2014 Frugal Living Challenge

pm2326

Afternoon all

Today was first NSD since Tuesday :eek:..so pleased as trying really hard not to spend money and it was starting to annoy me! Cant believe how addictive they are :rotfl:

I'm still working overtime at work so today was first chance I've had to get in the garden and start to tidy up..amazing what's already budding and even flowering due to mild winter.

Was chatting with a friend at work about home grown produce, I've done some over the years as a hobby but never for the sole purpose of saving money. My garden isn't huge and its got a lot of structural plants in as I don't want to keep buying new stuff every year, however there's lots of gaps where I usually plant flowers so this year I'm replacing the flowers with food: :T

So today I planted a rhubarb crown in the middle of my strawberry pot, but this wont be ready for harvesting until next year (i'm thinking ahead!). I have a wild blackberry that normally appears each year that I chop out, but this year it's going to be left and trained to grow up an old concrete washing post.

I'll get the potatoes for planting at some point this week, already have some compost and old bags to plant them in.

But I also want to grow some carrot's, cauli's, spring onions and maybe some turnips but haven't bought the seeds yet and need to decide where they'll all fit.

Picklepot

De lurking to say hello

I am still trying to catch up on the thread currently on page 108!
Fantastic forum thank you all so much.It is such a relief to find like minded people . There have been times when its all felt very bleak.. I constantly worry about finances whether i have money or not.Since i have been on this site i have really began to take control last week i rang my financial advisor and he thinks he can get £200 per month off my mortgage. (in the past i would have been horrified even to pick up the phone for fear of him asking financial questions which he's bound to!!)

Would like your advise on this:
I changed jobs , last summer doubled my hours and wages. I gave it 6 months for our finances to show signs of 'pulling back' and if anything they are worse. !!

Just before christmas (worst time really) i sat down and scrutinsed everything changed cards to % deals, changed energy suppliers, got rid of sky (was in contract til november)mobile contracts looked at our grocery spends and going out spends .

At the end of the month we have surplus income that should go to pay off the bills but we don't. I realised the reason is that we have no savings for one off events predicted or otherwise. So christmas i expect to finance in december, this month the house insurance will just have to be found.

Im sorry if this sounds really basic, but when you do get surplus from frugaling do you use it for the debt or for preparation for the big one offs??
I suppose its all of the same really . This month i will have pulled back at least £430 my thoughts are split part of it to the big one offs (house insurance due ) and part to clearing small amount left on non 0% cards??

Also how to you prepare for one off non predicted events? I note some of the things that go on credit cards are things maybe i should have predicted but didnt and other that you dont think about until the inevitable happens (water tank leaking through living room ceiling!!!)

Hope that makes sense!

cw18

Welcome aboard Picklepot

If I were you I think I'd play it as follows

can you reduce any of your one-off payments?

does the ANNUAL surplus cover all the one-off payments you know will come around (like Christmas and the house insurance)?

if no (and it sounds like it should be a yes), then you need to take another look at where you can make cutbacks until the answer is yes.

if yes, make a calendar showing when each is due and note how much you're putting to side for each when (can you cover each in the month they're due, or do you need to put some money aside the previous month as well)

then any money left should be thrown at interest accruing debts as over payments (almost always starting on the one with the highest interest rate).


The non-predicted I'm a little more stumped with. Ideally you should have a kitty for this, but you don't really want to build up a kitty that's earning no (or very little) interest whilst you're still paying interest on debts. I think I'd try and hold on to a couple of hundred and throw everything else at the debts (assuming I had a fall back position like my credit card for large and unexpected car repairs - which would then be repaid ASAP due to the interest charges).

pm2326

Picklepot wrote: »

De lurking to say hello

I am still trying to catch up on the thread currently on page 108!
Fantastic forum thank you all so much.It is such a relief to find like minded people . There have been times when its all felt very bleak.. I constantly worry about finances whether i have money or not.Since i have been on this site i have really began to take control last week i rang my financial advisor and he thinks he can get £200 per month off my mortgage. (in the past i would have been horrified even to pick up the phone for fear of him asking financial questions which he's bound to!!)

Would like your advise on this:
I changed jobs , last summer doubled my hours and wages. I gave it 6 months for our finances to show signs of 'pulling back' and if anything they are worse. !!

Just before christmas (worst time really) i sat down and scrutined everything changed cards to % deals, changed energy suppliers, got rid of sky (was in contract til november)mobile contracts looked at our grocery spends and going out spends .

At the end of the month we have surplus income that should go to pay off the bills but we don't. I realised the reason is that we have no savings for one off events predicted or otherwise. So christmas i expect to finanace in december, this month the house insurance will just have to be found.
Im sorry if this sounds really basic, but when you do get surplus from frugaling do you use it for the debt or for preparation for the big one offs??
I suppose its all of the same really . This month i will have pulled back at least £430 my thoughts are split part of it to the big one offs (house insurance due ) and part to clearing small amount left on non 0% cards??

Also how to you prepare for one off non predicted events? I note some of the things that go on credit cards are things maybe i should have predicted but didnt and other that you dont think about until the inevitable happens (water tank leaking through living room ceiling!!!)

Hope that makes sense!

Hi and welcome

All of my surplus is going towards clearing my debts this year, bit risky but it's what I feel is best for me at the moment. Once they are gone I will build the emergency funds.

I think it's all down to personal aims, but if it makes you feel more safe and secure then yes I would split your surplus so you have an emergency fund, doesnt have to be 50% though.

[Deleted User]

Hi folks, I am back at work again and up to my ears with development work to do so I haven't been on the thread as much as I would like. Just caught up with the last 4 pages of posts that I had missed.

Feb was a very unfrugal month for me and it looks like March will be much the same. OH and I have had a chat about money and from April we are going to aim to live on his wage alone and save my wage to see how we get on. I have decided to relaunch my massage therapy business and hope to start in a few weeks time taking clients. This is with a view to building it up over the next few months and years as a viable alternative career to teaching.

We did a shop today for the week and spent just over £18 which I am happy about.

TM6

I have had an OMG moment :eek:

Since becoming a frugalite and keeping a daily spending diary, I have been keeping a very close eye on our spending on fuel.

In January, I tried to walk as much as possible but February was not so easy.

February includes a return journey to Cornwall where as January only showed the return part of a trip to Cornwall as the outward journey was costed in December.

Here is how much we spent....prepared to be shocked

January £257.48
February £370.20

Back to walking more in March and no trips to Cornwall so at least I know our fuel bill will not be so high

Picklepot

Thank you CW18 and PM2326 for your welcome and advice.

I think whats really thrown me this last few months is that the 'unexpected' one off have not been mine they have been my DD. who after saying she was going to have a gap year and work suddenly decided she would go to uni in september. The set up fees laptops, all the new house stuff, accomodation deposits, rail cards and much much more suddenly had to happen. Thankfully she is very money conscious and sticks to a tight budget.
My DS lives at home and had no work for several weeks so was unable to pay any rent so i really notice those things without an emergency fund.

As you suggest CW18 i will check out the annual one offs and also look into PM2326 advice of having a couple of hundred for emergencies . Thank you

Florenceem

Had a frugal day.
Made part of a Birthday present using my stash. I had already made a Birthday card and can use the lovely CK wrapping paper that is in my paper stock - bought in sale .

mrsinvisible

Morning, hello, Picklepot, you are in the right place now. Lots of good sound advice from nice non critical peeps. We share an aim, and offer support and, when requested, advice.
Mrs I had another NSD yesterday, (gasps of amazement and awe-like stares) but may have to have a LSD today, as there are no eggs and I am out of cumin.

tatabubbly

Hey guys!

Its difficult to have NSD when your invited out to so many social functions! Tonight, I'm invited round to friends house for a takeaway and to see her new baby. My OH is dying to go round and met the new addition and I'm sitting here in a state cos I don't want to spend money on a takeaway!

All housework is done for the day, lunch for me shall be from leftovers in the fridge. Going to figure out what to do for poor OH lunches. He likes them made and taken in with him but cos it's hot here, he doesn't have access to a microwave at work or a cooler to put his lunch in! I'm going to have to invest in one when I get the chance the next time we do a large shop!

Need to go to the bank and plop money in for our savings accounts.... hoping that I have enough to put in savings and cover my dental bills this month.. Anyway onwards and upwards..