3 eldest but I'm killing myself working and running around so for pure convenience and my sanity they are having dinners lol. Also means I know they get a v healthy meal (salad bar to accompany meals and milk) - although I don't actually get anything currently the csa should be getting £5 a week from my ex which doesnt even cover lunch for one day!! He also hasn't seen the eldest 18mths and never met the 2 yr old.

My job is relatively well paid and means I can also pay my mum to have some of the kids while I work (I also take them with me to my swim school)

rising_from_the_ashes

xnatalie81x wrote: »

He also hasn't seen the eldest 18mths and never met the 2 yr old.

Ohhhh, that's so sad it's his loss tho'

Re school lunches, I'm not sure if you get them if you get a certain benefit or if it's solely income related - if you're on a good income, then it's unlikely you'd get them but have a look at your local council's website as there will be more info on there.

Pack ups will be significantly cheaper than £6 / day and you can make these really healthily - quite a few threads about this on the OS board. HTH

rising_from_the_ashes

So ...



Wishing everyone health, happiness and a prosperous year.... here's to making some cuts, deciding what is essential or not (needs not wants;)) and us all being more frugal