2014 Frugal Living Challenge

cw18

TM6 wrote: »

What are you up to this weekend?

On-line window shopping for new rechargeable batteries and chargers - what an exciting life I lead

I've know for a good while that either my batteries or chargers (or all) were on the way out, but I've kept aborting attempts to find new as all the abbreviations and terminology gets me totally confuddled Hit crisis point this week though as I put 4 batteries on to charge for 20 hours (the only 4 AAs I can find, with my mouse needing 1, my camera 2, and my GPS unit 3!), only to discover that just 1 has enough power to run the mouse :eek:

So OH (who's well up on all things electrical) is going to 'help' me while he's here. I need a hefty 'takes all types' charger for home, but also a very light and compact travel one to charge AA's whilst I'm walking across Spain (and that one needs to charge as fast as possible, as I'll have limited access to power points). The travel one is actually the one that's been causing me the biggest headaches, so I'll have to see what he can turn up.

Probably won't order this weekend though, as I'm currently racking up as many NSDs as I can - so they can get bookmarked for now and then ordered later in the week when I have no choice but to lose an NSD for something else

dolly84

TM6 - my children broke up for half term on Thursday, Friday was an inset day. Some schools in nearby LA had last week off.

DD is going to a girl guides event today, it is Thinking Day, she goes 2-8pm, does various activities, a disco and pizza all for £2. They take the rest of the money from the weekly subs, what amazes me is every trip away she has done with rainbows, brownies and now guides and the ones my DS does with beavers/cubs cost next to nothing and it is all paid for out of donations and subs and yet school trips are ridiculous. DS came home with a letter on Thursday for a trip in March which is 6 miles up the road and is to visit a village so no entry costs and it is £12.

Shelski_2

Dolly 84 - it's the transport and insurance costs that cause the price of trips. All trips that I have ever done take the price of the coach and divide it by the number of kids in the class and that's the price. Occasionally we might get it subsidised by the PTA . No school makes a profit

TM6

Shelski wrote: »

Dolly 84 - it's the transport and insurance costs that cause the price of trips. All trips that I have ever done take the price of the coach and divide it by the number of kids in the class and that's the price. Occasionally we might get it subsidised by the PTA . No school makes a profit

and the payment if it is for an educational trip is voluntary - not every parent pays even though they can afford to :mad:

abby1234519

Today I have spent £44 on Approved food.

Mcdougalls Plain Flour 3500g
Best Before: 28th Feb 2014
£1.49 2
£2.98
You saved
£17.00 ( 85% )

De Identified White Bread and Roll Mix 3.5kg
Best Before: 30th Nov 2013
£0.99 1
£0.99
You saved
£9.00 ( 90% )

De Identified Tortiglioni 3kg
Best Before: 31st Jan 2014
£0.99 1
£0.99
You saved
£4.00 ( 80% )

CASE PRICE Zero Noodles Fettuccine 12 x 200g
Best Before: 28th Feb 2014
£3.99 4
£15.96
You saved
£43.20 ( 73% )

CASE PRICE Zero Noodles Lasagne 12 x 200g
Best Before: 28th Feb 2014
£3.99 4
£15.96
You saved
£43.20 ( 73% )

The flour is for my other half, he goes through a lot of it. I was going to get 4 but decided against it. We make our own fig rolls for the toddler for instance so I also use quite a bit. Then the zero noodles is a godsend as I have had to cut out gluten so I miss pasta etc. I quite like zero noodles and buy them as often as I can/ So this means I will have a good stash, I have them practically every day! I was going to get more than one bag of pasta however it did take us a while to go through the last lot.

I've sorted all my meal replacement packs, I've got about 5 weeks so I will be consuming those in 1) a go at losing weight and 2) saving money on food!!

I also have a lot of stuff to pack up for ebay and send off today. I think I will have made about £120 towards my £900 I need to put back in the wedding fund. Rest of today will be listing the 3 large ikea bags of clothes

skintygerlinky

Afternoon Frugalites xx

Mahussive headache!! Lots of decorating going on here, on the last legs now but the smell of paint is making me feel queasy! My dad's done everything and it looks lovely. Him and my mum shopped around, weighing up pros and cons of quality of paint, wallpaper, where to spend extra, where to buy cheapest etc. The 'star buy' of the whole lot is a new 3-seater and 2-seater sofa....WITH A FREE CARPET THROWN IN!!!

