2014 Frugal Living Challenge

littleskintdragon

Did a shop today at mr.t, spent £38, but had 7 meals worth in that, which i think is fairly good. Also got a massive box of tea bags on offer,which will last me at least a month. Had a lot of vouchers to use, so i bought the ones that were already on offer to save even more. Also got a xmas present for £3 for my nephew, a pair of pyjamas.

Done some washing today which will go on the airer.

Also rung my boss to ask if i could go back to work part time after maternity leave. Shes going to get back to me, but sounded promising. Another reason for a more frugal lifestyle as i wont be earning as much :-/

his_missus

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Today I've spent money on an essential treat.... had my hair cut today. I like to keep my hair short, so I have to go every 6 weeks. I also have my hair coloured too. I used to have it coloured every three months, but I have cut that back to every 5 - 6 months. I've been going to my hairdresser for more than 30 years, and she does give me a 20% discount for being a loyal customer, and she has also become a friend. So, the haircuts will stay as a long term feature of my life - maybe one day I'll do without the colour, but not yet. But on the frugal side, I've cut my husbands hair for years, so we do make some savings there. But I don't trust him to cut my hair!!

Now I have a short style, (fancied a change when I hit 40) I need to get it cut every 6 weeks instead of every 3 months when it was a bob. It costs me £3 for a dry cut. I always colour my own hair. I stock up whenever B00ts have it on offer and colour whenever the greys really start showing through.

I cut Hubby's hair too. I do one style - an all over with whichever length he chooses (usually the no. 9)

ellie-g

KazLA wrote: »

Looking for some suggestions for a block of wensleydale and cranberry cheese, normally it gets gobbled up, but this was given to us from Mr M and is 'festive' - containing brandy and spices! I really doesn't work at all as cheese (for us anyway!), but don't want to chuck it...

Try adding it to home made vegetable soup. Basically whatever vegetables you have (include a couple of potatoes) plus some stock (can be chicken or veg cubes). Add cheese until melted then blend and serve with buttered bread for a filling meal.

cydney65

Spent £15.57 on fruit, veg, cut price bread mix, large sultana cake reduced from £2.50 to 50p, deodorant and salad. Should keep us going for a week or so.

Found a great program online for creating word clouds, so have put nursery rhyme words in and have now printed out some lovely word clouds in the shape of hearts, to put in the nursery...cheap and cheerful.

Penny2myName

Florenceem wrote: »

How old is DS? Challenge the bill.

14, 15 in april. He got a girlfriend last week and hasnt been off his phone since, I even found him on it at 3am one morning, and chased him off to bed. I will jsut keep it blocked for a few months and he will learn the hard way like I did when younger.

CT19720

[QUOTE http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/ is the one that is linked on the Historic Scotland page, yours is only £48/adult with up to 6 kids too![/QUOTE]



Thanks very much for the link, I hadn't got around to it yet - it was on my list!


NSD for me as first day back at work today, and oddly enough it was very enjoyable.


Tea tonight will be a HM aromatic duck, spring onion and lettuce soup which is delicious, with some HM Bread. Then have some pate to use up so will either have toast, or some biscuits for cheese.


Talking today at work, and have decided that this year, I am going to give 'selected people' (those that will appreciate them) HM gifts, so need to start thinking about what to do and get started on them now.


I am quite crafty, and there are a lot of new things that I want to learn like patchwork, quilting, crochet, so am looking at getting a patchwork cushion kit to make up to see how I get on with it. It always looks so easy to do when looking at youtube videos.


I'm off to Windsor castle next weekend with a dear friend, who has bought us tickets for the tour, and having just spoken to her, she said that the whole day is her treat to me. She will allow me to take some things to her, but doesn't want flowers or wine, so I'll make bread and cookies to take with me, all the ingredients I already have, so no spend there. Sorting out my crafting bits over the weekend I found some 'door hangers' which I've never used, so have started to decorate one for her daughter to take with me.


Well done on volunteering for your sons school, mumof3boys. Volunteering is something I want to look into doing this year.

catshark88

I haven't had the ch on yet as we've got 2 wood burners that keep those rooms really toasty.

It's so wet though that my doors are swelling up, so I think I'm going to have to put it on a bit to dry them out. :-(

Frugalsod

Judi wrote: »

Penny2myName. I am on contract but I have asked the mobile phone provider to put a block on any calls/services/apps that will take me over my monthly limit.

I think that a big part of the problem is that telcos need these sorts of overspends because they are all profit. So they make it hard to control such costs because it "reduces the service we provide our customers".

Frugalsod

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I think it's important to have a few little treats along the way.


If I use vouchers or points, or money I've earned from eBay, I don't treat it as cash expenditure on my budget.


For example, yesterday I received a voucher for £10 from M&S for 'ladies lingerie'. I'll use that to get £10 worth of knickers. I don't actually need new knickers at present, but I'll put them away until I do. I'd be losing the value of the money if I didn't use it.


Also, I think it depends on why you are working towards a frugal lifestyle. If I was debt clearing, or wanting to be mortgage free, I'd probably use my eBay money to clear debts or pay my mortgage. But I'm here to cut my living costs, so I can have a comfortable retirement with treats..... so I don't have a problem in treating myself now!

The items I bought were on my wish list and I have not spent much this year. I am aiming for a debt free life but if it were eBay I could use that to pay down debt, but it was an amazon gift certificate.

My living costs are already pretty low and so I am able to clear my debts reasonably rapidly. I did rationalise my amazon wish list into my current wish list which are things that I will want sooner rather than later and then wish lists for camping items so that I can go camping to far flung places when I am debt free, and items for the kitchen which I might get when I am debt free or if I need them before. Generally though anything on my once debt free wish list is for only considering when I am debt free. I also have an amazon wish list for things that are supplied by amazon and need to be added to qualifying orders to get delivered free. To cap it all I use a piece of software called amazon price watcher that I have set up to monitor the prices for things that I want sooner. So if they are cheap then I will leap in and buy. Until then I will wait.

System

Hi by the way, I'm mainly a lurker on this thread. Trying to cut the cost of living without it hurting too much and trying not to let standards slip.:wave: