2014 Frugal Living Challenge

Savvy_sewing

Not had time to read in a bit. As we move towards February already I am amazed at how the time has flown. My dry and tinned goods are well stocked but the freezer is practically empty so trying to think differently about the menu for this week.
Made a loaf of bread last night. Big bag of mix from AF was 99p for 3.5kg bag. Should make a huge saving on bread this month.
Still trying to work out how I am going to cope when money drops in March. Really need to increase my sewing sales urgently.

tatabubbly

Not so frugal in our household atm. NSD today as I have no money left so that sorts that out!

OH is still away at work, it is so tedious at this stage. Little boost in our wages this month but because of a few bills, I doubt I'm going to get to see much of it in February. Plus I still have to put money away this month to savings...

Wish January would end already, its been a long drawn out month!

nat21luv

Looking forward to Saturday: first day of the month and the weekend! January is the worst month of all so I'll be glad to see the back of it.

Today's plan is to sit and trawl through the finances for the week, pay any bills that need to be done manually and then meal plan. My aim is to get through until Saturday and only spending a little amount on fresh produce, around £5. My cupboards and freezer are bare, so making meals will be interesting! Challenge accepted

zafiro1984

nat21luv wrote: »

Looking forward to Saturday: first day of the month and the weekend! January is the worst month of all so I'll be glad to see the back of it.
D

Me too, don't like January at all. I keep a strict budget on all things not just the household items and have slightly overspent so I must claw this back in February. Glad is only 28days long

Kantankrus_Mare

Well my frugality has well and truly gone awol this month.

One of our tenants in rental property is refusing to pay rent or answer our calls. Most frustrating. Have been to see a solicitor.

Also the new job I started 3 months ago isnt working out, and really making me feel low, I desperately need to find something else which is likely to mean a pay cut.

Just off to see someone now about a job possibility so fingers crossed.

his_missus

Hi all,

Kantankrus, that does not sound good at all. I know how hard it is to have a job you really don't like. Hope you find something soon.

Spent quite a lot this weekend on food ( all my allocated weekly budget) but the freezer is full once more. I bought a ham hock for £2.99 on impulse from the butchers. On mum's advice, I boiled it with some stock and manky veggies from the fridge. made 6 very large portions of soup by adding some lentils to thicken it, enough pieces/slices for 4 butties and some chunks for pasta later in the week. AND I used up the cherry tomatoes that have been lurking in the fridge since the beginning of January:D

Also cooked a chicken - 4 meals worth (as in 4 meals for two not 4 individual meals) and some bits for the kitties, a beef joint - 2 roast dinners and butties, 2 lasagnes, meatballs and burgers. Should last us until we go away in 2 weeks

InClover

Well I was doing well in January and looking forward to having around 200 pound lwft in bank at end of month to pay off debt, then yday car gives up on me and I know have 300 to pay out. :-( Bang goes all my frugally saved cash plus 100 of Februarys.

Feeling down.

his_missus

InClover, on the plus side you already have £200 towards the car instead of having to find £300... ?

littleskintdragon

Just had egg on toast for lunch, yum!

Chicken is in the slow cooker. Hoping to make a roast tonight, curry and possibly a third meal from stores.

What can i do with all the stock, can i use it for soup? If so any advice? Do i need to put chicken in or will the stock be enough to flavour it? Ive got some mushrooms. We're low on lunches for dh, would rather keep the bread for toast than him use 6 slices a day for lunch!

Goldiegirl

Payday today - I checked my online banking, and I'm about £100 down compared with what I'm usually paid :eek:


As I'm at home, I phoned my HR department.


It seems the Inland Revenue are at the root of this problem


I had to write to them in December, as they'd changed my tax code on my pension, which they had done wrong . So I asked them to change it back, which they did, but it seems that they've sent some information to my employer, that actually relates to my pension. The result being, that I've paid £100 too much in tax this month.


My HR dept have confirmed that my pay should be normal next month, so that's something.


But I've got to contact the Inland Revenue to get them to sort this out, and I'd like my £100 back from them too !


Fortunately this doesn't cause me financial hardship, but I'm annoyed that this has happened, as I didn't want to spend this afternoon writing to the tax office




GRRRRRRR !!