How fab is that?!!
In comparison I've had a fritterish, spendy week. Not big amounts of money but enough to do a bit of damage. I felt a return of 'well, let's just spend now and deal with it later' stupid thoughts which I at least recognised. Ingrained habits rearing their head!!

One thing I've noticed is a funny familiar trait - avoiding checking my bank balance. I am hiding it from myself. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhh!! How insane is that?! It seems so daft!

Today I've bought newspapers, cream and toothpaste. Little bits of shopping like this have featured all week. Hmmmmm.
That said, I had wanted to make Feb my 'Frugal Test Case Month' and I've already begun to sort my shopping receipts into categories, to see where my money has gone over the past month. Will discuss further on Friday!!

So as the final week before payday lurches into view and I stumble through to the finish line, let's have the soundtrack! As a Scouser it's sacrilege to say I prefer this version over the Beatles' but I love it!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W25_jgiY51I

pm2326

Afternoon everyone

Came home from work to find a lovely letter from my bank.....the loan I pay £80 a month for ends on 25th Feb I thought I had another month to pay!

I get paid on Tuesday so have been looking at my finances for Feb and I while I'm really pleased that I managed to pay off a debt and reduce my overdraft by £150, I want to cry.

This month has all been about watching every penny and where it goes, I record every spend on a spread sheet. I've wasted no food and used up some things that were out of date, taken lunch to work everyday and batch cooked where possible. Freezer is now ready to burst (hopefully no shopping in March).

I even managed two nights out, which is a very rare treat as I'm lucky if I go out once every 6 months.

But this makes me sad as I now keep thinking about how much money I've clearly wasted over the last few years and have nothing to show for it....I have so many questions going through my head and I cant answer them, where did it all go? why did it me so long to realise I was throwing money away? what the hell was I playing at?

Feel so stupid and disappointed with myself

skintygerlinky

pm2326 - I, like many others can relate to what you are saying. So please don't feel alone xx

The past is the past - the beauty is, we learn from it and put into practice our new knowledge. We walk the walk!!

Is it Maya Angelou who said 'when you know better, you do better'? Wise words! Maybe it's at this point right now that you feel confident to look at past spending habits objectively.
Whilst I completely empathise that doing this can bring up some unhappy feelings, they WILL go away and you will instead be left with new ones - like pride! You can be proud of yourself for turning your finances around.

Good on you for being in control of your financial state. Work through the negative feelings now and they will give way to positive ones ASAP. I promise! xx

Goldiegirl

I have a free listing weekend on eEay, so I've been busy listing and relisting.

Last weekend, I didn't list much, as it wasn't free. But I don't mind paying a few pence for listing things that I feel will definately sell. It seems to have paid off - I sold five things, and got £40.

I've been making rolls in the bread maker again, and also we've had some cake out of the freezer that I did a few weeks ago.

Florenceem

pm2326 wrote: »

Afternoon everyone

Came home from work to find a lovely letter from my bank.....the loan I pay £80 a month for ends on 25th Feb I thought I had another month to pay!

I get paid on Tuesday so have been looking at my finances for Feb and I while I'm really pleased that I managed to pay off a debt and reduce my overdraft by £150, I want to cry.

This month has all been about watching every penny and where it goes, I record every spend on a spread sheet. I've wasted no food and used up some things that were out of date, taken lunch to work everyday and batch cooked where possible. Freezer is now ready to burst (hopefully no shopping in March).

I even managed two nights out, which is a very rare treat as I'm lucky if I go out once every 6 months.

But this makes me sad as I now keep thinking about how much money I've clearly wasted over the last few years and have nothing to show for it....I have so many questions going through my head and I cant answer them, where did it all go? why did it me so long to realise I was throwing money away? what the hell was I playing at?

Feel so stupid and disappointed with myself

No good looking back. Here is where you are - go forward.