2014 Frugal Living Challenge

[Deleted User]

Afternoon folks. Just logged on to see more comments relating to my situation. The support on here has been truly fantastic, thank you so much. I have done a bit of searching and found that there is a local Stress Control course running locally which starts in the next couple of weeks so I have signed up for that. I will explore the counselling option too. Thanks again for all your support.

grandma247

Lurker here. I did do the challenge for a couple of years and am still doing it on my own. Can't always keep up online.

One way of keeping heat in a room is a window quilt. I made some very simple ones with a wool blanket (old wartime sort) stitched inside a plain cream duvet cover. I made a channel at the top so I could put a dowel rod through it but wire also works so long as you make holes at intervals to accommodate hooks along the top. I am going to make some nice patchwork ones eventually.

They work well. When I made the first one we had no heating on and DH and I sat and watched the digital thermometer climb 3 degrees quite quickly. After that he was convinced they would help to keep the heating bills down.

Cantfindafreeuserid

allie23 I have been signed off work for over a year now and do not feel guilty anymore because I know I am not fit enough to go back yet. You need to do what is right for you but to decide on what that is you nedd time. Get signed off and as you have mentioned explore the options don't make a hasty rash decision. The Stress control course sounds good and so does councelling. I wish you well and a full recovery xxx

Goldiegirl

Good afternoon


I'm going out a bit later, as I'm meeting my friend when she finishes work. We'll have a coffee and a sandwich, and a good natter. I sell her unwanted things on eBay, and she says she's got a load of stuff to give me. So eBay will probably be busy over the next few weeks, as she always has nice stuff


I've renewed my car insurance this morning. I didn't even bother to get any other quotes, as the figure is pretty low already, at £250. To be honest, I don't think much could be shaved off that premium, and I like the company I'm with


Also booked my car in for a service. The second car is a bit of a luxury really, as I only use it to potter around in locally. But at some point next year we'll both trade our cars in and get a newer one to share.

Antwerpen

MallyGirl wrote: »

I would assume nothing after what I have seen!
I am a homeworker and heat my office with electric UFH plus have several PCs etc on all day so I do use a lot of elec but for some reason they think I will be using nearly 4 times as much electricity this July as I did last - crazy.

I'm with Npower too, oh the joys!!I am £408 in credit....(meant to be £169) they have reversed my bills twice. I've started submitting montly readings. I have had my DD reduced, I've only used the heating 2/3 times this winter for about 1/2 hour. I don't like Npower, but they're the cheapest for me!

Katem

Hello everyone - I've only just seen this thread, and I'm inspired to join and dip in and out as much as I can.

Although we earn a fairly ok wage at the moment, I feel that in the past we have frittered our money on things that we felt couldn't be changed (i.e. fuel bills etc) and that we have lived a fairly expensive existence. I really want to change that in all areas and make our money work harder for us, after all we earn it! For the first time ever we have some savings and I am really pleased to see the figures going up rather than living from month to month with no cushion behind us.

My NY resolution was to live more frugally and not fritter money away and have it to either spend on nice things that make us happy, or to save even more.

Since starting at the beginning of January I can't believe how much I have saved. Just by overhauling our bills account, I managed to save £125/month there, and I've always had a (very cheap) overdraft on there which gets dipped into each month by a small amount, but by overhauling the account the overdraft will be knocked out in two months without even feeling the pinch.

Foodwise, I have realised that buying in bulk at Costco has made our weekly shopping bill much, much cheaper. I now only visit the farm shop for veg, eggs, milk and cheese and spent very little at Sainsbury's, preferring Aldi mostly on the rare occasion I need to go to the SM. I think for our family, buying in bulk works because I'm not nipping into the SM every day and spending loads on bits and bobs. I know people say Costco isn't cheaper, but because we like certain brands of things, it has definitely worked for us.

Areas where I'm struggling all involve getting the rest of the family to be frugal, and I mean things like not putting clothes into the wash after they've been worn for half an hour, or switching lights off etc. They also have the fire or heating on full whack frequently and it's only me that seems to have the need to be frugal, they can't see the benefit of not spending quite so much. Any ideas on how to educate them?

Anyway that was a bit of an essay, looking forward to joining in

Frugalsod

abby1234519 wrote: »

Npower forecast that I will use:

2949 kwh in elec
10086 kwh in gas in 2014

I do take regular meter readings so I'd have assumed this was accurate but then again I am relying on them!

I use a smartphone app called Meters

http://grahamhaley.co.uk/meters/

It is available on iTunes.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/meter-readings/id320551309?mt=8&affId=2160965

It enables me to challenge the energy companies and allows me to calculate my energy usage very accurately so I can get a decent deal. You do have to add meter readings as often as possible. I do mine daily.

skintygerlinky

mrsinvisible wrote: »

Yesterday I made cauliflower and broccoli soup, but I put onion and potato in to bulk it a bit, and then I added an ice cube of frozen Elmle* to my portion.

This is a fab idea! Never thought of doing that, cheers mrsi

skintygerlinky

kb_soma wrote: »

Hi All!

A quick recap from January for me:
NSDs - 15
Lunch taken to work: 20/20

Food budget came in approx £30 under, this cf for Feb.

I saved around £200 extra from not buying lunch/carrying my cards around with me.

Well done everyone for all your efforts, you truly are an inspirational lot!

This is brill! Nice one kb!

cw18

Katem wrote: »

Foodwise, I have realised that buying in bulk at Costco has made our weekly shopping bill much, much cheaper. I now only visit the farm shop for veg, eggs, milk and cheese and spent very little at Sainsbury's, preferring Aldi mostly on the rare occasion I need to go to the SM. I think for our family, buying in bulk works because I'm not nipping into the SM every day and spending loads on bits and bobs. I know people say Costco isn't cheaper, but because we like certain brands of things, it has definitely worked for us.

I got membership of Costc0 about 15 months ago, and introduced my OH to the place as my second card holder (I'd been in a few times as a guest, so grabbed membership when they were signing people up at a food festival without asking for the normal proof of working in the selected occupations). Since then he's hardly ever had any Tesc0 points, and I'm only in there about once every 6 weeks instead of weekly. Almost all my fresh shopping (fruit, veg and milk) is done at A1di, which is the closest food shop to me other than a small Mr M and a tiny (and expensive) Co-0p.