2014 Frugal Living Challenge

lilyandme

I would like to join please, I am going to give living on £15 a week my best shot! This is for treats, anything that isn't an essential cost.
I do not have SKY tv and I do not drive/run a car.
I do live on my own though on one wage which isn't enough!! about £9000 per year.

My aims for 2014 are to stick to my 15 pounds a week budget. Ebay my old tat, stop buying my takeaway coffees!

I do valued opinions and can usually get to £10 within 5/6 weeks i use the vouchers in Marks And Spencers to buy their reduced stuff just before the store closes. sometimes save vouchers to buy gifts towards Christmas.

I am saving for 2014 Christmas already with Park, £5 a week, though I think as i have so many family members I am going to have to stop the present buying, I have 14 immediate family members, its too epensive on my income, so maybe a homemade hamper for each family unit for next year, then I have leftover vouchers for the new year sales.

I have a credit card i need to clear also. £750. I am sure it can be done, 2014 will be the year I get my backside in gear

Shortie

We have a very small pantry in our house (as in, 'little space under the stairs' small) but it's a proper pantry. We have an ex-council 1960's build house that has loads of original features in it - the pantry still has the little glass window and the cold slab in it.

Unfortunately, the kitchen is so tiny that it's completely rammed with everything in it and I don't think we use it at it's best to be honest. Plus, when we get the building work done on the back of the house, it'll disappear and become a loo instead


On the frugal front (thanks for the reminder sweetpea26), we were in Tescos at the weekend and I picked up 2 packs of brussels and 1 pack of carrots at 10p each. We prepped the carrots and brussels (we slice the brussels and cook them off with sliced bacon instead of the traditional boiled brussels for Christmas) and froze them. So, we have a nice chunk of our Christmas dinner veg ready prepped for 30p!!

Trying to save on appliances too - our dishwasher motor packed in the other day, and our tumble dryer is no longer condensing (it's supposed to be a self-condesing one). We're waiting back for a quote to fix the dishwasher (if too much we'll have to just get rid of it and decide if we replace it), and hopefully in the next few days we'll pull the tumble dryer apart to see if the motor is clogged with fluff and see if we can keep it going. As it is, the tumble dryer is working but it's kicking all the moisture back into the annex making it damp (or super cold if we keep the windows open) which isn't great.

usa1

Hi All


Here is my action plan for the new year: 2014


Stock pile non-perishables, porridge, tins, loo rolls, shampoos, dishwashing salt, powder etc..


Walk more places, rather than spend on petrol


Use more money off coupons.


Keep to date my tithing/giving commitments


Find free wood for my open fire.


Knock out the surveys, focus groups and entering competitions.


Keep my 2 freezers filled up. Farmfoods is good for this.


Find a part time job. Around 8k per year will be fine as under tax and Ni Threshold.


Pay more into my pension.

kb_soma

I would like to join this please! I would like to see if I can pay off more debt than I am.

MrsGSR

My mum and dad had the most amazimg pantry in their old house. It was a walk in one and they had room for everything food wise, glasses, tupperware and tableinen and stuff and also had a small fridge with a freezer box in there. There was even enough room for filing and paperwork. It meant a lot less clutter!

parsniphead

Blimey this thread moves fast.

I have a bag of carrots to be chopped and frozen and not left to rot.

I have been making my own bread for a while but have been struggling lately as every loaf I make sticks and rips to pieces when I try to get it out. I think two new bread tins are needed.

I have the broad beans to plant soon which will help with costs. I'm really looking forward to getting into the garden and starting to get stuff planted again in the spring.

Soworried

Could I join in this challenge please? I want to live on as little as possible in 2014 but have the odd treat and birthday meal out also. Even if that is with vouchers.
I am going to just use cash to keep myself mindful of my spending. This will in turn create change to save in 20p jar to pay for next Decembers grocery shopping. I will save any loyalty points for this as well, any spare will buy presents.
I am also going to spend less on rubbish, like snacks and alcohol.
We don't have debt but need to protect our small savings after taking a pay cut.
Good luck to everyone.

23rdspiral

ALJA wrote: »

I think I will create a spreadsheet for my expected expenses for the year (e.g. birthdays, holidays, mothers day, fathers day) and start planning what I need to buy for each or checking to see what I already have to give as presents.

Have you seen CWs spreadsheet? (aka the Spreadsheet of Wonder) It's linked from the first post (i'll go grab the link and edit this in a moment). It was brilliant for me as i can use a spreadsheet but could not set a fancy one up myself.

The only question i have this year is I might not have any income coming in so husband will pay for more things, but i'll do the buying, so i'm not sure how to put that on the spreadsheet. (as previously it was just my spends and my half of the join spends)

Edited to add cut and past from post 1:

FREE Spreadsheet - link to Cheryl's (CW18) budget spreadsheet

23rdspiral

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

as I am a short !!!!!... I cant reach the top shelves in the wall cupboards, so I tend to plonk things in there, and then once they get pushed to the back I cant see them...

that's my issue too! Only things like icing sugar and stuffing are safe on the top shelf as i so rarely use them i rarely run out so can almost gurantee they'll be there if i get the steps out and rummage.

- can you use your existing greenhouse frame with polytunel plastic? (if the cost of getting new glass is the prohibative bit?). I've seen polytunnels cobbled together from reused and recycled things so they can be achieved cheeper than bought new.

MrsGSR wrote: »

My mum and dad had the most amazimg pantry in their old house. It was a walk in one and they had room for everything food wise, glasses, tupperware and tableinen and stuff and also had a small fridge with a freezer box in there. There was even enough room for filing and paperwork. It meant a lot less clutter!

wow! i'd love this! (i'd have to knock into next door to achieve it though!)

alja

23rdspiral wrote: »

Have you seen CWs spreadsheet? (aka the Spreadsheet of Wonder) It's linked from the first post (i'll go grab the link and edit this in a moment). It was brilliant for me as i can use a spreadsheet but could not set a fancy one up myself.

The only question i have this year is I might not have any income coming in so husband will pay for more things, but i'll do the buying, so i'm not sure how to put that on the spreadsheet. (as previously it was just my spends and my half of the join spends)

Edited to add cut and past from post 1:

FREE Spreadsheet - link to Cheryl's (CW18) budget spreadsheet

Ooh lovely! Thank you! I will take a look at this